PARLIAMENT

Southland Times, Issue 21192, 19 September 1930, Page 8

PARLIAMENT

RAILWAYS STATEMENT LENGTHY DEBATE IN HOUSE ESTIMATE NOT YET PASSED (Abridged from Press Association Message.) Wellington, September 18. Speaking during the debate on the annual railways statement in the House of Representatives this afternoon Mr W. Nash (L., Hutt) said that the Leader of the Opposition (the Hon. J. G. Coates) favoured handing the railways over to a board of directors to make them pay. It would appear, he considered, that the most important thing was to make them pay a dividend to shareholders, namely the people of New Zealand. Dismissals Criticized. Continuing, Mr Nash criticized the action of the Government in dismissing men from the railway service. He contended that dismissals had not been'' due to lack of work for men to do but because of lack of money to pay them. This was an unwise policy because once the men were dismissed, they immediately became a charge' on the State in another direction. It would surely be more economic to employ men on useful work in the Railway Department than to engage them on relief works. Mr W. J. Jordan (L., Manukau) also criticized dismissals in the railway service. He asked whether it was the policy of the Department to buy British goods. He contended that American paint had been used on the Rotorua train and he asked whether it was proving satisfactory. He contended that American representatives had been given better facilities for demonstrating their paint than British firms had had. Mr J. S. Fletcher (1., Grey Lynn) contended that money had been lost as a result of coal contracts in the Waikato. The country was being put to the unnecessary expense of £2,500 per annum because the lowest tenders had been passed over. The Hon. W. B. Taverner said that the present Government could claim that it had placed the position of the railways fairly before the people. No one had forecasted the development, of motor transport, but the present position was due in a measure to past extravagance. The statement. that the railways should be placed under the control of a directorate was nothing more than drawing a red herring across the track. Mr E. J. Howard (L., Christchurch South) said that one of the reasons why the New Zealand railways were not paying was because they were out of date and not run on business lines. The Government’s policy lacked vision. Evening Session. The House adjourned at 5.30 and resumed at 7.30, when the debate was continued. Mr C. A. Wilkinson (1., Egmont) advocated a system of freight charges on the basis of weight alone. He stated that it was on this basis that competitors attracted buriness from the railways. He also supported the remarks of the General Manager of Railways with respect to rolling stock. He considered it was important that renewals should be made. Referring to the problem of co-ordination, Mr Wilkinson said he thought that it would be found necessary in some cases to confine the railway service to carriage of freight alone. In other cases it might even be necessary to close down the railway line and substitute a road service.

Mr H. S. S. Kyle (R., Riccarton) said it was time that political railways were abolished. They had been a curse in the past and he hoped that the electors would soon come to the conclusion that the sooner railways were removed from the political arena the better. Mr M. ,J. Savage (L., Auckland West! said that the railways should be regarded as a social service and whether they paid or not was not an important point. If railways had to be placed on a balance-sheet basis the country would not be property served.

Mr F. Waite (R., Clutha) said that if there were overlapping of services in the final analysis the consumer had to pay. In (he past the railways had been the best means of opening up country, but it was questionable whether they were to-day. The leader of the Labour Party (Mr 11. E. Holland) said that if the day ever came when we rejected the idea of railways being public utility and treated them as a business concern, we would have to credit them with the value to the country that had resulted from their construction and maintenance. It would be a difficult task to assess that value. He endorsed the statement of Mr Savage that the railways should be regarded as a social service. Continuing, Mr Holland said that while the Minister of Railways on one hand was explaining that there was not enough work to keep the employed engaged, the General Manager on the other hand reported that there was a crying need for rolling stock. There was urgent necessity for work to be done in the construction of new rolling stock, but insufficient money was provided for the purpose. Mr Holland contended that the dismissal of men from the railway workshops could not be justified. It struck first at men because they suffered most, and secondly, through the men at the whole community bf New Zealand. Furthermore, the failure to provide efficient rolling stock was one of the contributing factors to the losses on the railways. It would be a saving proposition to replace all the men that had been dismissed-

Mr H. G. Dickie (R.. Patea) questioned whether the country was getting value for money expended on publcity in the Railway Department. He considered that the present General Manager would be able to attain good results from the operation of the railways if he were given a free hand.

The Rev. C. J. Carr (L., Timaru) expressed the opinion that the introduction of lighter and faster trains would produce more satisfactory results. Shortly 7 before 11.30 p.m. Mr Ransom appealed to the House to put the statement through before midnight, the scheduled hour for the rising of the House, because the’ House would not be sitting to-morrow afternoon or on Monday. Mr Veich in Reply. 'Replying to the debate, the Hon. W. A. Veitch assured the House that he had listened carefully to all that had been said by members. He had made a note of the points raised and all of them would be considered when they came to reconstruct the policy of the Department in the light of the report of the ilailway Commission now sitting. The Minister added that the cost of repairing rolling stock had been a serious drain on railway finances. • Since the General Managers report had Deen compiled £210,000 had been provided for the purchase of material to be worked into the manufacture of rolling stock. That material, he understood, was already on the water. In addition £120,000 had been made available to be used for fabricating rolling stock. The total of these two sums would be sufficient to keep the workshops going. The deficiency explained in the General Manager’s report had already been met.

The House then proceeded to consider in Committee of Supply the estimate of £6,378,003 for the working railways account. Mr H. E. Holland moved that the total vote be reduced as a protest against the action of the Minister in continuing dismissals in the railway service and in reducing orders for coal supplies, thereby dislocating trade. Mr Holland’s amendment was rejected on a division by 40 votes to 24.

Progress was then reported and the House rose at 12.1 d a.m. lid 10.31) a.in. today. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL The Legislative Council met at 2.30 p.tn. to-day. The Unemployment Bill was reported frpm the Labour Bills Committee without amendment. The"Le£tler of the Council (the Hon. R. Masters)' asked that the second reading stage of . the Bill should be proceeded with immediately, but an objection was raised to this course anti the second reading stage was deferred until Tuesday. At 2.35 p.m. the Council adjourned until Tuesday next.