RAILWAY REFORM.— THE INFLUENCE OF CHEAP FARES ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF LABOUR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6820, 26 September 1883, Page 6

RAILWAY REFORM.— THE INFLUENCE OF CHEAP FARES ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF LABOUR.

TO IHS EDITOR. Sir, — One of the greatest drawbacks] country settlers have to contend wltb is the waat of a supply of labour at times when it is most urgently needed. Many hundreds, probably thousands, of acres of mop are ruined every year for want of labour to plant or gather in good time. At the same time there are numbers of men in the towns who would be glad to take work in the country if they could only get there. But it 13 impossible for workpeople to travel at the fares now charged, and equally impossible for employers to send for them with any chance of making a profit out of the transaction. Now all this would be altered if the scale of proposed fares indicated below were adopted instead of the one now in fores : — Proposed Fates. Present Fares. First. Second. First. Second.

s. d. s. d. 8. d. s. d. Penrose to Onehunga 0 G 04 10 09 Manurewa .< ..10 08 210 111 Drury .. . .. ..1 6 1 0 4 2 2 9 Pukekuhe ... ..20 14* 58 39 Hamilton Junction.. 2 6 1 8 15 9 10 0 Te Awamutu.. .. 3 0 2 0 18 9 12 G : At these low rates men and women could afford to go into the country to seek for employment, and to return if they did not find it; and is there any reason why these rates should not be adopted 1 Will anyone able to form an opinion on such subjects say that it is unreasonable to reckon on three fares being paid under the proposed scale for one that is paid now 1 And as to the average fare reaching one shilling per head, I am able to demonstrate that it would bo impossible for it to sink so low ; but if only this poor result were attained, then our railways would produce in a year, from pa-sengers' fares alone, from £75,000 to £100,000 more than they do now, with all the euormous indirect gain into the bargain. The immense advantage such a system would confer in distributing labour and settling the country are past calculation. Under the present system we have an enormous and rapidlyincreasing direct loss, and very little indirect gain.—lam, &c. t Samuel Vaile. - 21st September, ISB3.