D.—4a.

14

[h. H. JACKSON.

work a night shift, ido not think yon get the same amount of work on the night shift as you get from a day shift. 52. At Addington the Railway Department docs all its own iron eastings ?—That is so. 53. Are you satisfied with the method of production and the results ? —Quite satisfied. Until we had our own iron-foundries we were in continual trouble. We could not get the castings from the contractors, and frequently they were not as they ought to be. Now we can get the castings when we want them, and very often before. But under the old system we frequently had to wait weeks and weeks, and could not get on with the work at all. 54. Can you give the total number of the iron castings turned out in 1908, for instance ? —We turned out at Addington 558 tons of castings. 55. On the issue rates of 12s. 6d. per hundredweight for castings over 7 lb., and 15s. per hundredweight for castings under 7 lb., does the Department make a clear profit ?—Yes, usually we make a very good profit. 56. Will you explain how the Manufacturing Account is dealt with ?—All labour and material is charged for, and we issue from the brass-foundry every description of ordinary brass castings at Is. per pound, and the whole of our steel castings are issued at 4|d. per pound, and we make profits on all these amounts. 57. These Manufacturing Accounts are balanced up at the end of each financial year ? —Yes. 58. And all repairs and renewals are charged to the Manufacturing Account ?—That is correct. 59. So that the Manufacturing Account bears all the working-expenses of that particular branch ? —That is so. 60. What is the issue rate of the 70 lb. points and crossings ? —With an angle of 1 in I\, £25 10s. ; with an angle of 1 in 9, £28. 61. Does that include the rails and materials ?—Rails and materials, and in addition we have to pay for the upkeep of the machines, &c. That is all charged to the Manufacturing Account. 62. Will you give a comparative statement of the outside tenders which were received for the manufacture of points and crossings— i.e., exclusive of rails ?—The Department was to supply the necessary rails for the making of these points and crossings, and the lowest tender for the l-in-72 angle was £30, and for the l-in-9 angle £32 10s. per set. 63. That, of course, is exclusive of the rails ?—lt is practically 'or labour only. Another tender was received at £58 per set for both classes of these points and crossings, also exclusive of rails. 64. Can you state the aggregate amount of wages, with the number of men employed, at Addington ?—For the financial year ending 31st March, 1901, the total wages paid at Addington amounted to £51,630 Is. ; the number of employees was 458 ; and the average wage per man per month was £9 6s. In 1908 the wages totalled £73,899 11s. lid. ; 586 men were employed ; and the average wage per man per month was £9 14s. sd. I may say that from that date until the present time the average wage has gone up to £10 Is. Id. 65. Would it be an advantage in the manufacture of locomotives if you were able to lay them down in sets of five or ten ?—lt would undoubtedly. I may say that, after very strong representations, authority was given to increase our construction-shop by 60 ft., and about twelve months later—that is, about July of last year —this addition was completed, and now we can practically lay down four locomotives where before we could only lay down one. 66. The Workshops Manager of the Newport Railway Workshops, Victoria, expressed the opinion before a Royal Commission that a saving of 25 per cent, in the cost of labour woiJd be effected by building ten engines at a time as compared with building one or two at a time. Do you agree with that ?—There is no doubt that a very large saving would be effected by doing the work in sets, but what that saving would be lam not in a position to say. I could not say it would be 25 per cent., but no doubt it would be a very large saving. It stands to reason that, if men in the various departments can do their work in continuity without having to drop one thing and take up something entirely different, the cost of construction would be very much cheaper. For instance, if you could afford to set up machines to do thirty or forty cylinders without stopping, you. could save a great deal on the turning of cylinders alone. 67. Nothwithstanding all these drawbacks, are you satisfied that the work has been done at Addington as expeditiously and as economically as could reasonably be expected ?—I think so. 68. You are satisfied "that the best has been done with the appliances at your disposal ? —Yes. 69. The, Chairman.'] I believe you are directly responsible to the Chief Mechanical Engineer ? — Yes. 70. After men have been taken on, do you communicate that fact to the Chief Mechanical Engineer or the General Manager ?—My correspondence with the Chief Mechanical Engineer practically ceases after 1 make the application for the extra staff. 71. The foremen have no power to engage men \ —None at all. 72. Has the Workshops Manager ?—None at all. 73. You as Locomotive Engineer have no power ? —No. The only staff that can be engaged without authority are day-to-day casuals, or men that are paid by the hour, and who come on for half a day for handling coal, and so on. 74. Suppose the foreman considers it desirable that a man should be discharged, has he power to discharge that man ? —No. 75. Has the Workshops Manager ?—No. 76. Have you ?—No. I can merely report the matter and make a recommendation. 77. What is the routine followed if the foreman desires a man discharged ?—lf it is for any breach of the rules or anything of that sort, the foreman would mention the man's name, and after an investigation the report would be sent on to the Head Office with my recommendation.