CORRESPONDENCE. THE BUDGET & THE RAILWAYS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 62, 11 September 1911, Page 8

CORRESPONDENCE. THE BUDGET & THE RAILWAYS

tO TKB BCtlon. Sir,— l am not by any means a blind, '"Unreasoning Opponent of the Government, r but 1 like, the truth and a square deal, „* and there are instnnccs in the Budget where wo don't get the truth, ( and; with '.' regard to tho railways we don t get the »»quttr6 deal. t As to tho Budget, thoro is shown "Net \ debt £?9,30?,d88,'' and assate $93,348,575." Now, sir, in these assets appears ati item, value of lands hold 08 ' " jseourity for amount? borrowed for ad* ■ vances to settlers and workpis, ;£20,p00,000. Under tho heading of lia- ' 4*iliti<3B appear items, advances to settlors ' - fc56,974,93b, and to Workers £964,765, tojtal- ,„ Sing £7,939,700. To increase this amount/ " to £20,000,000 on tho assets gido i% wilfully -' misleading, because ,tho Government's ' asset tho iimoutit they havo advanced ' (because of tho simple fact that they can ( « under no circumstances recover more than ' 'their stivances. A clear proof of this is Tight here, thnt the borrowers can pledge tho security behind the Govermuput a* vanaelPby way of second' mortgages. . the assets of £93,348,575 aro clearly reduced by £12,060,300, which puts «tteh assets at £81,288,275. > 'Tbefl, again, sir, 1 Understand the derj .posits in the Post Office Savings Bank , .amount to some £14,000,000. Where, then, rfs this liability shown and recounted for? Is it an addition to the debt of eighty .millions, thus making tho debt nitiety- . iour milliona, or is there an investment „ ioard fdi 1 the Savings Bank deposits, as in the ottse of the Government Insurance? ' I don't know much about the affairs of '- this country, but perhaps, sir, you will t , examine these and oilier matters in tho - budget. "-. .Now, as to the Railways. The- Minister continually harped upon his dotcr- .. initiation to run tho railways on business - lines and make them pay ttieir way. This ifae has done to tho best of his possibilities, 1 ,yith tho result that tho employees have • rtrad to pay the piper, and for this very 7 good reason that ifc is impassible, to run a • concern in a buaifiess-liko way when the concern was never built or founded on a ibusiftftos'hko hH*'t9, What 1 mean by this ,js that hues wore built— such as tho Otngo Ofttttra and others— which pay a few ahillittjgs per cent.,' and which were poK* .tical jobs. Tho loss on such lines is so .great as to seriously overload the good lines when the Minister is determined 'to „ make the rai|wttys as a whole pay their • tf'ay. And, further, the railways aro ""laAmentrtlly sufficient for generations, .•which, of course, means that the early •generations and small population are over-railroaded. . But railways are adfflitftsdly so necessary that even this is. a £<K>d point, but then they require han- . tiling from the dual point of business and „' statesmanship. This means that justice *hould be done 'to the employees, and if .the result was not sufficient for expenses, ih.Q balance should bo met by general ,#pation, as was very wisely done before *he.ttdvent of tho Hon. J. A. Millar as for Railway*. Recently there appeared now regulations for tho Civil Service, which, inter -alia, set out that two Weeks' leave would jbe given to members with service up to ttftoen years, and three wedks for service «ver fifteen years, and five days for sick ueave, and then was added j This applies no all Government officers except the Railways, ' Poor miserable devils of railway" men— worst puid, harde&t and longest ,worked, worst holidays, no sick alfowtance, heaviest and oftenest punished for lapses and errors; and ail said and don* Un. the great majority of cases they are [railway-men—- Government clerk, postmaster, and telegraphist lolled into one. Bah ! Justice i& dead. Now, the absence pt sick leave is a "crime." Every day a S«M 1S j?°H °5, h ,ii holi days. Recently there died in Wellington a most honoured employee. He was aged and ,ill and laid up. Ho fretted over the ■erospeefc of losing his holidays, and took itne risk of going back to work and try ■to preserve some, of his holiday, and worked a. few days, went home, and died. Will the people give the railway em.ployeesa square deal? They only want -ithft basis they are entitled to, and that J9 f as the equal for services rendered and £iven to other Government departments. *- 1 am, etc., TOO OLD AND TOO LONG AT IT ! TO CHUCK IT. Duaedin, Blh September, |