The Taranaki Herald. PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, JANUARY 29,1891.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XL, Issue 8994, 29 January 1891, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. PUBLISHED DAILY. THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 1891.

A very interesting paper was read at a meeting of the Science Association last week by Mr Maxwell, one of the Railway Commissioners, on the working of narrow guage railways with 'light traffic in New Zealand. He showed that the average goods load on the New Zealand railways was 17 tons, whilst in New York it was 177 tons ; the former was carried only 28 miles, whilst the latter went 189 miles. The average/cost per ton was, in New Zealand, 2-14 d, New York 0-26 d. The pas-, senger traffic Bhowed that whilst in New Zealand 56,000,000 persons per year travelled per mile, in New York 476,000,000 persons went during the same time the Bame distance ; the cost, therefore, of the two was — New Zealand o'B6d, against New York 0-61 d. M,r Maxwell said the high cost per ton mile and per passenger mile was unavoidable in New Zealand, where the traffic and population were insufficient to use the railways continuously. The New' Zealand lines were not a fourth part used ; trains in some places ran only once or twice a week, the traffic being insufficient to justify more. The average paying to non-paying load in New Zea'and was only<as one to two. Running very light loads with long standing between trains made high expenses compared with carrying hundreds of tonß hundreds of miles in continuous journeys. The average load of seventeen tons on the New Zealand railways would cost ten times as much in running wages per mile as the average load on the American railways, which takes 177 tons. The terminal expenses were just over 2s per ton, which was not a high charge, but when averaged over so short a distance as twenty-eight miles it became so, when compared with a like charge on railways which carried seven times the average distance. -Mr Maxwell said that- in New Zealand, with an ,eight hours' working .day,- high wages, very i short distances for traffic to reach the ports, and very little return traffic, very j different practice and results must be expected from those in Europe or America, with lower wages, longer working hours, dense population, and great traffic- - The New Zealand passenger traffic, ■ however, was larger for the population. The economies which had to be practised in New Zealand, where the population waa so small, were unknown to English and American manager ; high speeds, carriage warming, separation of traffic and many other luxuries and conveniences must be foregone when traffic was light, grades steep, curves . severe, rails light, and at least half the stations without resident officers, on account of the insufficiency of the business to justify the cost. Mr Maxwell said that railways, to be financially successful, must be located, both as regarded the class of country to be served and the competition they had to face, so as to allow a reasonable traffic being obtainable. Railways in New Zealand had been pressed on with a view to, give access to un-ettled and undeveloped country rather than with the expectation of any direct I profit. A practical cessation of railway building, until the colony had largely increased its population, would lead to a j lower rate of expenses on the larger volume of traffic which would result. The paper which Mr Maxwell read went very fully j into the matter, and showed very clearly the difficulties the Railway Commissioners had to contend with in trying to make the lines pay.