CRITICS CRUSHED

Gisborne Times, Volume LXIII, Issue 10141, 29 October 1925, Page 2

CRITICS CRUSHED

IUILWAY FINANCE. PRIME iriNISTE.II AND Ol'TONknt. ' ■ 'siTEIU'uOrAL A HGTRENTS; r DEALT WITH. /■Special to‘the Times).HAWJERA, Dot 27. The Prime Minister gave n rather crushing answer in. sotne. oi his Taranaki speeches to criticism which lias been levelled at the railway management. . . . . One of the critics, he said, had asked liow the Railway Department could pay when it gave a return of 3.81 per cent and the -money borrowed for construction works cost approximately 5 per cent. The cost ot the money borrowed for railway development was, slightly over 4 ‘ per' cent, over' the .-whole period. The policy of the Government up to last year had been to earn 3:} per cent. For the future it would be 4-t per cent. Noiv he asked.: Why didn’t the. railways ; pay- last year ? That is the point and there are several obvious reasons why and they were suc?h that in similar circumstances no private concern could pay. First oi all K there was a difference between the men and-the Minister. That strike cost the Department £150,000 in earnings and the infantile paralysis epidemic cost the Pop,•'wi merit. £H>O.000. For the first time the Railway , Department was charged .with - its .contribution to the superannuation fund—a matter '-’ of £BO 000. Those three sums totalled £340,0001 The deficit was £90,000 and. find the Department not suffered these losses, it would have showni a profit oi £240,000 over ordinary interest charges. (Applause).