NORTH AUCKLAND RAILWAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13523, 22 August 1907, Page 4

NORTH AUCKLAND RAILWAY.

QUESTIONS OF ACCOUNTS AND RECORDS. ALLEGED THEFTS AT KAUKAPi KARA. [by telegraph.—sfeciai. correspondent.] Wellington - , Wednesday. Mr. Stallworttiy askec* the ActingMinister for Railways to-cHy whether hr would cause a separat: account to be kept of the revenue and expenditure of the North Auckland Main Trunk railway (not including these items in the returns of the South Auckland line). The Minister made the following reply: "This is, in effect, asking that t separate system of accounts should be inaugurated for railways in the Auckland province. As pointed out, in reply to another question, the, sectional system of accounts was abolished many years ago on account <>( the heavy cost necessitated in their keeping. At present the existing system enables the business done by the railways of the colony to be ascertained, and very full information respecting the. business is included in the returns attached to the Railways Statement, which is annually submitted to ParI liament. Nothing more can be done uu- ; less a separate system of accounts is inI augurated, and this I cannot authorise."'

The member for Kaipara also asked the Minister whether he would cause complete records to be kept of the goods traffic op the Helensville railway wharf, especially of goods landed thereon, so that the people of the North might know from year to year the quantities and values of kauri gum, butter, wood, green flax fibre, fish, timber, fruit, poultry, etc., produced in Kaipara. The Minister replied: "It is the practice to deal with the whole of the New Zealand railways as ouc system, and the accounts arc kept accordingly. To gi\ effect to this request would moan the reestablishment of the sectional system ot ■accounts in operation in the provincial days and subsequently foi a short time after the Government took control of the railways, but which was abolished because it. was found in practice to be of little sen-ice. while the expense of keeping the accounts was very considerable. The provincial system ot account-keeping could not be inaugurated without increasing the staff and consequently the cost of the present accounting system, and as tho capital cost of the railways is provided by the colony as a whole, and not by any section of the community, I regret I cannot see my way to recommend compliance with the request." In putting another question to the Minister on the question of appointing a carej taker at tho Kaukapakapa railway station, j Mr. Stall*»rthy stated that settlers were continually losing goods owing to there, being no official in charge at this station. The losses which had been reported, he said, included a ham, two sacks of oats, a sack of bran, a parcel of ironmongery, a side of bacon, a box of cocoa, a sack of maize, two sacks of boned and a sack of potatoes. • ■ :

Sir Joseph Ward, in. replying, said that at present the traffic at Kaukapakapa, wa* not sufficient to warrant the appointment of a caretaker. He would,-however, look specially into the reported loss of goods from the station, with a view to seeing what could be done to prevent the same.