THE MANAGEMENT OF OUR. RAILWAYS.

Otago Witness, Volume 25, Issue 2321, 25 August 1898, Page 11

THE MANAGEMENT OF OUR. RAILWAYS.

CONDITION OF THE ROLLING STOCK.

ACCIDENTS ON THE NORTHERN

LINES. (From Our Own Co«eespondent.)

WELLINGTON, A'URUst 17.

Now that dissatisfaction with the management of our railways is being: voiced from one end of the colony to the other, and at a time, too, when a vote of want-of-confidence has turned on it in Parliment, it will ba an opportune moment to give to your readers somo par- ' ticulars "leaned during the past few months. ' Jt is fully six months ago since the Times first , hazarded the opinion that the railways were being starved. It was only too evident from the frequency with which the engines broke down on the Napier-Wellington line that the j machinery was worn out, and had been sadly ■ aipgleded. Accident after accident took I { place, and the department were at their wits' j end what to do. Indeed, so great was their trouble that they had io import engines from the South Island. A?\d yet the Premier in his famous interview in Christchurch took the , opportunity of denying the well-authenticated statements telegraphed you. "Talking of railv.-ii.ys," said the interviewer, "I see some ' of the newspapers allege thnt you are neglecting the permanent way and railway stock in order to show large returns." And the Premier's reply was in the following words : The purest invention. The permauent way and railway stock have been far better maintained than they wore under the commis- j sionere. There has, of course, been a much j laiger demand upon the railways in conse- J quonco of the reduction of charges and in- ; creased facilities; but accidents have been ' fewer and less serious, and when all the new engines and trucks are completed, as they will be in the course of a few weeks, the lines will be better equipped than they have ever been before. The business of the railways has been too good to tempt us to run any risks by neglecting the plant. The accidents you have heard of have been greatly magnified by i the newspapers, and are still below the aver- ' age of those experienced in other countries." That was some months ago, and, according 1 to the Premier, all the new engines and trucks ' were to be completed in a few weeks, and the lines would be better equipped than they j were before ; yet now we have the Minister i coining down with a request for neaily I £300,000 for the railways after having received j only last December £200,000 — meaning an ex1 pendifcure of half,.-a million of money on the railways in 18 -months. Apparently, thoaflff , ; the "few weeks " have elapsed " ali the new , engines and trucks required to put our rail- , . j ways in efficient working order " are not com- > : pleted, notwithstanding the assurance of the ; Premier to Ihe Christchurch interviewer. But ; i that famous interview was a most unfortunate ' one for the Premier. The following is a list \ of the publicly- recorded accidents on the Wei- ! lington lines alone during a brief period of ' about two months at the beginning of the : year : — January 10 — Engine broke down near Featherston. January 19 — Two engines broke down on ' , the express train from Napier to Woodville. ; ] January 19 — Engine broke down taking , j people to Tahoraiti races; excursionists had \ , to walk two miles. j ! January 26 — Engine broke down at ' Aslvuvst. February I—Engine1 — Engine broke dov/n near Wanganui. ' February 3 — Express train partly derailed i:ear the Summit on the Rimutaka incline. February 7 — Engine broke down near Napier. February B—Carriage8 — Carriage off the line at Greytown. February 14 — Engine broke axle at Waipoua Bridge, near Masterton. February 31 — Train off the line at Newman. March 10 — Engine broke down at Matarawa. March 10 — Engine off the rails at Kaitoke. ] Excursion train with 500 children delayed » ' there all night. j March 10 — Guard's van off the rails at j Newman. I | Such a table compiled from " the rej ported" accidents in the public prints goes J far to prove the rottenness of the rolling ] stock and the disrepair mi' which it has * fallen during the Ministerial regime. Only J two or three of these accidents were attribut- 1 able to carelessness on the part of officials. ? But, as against these, there arc a whole host * of accidents chronicled by the department that were not made public. Indeed, I have * been assured by some of the »iost trustworthy v officials on the line that if there is one acci- ' f dent chronicled in the books of the depart- ) ment for the first three or four months of the ' year there must be at least 50. These aro f only the bare facts of the case, and there is r no occasion here to enter upon the more s serious question of handling a large jiassengor v traffic with such defective rolling stock. It s is only by extreme vigilance and good luck, f they say, that no serious conscqiior.ee-> have il so far resulted. J Turning now to Mr Cadman's report, there .i 1 are some statements and figui-es worthy of I consideration and criticism. The actual facts P aro often concealed in incomprehensible q tables. One point worthy of notice is that si the Minister has an ingenious method of esti- s mating his traffic at less than it was the pre- JS vious year, and then at the close of another v year saying there is an enormous increase tl over and above the estimate. He has done si idiis in the past, and is doing it acain. For h

