PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Patea Mail, Volume V, Issue 484, 13 December 1879, Page 2

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

The above Statement was delivered on Tuesday last, and after preliminary remarks, the Minister for Public Works (Mr Oliver) reviewed the condition of railway works throughout the Colony as follows: — Taking the railways in their geographical order, we begin with thu Kawakawa, that being the most northern. The first section of this line has been completed, and is bein" used in conveying coals from the mine s to the wharf, where the_ coal is put into barges and conveyed to ships laying at t)o?o\v! o‘?flie'"firsE 0 ‘ ? flie'"firsE con&aci on tfie WTian-garei-Kamo line is within a few weeks of completion, and the work of platelaying will be begun as soon as possible. Between Riverhead and Newmarket work is in progress along the whole twenty-two miles, and should be finished in about ten months. If in the same time the Newmarket Junction Station could be finished, railway communication between Auckland and Kaipara waters would be completed. A large reclamation contract is being carried out to obtain increased station accommodation in Auckland, and a site for railway Workshops lias been bought at Newmarket. The branch line to Hamilton lias been opened for traffic, and in a very short lime the southern end of the Kaipara-Pimia line will be finished to within two or three miles of the confiscated boundary. Some works are being carried on at Grahamstown and Sbortland, . and Natives are employed at piece work, on another section, about two miles long, farther up the Thames Valley. The Works on the Napier railway are being pushed on south of Eopua, and sixty-four miles are now open for traffic. Railway workshops are being built at Napier. Twenty-four miles of the Patea-Mamvatu railway are now open for traffic from Foxton to Kai Iwi, nine miles north of Wanganui, and a further section of thirteen miles is being constructed. In a few weeks the Stratford contract on the Waitara-Patea line will be finished, and the journey from New Plymouth to Wanganui will then be an affair of one day only. Surveys are being carefully made north of Carlyle, and this line, desirable for strategic and other reasons between Waitara and New Plymouth on the north, and Carlyle, the port of Patea, on the south, may be finished at no distant date. The works on the Willing-ton-Woodville railway, in the Wairarrtpa District, are being pushed on vigorously. The railway wharf at Wellington, and the workshops at Petoni, are drawing near completion. Machinery for the latter has arrived and will shortly be placed in position, giving facilities for repairs as well as for economical manufacture _ of many articles at present bought at a high rate. Surveys of the Wellington-Foxton line are being proceeded with, and some work has been done near Wellington by day labor over a length of nearly five miles. The principal Public Works scheme for the Middle Island was finished in the last financial year, communication by rail being established between Christchurch and Invercargill. The western railways in Southland, however, the construction of which was taken over from the Provincial Government, and some small extensions of the General Government lines, are not yet complete. A large expenditure has been proposed in relaying the main line with heavier rails, but after much consideration it seems inadvisable to do this, as before the present rails could be lifted most of them will be so much worn, that it would not be worth while to put them on another line. Short extensions are made, or are in progress, of the Malvern-Awa-moko and Green Island branch lines. The Waipaha-Tapanui railway contract was undertaken on terras of payment differing from the usual ones, inasmuch as no progress payments were to be required as the

work went on, all payments bein')* deferred until the line was completed. It was thought that the adoption of this method would enable us to indefinitely extend our railway system, and.to obtain such an increase of price for Grown lands in the neighbourhood of hew lines made under similar eonditions'as would pay the cost of construction. I grieve to say that those expectations have not been fulfilled, Ihe works which were pushed on with great vigour f or some time are now almost enr tirely suspended, and the contractors have stated their inability to finish their contract without progress payments being made to them. RAILWAYS AUTHORISED LAST YEAR. Contracts were let almost to the full extent of the votes on nearly all the lines authorised last year, and in several cases the votes were largely exceeded. Sections were let by piecework and daj r labour at Weka Pass and Albury, in Canterbury. On the Livingstone Branch and Otago Central Railway, in Otago, and at Kaiwarra, near Wellington, on all these there are about 2,300 men engaged at wages somewhat less than current rates. It is certain that this number will rapidly become smaller as the summer advances. WORKING RAILWAYS. During the first few days of July, heavy floods occurred in Canterbury and Otago, doing serious damage to the lines, partially stopping traffic, and causing a heavy outlay for repairs and renewals. The permanent way is reported to be in good working order, except on some of the branch lines, which, owing to the lightness of the rails and sleepers used in their construction, are becoming seriously imparted. A very large number of sleepers have required removal during the last four months, and it

is worthy of note that they -were chiefly American timber. These sleepers were only imported as an experiment, and at a time when the pressure was great, and the local supply wholly inadquatc. The traffic returns for July, August, and September, show a considerable falling off compared with the corresponding period of last year. A good harvest and the revival of trade, syinptoms of which are apparent, would speedily produce happy results. I am glad to say that we are extending the use

