Coming Into Their Own.

“I am confident that the railways are once more coming into their own,” said the General Manager, Mr. H. H. Sterling, in a recent address at the Commercial Travellers’ Club in Auckland.

“I do not say that in antagonism to other forms of transport, but I do feel that the position of the railways in this, as in many other countries, has been largely subject to misunder-standing.”

Mr Sterling said that while the railways accounts had shown an improvement this year, he did not think they should be judged entirely by that standard. He was inclined rather to judge the effectiveness of the system by the measure of satisfaction it gave to the people. In that respect he considered an advance had been made during the year. Service to the public could not be shown in terms of money. There were certain forms of service carried out by the railways which gave no return in money, but which were indispensable for the smooth working of industry and the needs of the people.

The Department was now operating under a new administrative policy and Mr. Sterling appealed for a chance for the new system to prove itself. The railways were a national institution, and as such had to operate for the benefit of the country. This was a policy he always followed.

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