MAIN RAILWAY WORKS

Grey River Argus, 23 October 1930, Page 2

MAIN RAILWAY WORKS

i REFORM ASK STOPPAGE Without Full Enquiry SELECT COMMITTEE ASKS EVIDENCE. (Special to Argus) WELLINGTON, October 22. The Railway Commission Report aad I that of the Select Committee on lines under construction, were debated in the House when the Select Committee reported that there was insufficient time before the end of the session to ■ render a complete report. The time for ( investigation had been insufficient to j enable it to make a full inquiry into * any of the questions submitted to it. A minority statement by members j ’ Jones Macmillan and Waite (Reform- ; ers), was handed to the press, denying ; 1 that there had been insufficient evid- ' • | once to enable a report to be made to 1 | the House; ajnd ah|G» expressing the | view that work should be stopped im- „ i mediately on the Gisborne-Waikokopu- ' j whananui-Parnassus line, and the- Kaw-atari-Inangahua line. They stated that - neither on financial grounds nor ou j the grounds of development on land ' settlement nor on any other ground 1 could justification be found for spendi ing further moneys on these sections. £ | They stated as to the remaining lines, i some of which arc on point of complei lion, different considerations apply, „ and pertinent facts arc available to enable the Government to make a de- ■ cisioii regarding unemployment relief, j The minority report also stated: —If 1 the. majority of the lines under review | are to lx? closed down soon after coui- ! plction, as seems ini'vitalde, then to | employ men on these unproductive lines is indefensible. The solution jf unemployment lies in getting' men back : into productive industries. The eom- ■ pletion of railway lines cannot bo included in this term. Money proposed to j be spent on building the railways by ! the unemployed is no solution of the 1 unemployment problem, and the expenditure of borrowed money unecononi “• ically will only increase the country’s ~ burden and lead to a further increase in unemployment. Mr. E. J. Howard «lei dared that the Order of Reference given to the Royal Commission was | child’s play in comparison with that of the Select Committee, which, moreover, ’ had had only a restricted time in which to report. The Select Committee I had not had sufficient time to gain evidence concerning the productivity ,of the dands in the vicinity of the I lines under construction. Mr. Howard contended, that the railways could not be removed from political control. In IS conclusion he moved the following addition to motion before* the House That it be a recommendation to the Government to proceed at once with . the preparation of legislation covering the co-ordination and control of ihe existing transport services, and that the freight rates, fares and working conditions shall not be altered without

the Party being consulted. i Mr. .lordan said the Select Commiltec has not been able to investigate oven a few of the items on theorder oflleference.and as the sittings went ■ on he had felt that they had been call ed together “to bury railways ami not to praise them.’’ Iu fact after they had heard the Depart inputs reports, they were unable to say that the Rail-1 ways arc “honourable things.” The! day would come when there would be a Transport Board in the Dominion that , would control all transport. lie was pleased to hear that there were to be, no more men discharged from the railways. However, in the last, twelve, months, hundreds of men had been discharged, and yet some of tin* men in the First Division had had their grab, ing battered. Lt seemed that the whole ■ of the economising had been in tne ’ ’ Second Division. Lt had been said that business methods should be introduced ■ into the railways and that the fares ' shoiild be raised, but that would tend I to drive the people to the buses. Supporting the amendment Mr. 11. 1 | E. Holland said that important •changes should not be put into effect | , without the opinion of Parliament i being sought. The report of the Select ’ 1 Committee was the only report that ’ it could possibly have made. He deplored the stopping of the construction | work without making any provision , ( for the absorption of tin* men on other ' works. The present Government had 1 fought and won the. 1928 election < n i the very lines that the dissenting mom- 1 ber of the Select Committee condemn- ! ed, and it would be foolish to go back | l on what was positively a majority d'- ! vision. No one could make a case • against the linking up of the main’ • trunk lines, and in future that would I have to be carried to completion. Mr. Holland advocated the co-ordinu- : lion of the transport services as a first I step. To increase the charges when I i there was a falling market was the I absolute opposite of wisdom. What w is ; really wanted on the railways was not 1 1 so much our increase in the rates as ■ the increase in the number of people : travelling. He was convinced that the policy of raising the fares would not result in increased revenues. Moreover, increased freights would produce an increase in the prices of commodities. He asked the Minister to give the House an assurance that there would be no attempt to cut into the wages ■ or conditions of the men. Before they ! could talk of commercialising the rail- j 1 ways they would have to take into con- j I i sideration the enhanced land values | ‘ I caused by the railways. The railways • I were a social service, just as the roads ' were. It was foolish to talk of depolit- ! icalising railways, -which had to come to Parliament for their appropriation. Fn his speech the Minister of RailL ways, Hon. W. A. Veitch, said he was | > not in agreement with everything that • - the Royal Commission on Railways re- ! • commended. He thought it would be. J a great mistake for Cabinet to adopt 1 it in its entirety the report of the I Commission. Owing to the pressure j of Parliamentary business it ha£ been I [j impossible to gel Cabinet, eonsidem- ■

