TRAMWAY RETURNS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 8647, 4 February 1914, Page 6

TRAMWAY RETURNS

The returns of the Wellington city tramways revenue and expenditure appearing in our issue of yesterday will repay a little attention, since they cover throe-parts of the current financial year. It must be said that the figures are indicative of careful and efficient management, and they provide renewed justification for the principle of municipal ownership and control of such public services. Time was —and not so very long ago—when the local organ of Toryism was Wont to attack our municipal tramway system, and to advance tho alleged superior merits and advantages of private enterprise; but that “policy” seems to have died a natural death. Ini tho summarised balance-sheet referred to, the whole of the items and comparisons are of an entirely satisfactory character. While the revenue lias gone up nearly 6 per cent, as compared with the corresponding months of the previous year, there has been a rise of only n shade over one-half pea* cent, in the working expenses, with tho result that after abnormal special expenditure (tho bulk of Which wo believe will be non-recurring) the credit balance shows the substantial improvement of £lßo2—from £3976 to £5777. This gratifying State of affairs has been clearly brought about by more economical traffic management, for whereas the total number of passengers carried increased by 545,815 in the nine months, the number of car miles that wore run was reduced by over 4000. Thus the'revenue pfer car mile was largely enhanced, and the percentage of expenses to revenue over the whole system was brought down by 3 per cent —from 69 to 66 per cent. The bigger the business, the higher is the proportion of profit yielded. This is as it should be, always providing that the efficiency of the service be maintained, and ’upon this score as well as others we believe the ratepayers who own the undertaking and tho public that is served have good reason to feel assured.