The Daily News. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25. OUR RAILWAYS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 248, 25 February 1911, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25. OUR RAILWAYS.

It has lately been shown in a return I called for by Mr. Witty, M.P., that the railway travelling public of New Zealand pay an almost imperccivable fraction less in fares than either of three States of the Commonwealth. As the people of New Zealand own the railways, it is, of course, the duty of their paid servants administering them for the State to do so to the greatest comfort and convenience of the joint owners, even though the profits (which are the people's concern) are not great. In this return just issued, the average passenger who peruses it will naturally be asked to glow with pride over the fact that he can travel in New Zealand 50 miles for 4s 3d, while in New South Wales he would have to pay fivepence more, but if the average passengers' time is money, he would save more cash in paying even a shilling extra on the more rapid New South Wales railways, although no Australian system k)f railway is a perfect pattern. Presumably the limit on New Zealand railways has been reached, and trains will not be hustled along at a Scotch express speed until the broad-gauge period arrives and general line duplication is effected. The passenger who wants to hurry has always to remember that New Zealand has extremely difficult railroad country and that much of ,the work, from an engineering standpoint, has no superior on earth. No doubt increase of population will some day force increased speed. Since railroad traffic was inaugurated in New Zealand, however, although there have been notable advances in the quality and 1 power of locomotives' speed, it is as it used to be. But quite apart from the question of speed, the public is entitled to demand greater cleanliness. To be frank, the railway carriages on many lines are frequently unspeakably unhygienic. The traveller must travel, and personally his .protest that a car is filthy is useless, even though he is part owner of it and contributes to the interest on railway loans. There have been many protests lately about the dirty state of trains, and if a cheeseparing administration is looking for trifling diminution of cost at the expense of the people's comfort, it is an administration which is belying its trust. Some small agitations have been in operation relative to the setting aside of compartments for women and children, but it has already been explained by the Department that when such conveniences were instituted for ladies awhile ago they were not taken advantage of. Similar conveniences in older countries—notably on the great English lines—were inaugurated and failed, simply because lady passengers in England—as here—quite naturally preferred to travel in a common car. It is clear, therefore, that the question of separate lavatory accommodation for women and children depended entirely on the special car for women. If ladies refuse to patronise a ladies' car (and they never will do so) the other private conveniences are impossible. At any rate, on well-ordered and clean trains, inconveniences to ladies cannot be great. One unpleasant element in New Zealand railway travelling is supplied by the hoodlum and the "seat-hog." The person who apparently believes that several thousand pounds' worth of rolling stock is rolling for his special behoof is particularly common. He is frequently the person who sits tight and plays cards, talks horse, or expectorates on the floor while women are strap-hanging), who would much rather his bag should occupy a scat than somebody's mother, and who is very often nn uncontrolled offence to all hands. New Zealand has no railway police, but there is urgent need for travelling railway constables to quell the turbulent traveller who so frequently makes a journey an excuse for a "burst." The person who looks upon a train lavatory merely as a place where he can dilute whisky is one of the chief causes of inconvenience to women and children, and train officials have too much to do to act as police. The very remarkable institution of unexpected ticket inspection is interesting passengers at the present moment, and, as has, been shown, trains are stuck up by stationmastei's who have been ordered to examine trains in order to find possible deadheads. That is to say. several score of people may be delayed in a journey they have paid for for the sake of a passenger who possibly is travelling "on the nod." This system is, on the face of it, absurd. An official who probably knows a percentage of passengers on the section would be just as likely to be blind to their remissness as the ordinary train officials. Obviously, a better system would be to appoint independent ticket examiners (just as tramway departments do), with roving commissions, who would he equally liable to pop up at TCawakawn as at Stratford, or who might board a train at Invercargill or Auckland. Admitting that it is necessary to descend with all feet on tho "deadhead." it is not necessary to kick the whole travelling public and to waste its time in the absurd manner just inaugurated. The majority of train travellers expect to get to a destination at a sot finie for a sot purpose. If a passenger's object is defeated by red-tape he has lost time, which is monev. Tt would be interosting for a train-load of folk who had been prevented from keeping engagements by the new system to claim damages for loss occasioned by delay, and it would at least settle the question whether the Railway Department has a right to treat passengers as suspects who may be travelling under false pretences.

