RAILWAY WORKSHOPS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 415, 26 January 1909, Page 6

RAILWAY WORKSHOPS.

Sir,—l have read'with much interest your article in this day's Dominion, and thoroughly agree with most of the statements contained therein. I have also read with great interest the accounts of the various meetings of the workmen both at Addington and Dunedin, and thoroughly agree with you that nothing but the fullest inquiry into the whole matter will be satisfactory to the workmen, the local manager, and the'head office, who are all equally concerned hi the cost of the.carrying on of these large and ■costly _ establishments-—and, judging from what has been stated of the intentions of the vr-ii rMnister.for.Railways, .the.Hon; J. A. Millar, he means to do his best to remedy present state of affairs, which all admit is, to say the least of it, very unsatisfactory. JNow, I will. at. once statethat-I know something of .what was occurring in these workshops up to about three ■ years < ago, and, judging by the recent disclosures, the same state of affairs: still continues, and to an aggravated Tho railways have been, ■.used', as a dumping ground for Ministers to nna employment for political supporters) the ! question_ of fitness being the last consideraYl he within, your, recollection tnat there have been' many inquiries in the past few years into irregularities and complaints of the.men. These have all been held JJepartmental officers, arid in not one case that, I know of has the result beenconsidered fair to the great majority of the workmen who have been interested, and this is only to be expected when the nature of tho composition of the board of inquiry is taken into account. That wonderful paragraph in the general manager's first oircular to the chief mechanical engineer' at Aldington is a pretty good example of the style of inquiries that have been from time to time held; the case prejudged and tie whole inquiry a farce. Can you wonder, now,''that the men want an independent inquiry, and not any more of these (can I use the word bogus?) Departmental inquiries? I seo tho men have asked for a. magisterial inquiry. Only something ,of this sort, will . satisfy the men,. and certainly no Departmental inquiry' will satisfy the general tax-paying public. From the general manager downwards all;-are more or less concerned,, and their'capability' or conducting the wprks entrusted to: them requires to be ascertained,/and whether this ; result can be obtained best, by magisterial in r qujry, byfioyal Commission, or by a Committed of the House of Parliament is a matter for the grave consideration, of the Cabinet. Ever since 1891 the political element has ruled supreme, l and has become more and ; more so year' by year, and .while .men- have, quite irrespective; of their fitness, been . forced on the 'local managers - of the / various departl 0 Always,: can it be wondered {.' ij ? re o are ""ore raett employed than there S j}° j , Of wnrse, it can easily bfe understood,that, the political element being 1 , apparent it is. not likely that the unfit should be .dispensed .with,, as in tbe ! case 'of all pri-' vate establishments.' In some notable cases where this , has been ■ done.' tho men' bo ■ dis-' charged have been forced back to these em- - pioyments,. .and, such : being the case, how could it bo expected that anything but loafing would be found to.exist? . ■ • I trust the Honourable the Minister may succeed; in getting the true state of the case,, as the result of his; inquiry, but I. can only reel sure that, these inquiries will quickly lead mm to trie same conclusion as that come to oy -workmen, that a searching inquiry into :the whole , management' must, be'; held,"at which.,the jnen can feel , sure that'they can ; give evidence freely and without the certainty that, now exists in: their! .minds-that any dence given against "tho management-will be tollowed by prosecution, leading up to loss of employment.—l am, etc.,. • '' '-'f' n -EX-RAILWAY EMPLOYEE. January 22. ,; -.v." 1 -