RAILWAY POLICY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 436, 19 February 1909, Page 4

RAILWAY POLICY.

/■' Another statement of railway .'policy has ■ been• given put [ by',the'-, Hon. ;; J. ■• A. Millae.. ''-"Train'- fares' : all oyer' j' New' Zealand'," he' told;.a Christehiireh depu-tation-yesterday, "are too low at'thepreseht time, and they are certainly; too low for-long-distance, trayeliihg.'" There .will ■■ bo no reduction ~in., either fares. or. freights in any direction at,all:,: I do.not intend to take any action, until I ham had: a/year's experience, but, from what J.can.'see. at.the present/time, fares are. too' low, and you' can't .carry, people long distances at .'the v penny a.mile, scale,, : ; Experiencel,in' A'm'erica; has . proved that;'.'. At .-a firsts glance it'would appear that the Minister had 'retraced •■ the false step which he' made'the other;day in Auck-. land, when he : ,'defended the. "3 per cent; policy" and announced that.: his ainuwas only .to secure .an, extra', return of, A. per cent., on' capital... ;ißut on examination his latest'.pronouncement, will bo -.found to lend fresh colour to the suspicion that' he does' not "intend to carry out the bold, policy of ; reform which.he announced in the plainest terms: last'month. : ; What is .first -to bo noticed, - however, : is that Me.■ at every; turn," denying the statements - and". repudiating the "theories thatSiE Joseph : 'Waei> put-forward, so often and with such confidence right up till, the date, of the.general election. What, was it: : that';the'Peimß; Minister. always .passionately insistod upon in: re:;ply- to the. critics who ] asked him :.why the railways, were' not made. to pay. their way 1 '■ , Why, that ', it was : of the utmost importance to the; progress of the country that fares and freights should' be .kept as low as possible! ..What was it that he : named as; the reason why ;/the railways, did not make ends -meet ?■'■/The policy.;, of'concessions and reductions ; so essential, to. development!., And.'-what' was ; it that he utterly refused' to., doeven without being asked to-do-it?",-To make, that "stroke of the pen" "that-, would raise thb ; rates! ' The echoes of. his righteous anger havb not yet died away, and.'wo find : his successor . saying that '.'the railways ought to pay,".:that "fares .are.'too low," and "that "thero will he, no reduction in either fares or, freights in 'any direction at all." The public may be left to reflect upon the, way in which they; have been deluded in the past, and to concludo that when Sir Joseph Ward - could violently defend a railway; policy the basis of which the present Minister, has shown-to .be. a hollow imposition, there is reason to'believe that his defence of his financial policy, is equally the unsound case of a political opportunist. As to Mr. Millae's broad hint that after the lapse of a year there will bo a rise in fares and freights, it is; necessary to point out to him that it. would almost' bo. bettor to. leave thingsalone, than to resort to the. desperato expedient of l evening up the ledger by, operating only on the rcvenuo side of it. Statistics which-wo-have often referredto;sbow plainly tbat.tho natural; advan-

tagcs of the railway system as a business enterprise arc, so good that they must fill with envy those. Sfcato Trcas-. urers in Australia who, under, far; less' fortunate conditions, are able.to obtain, from the railways a handsome sum after every charge has been met. The .only sound.point in tho ,Peime:;Ministee's pre-election defence of the railways administration was his statement that fares and freights were quite high enough: already. Me. Millar will find;it difficult to convince the , public : that they, are too low. , They are too low, to pay-the present working expenses,' ho doubt,: but let the working expenses :bo ' reduced from their present' monstrous figure, and the existing fares' and.freights:will probably be; found to .do very well indeed. It is on the Hurunui-Bluff section, that the long-distance: travelling is done,' and the .main reason' why, a pemry.a 'mile; is' an unprofitable charge is to be ; found in the statistics relating .to that section, which embraces about nine-tenths of .the South Island system. For. the. year ended March .31, 1908, the number. of ; 'passen-; gers who travelled .on :the South Islarid' : lines decreased';.in,'the year by .'177,725; and the-tonnage of .'stock, parcels,: goods, etc., by 22,484 tons.-.- .Yet,' in spite of this, decrease of the Government added during the. year; 4 locomotives, 10 passenger .cars, 294 .'wagons, etc.," ; 125 tarpaulins,, and 661 men. to the .South'lsland equipment,, and .added -to" ■■ the capital/invested. >; On -the' HurunuiBluff section-; the passengers were" 218,863 fewer than'in the preceding year. .The total revenue. on the; section decreased ; by, £1563,* but the expenditure increased by £44,195. r 'That; is why the Tailways; do not.-.'pay. '. It is not that' the faros; and freights ;are ! .too low, : -but that; the : ;ex T : periditure /grows out .'of ;all■',proportion..' That in spite of this/clear evidence of gross waste 'arid,, overmanning; tlie'.'Ministor should 'contemplate an increase in' faros and freights, instead of setting but to reduce: the working: expenses,: will prove -' a ; grave disappointment to. those who expected material improvement-uri-jder the.new-Eaiiway Minister's.administration. Mr.-MillAe will ;be'wise' if he makes, up his mind that to begin 'at-the' wrong; end will be worse, for him and for, the country; than to dompthing it all..