PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 986, 4 July 1883, Page 2

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

The Minister for Public Works in delivering his Statement in the House last evening said:—Mr Speaker—When in last session I had the honor of submitting a Statement to this House, my brief experience as Minister of Public Works led me to consider favorably the suggestions of the Railway Commissioners of 1880, that the administration of constructed railways should be handed over to a Board of Management, but, J consider the outlay which it has been requisite to make in further improving the opened lines, and the large orders which I have found it necessary to give for additional rolling stock, necessitated by growth of traffic, in short, the large expenditure out of loan (in addition to the expenditure for maintenance, which is defrayed by revenue), which must bo continued for some time before railways can be said to be really completed and equipped, inclines me to the belief that only a Minister directly responsible to the House would be entrusted with work of making the oxpenditure. The power to make alteration in fares and freight, which I have used to some es tent during the recess, should also, I think, remain in the hands of a Minister responsible to this House. The Government purpose during this session to ask the Legislature to sanction the appointment of another Minister, and this will enable such an arrangement to be made as will permit of their Minister of Railways devoting his whole attention to this branch of the administration. The business of the railways has become quite large enough to . ecessitate its severance from the Public Works. Parliamentary control will be much more perfect when the Minister of Railways brings down separate estimates of what moneys are required from loan, for further improvements to, and the further equipment of the opened lines, and when the estimates submitted by them for Public Works will be estimates foroonstruction solely. I trust this proposal will commend itself to the approval of the House. In his Financial Statement, the Treasurer informed hon. members that the balance of the Public Works Fund in hand on 31st March, 1882, in New Zealand was L 924,866. There has been added the sum of £ for £ L 989,897, being the proceeds of debentures for H,000,u00 which we sold in January last, thus making a total of L 1,914,762. Out of this fund there had been spent during the year a sum of L 897,037, and that in consequence the Public Works Fund amounted at the close of the last financial year to L 1,017,725. It is, 1 think, convenient and desirable to remind hon. members that of the total annual expenditure from this fund, the Minister for Public Works has no control over the expenditure upon immigration, purchase of native lands

the expenditure by the Minister of < Lands in making roads to open up Crown , „< lands, the expenditure by the Minister of i Mines upon roads and water-races, that of i the Minister of Education upon school i buildings, and the expenditure upon telegraph extension, public buildings, and lighthouses. For railways, roads, and harbor works under the control of the Minister for Public Works there was voted L 1,251,830, of which L 574.935 has been spent, and there were liabilities outstanding on 31st March last amounting to L 439.593, and in addition to these liabilities for works there had been transmitted to the Agent- 1 Jeneral for the purchase of stock and permanent way authorities to contract to the amount of L 210,205. As a detailed statement of the progress of the woiks is contained in the reports of the Engineers of both Islands, which as usual accompanies this Statement, I will not trespass upon the attention of hon members further than by a very brief reference to them. Owing to the determination of the Government not to anticipate the proceeds of the loan which was not raised until January, the entering into contracts was postponed, with the result that the expenditure was somewhat less, and the outstanding liabilities more than will probably be the case generally. RAILWAYS. About 50 miles of railway were opened for traffic during the year. These consisted of 13£ miles of the Wangarei-Kamo line, and 38£ miles of the Hurunui-Bluff section in the following localities :—Waipara to Waikari, 9 miles ; Lincoln to Birdling’a Flat, 17 miles ; Ashburton branch extension, 8£ miles ; Edendale to Wyndham, 4 miles—thus making a total length opened for traffio of 1363 miles. The section between Waverley and Manutahi, 16 miles ; from Oxford to Malvern, 11-Jr miles ; and from Albury to Fairlie Creek, 10£ miles, are on tho point of completion. I am glad to say that the Wangarei-Kamo line was opened for traffio in October. The Kawakawa line is nearly completed. The Directors of the Coal Company have been applied ’ to in accordance with the Act of 1880, to ascertain if they are prepared to take a lease of the line upon certain terms. At Auckland a contract had been entered into for the reclamation of a site for a suitable station. The contract has been taken over by the Harbor Board, , and is expected to be finished about the end of the year. The construction of the ■ station will be a great convenience i both to tho public and the Department. The other improvements in the Auckland section, including a large [ engine shed at Auckland, will be men- ; tioned in more detail in the report of the General Manager. On the Waikato lines section the Hamilton railway Bridge will, i it is expected, be finished this month. The contract for the erection of a bridge at ' To Aroha, and for the formation between ( Morrinsville and Te Aroha, have been let, ( and it is intended shortly to invite tenders for platelaying between Hamilton and . Morrinsville and between Hamilton and - Cambridge. Work upon the Nap>er ;e i<> i has been slower than was anticipated, and the works which, when the statement was 1 made last year, it was thought could be ; finished by last month will not be com- ' pleted until September. Further forma--1 tion to Tahonite will be completed by the 1 end of December, when platelaying and 1 other necessary works will be proceeded 1 with to complete this portion for traffic. 