RAILWAYS AND COAL.

Southland Times, Issue 19389, 1 November 1924, Page 2

RAILWAYS AND COAL.

To the Editor. Sir, —May I have a small space to reply to ! Mr Handyside’s letter which appeared in your issue of October 23, particularly with ■ regard to the remark: “I am afraid that if all the pioneers of New Zealand were of his (Mr McArley’s) mind, the New Zealand of , to-day would have been a poor and miserable place to live in.” Mr Handyside was referring to my letter of protest to the Minister of Railways published in your issue of October 20 last, against the exclusive use of New Zealand coal on the Government railways. I pointed out in my letter to the Minister that 61.41 per cent of the imported coal i was obtained from overseas by the private ; dealers of New Zealand, and that therefore only 38.59 per cent of it was used by the Government railways or Government Departments. I suggested that the request of the coal mine-owners could be better met by getting these dealers to use New Zealand coal, and so leave the locomotive men to do their work without undue hardship, and at the same time allow the railways to be run without outside interference. Apart from the cost of the coals and their calorific values, the injury caused to engine boilers and to men’s lungs in tunnels, to say nothing of those who ride in the carriages, should be considered. Therefore, if Mr Handyside would tackle the private dealers and get this 61.41 per cent reduced to nil, by that time electricity will have come into common use on the railways. As an advocate of the more extensive use of electricity, I suppose Mr Handyside will dub me out-of-date in my ideas as seen from a coal mine director’s perspective. However, with all due respect to Mr Handyside, if I were a director of a business, it would be the 61.41 per cent I would clean up, and leave the smaller percentage to take care of itself meanwhile.—l am, W. McARLEY. General secretary, E.F.C.A, Wellington, October 29.