ON HIS JOB

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 438, 20 May 1937, Page 3

ON HIS JOB

MR SEMPLE SPEAKS New Zealand “In The Mud” Introduced as a man who has brought himself under the notice of New Zealand “forcibly and in a way that is unusual,” the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. R. Semple, spoke recently to the business executives of Auckland at a luncheon —and his address justified that description. It was his job, he said, to provide means of access and communication for the people of New Zealand—and that included the outback farmer, who was “isolated, segregated, and stuck in the mud.” He had made a vow to do that and .... “It’s got to be done that’s all.” Not otherwise could New Zealand hope to give its primary producers a chance in the fierce world of competition. The theme of his address was the need for safety and progress. With vivid illustration he pointed out that it was not so long ago that the speed limit in New Zealand was 12 miles an hour. The speed record Of the world in 1898 had been 39 miles an hour. Now the speed record held by Great Britain was 301 miles an hour. In 1914 there had been 20,000 cars on the road in New Zealand. Now that number approached 250,000, and New Zealand was the second highest motorised country in the world. “There are now 118 new cars going on the road every day,” he said. Remembering these faats his task both as Minister of Transport and of Public Works was a big one. The State had found it necessary to take over completely the burden -of the main highways of the country and they were going ahead with plans for their improvement both in bridging, the extension of highways, and of surfacing generally. In all this progress the question of safety had to be considered. 300 Killed Each Year. In the period of eight months fatal accidents had been reduced by 35 per cent, pointed out the Minister, when referring to the safety campaign he had conducted during that period. He spoke graphically of the need for that campaign. In every year prior to that 300 people had been killed and 4000 maimed as the result of motor accidents. It had come to the situation where, if a man had four children one was destined to be killed in a motor accident. It had been a more serious problem than that of any earthquake or mine disaster, yet, whereas those calamities would arouse the sympathy of the nation, when it came .to a question of motor accidents nobody seemed to know what the position was and nobody seem to care. In dealing with that problem the Government wanted the co-operation of everybody. For a fortnight prior to the introduction of the new penalty for the hit and run driver—£soo, or five years’ imprisonment—there had been seven cases of this type. Since then there hadn't been one. The “speed hog” had also been affected, but “not much.” “We are getting after him and we will get him,” said Mr -Semple. “Then there is the fellow who gets ‘full up’ —you know him; the fellow who thinks he is a better driver when he is boozed than when he is sober.” “Not a Wowser.” “I am not a wowser,” said Mr Semple, and pointed but that through all his life tie bad lived with hard men. There was a difference between wanting a man to walk a straight line and asking him to behave in an ordinary, decent manner. One hundred and seventy-five people had paid the death penalty in seven years, "because some fellow hasn’t got the decency to look after his own body Or his own mind.” At present the penalty for drunken driving was a fine, and the man was allowed in many cases to go forth again to use his car as a death-deal-ing agency.

“He is not going to do it after next session,’ 'declared Mr Semple. “A man is entitled to get drunk if he wants to as long as he has the decency to get to bed, or crawl up a drain pipe, or something. But he is not going to be allowed to get boozed and allowed to go out on the public highways as a potential murderer. We’ve got to save him from himself. I am convinced that we can reduce road fatalities of this country by 90 per cent.” This week the New Zealand Road Code Book would be delivered to every.home in the country .and everybody would be expected to read it and know it. They were determined to clean the whole matter up. Mechanised Public Works. He had been criticised for some of his public works plans, said Mr Semple. What he was aiming at was doing the job as quickly, as cheaply and as thoroughly as possible. We were living in a mechanised age ans

we had to learn our lessons from th* older countries. He aimed to reduce the cost of production and to relieve the human body of the heartbreaking, laborious tasks that had previously been necessary on public works construction.