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ll(iii. Mr, Millar: 1 think the members of thu Amalgamated Society of Railway Servant* have taken the proper course. The Department does not desire that there should be any half inquiry into the matter at all. We are acting on behalf of the Department, and we desire the public to know what the Railway men's grievances are in every shape and what the Department's reply i.s, so that the public will have a full opportunity of judging whether our employees are well treated or not. We were willing to go an with the inquiry, and 1 regret very much that the time at our disposal does not enable us to go into it fully. We court, the fullest inquiry into everything, and if there is anything wrong, then it ought to be rectified. So far as the Department is concerned, we do not think the wrongs exist. Of course, so far as absolute satisfaction is concerned, that can never be. The Committee may go into the matter and make representations of a favourable nature, and even then there would not be satisfaction. There is no such thing as satisfaction tor many months. There always will be discontent for some time, because what appears to one man to be fair does not appear so to another man. The Department does not tear inquiry, and does not want any injustice to be done, and if there is any injustice existing, the sooner it is remedied and made known the better. Nevertheless, lam not aware of it. There are certain things that the members would like to have got which the Department has not seen its way to give, yet, as Mr. Veitch has said, it is not a question of wages altogether. That is quite tine, but there are other things which he must admit means an increase of expenditure, and, talking the whole of those things together, 1 think Mr. Veitch would be surprised to know' what the cost would be; but the sooner it is all brought out the better. I want to see a contented service, and you will never get satisfaction until you have a fairly contented service. 1 think members of the Committee will admit that the Railway Officers' Institute were given every opportunity to bring everything forward, and 1 desire the same opportunity to be extended to the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants. Ido not care whether it is this Committee or any outside body, and as far as I am personally concerned I court the fullest inquiry into the Department. Mr. I". Brown: 1 fully appreciate what Mr. Veitch has said about having a Hoard set up to make the fullest inquiry, but to whom would this Committee report? Hon. Mr. Millar: To the Government. Mr. McLaren: As to what Mr. Veitch has said in regard to the matter of the men's grievances having been before Parliament practically for fourteen months, the position is that the petition of last year was in substance very much the same as the petition of this year, and no doubt amongst the rank and file that has created and must accentuate the feeling that exists in regard to the delay. Mr. Veitch has presented a very fair request in making an appeal for immediate action on the part of some other tribunal, and I think the Committee would do well to accept the suggestion made by Mr. Veitch. Hun. Mr. Millar: 1 should like to point out in csuineotinn with Mr. Mei.arm's statement tha< the petition of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants last year was presented at the very end of the session, and there was no opportunity of dealing with it. We anticipated being able to deal with it this session, but we never anticipated that the hearing of the Railway Officers' Institute petition would have taken four weeks to consider, and it is that which has prevented the petition of the Second Division being gone on with earlier. The Chairman : Yes, 1 believe the petition was presented very late last session, and, of course, that petition would not come before the Committee again this session. Consequently the presentation of it last session did not give it a prior claim to any other petition presented this session. Mr. McLaren: I did not want to be misrepresented in regard to the matter, but the rank and file would take it that the grievance extended back from the time that the first petition was presented, and that has no doubt accentuated the position. The Chairman: As Chairman of the Committee this year and also last year, I regret exceedingly that both the petitions of the Railway Officers' Institute and the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants could not have been dealt with last session. We sat here for, I think, five months and a half last year, and we had a good deal of time to devote to petitions, but. unfortunately, these petitions were not before us. This session being the last session of the Parliament is necessarily very short, and consequently it would always be better if all such petitions involving an inquiry could be presented early in the middle session of each parliamentary term. I expressed regret on former occasions that these petitions were not before us early last session, when we could have given them an exhaustive inquiry. Hon. Mr. Miliar: T should like to point out to the members of the Amalgamated Society "i Railway Servants that every petition that comes here in regard to railway matters has to go down to the Department before we can deal with the matter at all, and then in the Head Office they have to go through all the files, make out a case, and send in a report to the Committee before tire matter can be dealt with, so that you can understand that with a petition like yours some little time is occupied in the Head Office in getting a report before the Committee. Mr. Veitch: There is no doubt a lot of truth in what has been said, and had we been notified in regard to those matters we would have known how to act; but, as the Minister has stated, if he will approach this new investigation —if it is decided on—in the spirit he has explained to us this morning, then I can only give him our assurance we will also act in the same war. We want to improve the Railway service; we are not taking any narrow view of it at all, and we will help (lie Minister to improve it if he will only pull with us in this matter, as I am sure In , will. The Chairman : Very well, gentlemen, we will consider your representations ami report U the House.

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