Public Works Statement.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 189, 10 August 1881, Page 4

Public Works Statement.

[PKE TRESS ASSOCIATION.^] Wellington, Tuesday Nisbt. Tbe Premier dr-Hvcred tbe Public Wcrks Statement this evenic^. After regretting the loss of Mr Oliver from the Minify, he cocqicnced at occe to speck of the RAILWAYS. The considerable pxnp«r'i*ure of ibe yeer, Erooontirp (o £969,165, had been almost wholly upon works begun before the period 1880-81. The votes of lost year bad not been exhausted. No single group of lines can be eaid to be | absolutely finished and provided with suitable nppliacces, bat the lines for the mogt par! ore equal Jo an extended traffic. Beginning ia the North, he eaid the Aocklßnd.Woikaio line wbb of considerable interest to the whole colony. The advance, since the date of the last statement, on the southern side of -Auckland was to Te Awamuto, which is' within three miles of the "southern boundary of the eocfiecated territory in the Waikaio district. The line thus extended is cow close on 100 miles in length, and with ihe Kaipara line will form a continuous railway of 140 miles. With the Waikatc-Tbames line ome prcgrf-Fs bfss been trade. On the Anekbn^-Waikato line from Hamilton toward Morrisville the formation is finished for a dißtanceof fourteen miles and the remaining four miles of th. aeoticn are now in hsnd. No part of the line csn be usefully woiked until the bridge over the Waikato, at Hamilton, is erected. At the otter end of the Thempe-Wfiikato line, o contract has been let for tfap formation between Grabsmsfo^n and Kopu, where a deep water wbnrf can be obtained. NAPIER-WELLINGTON (nOEIHEEN DIVISION. ) The northern division of thia track line between Hawkes Bay and Wellington has been lengthened by four miies thirteen chains, and the gap in the trunk line is thus reduced to about 80 miles, Some work has been done on the southern division of this railway, bat no extension has been effected, and the northern terminus remains at Masterton. NEW PLYMOUTH FOXTON. The northern division the trunk line, being the portion from New Piymouth to Hewers, a length of about 51 miles, is completed. Twelve miles brtween Ngaere and Normanby were opened for trtffie during the last year, and the remainder will be opened in a few days. The southern division of the New Plymouth-Foxton lice, being the length between Hawera and Foxton, ha 3 now a total extension of 98 milep, of which 19 miles between Ksiiwi and Waverley have been opened during tie year. The length remuino iDg to unite Wavcrley and Hawera ia 25 roilee, of which the precise direction between Hacawctu acd Hawera is as yet undetermined. The Wacganui whar! la 3 been finished, and has a total frontage available for vessels o? about 940 feet. Steps are bo ing t&ken to provide the nect-Eesry eiation buildings on the r-claciation. and to bring the new station into proper working order, FOXTC N-WELLIK Gl ON. The earthworks on this part of the trunk line, the total length of which is cbont seventy miles, were begun in the neighborhood of Wellington by tbe labor of the unemployed, but /ends not being available for iis continuation the works have been discontinued. The Bouse will be aware that with a view of carrying on tbe project a eompeny bes been initiated in Wellington. The promoters have been in treaty wiih tbe Government for terms including the grant of lands on the lite of the earthwo»ks execnted, scd of materials already provided. Tbe Government propose aIEO to undertake the definition and eurvey of the whole line, and in any arrangements which may be made to reserve to the whole Colony the right of purchase. The completion of the work would open unbroken railway communication between Wellington and the whole of tbe Wacgßcui and Taranaki country by a line of 240 miles. There is still required to complete the trunk line, uneurveyed intervale of 126 mifeß on the west, and 360 miles* on the eest, to separate the extremity of the Waikato line ct Te AweiE&tu from Wcitsr.'