The Daily News. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1903. TARANAKI PUBLIC WORKS VOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 251, 20 November 1903, Page 2

The Daily News. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1903. TARANAKI PUBLIC WORKS VOTES.

Elsewhere in our columns to-day we publish a list of the grants under the Public Works Fund lor the "construction, maintenance of roads, etc," in the Taranaki province. Wo have placed the votes under the heading of the different counties for which they arb allocated. Several voles in the Clifton County are not given as they are included the the Auckland section. A first glance at the estimates do not show that the total expenditure has been curtailed. £2,259,533 was voted last year as against £1,729,062 proposed to be spent this year, 'but details of the allocations disclose the vigorous use of the pruning knife. All districts have, more or less, suffered curtailment of cxpendit lire, and Tarunaki is amongst the number. It is unwise to expect impossibilities from the Government, but it is useless to disguise the fact that the money allocated for the development of the important resources of Taranaki is totally inadequate. Tn many cases the votes for road construction in the back country are too small to be of any practical and Jjmncdiate benefit to the settlers by giving them access to their holdings and means of communication With the markets. As a result the progress of settlement must be greatly retarded and luch a condition of affairs is most regrettable. The Government has, no doubt, done its best to wisely allocate the funds available and it would not be wise to clamour for a lavish Public Works expenditure, for all wants could only be satisfied by further borrowing. The feeling is pretty generally held that a cessation of our visit* to John Bull, Esq., money lender, for a year or two would do no harm and it might possibly have the effect of ensuring a more cordial reception when further loans are required. However, though we do not find fault with the total sum allocated there is some room for»the use of greater discretion in the distribution of votes. A great deal of money is now spent on works of an unimportant nature, or, at least, on works that could well stand over for a time until the colony has the funds available for their execution, As a result of this policy the roadiv.« of the newly sett.ed dist.ict-s - clearly the most important work the colony can undertake—has sulTered accordingly. It seems unwise that £335,940 should be spent on public buildings, fo( instance, where ther» are thousands of settlers plodding through the mud year after year and paying rent for holdings that cannot possibly yield them a return until a road makes access to the outside markets practicable. Surely it would bo better to spend more money on works that would result in an immediate increase of the country's wealth-producing power than to lavish money in costly edifices in the large cities. In the matter of railway allocations also more discretion should have been used. The policy of pushing om our railways to paying points is a wise one, and it is useless to hoj>e for proper development of our resources unless this policy is carried out, but it is equally unwiso to spend large sums of money on lines that offer no prospect of return for many years, while immediately reproductive works aic passed fay for the want of adequa.i means. The vote of £70,000 for the Midland railway is an instanco of where money is being spent without a chance of return for many years ; indeed, it is very doubtful if the line will ever pay for even axlegrease. The Otago Central—though perhaps in a lesser degree—is in the same position. It is unquestionably not in the best interests of the colony to expend large sums of money on works of this nature when the roading of the country is so very far behind the requirements of the settlers. Thousands upon thousands of acres of fertile land in Talranaki only require roading to yield an immediate profit to the State and it seems a great pity that rich land should lie idle while money is being spent on unproductive works.