ROAD SERVICES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 23 November 1938, Page 5

ROAD SERVICES

STATE AND OWNERS COMMISSION’S FUNCTION rUnited Press Association! DUNEDIN. 21st November. "These men have not the slightest freedom in this matter. They have been coaxed into these negotiations, and they come before this tribunal out of respect for it, but they have never wanted to sell and their understanding of the ‘negotiations’ is that though they ore unwilling to sell they might as well have a look at the offer,” said Mr J P. Ward at a sitting in Dunedin today of the Transport Commission of Inquiry. Mr Ward was representing George Lindsay Brown, operator of a transport license between Kurow and Dunedin, and he was emphasising that his client, .like other operators of licenses, had been forced into negotiations with the Railway Department because he feared the results of declining to sell. The function of the commission is to recommend to Cabinet the proportion of service and assets to be taken over by the Government in each individual case investigated and the amount of compensation that should be paid. Its recommendation of a fair and equitable basis for a settlement between the owners of the services and the Government is to be the foundation on which the Government will make its offers to the owners. That function was outlined by the secretary to the commission, Mr F. A. Davis, in reply to Mr Ward. The tribunal would make its report to Cabinet on each individual case, he said, and each operator would then receive an offer from the Government based on that report. "If the owner does not wish to accept it,” he said, “he can apply to the licensing authority for a renewal of his licence.” “Carry it a little further,” said Mr Ward. “His renewal might be granted in the face of opposition from the Railway Department. Then there would be further restrictions, with the annihilation of the operator as the ultimate result.” The policy of the question was a Government mailer, said Dr. N. A. Foden, Wellington, representing the Crown before the commission. “This is not the [dace for the ventilation of opinion of Government policy. The Government has adopted a constitutional method of giving effect to its policy.” The chairman. Sir Francis Frazer, i said that the whole function of the tribunal was to arrive at a fair estimate of what compensation should be paid to each operator whose service it was proposed to acquire. It had no other function than that.