THE PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Hokitika Guardian, 26 September 1928, Page 2

THE PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

BY HON. K. S. WILLIAMS. ]

(Per Favour of Government.)

WELLINGTON, Sep. 25. The Hon. K. S. Williams (Minister of Public Works) delivered the Public Statment in the House to-day in which

he said:— This is the third occasion it has been my privilege to present to you the an- - nual Statement of the Public Works Department, and I think I can now claim to have fairly attained the intimate knowledge that the many ramifications of this Department necessitate in order that I, as Minister, may keep ,-my finger on the many activities which my Department carries out. , The preceding year has been one of . much activity in the various public conducted by my Department, and I again -wish to acknowledge by indebtedness to the members of my staff for the willing and efficient service they have rendered. Railwayconstruction and hydro-elect”ic development especially have been on a large scale, and much good work has been, accomplished. During the year I continued extending;' my knowledge of the various works in hand by making personal investigations of the progress being made in as many cases as I was able. ‘■•The public works now being undertaken must prove to be of much benefit •lin...the development of the country’s . natural resources. The extending of hydro-electric services to our primary • producers, especially in the dairying districts, and the access to markets ---given to outlying districts by railway and road construction, all tend to increase the Dominion’s export trade. The prospects of the coming season are bright, the markets being steady for our chief exports, and it is hoped that the service given by the ‘Government, both in transport and power, will be availed of to the utmost by the primary proudcers. During the year the most noteworthy progress has been evidenced by the completion and handing over to the Working Railways Department of 118 miles 29 chains of railway. It is true that for some years past a considerable portion of this mileage has been almost completed, and the public have had a modified use of the same. Progress of works further on has been so interlocked with the completed portion, that it was not deemed advisable to hand Over same, which might have been handed over, until my Department was in a position to transfer to the control of the Railways Department a considerable length, and could do so without prejudicing the progress of other works. In the South Island the only railway on . which it is proposed to proceed vigorously is the connection between the Westport Section of railway and the Midland Railway system at Inangahua Junction, by which connection the rich bituminous coalfields of the Buller district will be brought in touch with the greatei; part of the South Island by direct rail connection. When that ; connection- is well under way a forward movement to connect the Mid land system can be taken up. At the present; time the railway works in the North Island are proceeding *in accordance with a programme, but indications point to the possibility of releasing a certain number of men and money fairly soon, and immediately it becomes possible, without unduly inflating the Railway Vote, more money can be devoted to this end. Although good service has been rendered to the community by the action of the Railway Department in extending its service by car and lorry as far as Murchison, there is no doubt that it is difficult for any isolated section of railway to show a good financial result, the tendency under modern conditions being undoubtedly for the motor to take the short hauls and the railway the long and heavy work. A total vote of £984,000 is proposed for railway-construction, as against £1,007,000 last year. Roadwork, both on ordinary roads and on highways, has been pushed on iii an endeavour to absorb a large number of men who were unable to find 1 work ; in civil avenues of employment, * and, though this has resulted in works '• being undertaken which would not | otherwise have been undertaken this ' year, no work has been done which ■cotuld.be criticised as wasteful. Every ’’Work is a work which will be an advantage to the Dominion as years roll oh,' and I am of the opinion that it ifebetter to employ men on useful work, even though that useful work is not immediately necessary, rather than to face the alternative of having to pay what is commonly known as a “dole.”

Many genuine cases of hardship were met with and relieved bv the employment offered by my Department and other Departments, notably the Forestry. My Department, however, must not be looked upon as a dumpingground for unemployed. The Local Bodies’ Loans Act was ■i long overdue, and will probably in the future be looked upon as one of the most important Acts ever passed in this country. Most of us know of instances of loans that have been raised and spent on works that have never produced any beneficial result for the ratepayers.

From the point of view of the local authorities, one of the events of paramount importance was the passing of the Motor-spirits Taxation Act of last session, providing, as this new source of revenue did, a fund from which the construction and maintenance of the principal roads of the Dominion could he financed without further increasing the already severe load which the local authorities were carrying in the way of local rates.

The increase of motor-cars, and particularly of heavy motor-lorries, in New Zealand, with the resultant woar-and-tear on the roads, had made it evident that further income must be derived from some source other than the pockets of the’ ratepayers, and the decision of the Government that the user of the road should pay a larger proportion than had previously been contributed by him has, I am sure, met with universal satisfaction, even those who have to pay not maintaining that any unfairness exists.

Since the highways system was inaugurated local authorities have been spending an undue proportion of their rates on the main highways, and as a result tlieir less important leads—partiularly those carring in some cases less traffic than the main highways—had fallen into a bad state of repair, and it will tawe some time for this lee, way to be made up. I wish it to be clearly understood that the whole of the money derived from the motoispirits taxation was not intended for further road-improvement, but a considerable proportion of it was intended for, and must be devoted to, the relief of the county ratepayers.

