ROAD AND RAIL

Southland Times, Issue 21848, 27 October 1932, Page 5

ROAD AND RAIL

TRANSPORT PROBLEMS. mr McDougall’s solution. (From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, October 26. In the course of his speech on the financial debate in the House of Representatives this evening Mr D. McDougall dealt with the cost of road and rail transport and said that far too much money was being wasted on the highways. If he had his way he would not spend another penny on roads that ran parallel to the railways. Although the roads were taking traffic away from the railways some members were still advocating spending more money on roads. “Down in my district men are tearing up a good metal road to improve it,” he said, “and you could jump from the road to the railway line. What will be the result of such a policy? Goods from Dunedin to Invercargill will be transported in lorries while empty trucks are hauled along the railway line to be filled with coal in the Western District. If this continues to go on, in a few years we will have a commission reporting on the mistakes of the present Government and their report will be a staggerer. If I had my way I would not spend another penny on roads running parallel to the railway, and if the railways are not good enough for the gentry they can fly or take to the boot and it might do some of them good.” Continuing, Mr McDougall referred to the charges for refreshments at railway stations and said that dinner should be reduced to 2/- and lunch to sixpence. He had written to the chairman of the Railway Board about it and had got a sarcastic letter which meant nothing in reply. The Railways Board had blocked the construction of the Kingston-Queens-town road and had then put up the freights on the lake “and still,” he said, “we have members getting up on the floor of this House asking us to do something for the backblocks.”