The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING MONDAY, JUNE 2, 1919. THE RAILWAYS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16448, 2 June 1919, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. DAILY EVENING MONDAY, JUNE 2, 1919. THE RAILWAYS.

At the farewell given by tbe railway officers and men to Mr. Hiley at Wellington on Friday night the retiring general manager was able to speak freely npon a subject which has for many months exercised the minds of the people—the deficiencies of the railway service. It is greatly to the credit of the department that it has kept the services going so well, considering that seven thousand men, or forty per cent, of the trained staff, have been on military service. Despite some dissatisfaction over wages and conditions the men have stuck loyally to their posts, with the result that the public has not really suffered very great inconvenience, for war time. Mr. Hiley, however, is and has long been fully aware 'Tof the deficiencies of the services, and on Friday he emphasised the necessity for a vigorous and forward policy in regard to railway improvements. In 1914 he outlined a policy for essential improvements, but "owing to tbe war it has remained practically untouched. It involved an expenditure of three and a quarter millions, and even at that was only a preliminary programme. Five years of valuable time have been unavoidably lost, but now is the

time for a rapid expansion if New Zealand is not to be undesirably retarded. Money must be spent on the railways—the working railways—or the general manager will inevitaby be doomed to the criticism which can so easily be made. He will be made a whip-ping-boy for the Government. He must get immediate assistance or he cannot be held responsible, for he cannot make bricks without straw. Mr. Hiley was speaking in the presence of five Ministers of the Crown, so that Cabinet will not have the excuse that it is not aware of the necessities of the railways. The Minister of Railways, the Hon. Mr. Herries, assured the gathering, in fact, that the 1914 programme would have been proceeded with but for the war and that the Government was ready to carry out the programme as soon as the material and labour are available. So far as labour was concerned, the services of returned soldiers, he said, would be especially acceptable. When Mr. Hiley was appointed to the position of general manager of the railways great things were hoped for from him for his ability was unquestioned. Unfortunately the war broke out before he could put his progressive policy in hand, and during the last four years it has been a question of keeping the services going with the least possible inconvenij ence. The difficulties have been j far greater than probably the | general public has realised. There | was simply no chance of carrying i the large improvements schemes I suggested by Mr. Hiley, but his ' plans were prepared and his reports are all available for his successor to work upon directly men and material are available. Principally it will bo a question ot labour and even when all the available returned soldiers are absorbed there will still be room and employment for hundreds more men, not only trained railway men, but navvies, bricklayers, carpenters, bridge builders, and general labourers. To provide these men. a vigorous immigration policy is necessary, and we hope that this will be one of the first matters to receive Mr. Massey’s attention when he returns. The Dominion must sot itself to increase its production and no doubt it will do so, but it will be hampered if the railway service is not immediately improved. Even now it is inadequate to satisfactorily handle all the traffic. More, and heavier engines are required, hundreds more wagons are wanted, bridges must be strengthened, goods • sheds must be enlarged, and geu-

erally a progressive policy must be carried out in keeping with, or even in advance of the progressiveness of production and trade, generally. Mr. Hiley has rendered an important service in so publicly Und pointedly showing what is required. His successor, Mr. M'Villy, is thoroughly familiar with the programme Mr. Hiley had laid out and his reputation as general manager will be made or marred accordingly as he carries put that programme and meets the urgent needs of traffic. In Taranaki alone there is great scope for a vigorous prosecution of improvements to meet the evergrowing demands of the traffic.