TE ARO RAILWAY MR. PILCHER'S REPLY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 45, 21 August 1912, Page 3

TE ARO RAILWAY MR. PILCHER'S REPLY.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, — The simple and convincing narrative in which I exposed the true reasons for Mr. A. L. Hunt's violent hostility and ill-feeling towards his colleagues on. the executive of the Chamber of Commerce seems to have made that gentleman extremely angry. lam quite prepared to adopt his summary of my argument as a strictly correct view of the position, as applied to the Te Aro railway. He may be surprised to learn that the "axiom" he has credited to me is simply another version of a principle well known to railway managers, viz., that low-class traffic at cheap rates seldom or never pays its share of expenses and profit. He will not pretend to deny (having once been a stationmaster) that every additional ton hauled over the Te Aro railway will increase its working expenses, nor can he assert, in face ot the official figures, that any revenue whatever is derived from the Te Aro line per se. No one would be a penny the worse if the lino closed to-morrow, and not sixpenn'orth of additional revenue would accrue to the Te Aro or Wellington section as a whole, either from goods or passengers, if all the trains ran to that end ot the station yard. The present loss, which was much greater before the reduction of train services between Lambton and Te Aro a few years ago, would, therefore, be increased in proportion to the extra haulage involved, as there would be no revenue to cover it. My contentions are amply confirmed by Mr. Hunt's assertion that a roadside wagon on the goods trains would be sufficient for Te Aro. If this is so, and I have no doubt he is quite correct, why bother about a goods-shed, when an empty piano case would satisfy his wants? A couple of lorries would deliver the contents of half a dozen roadside wagons in a few hours, at far less cosfc. Mr. Hunt misunderstands my statement that reloaded goods would reach Te Aro only after considerable delay. I said nothing about the time taken on the journey. " Delay must occur_ in transferring, and even if.Mr. Hunt himself were still a stationmaster, the necessity for transferring" certain goods could not be avoided in. the circumstances. Live stock, of course, in truck loads is dealt withes promptly as possible, taking precedence of all other traffic except passengers, but what live stock does Mr. Hunt expect to deal with at Te Aro? Timber in full truck loads would undoubtedly have to be sorted out and shunted down Jervois-quay as I stated, but he is woefully ignorant, considering his experience, if he does not know that many thousands of feet of timber are carried as small lots, and at goods rates, in trucks with other goods, which would require sorting. Through rates would not cover the charge for sorting, handling, and hauling between the terminal station and the Te Aro sidings, nor would the erection of a goods shed make that place a terminus. The through rates would still end at Thomdon or Lambton, or the future Wellington Station, for the reason I gave, viz. 2 that there would be no full train loads to go through. Passengers will suit their own' convenience, and when their homes aro within easy reach of a tramway stopping place they will use the trams, in spite of Mr. Hunt. If they drive, it' matters little what station they use. , If they walk, they do so from choice. 1 suggest that Mr. Hunt should get his representative ■• to move in Parliament lor the production of a return showing the working cost and revenue, past, present,- and prospective, of the Te Aro railway. The information, lam sure, would open the eyes of some of his sympathisers. The final paragraph of Mr. Hunt's letter sounds rather mysterious, and I have not yet grasped its inner meaning. If, however, there are inaccuracies m the historyof the "movement" which I have supplied, why does he not correct them? My facts are taken from the printed reports of the chamber, and my own notes, and where there has been any doubt, reference has been made to the council minutes. Perhaps Mr. Hunt might, while he is at it, account for the fact that out of a membership of more than 200, he could not get, at a meeting organised by himself, more than eleven to support his resolution (and one of those was an ex-member). — I am, etc., _ , , E. G. PILCHER. 19th August.