The Dominion. THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 1910. VOTES ON THE ESTIMATES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 779, 31 March 1910, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 1910. VOTES ON THE ESTIMATES.

.. A point of much importance is involved in a dispute that has taken place between the Hobson County Council and the Minister for Public Works. The Public ,' Works, Esti-. mates agreed to laet session included a vote for. a certain road in the county, and the Council, in anticipation of the sum voted, let a'contract for earth : formation. On the Council's making application for the money, , the Minister for- Public Works refused to pay it over, and in the course of a letter to the member of Parliament for the district within which the county lies, he laid down the ■• general principle upon which he acts. ' "Any provision made on the appropriations for the construction, of a public work," he says, "is. merely an authority from .Parliament to the' Government to expend public money for that purpose, and-the Minister is empowered, if he. thinks fit to do so, to hand ;over the money so voted or any other part thereof, to the local authority , concerned' for expenditure on the authorised work. But tho law confers no right whatever or> tho local authority to demand -the money as ;a right, nor does the warrant issued -for theipaymont of the grant to the local -authority ■ confer any absolute iright, for,. as -you will' observe, the authority expressly provides- that it ;may be cancelled by the Minister at 'any,time." ■ There 'is no doubt, wo believe, as to the correctness of Mit. ■M'Kenzie's interpretation of his ipowers under, the law; but we think it will bo obvious that so . much power should not be placed in any Minister's hands. Concerning the morits; of , tHo vote for the road , in question we, of course,- know as little as Parliament' did when it authorised the expenditure, but the County Council can hardly be blamed if it concluded that' Parliament would not'have passed the vote if it had not meant that the money should'bc expended. 'By 'the bluntness and candour with "which ho has ah'noiinced tho dependence of local bodies upon His' decision, and the futility: of their reliance upon Parliament's authorisations, :; Mb. • IM'Kbnzie; has put the position in >, way'that is very convenient "for discussion.' / ' v , •, ■

For years there have" been , wellfounded complaints, not,only as to •the unfairness : andj injustice with which the . Public Works authorisations have been 'allocated, but also as to the unfairness'with which the authorised votes have been expended. If honesty, prudence arid efficiency wore'the characteristics of State ex- : penditure on public works—and nobody, will question that they aro essential to ' the nation's interests— the appearance of a-vote on.the . Estimates 1 would mean, not only that that vote was. necessary,' but that it' would be expended, or would begin to be expended, in the year which the; Estimates covered.'For if the work concerned were not necessary and justifiable, no authorisation should be given for the uec of public money in carrying it out; and in any case money: should not' be voted before .it is required!; Under the system improper ■ authorisations can be .obtained with tho utmost freedom. The Ministry frames tho Estimates according to its own sweet will, and : on any principle it chooses; and. ife. is not surprising that tho principle upon which it acts—upon which any Ministry holding such power would find it difficult not _to act—is the principle of apportioning: the money so as best to secure its grip upon office. It. can starve any district, which it is .politically profitable'to starve, and 'grant money lavishly to. those districts which must' be rewarded, bought, or kept in a good humour. And it not only can, but does, do this. There is no check upon its freedom tp use the public money in this direction just as it sees fit, for its_ : responsibility to; Parliament is quite illusory. Accustomed for years to regard Parliantent as little more than a machino for providing .doles for local wants, the constituencies expect of their members that whatever elso they do, they must.obtain as large a sharp of the spoil as possible. Whole strings of recognisably indefensible %'Otes may therefore apr pear on the Estimates without calling forth a protest in the House, for if A shows himself hostile to the grants- of B's district, B will see to it that the grants for A's district aro also opposed, and B can in such a_ case rely upon the Ministry's assistance since the Ministry must punish anything-that look's like a mutiny against its complete control of _ the public .purse. The only criticism that is ever directed at the Public Works Estimates is in the nature of protest against the omission of votes. ■ To say, in these circumstances, that Parliament exercises any control over those. Estimates .is to say what is obviously ridiculous. One of the most urgent needs of this country is the restoration of real Parliamentary control by destroying tho Executive autocratic domination and setting up an indonendent Public Works Board, which would ensure the authorisation of only meritorious public works, and which would guarantee that the money voted by Parliament would actually be spent as voted.