of New Zealand coal on our railways, and after the expiry of existing contracts for the supply of Australian coal, our arrangements will enable us to dispose, to a large extent, if not altogether, with imported fuel, and save several thousand pounds a year. I find that the cost of railways open for traffic at the end of the last financial year is £8,690,417 Os 4d, including £633,229 Os 4d for interest to date of opening. The gross traffic returns amount to £1,729,955 3s 7d, from which must be deducted £1,250,897 5s 7d for working expenses and maintenance, leaving £479,057 Is 8d for payment of interest on the loans out of which these railways were made. Table No. 11, which will be appended to this Statement when printed, shows that for the past year the receipts have been £758,095 8s 2d, and the working expenses £545,478 15s, leaving a surplus of £212,617 13s 2d. This amount represents, 2.054 per cent, bn the average cost of construction, leaving 2.946 per cent. to he supplied from other sources. We all believe that New Zealand is a country r>f Kiieli oTP-it resources. thin in - f years, even those railways winch are now farthest from paying,' will become remunerative ; in the meantime, however, the inhabitants of districts which have no railwaj r s are taxed to pay for them as well as tliose who inhabit more fa von red places. How burdensome this charge has become was lately shown by my honorable colleague, the Colonial Treasurer, and the duty is placed on ns of considering how to make our railways pay a larger contribution towards the cost by skillful and econmical management, and of submitting all future proposals for new railways to the same rigid scrutiny as private investors would make, and firmly rejecting them, unless a strong probability can be shown that they will prove remunerative. To quote from the statement made by my predecessor in 1878, the difficulty commenced from the moment when the Legislature repealed that cardinal condition of the Public Works Policy that, in the event of the proceeds of any railway failing to meet interest and sinking fund on the cost of its constructed property in the district should be rated to make up the deficiency. The proposal of the Government is, as honorable members know, to devote the proceeds of sales of land to local and colonial public works, but if the fund is to be supplemented to any great extent by additional borrowing to complete the general scheme of railways, there is no doubt in my either those already constructed must be made to approach more nearly to a paying condition, or else a system of rating the districts beneficially affected must eventually be resorted to. We think that the time has come when our whole future policy with regard to Public Works must bo reconsidered, and it is, therefore, our intention to ask Parliament for authority to appoint a Royal Commission to make a more full and complete investigation into the cost and economic value of the several works commenced and proposed, than it would be possible for the Government unaided to complete before the next session Of Parliament,

Our position is briefly this. In respect of the £5,000,000 loan, and balance of £617,120, including credits with which we. began the year, positive engagements on contracts entered into, and liabilities which must be met, together with expenditure already made during the current year, will absorb £3,800,865, including £1,210,802 for land purchases, and £154,791, payable to Counties in the Provincial districts of Canterbury and Otago, in respect of stoppages from the surplus land revenue of of those districts. If finished irt the stipulated time these works will require £2,559,082 of this amount to be paid before the 30th of June next, and the remainder of the liabilities, excepting a portion of those for land purchases within the following 3 ear. The balance, therefore, which is available out of the New Loan is £1,872,046, and the only method of adding to this for Public Works, in addition to receipts from-land sales, is by diverting to this purpose a sum from one of the other objects for which the Loan was authorised. It is my duty to inform the House that the. understanding on which the loan Agents are likely to obtain the £5,000,000 loan is such as will preclude our going upon the English money market loans for a period of three years.

It is imperative, therefore, in the interest of settlement, that the expenditure of this loan should be judiciously spread over that period. After this talk of careful expenditure,, the Minister for Public Works proceeded to enumerate no less than twenty-two lines, including the Nelson-Greymouth line, which are .to be carried, on. We select the following : WELLINGTON TO FOXTON. The necessary extension of the wharf and station at Foxton will be undertaken, and the work on the Crofton section, near Wellington, will be proceeded with by day labour. The surveys now going on from Foxton will be continued to completion. The line from Palmerston to join the Wellington and Foxton line is also being surveyed. FOXToN TO CARLYLE. The section from Kai Iwi to Waitotara in under contract, and acceptance of a tender for the next section to Waverley is awaiting the passing of the estimates. A gap of about 9 miles thence to Carlyle will be surveyed and plans made ready for tendering as soon as possible. The formation of a branch line from Greatford to Bulls, and an extension of the Taonui siding through about a mile and a-half of timbered land is under consideration. CARLYLE TO WAITARA. It is proposed to complete, without delay, the remaining sections between the port of Carlyle and Haw era, and from thence to Stratford. A portion of this line is being executed by piece work, it having become expedient to do so, owing to the temporary unsettleinent of the ordinary avocations of some of the residents, : WAIKATO TO TARANAKI. While it is not at present to survey, or do any work on Ibis line, you will be asked to grant a small vote to enable Government to take advantage of any opportunity that may rise in that direction.