PARLIAMENT.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 75, 27 August 1885, Page 2

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. (UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION.) Wellington, Tuesday. THE PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT (Concluded.) ROADS AND BRIDGES GENERALLY, INCUDINO " MAIN ROADS " AND " MISCELLANEOUS ROADS AND BRIDGES." North Island.— South of Auckland: The road works in the hands of the Government in this portion of the Colony, during last year, have consisted almost entirely of the maintenance and improvement of main roads in outlaying districts, such as the roads from ; Cambridge to Rotorua, Cambridge toTaupp, Tauranga : to Napier via Taupo, Seventy Mile Bush,, and various roads in the ,Bay of Plenty ; and also the maintenance 'of the' Auckland to Drury road to such: extent as the tolls collected upon it would admit of. The amount which it is necessary, to contribute towards the Seventy-Mile Bushroad this year, will be . much less than last year, in consequence of. the advance of settlement along it, and the shorter i distance which has to be maintained'ow- | irig to the extension of the railways, and it is hoped that after this year the contributions from General Government funds may cease altogether. - , ... .... ROADS TO OPEN UP CROWN LANDS BEFORE •'•''■ •-' •' SALE. ' ■'■ '"■'■ ■ On these works, which are iiriderthe control ol my colleague the Minister of Lands, the expenditure during thelast financial year ha* been £49,314, and the* liabilities at end of March last amounted: to £70,072. There are , still however, many millions of acres of Crown land to be opened up, so that a' large amount of work of this class will require to be done for many years to come. The expenditireo during present financial year is expected : to reach about the amount of the liabilities existing in March last, namely, the sum of £70,072, and that is all that it is proposed to ask for as a f vote; but in addition to this sum, iUs proposed to ask the House to authorise the incurring of further liabilities during cnfrehtT year to the extent of, say, £80,000. ROADS UNDER THE ROADS AND BRIDGES CONSTRUCTION ACT. Main Roads. I—One-fourth1 — One-fourth of cost of work to be provided, or repaid in ten years, by the local body, and the balance to be found by the Government. — Under this heading the total amount of the,applications received on the 30th June, 1884, when,reduced in accordance with the act of 1883, came to £250,484 Of these applications, those which were for bridges were granted in full, while as regards those which were for road works, exclusive of bridges,' the available ;fund only admitted of their being granted to the extent of 30 per cent, of the amounts applied for. The total amount thus distributed for bridges and road works together amounted to £103,294.. In addition to these ordinary applications, there ivere also applications for repairs of extraordinary damages by floods, amounting to £13,577,' and grants were made on these -to the extent of £9005. The total applied for altogether on .account' of main roads was,! therefore, £264,061 , and- the total granted £'112,299, of which £60,975 was for bridges and ' £51,324 for otherworks. The amounts granted within each of the several provincial districts will be found in the following : — Auck-' land (Application) £69*201, (Grant) £26,466 ; Hawkes Bav do -614,921, do 8,438 ; Taranaki do £10,000, ho £4,116,; Wellington do £36,934, do £15,572; Nelson do £31,839, do .£23,242; Marlborough do £5,125, do £1,715 ; Westland do £9,940, do 4,965 ; Canterbury, do £19,715, do 5,513 ; Otago do -666.386, do £22,272 ; Totals (applications) £264;061; (grants) £112,299. District Boads and Bivers Works ; Total amount granted to be repaid in fifteen years. — On account ot thiss class of works the total amount applied for during the year ended March 'last : has ( been £34,593 (including applications amounting to £1186 for flood damages) ; and in pursuance of these applications, loans have been granted to the extent, of. £26,002. Of this sum, £25,402 was for roads and -2600 for river works. The several amounts granted within the various provincial districts are shown below:— Auckland (applications) £10,880, (grants) £5,314; Hawkes Bay do £250, do £250 ; Taranaki do ;£BOO, do £800 ; Wellington do £15,958, do £15958; Marlborough do £600 ; do £600 ; Canterbury do £2,101, do £451 ; Otago do £4 004, do £2,629; Total (applications). £34,593, (grants) £26,002. '■..