HOW WILL PUBLIC WORKS BE FINANCED?

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 57, 30 November 1937, Page 3

HOW WILL PUBLIC WORKS BE FINANCED?

■ Presa Associ ati on )

QUESTI0N IN H0USE

Charge of Withholding Information 0PP0SITI0N ATTACK

(By Telegraph-

WELLINGTON, Last Night. On the motion of the Prim# Minister, urgency was accorded in the House of JRepresentatives this afternoon to the passing of the Public Works Estimatea and the proeeedings namely, consideration of the Public Works Report. I The Leader of the Opposition (Hon. |A. Hamilton), commenting on the Pub|lic Works Eeport, said it appeared to ;be full of self-praise and a bit of a [boost for the Government. A few |year3 ago £25,000,000 to £30,000,000 was being spent on public works, but tiiis year it would appear it would reach the £50,000,000 mark. Mr. Hamilton complained of the apparent confusion existing between the Public Works Statement, the Public Works Estimates and the Budget, and said it would pTOvide an unsolvable problem to the cleverest aceountant in the Dominion. In answer to a question by Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, who asked him to point out some specific case where the figures failed to tally, Mr. Hamilton quoted the sum of £4,165,000 in the Main Highways Account and that for roads, highWays, etc., of £5,708,000 in the Budget. It seemed to him that confusion and withholding of certain information jvas a weapon which the Government was using. He compared the total of £17,367,000 for public works in the Budget with the total of £13,370,000 in the Public Works Estimates. It was pretty hard to make those two totals tally. "Will Not Keturn Bnterest." He asked the Minister to tell them where the money was coming from for public works. Was it coming from loan Eunds, from the Consolidated Pund, the Highways Fund and the IJnemployment Fund? The Minister had' said that all ihe works being done were useful and essential, ,but Mr. Hamilton thought it would be better if he had called it relief work. The Minister of Finance, said Mr. Hamilton, had stated that the money had come from the Post Office Savpgs Bank and from other Government departments. It seemed to him that the funds might be running shorfc by this time. He stressed the ^act that the wool cheque might be reduced by half this year, and contended that, in boom times, we should at least live Within our income. Much of the public Works being done, he said, would not retUm iiiterest on its own investment, and he felt that, under the present programme, we were getting ahead of the nation 's ability to carry its own debt. Some of the money being spent on the elimination of level crossings was an absolute waste, and he instanced as ono of these, crossings in tho Awarua electorate, which had been wanted by no-one but had been insisted on by the Minister. Mr. Hamilton asked what the rail[ways now being constructed were costing per mile, and advised caution in expenditure on new works. Mr. E. P. Meachen considered that Mr. Hamilton was labouring under a "confusion complex." Ho considered the Opposition should have had no difficulty in understanding the Public Works Statement. Quite a lot of works, although lumped under one heading, were the responsibility of Ministers other than the Minister of Public Works, for instance, the public works figures of £17,367,000 included all "-works undertaken by the Government such as railway improvements, school buildings, small farms, telegraph extensions, Native land settlement and swamp drainage. The expenditure on public works out of loan money was only half this year what it had been in 1929-30. He congratulated the Minister of Public Works on the introduction of the 40-hour week for public works employees, and stated that the Minister intended, under his five-year plan, to give almost every baclcblock settler a good metalled road within that period. Mr. H. M. Christie said it mnst have surprised and annoyed members of the Opposition that the funds were not running short for the Government. It must also have annoyed them that they had failed to stampedc depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank before tho last eleetions, and anv such attempt must inevitably fail in future. ■ Making the Boads into Speedways. Mr. H. G. Dickie expressed the apinion that the Government was epending too much on deviations and Dther works on main highways. He thought the tendency was to make the roads into speedways for the everincreasing power of motor-vehicles. In eritieising various parts of the railway sonstruction progr'amme, he considered the new portion of the South Island ! Main Trunk railway would not pay axle grease when completed. A lot of money being spent on public works was not being well spent. The House tlien went into committee to consider the Public Works Estimates. Eeplying to a question by Mr. H. S. S. Kyle, the Minister of Public Works (Hon. E. Semple) said the revised estimate of the cost of completion of the South Island Main Trunk railway was £2,862,000. The estimated time for completion of the line was four years, but the engipeers considered that if they could get the necessary steeJ, ctc., a year could be knocked off that time. . Mr. Kyle asked the Minister if tho ~ taessmfiat .itUi J&ast feg