(Tsroneki) aud Napier fHawke's Baj) respectively. Ihe Government v?"iii lose no oppor?ur.i=y which m»y present itself for obtainiii^ such information with regard to the interveeing country as will enable the best mode of completing this rcain arterial line to be determined. PICTON- HURCNUI. Crossing the Straits, we enter th? PictoE-Blenheim section, on which the oniy work completed during the yetr is tbe extension to the town of Blenheim, a distance of ]£ miles; including tbe building of Opawa bridge and Blenheim ststion. A "vote will be proposed for liabilites and sundry work on the Blenheim extension, and for at length breaking ground en the greal trunk line to the South. NELBON-BQUNDELL. The works on this section are the forming of the three miles extension from the inland terc:iDUß at Fox Hii! to Bell Grove, a forest countty, from ' "which a timber tr&ffie m*>y be Cbleulme-i on, with very small increase to the working expecgee. Ihe permanent way ia finished, end the siaiion workf are so Lr aovacced £8 to admit of the line being opened immediately, nnK"n*stji-ELt"FF. The main line, tbe lougest continuous trunk line, in the colony, measuring from the Burmuu river, (the old provincial boundary of Nelson Bnd Canterbury), to the Bluff, 443 miles (exclusive of brat-c^ee) h*s duriun; the year been cempitted lion Amberley to Wsip&rs, by en exter-.^ion oi 7 teiles at tbe nctthtrn extrtamy, leaving 19 miles to eompleto \ho wboL ciat&ica to the Hurucui. The extrusion hern Waipara to Wsikar^ a disjenco of 9 miles, will, I hope, be completed id time for the e*neoicg grain and wool aeaeon, but tbe section from thence (o the Haruoui awoUs former aorvey,

INCREASE OE LINES. The ioifil incre&ce of working iincs in the Colossy, susataing up the additions mado to tbe working liceo in both lelacJs nuring {ho year, gives b to ! a! o f ICG Eiles. This gives a length of 2287 oi!e3 of frein railwaya and branehec new in v**ork. To compleSe tbe MAIN TRUNK LIKES in both IsUads, the following additions will be required :— ln the North IsJend : From Wellington to Foxtoc seventeen miles ; from Waverley to twenty-five miles ; and from WaHara to Te Awsmutu 120 miles ; being a total of over 215 miles ; besides the pnp of 83 miles oq the Welling-ton-Nepier line Ir the Middle Islond : A length of about 140 miles between Blenheim and Waikari will complete the trunk line from Picton to the Bluff. Reviewing the year's experience of working rail way p, he said that important changes had been effected in tbe administration of this Department, and that the results of the traffic have been on the whole satisfactory. In the passenger tr&ffic there has indeed been a conediirable failing off. The decrease has not been caused by any increase in passenger fare?, which have not been raised ; indeed in some cases reductions have been made. This falling eff has effected chiefly the busiest paris of the country. On tbe Hurunuißluff lines, which furnish three-fourthe of the whole receipt?, it nearly reached 10 per cent, on that of the preceding period, though the leDgtb of lines open to traffic has been augmented by above 4£ per cent. There has been a contemporaneous end very gf-neral and large increase of the goods traffic revenue, amounting to 24 per cent. On the two classes of receipts, namely paesiiDgers and goods combined, there has been fin increase of nearly 10 per cent. Thanks partly to this augmentation, and partly to increased economy ia management, tbe net returns from the railways as a whole have, during the past year, been equal to £3 18s 3d per cent on the cost of construction. EEVENDE. The gross reveuue for the year 1888-81 amounted to £836,454, against £762, 572 in 1879-80, an increaieof £73,882, and the net revenue was £314,497, against £182.562 in 1879 80, an in- . crease of £131,935, the difference between tbe two increases, £58,053, being due to the causes already pointed out. Notwithstanding tbe increase of mileage under work, (9 per ceni) the total cost of maintenance and traffic was reduced from £580,010 in 1879-80 to £521,957 in 1880-81, a reduction exceeding 10 per oent, and as large probably as due care of the lines and plant will permit in the existing stats of the trtffie. Only two openings for further economy seem suggested. First, the selections in future purchases o: iocetnotives which experience suggests as moat suitable, and fhe employment of the fuel which, having regard to it* I cost, hns proved moßfc effective, and it v?ill be satisfactory to observe that NEW ZEALAND COAL. alone is now Uied on the locomotives, and that the returns show that the Wesporfc coal may claim to rank in point of value for locomotive purposes above that obtained from the Newcastle, JS.S.W., mines, which stand second on the list. The second hope of economy arises from what appears at first sight the excessive proportion of locomotive expenditure under the head " shunting." The