THE RAILWAY COMMITTEE OF 1896 AND THE OTAGE SYSTEM. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10589, 5 September 1896, Page 3

THE RAILWAY COMMITTEE OF 1896 AND THE OTAGE SYSTEM. TO THE EDITOR.

IBiB,— I"learn*om*yiinr-columns-4hß?Fchinr« man has not had the.coutfcesy4o.send. any reply |to me—that the Railways CommifcteßKin the Bth i inst. reported tcthe House that-on my. petition j thsy had noreeomm«a!j»tion.to make. '- j 1 am nofc^aware - wfcst--«re'the duties i>(& '-"'

i p-.rliameatary couErctfc-"*, nor whafc ate-SW ! powers, but in my ignorance I supposed it* was set up to taveslagstoand-raportion,any subject remitted to ifc. "

Perhaps, Sir, yon?-or**some*-*of'your - reader! can inform me if ?thsse committees have the right to bring up,a report without having held an investigation ? In this case it is quite eer« taia*no investigation wss-.made, orXmuatbarfl he ird of it.

The Railways Committee fori'this-year-comi irises the following gentlemen-:—Hon. Mr Mitchelson, Hon. Mr Cadman, and Messrs Missey, Lawry,-*nd-Crowther,-iuckland*mem« ' bere,.and.Hoiu-Mr Seddon, Hon Mr Larnach, and Messrs Duncan, Earsshaw, Flatman, Grahauu. Morrison, G. W.-Rassell^Tanne^and Wilson, from the .south. When 2 majority-of tbese-genUemen—foraifc, must always be remembered that, ifc wa_*»al majority only—came to tbe conclusion ihat the . question of altering.-the.system:of administering our railways was not worth considering, and reported to the Hodssthat they-had no recommendation -to make, they had,«or might4iavo Jbad, and certainly ought to have had,, tbe following.facts before them, with referencertn what ban actually taken place in.HaHgaryand RuEsia as the resnlfc of the adoption of the-zone 'uyst-em. 'As regards Hungary, we findrt—• 1. That the general-psssenger traffiasinioni yehig rose fr0m.9,056;000 .ie,28,*"23,20'"*,-c3M*'ei 216 par cent. .; 2. That dMingthessme;p3rioa r local,ttii3c: — that is to.say,„short distance traffic—fa-Dressed 730-per cant. / 3. That the-general;",pas3enger«ietenue«ljM -increased 40 percent. 4. Thatlocal traffio*revenueh^s"increa3ed"2off ipsr.cent.

in.Rnssiivdt-e reanlta have* been- even jaora remarkable. In Hungary the zone-system -irea applied to the*whole of the lines.f.in.Russiato the most tbinlj-popnlated districts only. 7 _*0! all disl-auass'under 200 miles the old system and old fares were retained, yet thiswa3;th(J truly surprising result.- In one j6ar*-thepas£Ei*-« ger revenue rosefrom £3,061,754 to £9,183,333, •or an increase of 14- per sent, from the poorest .and moat'thinly-populated districts only.

How completely this Russian experience disposes 'of the want of population theory! 'Their railway men calculated that they would make s. loss o! £1,894,202 ;..theymade a gain ol £1,121,579. Wonderful as these results sre, with the utmost co"jfiilence: I again repsat my aßsertien •that the adoption of the^siage 6ystem here woublgivc greatly better- taeial results ; but if ifc gave only -as good, this is how "it would workout. ' ■'■' ' " •■• If wtt ob.ftined the sams increase on general p-Esenjf-'"* and luggage revenus ihat was seen Bed inHangaiy, then we should get-an increase oi revenue o£ £177,588 per annuo'. Should our "local traffic" increase-to*;*!** same extent that i»-h»s done in Hurf-jKy— __d I see uo reason »by*it ehould not, —then from that soarao alonfr."»»-_onld get an increase of .£260,000 per,anE3m,,iu)d have every penny of .reveuao paid by aStr-mbo travel; over - ten (10) miles in addition. . If we only obtained ss much as the poorest districts ia Russia gave then we should.add to c-ur revenue at least £62,000 por annum. Theso axu the facts which'this wonderful commit-we iisd, or ought to have had, before theDj-,fU!~ yet they reported to*the House that in their onizrion tbe subject was utterly unworthy of tha slightest investigation ,or I .cewsider-tiou. Is it any wonder thafc our parliamentary institutions , grow in publio ..contempt? ■ I regEefc very.much.ths4 I have not brfow-mo the voting oa .the adoption of this report, in order-Ohat-I'Biighfcdo those who voted agsiasfc ifc-tho ju-siieeof placing their names and action enrccord.— \.vc_,__a„ Samuel Vai-E. i' An«kland,.Augnßt 21,1896.