Perhaps this would be an appropriate place for me to make a few general remarks on roads and road transport, which have become in recent years a most important factor in the life of the community. The number of mo-tor-vehicles in New Zealand has risen at a phenomenal rate, so that there is now only one country in the world which per head of population has moie motor-vehicles, this being the "United States. Canada and New Zealand are practically on the same footing when vehicles are compared with population, but when we come to commercial motors in particular we find that Canada has only one to every ninetyeight of papulation, while New Zealand has one to sixty-two. No other country approaches New Zealand’s ratio any closer, and highly industrialized countries like Germany and Italy have only one to> 700 and one to 794 respectively—in other words, less than one-tenth of New Zealand’s pioportion. Last year the cost of upkeep of the roads of. New Zealand approached the £3,000,000 mark, an enormous increase on what was necessary before the motor became a serious user of the roads Towards this the motor vehicle contributed less than £1,000,000, and when converted into cost per motorvehicle per year, the maintenance expenditure amounts to £lB, without making any allowance for the interest and fixed charges on capital expenditure, and the above average cost is obtained by regarding the motor-bicy-cles (numbering nearly thirty-four thousand) as motor-vehicles. If the latter were ignored, and only the motorcars and commercial vehicles taken into account the figure would be in the vicinity of annual expenditure on roads, capital expenditure included, was just under two and a-half millions; in 1927 it was considerably over five and a half millions Viewed in another way, in the past eleven years there has been spent in maintaining the roads £255 per motor-vehicle, during which time there has been received £24 in taxation per motor-vehicle. The amount of money found in the way of rates by the rural portions of New Zealand has trebled since 1911.

-EXPENDITURE. The total net expenditure under all votes and accounts appearing on the public works estimates for the financial year ended 31st. March, 1928, was £7,061,201. Of this, sum £3,200,664 was expended out of General Purposes Account, and the balance £3,860,537 out of special accounts. WAYS AND MEANS. On the Ist. April, 1927, the available ways and means for public works purposes were £4,730,029. The net expenditure on works and services against the General Purposes Account for the year was £3,401,226. This left a credit balance in the ac-j count for general purposes at 31st.* March, 1928, of £1,328,803. Legislative, authority exists for raising a further £5,561,050. It is proposed to ask for further legislative authority to borrow, when required £3,000,000. Thus making available fop pubic works, ! general purposes, a total of £9,889,853. The estimated expenditure under the account for the current financial year, including the transfer of £200,000 to Main Highways Construction Fund, is £4,047,500. In addition to the requirements for general purposes, there are a number of special accounts for public works with a separate ways and means. The most important of these are: Electric supply Account £3,491,691; Wai houi and Ohinemuri Rivers Improvement Account, £102,078; Railways Improvement Authorization Act, 1914 Account £5,026,769; Main Highways Construction Fund, Total for these special accounts, £11,043,109.

From the- foregoing figures it will be observed at the end of last financial year the expended balance of the Public Works F'und for general purposes, plus existing and proposed authorities for raising further moneys, amounted to £9,889,853, while the balance at the same date in respect to some of the more important public works, under special accounts, plus existing and proposed legislative authority to raise additional loans amounted to £11,043,10 or a total of £20,932,962.

RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION. Midland Railway—Work on the Ka-watiri-Murchison Section of the railway has been confined to the lengt i of 5 miles between Kawatiri Station

and the Go wan Station. Formation is nearly complete, and it is intended to at once proceed with the plate-laying, ballasting, and completion of the Gowan Station buildings, with a view to handling this section over to the Working Railways. Westport-Inangaliua Railway —On the Gascado-Hawk’s Craig Section fair progress has been made with the advance work, including bushfelling and formation. Cbnsideraole accommodation for workmen has been provided ip two camps on the main road, and access to the railway-works on the other side of the Duller River is being provided by the construction of a light suspension bridge.

HYDRO-ELECTRIC DEVELOPMENT. The year just completed, the seventeenth since construction works were first commenced by the Department, has been maraed by continued activity throughout period. The expenditure nas been £1,095,993, increasing the total capital spent on hydro-electric works from £6,427,935 to £7,523,928. A considerable portion of this capital—aoout £3,ooo,ooo—is represented in works mainly at Arapuni and Waikaremoana, which have not yet come into operation.

