In addressing the gathering, reports the “Star,” Mr. Sterling said he was glad, apart from the personal aspect, that the great responsibility of managing the New Zealand Railways had fallen to the lot of a New Zealander, for he believes that there were just as good men in this country as there were out of it. He was proud of the men who were associated with him. His was not a job for one man. It was a job for a lot of men, including those present, and he believed they could face the railway problem like one man and solve it just as well as the next man.

This was a problem everywhere, for the question of transportation was in a state of flux. The railways must continue to do their job, and the country would see the matter through. There were many problems to be faced, but the great difficulty he had seen so far was to get them clearly stated. Many new factors had entered into this question. He realized how much the standard of comfort had advanced, and the greater demands being made on the railways. The people wanted this and that, and though it was easy to want a thing, it was not always so easy to satisfy that want. He believed that the railways of this country had risen, and would rise, to the occasion just as well as those of any other country in the world, all things considered. The position was that the demand must meet the supply.

They were proud of the fact that the average wealth of New Zealand was higher than that of any other country in the world, and, taking everything into consideration, the New Zealand railways need not blush in the company of other railways. He agreed that he had a hard job ahead of him, but he believed that much of the difficulty that had arisen was the result of obscure thinking in regard to the transport problem as it affected this country.