PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1575, 19 October 1912, Page 6

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION. LIGHT LINES: SOVERNMENT'S PROPOSALS EXPLAINED. ROAD MAKING: POLICY OF CONCENTRATION.

The Publia Works Statement wag-pre-sented to the House of Representative last evening by the Minister for Public Works, the Hon. W. Eraser.

• "In my. opinion, to give the settlers of the ■ Dominion access to their holdings by means of roads should be the first consideration in any scheme of public worts," «iys the Minister at tho beginning of his Statement. "I have no desire to minimise tho value of railways to the Dominion, but these aro of secondary importance if tho settlers cannot reach them. In view of the fact that the unexpended balance of authorities for roads and bridges on March 31, 1912, was and that.between April 1 Inst and July 31 further authorities amount-, ing to £145,79G were issued, 1 found myself at the latter date faced with'commitments totalling £G12,1G3 for roads and bridges alone, without allowing for the provision requiring to be made for applications for new votes. These applications now amount to over a million and a half. The total provision for roads and bridges for the current, year is very similar in amount to that of last year. Tho total provision for railway-construction for the year is which is .£83,789 more than was expended on new railways last year." The Co-operative System. let me now say a few words regarding the 60-called co-operative system. Most of the advocates of this-system seem to be under the impression that the word "co-operative" -is synonymous with small contracts. If the latter is what is desired, then I am in perfect accord with them. True co-operative work presupposes a certain number of workmen voluntarily joining together to execute certain undertakings and sharing the proceeds iof their labour. As far as practicable, I intend to give effect to this principle. I realise fully, however, that no one system will suffice for carrying on all our public works in a manner satisfactory to the workers and to the community as a whole. This subject will have my careful attention, during tho recess. The-total expenditure of the "year on public works was not only in excess of *hat of _ the previous year, but was the litfgest in aay single year for over thirty years, and amounted to tho very largo sum of .£2,476,156 —viz., ,£2,387,411 out of the Public Works Fund and allied special accounts, and .£88,745 out of ■ tho Consolidated Fund.

• Ways and Means, At March 31, 1911, the availnblo ways and means for public £ .works purposes were .'. 1,110,015 and further funds weTo received as under:— ' Under tho Aid to Publio Works and Land Settlement Act, 1910 181,650 Tinder the Aid to Public Works r and Land Settlement Act, 1911 ' 150,000 Under the New Zealand Loans Act, 1908 66,950 Transfer from Consolidated Fund .......... 500,000 Miscellaneous receipts 12,150 Making a gross total of £2,350,795 The ordinary expenditure of tho year amounted to £2,200,715, and charges and expenses in respect of raising loans, £67,170, thus bringing the total disbursements up to £2,268,215, and leaving a credit balance at the end of tho year of £82,580. Additional For This Year. _ For the current year it is proposed to •provide additional funds as under: — Balance of loan of 1911 1,050,000 Transfer from Consolidated Fund 750,000 Proposed new loan 1,750,000 The above, with tho balance brought forward,_ gives a gTOS3 total of £3,632,580. The estimated expenditure for public works for the current year (excluding separate accounts having tlieir own ways and means) amounts to £2,718,000, leaving an estimated balance of £381,530 to be carried forward to next year'. In addition to the above we have authority to Taise the undermentioned sums :— £ .Under the Aid to Water-power Works Act, 1910 .< 500,000 Tor irrigation works (Section 20, Appropriation Act, 1910) ... 100,000 Under' the Waihou and Ohinemuri Rivers Improvement Act, 1910 (balance) 50,000 The total expenditure on railway construction and improvement works last year amounted to £1,178,968, as under:— £ Construction of new lines 763,711 Additions to open lines 3G2.191 IWcllington-Hutt Railway duplication " 1,635 s?aiiways Improvement Account 51,-123 Total £1,178,968 Lines Under Construction. The expenditure during last financial year on the different sections of tho East C'oast railway between Waihi and Napier was as folloivs:~Waihi to Athenrec, £22; Tauranga to Paensaroa, £26,710; Gisborne to Motu, £78,6*11; Gisborne to Napier, north end, £1137; Gisborne to Napier, south end, £291. For the current year votes are proposal es under-.—Waihi-'fcuranga, £5000; Tau-ranga-Paeagaroa, £25,000; Gisborne-Motu, £80,000; Napier-Crisborne, north end, £15-, 000; Xapier-Gisborne, south end, £12,000: total, £137,000.

