THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1913. THE RAILWAYS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 25 September 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1913. THE RAILWAYS.

The Railways Statement, wrich was tabled in the House of Representatives yesterday by the Hon. W. H. Herries, muse be regarded as highly satisfactory from the point of view of profit and loss. The statement shows that the net earnings gave a return of 4.04 per cent, on the capital cost of the railways. Tlfis, with one exception, is the highest percentage earned in a single year since the railway system was established. The .rebsoln for the increase cannot,, of course, bo attributed to any particular brilliance in the management. It is rather the result of a bountiful and prosperous season, for which Providence alone was. responsible. The fact that the railways produced a splendid return is, however, none the less satisfactory. It is significant that the percentage of working expenses to earnings has increased from 67.07 to 68.18 per cent. This is no doubt due in a measure to the substantial increases that were made; in the salaries of the railway employees. It is somewhat remarkable that while the earnings per train mile in the North Island declined from 8s 4d to 8s lid, those of the South Island increased rom 8s 9|d to 9s 2fd. This is probably due to the excellent grain season in the south, and to> the*

slaughtermen's strike and other influences in the north. One cannot ox poet that the .earnings, of railways duriho the next'year or. two will be as great as they have in the past. The administration of the new General Manage;' will probably produce a considerable:increase i,n'.the expenditure. This is anticipated by the Minister, for he says: "An advance in the rates of expenditure to earnings need be no cause for misgiving in so far as railway operations are concerned." This paragraph was no doubt placed in the statement in anticipation of criticism, of the increased expenditure during the past year, as well as in contemplation of the future. The late Mr Seddon declared on more than one occasion that it did not matter very much whether the railways paid interest or not, long as/they opened up the country and developed the resourctes. This opinion was not shared by the Hon. J. A. Millar, who made it his first duty to see that the railways paid interest on the cost of construction. Tlw Hon. W. H. Herries apparently does not intend following in the footsteps of the Hon. J. A. Millar, for ho says: "The running of trains in excess of the immediate requirements for ■■ the purpose of developing the country and inducing settlement, thus creating traffic that will ultimately be remunerative; is sound in. principle as ft business pi\)fK)sition." We Icn&y take it, then, that-the Minister will give the new General Manager a fairly free hand, and that he will not bind him down to making the railways continue to pay 4 per cent, on the cost of construction. The rollingstock in many parts of the Dominion is in a disgraceful condition, and should be sent to the scrap-heap. The convenience of the public is not studied as it should be, and the railways might, we are convinced, be made much more popular than they are at the present time. We are hopeful that the new Manager, when he gets properly to work, will revolutionise the whole system and run it on such lines! that it will serve the public requirements if it is not made actually to pay.