TRAIN SERVICES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3047, 7 April 1917, Page 11

TRAIN SERVICES

PROTEST FROM THE HUTT CASE FOR THE DEPARTMENT ■ . HON. W. H. HERRIES REVIEWS POSITION f v , FULLY

'.:■'■'-'-' A; request that:he should stay his hand in;the matter, of the curtailment - .;of railway services -to', the suburbs was .: ;.made v to.the'..'Minister of' Railways (the Hon. W. H. Herrites) by. a deputation ... representing/ the'/. Hutt/;Valley •. .on .;■_ Thursday.'.; ■ As'.aiipears.:from'.the.-f ol- • ../: lowing account of the'.proceedings,the -'Minister.! was ■unable to promise the ■deputation tliat.-ltheir wish could be //granted. ■'.;"■; ■." '■':,■:.'.': '■ ■-.■, ;'• '.'■.'.-■'--;•. / ' ■ - '■■■'■.-. One Train. • ''.■■;'■.-/ \;;-Mr: T, MV Wilford, / 'M;P.,';whb in/ -.trpduced;tho deputation, said that he ■■■■■' canie in a dual capacity/as member -; for:the ''and/'as':chainnan: of . 'tho Patriotic Society. •.:': As chairman ;, of the Patriotic Society, his concern was -v with the troop train's, arid he had'como to.ask that every possible' consideration be given to soldiers: in the camps. The deputation represented the whole of ] the Hutt Valley; ami the: members of -"- ithad.-come to. point out to him howthe proposed scheme Of; curtailment 'would affect .the residents of that dis- • ■':.- trict.■'.- "■■lt" must'/jbe:,;understood that they had .com'ii.Vin;hp : ;carding -spirit.' ■ -'■ But if dislocation of: tlie traiii services- ': jwas necessary,' then it was surely' ad- ■'■ '.visible', that it should be fraught" with ■'as, little inconvenience .to the' people as possible. He'spoke of the inconvehi- . . ence that must be by several ;' classes . of; workers because, of the re- .. duction in trains,.: those most affected .!.:; being shop.girls,.wharf workers, men .;-in the.meat work's, civil servants, and .' others _ whose. work: necessitated their ./being in the: city late iii the evenings. ~. If 'there, were .to.'.be' no..trains these //people would be very seriously handi- ■ .V. capped," and the': effect would be that " ' they would be; drawn ,irito the city", to : .live, which would entail for;: many of . them heavy sacrifice.'. . He' 'admitted ...that .curtailment of .'services': might be /necessary, ..'but; he/ hoped.; that'. ..there ",.: could' be curtailment without coinplete disorganisation. The. deputation would .;. suggest .that'there should be-retained; ;. at least one. train late in the evening ..'/ run at, say, 9.3o.;o'clbck//.\ ""•/. Mr. H. Baldwin/ Mayor of Lower . Hutt, pointed out,■that',the suburbs of "Wellington' in, the Hutt Valley werey .'...-, not accessible ?by tram _ and 'bus services as were the suburbs,of Auckland, • Dunedin; or Cliristchurch. ..:..■ Owing to the action. of. tlie -.Government it was .. not possible for, private enterprise to ■'"..competei with-the railway to serve the ;'Hutt district, and for this reason he would,urge that the;people were entitled ,to ■:' some consideration. The people did not say there should be no /■■ curtailment, butl'they thought 'they "' should ;be provided'with one\ late train .■ to take them ftp: their homes -at, say,. : -9.30 or 10 o'clock.: 'If such a train ..."/as this were given all would be satis- '..;. fied. : .Among, those Who.had gone to ■• /reside, in the. HuttSValley were/many ;; wharf ': labourers; arid .'unless/ a 'late. •.'• train -were -givou,.\to them they would, .have, to sacrifice, their homes and their .savings "or give up their work ;o'n the ; .wharf.. : He mentioned also the diffi- //' cutties that would be in provid;/ing for supply of.the city_ if /...the; -proposed, reduction /were^c'arried //put/,;.''///////:/'/-/U/://'/*':' \ '

