A RAILWAY NIGHT. h

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 105, 30 October 1912, Page 3

A RAILWAY NIGHT. h

IMPORTING A MANAGER OPPOSITION PROTESTS QUESTIONS OP PAY. Railways, in all their ramifications (ranging as far as tramways), gave the House of Representatives a congenial subject last night', when the Hon. W. H. Herries moved tho committal of the Railways Amendment Bill. The proposed importation of a general manager, tho pay of railwpy servants, and many other subjects were discussed lengthily. Soon after midnight, however, the debato rather languished, and the attendance was sparse and generally limp. DISSATISFACTION WITH THE MANAGEMENT. The Hon. \V. H. Herries moved the committal of the Government Railways Amendment Bill. They could not, he said, shut their eyes to the fact that there was dissatisfaction with tho management of the railways, and the Government proposed to. ask the High Commissioner to advertise for applications for a general manager, interview the applicants, and report to tho Government as to which was most suitable. He (the Minister) had also suggested that applications should be invited from Canada. He believed that for £3000 a year they could get a man who had been a district manager of one of tI«S large sections in , the Old Country or in Canada. They proposed to have & traffic man and hot a maintenance or a locomotive man. He hoped the House would agree to try the experiment, which was one of the policy proposals of the Government' and also of the preceding Mackenzie Government. INCREASE OF PAY. 1 As to the increases of salaries proposed, he said the Second Division had been treated well, and the increases proposed had been approved -. by the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants.' As to the First Division, .lie regretted he could' not go as far as th. Railway Officers' Institute wished him to go, but he had promised the institute to review the position next year. Ho found,, however, that, his predecessor had partly dealt with the Second Division, And he was glad that thaf had been done, but he could not see how they <iotili dissociate the question of cost frojn the question^ of pay. The public expected the railways to be run >as a paying concern. A 3} PER CENT.' POLICY. He hoped to got only 3§ per cent., and to give the large concessions now being given they had had to reduce the limit from the 4 per cent, aimed at by the Hon. J. A. Millar. If the estimate was reached he hoped to be able to make further concessions next year and bring the First Division into line with the- Post Office. At' any rate, next year he Ijoped to be able to remedy the grievances of the First Division. He ielt himself bound to Carry out, as far as possible, promises of his predecessors, and he had carried them out and added to them. The increases proposed would come into .force on Ist April next. For the first year the increase in the First Division would be -£6410 a year, second year £13,760, third year £14.520, and fourth year £14,805. The First Division had not had, an increase since 1907, and it was rather galling to find i oneself abused because the increase given was not sufficient. As to the Second Division, he said the increase meant an increase of £39.000 a year, in addition to the £44,000 given last year, and the A.S.R.S. had accepted the schedule in globo. When they got the. new manager' a opinion he was quite prepared to reopen ' the subject. He thought they had a Very valuable body of men in that branch of tie service, and with the limited number of hands available it was wonderful how the traffic was carried on. New Zealand might well be proud of its railway servants.OTHER SPEAKERS AGAINST IMPORTATION. Sir Joseph Ward said the initial mistake had been to try and take 4 per cent, out of the railways. He' was Minister of Railways for about eight years, ' during which time the Government agreed to borrow two and a half millions to practically re-lay the railways. He disagreed with the proposal to import a general manager. There were several places that had no railways, and he asked whether tho State should say that it would not assist settlement because it had to make 3s{ per cent., which, he declared, was more than the average rate of interest on the money expended. Hon. J: Allen': No, no. Sir Joseph Ward reiterated his argument, and contended that 3| per cent, was too much to take out of the railways, seeing that it had to be paid out of revenue after all the expenses of administration and renewal and maintenance had been paid.* He knew of no railway tracks which Were kept In such good Condition as those in.N-ew Zealand. Referring again to the question 'of the importation of a general manager, he wanted to- know what incentive there was to the chief men in the department if after they had achieved high positions they were debarred from getting the "plum" of the Service, and have an imported general manager put over them. He mentioned men capable of occupying the position : Mr. R. W. M'Villy, Chief Clerk ; Mr. Piper, Traffic Manager ; Mr. Bowler, , District Traffic Manager at Auckland; Mr. Mowatt, who was formerly managing the Manawatu Railway , for a time ; Mr. J. MacDonakl, stationmaster at Thorndon ; Mr. Jackson, locomotive engineer at Addington $ Mr. M'lntosh, inspecting engineer, and Mr. H. M'Andrew, all men of wide and varied experience, who had worked themselves up from the bqttom rung; of the ladder. There wore many more that he could mention, and yet they were to be passed by in favour of an imported man. He contended that the imported managers in West Australia and Victoria had not been satisfactory. Finally, Sir Joseph said he did not believe the Minister would have peace and content till the disparity between the wages and salaries ot the Post and Telegraph Department and the Railway Department was removed. The Post and Telegraph Department lived on cheap services to the public. The business was consequently large, and the resultant revenue, considerably' in excess of expenditure, permitted a better payment of the staff. He advocated a board of experts (the heads of the, traffic, maintenance and engineering departments) to act in conjunction with the Minister. WHAT IS THE INTEREST CHARGE? Mr. Myers opposed the suggestion of a board. He "held that with such a system proper . co-ordination and co-opera-tion would be practically impossible. Not one of the gentlemen named by Sir Joseph Ward was capable-^-and he used the word, advisedly— of being appointed general manager. They had lacked the necessary opportunities to qualify for such a difficult position, though they .were worthy men for other important work. An expert used to large organisation in an older country would soon become "colonialised." Enough could be saved by competent management of the Maintenance Department alone to v pay the, increase for the first division. ,He believed also that it would be profitable

