PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT

Hokitika Guardian, 3 November 1931, Page 2

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT

(Per Favour of Government.) WELLINGTON, Nov. 3. The Hon J. G. Coates delivered the Public Works. Statement last evening, in the course of which he stated: ( 'The Coalition, of the two m:*jn parties of the House and the consequent changes in the personnel of the Cabinet have caused me to resume the office of Minister of Public Works at a. time when my predecessor had already prepared his Statemnt and estimates for presentation to honourable

members. : .Although the details of the Statement aiid estimates show the result of the year’s work carried out under his direction, I propose to preface them with a. few general remarks on the. intentions of the Government in respect to public works. F; For a number of years I have felt shlia ; ;t an unbalanced industrial condition existed in New Zealand, due to an unduly large proportion of the population deriving a livelihood from works'the expenditure upon which was from Government loan funds. The country has been pursuing a. poucy of development from borrowed moneys for ;a period so long that men have looked upon public works- as a permanent avenue of employment. Many of i’iheni engaged in these works • in manhood and have reared their :fftmilie* while in’ the employ of the State. They have regarded itheir position's as being permanent, and failed to recognize . that the tenure of their work depended upon the continuance of a policy to construct works from capital-moneys/. So long as -the progress of the country justified the carry-on of developmental and our industries, particularly,, the. great primary industry, (increased at a rate faster than that at which borrowed money was spent, the position was sound; hut when uncontrollable causes, especially the fall of world' prices ; of primary pro-

ducts, caused a suspension in the expabsion of ' industry,.; the justification .‘ for developmental | works became less ; apparent.’' *1 do'' not mean to say. that

• developmental works became less ap- • ’ parent. .1 do not mean to say that i developmental works should then pease altogether, there should be a gradual

4 tapering-off to enable those men disi placed from one eallinguto-.have the, i opportunity of establishing themselves.. 1 in other industries. ! ' f The financial position mv.tlie country j. to-dav calls upon the Government to ( provide as much work asut’pan to tide ■ the country over the difficult 'period

' until industries are established on a ,; ’ new basis. For jthis reason it is still • - necessary | should be||ca rified oirt., .;, v . .... : Honouratlei "members have my asijsnrance thift'it- willy be.-my endeavour l while lookingdio the' ultimate reduc'd tjbn in the expenditure of •‘cnpital-

moneys to see that such borrowed h- money as is available -is spent to the V best advantage .bn A undertakings that A promise to return the greatest value r iState/ More particularly is it desirable that, the public works undertaken in. the future are of a character to enable more people than at present to earn their living at rural occupations and in other spheres which will production. With the price per unit of our products greatly reduced, our effort® must be to increase .the number of units for sale. 1

One of the works which can be car-

ried out and which • fulfils the con--1 ddtion I have mentioned is the metalJlinig of amral rioadls. and it js wie Government’s desire to change over as quickly as. possible from formation [work 'fio metalling isfi'tjtlersf roads. > Niot only will this" plan enable ' tne " farmer to make better use of the land of ?th e Dominion, . but it’ will, by improving ,tbe amenities in country dis- . tricts, tend to check the movement of ■’workers ;.-frpih . the .. country to tne I cities. is also hoped that work of lithe kind. wi|l : encourage some people

to take up again rural occupations., V »5; In addition to borrowed money being 'used to tide the country over the present difficult phase, there are the funds raised by special taxation finder f the- Unemployment Act. Unfortunately, owing to the endeavour ti> ke:p men employed near their homes, arid the fact .that there is more unemployed labour in the towns than -.pi the country, the works carried out ' through the medium of the unemployment funds have been mainly of an jipba.n Although the works have been the best that local authorities. haye been 1 able to arrange, they have not resulted in the production of wealth or in an increase in the volume of products for export. * My endeavour in the future will he to divert labour available, and such funds as can he justifiably raised, together with .a portions of the Unemployment Board’s funds, to carrying out rural developments. Some of these rural'works must continue to be what has commonly been understood in the past as public works. I have' more particularly in mind the improvement of lands. Men now ■bqirig displaced in work on railway ionstruction will be given work as »fsixl as practicable in metalling roads • Bk /outlying - districts on new blocks of , *]land,' v in ' forming end making new roads necessary, and in fencing and inpreparing those blocks for settlement; also on undeveloped lands, construction of irr-rro-ion schemes, reclamation of low-lying and sand-cov-ered country. In all probability greater national returns can be obtained by intensive work on successful farms than on any possible development of

the poorer lands. I do not mean from tlrils that there should lw any slacken-ing-off in the endeavour to bring in virgin land or to restore deteriorated land, but unemployment and the

country's financial position demand immediate consideration, and the quickest response will come from the application of labour intc.llige.nty directed on our best farming land.

.As Parliament has adopted the report of the Railway Board and has discontinued work ou all the railways which the I!ri"rd recommended be suspended, the estimates so far as they affect those ran nays have been recast and make provision only for liabilities to date and the estimated i cost of clearing up and securing the works and plrtrit. Touching the subject of hydro-electric development, which is really a commercial undertaking, it wifi be necessary so long as the policy, of tile Government tocontrol 1 the bulk sources of Supply is continued, to spend ‘ money on new developments as fast as the growth of load continues. In the past the growth has been remarkable, but with financial tightness a slackening in the rate must be looked- for. Whatever the financial condition of the country, there must come a time when, there are no new areas to reticulate, and the growth of load thereafter will depend upon the increase of population, together with the utilization of electrical energy in channels in which it is now not used. There is’still a healthy 'increase in most"districts in the demand for electrical energy. •It will , shortly be necessary, if this additional demand is to be met, to give consideration to developments, or extensions of existing stations. ‘Development in this direction as in ail others, mast, of course, depend oh available finance,

Even though it be found impossible for a- time to borrow money abroad it will, ; be necessary, tp 1 employ, our labouring population and to prevent complete stagnation, to carry out a certain amount of work with the financial resources obtainable within New Zealand. II am satisfied when the issues are pm (to the test it will’ be found that the resources ,of New Zealand are greater (than we have imagined.

