GIVES UP HALF HIS SALARY

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11402, 22 March 1930, Page 5

GIVES UP HALF HIS SALARY

RAILWAY COMMISSIONER HUGE RAILWAY LOSSES. United Press Assn—By Electiic Telegraph—Copyright SYDNEY, March 21. A number of railway unions interviewed Mr W. J. Cleary. Chief Railway Commissioner, seeking the Government’s intentions in the direction of meeting the heavy railway losses. Mr Cleary informed them that the 48 hours week throughout the service and to call upon a large proportion of professional officers to forego one week’s work in twelve or thereabouts. The present drift would simply have to end just as it would if private Interests owned the railways.

The employees would need to face the facts; sas the alternative was wholesale dismissals which were bad for business and the country. He then caused the greatest surprise and pleasure when he announced that he intended to set an example by devoting almost half of his salary, which is five thousand yearly, to the alleviation of the worst cases of distress in the service. Illustrating the extent of the railway drift, he said that there was a loss of £15.000 on passenger fares and a. loss of £35,000 on freight last week, in addition to over £7OOO on tramways;