THE PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 247, 17 November 1903, Page 3

THE PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

The Public Works Statement was brought down last night by the Hon. Hall-Jones (Minister of l'ublic Works. He said the intimation of the Right Hon. the Colonial/i'roasurer iin the Budget that the expenditure .upon Public Works must be curtailed, will have led lion- members to anticipate the necessary reduction in the amounts to be voted for the works carried on out of the Public Works Fund. At the same time however, the construction of the North Island Mail Trunk and other important railway lines must proceed expeditiously and the urgent necessity of providing settlers in the backblocks with road communication in the back blocks must be met. The sum proposed to be voted for the current year will enable a reasonable rate of progress to be made. The expenditure during the last financial year was less than during the previous year. WAYS AND MEANS.

At the 31st March, 1902, the available balance of ways and means for Public Works purposes was £454,059, and further funds were received as under The balance of the one million loan raised under the Act of 1901, £178,233 ; amount raised in the colony of 1902, £750,000 ; instalments in respect of £1,000,000 raised in London under the Act of 1902, £260„000 ; transfer from revenue, £200,000 ; miscellaneous receipts £1617, making a gross total of £l, 853,009. The expenditure for the year amounted to £1,514,444, so that on the 31st March last there 'was a credit balance of £338,565 in the Public Works fund. For the current year it is proposed to provide additional funds as under : Balance of 1902 loan (less cost of raising) say £657,000; new loan of 1903, £IOO,OOO ; transerred from revenue, £350,000 ; this will gtive a total available ways and means of £2,345,565. The estimates of expenditure on public works for the current year (exclusive of £39,353 for works under the Government loan to local bodies . and land for settlemtnts accounts) amount to £1,729,962 this leaving a balance of £616,503 to be carried forward to next year. MAIN TRUNK LINE. Dealing with the Main Trunk Line, the Minister said By the time the line is opened to Taumaranui it is hoped that arrangements will have been made for taking the tourist traffic down the Wanganui River from this point so that there may be a thorough tourist route without interruption from Auckland to Wanganui through the interior and thence to Wellington. The section between and Mangaweka has been opened for regular traffic. Tha erection of the steel superstructure of the larger viaduct over the Mangaweka creek was starled in November last. This structure is 944 ft long and 160 feet high, and is now practically completed. Beyond the viaduct the formation is ready for the railway for about seven miles. The rails are provided, and the work of rail-laying has now been taken in hand. It is expected that the line will be available for goods, if not for passenger traffic by about May, 1904. Beyond Taihape the lormation is in hand for a considerable distance and is proce-edirlg satisf/actorily. During the ensuing summer materials and stores required for the construction works in the following winter will be carried on to the ground, so that progress may not be delayed by the condition of the road during the winter season. In view of the large appropriation for this line last year the relative expenditure thereon at the first glance appears small. The nature of the work and the late period of the appropriation rendered it impossible to spend more during the financial year. Since the 31st Alaj'ch, however, a much larger number of men have been employed than during the early part oi 1902-3 and greater headway will consequently be made and a vote of £200,000 has therefore been provided on the Estimates. OTHER LINES. Blenheim-Waipara line.—The section between Blenheim and Seddon at the northern end of the railway was completed and opened for regular traffic on the 10th Oct., 1902. Nothing further is being done at the northern end of this line at the pre- | sent time.

