CONFIDENCE IN FUTURE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1077, 15 September 1930, Page 8

CONFIDENCE IN FUTURE

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS ON UNEMPLOYMENT RETAINING OTAHUHU STAFF A hope that the whole of thpresent staff of the Otahuhu wort' shops would be retained was pressed by the Hon. W. A VeitXl Minister of Railways, before he lets for Wellington last evening lefl He stated that new capital works would be started shortly, but a firra hand would be kept on the finaneof the department. Mr. Veitch said that unless he were given sufficient freedom to eliminate unnecessary expense and to increase the revenue wherever he could the Railway Department might continue to be a heavy load on the countrv instead of being a valuable and heln! ful service. The Minister stated that his recent remarks that no more men would be dismissed were completely misunderstood, and had been taken as a promise. He did not anticipate for a moment that what he said would be interpreted to mean that no more met would be put off for all time. Such a promise if considered for a moment, would be absurd, and was not capable of being fulfilled. What he really meant was that for the time being it would not be necessary to dismiss any more men. LARGE WORKS COMPLETED Since Mr. Veitch made his statement, large capital works had been completed, repairs had been largely overtaken and the money which had been provided for the relief of unemployed had been exhausted. Consequently he had been reluctantly compelled to dispense with the services of a few more men. Although there were no other dismissals in view at present, the services of men employed on capital work 3 which had been completed might have to be dispensed with. He hoped, however, that the future of the railways would be bright, both from the point of view of usefulness to the people and the well-being of the staff. He thought that the railwaymen understood the position and that they were willing to place their confidence in him and to co-operate with him in an effort to raise the department to a more dignified plane. The most obvious feature of the present position was that, unless he firmly arrested the downward tendency of railway finance, every railwayman in New Zealand would be in an unsatisfactory position and the public would suffer. His present policy would be immediately helpful to the people of the Dominion, and ultimately would be beneficial to the railway staff.