Details of Organisation.

Mr. H. Valentine, the present Chief Accountant, who was responsible for the complete reorganisation of the acccounting system in 1925, has associated with him two assistants, Mr. W. Bishop, who is responsible for the expenditure accounts and statistical work, and Mr. R. P. Gillies, who is in charge of the revenue and audit side. An important factor in the reorganisation is that the office work has been sectionalised, with a divisional clerk in charge of each section.

Statistical Division.—Divisional Clerk, Mr. T. A. O'Connor. This division finalises the whole of the statistical and costing data prepared, and compiles a complete review of operations and special reports.

Passenger Division.—Divisional Clerk, Mr. J. H. Monteith. This division makes a complete audit of the passenger work for the whole Dominion, involving the checking of the revenue from upwards of twenty-five million passenger journeys annually.

Expenditure Division.—Divisional Clerk, Mr. A. A. B. Boult. On this division an analysis of the expenditure for the Maintenance, Locomotive, Traffic and Head Office accounts and costing statements in connection with same, are prepared. The total expenditure under the headings mentioned amounts to approximately £6,000,000 per annum.

Treasury Accounts Division.—Divisional Clerk, Mr. J. W. Dayman. All transactions of the Treasury are dealt with on this division, paysheets and vouchers are scheduled and recoveries dealt with, as also the Chief Accountant's Imprest Account.

Revenue and Goods Division.—Divisional Clerk, Mr. W. H. Simmons. On this division the audit of the goods and parcels revenue and station current accounts is carried out.

A battery of Powers machines—eleven punching, four tabulating, and three sorting machines—is used for the freight accounting and commodity analysis. A card is punched for each commodity recorded on goods waybills, station from and to, weight, mileage, commodity classification and freight charges. These cards are passed through the tabulating machine and the weight and charges checked with returns as rendered by stations. The cards are readily sorted into any order by the sorting machines, which each have a capacity of 300 cards per minute. By this means the cards relating to particular commodities are easily segregated, and such further tabulations as are necessary are then made.

The commodity analysis provides most valuable statistical information regarding the classes of goods conveyed, the average haul and the freight charges.

Superannuation and Paysheet Audit Division.—Divisional Clerk, Mr. P. J. Wright. The Government Railways Superannuation Fund and Government Railways Sick Benefit Society Fund accounts are kept on this division, which also carries out the pay-sheet audit. The paysheets dealt with involve the payment of over £4,000,000 annually.

Control Ledger.—The whole of the accounting work culminates in the final figures in the control and private ledgers, which are in the hands of Mr. W. R. Setter. The control ledger, as its name indicates, contains accounts with which all sections of the work must balance. The sectionalising of the work permits of any discrepancy being readily located notwithstanding the many thousands of transactions that are dealt with in the office daily.

Costing Officer.—Attached to the office is a Costing Officer, Mr. W. Venimore, who has specialised in costing work. Mr. Venimore makes special investigations into various phases of the Department's operations. He has recently introduced the “departmental” system into the four main workshops. This system, which is considered the most suitable for railway requirements, is functioning satisfactorily. Its main feature is the method of distribution of overhead page 35 charges appertaining to each particular department over the output therefrom.

Chief Accountant's Mechanician.—Mr. F. B. Freed, mechanician, with an expert assistant, has control of the repairs and upkeep of all the accounting and tabulating machinery, and is responsible for the designing of special appliances to meet the numerous accounting requirements of the Department. The mechanician's division is also responsible for repairs to typewriters and station clocks, ticket punches, etc.

Amongst the modern appliances in the office a machine little seen in New Zealand, known as the “Ditto” is in use. This machine reproduces copies of accounting and statistical information. The statements are typed in the usual way, but with a special “Ditto” ribbon, and then put through the “Ditto” machine, upwards of fifty good copies being readily produced in this way. This is achieved by means of a gelatine roll. Three distinctive colours are obtainable in the one operation. The machine takes paper up to 18 inches wide and 48 inches in length.

This article would not be complete without reference being made to the excellent service that is being rendered by the operators of the many machines and the female staff attached to the Chief Accountant's Branch. These young ladies, many of whom are the daughters of railway officers, are under the supervision of Mrs. A. M. Haslam, and have ably demonstrated their usefulness to the Department.

The foregoing account should give to both railwaymen and the public at least a dim glimpse behind the scenes at the highly specialised system which has been devised to handle the financial affairs of the N.Z. Government Railways.