The total expenditure on the Midland railway last year amounted to £39,253, and f or the current year i £70,000 is proposed. On the Grey- i mouth-Hokitika extension to Ross the survey has been completed and construction continued at a cost of £7245, and for the current year £IO,OOO is provided. The work on the Otago Central is now proceeding, having been greatly hindered by bad weather. The expenditure last year was £10,585, but for the present year a vote of £70,000 is asked for. The Heriot extension absorbed £3OIB last year, and for the current year a vote of £6OOO to complete the section is proposed. Platelaying has been begun an the Cathus-Sea-word bush line, on which the expenditure last year amounted to £5798 for the work. Four and a-half miles of the Orepuki-Waiau section to Waihoka have been completed, and handed over to the Railway Department for regular traffic. The expenditure last year amounted to £6308, and the vote proposed for the current year is £BOOO. To all appropriations for railways in addition to the sums already mentioned appropriations of £IOOO each are proposed for old land claims and for surveys of new lines respectively, and £6OOO for permanent way materials. This brings the total proposed appropriations for railway construction purposes up to £055,000. CO-OPERATIVE LABOUR. The co-operative system has worked satisfactorily. By this system a goad workman can make a good wage, while the inferior worker is paid only the value of the work he performs. The instructions of the Departmental oll'icers are " that the rate of pay lixed for any work is to be such tlvat a man of average ability working up to this ability can earn for his day's labour the rate of wages ruling in Lhe district for that class of work." A return was recently laid upon the table of the House showing (1) that the mileage cost (exclusive of additions to open lines and rolling stock) of all Government railways opened for trallic up to 31st March, 1891, was up to £6BOB, ami (2) that the mileage cost (also 1 exclusive of additions to open lines ami rolling stock) of all Government railways opened for trallic between the Ist April, 1891. and the 31st .March, J 903, was £6762. The figures in each case aro exclusive of provincial and district railways taken over by the Government. The improved construction anil the lessened cost prove conclusively that the colony is obtaining satisfactory results from the system. On the other hand, there are manv co-operative labourers who for a time have taken up holdings. ROADS AND BRIDGES. The expenditure by the Roads Department on roatls and bridges since 31st March, 1891, totalled £2,705,855 ; for the year 1891-2 it was £99,920, while for 1902-3 it amounted to £227.18 1. Nearly the whole 01 new roads or tracks are for the purpose of giving or iniprov ing access to land recently taken up and held by frown l tenants under various land tenures now in force. The votes tor the curiam £em: are as folloivs i

Roads Department £18,120 ; roads generally £309,000 ; maintenance of main roads £30,209 ;i tourists' roads £19,748 ; Government loan to local bodies account £30,000 ; land for settlements account £9353 ; total £407,430. For the current year provision is made as under :

BUILDINGS AND GENERAL. Bona sterilising buildings and plant at Te Mata ; new offices and laboratory at Wallaceville ; new offices at Carterton and

Balclutha ; dairy produce grading store at Dunedin ; poultry depot at Christchurch, and for alterations

and additions to existing accommodation at Hawera and Rotherham hospitals ami charitable institutions ; for grants for new hospitals at Northern Wairoa, Waihi, Wairoa

(Hawke's Bay), and Reyton ; for nurses' home at Wanganui ; for additions at Greymouth, and for one or two smaller items. Provision is also made for wards for cases requiring special treatment at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin, and additions and improvements at the Inebriates' Home at Waitaki.

Under this head substantial provision is made for completing the Cambridge Sanatorium and making a commencement with the infectious diseases hospital at Auckland; also new wharf at Motuihi (Auckland) Quarintine Station ; and for alterations to wharf at a similar station at Somes Island (Wellington) ; and for some small necessary buildings ; lighthouses, harbour works, and harbour defences. The only lighthouse on which any expenditure worthy of mention took place last year was the new building now in course of erection at Kahuran,ga Point, but the connection of

1 gihthouses with the telegraph system entailed an expenditure of over £I6OO. On the current year's Estimates provision i smadefor continuing this work, and for completing the Kaihuran'ga building also at Cape Campbell and Jack Point, and new dwelling nt Capo Maria. The expenditure on harbour works was small, the item responsible for the bulk of the expenditure being the protection of the Spit at Napier against the encroachment of the sea. In the current year provision is made for improving the channel to the wharf at Onehunga ; for wharves at Waiwera, Mercury Bay, Opitiki, Mokau and Bruce Bay ; for some improvements in the harbour at Col--I'ingwood ; for protection of Ocean Beach, St. Clair, and sundry minor works under the head of harboue defences. Last year's expenditure amounted to £0,126, and for the current year a vote od £IO,OOO is provided. TOURIST AND HEALTH RESORTS

The amount expended under tin's heading, was £10,949 ,of which £6494 was spent in and around Rototua. The other principal items of expenditure were the accommodation house at Waikaremoana and improvements at Te Aroha and Queenstown. Provision is made this s'ear for some important works such as new bath buildings, drainage, electrical and water works. At Rotorua new baths have been erected abd additional buildings have also been erected at Hamner. The gross authorisation asked for is £26,535 on account of which a vote of £20,000 is proposed for the utilisation of water power for generating electricity. I think the lion, members must admit that the opening up of our Crown lands and extension of railways and roads has most materially assisted to bring about the prosper ity which this colony has so long enjoyed. We must continue to open up land for settlement by means of money spent on roads and bridges, and we must still continue slowly to take our railways forward to' those points where they well serve the purpose of trapping districts of high producing capacity. That has tfcen our policy in the past and will continue to be our policy in the future, and I trust that careful consideration will be given to the allocation of amounts proposed for appropriation for several works, and that the expenditure will meet with the approval of hon. members.