RAILWAY CONTROL

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 31, 6 February 1941, Page 10

RAILWAY CONTROL

THE NEW MINISTER

ADDRESS TO WORKERS

FINE WAR EFFORT

The new Minister of Railways (Mr. Semple) made his first official contact with representatives of the Amalgamated Society of Railwaymen this week when he attended the society's biennial conference of delegates from all parts of the Dominion, which is being held in Wellington.

' A welcome was extended to the j Minister oy the president, Mr. S. W. Gaspar (Dunedin), who assured him that' he would receive the maximum co-operation from members of the organisation. Mr. Gaspar asked the Minister to convey to the Government j the thanks and appreciation of railwaymen for the great progress they had made under its administration. Mr. Semple said that it would be his privilege and duty to work amicably with the organisation. "Some men," he continued, "call me a hard taskmaster, but to the man who pulls his weight I am a friend; to the man who does not I am an uncompromising enemy." He was not, he added, going to pass judgment on the railways until he had had a good look round the institution. The period from November, 1935, till the outbreak of war had been one of continuous progress for railwaymen in the matter of increased wages and improved hours, said the Minister. During the five years the total amount expended in concessions to the staff, including the cost-of-living allowance granted in August, 1940. had reached £5,230,000. THE ARMED FORCES. The war effort today was of paramount importance. Conspicuous success followed the appeal to the railway service for the formation at short notice in June, 1940, of two operating railway companies and a second railway construction company. Including approximately 980 men serving in the specialised companies, the number of railwaymen in the Army, Navy, and Air Service now exceeded 2500, while a proportion of the staff varying from 500 to 600 had, during the last six months, been on leave undergoing Territorial training. / After the Minister's visit, the conference unanimously adopted the following resolution: "That this biennial conference of the A.S.R.S. places on record its keen appreciation of Mr. Semple for his presence at this conference, and pledges its complete co-operation with the Government, through the Minister, in the Government's war effort. We reaffirm our complete confidence in the Labour Government, and pledge ourselves to the fullest possible co-opera-tion with the Minister of Railways in his efforts to assist the workers in the railway service."