The Waikato Times. With which Is Incorporated Tho Waikato Argus, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1931. RAILWAY BOARD’S REPORT

Waikato Times, Volume 110, Issue 18433, 14 September 1931, Page 6

The Waikato Times. With which Is Incorporated Tho Waikato Argus, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1931. RAILWAY BOARD’S REPORT

The Railway Board will be generally held to have justified its existence by the emphatic disapproval it has expressed of any further -expenditure on .the six lines It was to report on. It is a standing reproach to the country that these lines should have been started, and even more that they should have been continued. Motor trafflo existed when they began, and has grown In intensity during the time of their construction. It was obvious to anyone who gave the matter any thought that the arguments for building railways whioh were sound 30 years ago had entirely lost their weight. If motor traffic had. never been heard of It Is doubtful If any of these lines were Justified. The differences between the railways built in the last century and those built now are enormous. The cost of labour then was about two-thirds of what it is to-day. The money required was to be had for about two-thirds of the interest paid to-day. When the line was oompleted it cost two-thirds of what It does to-day to -operate. The railways built in those smiling days pay but a scant margin to-day over their operating costs. The railways whose construction has been stopped by the board would inevitably have involved the country in heavy annual loss. It is questionable If they would have paid operating costs, and they would certainly not have paid interest. The railways constructed in cheaper limes connect the cities and the bigger towns, and their traffic is the best we can hope for at any time. The lines to be stopped are running in country which cannot be expected to carry close settlement or provide much traffic. The more the matter Is considered the greater is the mystery why these lines were started. They are certainly a heavy indictment against the judgment and capacity of Parliament. There are still people who have a sore feeling against motor traffic for having injured the railways. These die hards do not realise that if it were not for motor traffic there are large areas in New Zealand which could not be economically developed. Under present conditions it would bo necessary to charge such heavy freight on goods that they could not compete in the world markets. Motor traffic has advantages of its own which enable these areas to he worked at a profit. In the middle of the nineteenth century the development of railways was one of the causes which lifted the world out of the. depression that followed the Napoleonic wars. It is possible. tiiat motor traffic will do the same for us when we have surmounted the currency crisis that now besets us.

The report of the Railway Board does not automatically involve the stoppage of the work as the approval of Parliament has to he obtained. In view of the emphatic nature of the report it is hard to imagine that opposition can be made, but it is reported that it will be difficult to procure acceptance of the report. It may be that influence will be exerted to delay or prevent any dealings with the South Island Main Trunk Extension, but it cannot hope to pay. Goods trafflo from the South will continue to go via Lyttelton, and the passenger traffic will be entirely insufficient to pay. The country is largely mountainous with fine flats within, which, however, are much too small to afford adequate traffic.

The board refers to the difficulty which will be caused by closing down works that employ so many men. It rightly points out, however, that as a Railway Board it cannot be held responsible for taking over railways that cannot be expected to pay. One suggestion Is that, after the material has been removed the tracks should be turned into serviceable roads. Whatever happens the unemployed should not be put upon work which Is going to Involve the community In loss for all time. When the report comes to be discussed the unemployed argument will be used by members who wish the lines built at the country’s expense to be afterwards worked at the country’s expense. Mr Holland has pronounced the board to be mad to have reported in the way they have done. The 'madness would rather seem to be on the part of Parliament which authorised the commencement of such work. The Public Works Department is a standing invitation to extravagance. It is probable that the officers themselves are not responsible, and that the engineers constructing the railways are entirely of the same opinion as the board respecting the chances of making the line pay. The existence of the department makes it easy to put work in hand, and the fact that it is all done out of loan funds leaves the jTreasury without excuse for objecting, and between the two the country is committed with a light heart to a variety of schemes. When these are put in hand we Are always told that they are going to pay and when they are completed they never do. Observers passing through the country assure us that no land is so,blest as ours. They may he right but there are drawbacks. Our Public Works Department involves us in a liability for interest that increases at the rate of £250,000 a year. Thirty years ago, the annual revenue subsidised the department, now the department returns the compliment to the Consolidated Fund and does it out of loan money. Unless some firmer grasp is taken of our finances we shall drift into a position that will take years to put right.