TRAMWAY LEGISLATION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 827, 27 May 1910, Page 2

TRAMWAY LEGISLATION.

~ THE PKOJE'USED AMENDMENTS. J AN ENGLISH CRITICISM. ' "Tramways in Now Zealand appear J. to bo. a favourite object for the attenJ tion of (he Government of that country [ —such attention it is shrewdly suspected I being largely due to the fact that the , Government owns Hie railways, and con- . setjuently is not desirous of seeing the J tramways too prosperous or progressive." , Such is the opening comment ot a leading article in thn vjjght Kailway anil '. ' Tramway; Journal''../of- April 1, one of 1 the leading tramway papers in England. • In its leading columns of January 17, i IUOB. the same, paper criticised t!ie Bill 1 ivluoli had buen brought in amending i tin? New Zealand Tramways Act, I'JIH, which, it' passed, it uryeii, would huvo tbe eii'eo.t of placing the entire control of this tramways of tho .Dominion in the hands of tho Ministry for the time being, nnd would rob the corporiitious nnd companies owning iiie tramways of any real .control over .their own properties. Tiio dauses of the Hill were gone over in detail, and the English journal concluded by saying: ".Now Zealand has the reputation of being ultra democratic, , but if this measure is carried it will I certainly represent, bureaucracy in. ex- , celsi.- 4 ." f • Continuing, in its article of April 1, j the "'.Tramway Journal" suys: "What has happened since, and the prospects j of tile industry at the present time, , fully; warrant and emphasise this conj elusion. It may be remembered that i them was a strike of tramway men. at. , Auckland iu May, 1008, and that it [ ended in both parties agreeing to sub- , init the points in dispute to a v spooia! Conciliation Board. ..Amongst ; the grievances of the men was one rp- . luting to the alleged need for magnetic p or air brakes on the cars, and, in order ; to investigate this, the Government apI pointed a Koynl Commission. This coin- ; mission .consisted of Mr. Holmes, the i Chief Engineer of New Zealand, nnd i Mr. Bichardson, tho manager and engi- ■ neer of the Wellington City Tramways. , These gentlemen in due course marln • their report, the gist of which was that . they recommended the adoption of thn - Newell magnetic, brake,' anil criticised; j many of the minor arrangements of ftiß . Auckland cars, as to the brake rigging,, ' sand punches, track brake blocks, nnd ) no on. • Since then the Auckland com- : pany Jiavo equipped twn other cars with ; air brakes, but have done nothing, to- . wards fitting the remainder of their cars t with power hrakes, their view being t that they have in all things complied - with tho Order-iu-Couucil and provisions ■ of tho Tramway Act. This probably aci counts for the bringing iu by the Ministry during the closing weeks of the 5 1909 session of an Amendment Act, which, . however,, was withdrawn, but with tho threat that it would bu 'reintroduced in . June, 1910, and possibly in a much more severe form. The Bill, it may be mentioned, is warmly supported by all the t tramwaymen's trado unions, and as the 5 Government is largely supported by the t unions generally, it appears to bo willing . to obey their behests, whatever the se- • quence may be. The Amending Bill prp- • vides that the Government may at any time order nn inspection of any tramj way, nnd may order any alteration, etc., t suggested by the person inspecting, may 5 inspect and license cars, prescribe the . maximum number of passengers to bo [ carried, prescribe- tho headway and speed j of tho cars, and fine any breach up to . iE2U. So far as we are aware, or our I information serves to show, tho Oovern- "• moat have no engineers in their service , who have had any outside tramway ex- [ perieilce, hence it is not surprising that all tho tramway authorities in the couni try are up iu arms against the proposals of tho Bill, which, if carried, would reduce- nil the owners of the tramways nnd : ell their experienced officials to mere figureheads. The' Mayors of Wellington and other towns have formed a deputa- . tion on tho subject to Mr. M'Kenzie, tho I Minister for Public Works, and pro- ; tested most vigorously ngainst tbe attempt to deprive 'tho municipalities of i the control of their own several under- \ takings. The Minister said there was nothing in the Bill to take away powers ! froia locnl bodies, but the municipalities : were not placated, and they appear to see no good reason why all tho municipal tramways of the country should bo penalised and made impotent simply because >hd Auckland Tramway Company : does not comply with the demands of the . trade unions ns voiced by the Ministry I of the day. Looked at from the British , standpoint, the situation is not devoid of piquancy, but in this country also, it ' may as well be remembered, we are not so remote from, 'democratic' dictation as ■ to be able to neglect the.warning from s bur Antipodean colonial relations."