PURCHASE OF ENGINES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18317, 6 February 1923, Page 8

PURCHASE OF ENGINES.

RAILWAYS' GOOD BARGAIN.

REJOINDER TO MR. VEITCH,

" INACCURATE ASSERTIONS." [BT lELEaBAPH.~PBEns ASSOCIATION.] ~: . : WELLINGTON, Monday., Mr. W. A. Yeitoh, M.P., recently wrote to the Minuter for Railways strongly dissenting from the spending oflargo sums of public money outside the Dominion for the purchase of locomotives, which Mr. Veitca considered ' could be manufactured in the Dominion at a cheaper rate. He urged the necessity of immediately establishing She necessary flaht for the purpose, and characterised he Government's action in purchasing; the engines abroad as a grave public scandal while capable .workmen ' were tramping the roads in search of employ, ment. ,■' ■'•: ':;;■;■:■ iyX.}'. The Hon. D. H. Guthrie, Minister for Railways, who only returned to Wellington from the South on ' Saturday night; has made the following statement in : connection with the ; matter:

"It ;■■•.' was x fully anticipated that Mr. Veitch would* take the opportunity offered by my statement regarding the purchase of Ave additional ' locomotives in; Great Britain to repeat the very inaccurate assertion he made so often in the' House last session and during the election campaign, despite the fact that both the Prime Minister and I repeatedly corrected his statements, and-despite the fact that the purchase price; of the engines at, present underj order lin Great Britain is thousands of pounds less . than that, at which they could; be manufactured here. v s.rS:*; v^X-V':' ■■' ■■".";. '■''K]&:f%

■■ --.'-' It must also be remembered that the contract placed ; in. England would have been completed with the arrival of ..the two engines that were lost in tho Wiltshire. Mr. Veitch persistently reiterates the assertion that they could be built in tho Dominion for less. He has also been informed on many occasions that the Government had no option hut to place the contract for 45 A.B. locomotives abroad owing to thq fact the we had neither the men nor the material during the war period to construct them in New Zealand.

Case of Urgent Necessity. \ " Moreover, Mr. Veitch was very well aware that a large number of the locomotives in use in the Dominion were very old. Some of them were over 40 years old, of obsolete type, low tractive power, expensive to run, and liable to frequent breakdowns, and consequently quite unsuited to present-day requirements. Urgent measures had therefore to he taken to replace them with modern types. The new engines are thoroughly up-to-date and,, capable of doing the very best work possible on the gauge used in New Zealand.

So far as the statements contained in Mr. Veitch's recent communication are concerned, the full explanation of the Government's action in placing the order in Great Britain for five additional engines for practically the price of two lost in the wreck of the Wiltshire, has already been published, and it has been pointed out by me that the imported locomotives will be brought to the North Island, thus saving the department considerable expense in transporting a similar number which are under construetJojuit Addington workshops to the North Island. At the same time the latter will be made availablet for the Christchurchureymouth service. ;""... "I also emphasised the fact that the importation of these locomotives would not affect the position at the New Zealand railway workshops, ns they already have a programme which is more than Rutficient to keep the whole of the shops fully employed for the next two years, and Messrs. Price Bros., of Thames, have still 16 locomotives to deliver under their contract which will take three years to complete..."f; /'.,y-:.■>'-,-''.'■ ■;"-.;: ,:'■,'..*"/:. " It is, therefore, very difficult to understand Mr. Veitch's /assertion that it would be possible to build engines more cheaply in the department's own chop* (which he. considers should be extended for the purpose) in the light of the comparative costs of construction. The cost of imported engines landed* on the rails in New Zealand is approximately £6245, while those built in the railway workshops cost approximately !. £8000, plus transport from the South to the North Island £300, or a totallof £8300. .Those built by Price Bros., Thames, cost over £11.000. ~ •?-

Savings in Several Ways.

" Seeing that the department is saving about £1500 on the cost of transport and assembling tho engines being manufactured at - A ddington by utilising them on the Christchurch-Greymouth service instead of in the North Island, it is obvious that the Government's action in placing an order for five engines for approximately the same landed cost as the insurance on the two lost in the Wiltshire must be considered most satisfactory from every point of view, especially when it is remembered that our own shops are fully occupied. ''I am afraid Mr. Veitch will not be grateful' for all the information i about railway engines with which I have supplied him, but in any case the public will be satisfied to know the actual position. I may say," said Mr. Guthrie -in conclusion. that the price paid for the additional : five locomotives now being imported' has no bearing on the price of the engines being manufactured by Messrs. Price Bros'., Thames, as material for that contract was purchased when prices and wages were very much in excess of those ruling to-day." \ ' "*""