THE RAILWAYS SITUATION

Taranaki Daily News, 5 December 1930, Page 3

THE RAILWAYS SITUATION

.... —~r——ir—■ r INCREASE' IN CAPITAL ’OUTLAY. - ' .. (Contributed by the Associated -.-Cfeam* . 'bers of Commerce.) • The.. report - hf. - the commission pre-: sented. to. -Parliament during 'last, session,, After, a .very; searching investiga.-, tion of the affairs of the Railway De- . partment,: .is, .anything, .but reassuring.’• IL discloses, indeed, a very disquieting . financial, position. On March 31, 1926,' J the total capital invested -in • the workino, railways of the Dominion amounted to° £47,608,676, and’ on March 31. 1930, to. £59,2D1,'54'5, . thus showing -an- in- ' crease of no less than £11,552,8'69 during the four years. This is disturbing enough in itself, but its effect ‘is »c*. centuated.by the fact thit the interest charges.gi'ew. frpm.£l,.W3,3lo.in 1926 td £2,132,324 ip 193Q* ah /increase, 'of hb’ less thap ' ' Even this is .not the'end of the story by a very long jvay. There are at present a number. pf.ruU.way lines in course of construction—a large proportion ,of them un]ij<ely ,tb ‘pay their way—which it is estimated prill - add approximately 1 , £13,630,000 to the railway, capital account,.and so bring it up to so huge a sum as £72,831,543. Even with «O low a rate of interest as 4J per cent,, the annual charge upon-.the' sum jttit mentioned will run into £3,005,341.. ; In spite of the large increase in capital expenditure upon the railways,; in operation from 1926 to 1930, the gross revenue has hot' been proportionately maintained, while the gross expenditure has. increased out of" all reasonable measure.. The following are* the de; plorablp figures:— ' '' ■ ' ; ;/■ < '.. ,/ ‘ ■ Revenue. - Expediture. 1026 ’ ...... £8,101,221 1030' ‘ .... £8,288,115 -I ■ £7,358,5(58, In other' ‘words, during the last, four years the gross revenue .of the Railway Department has increased only by <E196,804; while' its ‘ expenditure during the same period has increased by £890,430, which' is equivalent to an ‘extra coet j»f £703,536 to secure a negligible advance during the four years. . . All these figures are taken from official report of the Railway Commission, and. can be accepted, therefore, without an reservation. This being the ease, it is difficult to think of any juone damning indictment of political .control than is supplied in the Railway. Department’s own. figures. The commission with its recommendations has offered suggestions for remedying the, position; but so far the Government appears to have ignored, the commission’s more important proposals so far as the - most important suggestion of all is concerned, namely, the change in control. . /