1 This will make an additional length open J of 11£ miles. On the Wellington-Wood-ville line an extension of line from Mas--1 terton to Opihi has been let by contract, ' to be finished in December, and a contract 1 has been let for a railway bridge near | Woodville. Foxton to New Plymouth.— It was expected last year that the section 1 between Waverley and Manutahi would 1 have been completed by December last, but unusual difficulties had been experienced in the Whenuakara contract and have prevented this. It is hoped that this section will be ready this month. A portion of the gap described in last year’s Statement as lying between Manutahi and Hawerahasbeen made the subject of a contract, and it is hoped to call for tenders at an early date for this. This will complete the main line between Foxton and New Plymouth, and its completion will be, no doubt, a source of satisfaction to hon members. Nelaon-Roundell.—A tender has been accepted for the formation of the extension of this lino up the Wai-iti Valley, somewhat over 2£ miles. Coming to the Picton line, the formation of tho first section of miles south of Blenheim towards Awatere, is finished, and a working survey made of the Dashwood Pass, 6 miles further. Hurunui-Bluff section. —The formation of Horsley Down section is nearly completed, and tenders for platelaying are about to be called for. The b idge over the Hurunui is in progress and surveys have been made for the extension of the line to near the Red Posts, The other principal works in progress on the main line consist of extensive addition to the workshops at Addington and Hillside, an entirely new station at Dunedin, what are practically new stations at Timaru and Invercargill, and considerable improvements at the Bluff. Extensions have been made or are in progress on the following branches : Little River, Ashburton, Albury, Livingstone, Palmerston, Gatlin’s River, Tapanui, Toi Tois, and Seaward Bush. A contract has been taken for a section of the Switzers branch, and a number in preparation for a section of the KelsoGore line. Sections Jhavo been opened during the financial year on the Little River, Ashburton, and Toi-Tois branches, and miles on the Albury branches were ready for opening, when the late floods occurred and caused damages which it will take a few weeks to repair. The Oxford and Malvern railway is the only line in /Canterbury not included in the Hurunui-Bluff section. The last section of it is expected to be finished in August, thus completing direct communication between Malvern district and North Canterbury. Otago Central.—A contract has been entered into for the formation of 4£ miles onward from the Deep Stream, one of the heaviest pieces in Taieri Gorge. The detailed survey of the whole line is finished. It is proposed to undertake more extensive works during the present year. Invercargill-Kingston and Western railways.—A considerable number of various improvements have been made on the ojjen lines, and a platelaying contract has bean let. Lumsden Branch.—The works on the Orepuki line have been somewhat retarded through a change in contractors ; but they are not progressing favorably. Surveys in accordance with a promise last year have been taken to explore the North Island, for the purpose of determiring the future route of the main trunk line of railway. Four survey parties are now engaged in the work, vi*., one party on the line recommended as being suitable, from Hastings to Taupo, and thence to Awamutu ; one party on the inland line, starting from near Marton and Feilding/and proceeding north ; and two on the line between Taranaki and Te Awamutu. With respect to the public works in the North Island for the current year, with the Kamo and Kawakawa lines finished, the Foxton-New Plymouth lines nearly finished, the unfinished portion of the Waikato-Thames line in progress, and the gaps separating Napier and Wellington sensibly reduced, the colony will recognise with satisfaction that the great efforts it has made during eleven years for railway construction in this island, that we have achieved a large part of the results striven for, and that the necessary annual disbursements will have become much leas. So far as regards the continuation of the main trunk line, the Government is pressing forward the necessary steps to obtain as soon as possible the information necessary to 1

