page break

Railway Progress in New Zealand General Manager's Message
Internal Confidence.

Arising out of an editorial which appeared in one of the staff journals recently, it has occurred to me that some thoughts upon the subject of mutual confidence as affecting the internal relations of the Department might be helpful at the present time to both the staff and the management.

It is clear that confidence and integrity as between man and man is a prime necessity in all classes of work where more than one person is involved in production, and that all successful trade is carried through on the principle of good faith as between buyers and sellers. Particularly in railway transport, where so many factors affecting the safety and well-being of human life and limb are involved, is it a dominant consideration that there should be complete confidence as between man and man. This applies whether it be in laying a rail, placing a girder, shunting a train, giving or receiving a signal, building a car, erecting a station, or in performing any other of the thousand and one actions involved in the efficient performance of the Department's work. The scale of this work is summarised in the statement that last year we carried twenty million passengers, as well as six million tons of goods, the equivalent of 2,000 million gross ton miles, over our three thousand miles of rail.

Anyone can see that not even the most ordinary shunting operation can be successful without complete confidence and understanding between the driver, the fireman, and the shunter. It is equally true, although Perhaps not so readily understood, that a spirit of confidence and understanding of an exactly similar nature is necesary between the management and the men throughout the service for the success of the whole undertaking and the peace of mind of those associated with it. To realise this fully it must be clear that there does not exist any hard and fast line of distinction between the men and the management. Every individual employee forms an essential part in the complete structure of railway management; each has to manage something or somebody, to receive and give instructions to plan and account for work, to accept and place responsibility—and this applies in every branch of the service, from the latest joined apprentice, cadet or porter, through the whole structure to the General Manager. This being so, any attempt to break down faith in each other throughout the organisation must be harmful to the whole.

It is only by maintaining our faith in one another that the Department can continue to hold public confidence, and any action which tends to undermine this, if it receives any support, must have serious consequences upon the morale of the service, and through that, upon the stability of employment within it.

Those who occupy controlling positions in the higher ranks of the service have worked through from lower positions, and they are just as anxious as any other members of the Department that the rewards of service may be equitably distributed and as ample as the circumstances of the Department warrant. It is only right that, for the common weal, their good faith in this respect should be fully realised.