AUSTRALIAN RAILWAYS.
of the various parts of the continent, will give the best answer to the question whether the railways have been constructed on the best lines for opening up the country, and at the same time giving a fair return on the capital invested. It would be answered in the affirmative as far as the Queensland, New South Wales, and, in a lesser degree, the South Australian railways are concerned. Even in Victoria it might have been answered in the affirmative up to the year 1884. But since that time large sums of money (7,500,000l. under the Act of 1884 alone) have been expended on the construction of lines which do not pay working expenses, much less the interest on capital cost; do little to open up the country; and the principal effect of which has been to take away traffic from previously existing lines. The Age newspaper took a leading part in resisting this reckless policy of railway construction, and in a very strong article published on November 24th, 1896, urged that the non-paying lines should be made to cover their working expenses or the traffic be discontinued.
I do not propose to discuss the railway systems of Queensland or Western Australia, as I had no opportunity of visiting those Colonies.
New South Wales railway statisticsThe New South Wales railways were by the Act of 1888 placed under the control of three commissioners, who are practically independent of Parliamentary interference, as far as the internal management of the department is concerned. Mr. Eddy is the chief commissioner and the responsible head of the department. The Act expired in 1894, but after some discussion was renewed. The following are the principal statistics of the railways for 1895 as compared with 1888.223
