"TAKE THE GLOVES OFF!"

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 141, 17 June 1922, Page 6

"TAKE THE GLOVES OFF!"

RAILWAY OFFICERS' PROTEST

AGAINST CRITICISM FROM

OUTSIDE.

"That, with the exception of free passes for school children, all Tariff concessions to the.' public be withdrawn, or the Railway Department credited with the value of the services rendered.','

The foregoing was the subject of a remit from the Dunedin branch discussed at the conference of the New Zealand Railway Officers' Institute, and during the debate delegates were particularly severe in .dealing with organisations which have been criticising the railway service generally.

It was stated by several delegates that the time had arrived when the institute had to take the gloves off, ar.dl that in future attacks on the railway servics wouldi have to be promptly dealt with, as they were heartily sick and tirad of reading: the ignorant and ill-a/drvisedi comment that originated from oources that hadi but a hazy idea of railway transport work. Ordinarily, it was said, railwaymen had little to say regarding railway policy, as that was a matter for the-Go-vernment in power to decide; but when salaries, amd wageo were being attacked, it wae a duty railwaymen owed themselves and their wives and families' to show how the railways were being exploited by certain interests at tire expense of the men .who were employed in the work of railway transport/ In the circumstances1 the railwaymen were forced to retaliate.

It was stated that agricultural lime, which was earned free ov«t the railways up to 100 miles,, caused a, loss of railway revenue of thousands of poundo sterling each year. Sometimes trucks containing lime caught fire, and the Department had to pay for extinguishing the fire, or the truck was destroyed. Lime wa3 conveyed free to farmers from a kiln many miles distant, although in many instsnoeo another kiln was so close ai hoed that the farmers could cart the lime from there to their farmo. Often fanners had), their land improved by the lime that wa6 earned free for thecii by a benevolent railway service; but tlie transport of the products of the land was given to some motor firm. "Theaa people," said one delegate, "who \gefc concessions of this kind are never tired of slating lie. If the railways are to bs run as a, commercial concern, then full credit in pounds sterling must be given the railways."

. Mention was made of other commodities carried free, such as returned show exhibits, fruit cases, meat cases, fish cases, vegetable crates, egg crate 3, and stud stock returning from service, also that the freight on beef for export had been reduced recently. Another complaint was that newspaper managers, editors, and reporters were granted tickets at, a quarter of the ordinary fares, and that commercial travellers and their samples are conveyed at ridiculously low fares and rates. Members of Parliament and their wives and families also received attention, delegates claiming thfvt the cost of their conveyance should be credited to the railways, and debited to tho coat of Government.

"I have no fault to find," said one delegate, "with the Governor-General for being carried free over the railways, with his two motor-cars, polo ponies, chauffeurs, and other attendants, provided that some other department pays the piper, and Cabinet Ministers and their secretaries, with their" special carriages, should be dealt with similarly." The fact that two cwt of cream or milk is conveyed 150 miles for 3s 3d, and the cans returned free was another item that created much adverse comment, and it was also asserted that the issue of free passes to numerous' "distinguished visitors" and other people, should cease forthwith, or the Eailway Department Bhould be credited with the service rendered. When consignors require proof of delivery, they should be made to pay for it, was another item that was mentioned, and it was claimed that when a wrong description was made on a consignment note and a refund made, a charge should be made to compensate for the-search involved. It was stated that a big Auckland firm had been granted a Tefund on a large number of consignments extending over, two years, and.the necessary search was a costly proceeding for the_ Railway Department, and another similar refund was being applied for. It was also stated that freights were collected for shipping and other carrying companies, and that in some cases no commission -was charged, and a merely nominal commission in other cases. Finally the remit waa passed, and the executive was instructed to go into the matter thoroughly in order that "the public might be made acquainted with some of the reasons why the railways have shown a debit balance during the past year, although in previous years the railway credit balance considerably augmented the Consolidated Fund."