PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 191, 9 August 1873, Page 2

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

The Minister for Public W orks (the lion R Richardson) moved for leave to introduce a bill, lo amend the "Immigration and Hublic Works Act. 1872." He said that he would avail himself of the opportunity to make the annual Statement as to the progress of PuWic Works. He thanked his predocpssors, Mr Ormond and Mr Reevei, for valuable information as to the position of various matters ; nnd he faid that through the arduous exertions of the cfilcers. especially Mr Carruthers and Mr lilackett. ihe Government had been enabled to perform their promises. Tbe enormous work in prepaung returns called for by members, almost t'to: ped the ordinary work of the department during last session The tables appended to the statement had now been altered in form with a view to save time by supplying such information as was demanded last sesrion. In connection with the North Island road works, the Government had endeavoured speedily to bridge all the larger and more dangerous streams on the lines of road ordered' to be constructed. Natives had b?en ernploj eel on the roads wherever possible; they ban worked faithfully aud at moderate rates, and a de-dre to enter into contracts was spreading amongst them. Mr Katene bad had general charge of the works in the upper portion of the district north of Auckland, ami the Provincial 'Government had taken charge of the exppnditure of £10,000 in the more im mediate neighborhood of Anckland city. The Armed Conetabu ary had done work during the year to the. value of £2,260. The amounts expended in the severnl provinces during the year W ere~- Auckland, £35 555 2s 5d ; Taranaki, £17.695 lis 9d; Hawke's Bay, £5,507 9s sd; Wellington, £32,017 6s sd; making a total of £93,803 10s. The total expenditure out of the North Island mad fund up to the end of the year was £215,789 10s, divided thus: Auckland, £66 395 9* td; Taranaki. £37 608 6s 91, Hawke's Bay, £^0.956 tis Id; Wellington, £7,93 1 13s sd; and unapjiortionable, £1,747 lis sd. The liabilities for contracts in hand at the end ot the year were : Auckland, £35 934 I^s4il; Taranaki, £5.631 16s 7d; Hawke's Bay, ££897*> lite; and Wellington £24,424 ls lOd. There was thus a total of £290, 75*-* 16- 9d expended or appropriated, leaving £109,247 3s 4d. out of the £400,0110 voted. The allocation of that sum wms. however, s'ibject to a balance of £431,270 13s 5d (?) out of the £60.000 net aside last session for roads north of Auckland. The £-i9o.7h'>- 17s 6d represented 1,141 miles of dray road and 470 miles of horse road opened or in progress — the Patea and Waitotara bridges on the West Coast and several other large ones would be completed during tbe financial year. • The bridge at* the Manawatu Gorge would be made suitable for railway purposes, and it was hoped that by the end of nett summer there would be a good traversable road from Wellington to Napier, and to WaDganui. The Scandinavians had done much good work on tbis road. On the Nelson South-Wast Goldfields £26,652 19a 9 1. had been expended during thu year, and the outstanding liabilities amounted to £9,233 ls Od. During the year there had been opened thirty-three anl a-half miles of first-class metalled road, nine miles had heen made passable for heavy traffic, and surveys for fifty mile** of main ro**d had Inen compl- ted. The balance of the vote would be expended this year. Ah to Westland road*, fair progress had bi en made with all authorised works, and ic whs expected that the vote wou'd be wholly expen ed this year. The expectations rai a- ?d by Mr Ormond's Statement last yi ar bad been realised as far as possible, and except as to two lines in Welli gton Province, all the lines were now as forward, if not* more forwar I, than it was last year anticipated they would be Fair progress had been made witjh the Kiverhead and Helen:-vi le line There had lit-en delays as t) rails, but it was hop d they would be rt ceive lin about, thr^e months. The iii c was to eo>*t lens p u r mile than many others, but the gradients weri heavier than on any oilier, excepting thi Wellington and Masterton at lhe Kimutaki ranges. There was no ballast, in the or Unary sense of the term, provided for, and if there proved to be much

heavy traffic on the line, considerable additional expense would have to be incurred* A satisfactory arrangement would no doubt be arrived at, but at present between the Provincial and the General Governments, the contractors had more or less suffered. It was expected that the 1-iiverhead and Auckland line would be ready for contract in September. The entirely new survey would result in lessening cost and increasing accommodation. From Auckland to Onehunga, the line would be ready for opening in about nix weeks ; and between Auckland and Mercer the works would doubtless be completed within the contract time, lst September, 1875. On the Napier to Waipukaruo Messrs Brogden avo .Id have to exert; themselves more than they had yet done i' they were to complete the Napier to Pakipaki station by the Ist December, 1873, according to contract. The remainder of the line would be advertised