RAILWAY TARIFF REFORM.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 3262, 11 March 1885, Page 2

RAILWAY TARIFF REFORM.

(By Telegraph.) Napiee, March 10. Mr C. Vaile addressed a public meeting last night on Railway Tariff Reform. The Mayor occupied the chair. By diagrams hung on the wall Mr Vaile showed the number of miles of railway open m the South and North Islands, and m each separate province with the cost of construction of each section and earnings of each. The little line m Westport was the only line m the South Island that had improved m position since its construction, and m 1884 it earned £3 Is 5d percent over working expenses. In the North Island the Wellington railway earned £1 8s 6d ; Wanganui, 10s 6d ; Taranaki, 4s 6d per cent over working expenses. The Napier lino was the best paying line m New Zealand, and m 1882 it earned £3 13s 9d, m 1885! £3 4s 6d, and m 1884 £3 6s 9d over working expenses. The North Island railways contrasted very favorably with those m the South Island although the latter paid slightly higher rates of interest. The railways m tho South had been going to the bad, earning less year by year, while the North Island maintained their position. The rate of interest on the whole railway Bystem had fallen from £3 8s 2d m 1881 to £2 16s 6d m 1884 ; thus the loss had been increasing, and m 1884 amounted to £377,186. The Government appeared to view the railways altogether wrongly. Their view was that, however they were managed, the first thing to secure was that the railway did not return less profit than the interest on their cost of construction came to. His view was that railways, when owned by the State, should no more be necessarily expected to pay interest on coßt of construction, than did macadamised roads. His strong point was this : — The average of tho present fare taken on the raitaTiys, first and second class together, was Is 9Jd. Under his proposed system of reductions the average fare would not fall below Is, and would ensure an enormous amount of travelling. If they got two fares under tho new system, where now they got one, the result would be a large yearly profit. He had often travelled on railways, and had a ten-ton carriage all to himself, owing to lack of passenger traffic. He recently rode 80 miles with two other people on board the train, and the three of them had two ten-ton carriages between them, yet it was wondered that the railways did not pay. The fact was, the idea of making each separate portion of line pay must be abandoned and the railways must be regarded as a whole. In England it was calculated fifteen passengers weighed a ton. Now the first-class fare from Waikari to Bluff would be . 18s 7d under his system, the distance 436 milesj the present fare was £4 10s 6d. His proposed second-class fare for the same distance was 14s Bd, as against 30s 9d. A ton of goods of the highest class was carried that distance for £5 9s 3d, and a ton of passengers under his system of reduced fares would come to £11 14s 4d. He had yet to learn that it cost more to haul a ton. of passengers, and the passengers could unload themselves m addition. Ships' goods were taken from Timaru to Lyttelton, 100 miles, for 15s per ton. Under his system a passenger would travel that 100 miles for 3s 6d, and fifteen passengers, equal m weight to a ton of these goodsi would come to £2 12s 6d. The Department was really driven into this position : it must either confess that it never carried a ton of goods at a profit, or that it could carry passengers at these rates.