to import an expert to report on engineering matters, and thus 'thousands of pounds could be saved. Some officers now in the Service should have a chance to travel, and improve their value by observation of large railway systems abroad. He would like the Minister of Railways to fui'nish succinctly a statement of the interest paid on money invested in the railways. The Mmister : We can't do it. Mr. Myers : As nearly as possible. He added that he thought 3|- per cent, would be a tair rate for the railways to earn. He hoped the Minister would ccc his way clear next year to . grant the full amount requested by the first division. He suggested a suspension of tho second express on the South Island Main - Trunk. He .had been .assured by commercial men in the South that one express train, daily would be enough for the , requirements of ( the ' public. With a new manager ppecially^qualified in traffic work there Would be*no need for traffic superintendent*, and thus £900 a year could be caved.' .Reduction of grades and curves would save msch money. The rolling-stock could be Used more profitably. The. working expenses per train mile were high in New Zealand compared with Australia. He hoped the Minister slioutd permit the reception of applications from New Zealanders and ■' Australians for tho general managership. AN AMENDMENT! Mr. Russell contended that the person whom the Minister had "in his minds-eye would never fnlfil' the expectations of the Minister. It was expected that a man, who had hie whole life before him would come out to .New Zealand for the paltry pittance of £3000 a year. The Minister would -obtain the services of a sectional manager (a young man), who had never comeinto touch with the general management. He would move the following amendment :—»" And the. House suggests that the Government should bring down an amendment to grant the concessions to the First Division as from lab ' April, 1913, which were recommended by the Railway Committee last year." Railway officers, he said, were not responsible for an increase or decrease ot revenue, and the decision of the Government to import a General Manager could only be regarded as a vote of want of confidence in the colonial officers* -under whose management two years ago the railways paid 4 per cent. " He added that it would only tak« an expenditure of £12,000 to allay "this seething discontent" among. a large body of men, and that amount could be raised by increasing tho freight on .wool by 4d a bale. Hon. ■W. tF. Massey : Are there no traction engines about? Mr. Russell : I can quite understand the objections to the wool being torched.' The Minister (Hon. ' W. H. Herrles) raised the point of order, that the amendment included an increase, of appropriation. " > The • Speaker ruled against' the point. The motion wae, he «aid, merely a suggestion to the Government./ Mr. Wilford contended that the whole credit of making the increase of wages proposed was due to* the ex-Minister of Railways, Mr. A. M. Myers. The present Minister of Railways was- merely carrying out an arrangement entered into between My. Myers and the A.S.R.S. But, he added, there would this y«ar/be a' record railway surplus, and he*- wanted to know why the increase did ' not Legii'i until, Ist April next year. _ He also protested against the regulation which prohibited railway men travelling on 'privilege ticket* from Wellington to Auckland during the summer holidays. t Mr. Russell's amendment was lost by 37 to 30, The question as to whether a railway manager should bo imported or not, together with the general provisions of the measure, was discussed at length. A DIVERSION TO TRAMWAYS. Mr. J. Vigor Brown claimed that an imported manager would first have- to be taught his business her"el He in; stanced the case of the Auckland tramv ways -where he said a .manager had been imported, and there was nothing but trouble and dissatisfaction. Mr. (A. M. Myers : One of the best men in Australia. The men are perfectly satisfied. .s. s Mr. Brown retorted that the management of the Wellington tram service was better than Auckland ; Dunedin was better still, and Christchurch was supreme. The Auckland cars were dirty. As to the management of the railway service, he said that when Mr. Ronayne Tetired the position should be given to the best brain in the service. Incidentally he complained that on the long-distance trains in tho North Island there -was no "sleeping accommodation for , second-class .passengers. There were sanatoria .open lor invalids, but the second-class passenger was always placed at a disadvantage. In conclusion, ho eaid he desired to enter his strong protest against the decision of the Government to send Home for a railways manager. . MR. BUDDO MILITANT.. , The Hon. D. Buddo congratulated the Government on increasing the salaries' of railway servants, but entered a strong protest against importing a general manager. The idea was the height of absurdity. Ho moved an amendment to the committal" of th« Bill:. "That this House disagrees with the proposal to pay £3000 a year for a general manager of railways who is to be imported from outside New Zealand." A MATTER OF "CLASS." Mr. L. M. Isitt aTgued that the Minister -was going .to introduce into this country a second- class man.The Minister : I did not cay that. Mr. Isitt i You say you are not going to get a first-class man, >and you say you are not going to get a second-class man. The only inference left is that you are going to get a third or fonrth-class man. Mr. Herries ; You arc putting ' words into my mouth I never used. Mr. Isitt went on to cay that the Government intended to secure a man and put him into foreign' environments. A short-distance man ' would be • put in control of long-distance railways. He insisted that a man born in England would never get ott with the colonials he would have to deal with. He suggested that aji expert should be secured from Home for one year for say, £5000. Incalculable good would surely result. Mr. W. C. Buchanan said that if the Mackenzie Government. 'of which the • member for Christchurch North— the Independent member — had been a supporter, carried out' its " proposal to rmport a general manager Mr. Isitt would Have taken a very different line of action. That gentleman had on many occasions taken up much time in expressing his opinions, but- he had utterly failed to convince i the House that he had any fixed opinions on this or any other question. Mr. G. Laurenson said that the proposal to import a general manager, although it had. been adopted; by the Mackenzie Government, of which he was a, member, had never been favoured by him. Nor had it ever bee,n favoured by the member for Chriatchurch North. He could not understand the Government^ introducing the Bill, and he was . satisfied they , would never * have done so had they not sbeen goaded on by the member for Wairarapa. - A QUESTION OF RISK. Mr. Veitch contended " that the Government was taking a very great risk in importing a young and ambitious manager. Even if the pi-agent management .was not efficient it did not <

