OUR RAILWAYS : FOUR WEEKS OF WORKING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9149, 3 September 1888, Page 5

OUR RAILWAYS : FOUR WEEKS OF WORKING.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—The railway returns just to hand for the four-weekly period ending Ist July, are both instructive and alarming. They show surprising results. The seven miles of railway at VV hangarei, worked under the new system, produced £83 14s of neb revenue. The entire Wellington system of 85 miles, worked under the old system, produced only £82 lis 6d. Thus the little town of Whangarei beat the Empire city by £1 2s 6d. The following lines, worked under the old system, have all gone to the bad :— Taranaki and Wanganui, 215 miles ... £216 1 2 Nelson, 23 miles 11 2 7 Picton, 18 miles ... ... *" 151 311 These three lines tog-ether making a dead loss of £378 7s Bd. To look at it in another way, taking the entire systems of Nelson, Picton, Wellington, Wanganui, and Taranaki, 341 miles in all, and costing £2,825,408, they made a dead loss of £295 16s 2d. That is to say, they did not pay working expenses by this amount. All the interest has to be paid out of general taxation. For the corresponding four weeks last year these five lines went to the bad £199. This has been increased this year to £296. On the other hand, Whangarei, for the four weeks last year, when worked under the old system, lost £112 2s 6d. This year under the new system it made £83 14s, or * saving to the colony of £195 16s 6d for the month. To put the matter clearly : seven miles of railway in a thinly-populated outdistrict, when worked under my system made for the colony £196 in four weeks. During the same period 341 miles, starting from Wellington, Wanganui, New Plymouth, Hawera, Picton, Nelson, and connecting with numerous other towns much larger than Whangarei, but worked under the system Mr. Maxwell tells us cannot be improved upon, not only made no revenue at all, but absolutely made a dead lo?s of £296. \\ hat becomes of the statement that my system cannot be worked for want of population? The facts given prove incontestable that the universal adoption of my system would convert the present loss into a large gain ; but the country must suffer because Messrs. Mitchelson, Maxwell, Hanney, and Co. are determined that they, or someone else, shall be appointed Railway Commissioners.l am, etc., SamuelVaile. Auckland, 31st August, 1888.