■> TELEGRAPH EXTENSION. The telegraph extension during the year consisted of the erection of'' 190 miles of new lines and 437 miles of additional wire. The work of connecting Taupo with Cambridge by a new line, 65 miles in length, has been completed. This was undertaken with the view qf providing an alternative route to the north, and has had the effect.*of shorten ing the distance to Auckland bv 9P miles, besides cutting of a considerable length of coast line. A line from Collingwood to Cape Farewell Spit Lighthouse has been finished and opened for public use, and as a weather;reporting and signalling station for passing vessels will be of great value. The telegraph lines in use in the Colony at the end of March last extended to a total length of 4264 miles, carrying 10,474 miles of wire, of which 2820 miles is duplexed. Telephone exchanges were set up during the year at Nelson and Oamaru, and iarrangements have been completed for the erection of -such exchanges at Timaru and-Napier. The exchanges now in operation are seven — namely, at Auckland, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Oamaru, Dunedin, and Invercargiil ; and they yielded a gross revenue duPing the last 'financial year of £10,008 3s 6d. The expenditure on new works and extensions of all classes last year was .622,799 -,and the the vote proposed to he asked for this year is £25,900. PUBLIC BUILDINGS. The expenditure on the public building during the last year has been considerably less than for either the two previous years, having been onlv -6117,361. for 1884-85, as against £164,376 for 1883---84, and £153,072 for 1882-83. The liabilities on account of public buildings at the end of last year were also considerably less than at the end of the two previous years, having been only £10,424 in March, 1885, as against £41,753 in March, 1884, and £83,862 in March, 1883. The principal works in hand, when considered individually, having been the new convict prisons at Auckland and Wellington ; but the largest portion of the expenditure during the vear has been — for school buildings, £66,079; lunatic asylums, £24,992 ; and post and telegraph offices, £8955. HARBOR DEFENCES. Existing Defences. — At the end of March last it was considered advisable, owing to the threatened outbreak of war with Russia, to place the chief ports of the Colony in a state of defence as far as the means at the disposal of the Colony admitted, and to commence the construction of the necessary works for the reception of the guns. These works were proceeded with vigorously, and in about three months the whole of the guns available in the' Colony were mounted, and the necessary magazines, stores, barracks, and enclosing parapets I are now in a f a ; r state of completion. Defence works. — At Auckland works were undertaken at North Head, Point icsoluliqn, and Mount Victoria, The

first two works are almost completed, .and the third will bo completed for about £1200. The total cost of these works when completed will be about £13,200. At Wellimrton, works have been erected at Point Halswell, Gordon Point, and Kai war-fa. . T-liese works are all in a fair state of progress, and barracks have also I been erected for the Constabulary at Haitaitai Peninsula. The cost of the works at Wellington, when finished will be about -.15,000, which includes the making of a considerable extent of road and the erection of a redoubt on Mount Crawford! At Lytteltbh, works '"' have been constructed at Battery Point, Spur Point, and Erskine Point, and barracks have been erected for the : Constabulary working there! The work's will shortly he completed,' and their cost will be approximately £5200. Works have been constructed at Taiarpa Head for the de*fence of Port- Chalmers,' arid, also on the Ocean* Beach to protect " Dunedin *frbm bombardment. The cost of these works which are also nearly completed, will be £9600. The cost of the land will bring the total for all these works to about' £52,000/ "\ '- : ... . ; V ' Torpedo Defences.