PUBLIC WORKS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 558, 15 June 1933, Page 5

PUBLIC WORKS

"Morning Post.")

POSSIBLE AGTIYITY IN.DICATIQNS THAT MONEY WIEL BE YOp|D- FOR B.UILWjGS LOCAL BODY T,OANS

(Spec.ial to '

Wellington, Saturday There is every. indicatiori th'at -in fh'e- riOxt few months there- will be re'riewed' aptfvify 'iri 'tlre Public Works. Departmrent. The extent -of'th^s actjVr ity will nf" "cpursie 'deperid on tffe re•scurces at the disposul bf the Gbverriment, but there is . no doubt that the . nreriibei's of Cabinet are iri favoutr' of stimulafing", the public works policy as a means 'of- -all eviiting tlie uriOrijpfoy-ment-'problem, especially amongst. tradesmen iii the building dndustry. The bui-lding: snbsidy scheme. iwas, formulated for this p'urpo'se, but it 50 faf embraces. private eiit'brprise only, -and 'it ia considered. that sbipe of the Government works might be carfied : out under >a simClar ' scheme. Projected Buildings Recently th'e. Minister of Finance (the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates) intimated : that the Governmerit would .be ahle to ' devote over £3,0.00,000 to public Works, and a.s a result several centres in the Dominipn have, been clampniung for the re^ognitioh, ' of the nee'ds *of thqir dpstric.ts.* The Wellington raflway station and the1 D.unediri post o'ffice are two 'buildings for ' whxch "agx|afion has been, made, hn'd iipth citfes feve high hopes, that'iheir wishes wiil be gratihed. It is stated fhat the'plans for a new raQwa-y stafiori ih Wellington have been compieted and that the c.ost of the sfcructufe "will be oyer f350,000. There are rumour's also that part of the labour costs af least will be subsidised "by the Unemployment Board, but so far thexV has ' been rio official confirmation of "this- rumour. Loan Expendi.fure The plannirig of comprehensive public Works is the m'ost p'bpulrir policy among the economists af the' present tiriie in England, America' arid the Coritinent. .The idiea is thn .basis "bf President Roosevelt's ' unemployment : pql.icy, and the cables this week' sfafe that f he PremiCr of France, ' !M. Daladier, will givia support to this' scheme at the world conf erence whei-e xt fvill certai.nly be x-'aised. The distinguished lEriglish" ecoriohiist, Mr. J. M." Keyries, has propounded similar proposals, and has dr'awri Up snggestions for the coiriirig corifiarerice. Both Hitler and Mussolirii have or are iriaugurating public Works sqhemes for the absorption of workless labOjrir. In his .latest boo.k, "The Meahs to Prosperity," which he suggesf's ds a P'Qkcy' for the world ' conf ereiice, Mf. jfeynes statasi— "The whole ob'ject of the policy is to promo.te loan ex;pendxture. . . . In moderri cqmmuriities a very .large proportion of ou!r normal piograriimes of 'lban-experiditare a.r& : imdertaken by public and 'sdirji-public ' bodies. T-he new lo;an-experidixure whic.h trade arid industry 1 equife iri , a year ls comparatively s'mal.f '6yen iri • goid times.' Buildin'g, tfansport ' and public utilities ' ar e fasphnsiUe at all ! 'times for a very* large' propox'tibn of : the cprrent loan ex'periditure. Thus; "the first step has, to be takeri on the. initiative of public authbri'ty; and it; prbbably has 'to be on a large scale : and oi'ganised with determination, if it is to be sumcient to break the vicious cirele and f 0 stem the prdgressive ; deterioratibn, as fir'm ' after firm ! throws up the sponge and'ceases to produce at a loss in the seemipgly vain hqpe that perservence will be, rewarded. . . . Loan expenditurq musf spread its beneficient infiuerice rou'rid the world." T-he Debt Weight The snag in finis pplicy is that allt money boxTowed must be paid haek. At the pi'esent tiifie most of the counfries of the world are labour ing un^i&r a weight of d'eht apd are 'findirig it impossible in soinie cases to meqt their commitmenfs. Certeinly fh'efr position would* fie eased if thefe was a gqneral rise ih prices, as thi.ex*e would b'e a shrinkage ih the amp.uht of goods which' would be requirefl' to meet 'debt services,' but even 'when P'3-ak prices were beiiig enjoyed fr.equent notes 'of warning "were bein,g sounded, iq New Zbhlaiid at any rate, agaipst th'e ste'adjy mquriting patxonal and local hod-y fndebtedness.* As it is the annual increments and not the principal tha,t matters ip courieetion with the public debt, a general lowering pf the rate of .interest wbu|d lighten thq burden and perhap's qnable th& Goyernmeht to boprow more money ovepeas, but th,ere is no ga.jns;aying that the policy "is a hazardous one, espeeiallyjwhieri pne hqnsiders that the markets abhoad are n.ot a bptfomless piW Loan Con,yex*,sion ,One pf thp objects' of the New Zealand dplegation to the world conference will bia to investigate the possxhility o'f converting New Zealand loahs held iin fihe United Kingdom to a Ipwer rate pf interest. It is generally . held by members of Gabinet; fhat "tlie interest rate on loans , held ahr'oad is' too high, but at the same- tirne the Government is extremely .anxious that thp pominion's good namjs on the ; Lppdon market should be mainfained. ,Thu^ the ■situation requires delieate haiiidlirig-. jn ihe case of maturing loans, it might b.e comparatively easy to' arrange f or a conyersion at a lower rate of inferest,. but the amount of loan^ falling :due in London during ; ihe present financial year is comparatively small. ^he success of the negofiiatioris will depepd largely on the general policy adopted hy the world conference on the qnestion of interest rates and lending genferally.