TRANSPORT BIAS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 57, 8 March 1932, Page 8

TRANSPORT BIAS

MANIPULATION ELANS

AUSTRALIAN RAILWMS

STATE Y. STATE

Competition of railways, roads, and waterways is a problem the world over; and New Zealand and Australia share many aspects of this common problem; but Australia possesses ill addition the troubles arising as between State and State, and as between Commonwealth, and States. One railway-owning Government is bad eno.ugh, but what about seven? Particularly when-the attitude: of Government to Government is dia-mond-cut-diamond. ;

The state railway systems in Australia are mechanically sundered by different gauges, and are political! y sundered by warring rate systems. "!Lt seems to be almost impossible," writes Professor Hyttih in the "Sydney Morning Herald," that "goods shall crqiss a State border, because of the penalty imposed by the receiving State, whitjh will do everything in its power to foster trade with its own capital. In this wiay goods do not always reach their natural geographic market on account of iihe artificial obstacles presented by Sfcate borders, and the economic waste resulting is not easy, to calculate."

IF WE DID IT IN NEW ZEALANI>—!

How strange it would be if Wclirngton and Auckland were separate States owning unequal shares of the Worth Island Main Trunk railway, and if Wellington adopted railway rates calculated to bring Waikato business to Wellington or if Auckland by the same means diverted Wairarapa business to Auckland. Yet the Professor des<»a:ibes a similar anti-geographic plot in Australia:—

"On account of the strategic petition of • Sydney, New South Wales ifo the greatest sinner in this respect. A glance at the map will show how that State, by a conscious rate policy, can attract to Sydney a great deal of trade that but for' State boundaries would* go to Adelaide, Melbourne, or Brisbane. The most important of this trade is the Eiverina trade, a great deal more of which ought to belong to Melbourne. The Victorian railways have some compensation in the part of the frrade to the Mallee which ought to go to Adelaide, but is more sinned agai pst than sinning; while South Australia and Queensland are almost withoul; sin, because they lack the oppoctu nity. . . There are, perhaps, not many ittiomalies as glaring as that brought b <;f ore the recent Victorian Eoyal Comm fission by a Victorian manufacturer, but it serves to show the ends to wffiich competing railways will. go. Bte pointed out that it was cheaper to wnd some classes of goods from Melborpfne to the Eiverina by steamer via Syiclney than by the direct rail route. Thps is obviously very wasteful, since tl ue distance from Sydney alone is greatc ir than the distance from Melbourne."

In the ease of a country tfliat lives— as Australia and New Zesi&md live— on the export of primary -produce, the cost of transport is a vital fiactor. Australian economists see that of their huge reconstruction job. is to rid transport of the cost-factor ressilting from State railway rates that cause overhaulage, and from differences of gauge and of standards. (A tra msport problem from which unified Near Zealand is luckily free.) "A great deal .of time and energy has been spent on the question of a uniform gauge in Australia. No doubt the breaks of gauge presfiint a serious obstacle to economical working, but it seems extremely doubtful -whether Aus- • tralia can afford the hugej. sum required to convert the different So'stems to one gauge. It may be a question to be faced in the future, but f|jr the present there are far more important matters to be dealt with. - ; WHERE "CO-ORDINA/MCON" IS NOT "Standardisation of ifjqiuipmcnt alone •may save the Australian! railways considerable sums. / The •Commonwealth Eailways Commissioner? (Mr. G. A. Gahan) showed in his* recent report that there were in Australia approximately. 3900 locomotive p of 162 different types, and 7700 passenger vehicles, of 584 types. It .se cms from these figures that it would tie possible for the individual States to t reduce considerably the number c\- types of rolling stock, and a more general standardisation agreed upon bet-\sr>en States should be capable of great sjavings. "Standardisation -of equipment was one of the chief objectives of the British amalgamatioi jf. of 1921, and American railways have achieved a great deal in this respect. Standardisation means lower stocks of spare parts, cheaper mampfacture, less expenditure on drawing office and inspecting staffs, and grca'fcr general convenience." : _ Besides the interstate problems, with-m-a-State problems are being attacked m different ways I fry different Governments. Mr. Lang is again to the fore His quarrels, as railway-owner, with I road traffic, including the carts of market gardeners, ha,re been advertised, but it seems now Vhiat he is even jealous of the stock route's and at war with the drovers. Ay New South Wales State Governmen h proposal to sell Crown lands hitherto used as stock routes in railwa/ r --ed districts led to a curious developnjient at the last meeting 'of the New South Wales Graziers' Association, which debated the wisdom and justice of ft. minatory declaration thaf at some tfnture date buyers of the converted sfjoek route land shall be liable to resunjption without compensation. The resolution was not carried in that form, lint the discussion serves to illustrate tbie danger of a political treatment of ijroperty rights, and the possibility of "'reprisals3' against landtitles on which a political taint may be deemed to rest through too much interference of Go \rerninent in business. ATTAINTING- TITLES. The Graziersj3 Association ultimately contented itself with a protest against the Minister's ■"expressed intention of revoking travelling stock routes running in the's-Anve direction as or parallel with railways." But first of all there was considerable discussion on a proposal from. Armidale that the opposition parties in the State Parliament be urged to promise that any stock routes or rennrves alienated by the present Lang; Government would be resumed without compensation immediately there w.js a change of Government. It was regarded by some delegates as a form of a-epudiation, while others thought it vrould prevent opportunists taking advantage of the present position to expl c*it the public. An amendment to eul; out the words "without compensation" was rejected by 45 votes to 33 ji and the division on the original motion was equal—46 voting for and agjainst. The chairman (Mr. F. H. TodcQ, giving his casting vote against the motion, said he was quite convinced i'j'iat the reserves and stock routes should not be alienated. At the same tim b any innocent person who had become, a party to a transaction should not "be made to suffer. It would, appear that under Mr. Lang all transrtort administration in New South Wales will be carried out with a railway bias. If he destroys the Legislative Council, ho may be able to get things d-pne. Then another Government wilH come along to get things undone. With various Governments in Australia all engaged in their own ideas of co-ordination, the process of. doing anjil undoing seems to be without checJs and without time-limit. j