OUR RAILWAYS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14926, 31 August 1910, Page 10

OUR RAILWAYS.

w r~ oomiiKMiting .bit Sir Joseph Vi aids remarks ancnt the loss the Government would have to face if it prosecuted the Lawrence-Roxburgh railway, vou I think, remarked that the same" might' be said of most of the branch lines. It certainly must be said of the Otago Central, wnicn even now, for the firet time, paid as much a* 20s par cent., leaving still a Uw of 24 por i»nt. on the total cost of construction. What struck me, howeve;-, was tlw bet that the critics of the administration of the railways under Government control, as opposed to the regime of the old commiissonera never take this nilimportant facto- into consideration when drawing; comparisons. When the commissioners held office the Otago Central railway, with ita h«avy handicap, was still in the hands, of the Public Works Department and a charge on the railway fund?, and the same can be said of dozens of branch lines upon which lossas .arc now made. But Mr Millar's critics conveniently ignore all this ivhon attacking him- and comparing Ims administration with that of the commissioners.

. Again, -sinco the commissioners retired from office-rates'and fares have been reduced and concession after concession, such as cartage of lime, conveyance of stock to stud, cartage of food, to starving stock, have been conceded to our farmers, and those collections have largely helped the agricultural prosperity iof our Dominion, and have been thus, if not directly, then indirectly, benefited tho land we five in. One cannot help being- struck by the inoonsistency.. of-, the-critics. of- : Mr -Millar's administration. Fii-stly, -in tlieir-.'demands" for moro non-paying railways; secondly, m thuir cry agaiimt the present suburban railway fares up north; and, thirdly, in connection with their demand for a Civil Service Board. There is no need to elaborate on the first and second propositions, but the third is, perhaps, that on which their inconsistency is most plainly 6hown

Take, for instaice, Mr Janies Allan's criticism of the Defence Council and th» rates of pay for officers. Mr Allen rightly asks Parliament to look into the matter: But Mir Hisrdman and the Deposition party, including Mr Allen, are asking tho Government to hand over out- railways to an autocratic Board of Control, thus taking away from Parliament the power it now possesses to bring a Minister on tho floor, of the Hottso to explain matters. I think the Hon. J, A; Millar deserves the thanks of tho Dominion for the bold and determined way he has handled railway matters. _ Mr Hi-rdman saj's ha never will succeed in making tho railways pay, find that commissioners could—perhaps they would by making each line self-sup-porting .commercially. But if so, what about tho industries affected, and the extra charges that would have to bo borne? Let ns see to it that our railways arc run as they now are, with an eye, .as under Mr Millar's administration, to the financial sido, but not at the exjicnse of our agricultural and pastoral industries. Ifc would be a poor thing for New Zealand to say that she could not trust her public men to control hur public affairs, and if it were teue that she- could not, which I feel sure the electors will never admit, then I know;- no worse manner of reform than by setting up 0 "so-called non-politie.il buffer, under the shelter of which Minis-tei-s could disclaim any responsibility, and by aid. of,, which they could do as they pleased.-I am, etc!, Sau Ray.