The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13. THE PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 61, 13 November 1907, Page 2

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13. THE PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

If there was anything of the nature of i a snrjirise packet in the l'ublie Works ■ statement delivered at the end of last week and now being debated in the House, it was the intimation of the (lovernment's determination to purchase (the Manawatu Line. The approaching 1 completion of the Main Trunk has, of 1 course, spurred the Government to i action in the matter. According to the Acting-Minister for Public Works, the rails will be linked up in about a year's Jjnu.—ltffore the end of 1!)08. It is desirable that the State should control the whole railway system by then. The Manawatu Line is such an important Jink in the system that it would be unwise for the' Government to delay further in taking over the property. A mistake was made in not acquiring the line years ago, when it could have been bought much cheaper than it can now, though even at the price mentioned as being that which the company is expected to receive namely, a million sterling—the proposition would, on the present showing of the line's profits, be a profitable one for the Government It is proposed to set aside a quarter of a million for the Main "Trunk Line. As seven months of the financial year have gone, it may be assumed that about seven-twelfths of this amount has aV ready been spent, which means that another two hundred thousand pounds or more will be eatsn up before the line is completed.

Then, it may, and we hope it will, he that a much bigger sum than heretofore set aside for the Stratford-Ongarue railway will be available for this important national work. It would seem that there is some prospect of this being done. In the Statement the Minister aa i ( l ; _"On the completion of the Main Trunk it would be convenient to transfer to this work a portion of the Departmental staff and plant and a number o. workmen at present employed on the larger undertaking. Before this can be done, however, it will be necessary to have surveys made to definitely deter mine the point on the main line that will best serve for a junction, and to exactly, define the route of the first few miles 'of the branch line, which has not been definitely fixed at present." So far, barely sixteen miles of this line have been constructed—from Stratford to a point near Iluiroa, This is snail-like progress for the time the work has been in hand. But we can hope for better things when the Main Trunk is out of the way. A vote of £513,000 is asked for for roads —an increase of £17,000 over that authorised last year and of £98,000 on the amount actually expended.

111 re"urd to roads, we would rather that the vote be exceeded tlian otherwise, for roads are of such paramount importance. The settlement of the country lands cannot l>e regarded as economically successful unless adequate roading facilities are available. Of course, the State can go only so far and no more with the funds at its disposal, but our belief is that greater ellorts should be made to provide more money for this very important service by applying the pruning-knife to less pressing requirements. Fur instance, 111 our vjew the money spent and still to be spent on the New Plymouth railway deviation could have been used to better purpose —providing it could have been made available—had it been spent on the roads of Tarauaki's back country, a district wliiclisis severely handicapped by lack of means of communication. The town itself would have indirectly benefited in a "rcater degree had the money been so employed than it will with the alterations * completed. in other words, the roads would have given a return to tlje town, while the deviation will not, excepting the relief arising from the trains travelling on the outskirts of (lie town instead of passing through the centre.

This is an instance that one is immediately confronted by. There are others. There is the Tourist Department. This year £01,233 is set aside for it to use or play with. This vote might with advantage to the backblockcrs be cut down, as well as the proposed vote for public buildings, which runs into over a quarter of a million. Taranaki seems to have been allotted a fair slice of the "roads and bridges'' allocation. e only trust it will be all spent. It certainly is most urgently needed, fhe Government apparently is not now W anxious to develop the water-power of the Dominion. The time has not arrived, it says, to embark oil the undertaking. In the meantime it is proposed to lease some of the water-jmwer available to private enterprises. This should have been'done years ago. Where the Government cannot .-undertake a worJi like the exploitation of water-power, jt should not baulk private enterprise from stepping in and doing so.

The proposed Public \Vork3 appropriations total £2,106,951, as against £2,352,781) last year, and authority for the borrowing of the usual million pounds is asked. We can hardly discontinue the Public Works policy the colony is committed to. To do so would be to court disaster, indict great hardship upon a large number of our settlers, and generally be against the best interests of the colony. We must push on with the development of the country, and, this being so, we have either to borrow or find the money required ourselves. e believe it would be sounder policy for us to be a little more self-reliant and lind a bigger share of the money than we seem inclined to, instead of making little or no provisiou lor the repayment of the national debt, and leaving a big debt for posterity to shoulder. The Minister who can show us our duty in this respect, and is strong enough to make us perform it, will be deserving well of the State—and of posterity.