"IMPORTANT WORKS NEGLECTED"

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 207, 17 September 1937, Page 4

"IMPORTANT WORKS NEGLECTED"

Mr. Logan Repeats Criticism of Subsidy Jobs "FUTILE AND USELESS" i "Mr Webb suggests that my statement at the last meeting of the Hawke's Bay County Council was. made for political reasons— a determination to object to whatever course the Government was following tO assist the unemployed," said Mr F. B. Logan, chairman of the Hawke's Bay County Council, when asked to comment oxx the Hon. P. C. Webb's statement which appeared in our columns yesterday. "What actually happened," Baid Mr Logan, "was as follows: The member for a certain riding in the country objected to a subsidised work on a boundary road on the ground that it would involve £1000 of taxpayers' money being squandered. I agreed with the member and then made the statement to which objection is taken. 'I still adhere to what I said, and repeat that many futile and useless works now in progress are being subsidised out of the Employment Promotion Fund, worlts Which, when completed, could not.by the wildeBt stretch of imagination be called national assets — a term much loved and used by Cabinet Miiiisters — while, on the other liand, many really important works whiclx would be national assets if protlccuted (fire being overlook-ed or neglected. But in saying this I would not for a moment suggest that much good work has not been performud under some of the subsidised schemes. . "It is perfectly true," Mr Logan continued, "that on June 5 Mr Webb met myself and representatives of other local bodies at Napier. There was eonsiderable confusion and obscurity as to rho object of the meeting. However, my council, sensing the object of tho meeting, put forward a list of works suitable for men on relief for. the con* Sideration of ihe Minister, at the same time asking him to state the terms of subsidy. But I may state here that, with the excoption of two items, this list liad been before various Ministers and departments for 18 mOnths and we had waited in vain for a definito reply as to whcther approval would be given or not. "On June 7, two days after Mr Webb's visit, my council held a special meeting to 'consider its estimates and rates for the ensuing year, and, since we were still completely in tho dnrk regarding our requests, we had to budget according to what was before us and strike a rate accordingly, So when Mr Webb x-eproves the county council for not being preparod to coutribute to the scheme which he suggested would provide work for the unemployed, he sjiows his iguoranco of the usual mothods adopted by local bodics in making provision for their undertakings, and he also appears to be lgnorant of the dire pcnalites that await local-body members if there is a debit shown in the budget at the ead of the financial year. "The Hawke's Bay County Council," Mr Logan continued, "is contributing, togother with two other local bodies, a substantial sutn tovvard a subsidised work now in progress and which will, when completed, be of national value. It also expects at an early date to einbark on a further subsidised work, and 1 claim that the county over tho past five years has contributed its full share and more toward providing work its own l'ouuds in providing amenities for the unemployed and assisting out of for the men employed on road works."