RAILWAY RETRENCHMENT

Greymouth Evening Star, 6 May 1931, Page 2

RAILWAY RETRENCHMENT

CHOICE OF TWO EVILS. [per press association.] WELLINGTON, May 5. Ata farewell to Mr J.' Brown, District Traffic Manager of Railways, who is retiring on superannuation, Mr Sterling, General Manager, referring to retrenchment in the Department, said: — It is in the interest of all concerned, not only in the interests of the taxpayer, but in the interests of industry itself and every niember in it, that we should as far as possible, and with as little hardship as we can inflict, bring our industry to a state of economic stability. Two issues are faced in administration: (1) to retrnech from the bottom, or adopt the principle of the last on first off, or something of that character, .and put out those who might come within the sphere of such principle without regard to how they are going to stand after they have lost their jobs in the Department, and (2) on the other hand there is the alternative of seeing if we could, not reduce the staff in a way that would give those who were going out at least something to help them to discharge their economic, social and domestic responsibilities. I think if you people were sitting in the position of administrator in the Department, you Would find it very difficult. 1 Indeed, I will go further and say, as humane men, you would find it impossible to adopt the former alternative, while the lattei’ was open to you. That does not mean, and I do not want to be mistaken, that the alternative that has been taken has been adopted with any degree of pleasure, nor do I say that it has been adopted without a due aerise of the very grave loss that the Department is suffering.