TOWN EDITION. Evening Post TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1881.

Evening Post, Volume XXII, Issue 99, 25 October 1881, Page 2

TOWN EDITION. Evening Post TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1881.

? To every New Zealand colonist who takes an earnest and intelligent interest in the affairs of his adopted country, the importance of the periodical returns which are published of the business transacted on the Government railways cannot fail to commend itself. New Zealand is pre-eminently the railway-making community of the whole world. Railway construction may almost be said to be New Zealand's trade or profession as a colony. No other country in the whole world has so large a railway mileage relatively to its population. At the present time wo havo actually a mile of working railway to every 375 of European population. If we include the Native race, then we have a mile of railway to every 400 persons, men, women, and children. We have invested in railway construction ten millions of borrowed capital, on which we have to pay interest to the amount of half a million annually. We still purpose to continue the undertaking, and cheerfully contemplate tho prospect of investing, directly or indirectly, several millions more in completing the Bystem of railway reticulation in both Islands. Under these circumstances it is naturally a matter of serious concern whether the enterprise is likely to prove a profitable one. There is, however, a wide difference between the conditions of profitableness as regards the railways made elsewhere by joint stock companies, and our colonial lines. The former are undertaken ag investments for the sake of the profits anticipated to accrue. '1 ho latter might, iv some cases, be substantially remunerative, even if they did not return a penny beyond their bare working expenses. The primary object of the New Zealand State railways was not mere money -making by means of the direct profits from their working 1 , but the benefits which they would confer indirectly by opening up the country. For our present purpose, however, wo may take for granted tho indirect but substantial advantages acoruing from railway construction. Our object is to show that although, even if no direct profits were derived, the facilities afforded by our railways might still be worth paying half a million a year for, this consideration does not arise, because even as a commercial speculation our railways already are proving profitable far beyond any reasonable expectations V\ c will now proceed to examine the results of their working during the first half of the current financial year, and we are convinced that those of our readers who take the trouble to follow us will have the gratification of recognising that these are eminently satisfac.ory. From the official returns, which we published yesterday, it would be seen that the gross rtccipts during the first 24 weeks ot the current financial year amounted to .£400,331. Thi3 is at the rate of about .£867 000 per annum assuming the same average to be continued to the 31st March next. An opinion has been expressed that a much larger sum than this will be realised, because the first six months " are the worst period of the year." We cannot endorse this view. April, May, and June are notably three of the most profitable months of the twelve, because they take in the best part of the Southern " grain season," and it was one of the complaints made against Major Atkinson by his predecessors that in making the financial year end on the 31st March, he caused the deficit to appear greater than it really was. because tuis arrangement involved the exclusion of the April, May, and June railway returns for that year, those being the best paying months, with the single exception, perhaj.B, of March. We shall, of o-urse, be delighted to find the railway revenue realising a larger sum than that which, as shown above, would be the result ot the average up to the I7ih ult being continued io the end of the y«.ar, but we do not deem it sale to calculate on any very iLat-riai improvement- Onr own estimate of tne gioss revenue likely to be received from our railways this year hns alway3 been about .£&7a,000, as against -C'Jl't.OOO estimated by the Colonial Treasurer. Wo shall rejoice if his estimate prove the more accurate of the two, but at '

present tho chances are in favoufc of the smaller sum. Let us assume, however, that only the 24 weeks' average is maintained, and that the gross receipts for the year amount to Even that would be an increase of .£31.000 over last year's receipts. But it is not bo mnch to the gross as to the net proceeds that we have to look in order to discover our real position. Were Major Atkinson's estimate to be exceeded by .£IOO,OOO, that excess would not be an unmixed blessing if it wero attended with an undue increase in the 1 working expenses. Supposing our railways broughtin .£1,000,000 per annum, a result which a few years will assuredly see realised, that would be cold comfort to the taxpayers if the working expenses amounted to ,£900,000, and the bulk of the interest had to come out of the said taxpayers' pockets. Fortunately the net profits show a still more marked increase than the gross receipts. The latter are larger by .£23,825 for the 24 weeks than for tho corresponding period of last year. But the net profits are no less than in excess of thoßO realised during the first 24 weeks of 1880, and if this rate were to continue to the close of the current financial period it would give a total net profit of ,£401,000 for the year. Now we do not anticipate quite bo favourable a result as this, because large savings were effected in the wenrking of the railways dnriDg the latter half of last year, and it is therefore scarcely probable that there will be so great a difference between the latter halves of the two years a3 between the earlier halves. Still if once again we fall back on the lowest possible rate of gross receipts, and the highest possible ratio of expenditure, that would yet leave us a net profit of .£360 000 for the year. The actual result, therefore, not calculating on any extraordinary circumstances either favourable or unfavourable, will almost certainly lie between these two Bumß .£3G0,000 and .£401,000, and wo may fairly expect will bo nearer the latter than the former. When it is recollected that our population, Maoris included, is only 400 to every mile of working railway, while that of the United States is 600 per mile, of Great Britain 2000, and of France 3COO per mile, the result s yielded fo far by our incomplete and disconnected fragments of railways must be deemed __ highly satisfactory, and eminently encouraging the completion and continuation of our colonial main lineß.

OUR RAILWAY PROFITS.