enable Parliament to come to a decision i .as to which of the routes suggested i should be adopted. In the mean- i time I am not in a position to 1 submit to the House any recommen- i dation on the subject, but of course i provision for the necessary survey will t be asked for. In the Middle Island the i extension of the main trunk lino northward as far as the Red Post, which extension the Government recognises to be desirable, and without which the extension between Waikari and Hurunui will not render its full service to the colony, is a work intended to be carried on by the schedule t-f the Loan Act. Whether the line from Cook Straits connects with Canterbury at this terminal point of the railway from the Bluff, or at some other point to the north of Canterbury, as the route ultimately adopted may determine, Government cannot come to a decision upon this question of routes until the Legislature has decided what effect shall be given to the resolution passed by the House last session, namely, that the principle of specially taxing properties increased in value by the construction of public works with public money is just, and to the recommendation by the Select Committee appointed to consider this subject that alljpublic works to be commenced henceforth shall be undertaken on the condition that properties which may be specially benefited by such works shall bo subjected to special charge or treatment as the General Assembly may determine. The Government has carefully considered the subject, and intends in order to deal with it, to submit for the consideration of the House a measure, the outlines of which I will give. The report of the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the merits of the route proposed for the railway between Canterbury and Cook Straits, and the report by the East and West Coast Railway Commissioners have both received the most attentive consideration from Government, and I am sure that I only give utterance to the desire qt the House in thanking the gentlemen who, animated by a desire to be of service to the public, undertook at the wish of Government those laborious duties which the Commissioners have so conscientiously performed. Upon the first of the subject matters reported on I have already said that the action of the Government awaits the determination by the Legislature of what shall be the conditions precedent to further railway extension ; but the question of committing the colony to an East and West Coast railway, involving, as it does, an expenditure of about L 2,000,000, and probably an annual loss in working, requires that Government shall declare its views without delay. The i Legislature has determined that the rate i of expenditure out of the loan shall not exceed L 1,000,000 per annum, in addition to the sum expended on the North Island main tru k line of railway as it may from i time to time authorise, and in the opinion of Government an expenditure at this rate is as much as we can prudently afford. The Public Works fund is allocated to specified w irks and cannot be diverted, i, and the expenditure upon these works will proceed at this rate. The Government, i having due regard to tho necessity of keeping faith with its public creditor, is ■ of opinion that the immediate commencement of the construction of the East and > West Coast line is not of such urgency as 1 would justify an attempt to raise a special I loan for the purpose, but the Crown lands within fifteen miles on either side of the i Arthur’s Pass line and the lines leading directly to Brunnerton will be reserved from sale, so that if in the future the Legislature should determine to construct ; this railway no part of the public estate ■ to be benefited will have been .alienated. BOADS. The particulars of the works undertaken will be found in the report of the Engineer-in-Charge. Whilst making provision for some important colonial roads and placing on the Estimates a portion of the amount allocated to roads north of Auckland, it is not tho intention of the Government to ask the House to make any farther special grants in aid of county roads and bridges. Believing that in future all the assistance afforded to local bodies should be under the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, the unexpended balances of the previous year will be placed on the Estimates, as the localities interested may consider that they are entitled to ttiem, but for the future the distributing of such funds as the House may set aside for roads and bridges will be made upon a system defined by law, and it will, I think, be most to the public advantage that, with the disappearance of the usage of special voces for specified works which has prevailed, there will also disappear even the pretext for those insinuations against the motives of hon members who support the Government of the day, which upon one or two occasions have recently been disclosed in the current of debate in the House.

WORKING OP THE RAILWAYS, The receipts from railways during the last year show a very gratifying increase, having risen from L 892,026 in <BBI-82 to L 953.347 in 1832-3, an increase of L 61,321, and this despite the fact that the farmers enjoyed during the year a concession upon rates of freight for grain, the reduction having been made in 1881, amounting to about L 40,000 per annum, which mainly affected last year’s receipts, and over 112,000 tons received the advantage of a further reduction which I made last year. The use of the railway is steadily growing ; the increase in the number of passengers carried during last year as compared with the previous year being 371,901, and 1,157 season ticket holders. The increase in the tonnage hauled was 127,079 tons, and in the number of live stock carried 13,020 Only a small part of the stock and material ordered in England to keep pace with the requirements of a traffic growing so rapidly has yet arrived ; but I may say here that the coat of locomotives and ironwork to be imported, together with that of building in the colony the carriages and waggons, will, when all are ready to be placed on the line, exceed L 203.000, and the expenditure of loan upon further improvements to opened lines L145,C00, so that hon. members will, I think, recognise that for their own infotmation and guidance, it will be extremely convenient that a Minister of Railways should bring forward separate estimates of bis requiremen a