Essay by T. O'Donnell, Marist Brothers’ College, Dominion Road, Tuakau.

The days of the overland coach are gone, and with their passing closes a picturesque chapter in the brief history of our country. Gone, perhaps forever, is the re-echo of the hoof-beats of stage-coach horses as they plunge along through the narrow mountain-pass; and gone, too, is the merry chatter of travellers, and the shout of the coachman as he deftly flicks his horses; while, above, the melodious songsters of Maoriland stop their song to gaze inquisitively at the swaying vehicle clattering by.

Those days of romance are gone, but with their departure begins a new era, an epoch of progress and advance in civilisation, made possible only by the inauguration of our railways. The discomforts and thrills of the stage-coach have given way to a more sedate, a more dignified, and a thousand times safer mode of transport, viz., that of rail. In less than five decades shining steel tracks have crept over the countryside, through trackless bush, and precipitous gorge, over swirling torrents, and out across broad, smiling fields clothed in the verdant cloak of cultivation. The rocky fastnesses, the forest haunts of the kiwi and tui, now reverberate to the shrill screech of the roaring engine as it careers onward into the night. And now in the space of a few brief years 3,180 miles of railroad traverse the length and breadth of our land, constituting one of the most up-to-date organisations of its kind in the world.

Like the caravan of old, New Zealand Railways are the life of commerce and travel, and the augurs of prosperity. Their value is inestimable, their possibilities boundless, and they form the main link in the chain of civilisation encircling this gem of the Pacific. Through them the backblocks of Ao-te-Aroa are brought into touch with well established towns, and as a result the drudgery of country life is alleviated. Conveniences, once thought luxuries, are now brought to every habitable part of both islands. Farming requisites are always available, and special trains are run to convey the products of the land, during busy periods. Every facility is given, also, to the sawmilling and mining industries, and last year 57,321 tons of timber were conveyed to markets and exporting centres.

Thus the lot of the settlers is made more attractive; and since the education of their little ones is generally a major consideration to intending settlers, we must not overlook the service rendered by our railways in conveying children safely to and from school without any expense to parents. The young people from these secluded spots are given the opportunity of secondary education where, formerly, the little log school was the limit of knowledge, wherein they but tasted of the “Pierian Spring.” Wherever communities spring up, there the railroad inevitably follows, and localities once desolate and barren have become jewels in the luxuriant settings of cultivation. Accordingly land values increase, and productions are multiplied a hundredfold. Without such an organised system how could 500,000 cattle and 9 1/2 million sheep and pigs be transferred from one locality to another. The days of droving, with its attendant uncertainty page 27 and large death rate, are over; and those days of anxious waiting have been eliminated with the advent of our railways.

Again, organisation coupled with the highest degree of efficiency has been responsible for the outstanding record of carrying 52,000,000 persons during the last two years without a single fatality. With “Safety, Economy, Comfort,” as their standards, our railroads must attract the travelling public, and those visitors who come to see our “wonderland,” so richly endowed with Nature's rarest gifts. The blood-red rata gleaming in its emerald crown; the gentle perfumed zephyrs of the forest; the thunder and clamour of the roaring surf; the ripple of the lake; the purity of the alpine snows scintillating in the glorious sunshine of a new day; would all be ignored, perhaps be unknown, but for our railways. Consequently the rame of Maoriland's scenic attractions are almost entirely dependent on our railroads; for tourists, particularly the elder ones, must consider the facilities of travel which a country affords, and invariably they find ours most adequate.

Perhaps the factor of greatest value to the community is that New Zealand Railways are the people's. No syndicate has power to reduce or enlarge the cost of transport as they please. There is no party to coerce the people into paying higher rates or going without the necessaries of life, if they refuse. Exorbitant freight charges eventually bring a farming community to financial ruin, and then the population will tend to gravitate to towns, and accordingly unemployment, with its detrimental moral effects as well as its reduction of products will immediately ensue. By supporting our railways we support the community, and consequently there is no loss, as would be the case if the returns were spent in pomp and show by a syndicate of millionaires. The revenue collected from our post office mails and parcels, amounting to £380,906 last year, is not a Government liability but merely a transfer of the public's money from one portion of their treasury to the other. The very fact that our railways employ 18,500 New Zealanders, and that their total earnings amount to £4,811,671 sterling, is worthy of consideration, because the privately-owned concerns could introduce, if they desired, foreign workers, who would require a lower wage standard than a New Zealander. Again, the work carried out by the foundries on behalf of the Government Railways—such as the building of small shunting engines and heavy repair work—might go from this country to Australia. By supporting our own railways we thereby safeguard our own interests, and we prove our independence of outside aid, as well as giving an incentive to New Zealand enterprise.

“… A thread of silver soft and slow,
It wandered down the dale.”

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Since our waterways will not permit of extensive river services there is one, and only one, sure means of communication and transport, viz., by rail. No other conveyance can compete with our system over any distance beyond urban and suburban areas. Competition has been the ruin of many firms, and their defeat lies solely in the impossibility for any other modes of transport to carry one ton of goods at the infinitesimal rate of 2.41 pence per mile, and no other land conveyances could carry 6,283,544 tons of goods in one year, as our railways do, and with such speed and safety.

Reviewing the value of our system in detail, we cannot but realise the worth of the organisation which has been the greatest factor in making New Zealand what it is to-day, socially, politically, and industrially, and if we progress in the future as we have done in the past we must attribute our success mainly to the New Zealand Government Railways. The “Land of the Long White Cloud” is no longer a wild and unknown land, but it is the happy home of a happy people. In its rapid strides towards the peaks of civilisation and social ideals it has lost none of its enchanting charm, and as the steel-clad locomotive with its precious burden rushes through the night belching forth a smoky challenge to the towering peaks above and to the depths of the reechoing chasms below, the shrill, far-sounding cry of its siren bids defiance to the night and danger, while the rhythmic roar of the engine and cars gently lulls the weary travellers to sleep, as each succeeding click of wheels reassuringly and unvaryingly seems to give voice to its motto—

“Safety! Economy! Comfort!”
“Safety! Economy! Comfort!”