---A small number of Kubmariiie^iiines were supplied^by the Admiral .commanding the Australian Squadron. These, have been laid down at Auckland, and; the 64-pounder converted guns, also supplieji by y thie navy will be mounted at Auckland and Wellington. . ■ ;', ; . •'! . , ■-„' ;., .. proposed .Additional •' Defenees r T-?Tak 7 ing into consideration the recent improvements which have been made in the construction of or(lance^,i:_.hd,the methods of mounting euns inLoaast. defences, it was considered advjsiWe, for the better • protection of the harbors; and to prevent their bombardment^'aHpng range, to pro.-. 1 , vide 23 guns of thfe;ib|e^.^6, : as -well! as 20 machme g^ti^t^^ does, and other^^^jni^^ary^acs'fessories for coast defenceff.^;!^l^e';^ii^ supplied shortly at/ ~ : & is pro • ' posed tQ^o&htfwb^^^a^^jins and tbe 20 macfiine-^n^i^e^yeral ports, 'and alsp.fo^rdvtq^ of ; the Blu|t '^he^jSt^\fha Works will ; be greatly"^^^|edu^d^y^tilii^v«mployment . of the coi)B&bulaji^^^ ;• ;which wilj'.ioo exte^<^d|'4>ye!r a period tof abont tTjueSe ye£%i;;>|||s! : ')^sQ proposed [to establish^qmblfet^^ltetns of torpedo defence foraU ; th:^ this additional outlay; •;;. the c batteries them, selves are not c%sld6red!;t6!be thoroughly effective. The : cd.st of these, including . all necessary fifing ahd' : ; observing stations, boats cables,' and. stores, will be about £35,000, and SvilJ include all the most modern nhproveipents in this branch of military science. The total, cost of the scheme.' of defence will hot exceed £300,000, ; which is Vconsiderably less than has been paid for the fbrtifica^ tion of any of the principal Australian ports.' At the same time th(Bjnatural advantages afforded by the "places-to-be defended in New Zealand, andtlre-adpptipn of the latest improvements in ordn'dricfeV should fender their security, from attack equally well assured. PUBLIC WORKS FUND. V Oei the Ist April; 1884, -theft*;. wag £488,912 to the credit of the Public Works Fund, to which had- to be added £389,000; the last' instalment of a loan ot a million negotiated' in January,' 1884. Together these amounts make, £877,912. To this must be added the receipts during the year of £100,000, the proceeds of deficiency bills ; £500,000, temporary . advances , and £845,000, the instalment " of ihe million loan negotiated in January • last, which was brought to cre'dit before the end of the financial year. : There Avas tiesides £41 13/ received under, section 9 of the Kailways Construction Act, 1878. • The receipts, therefore, amointed altogether to £2 5 ,327,025. As against this the expenditure was £1,336,727, leaving a balance of £990,298 on the 31st March, 1885." ; ■■' Of this, however, about £250;000 was outstanding as 'advances in ':* the hands of officers, and there was £600,000 besides required to pay off the. deficiency bills and the' temporary advances! The expenses of negotiating the last million - of the three-million loan had not heen brought to account, hut,, on /the other handy dti instalment of £155,000 of > this loan remained to be paid. It will be seen, therefore, that, of that famous three-million loan, together with its little sister, » the £250,000 colonial inscribed loan, all had . passed away on the 31st ' March last,, excepting 'about a quarter of a million and about a like amount in the hands of officers to be accounted for. ■ In • these figures, the million loan, authorised for the North Island Trunk Railway has not been included ; that loan, as hon : members are aware, not having as yet . been raised, and the funds for the. works so far undertaken on that railway having been temporarily provided ; by advances-.' from loans authorised for other purposes. These advances willy of "course, have to. he recouped! when the loan for the -North Island line is floated. The credit balance therefore, at the commencement of the . • present financial year, was,- as.l have already stated, £990,298. To this has to be added £155,000, the last instalment, to which I .Save also; : alluded, of the three million loan, 'and .61,500,000 for the loan of that amount floated in May, making together .