The Dominion. MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1912. THE PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1576, 21 October 1912, Page 6

The Dominion. MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1912. THE PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

The Minister for Public Works did not spring any surprises on the House in his first Public Works Statement'. Its three outstanding features are the evidence it affords of the intention of the Government to endeavour to carry on the expenditure under the Public Works Fund on a settled line of policy instead of .what must be regarded as the somewhat haphazard lines in the past; the determination to make road works an outstanding feature of that policy; and the proposal to construct light railways to serve those parts of the country where express .traffic will not be required for some time to come. Broadly speaking the idea of the Government as disclosed by Mr. Fjuser appears to be to concentrate expenditure where it is most needed and where it is likely to prove of most advantage instead of scattering the money in driblets. The financial position of the Public Works Fund' at the present time does not permit of any forcing on of the works proposed to be put in hand. At March 31 last, which was the end of the financial year, the Ward Government had so depleted the fund that the credit balance then available amounted to only £82,580. The expenditure for the year had been the heaviest for over 30 years, the total disbursements being £2,268,215. For the current year there is the balance of a loan authorised in 1911 and not raised up to March 31 last, amounting to £1,050,000; it is proposed to tsansfer £750,000 _ from the Consolidated Fund; and it is proposed also to raise a loan of £1,750,000. These sums, together with the balance brought forward, give a gross total of £3,(332,580, which will be available provided the proposed loan is raised. It is possible, of course, that the state of the monoy market due to the Balkan trouble and the present unrest in Europo may make it undesirable to attempt to float this loan, and in consequence the Minister for Public "Works will require to move cautiously until he is absolutely certain that the funds he requires will be forthcoming when wanted. Assuming that this will be the case, he has provided for an expenditure, during the current year, of £2,748,000, or some £470,000 more than the actual expenditure last year. There is power to raise, in addition to the sums stated above, £650,000 for water-power and irrigation works. The intention of the Government to concentrate its attention on road and bridge works in the outlying districts where settlers have suffered and are still suffering so grievously from bad roads or no roads at all, will not only meet an urgent necessity, but is a thoroughly wise policy. It is to bo hoped, however, that Mr. Fraser will bo able to so arrange matters that the votes which the Government places on the Estimates will be expended with greater dispatch than has been the case for some years past. It is one thing to place a vote on the Estimates to provide for a given work, and quite another thing to sec that the money is expended and the work completed. Last vear, for instance, no less a "inm than £838,060 was placed on the Estimates for roads and bridges, and this sum, together with the unexpended balances brought forward from the previous year, made available a sum of £992,85G for works of this nature- And how much of this large total was actually expended? A comparatively modest £526,489, or little more than one-half of tho money available for expenditure. Wo do not blame the late Government wholly for this. Some of the local bodies to whom the money was voted neglected or delayed the works within their jurisdiction; but this dooa not account for everything and i f-he Continuous Ministr.y has sinned

grievously in this respect for years past. The system outlined by the present Minister in charge of the Public Works Department of concentrating flxpentliture on roads of primary importance should assist to ensure that the money voted will bo spent, for the votes grunted being, larger arc less likely to be overlooked, or the work when once put in hand allowed to drag. The light railways propositi has a good deal to commend it so long as the lines so constructed are merely branch lines or feeders to the main lines. Plainly, it would be unwise to depart from the standard gauge in use throughout the various sections in operation at. the present time, and the arguments put forward by the Minister under this head are really superfluous. Whether it is a wise policy to adopt steeper grades on these light lines than on the existing lines may bo open to question. Such a policy jnay save initial cost, but this, we should imagine, might easily prove very false economy. It is to be regretted that no clear indication is given in the Public Works Statement of the intention of the Government to have a thorough inquiry made into the question of future railway extension with a view to ensuring that some broad line of policy will be followed based on a general scheme designed to meet the needs of the country for many years ahead, instead of following the fashion of the past of authorising new lines all over the country in response to local agitation.