TRANSPORT PROBLEMS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 278, 24 November 1931, Page 8

TRANSPORT PROBLEMS

RAIL AND MOTOR MB. VEITCH’S ADDBESS Transport and railway problems formed the basis of Mr. W. A. Veitch’s speech at the Duchess Theatre, Aramoho, last night. There was a large, audience, and the candidate was accorded a fair hearing, the meeting being practically free from interjections until the closing stages, when the chairman had some difficulty in securing a vote of thanks for the candidate. A coterie at the baek was definitely m favour of the opposition candidate and called for cheers when the chairman asked for the usual vote at such meetings. When the vote of thanks was proposed after a pause of about a minute, it was put to the meeting and passed by acclamation. In opening the meeting, the chairman, Mr. Dowling, asked the meeting to give Mr. Veitch a good hearing. Mr. Veitch said he would not discuss his opponent and there would be no need for any recrimination whatever. As far as Mr. Rogers was concerned, he had always fought in a fair and in a clean way. Public men had at the present time a very responsible position. That was all the more so in view of the financial situation of the different countries. The Government had used up between £5,000,000 and £6,000,000 of reserves’ and Parliament had decided that the right course was to draw on reserves as far as would be safe. Taxation should not be increased beyond a certain point. Railway Policy. He had held the portfolio of Minister of Railways for nine or ten months, and in that time he had brought about some very important changes in the policy and administration of the Railway Department. The whole of the transport problems of New Zealand were closely related to the Railway Department. By saying transport he said he did not mean just road transport, but through the whole range—land, sea and air.

The experience that he had gained when Minister of Transport and as Minister of Railways had showed him how very important transport was. In a country of one and a half millions transport was costing the people in the last financial year 30 millions. That amount was undoubtedly too big. That amount would have to be added to the cost of production of goods within the country and would also fall on the consumer. It would fall on the citizen, whether he be employer, worker, country or city dweller. When Minister of Transport he had done everything to find out as much as he could, about the problems of transport in New Zealajid before he prepared his legislation. A department had been created. It had been criticised by some as being too costly, and as being a new department. Those who said that knew very little about it, he thought. The cost of the department would be well below £5OOO a year. Unorganised and uncontrolled road transport had seen the death of 300 people in a year, and besides that there were those who had been hurt. If they could reduce that amount, then the expenditure of that £5OOO would be justified. But the department would go further than that. Boad and Rail Both the railway and motor transport were in a very unsatisfactory position as regards competition. There were a great number of unnecessary road services, and through that the roads had been subjected to an unreasonable amount of wear and tear, being due to vicious competition. There was very little definite expression in favour of the Transport Bill when in 1928 he first introduced it to the House, which was not ready for it. It was subm tted to so much delay and opposition that it was evident that the members did not know its value. A great part of - it was not passed but a department had been set up to gather statistical information for Parliament and the people. What the country had los. between 1928 and 1931 must have run into millions in the absence of that transport legislat on. Within a few weeks of the 1928 session he had received a report of the Royal Commission of Transport sitting in Britain, and also that of a similar body sitting in South Africa. The Transport Bill in New Zealand had embodied proposals that had been submitted to the Baldwin Government and had been passed by the MacDonald Government. {So he considered that ho had produced in company with the officers of the department the. best legislation of that line in the world at that time. (Laughter). Boad Services. Road construction should be restricted to that which was necessary. Unnecessary and dangerous services on the road should be eliminated. It was not the intention of the Government to slaughter the road services in favour of the rail, but to treat all alike and see that tho public got the best service. They should have the cheapest, most satisfactory and safest transport possible.

The Transport Bill, passed after he had relinquished office, would place the finances of the railways on a sounder footing than they had ever been before, and was welcomed by the motor transport industry. The only ones who had been against it had been the oil interests in New Zealand.

The Railway (Department had a great many burdens that jt should not have been asked to pay, said Mr. Veitch. For instance, fertiliser had been carried at reduced rates and lime had been carried for a certain distance free of charge. In future when goods were carried at a reduced rate for any section of the community the department would be credited from the Consolidated Fund for the work that it had done. That would bo very helpful to the railways account. It had seemed that the railways had been a milch cow, which, with a capital of £60,000,000 could not be affected by any load. The Railway Department had been used to some extent as an unemployment relief scheme. Now, as far as they could, only such men as were needed would be kept on the railways. Value of Department.

Dealing with unnecessary trains, the speaker said that when the department had shown a profit of £50,000, which wag small for the capital in it, it had been found that in that year the department had run 3,000,000 additional train miles. The railways would in the future come into their own as the most important transport services in New Zealand, said Mr. Veitch. The popular

idea was that the railways had “gone to the dogs,” but ho did not hold the same view. The speaker went on to deal with the value of the. railway in transporting fertiliser, and in opening up new country. He dealt with the Gisborne district, and said that the district, onesixth of tho North Island, would be opened up far more and settlement would bo closer if the railway were constructed through there. He pointed out how he had estimated that to run the Gisborne line would cost £2OOO a year less than to have it idle. Other subjects touched upon by the speaker were mainly those dealt with at previous meetings.