CONTROL SCHEME

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21038, 14 February 1940, Page 7

CONTROL SCHEME

BRITISH RAILWAYS GOOD RESULTS ACHIEVED DEBATE IN THE COMMONS (Official Wire leaf) (Received Feb. 14, 12.30 a.m.) RUGBY, Feb. 13 The financial arrangements respecting the Government control of railways in wartime was debated in the House of Commons, on the motion of Mr H. Morrison, who declared that the national interests would be better served by the establishment of a permanent national transport authority to own and control all forms ot inland and coastwise transport. In criticising the agreement he referred to the rise in railway stocks since the agreement was mooted, amounting, he said, to £100,000,000, and remarked that the Government I participation in the profile only beI gan when thev were at a very high | level.* He submitted that there ought to have been a capital reconstruction by the railway companies, to bring their capital structure into closer contact with reality, with particular attention to what would happen after the war on the withdrawal of the guarantee. Captain Wall Lee said he did not think that anyone would dispute the need for the control of transport in wartime. The Government must be in a position to direct that the rail system as a whole should be usqd to the best advantage. The financial arrangements were all based oo the general principle that the receipts of controlled undertakings should be pooled. There were four stages in the financial arrangements—firstly, that the minimum revenue should be guaranteed by the Government; j secondly, the further amount which controlled undertakings might be paid in excess of that minimum: third- ; ly. profit-sharing on a 50-50 basis, j which extended to the point where each of the controlled undertaking* ; would reach its standard of revenue; and fourthly, above that point j additional net earnings accrued'to the Exchequer. Impcssiblr to Forecast j It is impossible to forecast what i would happen after the war, but he j expressed the opinion that the railway charges would find their econ- ! omic levels as they would during the ' war, in accordance with the agreement. There was no intention of securing the charges during the war ! beyond the economic level. The Government intended, as far ar possible, that controlled undertakings should operate upon an economic basis, involving adjustments in charges to a variation in working costs, including wage rates, prices of material, and other circumstances arising directly out of the war and including the cost of i meeting the charges for making good war damage. It was not possible under stress of war conditions to retain the jurisdiction of the Rail- ; way Rates Tribunal over the general level ol charges. The Government did not intend, however, that the safeguard should , be abandoned, and a special department of the Ministry was being set up, to be aided by a distinguished civil servant, to deal with the question of railway rates, with the ad- ' vice, if necessary, of permanent members of the Railway Rates Tribunal, acting in an advisory capacity.

A Different Problem The road transport industry, from an operational point of view, presented an entirely different problem, because instead of five large Integrate undertakings there were 500.000 vehicles owned by 200,000 separate individuals. The Government method was to take the advice of people who had practical knowledge of running the industry and by a characteristically British mixture of voluntary effort and State action they had developed an organisation extremely resilient and every day becoming more efficient and more ready to deal wdh the type of emergency that might yet be faced. It was not necessary to own road transport in order to call upon it if the railways broke down in a particular district, and from an operational point of view they were doing as well under the Ministry of Transport scheme a under the one advocated by Mr Morrison. MR SUMNER WELLES COMING VISIT TO EUROPE (United Prep* ASsu.—El#e. Tel. Copyright) AMSTERDAM, Feb. 12 The pending visit to Europe of the United States assistant-Secretary of State, Mr Sumner Welle*, was allowed to be mentioned for the first time today in German newspapers. The news occupied five lines and no comment was printed.