]■'■: V'Mr.yErP. Risliworthj who is a mem-' ' ber ofthe Education Board, put in a / plea for the young 'people who came in . ■> ,irpm.the Hutt district to attend-.the ;■ ..' Technical School, „the University,/and 1 "Banks ' / Collogc; >in the;- evenings; '/'? The : stopping' /' of ;i night .trains, ■.";; he said, ; ■•'would/.-■' /interfere with their: education. »He suggested that' the ../Government- had. not __■:. considered sufficiently, the effect ...the "/change was : going to have on certain • -essential, industries. Three hundred : watersidW workers'lived, in the Hutt :" -Valley; and on ' one occasion recently j- out of'2lo passengers on the outward. :'• 9.10 train''from 'Wellington there were' ' ,188 workers who had been in town fol.'/lowing'.; /their 'ordinary ■ occupations. / • Others: to "suffer- were -tho men in -.. banks,-shipping offices,' and mercantile -houses who were working- overtime '; doing, the work 'of the men who had already;gone oh active service.-; Many men and Tyoitien in shops would be rinV iinle to catch a train leaving at 6.14 p.m.' The result:would be.that many 'more people would be driven to live in ' town, and this would- cause extreme ■ 'congestion under'present already congested: conditions. ■~ He protested that the Department llad not looked : round enough for ways of avoiding this extreme step. There were 'many more /or loss leisured men-'who! would-be only ..... too glad to assist the Government in •,:.'•" this difficulty if volunteers were called / /..'•; to do work connected with the railway //,-:';services. He declared;, that by the ■/.''; /stoppage of the suburban service the V.'-'"-' Government would be able to release from the railways no more than six /men in'the Hutt district; " '■;•■'.•' Mr. Barron, -of Messrs. Dimock's ' bacon factory,', said/ that ■ ho was short of some fifteen hands in his' factory; and to make iip for the shortago his hands had'to!work late.'■ The /hands at>the meat works at"Ngahau- .'■'■■■ ranga; had to work a great deal of overtime also, and he claimed that as >> both works were engaged in the oxe- / .;•' cution. of orders for the Defence De- ,■■;■;, ■' partment or for the Imperial' Governyment, it ivas very important that the ■'overtime work should continue without -'.-; interruption. It would be impossible for the men to / remain on duty late ,-in,. the evenings if the late suburban ■- trains were .'stopped, because it would not be possible for them to get houses .near ±hoir work at Ngahaurangai' . Other Means of Transport. :■'"■■ Mr. J. .W. M'Ewan, Mayor of Petone, said he had great pleasure .in supporting the representations put forward by the other speakers. '■■ -He ~. pointed out to the Minister that if he decided', to discontinue the late suburban trains the men requiring to remain in the city late iii the evenings would have to find other means of transport. He had heard more than a hint of tho establishment' of motor-bus services,; and he believed that some such services would bo absolutely necessary. If they had to Ije rurij men would be required'to run them, and in the aggregate thero would be no saving of. men for military: service. He also spoke of tho effect of tho di'scontinu- ■ anco of evening, trains on the' attendance of boys' and girls at the technical schools in the city, saying that he did not think the present was a proper' time to allow technical education to be ". .neglected. . :

Mr. W. B. Lees said that it seemed to him unfair aud unreasonable' that tho residents in particular, suburbs should be put" under this very great disadvantage as compared with the poeple in other suburbs, such as Island Bay, Lyall Bay, and Day's Bay. To these places the transport services were to continue, and he suggested that if sacrifices were necessary they should be fairly spread over the whole community. Mr. E. P. J3unny said that he did not. understand, why all the penalty should fall on those people depending on one form.- of transport. If it was Becessary to exert pressure to get men,