In conclusion, the country is to-day, so to .speak, in “reverse gear.” Publicworks activities may be said to be running in ‘‘top gear.” A “change of gear” must, now be made. f., ( : . M M : .* '<■ hi ■ '

EXPENDITURE. The total: net expenditure under - .all votes and’ accounts appearing on the public-works estimates for the financial year ended 31st March, 1951, was £8,388,529. Of th ; s sum £4,810,659 Was expended out of General Purposes Ac-, cotht, and the balance, £3,577,870, out of special; accounts. ■

WAYS AND MEANS

On the Ist’. April, 1930, the availab.e iways and means for public-works purposes were £348,125.

Additional j. funds were received as follows;—'(a) Under Finance Act, 1927, -section 2 (public wprks) £196,730 ; (b) Under Finance Act, 1928, .section 2 ■(public works) £1,185,133 • (c) Under Finance Act, 1929, section 2 (public works) £4,017,119 ; (d) o«.ock issued for expenses of conversion £360,836; ’ (e) (Recoveries' on account of expenditure of previous year® £41,583 ; (f) Ellesmere and For.Syth Reclamation and Akaroa (Railway Trust Account receipts £1,693. Total; £6,151,219.

The net expenditure on works and services . against ithe General Purposes Account for the year was;—(a) Under appropriations £4,646,124; (b) Under Lake Ellesmere Land t: i Drainage Act, 1905, £439; (c) Under Lake Ellesmere and Akaroa Railway Trust Account £BS; ((d) Charges and expenses of raising loans £164,535. Making a total of £4,811,183.

This left a credit balance in 'the account for general purposes at 3.lst March, 1931, of £1,340,036. The estimated expenditure under the account for the current financial year is 4,158,000, and arrangements are being made wiith the Minister of Finance to provide the necessary funds. The gross "cash expenditure on works and sevices under the direct supervision or control of ithe Public Works Department itself was £8,098,301. This includes 'expenditure from the Public Works Fund, Consolidated Fund, * Main 'Highways Account, Electric Supply Account, (Railways Improvement Account, and various other accounts.

The Departmen also collected in cash a total of £707,820 as revenue from electric-supply and irrigation undertakings. The total, therefore, of gross cash expenditure and revenue for the year was £8,806,121. This figure is exclusive of interest and loan charges, credits-in-aid for works of various kinds, and sundry relatively minor , items of revenue, and gives some (indication of the volume of work hundred by the Department’s staff. MENTAL HOSPITALS. .Hokitika: A' large villa, in wodd, to accommodate forty-eight female patients, was completed and furnished, /during the year. A pumping plant «as fitted up and laundry machinery installed. New farm building in wood and '.ran on concrete foundations were erected. TOURIST AND HEALTH RESORTS.

The net capital expenditure for the year was- £60,288, as against £20,5-»7 foi the previous year. The principal works undertaken were in. Rotorua..

’ ''•v.o VF.'-'-I ’(formerly Pavilion) Bath building was reconstructed, and exstens.ve auditions were made to the electrical 1 plant, the transmission-lines were extended, and reconstruction of the Blue Baths is now in hand.

Improvements have been made to the reserves and the formation of a. ninehole golf-course has been completed. Addition to Glade House, Te Anau, have been ereoted, and hot-water service and drying-rooms are in course of erection at Quintal Huts, in the same locality.

TELEGRAPH EXTENSION. The expenditure for the financial year in extending and improving the telephone, telegraph, and wireless facilities throughout the Dominion amounted to £419,756, as against £594,383 for the year ended the 31st March, 1930.'. Owing to the limitation of funds, it has not been possible to carry out such-W large amount of work in extending telegraph and telephone, systems as has been the case in previous years. Although the greatest possible use lias been made of the amount available, the reduced extent of developmental work will, no doubt, be felt when the Dominion reiturns to normal and tlu* demand lor communication service is restored.

THE ESTIMATES

WESTLAND COUNTY. iff £ Arthurtown Road £ for £ 180 Busch Road oO Dorothy Falls Track 60 Education Endowment Road ... -dp Grahams Road .£ for £ 350 Hokitika Gorge Suspension Bridge 100 Kumarn Junction to Chesterfield 11*50 La Fontaine Creek Bridge (£2 for £1) 400 La Fontaine Road 2()0 Little Wanganui Flood Works 850 Cook River Bridge 5000 Cooks to Karangarua 500, Fox River Bridge 5000 Haa§t to Ok uni 100 Hunt Creek Bridge lot) Rocky Creek Bridge 1430 Waiho to Wellelia TOGO W.niho River Bridge 81 We-heka , Southwards 3000 Okarito Rond 100 Okarito 'Track 10U Okarito Track, 3 mile bridge ... 200 Okuru Road 134 Palmer Creek Bridge 157 Peterson Road .... 581 Roto Bridge to Wataroa Flat Rd. 250 Waitaha South Bank Road 800 Wataroa-Poerua Stock Track 300 Poerua River 84 HIGHWAYS. £ Inaugahun Junction-Wailio