The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. FRIDAY, JULY 17, 1908. OUR RAILWAYS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 168, 17 July 1908, Page 4

The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. FRIDAY, JULY 17, 1908. OUR RAILWAYS.

The annual report of the Railway Department, which has just been presented to Parliament, forms exceedingly satisfactory reading. The earnings for the year ended March 31st, 1908, exceeded those of the year before by £211 938. The total earnings were £2,761,938, the expenditure having been £l / 949,759, a profit of £812,179 being thus shown. This was practically the same as for the year 1907, for l though the revenue had been greater, the expenditure had also increased.'This was accounted for by the increased ti Jain miles being run, an extension of 295,820 miles being recorded^ at a cost of .£BI,OOO. TThe net r-evefiiue was,' however, equal to 3.33 per -cent/on the capital invested upon open lines, by no means an unsatisfactory result, while the returns for the entire capital of £26,735,140 invested in both open and unopened lines was 3:04 pe^ cent. The revenue for the coming year is estitnated at £2,835,000, and the expenditure at £2,020,000. If these estimates are realised;^ very substantial profit will be the "result. The details of revenue are not without interest. The passenger revenue showed an increase of £12,406, eoods and live stock £83,----642, miscellaneous,. and rents, £7808. The receipts per train mile were 39.75 d, as against 90.Q0d for the pre.vious year.. The Lake Wakatipu steamers^,earned £6637, as against £6159 for the year before. Phenomenal -increases in passenger traffic were shown owing to the New' Zealand Exhibition, the passengers carried being 9,756,716, or 15,930 in excess of the year before. What is called the coaching and gopds traffic showed^ large increases under each of the respective heads that the traffic is grouped, with the exception of sheep, wool, and grain. The figures are as follows:—Parcels, 7636; horses, 653; carriages, 389; dogs, 5685; and in live-stock, and goods traffic—cattle, 17,720' head; pigs, 10,765; chaff, lime, etc., 1451 tons; firewood, 918 tons; timber, 49,057 tons, merchandise, 45,----248 tons; minerals, 184,467 tons. The decrease, in the wool traffic was 7568 tons, •gjgain 31,138 tons, and sheep 67,9014»ead, The net increase in the gross tonnage was 246,000 tons. The decrease .in ■ sheep traffic was due to comparison with a drought year, 1906, when there was an abnormal movement of stock. The report states that' the railway workshops of the Dominion have been kept going at high pressure on'the construction^ new roll T ing-stock for increasing N the equipment of the existing lines and providing for the requirements of new lines to be opened in the near future. ■ A' comprehensive programme for rollingstock has been prepared for, the year ending,' 31st March", 1909. ? Referring to an .increase in the. cost of maintenance, which totalled £638,560 as compared with £613,890 during the previous year, the report states that this is' very largely due to the policy of betterment that has been followed during the past few years, under which the pioneer main lines of the Dominion, originally designed and equipped for dealing with a small business by trains run at low speeds, have been gradually converted into standard lines, capable of meeting the' requirements of the ever-expanding traffic,jand the demands that have arisen or fast passenger services between the important business- centres of the Dominion. The lines are in excellent , condition, and, in view of the important functions they perform in the development of settlement and commerce of the Dominion, it is essential that the present high standard be maintained. Additions and improvements to lines and structures amounting to £23;996, which might fairly have been charged to capital, have been made during the year and charged to working expenses. This is a feature of the report which should cause-Prof essor Rossignol, ouf critic in distant Canada, to heave a sigh of satisfaction. Another new departure is ; foreshadowed, which should have an important bearing upon the transit of:.goods between Blenheim and Pictoir, as well as elsewhere. The report says:—"ln view of the large economies that can be effected in the cost of operating the railways of the' Dominion if the gradients were flattened and alignment improved, thus enabling increased loads to be hauled, arrangements are to be made to obtain the data necessary to formulate a scheme for dealing with the matter ma practical and comprehensive marine£.!'jrij|?,lf only we could by this means' get a faster service to Picton! Employees of the railway department will learn with satisfaction that arrangements have been made by which all railway employees who have been employed in the service continuotisly for a period of five years or :6*ver,?but' whose status has only been that; of-casual employee, will be placed upon the permanent staff. Regulations relative to the payment of a minimum salary of £130 to married members of the service who are widowers with children dependent upon them, and also relative to the payment of a minimum salary of £100 to members who are 22 years of age or over, have been approved and are now being gazetted.