out of the loan for further equipment and improvement, and that the amount, asked for un.ier the head of construction should, in fact, be for construction only. If the railway were paid for performing services for other departments, such as the carriage of mails for the Postal Department and the conveyance of Volunteers for the Defence Department, the receipts would be increased by about LlB 00 *. The increase last year in the expenditure absorbed rather more than the increase in receipts. In 1831-2 the expenditure was L 523.099, and last year it was L592,82i. or Ll 1,525 more than the estimate, the difference between the two years being L 69,722. The principal items of the increase are for maintenance of permanent way, L 29,701. Owing to the greater age of the line, and Dartly to increased mileage, to the rise in wages, to renewals upon the Duntroon branch, to heavy repairs of the Uakaia and Gore bridges, to damages from floods on the Napier and Wanganui section, the cost of repair of lines has increased by nearly L 6,000, which is chiefly due to the Department having undertaken the maintenance of the whole length along the line. The repairs and renewals of the rolling stock coat about L 7,000 more than in the preceding year. The increase in the running and traffic expenses, caused mainly by increase of traffic, was L 28,360 of the total increase. In the wages ac-

count the increase, owing simply to alteration of the scale of pay, which improves with length of service, was L 5,675. For the current year I have made the expenditure at L 634,000. After inquiry, I have not thought it right to ask for less, with the expenditure which must take place upon the Duntroon-Makarewa branches, and with the usual increase of traffic which 1 do not doubt will take place. The receipts I have estimated at L 1,020,000, or L66.G53 more than the amount for last year, being about the averar; • increase for the last three years. The wonting accounts are made out as usual to show cost of working and revenue due to the year’s transactions, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Works Act. They differ slightly from the Treasury accounts, but the accounts contain a statement explanatory of the difference. The total expenditure upon opened lines up to 31st March last was Li 10,478,898 ; the revenue derived therefrom was L 360,526, or at the rate of L 3 8s lOd per cant. During the last year only forty miles additional have been opened for traffic, and not a very large sum thereby added to the coat of the opened lines. The revenue of 1881-82, which amounted to L 369.000, or nearly the same as that of last year, was 1 then declared to be at the rate of L 3 18s 2d per cent, on the capital cost. Hon members may perhaps desire to know where this groat difference in the percentage arises The reason is, that last year the coat of the lines open for traffic was estimated to be only L 9,443,000, so that in the calculation of to-day LI ,035,000 has been added to the capital cost. The reason why so large a part of the expenditure on open lines was in former years deducted as contributing to revenue, when computing the amount upon which the net revenue paid interest, is that it was thought right that the outlay upon improvements which were incomplete at the end of the financial year, reviewed in the annual Statement, which were utilised to add to the railway receipts, should be deducted when computing the amount of capital employed in earning the net revenue. But now, in accordance with the Public Works Act of la t year, the whole expenditure out of loans upon the opened lines is included in the Statement of their cost, and hence arises the difference to which I have drawn the attention of honorable members. The whole expenditure upon each section of railway, inclusive of the coat of rolling stock, as ascertained at the end of each financial year is now gazetted, together with the four weekly railway returns. Honorable members will no doubt approve of this modification of the previous practice. It is to give a bettor knowledge of the exact position. For the North Island the net revenue was L 71,387, or L2 Is Id per cent, on the capital expenditure on open lines of L 3,474,681. In the Middle Island the capital cost of the opened lines was L 7,004,316. The net revenue was L291,4'i0, or at the rate of L 4 2s fid per cent. Last year the net revenue from the North Island railways was L 68.126, from those in the Middle Island L 300,800. The interest on the gross outlay on railways opened and unopened for 1881-82, was L 3 7s 3d per’ cent ; for the years 1882-83 it is L 3 3s 2d per cent. The report of the General Manager states the condition of the lines and rolling stock, and gives sectional particulars. I shall not, therefore, weary | the House by enlarging on these subjects now, but before finishing this branch of 1 my statement 1 will beg the House to glance back three years. In 1879-80, the I receipts were L 762,583, the expenditure L 580,080 Since then we have opened a further length of 186 miles. We are doing over 50 per cent, more work, and our receipts have increased by L 190,774, whilst the increase in our expenditure is only L 12,791 ; and when we also consider that during this short time we have made large concessions in rates of freight, and have also materially improved the position of our workmen, the result will, I trust, appear to hon gentlemen not unsatisfactory. Towards the end of the financial year a considerable reduction was made in single fares. Full information as to the construction of lighthouses, public buildings, harbor works, and water-races, will also be found in the reports attached to this statement.