instance, during the past year the railways earned £1,376,000. Yet he only estimates . the traffic for next year at £1,370,000. On | the other hand, ho estimates the expenditure at more than he spent last year. The cxpen- ! ciitura last year was £&5Y,000, this year it is t-j he £871,000. There should thus be £6000 less revenue avid £14,000 more expenditure*, which would leave a deficiency of £20,0QJQ. IKit, of course, no one knows better than the Minister that there will be no such deficiency. This way of putting things will, however, enable him to come forward again and say he has had another phenomenal year. Jt is admitted that the department has not kept pace with the traffic in the matter of haulage power. For instance, in a paper submitted last year, Mr iiofclieram states that they should- have ten engines pea. 1 annum to meet requirements and keep up their stock. If that is correct, the department should have debited ten engines last year and the Bame number this year to working expenses. From all accounts, there is no doubt that new engines should have been obtained three years ago. A comparison ' of the figures in return i No. 4 reveals an interesting fact in connection with the increased traffic on the Napier- ; Wellington line in consequence of the competition with the Manawafu Company. The increase of traffic has been £38,554-, but it has cost £37,330 to earn it. But what promises to be a much more serious and lasting trouble to the department than tho present shortage of rolling stock, is the political interference in regard to employees and tho general attitude of the men, who are fast beginning to recognise that they have much to gain by political intrigues. 1 indeed, so strong has this feeling grown that j employees have gone to the general manager to get decisions revoked and fines remitted, and have afterwards boasted that they have defied their, immediate superior officers. ' There is also great dissatisfaction amongst the men with the classification scheme, for it is now generally recognised that merit and ability are not recognised as they should be. , There is also a suspicion that an undue 7)roportion of renewals and repairs are charged to capital account, instead of being provided for out of revenue. Altogether there is much dissatisfaction with the present condition of our railways, and much ground for concern as to their" future under the present political control. Speaking in the House, Mr Moore condemned various matters in connection with the railways' administration, which he said was very much better under the commissioners. He pointed out that last year alone tho Minister spent £156,731 out of loan money, whereas for five years the commissioners only spent £104,494. Mr Moore rather bowled Mr Cadman out in the matter of " taring " railway trucks. Mr Ondman, hail, in answer to a question by Mr Moore "some few days ago, stated that he (Mr Moore) was absolutely incorrect in stating that the trucks had not been tared for years. -Mr Moore now proved his statement, and charged Mr Oadman with misleading the House. He also gave instances of errors in the weights of trucks. He had had several " tared " himself, and he said that there was no doubt the producers of Canterbury had been robbed of thousands of pounds through the negligence of the department in this respect. He read a lengthy statement of the difference of " taring," which came out to the disadvantage of the producer in some instances to the extent of scwt 2qr, 3cwt, and 2cwt 2qr. Several of those trucks had not been weighed since 1893 and 1894. In 30 trucks so tared there was a difference of no less than 2 tons 7cwt 2qr 141b. One truck had not been tared for seven years. In concluding this part of his speech, Mr Moore urged the immediate construction of trucks, as unless they wore put in hand at once there would be a block viext grain season.