THE RAILWAYS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVIII, Issue 11334, 30 July 1897, Page 6

THE RAILWAYS.

TUB GOVERNMENT CONTROL. ; [FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.! WELLINGTON, July 29. An insidious attempt to belittle the effects of the Government control ‘of the railways and to discredit'* .the - .manner ; in. which the accounts of the Department is kept, appeared in Tuesday’s Post,. which,' after stating that the Railway Commissioners wore required to provide'the cost of rolling stock out of earnings, referred to a statement said to have been made recently by the Minister of Public Works,, as an indication of the intention of. the Government .to raise, a loan to cover .the' expenditure.for this service. , The system of charging the Postal' Department for services rendered it by. i- ,, the railway’s was., described as, robbing ■ Peter to pay Paul, 'while, though the Hob A. J. Cadman was. acknowledged to be the most painstaking. and cobscientious administrator in the Cabinet, he was at the same time accused of being tainted ‘‘ with the vice of misleading balance-sheets,” and (■if making tlife accounts of the department . that--which they..are-

, | On making inquiries from official sources > X was informed .thafcsince thh resumption of CroveimmehV' control - J of ‘ 'the railways ; the capital account has not been drawn on, as insinuated by the .Post, iov the purpose of supjjlying funds for the maintenance of lines or of the up-keep of rolling stock under Government control. These services have heen provided for out of revenue, and it is worthy of note that a considerably increased expenditure has been met since the resumption of Government control for such purposes, as compared with the period the railways were under the control of the Commissioners. Thus in 189-1-95 (the last year of the Commissioners’ control) =8372,719, or =BI3B 10s per mile of railway was spent and charged to working expenses for maintenance of lines, .-while for the year 189697 (just closed) for the same services charged to the same account, £301,98], or £149 15s per mile, an increase of £29,263, or =£ll [os per milo of railway, was expended. .Out of working expenses in 1894- for the maintenance of carriages and waggons there was • spent £50,949, while in'lß96-97 from! the same-account there was spent £65,825, an increased expendituregf £14,876.; It will; that on the up-keep of the lines and of the carriages-and waggons an additional supx, Of £44,139 ‘Has' ’been spent - last J yeiuras compared with the year 1894-95. The mousy.at' present required'by.the Railway Department is; for the purpose of providing additional rolling :stock‘.and inr' creased siding and other accommodation at stations, an entirely different matter from; the maintenance ' of the lines ' and' the existing'rolling stock. As to the statement that the'rolling stock has been permitted to- run down to such;an extent that a loan is required for the necessary ’repairs, I learn , that such is far from being the case,’ and' that these repairs have always been and arc at present paid out of working;, expenses. Doth tho lines and the rolling stock aro in a much improved condition as ! compared with Year by year, the State’s railway property 1 is.bding improved,' iand the wotkibg- • fexpeflsies'vWe'-laVgelyi called upon to pay fioh such improvementsso that the insinuation that the ; working, expenses are to be reduced, at the cost of capital expenditure .witty out.foundation. ■■Respecting the Post’s ’ allegations to the manner in which the accounts of thedepartment are kept,’ ahyoiie-;can ;see, rh&. referring to the railways-, statement -for 1895- that no attempt hag been made to take advantage of the change' in keeping the accounts h.y charging Tor services' done' for the post office; The Hon A; j. 'Cadman there states that _the Government haying considered that no reliable estimate could be formed of the earning power of the rail-’ . ways in the absence of a strict debit and credit account for all services, whether public or departmental, performed both by and for the railways, the sum of £36,152 had been credited to the railways for services performed for other departments, and the Railway Department had been debited with £17,724, services performed by other, departments for, it! The Minister then points out that by this means £18,428 j had been, added to the railway revenue, I. and pi’oceeds to state that when this is 1* deducfcqd'from the gross increase of revenue it leaves;a/net increase of £13,763. Surely npthingjvpduld, he more straightforward, more ,) But it. is in : ddnhect&nv 'witlcthe'Yecent reducti‘o'n v in the rates of railing firewood, .posts and rails, house blocks, .chaff, hay, straw, ..beetroot, carrots, mangolds, &c„ that the Post endeavours most forcibly ( to discount the benefits of Government control. Referring to the fact that the rate covers the cost, of operating expenses, itsays that apparently the concessions are to he paid out of the loan for rolling-stock, which statement it practically contradicts further down when it alleges that the farmers are being, assisted at the . expense of the general taxpayer. There is, of course, no ground for. the former allegation, and it is a well-known fact that at present the i

general taxpayer has to contribute almost I‘per cent towards the payment of interest on money raised for railway construction. Various articles contribute to the railway revenue in the ratio that they can afford to - pay; for instance, tea pays a greater rate per ton for haulage than road metal. It has always been held that if the finances can stand it the State is Justified in carrying such low-priced articles as firewood, chaff and such like, in the value of which freight is an important factor, at the bare cost of haulage. It may be held to be quite proper hot to refuse business which can only afford to pay the operating expenses, more especially as the settlement of the country and the utilisation of what would'other wiSo bo waste products is ■ thereby encouraged and assisted, and the material wealth of the country indirectly - ■enhanced by such a policy.