TBEATMBNTOF L INDS SPECIALLY BENEFITED. Now comes the consideration of the manner in which land specially benefited by the construction of railways should be dealt with. Vith reference to the advantages which have accrued in the past, the Government do not intend to make any proposals ; for it is not practicable to suddenly seize from the estate a share of these advantages without inflicting numberless wrongs. But with regard to the future the case is different, and we are free to consider, unembarrassed by any apprehension of common injustice, what share the community may be entitled to of the wealth created by the construction of railways with public money. In seeking the simplest and fairest way to adopt, the first suggestion which will have probably occurred to the minds of hon members is, that the State should repurchase all the land f>r a certain distance on either side of the proposed line, at a certain increase upon the property tax valuation. Valuations for taxation are usually low ; on the other hand, compensation for expulsion should be liberally given. Perhaps compensation to the dispossessed landholders of 25 per cent more than the valuation for the property tax would not be inequitable j and when railways are extended through country suitable for subdivision, there can be no doubt that the sale in moderate sized farms of the land so taken would produce a profit sufficient to make a considerable contribution towards the cost of the railway, and moreover would bring into existence a traffic large enough to cause the railway to be a source of considerable revenue. Great collateral ad- I vantages would accrue to the colony from the increase in our total productions and from the revenue contributed by an additional population. No new principle is involved in this proposal. Already under the Public Works Act, and under the resumption of land for mining purposes, we have determined that for several public purposes land may bo resumed by the State, and no more important or desirable purpose can be imagined than the proper settlement of the land by a numerous population. But to carry out this process would mean raising a considerable loan to be applied to tuis special purpose ; for if the land were sold by the Government under deferred payments or leased, which would probably bo the case, in order to insure rapid settlement, then for some time the colony would have to lie out of a large sum. This drawback brings us to the consideration of the alternative uhich has been suggested, viz., that of having the land valued after the railway is made, and charging it with a share, say, one-half of the increment of value, the land owner to be at liberty to redeem his charge when he may please, and in the meantime to pay interest upon it at the rate of 5 par cenl. per annum. Tuis would no doubt give the State a good return for the cost of the railways, but it would not secure the settlement of the land with the same certainty as the former method. It has, however, the advantage of requiring no money to carry it out. The Government have determined to submit a Bill empowering it to adopt both plans, with the introduction (?) of generally acting on the second, and at the same time proposing to confine the operation of the first plan to situations favorable to settlement, whilst using it so as not to deprive anyone of his residence or of the land attached to an extent not exceeding an average to be determined by the Legia- 1 lature ; the act of resumption in each case | '

not to be deemed to be finally completed until after the particulars are laid before Parliament, and appropriation granted for the amount of compensation to be paid. With either plan the gain to the community is great, and no injustice done to the individual. The Government has also considered the question whether rating shall be levied upon laud in districts through State railways run to make up any deficiency between the earnings of those railways and in the interest paid by the State upon the money used in their construction. It seems to me that only one answer is possible to this question, and that one a decided negative. The very idea of a system of State railways in a new country must imply, I think, the construction of many lines which would not pay for some years much more than their working expenses. The object of the State in making railways is not to obtain an immediate dividend upon the cost of construction, but to open up communication and to encourage the settlement of the country by making it possible over large areas to cultivate small holdings at a profit, which it would have been impossible so to cultivate without a ready and cheap means of communication with a market. Parliament has been striving for years to settle the unoccupied and sparsely-peopled districts of the colony with a thriving population, and yet it is upon the pioneers in such districts, when struggling to get a foothold, that this proposal, if given effect to, would impose special taxation, and for what purpose? To provide the means for doing that which should be done at the expense of the community as a whole. The Treasurer told us a few days ago that whereas wa have added but comparatively little to our imports, we have found that at the present moment between one-third and one-half of what we export does not belong to us. And what is the lesson to be drawn from this statement—that the settlement of the country must be hastened; that capital must be attracted, and the productions of the country developed in every legitimate way. Since 1880 the! Government has made concessions in the freight of agricultural produce, amoiintto LIOO,OOO oer annum. The justification is that hereby the area of cultivation is extended for the benefit of the colony as a whole. The contrary system of imposing special disabilities upon settlers who have located themselves near a railway which did not pay 5 per cent on its cost could not but have a retarding effect upon our progress. Such, then, are the intentions of the Government, which it is ray privilege to announce to-night. They are only further stops in a policy consistently adhered to. We have inaugurated the system of perpetual leases of State lands. We have announced our intentioc of introducing a Bill for the abolition of all restrictions upon the alienation of land, the far reaching effects of which in the bringing to pass of the subdivision of land it is difficult to adequately appreciate; and in now submitting proposals to give to the country a right to share in the wealth immediately created by public expenditure, and to enable it to resume, 1 upon fair terms, land required for settle- ' meat, I trust they will recognise that these proposals have for their aim not i only the promotion of the general advani tage by an act of justice to the country, but also the establishment of a numerous body of independent. ettlers.