prove that the whole staff was inefficient. The Bill as a wholo was a good measure, but ho could not support the proposal to import a general* manager. He urged that Parliament, so far as the earning capacity of the railway service was concerned, should fix a definite policy. He spoke approvingly of the good work done by Mr. Ronayne. Indeed, he considered it doubtful whether we would ever get a better man, considering the difficulties under which he laboured. He could not support the amendment. Sir James Carroll said he wife surprised at the indeceik'v hafte of the Minister of Railways on rushing this proposition on the Houss. He scouted tho suggestion that it was necessary to go outside for the intelligence and ability for a proper management of the railways It was an absolute insult to New Zealanders to aigue that they were not competent to manage their own affairs. A TIRED ASSEMBLY. Mr. M'Callum supported the amendment. _ , By this time, 12.35, the Minister, obviously bored, but cheerful withal, took a little exercise by strolling sljiwly to and fro at the rear of the Ministerial benches. The amendment was lost by 35 voteo to 28. Mr. Atmore complained of delay in the promotions of men entitled to move Up to higher grades. The factor of the value of the railways in promoting land Settlement, and therefore adding to the national wealth, had not been sufficiently considered by those who demanded a rigorous "paying policy." Mr. Poland stressed the need of a redress of the grievances in the service and regretted that , the Minister had aot seen fit to bring his new proposals into force until April next. Mr. Bradney said he could not understand why the railways should be run at a loss, as 1 was advocated by some members. The Main Trunk lines should pay 5 per cent. That would enable the Department to retake up the deficiencies on the lines that did not pay. Messrs. Ell and Young continued the debate till 1.35, when only about twenty members (including some prone on their, benches) were present. The Minister did not reply. The motion was carried on the voices