ALTERING THE TRAMWAYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3005, 18 October 1911, Page 25

ALTERING THE TRAMWAYS.

HASTY LEGISLATION. (Fbom Our Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, October 12. The House at present is thinking mainly of electioneering, and there appears to be a danger of letting" things go by the board in the closing days of the session. The result will no doubt be slipshod legislation that may cost the long-suffering taxpayer dearly in some cases. According to Mr Wilford (Mayor of Wellington, and a prominent Government supporter), the clause Mr Davey succeeded last evening in introducing into the Tramways Bill is a case in point. It will at all events cost Wellington dearly. The clause referred to reads as follows :—" (1) All tramcars shall be so constructed as to provide a passage way from one end of the car to the other; (2) at least 10 per cent, of the existing cars (including cars constructed pursuant to a contract entered into prior to the passing of this act) which are not in compliance with this provision shall be converted annually so as to bring them in compliance therewith.'' " If the Government persists in retaining that clause," said Mr Wilford. " my personal opinion is that the best thing we can do is to ask the Government to take over the whole concern, run it, and pay the liabilities." Mr Wilford quotes figures and facts in support of his statement. He says there are 63 car affected by the clause—43 palace cars, 17 combination cars, and three Hongkong cars. vAccording to the electrical engineer the cost will be £4OO a car, a total of about £25,000, and the seating capacity will be reduced from 3000 to 2000. It wijl be necessary to provide an additional 30 cars to make the total carrying capacity of the "Davey" cars equal to that of the present types. The extra cars will cost £I2OO each—a total of £36,000. Thus the aggregate extra outlay here would be £61,000. The estimates of £5 and £lO per car as the cost of alterations (mentioned in the House last night) are inadequate for Wellington, where the narrow width of the cars involves reconstruction to effect the specified alterations.