THE RAILWAY INQUIRY

Taranaki Daily News, 17 June 1930, Page 9

THE RAILWAY INQUIRY

FINANCE MAIN PROBLEM. NO REFLECTION ON MANAGEMENT. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. “The setting-up of this commission of investigation in respect to railway finance,” said the Prime Minister, “is not to be taken as any reflection on the management and staff of the railway service. I recognise that the men who are responsible for running the railways are capable and efficient officers, and that they are actuated by a keen desire to get the best possible results from the service both from a financial and a public utility point of view. They are not responsible for many of the points of policy, and it is in these directions that the Government feels that there is need for investigation. "The railways administration as such is not on its trial, as has been suggested in some quarters, but it is the policy with which they have been entrusted which requires overhauling. There is a large sum of money to provide in respect of working railways this year, as indicated in the recent survey of national finances, and it has to be decided how that can be justifiably incurred, what is a fair thing to ask the taxpayers to bear, and what economies can be effected in the operation of the railways.”