, why should all the pressure be exerted on the railway services, especially on suburban railway services, when the consequences were so serious to those concerned. So far as he knew no pressure was being brought to bear on the ■ tramways in the city to induce the 'authorities.to.release men. Why should, the-railways be singled out as the only transport service to suffer?' •■ : Mr.'H.. E. Leighton said that as a . house agent in the city he knew that the people from the suburbs could not be accommodated in the city. . If an agent advertised a five-roomed bouse, centrally situated, oven now'he would find a queue,waiting outside liis office in tho morning. There were not enough •houses in the city to hold the people. ministetTreply : A TIME FOR;SPECIAL SACRIFICE. . Mr. Herries,-replying, said he was very glad to have an opportunity of speaking to the deputation; and he proposed to make, his reply rather more' ' lengthy .than he otherwise would,- he- , cause he recognised, the extreme importance' of the matter they had brought before him. Ho would take it for granted that : overy man in tho room desired the Government to do all it could to bring the war to a successful conclusion, and .to keep,up the reinforcements) He did not' intend to dwell on the necessity for keeping lip the 'reinforcements, except to.'say; that from what, we could see "of affairs at Homo there tea special need, this year for 'the country.to put every ounce of energy into the prosecution of the- war. There was a.; s°pecial- : appeal to sacrifice everything—even pur- now/ iii order to send men to the front. It ■ was evident from the speeches of Ministers and members of Parliament in. the Old .Country that- special-; 'efforts were-required to/end the war this year. ..The Government,'was imbued: •.with, the same idea, believing, that in order to keep' up our reinforcements we must be prepared if necessary to.make radical changes even in our manner of living. .--.., • / Opinion of the Country. It had been generally conceded ever since the Military Service Act camo into operation that if any inconvenience was to be suffered by anybody owing to the loss of men called up for active: service, the Government should set an example in their own Departments, that the Government ought noli to call on private firms and business men to send their men to the front unless the. Departments were thoroughly "combed out," and all the men sent that could be spared'. This was the opinion of. the country if one-could judge from the; tenor of the'leading articles in the newspapers throughout thecountry. The Railway Department haa been most abused for its policy in this matter, but the Department had sent from New Zealand SEOO of its men —a quarter of: its permanent staff. This he-claimed was a good record-for, the service to' have made under the voluntary' sy-stem._ • The Department, had in the meantime carried on busi-: ness -as usual, and the people of the Dominion ought to be thankful to the Railway Department for having carried on so long without subjeoting the 'public to inconvenience, because if sonle people had had their, way this reduction of. services)would have been made six months ago. He had stood against that demand, and said "Kb. It is my duty to the people to carry on the services until: the travelling season is over." Tho winter season was now coming on, and tho curtailment would be less seriously felt during the winter season' than during the summer. He was by public opinion, by-the desire of the Cabinet, and by the decisions ;of the' Military, Service Boards to let; some of hik men go to .the front. If he were to say that he would jiot allow a single railway man to go to the front-he would! be attacked from end.to,end of New Zealand/and asked to "resign his'position as Minister of. Railways. If the railways did not give up some men an extra burden must fall on somebody clse ; probably on the farmers, who were already saying that they could spare no more men, or on other Government Departments, such as the Post Office, which (were doling. their best under difficulties to servo the public; -

Short-handed Already, ■ .At the present'moment the Railway •Department had 800 men in a position something-like that of Mahomet's coffin. They had been drawn in'-.the ballot,.and they had been granted an extension'of.,time until-May 1. 'Some of those' men could not be spared under ; any scheme of retrenchment, and the Department w,ould have to renew its request for the exemption of some, of. the experts among;these men balloted: In 1 the'next ballot the Department: would probably lose about 200 more men, which would'mean that the Department must prepare at once to re'lease 1000 men for military service. They "had Been carrying on the business'as usual all this time, but they had been doing it short-handed, and he would ask: Was it fair to ask the men who were left to carry on an enormous ( business like the railways short-hand-ed? The railwaymen had responded manfully, and ho thought tho public should be very much indebted to them for-the'extra' service they had readily given without extra pay.-...T0 carry on as usual aftet losing 5500 men out of the 14,000 men regularly employed was a remarkable achievement. : But for the reason alone that the ,men could not-any longer be asked to go on doing so much extra work, some curtailment of services would have had to be made. -,'.'■'■•' Shortage of Coal. . The Department was faced also with a shortage of coal. At Christmas time, when there was a prospect of a general strike, and supplies were low because it had not been possible to replenish stocks from Australia; owing to the big coal strike at Newcastle, lie feared that a much more'drastic-scheme.than this would have to be introduced all over tho Dominion. Luckily the clouds cleared, and tho strike did not happen. He was glad to say that he had been able to get some coal accumulated since then, but there was still a shortage of coal, and the prospects wero that the shortage would get worse. It was well known that our own miners were not giving us the coal we should, expect from them, and it _ was not possiblo to get bottoms to bring from Australia all the coal that might bo used. If the. railways were kept running as usual, other businesses would have to go short. Possibly some freezing works would have to close down. .■'. A Request from Home. The Government had also been urged by the Home authorities to reduce railway services. * To show bow seriously the Homo Government regarded the matter, he would'rcad a communication' received by_ the High Commissioner from the Ministry of Munitions

