THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY OCTOBER 20, 1947. THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26596, 20 October 1947, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY OCTOBER 20, 1947. THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT

Commenting on a letter which appeared •in our correspondence columns on Saturday, Cr McCrae has spoken frankly about the serious financial position of the Transport Department and has emphasised strongly the.importance of the point which our correspondent made. That point is that the department is now operating at a loss which cannot b& supported. This year it is estimated that the deficiency will be about £42,000. Obviously the situation calls for prompt and perhaps radical action. Some economies can doubtless be made by rigidly overhauling the whole system, but it is Cr McCrae’s opinion—and he should be in a position to know—that the saving in this direction will not be adequate. The council, therefore, must decide upon its policy, whether tram fares will be increased, or, alternatively, whether a special rate should be struck. The choice is not a simple one. It will doubtless be contended in some quarters that the users of the trams should accept the imposition of higher fares on the principle that the user pays. But in past years when the Transport Department was more than paying its way, the profits, along with profits from the other trading departments, were applied for the general benefit of the city and of the ratepayers as a whole. Cr McCrae suggests—and this opinion has been expressed before—that the City Council, would have been better advised to have built up reserves for the future need of the departments concerned. Since the city has benefited from the operations of the Transport Department in the past, it will be argued that the city has a moral obligation to assist the department in its changed circumstances. This could be done if the council levied a special rate —but it may not be within the council’s powers to do this, even if it wishes to do so. This matter is important in itself, but the decision which is made may well have a bearing on the whole future policy of the council in regard to trading profits. With the Transport Department losing money at the rate of about £SOO per week, the decision must be made soon. The municipal elections are due to be held shortly and this issue should be given prominence during the campaign. The ratepayers should know what attitude the candidates intend to adopt for the question of Transport Department finance is one which the new council will be expected to deal with early in its existence.

DUNEDIN'S PLEDGE

If any further evidence was required that there is a general goodwill towards the Aid to Britain campaign, it was provided—so far as Dunedin is concerned—by the meeting held on Thursday which resulted in the formation of a local organisation to do its utmost to help. A month has now elapsed since the Prime Minister called a conference to prepare a plan of campaign, and in all the centres there are representative bodies of willing helpers ready for action. The deplorable fact, however, is that there is little they can do. The time for conference and -pledges is past and it remains for the Government to tell the country what it requires to be done. Certainly there is a campaign in progress for the saving of petrol. At first it was successful, but as the weeks have passed the initial stimulus has been lost. The impression must be removed that all that is wanted is for the motorist to save a little petrol if he,can do so without greatly inconveniencing himself. There have also been periodic references to the saving of tobacco, but little effort, if any, has been made to ensure that tobacco consumption is reduced. The crisis in Great Britain is no temporary embarrassment which can be relieved without hardship throughout the British Commonwealth of Nations. If the New Zealand Government will not introduce compulsory measures at present, at least it should direct an emphatic and purposeful publicity campaign and leave no room for doubt that voluntary saving is only an alternative to rationing.

The second part of our programme for aid—the export of food—is perhaps in an even more unhappy position than the first. The most productive endeavour to export food has probably been made by means of gift parcels from private individuals and various organisations. Discussions have been held to plan the removal of the bottlenecks in transport, but if they are successful the desired effect will still not be achieved because of the reluctance of officialdom to deal with the problem of the reduced output per man-hour on the waterfront. Even if transport can be so organised as to be able to cope with the demands on it, the campaign will flag for the simple reason that nothing has been done to stimulate production—and here is the kernel of the matter. This problem is connected with various aspects of Socialist policy. It will not be good enough if New Zealand’s earnestness to assist is nullified by a doctrinaire preoccupation or by pusillanimity „on the part of the Socialist Government.