proportion of the whole working expenses due to maintenance is thirtyfive per cent of this amount. The cost of the daily operations for keeping the permanent way true in form and leve), absorb 23 h per cent. The cost of material in repaire of the way is 5 per cent ; that of maintenance of bridges, signals, and other works of a like kind, 5 per cent ; and the repairs of stations and buildings H per cent. 22^- per cent of the annual expenditure is devoted to renewals and repairs of rolling stock of permanent way, bridges, culverts, and buildingp, in addition to the 23| per cent as already stated for the daily operations in keeping up the gauge and level of permanent way. EOADS. Considerable progress has been made with the road from Tophouse through the Wairau Valley to Tarndale, on the way to the Amuri, and so soon as the outstanding contract for improvements in the "Wairau Gorge is completed, wheeled vehicles will be able for tbe first time to travel from Nelson, Picton, and Blenheim to the Bluff and Kiverton, in the extreme south. The road is now open from Tarndale southwards, although still interrupted by some unbridged rivers of considerable magnitude. iselson to Marlborough by the Eai Valley.— Of this road 14£ miles are being formed and grareUeJ, and will shortly be finished. The "Wakamarina and Kaituna bridges are completed. 20 miles, including the Eai Valley Road, remain to complete a carriage road between the Nelson and Wairau Districts The Nelson and Buller Valley road will complete the communication for vehicles between Nelson and the West Coast. It is expected this work will be finished during tbe present month. It will not, without further expenditure, be a high class road. In particular, tbe Matiri and Owen rivers, and the Granite Creek, require bridging. Eeefton to Grey mouth — The bridge over the Inangahua river at Eeefton is nearly finished. It has five spans of 60 and four of 15 feet. BURYEYS. A re^onnoiseance survey of the Passes at the heads r f the Eakaia and Hokitika rivers has been made which afforded .important and satisfactory resulte. There hat? also been a further examination of several northern Passes at the instance of the promoters of a Company ia courso of formation in Ohrifitchurch, for connecting Weatland wiln Canterbury, and the scuibern trunk line of railway. The height of t&e IW» determined are as follows : ~ Wmcwmbe Paw, 4180 feet; Mathiaa . t ass 4,230 teet, Arthur's Pass - 3 014.. feet, Hurunui Pass 3150 feet, Hope Pass 3,230 feet, Lewis' Puss 2,870 feet Ada Pags 3,300 feet. The distance from Brunnerton to Cbristchurch by several of the lines suggested would be about, by Wbitoombe Sm 184 mito,

Matbiap Paes 184 miles, Arthur's Pass 142 miles, and Hurunui Pass 151 miles.; The route by the Lewis Pass is longer, having in view Christcburch as the terminus. That by the Ada exceeds it by 13 milee. According to the i character of the line adopted none of the passes of the Southern Alps offer a fitting gradient on the western side without; a long detonr or zigzag. A consideration that must not be lost sight of when proposals come to be practically dealt with, is the importance of the districts on either side to be opened, and the benefits to be obtained by railway communication. The promoters of the project advocate* the route by the Ada Pasg. REDUCTIONS IN STAFF. The number of officers who haye been dispensed with is 95, the aggregate of whose salaries amounted to £21 } 664 annually. FINANCES. The balance remaining of the Public "Works Fund on 3 1st March last was £1,860,373. Of this sum £645,793 is absorbed by the expenditure between Ist April and 30th June, and by, liabilities, irrespective of Native land purchases outstanding. On the latter date there remains, therefore, but £1,214,500 available for addition Public Works, and for engagements in respect of Native Land purchases, For this latter purpose £57,623 will be required during the current year, and one hundred thousand pounds should be reserved for further liabilities. A large part of most of the votes asked is required in respect of works or contracts for works entered upon under previous authority. It will also be found that a considerable proportion of the expenditure of the year will be devoted to roads and bridges. This is partly with a view to facilitate the settlement oh 1 Crown lands and partly to render justice to those portions of the Colony, which have benefited bufc little by rail-! way expenditure. ;