STATE AS BOOKSELLER

Southland Times, Issue 20663, 19 April 1929, Page 8

STATE AS BOOKSELLER

ANOTHER HAZARDOUS EXPERIMENT. (Nineteen Twenty-Eight Committee). The Railway Department at the midfile of last month made up its mind to assume control of the railway bookstalls throughout the Dominion and forthwith gave notice to this effect to the lessees concerned. “With reference to your right to occupy the railway bookstall at —,” the notice to each individual lessee ran, “I desire to inform you that the Department intends to take over and control this stall when your lease expires on June 30 next.” Simply this and nothing more. There has been no suggestion from any source that the lessees are not discharging their obligations satisfactorily; that they are not paying an adequate rent for the stalls they occupy, or that they are not meeting the requirements of the public; travellers all over the country testify to their courtesy, their efficiency, and their ready discernment. At the larger railway stations the bookstalls are as well equipped as are the city shops of the same character and they have the advantage of being a local guide, a ready timetable and a reliable news repository. Even at the smaller stations, where the traffic is not so large, the bookstalls are popular places of resort and the sources of useful information. Revenue and Service.

Several of the larger bookstalls, which have been occupied by the same lessees for a number of years are paying very considerable rentals. Sums as high as £lOOO, £BOO and £6OO are mentioned, and higher rates are predicted. These are cases in which the lessees have had an opportunity to build up a stable business within the precincts of the railway station and to attract travellers of all tastes and degrees. Naturally cities life Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin offer greater facilities for developments of this kind than do the smaller centres along the railway lines; but in the aggregate such places as Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wanganui and Invercargill must contribute very substantionally towards the revenue of the bookstall returns. Ten years ago the Railway Department’s revenue from this source was not one half of what it is at the present time, and its growth obviously is the result of the understanding and effort of private enterprise. The lessees of the larger bookstalls not only provide reading matter of a suitable and needed character for the travelling public, but they also undertake gratuitously a number of services which otherwise would be neglected altogether or rendered in a very perfunctory fashion by the State. What Will Happen? It would be interesting to learn what arrangements the Railway Department is making for carrying on the bookstalls when it has got rid of the present lessees. Of course, it is well within its authority in taking over the administration of this service itself. No one will dispute this fact. But it is permissible to ask how- the Department is going to staff ite bookstalls. At present they are open in the larger centres from ninety to nine-five hours a week, including three or four hours on Sunday. In Dunedin the lessee and his wife and one female assistant maintain this extended service. Presumably similar conditions prevail in other centres. Under Government control at least two shifts will be required. The lessee, the wife and the female assistant will have to be replaced by two shifts of three, as well as a Sunday attendant, making a staff of seven in all with prescribed pay and prescribed hours. The prospect is not a pleasing one for the taxpayer. The cost of maintenance will be at least doubled and it will not be surprising if the State’s share of the revenue is more than halved. DUNEDIN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. DEPUTATION TO MINISTER. (Per United Press Association.) Dunedin, April 18. A deputation from the Chamber of Commerce waited on the Hon. W. B. Taverner, Minister of Railways, expressing strong disapproval of the suggestion that the Railways Department should take over the railway bookstalls. It was stated that this interfered with private business, and so was contrary to the Government’s policy and would also involve increased staffing. The revenue from the bookstalls in the four centres was £3500 yearly, which it was not a sound proposition for the Government to give up. The Hon. W. B. Taverner said that the matter was still under consideration. The bookstall leases were for three years, with no goodwill. It was imputed and implied that there had been a certain amount of overlapping between the refreshment rooms and the bookstalls, and if the leases were to be continued, the bookstalls, which had exceeded their covenants, would have to come into line. The matter was receiving attention and there would be no increase in the personnel of the Public Service if he could avoid it.