CRITICS CRUSHED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19440, 28 October 1925, Page 7

CRITICS CRUSHED

RAILWAY FINANCE. PRIME MINISTER AND OPPONENT. SUPERFICIAL ARGUMENTS DEALT WITH. (Special to “Chronicle.”) HAWERA, Oct. 27. The Prime Minister gave a rather crushing answer in some of his Taranaki speeches to criticism which has been levelled at the Railway management.

One of the critics, Mr Coates said, had asked how the Railway Department could pay when it gave a return of 3.81 per cent., and the money borrowed for construction works cost approximately 5 per cent. The cost of the money borrowed for railway development was slightly over four per cent, over the whole period. The policy of the Government up to last year had been to earn 3| per cent. For the future it would be 4J per cent.

“Now,” the Prime Minister asked, “why did not the railways pay last year! That is the point. There are several obvious reasons why.” They were such that in similar circumstances no private concern could pay. First of all, there was a difference between the meh and the Minister. That strike cost the Department £150,000 in earnings, and the infantile paralysis epidemic 'cost the Department £lOO,OOO. Then, for the first time, the Railway Department was charged with its contribution to the superannuation fund, a matter of £BO,OOO. These three sums totalled £330,000. The deficit was £90,000, and had the Department not suffered these losses it would have shown a profit of £240,000 over ordinary interest charges. (Applause).