for contract as soon as the surreys, now in a lorward state, were completed. On the line, Waitara to Wanganui, Messrs Brogden had the contract for the fection of e'evenrnilesfrom the Waitarato New Plymouth. It was proposed to push on the survey of the line generally, and to incur an additional expenditure of £100,000. The greatest care would be taken not to let the other contracts, especially for any portion in the rear of Mount Fgmont, until the en gineer was satisfied the best possible route had b en obtained; thu cost would be about £5,8d0 a mile, as many bridges would be required Work would be begun at the Wanganui end. A satisfactory account of the progress of'the first section of thc Wellington and Masterton lino could not be given, but Messrs Brogden had given an assurance that its completion would not be much delayed beyond the contract time (lst of September) The works on the second section wtro progressing favorably; despite tho uneasiness felt that more of this line was not in haud, he was convinced that as yet every clay's delay had been for th;* benefit of the country, and that there had been no more delay than was necessary to satisfy* tlie Government; that the best and cheapest means ot crossing tho Rimntaki hud been ascertained. This had now been rone, and thc line to Fealherston would speedily be put under contract. The best route for the Wang-unii and Manawatu line had i.t length been settled as far as Turakina. The point for crossing the Wanganui River had also beon decided, and desurns for the large bridge which would he necessary were being prepared Timo, unfortunately, had i cen lost at first through not getting good surveyors; but the delay had enabled the Engineer-fn-Chief to reduce the cost very considerably. The Provincial Government of Wellington had agreed to hnnd over the Parae Karetu block, of 46,000 acre*?, as part security for the additional cost of making this lint — a railway instead of a tramway — and thoy will hand over additional lands as tho works proceed. The speed of construction will depend upon the progress of the settlement under the Kmigraut and <'olonists' Society coming to the South Island. The J.? elson and Foxhill line ought to be fini-hed in about eighteen months. It was at present intended to take the direct route, but the Government had determined to hear and to judge of all that could be advanced in favour of the more expensive coast lorte. The Picton and Blenheim line wonld no doubt be finished within the contract time, and for somewhat less than the authorised amount. The Uaogiora and Nortli Kowai. line (Canterbury), would probably be completed in eighteen months. Considerable progress had been made by the contractor, Mr Wright, with thei work for the very heavy bridge across the Ashley. The Rakaia and Ashburton section of the Great Southern Railway ot Canterbury was so far advanced that its eomp'etion depended upon the supply of sleepers which were now coming to hand. There had been difficulty in deciding the best route for the Ashburton to tbe Temuka sec-ion of the same line. Thc greater portion of it had been olfered to Messrs. Brogden under tneir own agreement, but the offer had bee-.i refused, and tenders would soon be invited for smaller contract.*-. The Timaru and Temuka line was under contract to be completed in January, 1874 The Waitaki bridge hud been delayed throueh change of design in Kngland No doubt the bridge sent out was moie substantial tban was intended to be buil'*, but tb?t*e was equally no doubt that had the Engineer-in-Chief *s design been adhered to, the river would now have beea spanned by a useful bridge. Tenders woul i now be called for the erection, as soon as fome preliminary inquiries could be made. Satisfactory progress was boing made with the Waitaki to Moeraki line. The Dunedin to Clutha line had priiiressed so far rs to enable Messrs Brogden to complete it within contract time. A bonus had been offered for c ach month the line was open for traffic within the contract time. The Tokomairiro to Lawrence line was under contract, and would in all probability be completed concurrency with that 'rom Dunedin to the Clutha. The InvercargiU and viataura line was not; progressing satisfactorily. The first section of the line Winton to Kingston had been let, and it wai intended to let another section about the end of this year. The only coal railway in hand was that from the Brunner to Greymouth. The deed of purchase of the Port Chalmers Railway was upon the table of the House. When the contemplated improvements were completed, the £'75 000 paid for the iine would be increased to £210,000, The House would be asked to vote the additional sum The Government had no doubt that the price would have been much increased had the purchase been delayed, and possession of the line was an absolute necessity. A sebstantial offer to leuae the line for several years at a rate which would have given Ik per cent on the outlay, was received immediately ait*-r the purchase. The line was under lease to the Provincial Government from year to year, the province being charged with the interest on the <ost of the railway. Considerable progress bad been made with the Canterbury branch