The Dominion. MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1919. THE NEED OF NEW METHODS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 21, 27 October 1919, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1919. THE NEED OF NEW METHODS

The Public Works debate in the House of llepresentativcs was marked by exceptional good humour, and probably few occasions of the kind have witnessed as little party, bickering. While it was a necessary contribution to this state of affairs that members found very little to quarrel about, it no doubt represented _ in great part a tribute to_ the Minister who this year submitted to Parliament his last Public Works Statement and Estimates. The same must bo assumed in regard to the unusual course taken in passing the.whole of the Estimates, which authorise an expenditure of more than four and a half millions, without a word of discussion' of individual items. That _ such a thing is possible is a sufficient condemnation of the system under which public works expenditure in its details is allegedly controlled by the House of Representatives. In its immediate setting, however, the incident is significant chiefly as an expression of confidence in the present Minister of Public Works. In closing the debate, Snv -William- Fraser said that he felt ho would leave office with the respect of members,, and undoubtedly he will. He has been less ready than some of his predecessors to make promises, and even at times to act, when action on new lines seemed possible and advisable. But his capable and painstaking attention i;o details and the rectitude of his administration have earned the unqualified respect even of those who are most inclined to criticise. It was a Liberal member who said on Friday night that Sir William Phaser's word was always his bond. If-new light had been needed on the question, the debate would have linen instructive in the plain evidence it afforded that this country is halting' a long way short of the policy it ought to be pursuing where' the construction of public works is concerned.' What really deserves attention, however, is not that members on both sides of the House pointed to the shortcomings of existing public works methods, but that the debate began and ended without even the most "tentative step being taken towards introducing a more satisfactory state of affairs. Reading the repoits of the speeches it is difficult to avoid a feeling that a good deal of insincerity mingled with the pious professions that were made so freely. Member after member anathematized the folly of scattering expenditure upon the piecemeal construction of railways and other works all over the country and urged the necessity of substituting a nioro intelligent working plan which would permit concentration upon undertakings in their order of importance, and so produce speedy results. But practically every member' who treated the House to a homily on these, lines rounded off his remarks bv urging that particular consideration should be accorded to the railway or other works in whith he and his constituents are most immediately interested. This sort of thing is very familiar, as well as very tiresome, but something better might have been expected of Parliament at a time wlvn the methodical development of national resources to the best advantage has so obviously become a vital condition of the continued welfare and prosperity of (he. Dominion. No one needs to be l.okl that public works expenditure will never be arranpod on a really methodical plan while it is determined in its details by the play of political forces in Parliament and behind the scenes In these circumstances a policy of development from'the national standpoint is out of the_ question. All that the best-intcntioned Minister of Public- Works can do is to arrango the fairest distribution possible in the conditions of what is essentially an _ unmethodical scramble. It is evident also that members of Parliament Who turn from condemning this scramblo to engage in it with _ renewed zest must be talking with tongue in cheek. > The only way to promote a sound policy of national development in this country is to entrust (he detail distribution and administration of public works expenditure to a nonpolitical board. The money, as one member observed in the Public Works debate, ought to be allocated by an independent body which would have regard solely 'for the public interest. In allowing such an occasion as the debate on the Public Works Statement and Estito pass wifihout explicitly declaring that such a policy ought

to be inaugurated without loss of time the House of Representatives failed seriously in its plain duty. No doubt if the politicians who took part in Friday night's debate had_ been concerned only with tho merits of the main question before them they would have come speedily to a decision that the system of public works expenditure must be amended in conformity with i,l r : dictates of common sense and efficiency. That no such decision was approached must be attributed to the_ hampering party divisions which are being maintained in defiance of reason and a l-ight .regard for the public welfare: In itself the, general condemnation of the present public works policy and the failure to insist upon the adoption of a better policy were strangely paradoxical. It is the key to the situation that none of those who lay down the policy of political parlies have yet seen fit to advocate nonpolitical control of public works expenditure, and that rank and lile party members are tolerating a system they not only know but declare to be wrong. No unprejudiced observer can doubt that if members of the House of Representatives on Friday night had registered a sincere and unfettered vote on the question of abolishing the existing public works policy in favour of methods under which expenditure would be governed with broad regard to national interests the change would have been approved by a considerable majority. It must be set down to party influence and divisions that no such vote was taken. At one stage in the debate Mr. Hanan observed that the Public Works Estimates told the old story of electioneering and party manoeuvring. Roads and railways, ho said, were being provided in the old bad way. He would have gone much nearer the heart' of"the matter had he added that nothing that has yet been said on behalf of any political party promises or portends any departure from this old bad way. Sir Joseph Ward's election manifesto is prodigal in its proposals of lavish expenditure, but if contains as little promise as the sober passages of the current Public Works» Statement of the adoption of sound methods in the allocation of public works expenditure. The position meantime is that political leaders are dodging the issue, while their followers arc countenancing the evasion. It is quite evident that unless development-work is promoted henceforth on systematic lines, which presupposes non-political control of public works expenditure, the Dominion will not make anything like the progress it might make under the right conditions.