The Dominion. MONDAY, APRIL 12, 1909. RAILWAY REFORM.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 479, 12 April 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, APRIL 12, 1909. RAILWAY REFORM.

A fact which we have always 'kept prominent in our discussion of the bad state of the railway finances is that although good management would enablo the railways to pay their way and yield a margin of profit the system contains lines that should not have heen built, and lacks lines that should have been built. An excellent illustration of the first portion of this truth, which has always been denied by the Government and its friends, is supplied by the situation that has arisen in connection with the stoppagu of work on the Lawrence-Roxburgh line. In announcing the Government's decision last week, the Prime Minister declared, that "there is no prospect whatever of any return from the line except so small in amount as to make the whole line an absolutely unpayable one." We have no reason to doubt that the Government has correctly estimated the financial prospects of the line, and we arc glad to find such a welcome and unusual intrusion of caution and economy into the railways administration. The greatest' indignation prevails in Otago, however, and it is even being stated that the stoppage of. the work is the Government's punishment of the Tuapnka electorate's presumption in sondinfi an Opposition member to Parlia-

mcnt. That is probably an unfair interpretation of what we prefer to regard as a proper act of economy, but it must be conceded that the facts of the case afford some excuse for the charge. The line was put in hand as recently as December 1, 1905, the first sod being turned a few days before the general election of that year. A little over three years ago, that is to say, the Government began to pour forth money on a scheme which it now declares to be a waste of money. Nobody can question that, if the prospects of the line are too poor to warrant further expenditure upon it, the poverty of the prospects should have been apparent three years ago. Either the Government knew that the line was an unpayable one, and yet proceeded with it, or else it took no trouble whatever to ascertain the position. Up till last year £28,212 had actually been wasted on the line, and a further sum of £30,000 was appropriated for it last session; What people in the south are particularly complaining about is the fact that the stoppage of the work, which was begun in IDOS, and continued so long as Tuapeka was a Government seat, has taken place on the heels of an Opposition member's return. But that is no doubt only an unfortunate coincidence. At any rate it supplies no reason at all why the line should not be stopped if it is unpayable.

In itself, the Government's action is a praiseworthy one, and one which we hope will bo repeated in other parts of the country. There must bo no discrimination if the Government is to be given the credit due to honest performance. The Midland railway should receive the earliest possible attention from the hand that stopped the Lawrence-Roxburgh railway works. That is a line which cannot possibly pay, or even nearly pay, for two generations at least, and it is swallowing up enormous sums of money. The Minister for Public Works, in a speech at ITokitika on Wednesday last, gave an indication of the Government's railway construction policy. "The Government," he is reported as saying, "was going to be economical, and it was a waste of public money to undertake works that it could not finish. The Government realised that it was better to take in hand certain works and finish them without delay, otherwise they had to find interest for money that was bringing in no return." The effect of these statements was rather spoiled—for the general public, if not for the West Coast audience—by the Minister's references in the same speech to the West Coast railway works. There are four / different lines in hand in the Westland district, he said. "The West-port-Reefton line he hoped to have finished in eight years. The Blackball line he expected to be finished in a few months. There was also the Point Elizabeth line, and he was opening, the Ross lino on the following day." The West Coast, obviously, is" not to suffer very severely from the Government's newfound virtue of economy. If the Government had any clear method behind its good intentions in respect to railway policy generally, we should not have Sin Joseph Ward giving unpayability as a reason for stopping work on the Lawrence line, his colleague promising to push ahead with an eight-years' job, and the Midland railway works going on all at. the same time. What is wanted is a clearcut policy in the matter.

The legacy of unsound construction policy from past years is quite bad enough without being increased by further mistakes now or in the future. The railway returns for the first two months of this year speak very plainly of a badly-constructcd system as well as of bad management. The lines in the North Islapd total 1132 miles, against 1542 miles in the South Island, yet the excess of revenue over expenditure on the Northern lines for the two months was £92,600, and it was less than £83,000 on the Southern lines. The gross rorenuc on the Northern lines increased by £31,400 in, the year; on the Southern lines it decreased by over £6000. There is only one way of making sure that only those lines, but all those lines, which should be built or finished will be built or finished: the appointment of a special commission, or the placing of the whole railways system under independent commissioners. Mr.. R. M'Kehzie said at Hokitika that "the Government was tied lip for money,", but even if it were not, it should proceed on business lines. A careful investigation of the prospects should be made in the case of. every railway project that is not within a reasonably short distance of completion, and in each case the Government should apply and act upon the test which has caused the abandonment of work on the Lawrence-Roxburgh line. So long districts affected by railway projects can apply pressure to the, Government, so long will a continuously sound and honest policy be impossible. The more it is considered, the more clear it becomes .that sound railways finance requires the removal of the whole system, both construction and working, from political hands to the hands of commissioners responsible only to Parliament as a whole.