LOCAL BLECTIUC-SUPI’LY AUTHORITIES. The Department, controls only a portion of the electric-supply business of the country, but is nu>re or less vitally interested in all the supply and distribution throughout the country. Many of the supply authorities purchase power in bulk from the Department for distribution and sale to the actual users. Over all supply authorities also, whether customers of the Department or not, a certain amount of control and general regulation has to be exercised. The Government itself non’ has an investment of £7,523,928 in its hydro-electric development, whilst local authorities drawing their supplies wholly or in part from, the Government have an investment of £10,251,940, and other supply authorities who are generating their owl power independent of Government supply an investment of £5,927,384. Generally speahing, most of these supply authorities have been successful during the year, and, although possessed of rating-powers, these powers have been used , only to a limited extent; Of the twenty-four Power Boards purchasing power from the Government only four collected rates during the past year, the total amount so collected being £8,333. Of the eleven Boards not using Government supply, three collected rates to a total value of £61,621 during the same period.

MAIN HIGHWAYS. ; In my last report I pointed to the fact that additional revenue should be made available to the Main Highways Board for four main reasons: Firstly, to enable an additional mileage of roads to be declared main highways, primarily for the purpose of giving relief to County Councils in the matter of maintenance; secondly, to enable the Board to continue to pay substantially towards the cost of maintenance of the original highway system, notwithstanding the increased mileage of highways referred to above; thirdly, to assist in a much greater pro portion than here toft)re in the paving of roads in the vicinity of the large centres of population; and, fourthly, to help boroughs, more particularly the smaller ones, in tlie construction and upkeep of the main highways.

To provide money for the foregoing, a petrol-tax of 4d per gallon was approved by the House during the sesson of 1927, and as a result of this County Councils are pow being relieved to a much greater extent of the heavy charges involved in maintaining the roads up to the standard necessitated by the continuous and heavy motor traffic. In addition, the construction programme of the. Board is being greatly accelerated, and, fortunately, I am able to say that although the expenditure on construction will be considerably increased ft is not necessary, at least in the meantime, to extend the borrow-powers conferred on the Minister of Financee by the Main Highways Act, 1922. Since the close of the last financial year the Board has recommended that the general maintenance subsidy, which is at present £1 10s for £l, he increased to £2 for £l, and legislation will he introduced for the consideration of the House enabling it in special cases to pay more than the usual rate of subsidy has been exercised in a number of cases during the year under - review, and I hope that the Board will give special consideration to those cases where local rating is proving a hardship on the ratepayers.

The Board, recognizing that bridge finance, more particularly in the case of large bridges, often presents difficulties to local authorites. has since 1926 been subsidizing the cost of erection of bridges on a scale _ ranging from £1 for £2 to £2 for £l, according to the cost of the work. .I he Board has now suggested that bridges costing up to £IO.OOO he subsidized on the basis of £2 for £l, and that it (the Board) be given authority to pay such subsidy as it in its discretion thinks justified in the cases of bridges costing more than tins figure. The Board in fixing the rate of subsidy will require to go thoroughly into special traffic features and the ability of the ratepayers to find their proportion of the cost. The House will be asked to consider legislation to give effect to this proposal also.

POST AND TELEGRAPH

BUILDINGS

The progress of the Dominion js indicated by the necessity lor providing at many places additional accommodation for the conduct of post and telegraph business. During the year practically all of the Department’s buildings were inspected, and arrangements were made for additions and alterations to be carried out to many of the structures, there'is, however, a considerable number or places at which the need for additional accommodation is pressing, but, owing to the expenditure involved, these requirements can be dealt with only in their order of urgency.

HARBOURS. J At Westport considerable expenditure lias been involved iiv the protection and conservation works between the Duller River Railway Bridge and the overflow above Organ’s Island. The quarry has been fully manned during the year. Extensive service lines and bridging have been carried out, and a large quantity of heavy stone transported to the work. Two dredges have been in operation most of tlie year on the entrance and in tlie harbour, and arrangements have been made to put the “Ruby Seddon” into commission, and thus enlarge the scope of dredging on the bar as much as possible. At Karamea the work of reconstructing the existing is being steadily pushed ahead. The opening-up of the quarry and the laying of the railway from the quarry to. the wall is practically completed. The necessary cranes,, compressors, air-drills, etc., are being installed in the quarry, and the locomotive and trucks are on the ground. This coming year should see a large quantity of stone deposited.