in England. This letter contained a request that owing to the increasing difficulties of supplying us with steel materials for the construction of new locomotives and rolling stock, and even for the ropair of engines and rolling stock already in uso, tho Government here should reduce running to minimum.; This was an additional reason why some curtailment was necessary. Action was not Panicky. Ho hoped that he had given tho deputation some idea of the difficulties the Department had had to contend with. This matter had given him and the heads of the Railway .Department a great deal of concern. They had not rushed into it hurriedly; the measures proposed were not panic measures. The question had been under consideration for three or four months. Now they I had decided that the time had ari rived - when the Department must comb • out its men. If this was noi done the '■ time 'for the Second Division must • come round ■ sooner, and the Govern--1 ment'did not want to call on the niari ricd men until .every fit single man •• that could possibly bo spared had Decn > sent. The -Department would Jose revenue by this reduction of services. . Ho. did.not know how much revenue ■ they would lose, but the amount would ■ prpbably be' considerable. They vcro not doing this for pleasure; they were not idoing it, as had 'been suggested, out of pique against tho Defence De--1 partinent.,, .. Where Most Men Arc. ' Having satisfied themselves that a curtailment would have 'to be madey the next thing to consider was whether the aurtailment 'now proposed was a proper one or not. The primary object of the , curtailment was'to get more men for the reinforcements. It had been suggested that ho" should stop unnecessary services—that he should close down'the Otago Central line, for instance. But if he did this he would save very few-men because thore : wore not many men employed en the Otago Central line. If he kept the' line 1 open for .goods—and ho thought that it would be his duty to do that—and closed it for passengers, -be doubted whether he would be able' to release any men ap all from the line. It was not possible '.to close down on good's traffic. It was almost equally important to get our produce a/way to the ■Mother Country as to send her'help in men. To carry this produce' to the : ports mußt be the first duty of the Department. Good services wert essential; and he did not intend that they should be cut out. When they came to examine as to" where they could . make the greatest saving of men they d'ecTdeu that this could be best done in ..places where double and treble staffs were kept. If they could.work the traffic within certain hours a considerable number of men could 'be released at once. Unfortunately this plan would affect the suburban areas most. Head.mrtte'd freely that the suburban areas •would suffer more than any other part of the railway system, but this must be because the bulk of the men were employed there. The men were not in •the Otago Central or the Kaihu Valley services. The closing of these lines ; would not matter to the Railway Department, but they would! not get any men by it. They had to make the out where the greatest number of men we're employed. It was said now that the Separtment were making the cut in an unnecessary way. One'of tho speakers had said that only six men could be saved by the cutting of the.' services on the Hutt line. That estimate was entirely . wrong. If that were so they would' not be doing anything. They were going to liberate a very "much larger number than that. He did not - know, exactly how many, :but.th'e number'to be saved by iedlucing' the suburban' services- all oyer the -Dominion 1 would be considerable:-■And-forthe Hutt line six was a ridiculously low estimate.. The Employment of Women and Old Men. It had been suggested that the Department could make a saving by the employment of women and superannuated' men, hut unfortunately tlie men the Department had! given, and were now asked to give, wero the most active and the youngest in tho Service. These werb the very'men. that it would not be possible to replace with women or superannuated men. Women could not work as shunters or as drivers or firemen. Nor could they be employed as guards, for part of the work of guards was to handlo luggage. Women could bo used! in the offices., but the Department had no difficulty about the offices. They had hundreds of young cadets ready waiting to got into offices as their turn came. Tho trouble was that'the men they had to send to the front were the very men that could not he replace'd with women or superannuated; men. It would be noticed, however, that-proposals'Ayere be-. ■ ing made for the alteration of our ticket system. This system was being simplified in'order that women might be employed as collectors in the suburban areas. It would never be' possible to have women working as collectors on the express trains between Wellington and Auckland. The duties of a guard on some runs' were not such as could be undertaken by women. A guard had sometimes to deal with a refractory nasseiiger. This did not occur so often in the suburban trains, and in order to-make it possible for women to do the work, the ticket system was being , simplified so that an inexperienced per- i son might act as a ticket collector. It \ should be remembered that the Rail- 1 wav Service was run by trained men, ■ and that the -position of a railway : guard was not at all like that of a ( tram conductor. A man had to go ( through a training in the Department , before he could be of much use. j . ■ i Essential Industries. The strongest part of the argument put forward by the deputation was that some of the essential industries ■ would suffer by the reduction of ser- , vices, and especially by the taking . taking away of some of the late trains. . He would point out, however, that if he,were to put on a train at 9 o'clock n't night, he would have to bring back i a separate staff to run it. It would ■'■ not be fair to ask the men working ; through the day—say; from seven till , seven —to come back and run an extra ; train. The result would be that fewv ! men would..be released to go to the front, and. the who'e object of the nut would be defeated. To run an extra trnin in this wav would require not j onlv the services of a guard and an pngine-drivnr. as ninny people sunups- ( cd: it 'w.nM renuir" signalmen, clerks, i in the office, and all the Paraphernalia of the PniUvay KtviV", Ho was quite ; nwsire of the difficulties thai some nf ( th" essential inYluitiros would have'to t suffer under, hut he could see no help fnr them. T-Tn would suggest to tl"> controllers of'tboso businesses to see if ] therewas no other wov out of the dif- ( ficultios than by .asking the Railwav Department to refuse to send men to ( tho front. If the people demanded that services must go o.n as usual, then lie t would have to sav. to the Defence/Do"- : partinent: "We crji't snare a-iiv more < n men." He did not think anv members nf the deputatin" wished him to do ' that. -lust as thpr;> were a rrroat ( munv people who thoiirht thev knew ' all about bow to run the war, there were a lot nf men who thought thov could nil', the Tailwavs. AVby should they nof use their great brains now to I try to discover how the transport of.l '

