page 8

Railway Progress in New Zealand.
General Managers's Message.
The Importance of Orderliness.

The rules of the Department place the safety of the travelling public as the first and most important duty of every railwayman. Whilst every member of the service must subscribe to this rule, proper care and thought should also be given to the question of how to make it most effective. Equipment and appliances of various kinds play their own particular part in association with the unremitting vigilance which is the price of safety, but there is another great aid that does not always get its full recognition. I refer to orderliness.

Some things have come under my observation recently which show that there are still some railwaymen who have not fully grasped the value of orderliness and thoroughness in the work they take in hand, and as this has been noticeable chiefly amongst some of those who have more recently joined the service, I wish to draw pointed attention to the matter for their good and that of the public whom we all serve.

Orderly habits and tidiness are the product of a well-ordered mind, and the more they are encouraged and cultivated the more abundant will be the advantages. Training in the many details of railway work is, of course, necessary, and in this the Management looks for the help and interest of the older members of the service, who should watch and check the work of newcomers and of each other to ensure that a high standard of orderliness may be maintained. After all, orderliness is just planning of some kind carried out effectively and brings with it its own immediate reward and pleasure.

I would like members to bear in mind always that just as every problem has to be reduced to order before it can be solved, so every piece of work has to be arranged in orderly fashion before it can be put through with satisfaction to all concerned.

General Manager.