In Another Direction.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 850, 15 June 1888, Page 27

In Another Direction.

Another department i : n which considerable retrenchment ia still feasible ia that of Working Railways. We have always consistently maintained, ag%inst a strong preponderance of | contrary opinion, that that department :is managed with admirable efficiency and economy considering the conditions under which the officers have to (work i.t while the present system of j political control is allowed. Indeed, : we o on aider that Mr Maxwell and his j assistants and subordinates do wonders, ! when all the hampering conditional | under which they have to work are | taken into account. But it is none the j less true that if these conditions were 1 removed or modified the working couid be alike more efficient and more economical. It is the element of political interference that proves so costly to and so prejudicial to the ifdjciericy of the railways. That tfio General Manager and the other|ofiipers have done their best to keep jdowix expenses is shown by ihe faefc ] that during the past three year*, f although there aro 3QQ more miles of line to work, the expenditure has been reduced by £SOOOP To foraa a just idea of whAt thia really means, ifc shoififi bp. borne in mind tkafc hfl.fi thp same rate of expenditure* Iper, milp, that prevailed three years iago, been still in force with the extra. *3OO miles added, it would' have increased the total outgoings by somewhere about Instead o£ that wa have a deorease of £BOOO. That is so, far satisfactory. But much mpre might be done if there were j freedom, from, political influences. In the first place the train mileage ia altogether ia excess of reasonable re-, qjuiremeuts. There are numbers of littl©, branches or “ political lines ” which have trains running twice or thrice a week, or daily, or even twice and thrice daily, which could have all their traffic carried by a weekly train both ways. Others, one degree less unprofitable, that have daily or twice - daily trainservices, would be amply served with two trains a week. Herein alone is a potentiality of most substantial saviug. These wretched little lines and branches not only fail to contribute a farthing toward the interest on their cost of construction, but do not even bring in receipts large enough to defray their actual bare working ex-, penses. Tet they have an[excess of trais?> service above legitimate requiremetsM^.

which involves largely augmented outlay in the shape of fuel, wages, repairs, &c. It necessitates the mainten anco of three or four engines where otherwise two would be sufficient. It causes enhanced wear and tear, and expedites depreciation both of permanent way and of rolling-stock. But let the railway authorities dare to stop these useless and unremunerative trains and what would be the instant consequence? Would there not be an immediate howl of rage from the locality docked of a few trains? Would not infuriated deputations wait ou the local members and insist on their prompt interposition ? Would not the badgered members open upon the Government a fierce cannonade of letters, telegrams, and interviews until the unhappy Ministers bad to surrender unconditionally 1 Of course this would be the case, as it so often has been. Still, there stands the possibility of a very large saving, in default of which the taxpayers must find the money to pay for these needless and unprofitable' trains. No Minister is bold enough to put down his foot and say resolutely that the train services shall be only proportionate to aetual requirements. A good illustration of the manner in which the proper working of the State railways is perpetually disturbed and meddled with may b 9 fouud in the fact that a petition has just been presented to Parliament from several Hundred Dunedin residents praying that the through trains (the so-called “ expresses *’) between Dunedin aridChri&tchurchmay stopat Pelichet Bay.asmall wayside station only a mile from-the Dunedin terminus. People grumble at the long time taken by the trains, but how can it be otherwise, when they have to stop every mile or two? We are drifting by degrees toward a point at which we shall have a station by every man’s door! All these extra stations and stoppages add to the cost of working, while they diminish its efficiency. Then again, the railways certainly were, if they are not now, paying more than the market rate of wages, notwithstanding the superior advantages enjoyed by tli3 workmen. But when it was proposed to make a reduction proportionate to that prevailing outside and—when the reduced cost of living is taken into account — still leaving the men much better off than formerly, there was a terrific clamour both in Parliament and out of it, and the step had to be abandoned. There are other directions in which the working of the railways might be economised, and assuredly would be were thev not in Government hands $ but evenio the particulars which we : have already instanced the savings ■rthat might be effected would amount to a very large sum.