COSTLY RAILWAYS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20991, 30 September 1931, Page 5

COSTLY RAILWAYS.

DECADES OF EXTRAVAGANCE. NEW SOUTH WALES LINES. Frvof of the manner in which New South Wales has been blecf financially by the railways is supplied in various ways, says the Sydney correspondent of the Melbourne Argus. One indication is that it was found, when no more moi:;ey was : available to waste, that many men mighs be dispensed with and that mora might b« rationed. Thß work could be carried on with a smaller staff. Another indication is that when it 'wan seen that the decades of extravagance had ended and that men were expected to earn what they received, or to make room fcr others who would, the sick list changed in a most extraordinary manner. Thern are grim smiles in the commissioners' board room when the sick list' is mentioned. Sickness nowadays does not claim nearly as many, and when men do "go down to it" they are up again in a surprisingly brief time, compared with past experiences. The correspondent adds : —"Citizens have personal knowledge that overmanning has always prevailed in the railways. The workshops at Eveleigh were conspicuous in the old days. It is oniv recently that men in the employ of the railways have been giving as a whole thatwhich they are paid to give. There is rejoicing over the better spirit, hut naturally there is some speculation upon the ' many millions of pounds that have been lost* to the State, in ~40 years."'