PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENTS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1923, 20 August 1888, Page 3

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENTS

A lengthy supplement was appended to the Pablio Works Statement on Saturday. The railways In Ouurse of construction and surveys In progress were desorlbed m detail. Under the head of Proposed Bail way Works, the following remarks occur In reference to the Mouot Somers line :-" On the Mount Somers branch railway the earthwork has been done from Mount Somers to Sprlngburn, four miles, and the line will probably be completed for traffic during the current year, and the remainder next year." Tbe summary on account of railways m course of oonstruotlon as a whole, stated that the votes proposed to be HBked for this year will amount to £438,900, leaving £829,518 for future appropriation. Of these amounts £75,240 and £334,081 respectively appi r aln to the Rorth Island Trnnk Railway, and the balanoe, namely, £263,660 and £495,434 to other railways.

After nuking a comparison between the railways of the various colonies, the Minister went on to nay that m the case of Sooth Australia, if the Sooth Australian railway! had been bnllfc and maintained on the New ZevUnd railway bails their charges for maintenance and interest together would have been for last year at the rate of £135,606 per annum more than they have been. They, appear, therefore, to be better to that extent than we, by reason, partly, of having oon- ! •tructed cheaper llnee, and »Ibo, probably, because their ooontry ie not so rough as oors is, and thetr maintenance is conse quent'y cheaper. Similarly In the oaso of Queensland. They were better oft last year tin n they oould have been on onr basis to the extent of £57,623. This is entirely dae to the saving of interest on capital, as their maintenance and part of the saving of inteieat la by ie aon of their cheaper lines Taking these results m connection with those for the more expensive lines, it would appear that, wbi.e we have an advantage as compared with railways which are more expensive than ouis, the railways, on the other hand, which are leFs expensive than ours, have the advan tage over us. It seems probable, however, that m the cass of tbe more recent Tacmanian railways they have carried economy m construction to an extreme, aod that their maintenance m future will not probably be bo cheap as it was last ye^r, while the lines were new The first forty five miles of their railways cost on the average £10,344 a mile, while the latter eighty-eight miles cost only £4623 a mile, and concerning these latter line? their General manager, m his report of July 6ih 1887, says: — " Whilst our working expenses have fallen lo a satisfactory rate both per mile open and per train mile, I am constrained to observe that there is a probability of an increase m this direction." The economical construction of the railways has neceesitat3d steep grad s to most of the lines, which will militate against profitable working-, Bhould the traffic increase as anticipated. The gauges of tbe last serieß of railway which he bad beon alluding to are as follows, but, as before stated, the relative gauges cannot affeot the question at present under investigation : — ln New Zealand the gauge iB 3ft 6in. In South Australia it is sft 3in for. about 490 miles, and 3ft 6in for the remaining 930 miles In Queensland it is 3ft 3in, and m Tasmania it is both sft 3in and 3ft 6in (by means of a centre rail) for about 45 miles, 3ft 6ia for the remaining 88 miles. In view of these facts, he was convinced that the proper principle for adoption m a young colony like this is to construct our railways from time to t'nxe In ruoh a way as to march along with, but not outpace, the requirements of existing traffic, In that way the real requirements of the oonntry will be provided for as they arise. Lavish expenditure on stations and other works m anticipation of traffic which may never ensue will be avoided, and the harden of tbe interest on the. cost of construction will fall gradually on the oonntry as it grows able to meet it, Instead of being imposed before its time m the shape of a dead weight of taxation on account of expenditure for which there is no adequate return. His remarks m this direction had been to come extent prompted by what has struck him as a tendency whloh has recently been growiDg op to build our railways of a muoh more expensive character than was adopted for earlier lines, or m ether words, tocons^uot oar new extensions of the oharaoter up to which It has been found necessary to bring the older railways, and, he thought himself, that this is a mistake, s& there is clearly no necessity to construct new railways, which are of the oharaoter of pioneer lines through comparatively utiababited country, of as high a class as tbe extending lines m populous districts where large traffio bas been already developed. He would recommend, therefore, if we are to further extend oar railways m the future, that we should revert towards a less expensive type of railway originally adopted, bearing m mind that thtse cheaper railways (provided that good grades are obtained m the first instance) can readily be improved and further equipped from time to time, so as to meet all requirements that are likely to arise ; and he should gather from the facts which he had adduced m this connection that such railways as we require m the shape of new extensions should bo produced m average country. The conclusions at whioh he bad arrived on this question may be concurred m or they may not, but m either case he did not think that ho need apologise for having introduced the subjjet, es this question of the scope and type of our railways was to bis mjtad the most important question which can engage the attention of the colony m connection with the public works. Ihe determination of such questions as this, m fact, necessarily affects the whole of our present and future policy m connection with xailway construction, and as it is tbe deterraj&a tion of such questions as this, with wisdom or otherwise, which makes or mars the fortunes of private companies, i so such determination must to a great extent, go towards promoting or retarding the welfare of a colony.

(FEOM OUK OWN CORRESPONDENT ) The Publifl Works Estimates present a very bare appearance this yeac as cm pared with other years. In Clause 3of Part I of railways, new works and con< ■traction, £900 la down for i bridge on the approach to Sheffield Station, and £3000 for the drainage of lands In Akaroa railway endowment, to be recouped to the Public Works Fund oat of the proceeds of the sale of land when drained. In the vote for main roads, £600 is pnt down for the Haast Pass traok, and £5000 for the road from flokitlka to ChrUtoherch. Under the heading " Miscellaneous Roads and Bridges," £2QOO is set down for the Obrlßtoh.aroh-HokltlJm road., construction m the Bealey Valley ; and the following amounts are set down for roads to open op lands before sale In Canterbury : — To Upper Ashley, over Kuku Pass, £270. Mount Grey Downs, £230, Glental road, £150. Walhaa to Hakateramea, £120. Road to Mount Cook and to glaciers, £430- B Ohau Bridge, £\ for £1, £400. Village and deferred payment blooks, £250. l ' ■ Mlaoellaneous, £550. Under "Publio Buildings," £300 ia down for Implementi for the prlsonera working at Sticking Point ; £150 for Portal and Telegraph buildings In the Canterbury Province, and £4100 for the Sunnyslde Asylum. Jn Olais 3, railways chargeable to moneys rauea undes Loan Act, 1886, £4000 for Mount Somera Branch Is (be only Canterbury Itsn, J