TOURIST AND HEALTH RESORTS. The expenditure for the year was £36.673, .as against £31,981 for the previous year. The main woiks cairied out were additions to tlie Waitomo Caves Hostel; improvements to the water-supply at the Hermitage, Mount Cook; extensions to 'the Rotorua electrical,, water, and drainage systems; erection of a slipway at Lake Te Anau; and the formation of the road at Lake House, Waikaremoana. During the year a contract was let foi tlie erection of an up-to-date hostel at Milford Sound. / TELEGRAPH EXTENSION. It is the general policy of the Government to provde a telephone service which will enable any one, anywhere, to pick up a telephone and talk to any one anywhere else in the Dominion. Of the works upon which capital expenditure was incurred during the year the following were the more important: The erection of new metallic circuits between Wellington and Seddon, Wellington and Palmerston north, Wanganui, and Hawera, New Plymouth and Hawera, Marton and Taihape, Kaikohe and Rawene, Murchison and Inangahua, Lumsden and Kingston, Balciutha and Owaka; the improvement and extension generally of toll facilities; the installation or short-wave apparatus at Radio-Wel-lington; the conversion to automatic working of the magneto exchanges at Dunedin, Napier, Dannevirke, and Stratford; the opening of a new automatic branch exchange at Miramar; the installation of a multiple lampsignalling switch-board at Greymouth; the opening of new magneto exchanges at Ivatikati, Leigh, Pailiia, and Te Mata; the installation of 113 new public call offices (coin-in-the-slot telephones); the extension of the switching equipment at five automatic exchanges and twenty-eight manual exchanges; the erection of 2,513 miles of toll and telegraph wire, and 8,305 miles of aerial wire for telephone-ex-change subscribers’ circuits; the laying or erecting of 169 miles of leadcovered cable, containing 39,991 miles of wire, for subscribers’ circuits; and the connection of 12,259 new subscribers’ stations. In addition, 1,916 new extension telephones were installed; while 8,093 telephones were installed in new locations on account of subscribers’ removals. The total number of telephone stations in the Dominion at the 31st March, was 144,552. 'l’ll is represents approximately ten telephones for every 100 of population, a density exceeded only by the United States of America and Canada.

MOTOR-VEHICLE LAW. The most important developments in the law affecting motor-vehicles since tile last* Statement are (1) the imposition of a Customs duty ol 4d per gallon on motor-spirits, and (2) the issue of the Motor-vehicle Regulations.

The administration of these measures is proceeding smoothly, although the work involved in the system ol refunds of the duty on motor-spirits is, as anticipated, fairly, considerable. Certain anomalies in connection with the refunds have been discovered, as was almost inevitable, and it is proposed to bring forward amendments to the law during the present session with a view to rectification in certain cases. The steps taken by the local bodies and the police to enforce the Motorvehicle Regulations have so far not been very active, but now that motorists have had time to become conversant with the requirements more stringent enforcement may he anticipated shortly. CONCLUSION. Shortly, to summarize, I have en-

deavourcd to instil into my staff, from whom I have had the most loyal cooperation, the fundamental principle that the taxpayer must receive the very best value for the money spent, that all projects must be considered on an economic basis, and that in that 'consideration not only the requirements of the day are to be con sidered, but the ever expanding, wants of this vigorous young country. Also, while seeing that only good work is done, and done economically, [ have endeavoured to avoid any possibility of it being suggested that low-priced Work was to be obtained at the expense of fair and reasonable treatment of the employees. 1 have always found the staff eager k> assist me, and in all cases anxious to carry out the policy defined for their guidance by the Government. I am satisfied that the works which have been brought into being during this year will serve a useful purpose long after those responsible for their conception and construction have passed away.

WESTLAND VOTES. TOURIST RESORTS. £ Erection of Shelter Shed, r I ahua Track ••• 100 Haast Track, Huts etc 300 Fox and Franz .Joseph Glacier, Huts etc 700 Fox. Glacier, Track and Suspension Bridge otiO VOTES FOR ROADS. £ Adamson Road 203 Bruce Bay Inland Road 160 Cbllyer’s Creek Bridge ... 100 Docherty Road 150 Dorothy Falls Track ... 2000 Evans Road (£ for £) 50 Haast Pass Track 750 Mahinapua Green Bridge (£ for £) 233 MAIN SOUTH ROAD. £ Arawata to Cascade 150 Cooks to Karan gar u a 100 Docherty Creek Bridge 800 Haast to Oktiru 160 Manakainu River Erosion 50 Paringa to Haast ... 2.0 Cooks to AVaibo 500 Waiho River Bridge 200 £ Malfroy’s Bridge (£ for £) 100 McArthur Road 400 Municipal Road Bridge (£ for £) 175 Murray Creek Bridgfe ... 150 Ukarito Road (£ for £>) 250 One Mile Road Bridge (£ for £) 75 Petersen Road 481 Ruatapu to Mahinapua ... ... 200 Station Road 800 Waitaha Lagoon Bridge 150 AVaitangi River Erosion (£1 for £3) 150 Walsh Road 205 LANDS VOTES. £ Raft Creek, Kokatabi, clearing 250 MAIN HIGHWAYS £ Inangahua Junction-Waiho ... 13,436 Kumara-Arthurs’ Pass 453 Lake Kanieri Road , 51 MENTAL HOSPITAL BUILDINGS. £ At Hokitika ... 1000