new Christchurcli railway station on the site occupied by the present station. He thought perhaps it might be advisable to place it at Addington, where the line joined the north Main Trunk line. He also asked if the Tawa Flat deviation in Wellington were proving as great a saving as the last Govern- ' ment considered it . would. The Minister of Eailways (Hon. D, G. Sullivan) referred to a suggestion that the line mnning through Christchurch be raised to eliminate the numerous level crossings in the city. He thought this suggestion had really been dropped. In any case, the^price would be prohibitive, the cost amounting to some seven or eight million pounds. Speaking of Mr. Kyle's suggestion; that the station should be placed atl Addington, he thought it desirable to' have the station as near as possible tc the heart of the city. Personally he thought a mistake had been made is shifting the Auckland station site. II had been decided, and all arrangements had been made for an extension of the present station site for the new station, The necessary land had been acquired, and the new station would junetion up at about the eastern end of the present station. He considered it would be best for the convenience of the community that this should be done. They were almost ready to start out on some phases of the work in connection with the new station. Concerning the Tawa Flat deviation, the Minister said they could rest assured it had proved quite up to all expectations. In answer to a further question by Colonel J. Hargest, he said that rail cars would certainly be used in the South Island. In fact, they wcold be used wherever it was possible to use them. The railears cost about £8000 each, and the Tunning charges were about one shilling per mile. They were proving very profitable indeed. The Minister of Public Works, answering a question by Mr. Dickie concerning the Government's propasal to have a number of Government buildings grouped round Parliament Building in Wellington, said at present the Government was paying £26,000 a year tn rent for various offices scattered throughout the city. Some were not fit for human beings to work in. Asked by Mr. Hamilton where the aew broadcasting building would be situated, Mr. Semple stated it tvould occupy the site where the Dominion Museum now stood. The debate was interrupted by the adjournment at 5.30. Discussion on the Public Works Estimates continued when the House resumed at 7.30. Answering a question by Hon. A. Hamilton, Hon. E. Semple stated that by the use of radio direction-finding apparatus ships could find their locations even in dense fog. The service would contribute largely to the prevention of accidents at sea and in the air. Development of Tourist Resorts.

Speaking on the vote of £30,000 for the development of tourist resorts, Mr. W. P. Endean asked how far such development had gone since 1934. Mr. W. J. Polson asked for an assurance that Taranaki should not be overlooked in the development of tourist resorts. The Minister in Charge bf the Tourist Department (Hon. F. Langstone) said the department did cverything it could to see that every district should get consideration with regatf'd to tourist resorts. Eeferring to the development of the tourist traffic, he said the number of overseas tourists visiting New Zealand last year was 17,297, compared with 14,284 the previous year. The revenue last year was £100,678, compared with £84,000 the previous year. Mr Langstone continued that the expenditure last year was £15,500, agaiust £137,000 the year before, and the number of tickets actually sold by the Tourist Department had increased from 241,000 in 1932 to 480,000 in 1937. He .added he had just heard that a numbei of tourists who had been all over the world had stated that they had nevei received such fine service as they did in New Zealand. Cost of Radlway Construction. Eeplying to questions raised by the Leader of the Opposition, the Minister of Public Works (Hon. E. Semple) said the main south railway line was costing £30,000 a mile to build. Under the late Government tho Napier-Wairoa line cost . £39,000 a mile, and North Auckland £75,000 a mile. The Minister said there had been a lot of criticism with reference to the amount spent on main highways, but it had to be borne in mind that a lot of bridges had outlived their usefulness and had to be replaced. tfhe question of removing dangerous bends was an essential work, Mr. •Semple said. Since 1925, 19S persone had been killed in level crossing accidents, and 414 had been seriously injured. Some had suggested that cvorbridges were not essential, but they could uot wait for the death roll to mount. He had no apology to make for money spent in eliminating dangerous crossings. Eeferring to the question of improving back-country roads, the Minister said that, when the Supplementary Ectimates came down, it would be seen that the Government had made proper provision for that work. Mr. E. A. Wright asked if the maintenanco of country roads would fall on county councils or the Government. Discussing the lands improvement vote of £156,500 for lands improvement, Mr. Hamilton asked how the money for this purpose was obtained. Was it from loan money? he asked. He also referred to the vote of £160,000 for tho Ashburton irrigation scheme, emphasising that care was needed in case the scheme turned the land "sour." A water supply scheme was essential, he said, but he asked the Minister if' investigation had been carried out to ascertain the effeet of an irrigation scheme on the soil. The Minister, replying, said investigations had , been carried out and had proved that fhe results of irrigation wfctfl tOLjaluatil# fchat tho

had decided to push on with the major work, He instanced one area in the district which carried one sheep to the, acre, but when the irrigation schemei had been effected the same land carricdj 15 ewes and their lambs to the acre, Unemployed Workers oa tho Land t The Minister of Lands (Hon. Fs' Langstone), xeplying to questions concerning the settlement of unemployed workers on the land, said they had about 1000 to 1200 men on land development work, and they would soon have 1500. The vote for this work totalled £486,000, which was made up of £300,000 loan money and credits in aid of £186,000. The idea was to have these lands worked tto get the best resuits possiDie anu crieve t-fie £300,000; also the £186,000. Speaking of a demand that these mea should be given titles to their properties, he said he did not think it was right .to give away £186,000 oi' j.hc country 's money to a few seitl^rs. He thought there was a lot of humbug talked about giving these people theii land titles. They liad a good job and received a regular income. Those promised leases by the previous Minister of Lands had received them. The Minister of Labour (Hon. H. ,T. Armstrong) said 1212 men were employed on land development work, not at 17s per" week, as paid by the previous Government, bnt at £4 a week. Altogether they had about 2000 men on 4A, 4B and 4F schemes, working for the direct benefit of the farmers, to say nothing of the eradication of rabbits and n'oxious weeds. Never while the Opposition was in office was anything like the same amount spent for the direct bencCt of the farmer as wa's being spent to-day. Mr. W. J. Polson said they were getting to a stage where the cost of developing land would be greatcr than the value of the land itself. The late Government's land schemes were suecessful; the men were earning good incomes and generally were apprcr--tive of the opportunity of getting on tJu land. He contended that the cost of placing the present Government 's ■ plans in operation was so colossal that it must break itself down. The Public Works Estimates were finally cqmpleted by 10.35, when the House rose on the motion for the adjournment. Mr. . Savage said the Electoral Amendment Bill would be considered to-morrow.