VICTORIAN RAILWAYS.

Timaru Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 1769, 1 June 1895, Page 3

VICTORIAN RAILWAYS.

» AN AMERICAN CRITICISM. Per Electric Telegraph — Copyright. Pee Press Association. Melbourne, May 31. Mr Pangborn, president of the American Transportation Commission, on being interviewed, said the Victorian railways had a load of debts that no railways, especially m a new country, could stand. There had been such extravagance m the provision of plant and equipment that it was impossible they could pay, and the quicker this was realised the better. There was no possibility of the deficit decreasing under the present system. In comparison with American railways the cost showed an excess cfso per cent. In his opinion no company m the world would take over or lease the colony's railways on their present basis with all their accumulated risks and liabilities^ He suggested as a way out of the difficulty the wiping out of a veiy large proportion of the capitalisation, the Government simply putting it down as lost, and wiping it off the books. Otherwise there would be no question of the deficit continuing, because the very highest traffic they could command would not meet the present fixed charges. This would necessitate a large reduction m the working staff, or a radical change m the administration. He was satisfied that the expenditure under the existing system must be reduced as low as possible, if proper efficiency was to be maintained. Employees were paid 2s a day higher than m the States, but they did their best to earn it by earnest work. "While he was opposed to reducing wages, he was certain that if the railways were taken over by a company there would be large reductions m the rates of pay. He strongly advocated the application of the betterment principle and heavier taxes on land and real estate. It must come to that. He was annoyed at tho lightness of such taxes m the colonies. The Railway Commissioners' estimate of revenue for the ensuing year is £2,600,000. The proportion of working expenses to revenue will be reduced from 59 to 55 per cent., and the revenue will show a profit on the actual work of over £1,000,000. The deficit caused by interest on capital will be over £400,000.