THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1909. RAILWAY MANAGEMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14224, 22 November 1909, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1909. RAILWAY MANAGEMENT.

The present Minister for Railways prides himself on the practical common sense and business principles he is bringing, and intends to bring, into the management of the Dominion railways. But the control of an immense system of railways is a most complex thing, and the sort of common sense Mr. Millar is endowed with is not only of no assistance to him in the task he "has undertaken,, but it threatens to become a positive danger. Of Mr. Millar's good intentions , there is no question. He means well, he wishes to do well for the country, and very obviously he imagines that that; is the first and only qualification a Minister for Railways can be called upon to exhibit. Honesty of purpose, of course, is a necessary .'qualification for every high office. But it is also ( a qualification not to be taken into account. That does not imply that it may be discarded. It means simply that it ranks with such a qualification as ordinary sanity. Mr. Millar is fatally drawn by heroic methods. "If thy right hand offend, then cut it off and cast it from thee." If the Drury train is a half-dozen passengers short of a four per cent, dividend quota, put into operation the same summary jurisdiction. Do you want the railways to be self-support-ing 1 Then cut off those trains which are not. This is honesty of purpose, perhaps. If it is, it stops there.

The railway system of this Dominion is a vast carrying concern, and as a carrying concern it should be conducted. It is yet in its infancy, it has a great future before it, and it can be managed properly only by keeping that future in mind. It is a young business which has to be built up. To build it up needs imagination, breadth of vision and courage, as well as common sense. It needs experience and long training in railway methods where there is competition to put men on their mettle, as well as honesty of purpose. In the United States of America there has been built up the greatest network of railways in the world, but does anybody think that this is an achievement of methods such as Mr.. Millar is foisting upon us Have these railways followed population, or have they paved the way for it ? Have they waited till the traffic was calling for them, till there was a ready-made business thrust upon them, or have they built up that business, stage by stage, for themselves Mr. Millar says : §how me the traffic, and you shall have the train. That is his rule for every line, country, urban, and suburban. He does not see, or cannot, or will not,, see that though it may be a not impossible rule for a long-distance train in an empty or a barren country it is a childishly absurd rule for urban and suburban lines in populous centres. We ourselves do not think that, standing alone, it is a good rule under any circumstances. All businesses must have a beginning.' Not one in a hundred jumps into profitable trade from the start, and this applies perhaps more to a passenger carrying business than to any other. The reason is obvious. Until there are means of travelling, people must stay at home, and they cannot begin to arrange for a journey before the question of transportation is solvable. ■ • -

If it is not demanding too much, we should like to ask Mr. Millar to look around him and see what is going on in the world. Will he find that when a man has an opening for a lucrative business he will do noth-

ing unless: he is guaranteed against loss i Will he find that when a man is already in a sound way of business, and has an opportunity for an extension which may entail some anxiety for a time, but which, with courage and good management, will be a rich source of profit in the end, will Mr. Millar find such a man throwing away his opportunity because his prospective customers will not guarantee him from loss from the outset] Will he find anywhere a sane business man asking his customers to guarantee him from loss in the early stages of his venture, and leave him to pocket the profits from the moment they begin to appear . Does Mr. Millar expect the P. and O. Company are going to make such a proposition to his Government when they begin to send their, boats to Auckland? Theirs is a carrying concern, and so is that which has been entrusted into his hands, and both should be conducted on the same principle, with the single difference that the railways may take greater risks, because they are concerned, not only in) the problem of dividend earning, but also in that of nation building. The principle underlying all suburban railway traffic is that the facilities must be there before the people to be carried. Take a place like Otahuhu or Henderson. If passengers are to' precede the trains then they must walk until the trains are provided, which is an impossibility. Hence the trains must precede the passengers, and must, of necessity, run at a loss and continue to run at a loss until people have time not only to gain confidence in their continuation, but to go to those places in sufficient numbers to make the traffic pay. A temporary service never will create a sufficient business. Landlords cannot build to accommodate tenants who may have to go back to live in the city next week because their train has been taken off, and those who can afford to build for themselves dare not begin building where they are not sure of permanent transport facilities. These are a few only of the permanent difficulties which block suburban railway traffic under the present system. So long as that system., is allowed to continue, the outer suburbs will be forbidden to four-fifths of those who would like to live in them, and the country will lose much valuable railway revenue.■'