PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 189, 10 August 1881, Page 2

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT

[The first portion of the Statement -will be found on the fourth page.J ASSISTED COMPANIES. I have already said that negotiations have been opened with the promoters of Companies for carrying out the lines from Wellington to Foxton, and from Canterbury to Westland, and that one part of the proposals is a grant of Crown lands by way of subsidy. The Government are assured that subsidies in the form of land grants would induce capitalists to undertake useful works of this character which the condition of the Public Works fund and of the revenue, and the pledges of the colony preclude the Legislature from proceeding with at present. Although with regard to the Otago Central Line no definite proposals have reached the i Government, I do not doubt that so favorable an opportunity for the exercise of private enterprise will be taken advantage of. It appears also far | from improbable that the construction of the line north of Auckland which has already been partly surveyed may at no distant date be undertaken on similar conditions. With this view I shall bring down a Bill authorising such grants," within limits to be laid down, and under arrangements to be subject to the approval of Parliament. This mode of engaging private capital in the

development and colonisation of the country, the Committee ia well aware, is no novelty; it has been employed on the largest scale in the United States, in Canada, and also in Queensland, and with good results. The method of dividing the territory abutting on the proposed lines in alternate blocks of moderate area for grants to the Railway Company and for retention by the State removes all possibility of the lands being occupied advantageously in very large areas, a danger which in any case would not be serious since the peopling of the adjoining l^gds is the most obvious mode of making the railway enterprise profitable. _ roads. I contrive to bring all our proposals tinder thi3 head within one view, whatever department may be charged with their execution. But ihere 13 a distinction between oar other suggestions and those for roads to open up Crown lands. The fall amount required for the roads of this class, viz., £150,000, will be shown in the Estimates, but it ia proposed to extend the construction over three years, and not to expend more than some £50,000 dnricg the enrrent year. The total vote asked for froads and bridges, including expendiinre in the March-June qnarter and all liabilities to the 30th June, amounts to about £260,000. In a schedule to be attached to this Statement is a fall account of the road works propcEed, beginning with the most yortherly, and taking them in their geographical order. It is proposed to run a road through the fertile region extending from Kawakawa to Okaehou and Victoria Valley. In the Counties of Mongonui, Whangarei, Rodney, and Waitemata ;there are blocks at present inaccessible which will be opened by cross roads run in from the main line. One hundred miles of new read will penetrate the Crown lands lying north of Auckland which comnrise an area of 1,200.000 acres. [We omit the reference to the other North Island roads] Commencing at Cook's Straits there are three arterial lines of communication which require opening np or completing; (1) the road along the East Coast from Blenheim by Kaikoura and Green Hills to the Waiau township; (2) a road through the middle of the island from Nelson by the Upper Wairau, Acheron, and Upper Clarence to the Hanmer Plains; and (3) from Nelson by the Hope and Bnller Valleys to Westport and Greymonth. Another important line is the main road from Blenheim, Picton, and Havelock by the Pelorus and Rai Valleys to Nelson which will render available a considerable tract of valuable timber land in the Rai Valley as shown by the estimates and detailed statements which will be laid before yon. It is aleo proposed to open up com rannication by means of roadß and tracks with all the outlying districts in the Island where settlement is going on. Tbe principal workß of this kind, not included in the main roads just mentioned, are a3 follows:— In the Provincial district of Marlbcrough, Awatere Shearing Reserve ; in Nelson, Aorere Valley, Wakefield to Stanley Brook, Matakitiki to Marnia Valley, Grey Valley to Teremakau and Cobden to Seventeen Mile Beach Diggings. In Westland and Canterbury, Dillmanstown to Christchurch. Road ; Upper Ashley Valley. In Otago a large number of roads to open up runs, the leases of which will shortly fall in, and which will be available for settlement. As already stated the expenditure for giving effect to the proposal for opening np Crown lands will be spread over a period of three years, but it is intended that it should be commenced without delay. HARBOR WORKS. Greymouth— -There can be no doubfc that the condition and effects of the works at the mouth of the Grey river, and the importance of the coal deposits of the district warrant, and call for, the necessary expenditure for continuing the operations advised by Sir John Coode. Westport : I ask also for a vote for experimental works at Westport which will probably be found necessary, and the erection of which may be justified by some of the same reasons a3 the operations at Grevxnouth. LIGHT HorSES. Instructions have been given to have the neighborhood of Waipapa and Slope Points carefully examined for the purpose of determining the precise site which should be adopted, and a vote is proposed for the erection of the light house, and steps -will at once be taken to procure a suitable light. The light and appliances which have for some time been in store at Auckland for erection at one of the islands as a guide to the entrance of Hauraki Gulf, will now be utilised for the object for which they were procured. A small sum will also be asked for the erection of leading lights already in store at the entrance of Tory Channel, and for placing a substantial beacon on the French Pass. "WATER TVOEKS ON GOLDFrELDS. The Kumara sludge channel will bs finished, and it is proposed to augment the water supply by the construction of another reservoir in the Kspitea Valley. It ia intended to nsake a diversion of the Argyle water race near its head and to substitute a tunnel for the open race and fluming which at this place are very costly to man tain. The Mokonui water race in its entirety involves such an exceedingly large outlay that the Government are unable to proceed at present with the general scheme. They propose to have further inquiries instituted as to the benefit to be derived from the work and as to whether some less costly provision is not practicable. The section in hand between Koss and Donnelly Creek will be finished, aa it will eventually be of some service in working the higher levels of auriferous ground. PUBLIC BUILDINGS. With the exception of additional school buildings, for which & less sum is asked than last year, and for increased accommodation m some of the Lunatic Asylum*, votes will only be asked to meet a few pressing caaes in which for some time past the public service has seriously suffered for want of proper office accommodation. IMMIGRATION. Operations under this head have been almost suspended during the paat year The state of the labor market ia still such that we should not be justified in attempting to renew a large assisted immigration. Believing as we do that a considerable addition to the population of New Zealand is as necessary for the development of the country as it is to the prosperity of those who ara now settled within its borders, we look forward to being able at no distant date to again afford facilities for the introduction of Bnitable immigrants, but, at present, circumstances do not permit us to do more than to assist a number of persons who have been to some degree surrised by the suspension of ■übsidized Immigration, and to extend this assistance to a very limited number of single women and of nominated immigrants who are anxious to join their relations in the colony The Government look on State immigration operations as involving a higher degree of moral responsibility than perhaps any other with which they are charged. The vote asked for, including a miDimum staff in the colony, and in England, and the maintenance of buildings is £24,973. CONCLUSION. After alluding to Major Atkinson's financial policy, Mr. Hall said— The character of the proposals to be made on the meeting of next Parliament must depend to a great degree upon the financial experience of the enrrent year, but I wish bow to affirm a few principles which will be observed in our propositions, should we be honored with the continued confidence of the conntry, and should our finance, as we anticipate, justify our immediate forward movement. First, we shall make our proposals as Ministers of the v,'ho!e Colony, although not ncglectin-the claims, needs, and prospects of any one of its varied districts Secondly, we shall ask tho Legislature to define ,ts future undertakings with all possible precision and to five tho fullest guarantee in its power that the undertakings so defined shall be faithfully carried out. Thirdly, we shall ask that fu'ure borrowing operations be limited strictly in amount by the calculable prospects of the country, and that borrowed money be employed only for works which give reasonable promise of being remunerative within such a period as sound financial calculations contemplate. Elaborate schedules'of the proposed works and their cost are attached to tbe statement.