railways. It was estimated that in addition to the thirty-one miles now open in Canterbury, aDd the eight miles of the Port Chalmers line, 125 miles would be opened and in full working order by the end of the financial year, making a total of 164 miles; another 42 miles would probably be opened during May and June next. Though not in full working order, apart from the line now opeu, 44 miles were un - der contract, and 160 miles more would be let in the course of a few months, the surveys and plans for which might be said to * - e complete There would then remain 168 miles of authorised lines for which plans had be?n prepared. The Government believed that all the authorised lines would be completed wi bin the cost specified by the House, and also within the times named last year, excepting the short length between the Ashburton and Rangitaka rivers in Canterbury. All the railways the Government were bouud to offer to Messrs. Brogden had been offered, and aftor that length had been offered to the firm, every work would be advertised for public tender. Of goldfields water supply works, four were in progress of construction or survey, namely, the Thames water-race, estimated to cost £48,594, the Waimea race £61,235, the Nelson Creek race £30,446, and the Mount Ida race and sluicing channel £'2,375. The following subsidies had been granted to companies : — Hohoanui, Westland, £1,533, Hibernian, Westland, £2,000, NewRiver, Westland, £3 333, Arrow River, Otago £612 Seven applications for subsidies had not been finally dealt with. The examination and development of the coal resources of the colony were being prosecuted as vigorously as was consistent with due caution, so as to avoid the misdirection of capital. The expenditure for explorations dnrin,? the year had been £1,609, and there were liabilities amounting to £1,405. The Government were in treaty for the purchase of several large blocks of Native land, and. they had secured other large tracts on long leases. The expend ture for such lan*'s during the year had been £36.655. and tne total amount was £86,819. For this snm 771,819 acres have been purchased and 55 .560 acres were under negotiation, the purcba-e of which was estimated to absorb all that remained of the amount appropriated for the purpose. The additional railway works proposed were Mataura to Clutha, 50 miles; Dunedin to Moeraki 55 miles;

Timaru to Waitaki, 41 miles. These were in the £outh Island. The survey of the first has been completed, that of th*** second will be completed this month, and an old preliminary survey of the third was enough to enable an estimate to he mide. In the North Island a survey had been completed from Mercer to Newcastle, and the crossing place on the Waikato river had been fixed. JSo work would be undertaken beyond Ngaruawahia, except such as would form part of thc North Island Trunk railway. The Waikato bridge would be used for road and railway purposes Drawings had been prepared, and an order for the cylinders was sent last mail. A flying survey had been made to ascertain whether the Thames district could bo connected with the trunk-line south irom Auckland The report was before the Houee, hut it was not intended to iocur further expenditiue at present. The report shows that there is no engineering difficultp in the way, but action would be unwise until the direction of the trunkline had been settled. The Greymouth protective works had so far resulted well, but, to provide for the anticipated coal and ordinary railway traffic, a further approprirlion would have to he asked. The unappropriated balance for surveys would enable a route for the Fox<hill nnd Brunner line to be pxnlored, and would also enable the Engineer-in -Chief to survey for a junction between the West Cojist and the trunkline on the East Coast of the South Island, as well as for the continuation of the Waikato Kaihvay. The Government propose to construct a railway from tho Ngakawau over to Westport, and to carry out gradually Mr Higginson's suggestions for protective works on the Buller — works whieh it is believed will protect Westport, and improve the means of shipping coal, &c Up to June 30, 1872, the total . expenditure for all purposes under the " Immigration and Public Works Act " was £678,653 10s. Gd.; and during the year '872-3 there was expended £1,116,259 3s. 2d., making a total of £1,794,942 13s. Sd. There were, on the 30th June last, liabilities in the colony, and for railway nv*terials and rolling stock ordered from England, sufficivnt to complete all the railways already authorised, except the coal lines, amounting to £2,035,511 15s. 3d. There was thus a grand total of expenditure and liabilities amounting to £3,830,454 Bs. The additional works now proposed formed part of the original scheme adopted in 1870, and withotit them much of the work in hand would be of comparatively littie value. The Government would use their utmott endeavor to bring all these works to a successful termination, and that termination could have no other result tban to add enormously to the wealth and prosperity of the country. Leave was given to introduce the Bill, which was read a first time, and ordered to be read a second time on Friday next.