NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3619, 24 July 1923, Page 28

NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS.

COMPARISON WITH AUSTRALIA. SOME INTERESTING FIGURES. (ITBOJJ OCR OWN COREESTONDENT.) WELLINGTON, July 16. In the House of Representatives tonight, Mr V. H. Potter (Roskill) said that he had listened to so much traducing bymembers of Parliament, especially those on the Labour benches, of the administration of the railways of New Zealand, that he had gone to some trouble to make a statistical comparison between them arid the States of Australia. The results were surprising. The fares and freights were lower in New Zealand and the wages higher, while the hours were shorter. Mr Potter began his comparisons by showing the salaries paid to the Commissioners of Railways in the various States of Australia. In Victoria the Chief Commissioner received £SOOO and had two assistants with £1759 each. The New South Wales Commissioner received £3OOO with two assistants at £ISOO each ; in South Australia the Commissioner got £SOOO, and in Canada £IO,OOO. The British railway companies paid their General Manager £6OOO to £IO,OOO per annum. The salary of the General Manager in New Zealand was only the l-130th part of the amount of capital invested. New Zealand had a surplus on her railways last year —a record that no Australian State could boast, said Mr Potter, as he gave the figures : State. Deficit. Western Australia ... £1,885.223 South Australia 1.437.060 Victoria 3,000,230 New South Wales ... 1.400,831 Tasmania ... 726.020 Queensland 8.382.730 New Zealand 535,170 (surplus) Mr Potter reminded the Labour Party of its undertaking that when it got on to the Treasury benches it would get the railway employees to administer the railway service, and he quoted the deficit of over £8,000,000 in the case of Queensland under a Labour Government. The capital cost and net earnings on capital were :

Mr Potter quoted longer distances to show that the disparity in the fares were very much more in favour of the New Zealand dweller than those_ of the Australian capitals. An interesting comparison of freights was supplied by the speaker as follows: — Greasy Butter, Sugar. Groceries, wool. Cheese. Queensland £4 IS 3 £lO 10 o£s 33 o£2 30 0 N.S. Wales 411 9 8 5 0 4 8 0 313 4 Victoria ... 315 4 8 3 0 4 8 0 2 14- 2 8. Australia 4 311 3in 0 516 0 4 311 New Zealand 312 11 GOO 313 0 117 11 W. Australia 012 0 7 5 0 512 0 3 3 1 The percentage of profit to capital in-

A 161 b eel caught in Eketahuna had five good-sized trout inside it.

FIELD NATURALISTS’ CLUB. j At the indoor meeting of the Naturalists’ J Field Club last week a very interesting paper | was contributed by Miss M. Finksyson, of Puerua. In comparing the Puerua district with Dunedin one finds many striking differences, though among the plants of the open hillsides, perhaps the majority are common to both disticts. In most cf the clumps ci bush at Puerua there are large numbers j ■ ratas, tlie southern iron wood (Metrosidcro3 i lucida). In other parts kamai is more plentiful. One strip of forest known as the Awakiki Bush is largely composed of great totaras, with matais and a few rimus. Kata, kamahi, mazus radicans, clematis marata, the narrow-leaved malice (Melicytue lanceolatus), and tlie sundew (Drosera spathulata,' ere plants which occur freely in the Puerua district, but are absent here. Other plant-s common there and rare here are Geum urbanum, Olearia virgata (the twiggy daisy tree), the blue orchid (Corysantlie3 rivularis), the carrot fern (Botrychium ternatum), and the narrow-leaved umbrella fern (Gluchema circinata). During the last tw-o or three years tlie following native birds have been observed in. or near the Awakiki Bush: Pigeon, parrequets, tuis, bellbirds, long-tailed cuckoo, bronze cuckoo, mopeke, tomtits, j white-eyes, fantails, grey waiblcr, brown creeper, and bush wren or rifleman. In tins bush it is still possible to hear the glorious early morning chorus of tuis and bellbirds. A whale-bird was caught about 18 months ago in an open paddock quite eight miles from the sea, in the most direct liner Banded dotterels are often seen in the same place. A bush hawk was also seen about 18 months ago. Some years ago an occasional bittern could be found up the Puerua, but the alleged sportsman has accounted for these. Pukekos flourish in the Otamcmomo swamp, and kingfishers are seen occasionally. The botany of the Catlins district is as yet almost untouched, but it is well known that it will richly repay an expert investigation. There were many interesting botanical exhibits at the meeting, induing kowhai in bloom from YVhare Flat and Melieytus lanceolatus (also in full flower) from Robin Hood ITills, Southland. Tuis are again reported as being plentiful up the Leith Valley, though perhaps not in such great numbers as last year.

Net earnings Capital cost State. per mile. per head. £50 5 0 Queensland £0 10 74 New South Wales 4 0 2 30 2 0 Victoria 3 0 2 38 8 0 South Australia ... i n 2 30 G 0 Western A u str a 1: a 1 12 10 54 0 0 South Africa 2 6 10 — New Zealand 3 8 5 20 8 0 The season tickets for a four mile radius for 12 months were next compared as follow: First Class. Second Class. Brisbane £8 0 0 £5 13 0 Sydney 10 18 0 7 7 3 Melbourne 8 13 6 6 10 0 Adelaide n 2 fi 0 1 G Perth 10 10 0 GOO New Zealand 7 3 0 5 9 0

vested was : New South Wales . 4.48 per centVictoria 8.71 per cent. Western Australia 1.G1 per cent. South Australia ... 3.7 per cent. Queensland Tasmania 1.5 per cent. 2.2 per cent. Now Zealand 4.53 per con t. South Africa 2.90 per cent. Canada 2.04 per cent. TT.S.A 3.65 per cent. United Kingdom ... 4.23 pm* cent. The railways of Norway. Switzerland, and Denmark had an excess of expenditure.