PUBLIC WORKS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4624, 12 November 1923, Page 4

PUBLIC WORKS.

LOCAL MEMBERS’ VIEWSSpeaking in tjie House on the Public Works Statement Mr H. Poland, member for Ohinemuri, stated: — The Public Works Statement, sir, shows that the Minister is at»last determined to push on with t,he completion of the Waihi-Tauranga section of the East Coast railway, and I wish to congratulate him on his decision. In that connection,, I want to point out to him that at the same time as that line is completed it is absolutely essential, not only in my opinion, but in the opinion of thte late Minister of Railways, Sir; William Herries, and of other competent authorities, that the Paeroa-Pokeno section of that East Coast line should also be completed. There has been a sum of £5OOO on the estimates for three years to start that work, and it is again on these estimates. I want to urge the Minister to start to spend that money, and to prosecute the work expeditiously, so that the whole of the East Coast traffic will be able to reach Auckland without having to pass through Ta Aroha, Morrinsville, Hamilton, and Frankton Junction, and through the other stations right down to Pokeno. There will be a saving of forty-four miles in the distance,- a very important, item to the whole of the East Coast traffic. The journey by the present route is a very long one, and the present line from Frankton to Pokeno cannot possibly handle the extra traffic. This East Coast railway gives the opportunity of constructing a very short line of railway through the Hauraki Plains, which arc some of the most fertile lands in New Zealand, land in which in the near future will be some of the most densely settled in the Dominion, ft is an integral and necessary part of the East Coast Railway, and itj is not an expensive - railway to contract. The Minister has informed me within the last two or three weeks that an officer of his department is proceeding to Paeroa to lay out a permanent survey, and I trust that this is '•he forerunner of the start of construction on this most necessary work. I am not going into the question of the construction of the East Coast railway from Waihi eastwards, except to point out that the first'sod of that railway was turned in March, 1912'— over eleven years ago—and to-day I doubt whether there is a single rail laid. At any rate, there is nob a single mile of the line open, and the section to Athenree will not be opened for a considerable time. Of course, the Minister now agrees that this is no system for the construction of railways in this, country, and is carrying out a different system, of concentrating on certain railways. I sincerely hope that within the next two or three years the railway to Tauranga Will be completed, and the patience of the people rewarded.. I have very little to complain of with regard to road grants in my electorate so far as the Public Works Department is concerned, though I am satisfied that we are entitled to all that we asked for, because we ask for only most urgent grants. But I am not dissatisfied to such an extent that I am going to take up time by referring to the items. Still, I want to express to the Minister of Mines my entire disapproval of his attitude in regard to the claims of my district. There are certain roadworks which come under the jurisdiction of the Minister >of Mines and his Department. Thougn they come under the Public Works vote, the Minister of Mines has the principal say in the provision of the money for the purpose, and I want to point out that not a single pound has been allocated to my district by the Minister of Mines. There has been £4OO or £5OO revoted from last year, but there is nothing so far as my district is concerned to show that a single shilling of new money has been put on the estimates, and the member for Thames tells me he is in the same position. I received an urgent wire to-day pointing out that there were three particular roads for which the paltry sum of £350 in all had been asked; that these roads are being cut up by the carting of mining .timber for the mines at Waihi, and that if nothing is granted to repair these roads then the carting must be stopped. The roads are what are known as settlement roads. There are settlers .using these roads and paying rates, and the roads are being rendered impassable for the settlers because of mining timber being carried over them for the benefit of Waihi min'es, and the Minister refuses to give a shilling for the purpose of putting these roads in repair. I have seen the Minister this afternoon, and he tells me that he will go into the matter again, and that he has a vote out of which he can make provision for these particular roads ; but I am so doubtful of the Minister taking a sympathetic view of the matter that lam bringing it up now. I believe it would be better if these roads were put under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Public Works rather than , under the Minister of Mines. In my oipnion it would be better if there were no Minister of Mines at all, rather than the present one. We got on much better when the Hon. R. McKenzie was the Miniister of Public Works and also the Minister of Mines, for he knew the wants of mining districts, and he gave them sympathetic consideration whilst (the wants of the miners also received atention. Of recent years we have drifted into a position in which we cannot, get any moneys at all for roads on goldfields or prpper assistance for prospecting and the development of mining. A sum of £1,500 was on the estimates for last year—a lump sum which the Minister could use for the development of mining by the opening up of tracks—and of that sum the paltry amount of £416 was spent. I am satisfied that a strong stand must be taken by the mining representatives if they are to get fair consideration, and I am entirely dissatisfied with the present postion. I feel that justice is not being done to my district, and I must point out to the Minister that he is adopting a most unfair 1 attitude, and one not in the interests of mining.

