RAILWAY OFFICERS’ INSTITUTE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3881, 31 July 1928, Page 28

RAILWAY OFFICERS’ INSTITUTE.

ANNUAL CONFERENCE. ADDRESS BY MR H. H. STERLING. The annual conference of the Executive Council of the New Zealand Railway . Officers’ Institute was opened on Friday morning at 9.30 in the Otago Motor Club 7 s rooms in Moray Place. All the delegates were present, namely:—President, Mr V. R. J. Stanley; vice-presidents, Mr. R. S. : - Skinner, Mr J.’ -J. M'Aloon, Mr M. E, Carroll, and Mr E. W. Barnes; treasurer, Mr L. Barclay; -Mr J. E. Williams (Aucklanu.and) ; Mr A. J; M'Grail (South Auckland), Mr W.: -H. “ Walmsley (Main” Trunk), Mr L. V. Carmine (Wanganui), Mr K. D.’ Croft' (Hawke’s Bay), Mr A. F.GilmouV .(Palmerston North), Mr.-,W. F. Gill (Wellington), •Mr J. S. Roscoe (North Canterbury), Mr S. H. Bassett' (Westland),! Mr J. A. Thompson (South Canterbury), Mr T. A. Harwood (North Otago), Mr R. W. M’Kay (Otago), and Mr T.-Miller-.(Southland). > ■• ’ GENERAL MANAGER’S ADDRESS, At 10.30 Mr H. H. Sterling attended the conference, and was received with warm applause;. .. The president' ; extended a very cordial welcome to Mr Sterling. He stated that Mr'Sterling was one of the officers who had at one .time occupied a less important. position..than he did to-day,. arid - had always liad a kindly word pf',advice for - institute members. In attondifig. their conference lie was simply showing la continuation of .his past interest in ; 'the institute.' They 1 his presence very much, and were pleased that he'Zdid not think' it derogatory to his high position to meet- members ®f the first - division organisation. Mr Sterling’s action , would go a long -way towards developing the spirit of co-operation, which they knew he was endeavouring to promote in the department, and he would find the officers only too ready to assist him. Amongst this year’s delegates there was perhaps a slightly larger percentage of younger officers. The delegates had assembled primarily to consider working conditions and various other aspects of their work,,, but they were.■‘also?deeply, sensible of thefact, that they 'owed a duty to the partment and .the jpublic as employees,, and, therefore, any , remarks which Mr*. Sterling , made” would fall on- .. fruitfiil grounds. - • •

Mr Sterling thanked the-delegates for their kindly welcome to him? It was a pleasure to meet railwaymen to discuss with them problems in which they were all concerned and upon which the welfare of the country was largely dependent. The latter fact would bring home to them a sense of their responsibility, and they would be judged ,by the public, at large -by,the way they discharged that responsibility. They, had tq’keep’the commerce of the country On' the” move,' dependent' as it was oh the efficiency of the transport SerVices. - He’felt strorigly the great necessity :at. the present, time -of getting together in the closest co-operation, from the .general .manager to, the last-joined cadet or Junior porter. It was his desire to discuss with them any matter'that was likely to increase the capacity of the department for service. He hoped to move about freely, not only among. the officers and men, but : among their customers, with a view to a free exchange of ideas, which would lead to fruitfulness of suggestions for the benefit of the whole of the railways service. He had been interested in the Officers’lnstitute’ ever since he joined the service, and realised its potentialities. Generally epeaking, its , -deliberations were confined to, matters affecting remuneration, and working .conditions of the staff, but. nothing would please him better than to hear of the institute taking into consideration matters that would be, -in his opinion, for the benefit of the department, ’ especially for its increased efficiency as a .transport - concern. When a deputation came -to wait on him, as he had no. doubt it would in due course, to place before him the results of the deliberations of the meeting, he would like them to bring along at the same time some constructive ideas. It would be admitted in the first place that no more could be taken out of the pot than was put into it. Let each and all of them do their utmost to put something into the pot; let them do it will- . ingly and systematically, and if they \ all worked in that way ‘‘he believed * the ideal he had in view would be attained, and practical co-operation would be brought about between the men and the management. He did not like speaking of railway management; he liked to speak of the railway staff; which included everybody, and that was the spirit in which he attended their meeting that day. He wanted them' to feel- they were all striving to do the best they could for the great service of which they -were members. Their motives were probably not altruistic in the sense that they were trying to better themselves, but while their .objects undoubtedly had that tinge of self in them they could at the same time bring to the performance of’their work a sense of going out beyond the narrow confines of the job, beyond the limits of P 6, and say, “ I am responsible for helping this department 'to come through, .and I will discharge that responsibility to the best of my ability.” He had occasion to say in the course of an address recently that if every man in the service brought one halfpenny a day to the department in the way of increased revenue or saved one halfpenny a day in the expenditure—perhaps in drips of oil—-the net revenue of the department would be increased by about £25,000 per annum. AVhen they looked at the matter in that way they could see the opportunities for service that opened before them. The little things counted every time. - A man ‘might see something lying about—a piece of waste or half a pencil—and did not. think of it at the moment, but at night he would wonder whether he might not have used the pencil a. little longer or put the waste on the shelf for future use instead of kicking it out on the track. As economic ' conditions : became keener, so the small things had a greater significance. Unquestionably, the Railway Department, in common with railways all over the world, was up against a very serious problem. There was a good deal of loose thought in connection with' the transport question today,. because very few people were thoroughly conversant with the problem. It was a pretty hefty science, requiring careful study and long- practical training, and when it got into the state of flux it was in td;day there must* be a good deal of loose thinking. They must carry the .- flag of knowledge amongst their fellowmen.. When they found people on the wrong track ...they should make it a personal job, and hot leave it to someone else to put them right. They could do much to ensure satisfaction on the part of .the public, which was the real test of 'their success. At times they heard a good deal about making the railways pay. He thought that was only one aspect of the public satisfaction, and he had it pretty well fixed in his mind that the people wanted essential service. He had come into contact with a good many people, and / he had heard, that wherever he had gone. He had had a lot of testimony to the effect that the railway men were actuated by a desire’-to give a higher standard of service, and that was appreciated by the public. He had definitely pledged the men to stand together and give 100 per cent, of . service,’ and he believed they would honour that pledge. He believed they had the ability and the will to do it, and if they associated themselves with him in a constructive endeavour to put the’ railways on an improved footing they would keep them on a good footing and get a little higher up. He asked for their assistance, which he would apgreciate very much. He would welcome them into his office to place their requests before hfln, and he would welcome them still more if they could show him how to put more into tbe pint pot than? they took out of it. He was'very pleased to’be there'as a railway man amongst railway men. He trusted that they would derive pleasure and nrofit from their -discussions and that they -would be useful- to themselves and the department. He had been invited to attend a function to be held by the institute, and he was very sorry that he would not be able to be present. He was on a flyings visit to Dunedin, and must go’away,the following morning. On the motion of Mr R. S. Skinner, a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Sterling was ■ carried by acclamation.