_The Evening Post_, 18 September 1924:
EYESIGHT TESTS
IN THE RAILWAY SERVICE
#Eyesight tests in the #Railway Department were recently the subject of a question addressed by Mr. F. Langstone (Waimarino) to the Minister of Railways. Mr. Langstone asked whether, in view of the fact that the Railway Department is submitting its permanent #employees to a strict eyesight test which numbers are failing to pass, he will see that no reduction in grades, salaries, or future increments and promotions…. Yesterday Mr. Coates replied : "When members fail to pass the eyesight test so that they cannot be kept in the positions … their pay is affected accordingly. If a suitable position … will not involve reducing his pay, that is done, but … it is … impossible to avoid the reduction of some of the members.… reductions are treated as being due to infirmity, and the superannuation rights of the members are preserved…. practically no reductions take place among the #guards as the result of defects in visual acuity. The reductions which the honourable member no doubt has in mind are due to defective colour perception…."
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19240918.2.160