CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9132, 14 August 1888, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

OUR RAILWAYS : THE DOWNWARD GRADE. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —The following table gives in a concise form the history of our railways for the last eight years. It is very instructive, and shows at what a headlong pace we are driving lie largest commercial institution in the colony to ruin. It will be seen that in 1880 we had 1277 miles of railway open, 3205 men employed, £9,228,334 of capital invested, we' had a net revenue of £341,497, and our total loss was £142,990. In 1888 our mileage open had increased by 481 miles, we employed 1184 more men, we had £5,374,775 irore capital invested ; '/id we actually received thirty-three thousand nine hundred and eighty pounds {£33,982) lew revenue than we did, eight years ago, and our loss had increased to £459,148, or considerably over three times in eight years. Unless something very unforeseen occurs, in 1889 our loss will nob be less than £600,000, all of which has to be paid out of the general taxation of the country. To talk about economical management and administrative ability under such circumstances is absurd. That the officers of the department do not know what they are about is proved by the fact that during the whole eight years they only once obtained heir estimated revenue. During the past five years they have on an average been out in their estimates of what their own system will produce £91,590 per annum, and yet they pretend to tell us what an untried system will and will not do. I commend this table to the careful consideration of my fellow-colonists :

* In one table this is given as £4046, in another as 4839, only a difference of 437 men and their wages to be accounted for. This is the real position of affairs, and to me it appears to be very alarming. Again I ask if we have not had enough of a system that has landed us in such a position. Placing our railways under a Board or Com-

missioners will simply intensify the evil. Nothing but a total change of policy can save us.—l am, etc., Samuel Vaile. Auckland, 10th August, 1888.

OUR I I i . Number of i than j Employes. Revenue. ' Revenue. computed j ! : ; ■ I 142^990 950,000 , j ! 1,319 3 j 1882-3 4,046* 11,409,479 3 . 13,348 238,475 jl2,163,000 4,839 1,477 15 , 1885-6 4,733 12 690,340 363,545 jl3,726,166 1,613 0 690,340 363,545 1,727 151,232 446,807 Jl4,603,109 1887 994,843 459,148 1 j1887 -8 1,758 4,8S9 14,603,109' 1,100,000 994,843 — 106,157 687,325 307,515 2 2 1 459,14s