The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 1921. Fewer Trains.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 170572, 4 August 1921, Page 6

The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, AUGUST 4, 1921. Fewer Trains.

Wot exactly unexpectedly tlie Minister of Ivaihvays lias announced a cut iu trains. Deax fuel; dear money: reduced earnings' aml generally languishing trade liave combined to° bring tlie profits down to a trifle below of per cent. According to a recently gazetted return tlie capital cost of opened lines on March, ill was A-’7,205,-244, and on this admittedly big" investment the working protits were £1,271,0110. A lew 3 ears ago the Department was earning even less than, this, but as times improved and settlement progrossed the returns doubled. In 1910-17, the best year, they rose to nearly 51, and though there Avas a sharp decline after that there was a margin Mill of 4.5. Woav, Avith something dike a crash, we .drop to 3.41. And the Government necessarily has taken alarm. lor the first quarter of the financially ear the av orking profits of the Worth Island main lines were less than £7OOO a week', while for tlie South island system there was an actual and* considerable 1 loss. Bat to yield the reasonably safe margin" of 4 per cent, it has been estimated that the main lines ct the North Island Avould have to show a profit: of nearly £13.000. and those of the South Island a protit of at least £II,OOO, and ;I |i hough, it is never safe to be o-uuled' by a fragmentary return. D G no use blinking* the fact ij,;,,. the railways arc in a parJ.U.US, iiOiid.-lkoAt iiAdpe.d* ii yy*

Iho very latest figures available —the returns tor ilie period ending’ at the last ■week m June we discover that instead oi abcufc £13,001) a week the INorth lsiand system made less t han a-I-’Uo. and the South Island i'OOUO toss than any profits at all. JSeeessarily, too, this disparity between the North and South Islands will continue. Mueli as we should like to explain it away there seems to be no escape from the tact that while the North Island system was paying” only y.T twelve years ago, this rose during the uar period to well over 7, and, though it has declined, stands still at G. The- South Island on the other hand. was paying only 2 b tAvelve years ago, ana this, though it rose to nearly 4 a few years later, has fallen now to It. The fact therefore must be faced that the North Island will make a bold attempt to have the necessary economies confined to the South Island. And we may as well admit, too, that the enemies of the Government have an opportunity for criticising the administration of a system, which, though it*is an essential service, has somehow got into trouble a little too suddenly. But meanwhile it cannot be denied that some drastic eliminations are necessary. If the present mileage is to be maintained—and no Government Avould Avillingly liar-e unused lines the only Avay to reduce working expenses is to cut trains and overhaul the staffing. Then perhaps it will be permissible to go a little further, and seek to discover whether, apart from the present Dominion slump,' there is not something to be said, against the whole system of departmental finance.