CURRENT TOPIC:. NEW GUINEA. The cables have been telling us that aL exploring party has disappeared in New Guinea. This would seem extraordinary if New Guinea were a small ilat paddock nicely cleared, but seeing that, barring Australia, it is the biggest island in the world, it is likely that an odd white maw sometimes goes astray or makes a Papuan meal or dies of thirst. But of chief interest is the fact that a vast land, containing about 213,000 square miles, is practically empty, marvellously rich in minerals and exceedingly fertile, because of the tremendous rainfall and humidity. There are fewer than a million people over the whole area of Dutch, German and British New Guinea, and when science devises methods for keeping the white man alive in its broiling interior, there is no doubt that the country will offer as great attractions as Australia and New Zealand. The interior of New Guinea is practically unknown, presumably because the white man has been unable to penetrate that far, but mere scratching near the coasts has given the world much beche-de-mer, copra, ebony, pearls, rubber, sago, sandalwood and gold. The brave white adventurers who have had the courage to face the pests and the natives have told wonderful stories of mineral wealth in the vast territory. There is a greater variey of bird life in New Guinea than anywhere on earth, and no doubt when the rest of the world has been thoroughly cleaned of bird life the great island will be on to supply plumage for ladies' hats. New Guinea is also interesting because it unquestionably at one time was part of the same continent as Australia, and is, of course, only divided from Northern Queensland by the Torres Straits. The marsupials are found there, including that quaint beast, the treeclimbing kangaroos. Britain's (or shall we say Queensland's) bit of New Guinea runs info ninety thousand square miles, and there are only 350,000 folk on an area four times as big as New Zealand. In the meantime, the nation which can make New Guinea the most habitable for the white man will gather in the vast wealth that it stands for.

ROYAL AILMENTS. The whole world is now aware—liianKs to the London cable man—that the Prince of Wales has had measles, but has recovered. A case of Imperial measles is an extremely grave matter. It is even of more consequence than a royal bout of influenza or a monarchial boil. Perhaps the present King's famous boil, the waxing and waning of which was watched with interest in New Zealand, first emphasised the importance of Royal complaints, and millions of British folk who had the honor of beholding the Duke of York eagerly awaited the moment when the Royal boil would be no more. Then the Kaiser contracted a wen on his thumb and the earth rang with solemn telegrams about it, and the Crown Prince had to forego his morning drill in order to sign his Imperial father's papers. We have lately been permitted to knuw that the Emepror Wilhelm has been visited by influenza, and although several people in New Plymouth are also suffering from influenza, not one of them has cabled to the London Times or the Cologne flazei'tc, about it. Royalty is* unfortunately prone to the afflictions that so besot common folk, but a kindy sore finger, from a news standpoint," is a much more important matter than a scavenger's broken neck or a wharflumper's typhoid. One feels, however,] that there is some excuse for making public the fact that Prince Leopold of Battenberg is ill in a Melbourne private hospital, seeing that he is Australia's guest, and seems to be suffering from something more severe than a princely boil or Imperial measles. "The divinity | that doth hedge a king" evidently does not keep the microbes away, and it may be some satisfaction to common folk to j know that measles or whooping cough, influenza, boils and scarletina are equally ready to fasten on to a Hohenzollcrn as a Hodge.

INSURING THE WORKERS. The scheme for State insurance against sickness and invalidity, which is to be placed before the Imperial Parliament this year, is the outcome of conferences between Mr. Lloyd-George and :i committee of the National Conference of Friendly Societies. The proposals include the compulsory insurance of the whole of the workers in Britain whose incomes are below the income tax level of £l6O a year. The minimum amount of the insurance is to be 5s a week, this to be the limit of the State compulsory scheme. The minimum sum will be guaranteed by the State, and all insurance beyond the "minimum will be purely voluntary. The period which the State insurance will cover will be the working years of life between sixteen and seventy, the age at which the old-age pension begins. Of the contribution needed to provide a sickness insurance of 5s a week, the workman insurer will have to pay half, the remaining half being paid in equal proportions by the employer and the State. The scheme proposes to accept the risk of all lives, good and bad, and an uncertain factor is thus introduced. The existing friendly societies limit the benefits of their insurance to selected lives, and no statistics are available regarding the average duration of life or of activity of people who are unable to pass a medical examination. The State guarantee of the minimum benefit will give protection against the uncertainty of the risks. The scheme makes provision, it is reported, for the establishment of a central administrative council, composed of representatives of the Government,, the friendly societies, and employers of (abor, to deal with all questions' which arise under the working of the scheme. This arrangement will follow the system adopted in Germany, where it has* been found that many delicate and difficult questions arise constantly in connection with invalidity insurance. The proposals of the Imperial Government cannot fail to be of enormous value to the British workers.