South Island Main Trunk.—During the last financial year the expenditure at both ends of this lino amounted to £55,061, and for the current year votes of £20,000 ind £30,000 are proposed for the north ■ »nd south ends respectively. Midland.—The expenditure on the different sections'of tho Midland railway during last financial year was as follows: Nelson end, £19,869; liefefton end. £14,051; Otira-Bealey, £56,914; Bealey-Cass, £42,£90. For the currcnt year the following appropriations are proposed :—Nelson end, £30,000; Reefton end, £17,000; OtiraBcaley, £70,000; Bealey-Cass £50,000; total, £107,000., Light Railways. Railway construction throughout the Dominion has, during tho last ten years, been proceeded with at .a rate as rapid as can bo considered warrantable by anyone having regard to the financial obligations which we, as.trustees for posterity, are justified in incurring. Each year witnesses an appreciable increase in the mileage of lines completed and opened for traffic; nevertheless, tho applications received from all parts of the country for new railways and for extensions of existing lines—in .many cases with every prospect of returning a profit sufficient to pay interest on the cost of. constructionare moro than the Government can see its way with prudent financial administration to entertain.- A moderate calculation places tho length of railways still required to giyo an efficient 6ervice throughout the Dominion at 1500 to 2000 miles, the cost of which, calculated at £8000 per mile (which f«' r average under prevailing conditions), will amount to £12,000,000 to £10,00!),00(k Hitherto all our railways have boon constructed in accordance with ft high standard as regards stability of formation, weight of rails, and quality of permanent-way generally, but I suggest to lionourablo members that tho time has arrived when we should consider tho question of providing lighter and cheaper railways to serve the districts whero settlement is advancing and whore tho maintenance of roads, in fit condition to • carry produce to tho main lines throughout the year, is likoly to prow a heavy burden to the settlers. In tho interior of the North Island, particularly, road cor-

6truction is aji expensive _ undertaking, and the maintenance under heavy and regular traffic is in many instances likely to be a continuous burden owing to the absenco of metal and the rapid deterioration of tho formation through broken country in wet weather. If the bulk of the produce could be carried on rails to the main lines, or to an outlet to the markets, the leads would be relieved of the woTst of the traffic, and the settlers would not be exposed to the heavy charges, and some times long delays, now incurred in bringing their produce to a distant railway. It is not proposed to depart from tlio standard 3ft. Gin. gauge, lut considerable sa , v ")S c an bo effected by decreasing the width of banks, avoiding tunnels and heavy..cuttings by adopting a steeper maximum, grade and sharper curves, constructing bridges of light design, using lighter rails than the present minimum of jolb., reducing tho standard depth of ballasting, and greatly curtailing the expenditure on station buildings. The retention of the 3ft. Gin. gauge is important, as the experience of countries where a gauge as narrow as 2ft. has been adopted is that rolling-stock lias still to be provided of standard height with greatly reduced width, which renders the passen-ger-carriages _ and covered vans less capable of resisting wind-pressure unless permanently loaded with dead-weight at the base, which is undesirable. In a country like Now Zealand, where high winds aro frequent , in most parts, it would often not be safe to run regular traffic, particularly in mountainous localities, on a line only 2ft. wide.

The most favourable lines to operate as light lines are disconnected sections carrying their own locomotives and rollingstock, which never go off the section. It will not be feasible to adopt much lighter construction where a line is traversed by express trains carrying passengers at a high rate of speed, or on lines ivliere coal or timber forms any considerable portion of tho freight "to be handled, as both these commodities re-

quire heavy rolling-stock and a line'up tortile standard of strength. It is desirable that any section on which the system is tried should bo long enough to maintain in use its own equipment of locomotives and rolling-stock. Short branches of a main line, which would necessarily have to bo traversed by thu rolling-stjck of the main line, would be better built in. accordance with the usual standards.

Wasteful Dole System. 1 On last year's appropriations the average amount of votes provided under "lioads, etc.," vote for the North Island was approximately £210, tho total number of items being about 2300. It may safely be asserted that tho smaller the average amount of individual votes tho greater will be tho cost of administration aud the difficulty of expending them. It is much easier and also less costly to expend £5000 on one road than to expend £500 oil each of ten roads in different localities, and, apart, even from, the question of facilitating expenditure, I am convinced, that a policy of concentrating expenditure of whatever moneys may bo available 011 roads of primary importance, instead of doling out. a few hundred pounds yearly to each of a ridiculously largo number of \ roads, some of which are only of third or fourth-rate importance, will result in fRr greater material progress in the roading of our backblocks districts, and eventually • prove itself to tho best interests of all concerned. The existing obligations in regard to vote previously provided for on tho appropriations and works in hand rendered it impracticable to mako a commencement with such a policy in compiling tho. Estimates for the current year; but during the recess tho question will be carefully gone into, and, combined with a measure giving more assured finance to local governing bodies, I hope to see results achieved in the near future which will speedily remove the disabilities under which, many of our settlers at present labour owing to want of adequate means of communication with markets.

