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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 76

Present System

Present System.

In nearly every country except New Zealand (and they would have put it in force here if they had dared) where this system prevails, it is the custom to charge for 15 miles round the great cities one-half the rate per mile for passenger fares that is charged for the same distance starting from any point in the country. The excuse for doing this is that it develops the suburban traffic, 15 miles being called the suburban area. Take New South Wales as an example, and it works out thus:— Rail distance scale

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The rates quoted are for second class return fares, and it should be remembered that in going to or from the country, or for travelling in the country, the fare is charged at the rate of one penny and five-hundredths per mile for the whole distance. No allowance is made for the lesser rate round the city. New South Wales favours the country more than most places, but it will be seen that even there the rate charged for travelling in the country is just about double the rate charged near town. This is what acts as a perpetual incubus on the country districts. Not only does it bar the development of the country, and inflict a cruel injustice on our farmers and producers, but it destroys railway revenue by slowly but surely decreasing the average distance people and goods travel, by destroying large numbers of small trading centres, and thus reducing the average rates paid. This, I hold, is the real reason why railways as a rule pay such miserable dividends. If conducted on sound principles, railway business ought to be the most profitable business in the world.

How all this would be changed under the Stage System, the following diagram will explain:— Rail distance scale

A comparison of these two diagrams will show that the principle of rating is exactly the reverse. In the present system the lowest rate per mile is charged at the city end of the lines, and this is a permanent protection given to the great cities. It has been done ever since railways were first constructed, and the effect undoubtedly has been to mass up the population and wealth in these cities.

Under the Stage System this would be reversed. It will be seen that the lowest rates per mile are charged in the most thinly populated country districts, but it must be remembered that this is merely a temporary protection given to these sparsely populated localities. As their population became more dense, the length of their stages would be proportionately shortened, and thus the rate per mile gradually increased, until ultimately it would be the same all over the country.*

Another distinctive and most valuable feature of the Stage System is its extreme simplicity. Anyone able to understand the Postal Guide could easily interpret the whole tariff, both for goods and passengers. There would be but four classes for goods, and one additional for dangerous goods. There would also be only four different classes of ordinary passenger tickets, instead of the page 26 many thousands there are now. These, as also stamps for parcels, would be procurable anywhere where postage stamps are sold. I rely on this simplicity of the system almost as much as its cheapness to help the development of railway traffic.

We have now to consider the