OPPOSING VIEWS

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 51, 24 November 1930, Page 12

OPPOSING VIEWS

Striking a Balance RAILWAYS POLICY Minister Defines His Duty Dominion Special Service. Auckland, November 22. Expressing confidence in the future of the New Zealand railway system, the Hon. W. A. Veitch, Minister of Railways, when replying this morning to a deputation which protested against an increase in suburban workers’ fares, defined his general policy as being an endeavour to strike a balance between two opposing outlooks—a , commercially-run system and one providing uneconomical though valuable social services.

Mr. Veitch intimated that the department would continue to be used to provide those services as far as could be done without an unreasonable loss. “If I had £60,000,000 I would not be afraid to risk it in our railways,” said the Minister. “I believe the railways have a great future before them, both in the service they can perform and the profit that can be made as the years go by. The country is at present passing through a period of financial stress, and although that will not be overcome immediately it will be ultimately, and New Zealand will return to conditions of prosperity, the increased business of which will make the railways an entirely different proposition from what they are now.” Aid to Development. “I want to assure you that as far as I am concerned and the Government is concerned,” the Minister continued, “we do not look upon the railways merely as a means of extracting money from the public. They were established by public money and their chief aim is to aid and make possible the development of the country. If we get away from that policy and regard the department purely as a business concern to make money out of the people we will make a very great mistake indeed. We are indeed long past the stage at which it is possible to do S °it had been assumed, the Minister said, that the changes he had made since assuming the Railways portfolio were not having the effect of reducing railway losses, but the alterations were materially reducing the losses. In the last three months a saving of £150,000 had been effected. At the same time, if it could be shown that any feature of the economies that had been applied was not working out correctly he would not be foolish enough to adopt an attitude of blind obstinacy. He would seriously consider every complaint or suggestion he received, whether it came from Auckland or any other part of the country. The question had been raised as to whether the railways should be run as a purely commercial concern or as an undertaking to make losses, and heavy losses, m order to run uneconomic though valuable social services. Needs of the Public. “We must balance somewhere between the two extremes,” declared the Minister. “The worst extreme of all would be to make it a purely commercial concern without consideration of the needs of the public in respect to the services tiie railways give. When we come to analyse the railway accounts it must be recognised that the losses, which are a burden on the taxpayers, must always be seriously considered. Our attitude is that we will continue to use the department as a means of giving social services as far as that can be done without an unreasonable loss and the placing of too heavy a burden on the taxpayers. •She estimated loss for the present year was £1,300,000; that was a large sum of money, particularly when viewed on a weekly basis, and his object as Minister of Railways was to try to balance between the extremes of the two definite and opposing outlooks, both_ of which were pressing very hard on him. It was the duty of the Minister to stand between the two and try to act and to judge fairly between them and in the end to do whnt he thought best. Mr. Veitch said that one feature which had impressed him was the wonderful loyalty of the railway staff, from the general manager to the latest employed cadet. —