THE PUBLIC. WORKS STATEMENT.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14833, 26 November 1913, Page 8

THE PUBLIC. WORKS STATEMENT.

The Public Works Statement presented to Parliament by the Hon. Mr Fraser yesterday is a plain and businesslike document. When ho took office last year ilr Fraser had to take aver a situation thai; tvas less easy to handle than it ought to have been. .As he pointed out in the Statement of 1912, only half the ways and means were immediately available, possession of the reicainder being contingent upon the raising of a pending loan of All authorities" issued and offers made in pursuance of previous years' approXiHiitions were honoured, however, uid works ' of urgency Y-'cto authorised. The..success of the loan gavo the Ji&partmenfc a freer hAnd, and the Minister was able to lay out during the x*ar

tho record sum of £2,711,063, includir:j; £117,703 from tho Consolid v .tf<] Fund. New railway construction and adc ; tions to open lines accounted for atoui £1,150,000, while £374_.346 was pptnt on roads, £445,192 on public btrildings, and £201,370 on telegraph extension. Tho estimated expenditure for tho current year is £2,995,575. so that within another twelve months the work of development will have risen to the figure of £3,000,000 per annu-n. Thi* is a hugo sum, and although 'be country has seemed to approve the rapid growth of the expenditure on public works during the last decade, it is possible that before many years tho country will have to consider seriously whether the expenditure of the Department cannot without disadvantage be brought to a slower growth. In any event, the figures we have quoted emphasise tho necessity for great caution in authorising new works. Last year Mr Fraeer expressed tho opinion that the system of making thousands of separate votes for small works is far from being a good one. . Instead of spending tho money available for roads, for example, in a- multitude of small ways, it would be much better to attend to and finally deal with the roads of primary importance. Not only would .this be less wasteful—£sooo on one road work goes further than £5000 divided amongst ten—but it would enable a quicker and more effective roading of the back-blocks districts. Tho fact that during tho current year no great change will have been made in the system cannot be brought sharply against the Minister unless it-be held that a huge, complicated, and longestablished system can be transformed by the stroke of tho pen. At the same time we trust that the Government will avoid delay in overhauling tho whole system of public works expenditure. Tho Minister suggests that a change is in contemplation, for ho says that during the recess he will seek a satisfactory solution hot only of the main road problem, but also of the equally abstruse problem of improving the present method of distributing grants for roads and bridges. The amount set down for railway construction is £1,325,000—a trifle more than last year—and this sum is distributed over a large number of lines. The necessity for finding some real principle to govern the allocation of money for railway construction is just as great as in the case of the roads. By concentrating on the chief works of real urgency, the Government could. get better value for the money expended than it gets from the present system of pottering away at -works which aro not actually urgent. Fairly satisfactory progress has been made with the Midland railway work. Nearly two and three-quarter miles of tunnelling has been done, and the full excavation and lining covers two and. a quarter miiea. Of special interest to Canter.bury are the references to the work at Lake Coleridge. The total expendii turo to date is £82,897, and the sum of £195,000 is placed on the Estimates for tho completion of tho work. There is a prospect, wo aro told, that the City Council may be supplied with power by May next, but the completion of the pipe lino is apparently likely' to bo delayed, as the contract is much behindhand: There is one feature of every PublicWorks Statement in recent years which the public is entitled to look upon with a critical eye. We to the large vote every year for public bp'Udings. In the past money has been spent in this direction in a- -wantonly extravagant [ manner, and we are ' convinced that without iii tho least putting Ehe public to any inconvenience ' a great many thousands of pounds c6uld be saved every year. The growth of, the expenditure of the Department generally is the result of the public* s desire for all manner of things, and it will not be easy for the Government to induce the public to moderate its demands. But we should be glad to see Ministers and members of Parliament using every opportunity of urging on the people that, although really necessary work must be attended to, it is unwise and dangerous to demand that every want, great and small, justified and unjustified, should be satisfied simply because the money can always be borrowed.