Mr T. W. Rhodes, member for Thames, also spoke on the Bill as follows:— Sir, I desire to take this opportunity of congraulating the Minister of Public Works and Railways upon the Statements that he has put before us, in which’there are quite a number of satisfactory features disclosed. We have the .satisfaction of knowing that oui railways are now earning a profit, and not resulting in a loss, as has been the case for several years. I see all through that we are in a belter position than the States throughout the Commonwealth of Australia. It is also pleasing to note .that the Minister proposes to make a trial of motor-driven vehicles on branch lines. I. am convinced that if he pushes that on he will find a solution of the leakage. I have read a good deal of what has been done in Australia in that direction, where it has been found that special motor vehicles can be run at a tithe of the ■ cost of the ordinary steam-driven railway. It is also satisfactory to note that it is proposed to carry out public works by the contract system to a much greater extent than hitherto. I am sure that is a step in the right direction, and I feel satisfied that work will be done more expeditiously, and that the results will be satisfactory, without reducing wages by one penny. It is also, pleasing to notice that our hydro-electric schemes are to be pushed forward with increased vigor and energy. So far as my district Is concerned, wo are in the fortunate position of. being linked up with Horahora. If that is any index as to what the North Island will be, it discloses a very satisfactory position indeed, because there is at the present time a demand for more power than can be supplied. When the new turbines are put in, in the near future, there will be more power available. If the Minister will only prosecute the Arapuni source of supply with all possible energy I am sure that will be in a similar position to what the small one of Horohora is at present, because they have an assured consumption in Auckland already, as soon as it can be supplied, of 30,00*0 kilowatts, and every prospect of a much greater demand as soon as it can be rendered available. With regard t,o railway construction, I am glad to note that the East Coast line is to be pushed on with all possible expedition, under the contract system, and that, the Minister anticipates that within something like three years that line will be completed. That will be a day t,hnt will be very welcome tp a great number of people ip. a very extensive territory of first-class country. It will link up Auckland with the Bay of Plenty, and even farther afield. With regard to the prosecution of the East Coast line, that brings us to the fact that the time is near when ft will be imperative that the link between. East and We,st across the Hauraki Plains shall be gone on with — that the Paeroa-Pokeno line will he taken in hand; and I join with the honourable member for Ohinemuri in urging that this should be given attention to without any undue delay. We have had an authorisation of £5,000 on the estimates for several years, but very little has been done beyond that. We know that the sum is far too small to enable anything worth while to be taken in hand, but it, is a sufficient sum to enable the preliminaries to be gone on with. 1 trust that will be done in the very near future. This matter of the Paeroa-Pokeno connection is a matter of very serious moment t,o a large section of my constituents as well as to the constituents of the honourable member for Ohinemuri, and it is our ■ duty to put this position before ,the House. The Minister may know all about the position, but as he is new to office he may not have had time to look into it, This line will effect an enormous saving in transport—to the extent of a saving of forty-four miles as compared with going round by way of Frankton. Tn addition, there will be the saving of time to the passengers. As soon as the East Coast line is opened the .traffic will be go great that unless this connection across the Hauraki Plains is provided the Department, will have to duplicate the FranktonAuckland line. It is a sound business proposition to push the line ahead and have it completed as early as t,he other sections of the East Coast line. I trust the. Minister will be able to give us an assurance that; .that is contemplated in the almost immediate future; With regard to roads, I am not going to say that I am at all satisfied with what is on the estimates. I do not consider I have bad generous treatment at all. But what I complain about more particularly is the difficulty we have in getting authorisation. One important local body in my electorate was only able to get authorisation for, a very small amount —a few hundred pounds—last year, .not a tit,he of what it should be; and I presume other local bodies have been in the same positiion. I wolud urge upon the Minister that he should supply authority for the items that appear on this year’s estimates almost immediately, so that the work can be gone on with during the summer months, while the weather is fine. What we require is to be able ,to get, the money at the right season, and be able tq expend it to the best advantage. If the Minister .will arrange that, he will be helping us materially. Now, Sir, one or two words with regard to roads on goldfields. The tot,al vote for the Auckland district last year under, this head was £4225, £915 of that amount being expended, and there were liabilities to the extent of £BOB. Even in face of that the total provided this year is only £2824, excluding the liability of £1620 for goldfields roads throughout the whole of the Auckland district. Nothing is provided for prospecting tracts in the Hauraki Peninsula, for which £SOO was voted last year. Nothing was spent last year, and no money is being provided this year. How can we expect new gold discoveries to be made under these discouraging conditions ? I would like to say a great deal more upon this aspect, of public works, but I know that there are other members anxious to speak, and so I will content myself

with the remarks I have placed on record,”