flm country ws In 22 on if the trains did not run? ''Phey certainly ought fo 'think a'lonfc it, h>cinso if tlio shortac nf coal became acuta a much bigger cut than this one would have to he made.

i The men in charge of .these businesses ; that were going v> ' be embarrassed 1 must, endeavour to accommodato their ir businesses to the times of the trains i running. When there was an honest ! endeavour- on the part of the Railway t Department to meet a national emergency, all must lay their heads together i to meet the position. The Department • was trying to proyifb trains to bring people into the City to work, and trains to take them home again. This j would provide for normal work, and 3 the Department should not be asked to { provide for abnormal work at the ex--1 pense of refusing to send men to tight, i . 1 b Soldiers' Trains. 5 Referring to the demand for soldiers' i trains, he said that this was a matter l between the Defonee Department and ' the. Railways. If the Defence Depart- ■ ment said the.y wanted trains, the ) Railway Department would supply : the trains. "You may be quite '■> certain," ho said, "that the Minister • of Defence and the Minister of Itail- : ways do not want to impose any iinduc 1 hardships on the soldiers. We did not 1 put trains on for the troops for the ■ reason that if we had done so you • would immediately have had the arguj ment, 'You are putting on all 'these 1 men to take the' troops back; why > can't you put on trains for us?' " 1 A voice: We recognise the soldiers ' come first. Mr. Herries: 1 say this, deputation would ask for that, but I might have another. He. went on to say, howover, that it would be foolish from a business • point of view for the Department to refuse to use the staff, when it-was brought back for. troop trains, to run trains for other passengers who wore offering. 'But on the other hand, the Department might .vet get/to the position when it would liavo to; discourage travelling, when -it would have to try to prevent people from travelling. This was- the first cut in services. When the time came for drawing upon the x Second Division there would have to be a much deeper cut. They might get to the position that had been reached "in England, where a man had to get permission to travel. \ They might then bo running only two expresses • a week to Auckland. If tho war continued very much longer tho people might have to make very much greater sacrifices than those they were now asked to make. It was not the desire of the Railway Department;to>do any harm to industries, or to prevent children' from getting to school. He quite admitted that this rearrangement .of service would make it difficult for some children, to go to certain classes,, hut this would have 1 to be met by alteration of the hours of education. If men were not taken from the .railways they would have .to come from somewhere else. If the city people insisted on keeping all their advantages the farmer would have to suffer. He would appeal to the patriotism of the members of the deputation, ana would ask them to assist tho Departmont. in a very difficult position, ■fcus objeot was to release a maximum ot men with a minimum of inconveni-' ence, and when tho time-table came out he would be only too glad to couan i Y I L orl i a W o .suggestions from the people affected. The change would mean loss and inconvenience to the 1 railways as well as to, the public, but they should all remember that by making sacrifices at this time thev were materially assisting the British Empire. v. Local Matters. ; . Mr. Baldwin suggested that, tho prolate train on Saturday-night be replaced by one on Friday night, this being the late night for the shops in Wellington. i * Mr. Herries said tliat this was one of the matters that might lie adjusted. Saturday night had fixed as the night, most likely 'to suit the whole country, butjf it, was, not suitable in some places' it could be altered. ' Mr. Herries went on to refer to the matter of milk supply. He was informed that all the milk for Wellington from side came in by motor wagon. It seemed to him that the same system oould be introduced with regard to the milk fronrthe Huff Valley. This was within tho bounds of possibility, and it would be unreasonable to ask for a train to he run Specially for milk. The running of this train woifkl break into-the rule about Sunday trains, and the disconSunday trains was" one of the cardinal features of the cut. Mr. Wilford said that he would not presume_ to judge as to the necessity of reducing the staffs for suburban services to one shift, but he would suggest that a general • rule for application to the whole Dominion might not, owing to the peculiar situation of Wel-lington,-bo applicable liere. .•• , ( 'Mr. Herries said that the Department would be only too glad to receivo any reasonable suggestion from the people affected when the details of the scheme were announced.