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SUNDAY TRAINS.
Railway Employes' Proposal for
Abolition.
Government Declines to
Entertain It.
According to opinions expressed in Slate
Ministerial circles yesterday, there is not
the slightest possibility of tlie State Go
vernment agreeing to the proposal for the
abolition of Sunday trains outlined by the
acting general secretary of the Australian
Railways Union in a letter to the Minister
ot Railways. In the letter the writer
urged that the existing embargo on Sunday
l>aius did not inilict any unnecessary or
undue hardship upon the social life of the
community.
When questioned yesterday the Minister
oi Railways said lie supposed it must be
.es.umed that .-tlie men were sincere in
proposing the abolition of Sunday work.
Rut the proihjs.il could not be carried into
L-neet. it such a thing were done it would
reindt in a serious loss of revenue to tho
Railway deportment. This loss would prob
ably react on the employes themselves, be-
touse if all Sunday work were abolished,
the working stall would be considerably
reduced.
Referring to the .argument that tho
tramless Sunday had not indicted any
hardship on the social life of the commu-
liny, tiie Minister said the fact that people
had been compelled to do without trains on
Sundays lor some weeks did not by any
means indicate that they would accept the
permanent abolition of the services, l'racti-
cally all Sunday traffic was made up oC
people of the wage-earning classes, aud
Sunday excursions to beauty spots were
arranged tor the convenience of people who
desired to spend a whole day in the coun
try, but who could not afford time or
money for a longer stay. Therelore if
Sunday trains were abolished, the chief
sufferers would be tho working man and-
ilia wife and family.
Although tlie agitation for the abolition
of Sunday -trains is not new, there is an
idea in certain Ministerial circles that the
latest move on the part of the railway
mens unions is merely a shrewd attempt
work0" eVCn Khcr w"Kes £or Sunday
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