RAILWAY BOARD'S WORK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22390, 9 April 1936, Page 10

RAILWAY BOARD'S WORK

In his anxiety to defend the abolition of the Railways Board the Minister of Railways is committing himself to statements which not only sound ungenerous, but are difficult to support on the evidence. As an instance, when Mr. Endean referred to the improvement in net returns during the period of board control, Mr. Sullivan said: "A great many employees were discharged and wages were reduced. Those were two big factors." They were factors, undeniably, but to cite them alone does not tell nearly the whole story. Even allowing for the two factors all the weight the Minister seems disposed to give them, they do not cancel the fact that improved net returns in the past two complete railway financial years have been the result of higher gross revenue. In 1933-34 the net yield of railway revenue was £1,085,558, an increase of £235,014, compared with the preceding year. The gross revenue was £298,308 higher, so that the improved net income was wholly responsible for the better result. In 1934-35 the net return was £1,087,491 or £1933 higher than that of the year before, though a 5 per cent increase in salaries and wages had added £150,000 to the expenditure account, and a rent readjustment in favour of the staff had cost approximately £30,000. Gross revenue had increased by £295,217, allowing such additional charges to be borne. The year just closed will show a similar increase, the figure for 48 weeks having been £263,618 better than last year. Cuts and the reduction of staff do not increase gross revenue, an important factor in the improved results. Mr. Sullivan might have admitted this, especially as Sir James Gunson, in a public statement, allowed for improved economic conditions and acknowledged the zeal and spirit of all sections of the staff when remarking on the improved finances of the department during the period of board control.