j tion of all the proposals, but the Com- ' mission’s recommendations regarding 1 ! tariff increases had been almost entirely adopted, and would come into | operation as soon as the necessary ar- , rangements could be made by the Gen- | eral Manager. The increased revenue , obtained, together with the proposed ' savings, had been estimated to produce an improvement of £628,000, but he thought this view of the Commission was too optimistic. It could not apply this year as most of the changes could only take place during the last few months of the financial year. Alterations could be made by regulation, for there would be no Railway Bill this year. Mr Veitch voiced a strong objection to the control of the railways by a board of business men as directors. The Railways Commis- j sion, had used the word ‘ 1 deploiiti- i calisv,” which the Minister described I 1 as “a wretched word meaning noth- | | ing. ’ ’ but implying something new. I j He did not believe the salvation of | i the Department depended on whether I I it nemained under the present system I of management or. whether an inde- | ‘ pendent board should take control j j and intervene between the General | Manager and Parliament through the 1 j Minister.’’ A good board would be better than a bad Minister, but a good I Minister would be better than a bad board. There- seemed great fear that ’ | the Minister of Railways would con- » : stuntly be unden some wicked and im- ! J - proper pressure which would induce c

him to fail in his duty, but if busi- ; ness men were placed in charge, ex- ' actly similar conditions could apply.] All sorts of influences could be i brought to bear on business men. if | I they were in charge of a huge Depart-’ ’ ment without control by ! — | It wa- - possible a business man might I be on th<- buarj and yield to tempta- , 1 tion in the interests of his private , i business and to the detriment of his i competitors, “They must not run away with the idea that sotting up; • of a board, independent of Parliamen- I tary control was going to eliminate i ■ any of the evils which exist. “Wliol I arc the politicians who have submit-] ' ted to such pressure?’’ asked the Min- , ister. “The Leader of the Opposition , did not when he was Minister. The whole thing appears to be a reflection I on Parliament itself.” Many import- j ant questions outside railways admin- • I istration had a direct bearing on the Department's intenests, which would , still be decided by Ministers, such as whether more railways should be ' i built, and roads constructed which would increase competition. Mr D. Jones argued motor trans-, port was the cheapest and most convenient form of transport. Tl.v effect | of going in for unprofitable specula- ; tions ami uneconomic ventures would . have a very bad effect on the country’s finance. Unless borrowed money , could be made to increase production there was no justification for its ex- 1 pendituio. It appeared as though the i < majority of lines under construction would have to be closed down eventu-’ ' ally. ; Mr Macmillan said there had been great experience behind the Commis-I sion’s report, but the Government had treated it as though it had produced! a mouse. Some of the findings were 1

illogical. For instance, it had been i stated that revenue would be increased : if freights- were increased. but the j competition of roads had not been j taken into consideration. Mr Waite said evidence warranted; the stopping of the Gisborne-Waiko- ; kopu. Wliaraiiui-Pamassiis. un<| Kava -j t iri-l miughaua sections of lines. Mr Polson said the country should consider whether money was to be ‘ spent on something reproductive or < simply for the purpose of relieving | unemployment. Thai was where the • Government had failed. After two j years it still had large numbers of . men out of work. The railways were i alreaday in trouble, and further lines i might sink the ship. In spite of the I decreased business, there had been an I increase of the administrative side, and this should be curtailed. Mr Pol - son wanted to know what the Minis- ; ten proposed to do in regard to the ■ Commission’s recommendations. Mr Healy made a stout defence of j th-* booth Island Main Trunk Line. Air Coate* urged that all the evb , deuce tendered to the Commission In 1 j printed, tor he had reason to believe] that some of the recommendations did > not conform with the evidence. The 1 most important recommendation was! that the railways be handed over to i a board of directors, but the Minister ' staled it was not intended to do that. ! MT Coates advocated making the! direct orate as wide as possible, repre- I [ senta.tive of all classes. IJe instanced I ' results achieved by simila’r methods in ; Canada. The railways position was i j seriously affecting Ihe country's j finances. Tire recommendation in re- < gard to the board of directors should < be decided right away. Drift would I get the country nowhere. It was not ; a question of stopping lines under con- ' straction but justifying their con- ■ st ruction. If by Their (construct iou ; big liabilities were being accumulated, • we should look into their prospects i before they were carried too far. Mr. Coates said he agreed with the ' first part of the amendment, but he 1 moved to delete the latter part, and add that in view of incontrovertible evidence tendered to the committee as ' to serious financial losses involved n ! operating the Gisborne-Waikokopn- I w (and Kawailiri-1 n- ■ angal.ua lines when completed, al! con- ' si ruction work on such lines should be ' immediately stopped pending further I inquiry. The debate was interrupted by mid- i ! night adjournment.