MR MAXWELL'S REPORT.

Evening Star, Issue 7476, 21 March 1888, Page 4

MR MAXWELL'S REPORT.

The following passages from Mr Maxwell's report on the European railways will be read with interest:—

With reference to the Italian railways, he saya: The lines belong to the State, but I they are leased by two great companies—the Adriatic and the Mediterranean. The Government retains a staff of engineers and auditors for the inspection of the lines and their working operations. The companies pay the Government a fixed interest on the capital, as well as a percentage on profit. The rates and fares are restricted by law ; they have all to be published by the companies, and approved by the Alinister for Public Works. The accounting is audited by the Government officers for the double purpose of settling the payments due to the Government by way of rental, and for restricting the rates and fares. The Italian system thus differs from the companyworked railways in other countries, inasmuch as the operations are conducted under a close Government scrutiny in many ways. In Belgium nearly all the railways are owned and worked by the State, having been either acquired or constructed by the Government. They are managed by a Board of professional officers appointed by, and answerable to, the Minister. These officers, I understand, arc the heads of the respective railway departments. The absorption of the remaining private railways appears to be actively going on. The general aspect of the stock and lines is superior to that of Italy. The same system of division of departments and of booking, accounting, and control prevails as is generally in operation elsewhere. The rates and fares are made subject to the Minister's approval, and are tabulated, as is the case in Italy. Special rates are published where necessary for the exigencies of trade and of competition in the markets, or with other carriers. The Belgian railway officers showed me great courtesy, and gave me facilities for seeing their traffic work and their shops. The carriages are lighted by paraffin gas. It is claimed that it is cheap and clean ; but what I saw was not especially good. The carriage and waggon stock is better than in Italy. Oil boxes are used, and the same class of American oil as we have adopted in New Zealand ; but recently a system of grease boxes for locomotives has been tried, which is said to be cheaper. Particulars were furnished to me, and I have already reported on the matter—the papers will have reached you through the Agent-General, in which I have recommended a trial. Passengers are allowed 561b of free luggage in Belgium, charges are made on the excess, and all luggage has to be booked except it is carried by the passenger. The rates and fares on the private companies' lines are under Government supervision; they have all to be approved by the Minister for Public Works, and to be published. The Belgian laws forbid personal preference in rates. I procured from the railway officers copies of the Belgian rates and fares, information about the rates of wages, and a copy oi their report. The inference I drew from private information was that the Government railways could not be worked so cheaply as private ones are, not because the management was inferior, but on account of political influences. It also appears that on national grounds the rates are fixed very low, and the country does not look for the railways to pay muoh interest on their cost in consequence, notwithstanding the excessively low rates of wages prevailing, which in many cases are not a third of what they are in New Zealand. In Belgium, then, the railways, for the most part, are Stateowned, and are worked by the Government under a professional Board, responsible to a Minister. The colony of Victoria has also a professional board to woik its railways ; but in that case the board has a status, which is not the case in Belgium. I understand that very similar causes operate in Belgium to those which have been experienced in New Zealand and elsewhere. Political and national considerations act to prevent the same financial results being obtained from working as are obtained by private enterprise. .In contrast to the Italian lines, however, the State-worked lines in Belgium appear to be better managed than the State-owned Italian lines, which are worked by companies. The Bhort time at my disposal prevented my making very close inquiries into the railway working in France. The French railways are for the most part worked by private companies; a small portion of the whole are, however, worked by the Government—as the system is some distance from Paris I could not visit it. I obtained a copy of the companies' rates on the northern eystem. The companies are compelled by law to publish their rates, wliich are sanctioned by Government. Personal preference is forbidden by law. The rates are

tabulated, similarly to the Belgian and Italian practice and our own. The lighting of carriages is of a mixed character, oil and gas; I saw nothing very brilliant of this kind. The lines are substantially built, and the appearance and working seemed very similar to the Belgian practice. Speaking of the English and Continental railways generally, Mr Maxwell says: " As regards rates and fares, I have, as stated, forwarded some of the official data thereon, and I have also inquired about the English rates; but the latter, on account of the system of rating, do not allow of a review being readily made. I may at the same time remark that comparisons of rates and fareß in operation in different countries, where conditions differ widely, are not of much value. The rate of wages is the main factor in working expenses. Rates of freight which might yield handsome profits in Belgium would involve heavy losses in New Zealand, where the rate of wages is about three times as great. The rates of wages in Victoria and New South Wales are probably higher than in New Zealand ; but those in New Zealand are in advance of those in the United States, and Btill more bo of those in Europe. In any examination of the question, therefore, this point must not be overlooked. Throughout the systems I visited, the lighting of the passengerBtations by electricity has been very generally adopted, and in some cases electricity has been applied to lighting goods-stations, to facilitate waggon-sorting and shunting at night. An interesting example of this class of work was shown to the members of the Railway Conference at Milan. Signals by trumpet are pretty generally used in sorting instead of by" the whistle. These stages of railway working are not yet reached in the colony, where the traffic is light. I have alluded to the systems* f primary control which I observed on the Continent, which comprise State lines worked by private companies under a limited Government sapervision, State lines worked for the Government by a professional board directly answerable to the Minister of the department, and private lines worked under the direction of boards of directors. Whatever system of primary control may prevail on all railways the practical working I rests with professional officers, and the departmental divisions fall naturally into the same groups, with similar systems of control, and subordinate duties with but slight differences in detail, except in respect to rating, where the English system of keeping rates in books at each station differs very considerably from the system of publishing all the rates in one book, as is done on the Continent of Europe, and in all the English colonies that I am acquainted with.