PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Hokitika Guardian, 12 October 1917, Page 4

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

(Per favor of Government.) Wellington, Oct 11. The Hou W. Fraser, Minister of Public Works, delivered the Public Works Statement in the House from which the following is gleaned : When I prepared my Public Works Statement last year I was under; the impression that I would be able to expend within the financial year the most of the money I was asking Parliament to vote for roads and bridges. Acting on this belief 1. authorized for expenditure the whole of this sum to either the local bodies or to my District Engineers, on ;the, basis of one-lialf of the unauthorized items on the estimates for each county [ Owing, however, to the impossibility of obtaining sufficient labour, L | was unable to secure the expenditure ' of ranch more than one-half of the sum so authorized. The result is that from the sum I now propose asking 'Parliament to vote for roads and bridges—viz.. £420,000 —I have first to dednet £OO,OOO for the Hood damage vote, and then the unexpended authorities issued prior to the 31st March, 1917, amounting to £195,000. This will leave £105,000 which will be only sufficient to provide for about one-half of those items on last year’s estimates which were not authorized, ar.d also enable n few of the most urgent new applications to be dealt with. if the war continues for another twelve, months it can hardly be expected of me that 1 shall be able to expend the whole of the money proposed to be appropriated for roads and bridges: still, 1 consider it advisable that, I should be empowered to meet any contingency that, may arise. • WAYS AND MEANS. £ On the Ist April. 1916, the available ways and means for public-works purposes were ... ... 1,293,1(2 And further funds were received as under. — Under the Aid to Public Works and Land Settlement Act, 1914 ... 500,000 Other receipts and recoveries ... ... <>,906 Making a gross total of ... 1,500,008 The ordinary expenditure of the year amounted to £1,278,483. £ This leaves a balance to the credit of the Ways and Means Account at the end of the year of ... 52',525 For the current year it is proposed to provide additional funds as under :—- Balance of authorized loan in on 03’ still to be raised Tinder the Aid to Public Works A Banff for Sett lemeiifs Act, 1914 ... 45,100 Under the Finance Act, 191(5, section 49 (Public Works) 700,000 Under the Finance Act, 1917 '... 850,000 Making the total ways A means for 1917-18 ... 2,L10,825 The estimated expenditure for public works for the current year (excluding separate accounts having their ovi n ways and means) amounts to £1,881,7)5. leaving an estimated balance of £234,910 to be carried forward to next year (1918-19).

In addition to the amounts described above, we have authority to raise the following sums:

Under the Aid to Waterpower Act, 1910 ... 136.000 Under the Waihou and Ohinemuri Rivers Improvement Act, 1910 ... 50,000 IIAII,WAY CONSTRUCTION. No sections of railway were opened j for regular traffic during the financial year. Several sections are, however, almost complete as far as construction is concerned, and on some of them the Public Works Department is running a goods and passenger service. The total expenditme on railway construction and improvement work during the last financial year amounted to £846,544. Westport - Inangahua—No work has been done on this line during the past year, Nelson-Westlaiul—At the Nelson end construction works were continued with a limited number of men until the end of February last, when all work was suspended. Arthur’s Pass Tunnel.—Work in connection with the construction of Arthur’s Pass Tunnel has proceeded steadily throughout the year At the Otira end the work has been carried out by day labour, 324 chains of bottom heading has been driven through slate-rock and 174 chains of excavation and lining completed. From the Bealey end 154 chains of bottom heading has been driven through grevwacke rock, and 34 chains of excavation and lining completed. Owing to the shortage of labour, the process of enlargement and lining has been considerably retarded, the average number of men working per shift being 26.8 at the Otira end and 12.9 at the Bealey end. The position at the end of March is that the bottom heading has been driven nearly 4 miles 46 chains, and the tunnel lined and excavated abont 3 miles 60 chains. A distance of abont 60 chains remains to be driven to connect the headings from each end of the tunnel.

roads on goldfields (Mines Department.)

The total allocations under this heaiPilTst year amounted to £41,76.6,. on account of which a veto for £30,000 was taken. The expenditure during the year was £17,099, and the sum proposed to he allocated for the current year is £28,258, on account of which a vote of £20,000 is asked for. DEVELOPMENT OK MINING. The value of the mineral-output for the year was £2,978,436, being a decrease »of £396,087 when compared with the output during the previous I year Tn addition to the mineral-out- | put 1.331,003 tons of stone was ob- | 1 ained from quarries subject to inspecI lion under the Stone-quarries Act I The expenditure under the heading I of “ Development of Mining ” during . last year was £4,592. / A vote of £ 1,450 is proposed to be taken this year. PUIfLiC BUILDINGS. The total amount voted and expended on construction of public buildings during the last financial 3 r ear amounted to : New buildings, voted £364,000, expended £251,431. For the current year the following appropriation is proposed : Hew buildings, £310,000. workers’ dwellings. Of last year’s vote of £50,000 only £35,437 was expended : there were also liabilities incurred of £295 for dwellings in course of erection and for land the purchase of which was being arranged. For the current year a vote of only £20,000 is proposed, as owing to the high cost of materials it is unlikely that many dwellings will lie erected. DEVELOPMENT OK WATER-POWER. The Lake Coleridge eloctrical-power undertaking has now completed its second y. ar of operation. The maximum load reached 6,250 horse-power, which is in excess of the rated capacity of the three power units then installed at Lake Coleridge. Since the completion of the financial year, however, the fourth unit has been put in service, making a total installed capacity of 8,00) horse-power. An additional unit of machinery is on order having a capacity of 4,()00 horse-power, and also material for a pipe-line. The manufacture of the 1 turbine and the generator is well advanced, bnt there is very little prospect of getting delivery of the plates for the pipe-line, and efforts to obtain a permit for the manufacture from the Home authorities is unavailing. TE LE 0 UAPII EXT ENS lON. During the past year the extension of telegraph and telephone lines has resulted in the opening of forty new offices and ten new exchanges. The totnl expenditure amounted to £203.310. Two hundred and twelve miles of line and 2,268 milts of wire were added to the telegraph system, and 4(>o miles of line ami 13.94-4 miles of wire to the telephone exchange system. The number of telephone-exchange connections increased by 3,547. Underground cables were put down in several of the larger towns, and arrangements are in hand to extend this method. Thirty-nine new slot telephones were installed, bringing the total in use up to 237. CONCLUSION. Let me state how greatly I appreciate the patriotism of those local bodies and settlers throughout the Dominion who have refrained from pressing their demands for expenditure during the war, on works which in normal times would be considered very important. I regret exceedingly that I have not been able to do more to relieve many caS&s of hardship', especially in the backblocks; but as soon as the war is over and our boys return, ample means will be then available to provide employment for all who need it. The construction of roads, bridges, and railways will be pushed ahead, and thus facilities will be afforded tor increased settlement and for increased production.

It is on these two factors that New Zealand has to depead to enable it to bear the heavy burden it has so readily assumed in aiding the Empire to win this appalling war.