MR. MACANDREW’S “LITTLE BILL.”

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5481, 21 October 1878, Page 3

MR. MACANDREW’S “LITTLE BILL.”

(From the Press.) We Lave to call tho attention of the public to a measure containing some of the most dangerous and unprecedented provisions to which it has ever been proposed to obtain the sanction of tho New Zealand Legislature. We refer to the Railways Construction Bill just introduced into the House of Representatives by Mr. Macandrew. Tho Bill provides for tho construction of tho new lines which have been announced by the Government as constituting their scheme for the completion of the railway system throughout both islands. The sum to be expended under it will amount to £2,775,000 iu the North Island, and£3,605,000 in tho Middle Island. Let us see what are the actual provisions of the Bill. In the first place, the Act is to be a special one authorising the construction or extension of the railways mentioned *in tho schedule, and such railways are to bo constructed under parts 1,2, 3,4, and 6, of the Public Works Act of 1870. Secondly, the Governor may from time to time, in the name of Her Majesty, “ contract or enter into arrangements with any person for the construction, extension, or maintenance” of the railways mentioned in the schedule, and for that purpose may, in the first place, cause inquiries, reports, and surveys to be made, &c., for determining the best line and direction of the railway j secondly, agree for the purchase of any land necessary for the construction or extension of any such railway ; and thirdly, “ contract that any of the said railways shall be constructed and maintained, or extended and maintained, upon the terms that no moneys shall be paid or payable iu respect thereof until tho whole of the works connected therewith have been fully completed in accordance with such contract.” . The sub-section we have just quoted is the one to which we wish to direct particular attention. It places in the of the Minister moat enormous power, and gives him , unlimited opportunities of favoritism. Its proper title should be a Bill to Confer on Messrs. Brogden and Co., and Messrs. Proudfoot and Co./the Exclusive Right to New Zealand Railway Contracts on their Own Terras. * Under the powers proposed to be granted by tho Bill, the Minister for Public Works can play into the bands of the large contractors, who are so few in number that competition under such a system would practically bo reduced to a minimum. The Minister has only to call for tenders for a work to be paid for when completed, involving the expenditure of several hundred thousand pounds, to entirely exclude all ordinary contractors, and place it at the disposal of one or two large firms. On tho other baud, were the contracts made for cash, on the usual principle of proorresa payments, competition would be preserved, and the work would fall into the hands of small contractors. Any other system can only result in putting enormous sums into the pockets of a lew large and wealthy firms, and'at the same time in frightfully increasing the price of our public works. But the Bill is also in other respects a most serious innovation. It sets at naught the valuable rule in the Immigration and Public Works Appropriation Acts, 1875, and following years, which established annual appropriations on account of specified works. Such a system, of course, gave Parliament some control over the expenditure of the Public Works Department. It enabled the representatives of the people to say which works should bo undertaken each year. But in the Bill under notice it is proposed to do away wsth this, and hand over to the Government, for years to come, the public works expenditure. “The Governor may from time to time . . . contract or enter into arrangements with any person for the construction, extension, or maintenance of all or any of the railways mentioned in the said schedule,”—that is to say, the Minister for Public Works might enter into a contract, the moment the Bill becomes law, for the construction of railways to the value of nearly seven millions sterling. Or, what is more likely to.happen, lie might find it to tho advantage of the colony that the lines of Otago should be completed first, and contract accordingly. When Parliament meets next session, it will have no voice in the matter. It might turn the Government out, bat the contracts will have been made. Indeed, if tho Bill passes iu its present shape, the Assembly might just as well he prorogued for two or three years. The intention of the Bill, to our minds, is perfectly evident. It is a deliberate attempt to withdraw from Parliament the control of the public works of the colony, and to give Ministers absolute power to decide which works shall be begun and finished, and which delayed. It is an endeavor to throw into the hands of Ministers unlimited power to gratify their political and other friends, which we, hope will be resisted to the very utmost. We earnestly appeal to those members of the House of Representatives who have any regard for the welfare of the colony to do their best to get the Bill modified in the direction of tho safe principle of the Immigration and Public Works Appropriation Act, 13/5. We hope, too, that those journals which are not slavishly supporting the present Government will raise their voices against the monstrous iniquity of the Ministerial proposal, and do everything in their power to prevent the colony being handed over, hound hand and foot, to those friends of the Government—the large contractors.