WAGON-SPRINGS ORDER

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1073, 10 September 1930, Page 1

WAGON-SPRINGS ORDER

NOT SENT TO SYDNEY MEMBER MISLED BY LETTER THE SUN’S Parliamentary Reporter PARLIAMENT BLDG 3., Tuesda’ The statement tha the Railwivs ! Department had not placed an order i tor 1,000 laminated wagon sprir.g.s with | the Pioneer Spring Work 3vdney | was reiterated in the House today by i (he Minister of Railways, the Hon. yV. ! -A- Veiteh, who replied to a recant • assertion by Mr. 5. Langstor.e (Labour —aim.trine > that the Mims ter had I not given the fui! facts of the case , to the House. The Minister claimed tha; Mr. Lang- | stone h . a d taken a letter relating to | springs from its conext on tho files, and had been misled by ir.forrra- ! tion from some disloyal officer of the i service. i “I have investigated the position bv personally referr.ny to e files. sa‘d I Ml - Y eitch - “To meet the sudden rush of orders for springs it was neoes ■ sary to have some roretructed outsida | *-he Railway Department s workshops, j Thus, quotations were received both j from New Zealand and Australia Tt* ! matter was dealt with by the Coir.p- ---| troller of Stores in the Railway Dei partment, and when th.s officer had j received a number of quotations he j summarised them and referred them to j the Chief Mechanical Engineer in the (customary way for the recommendation of that officer. The Chief Mechanical Engineer, in consideration of the prices, and particularlv the -apidity of delivery, which latter circumstance was of paramount importance recommended that the order should b. placed with the Sydney firm. 1 “Generally, in cases of this kind, the recommendation of the Chi-: Mechanical Engineer has been ac- d upon, and anticipating this procedure th ■- officer in the Chief Mechanical Engineer's office who was hand: rig the matter 1 sent advice to the workshops manager •at Otahuhu in th terms of >ette- , that was quoted hy Mr. I-angstone . Although the New Zealand prices j were higher than those quoted bv the ! Sydney company, by spreading the i order over more than ore fi-m ;n New • Zealand, the requirement aa to rapidit> : of delivery which, as I indicated, was , of paramount importance, was able to | he fulfilled, and the entire order was distributed among certain New Zee I land firms. This was done and at no ' stage was an order placed with the Pioneer Company in Sydney It wi";i ; be seen that the hon. member has been : supplied with misleading information i through some disloyal officer, who bv J some means had access to the depart- , mental records. The letter ir. question. '■ by being divorced from the othei ; matter on the files, has Ic-d the hon. : member to a wrong conclusion. The. i information which I gtr? ir. reply *« ! the hon. member was c.'-rrect."