£2,645:298; _ On the other hand there must be deducted from this sum the £600,000 required to pay off the deficiency bills, and to repay the temporary advances obtained last ..year.'., I must say that when war seemed irnmi-' ; nent, it was deemed expedient to contract, expenditure, - and it has riot l>een considered desirable to much extend it dur- . ihg the session. Thus, during theftrst four months of tha presentyear ithe; ex- v penditnre if om the Public Works Fund has proceeded at little oyer the fate \6t £850,000 a year.' Some heavy orders for defence material have been given, . and payment may have to be made on this account shortly. Even taking the. defence expenditure into account, however, I- estimate that the amounts coming "'. in for payment up to tbe 31st March - next may be kept within £1,250;000. Expenditure, however, will continue to proceed under the liabilities contracted without reference to any further expenditure, to be authorised next session, we must always calculate upon .about a quarter of a million being in the hands of officers for advances. Taking this into v account and the million and a quarter of expenditure which I anticipate within the year, we shall have available, of the balance with -lyhieh we began this year, about half a million for next year on the 31st March. Seeing the period at which Parliament generally meets, and the pressing business which first engages its attention, we think it desirable that provision should be. made for another million, which might be negotiated at any time' after March, when the opportunity seems best. I hope it will take us well inth 1887, but of that of course, the . House will best be able to judge next yeaf. For the. year now current the amounts ./ which wo propose to ask the House to authorise ar* as follows :— For immigration, with liabilities to end of March amowntiner to £8000, we ask for a vote of £30.373, thus providing for new undertakings to the extent of £22,373. For departmental expenditure, with.li.abilitits of £779, we ask for. a vote of £28,931. For • railway works of all classes, with liabilities of £497,525, we ask for a vote of £1;347,400, the details for the several classes of works beitig an follows, namely— New works, conatriiPtion and land, with liabilities of £231,444, ; amount asked for, £904,300. Additions to opened lines, with Habilitips of £83.563 ; amount asked for £172,100. P«rm>menl-way, sleepers, , and rolling Mock, with liabilities of £181,586 ; amount asked for £268,00(). Stifvpvs of now lines of railway, with liabilities of £932 ; amount aaked fay

£3000. The grand total, "ris before stated, beine £1,347,400, including liabilities existing at end of .March last ainomiting.to £497,525. This will yivo £849,875 for new undertakings, For roads of all classes, witli liabilities of £380,453, we nsk for a vote of ±-586,704. Thiu includes various classes of roads as follows :— Roads north of Auckland, with liabilities of £66.301 ; amonnt asked tor, £69.229. Main roads, with liabilities of £15,209 ; amount asked for, j45,100. .Miscellaneous roads and bridges, with liabilities of £29,420 ;| amount asked for, £83974.* Grants maid, under the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, and subsidies to local bodies, with liabilities of £166,329 ; amount asked for, £268,329. Roads to open up Crown lands, with liabilities of £70,072 ; amount asked for expenditure this year, £70,072* Roads on goldfifilds with liabilities of £33,122 ; Amount asked foroxpenditure.this year, £50,000. Total for roads ft all classes, as before stated, £586,704, with liabilities jjof, £380,453, being an addition of £206,251 For watef-workH'on goldfields, with liabilities of £7369, wo. ask for r vote of £30,20 ». For public buildings, with liahil.ites of i-10.424, we ask for a vote £156,510. This