MEMBERS’ CRITICISMS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1081, 19 September 1930, Page 11

MEMBERS’ CRITICISMS

GENERAL DEBATE ON STATEMENT MANY SUGGESTIONS MADE Press Association WELLINGTON, Thursday. The debate on the Railways Statement was continued in the House of Representatives after Mr. Ransom and Mr. Coates had spoken. Nlr. W. Nash (Lubour —Hutt) criticised the action of the Government in dismissing men. It would surely be < more economic to employ men on use- j ■ Tul work in the Railway Department j than to engage them on relief works. ; Mr. W. J. Jordan (Labour—Manukau) asked whether it/was the policy ol the department to buy British goods. He contended that American paint had been used on the Rotorua train. The Minister of Public Works, the Hon. W. B. Taverner, said the present position was due in a measure to past extravagance. The statement that the railways should be placed under the i control of a directorate was nothing more than drawing a herring across the track. Nil*. E. .T. Howard (Labour—Christchurch South) said that one of the reasons why the railways were not paying was because they were out of date, and not run on business lines. CHARGES ON WEIGHT BASIS Mr. C. A. Wilkinson (Independent— Egmont) advocated a system of freight charges on the basis of weight alone. He stated it was on this basis that competitors had attracted business from the railways. Referring to the problem of co-ordination, he said lie thought it would be found necessary in some cases to confine railway services ! to the carriage of freight alone. In other cases it might even be necessary j to close a line and substitute a roau t service. Mr. JI. S. $5. Kyle (Reform —Riccar- : ton) said it was time political railways were abolished. Mr. M. J. Savage (Labour —Auckland West) said railways should be regarded as a social service, and whether they j paid or not was not an important point. ! Mr. F. Waite (Reform—Clutha) said i in the past railways had been the best means of opening up the country, but it was questionable whether they were today. VALUE TO COUNTRY The Leader of the Labour Party said if the day ever came when the country rejected the idea of railways as a public utility and treated them as a business concern, it 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. While the Minister on the one hand was explaining that there was not enough work to keep all employees engaged, the general manager had reported there was a crying need for rolling stock. The dismissal of men from the workshops could not be justified. It struck first at the men because they suffered most and. secondly, through the men. at the whole community. Furthermore, the failure to provide efficient rolling stock was one ol* the contributing fac- j tors to the losses. Mr. H. G. Dickie (Reform —Pa tea ) j considered the general manager would be able to attain good results if he •' were given a free hand. The Rev. C. L. Carr (Labour— expressed the opinion that the introduction of lighter and faster trains would produce more satisfac- , ! tory results. MR. RANSOM’S APPEAL Shortly before 11.30 p.m. Mr. Rati-: som appealed to the House to put the Statement through before"* midnight, the hour scheduled for the rising of the House, because the House would not be sitting' tomorrow afternoon or on Monday. Replying to the debate. Mr. Veitch | assured the House 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 commission now sitting. The Minister added that the cost of repairing rolling stock liad been a serious- drain on railway finances. Since the general manager’s report had been compiled £210,000 had been provided for the purchase of material to be worked into manufacture of rolling stock. That material, lie understood, was already on the water. In addition. £i:’0,000 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 The House then proceeded to consider the Railway Estimates.