MONEY FOR WORKS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 253, 13 July 1918, Page 7

MONEY FOR WORKS

» THE WAE "FIRST. Sir William Eraser, Minister of Public Works, stated yesterday that the condensed report of his reply to the deputation waiting upon him on Thursday was calculated to givo. a wrong impression of what lie had said. It was not quite correct, he said, that there was not a shilling for public works in war time. What ho had wishod to convey was that.no money could be spared for public':, works until after the war needs.had been provided for. Only the residue could bo available for public works. He had said this in reply to the representations of one speaker, who had said that ifwe were to pay our way somo expenditure would have to be incurred in making the roads needed to make increased production possible. His reply to that speaker was that the war expenditure would huve to be met first. Ho did. not wish to imply that there would be no money at all for public works. The fact that, there wero two thousand men employed on works, about half tho number employed in normal times at this period of tho year, was sufficient evidence that there was money available. In point of fact, works were being retarded more by shortage of men than by shortage of money, for there were authorities in the hands of engineors of tho Department, and also in the hands of local bodies wlifch they could not spend becauso they could not got men to work.