THE COMMISSION

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 139, 16 June 1930, Page 10

THE COMMISSION

NO REFLECTION ON OFFICER'S

A statement to the effect that the 'setting up of the Railway Commission was not a reflection on the officers of the Department was made by the Prime Minister (the Hon. G. W. Forbes). "The setting up of this Commission of investigation in respect to railway finance," said the Prime Minister, "is not to be taken as any reflection on the management and staff of the railway service. I recognise that the men who arc responsible for running the railways are capable and efficient officers, and that they arc actuated by a keen desire to get the best possible results from the service, both from a financial and a public utility point of view. They are not responsible for many of the points of policy, and it is in these directions that the Government feels that there is need for investigation. The railways administration, as such, is not on its trial, as has been suggested in some quarters, but it is the policy with which they have been entrusted which requires overhauling, so that Parliament and the country will clearly understand what are its weaknesses from a financial point of view, and what can bo done to remedy a very big loss now being thrown upon the taxpayer. We have.a large sum of money to provide in respect to working railways this year, as I havo indicated in the recent'survey of the national finances, and we have to decido how much of that can bo justifiably incurred in respect to the national utility services the railways are giving, what is a fair thing to ask the taxpayer to bear, and what economics can be effected in the operation of■ the railways."