includes school buildings, £68,230, •as against liabilities ut cud of Marvh last of £2230. . The vote proposed for buildings as » wliole this year is considerably less than last year, although the gross amomit for school buildings is practically the same, and. the amount available for school huildingi, exclusive ;"of liabilities, spine £600Q more that) last year. For lighthouses and liarbnr work» (uicludinjt barhor defences); with liabilities of £ 119,220, w« ask for a vote »f £266,010, thus providing £146,790 for ' new undertakinep. The amount, included,, in' tin's' for harbor defences^ is ■ £250,000, as agaiTißt iihbillties 1 at' Slfit ilarch of '£1i4,7Ci0/Viut the liabilities siu.ee "tlii.t date 1 have^b.ceff liwg^ly increased, and now^.monpt up to clibse^^npoit the atiipurit of the vpte'^proposoil. -For telegraph extension, with liabilities of £6000, w« ask for a v0te0f £29,900.. ■For purchase of Native '-laticl^'.-w.itb estitnat'sd liabilities m all of £V? 3,200, we ask for a vote of £70,000, that beiiiyr sufficient to m«et the; briibable pajmMits wln'cb, will become due during the •Mirrrtiit year.. For 'cOiargos and exponsfis/ of: raisins: loans. We «sk tyr avwti« t of^ JIiO.OOO. This total ainomit' propss>d Jo bo voted is. thus; £2,602,036, ; which includes liabilities aiiiouutins: t.^^eii2o2;97o: Drdftotiiig from these liabilities the sum of £103,200 ♦ prospectiTe ljabjlitii>B. on Native, land> ptirchases, which • ■'»/« .iipi* at' pVeHetit rsquired to be i (Provided for, 'tlie'-'anidunt : available for ii<nv^ iindertakings would { thus be m nil £1';5p2,266,; biit, as al- ; ready stated, i^isjonly 1 cou torn plated .'.to ". spend this : ye^r ablmt \ which 'is .^vjfiry ; slight: in^ excess ; of the liabilities ; already : .exisiijjjj. • To show* how bjorpwed money .has been '■■ expended for. rpa^s and .tuidges, -I neiftd .'; only qiipfo the, f p llowi ig figures j ::-T^lQ80-- ; 81,^3b,844:;185i:82,5145 y 948 51882k 83, i*210,605 ; 188384, i' 328,64 1; 1884-----85, £3l7iO43.\^The Roads .^d'^fiages , Construction Act.only :* comes dntol the amounts of the last two years.,. The amount I have mentioned for J88&84 'includes the grants. under the> Roads: lind Bridges Construction Act £100^398, and for 1884t85 £149j982 is incliided^ an J d,. when we are about' to propose its repeal, we have to Vote £216,000 tofulfil^obligations under it. If this Act rpmams on the statute book, I hesitato to. "hazard . aii estimate of yrhat the yearly vote out oO loan would grb\y to. The Government does not under-Valuo the nqed ot such colonising wprks as roads fridges, nor hasthe Hpjuae denipd thejr utility ; biit the question js, sJiaU ihe -pohsol.idated Fund j and the districts concerned, bear the ujain part of burden, br : nnwt we go-on increasing the debt of the: Colony for mails and bridges ? Notwi thstandin « the i ncrease under tl ri> Act ' last year, we reduqed the Expenditure on these; work? by •£li,ooo.cuTne total yote for ; roads and bridges, mcludirig-the amount under the Construction Act, and including the amount for snbsidiea, is about £170\000 lesithan ihe last year, and; I hope we shall be » able. to do" with. a less actual expenditurei, . ' - > : Wednesday. In the House thif afternoon Major Atkinspii ,stated that to-morrow he would 'move resolutiona traversing the financial policy .of the Government, m which he would traverse the expenditure of the Government, the' East, apd West Coast Railway question, and the loan bill. He hoped the Gbvernment would give him to;rnorrow evening to bring forward the resbintioas. If they would not he would give notice of these resolutions on going into Committee of Supply. The Premier stated that he ponsidered the question as a vote of want of confidence, *and would agree to proceed with business. He woulct/niove that the 'House adjourn unntil to-raprrow.. ■ : 7 v ; The motion Jthat the House adjourn until 7.80 to-morrow evening was car- ' ried. . '■ -■■ ■ ■ . '•" ■'•'.■'■'•-.'''",. '" ' LAND TRANSFER BILL. The Hoiise went into committee oh this Bill, and the House rose* at 11.15 . * m .... : '" \ —■. '■"■■/■-; ;■■ - : r' ...