A Reform. Since assuming office X have observed that difficulties frequently arise as to the approval by Departmental engineers of plans prepared by local bodies for erection of bridges to be built out of Government grants. With a view to overcoming this, instructions will be issued for the preparation of standard drawings for bridges of varying sizes and classes, which, when completed, will be available for use by local authorities. By this means I am assured that economy in construction and, generally speaking, a very much better class of bridge should result. Total Appropriations for Road Works. The provision for the current year for road works is as under:— £ Roads, etc 800,000 Backblocks roads 200,000 Roads on goldfields 50,000 Opening up Crown Lands for Settlement Account 100,000 National Endowment Account ... , 19,200 Land for .Settlements Account ... ' 20,000 New Hutt Road 5,300 Maintenance of Roads (Consolidated Fund) 40,000 Total £734,500 Public Buildings, The total expenditure on public buildings last year amounted to .£491,921. Tho amount is mado up as under:— £ New buildings (Class XVIII, Public Works Fund 350,055 Maintenance works (Class V, Consolidated Fund) 48,861 Maintenance works (Schools) (Class XVy Consolidated Fund) 92,402 £491,921 For tho current year the following appropriations are proposed:— £' New buildings (Public Works Fund) : 405,500 Maintenance works (Consolidated Fund) 64,792 Maintenance works (Schools) (Consolidated Fund) 95,550 £625,812 Water, Electricity, and Irrigation. Investigation with regard to the most suitable sources of supply (of waterpower) in the North Island have been and aro still being made. The question is being dealt with in a comprehensive manner with a view to making electric power generally available throughout tho island, not only in the cities, but also ill country districts, and for the operation t»f light railways and ultimately mainline railways. Tho'sources of power investigated so far are Lake Waikaremoana, and the Hutt, Makuri, Waiohine, and Tauhorinikau Rivers, but as several additional sources still have to be examined in detail, no definite and fiutvl proposals can yet be drawn up. Last year's vote for development of water-power was £50,000, but only £9082 was expended. For tho current year an appropriation of £85,000 is proposed. Complete investigations have been made and specifications drawn up for tho electrification of the Christchurch-Lyttelton line, so that tenders can bo invited' for this work without delay as soon as the power from Lake Coleridge is available. Similar investigations are in hand in connection with thn Wellington-Upper Hutt railway in conjunction with tho electric-powor. proposals for the North Island.

Out of last year's rote (for irrigation in Otago) a sum of -£2"9 i was expended, and for the current year a vote of .£30,000 is oroposajU

Lighthouses. The lighthouse-works undertaken during thb year •worji—the commencement of the erection ol' tho new lighthouse on Castle l'oint, and of the aulomntic light on tho Chickens Islands; the re-erection of tho lighthouso on Tuahine Point, which had (o be temporarily dismantled on account of heavy landslips; tho replacing of tho old light on DioU'eJibach Point, Picton, Ly an automatic acetone-gas light; the completion of erectiDii of the fog-sig-nal on I'aliii l'oint, Tiinarn; and the purchase of the lantern and apparatus for the new light on the Isort h. Cape. The now works to bo provided for ill tho current year ore—a lighthouse in Cook Strait; an automatic light on. Channel Island, Hanraki Gulf; the removal and re-erection of the Marine Department's Store at Pipitea Point, owing to tho present sito being required for railway purposes; and the improvement of tho road to Godley Head Lighthouse. For these works, and for the completion of tho works commenced during the previous year, a sum of £10,000 will bo required this year. Need for Caution. I hava endeavoured to distribute the funds at my disposal in sucli directions as will, in my opinion, conduce* most effectively to assist settlement throughout the Dominion, having regard especially to the pressing requirements of the several localities. Whilst impressed with the advisability of expediting the conduction of tho several works specified in the Estimates, it is imperative not to lose sight of the fact that- only one-half of our ways and means aro immediately available, possession of the remainder being dependent on raising tho proposed loan of .£1,750,000. The heavy commitments for roads and bridges alone, to which I have drawn attention, involve responsibilities which cannot be ignored when requisitions for new authorities are being made, and in new of the disquieting aspect of affairs in Eastern Europe it will l>c nccessary for tho Cabinet to closely observe tho financial pulse of the Dominion.