The Daily News WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22. THE PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 271, 22 December 1909, Page 2

The Daily News WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22. THE PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

j Considerably Ices interest than n-,n::l In-ill be taken in tile annual stai:ni->ii of the Minister of Public Works, which we published yesterday morning. S.i far as the present linuncial year iconcerned—nine months of it having already run its course—the pioures'? of i the works generally can be affected Inn I little. In very many case-., Ill: pro. posed voles have already been anticipated, and expended, or are in proce-s of expenditure. The Statement, howevir. shows tnai, comparatively speaking, •■ vigorous public works. policy i„ belli* pursued, within reasonable limits. The proposed appropriation for all works v £2,478,3(18--nearly haft a million loss than last year—mil slightly i„ e.xoss of the amount actually expended last year. Railways and roads and bridges naturally absorb the great proportion of liie available funds, mid it is very satisfactory to observe that a conipr'iicnsivc policy 0 f pushing on with ji'en national railways ha* quit,- taken' 'lie place of the old drib-drab system . . comparatively small votes fo, rai.wavin all parts of the country. This polio, of first satisfying the needs of the cuiui try for trunk railways from east to west and north to south in both lalands is Ifapmly now a scttTcd one with the Government, and during the uex' five years we are convinced greater material progress will directly accrue from the railways under construction and about fo be commenced, than :n any similar period from the same expenditure of money on railways, In this Island, all available resources are to be concentrated on the North Auckland extension (giving railway communication from Wellington through the Auckland Peninsula), on the East Coast Trunk (to connect Tauranga and Gisborne and the rich inlcniicdi-j-c country with the railway systems of the country), and on the Stratfor.;. Mam Trunk connection. The two latter railways particularly are works of great importance, and their adequate tion by the Government affords considerable satisfaction. We are convinced the opening of the East Coast railways will be followed by a marvellous development in that at present isolate though immense and richly productive district. The national value of the Stratford line is now accepted beyond question, and the expressed intention of the Government to maintain the splendid rate of progress now being made is the biggest concession to Taranaki opinion granted for many years. In the matter of the Egmont line, we welcome the decision to carry this work out to its logical conclusion, which, when .reached, will very considerably relieve local bodies of the metal difficulty and achieve the purpose fo r which they advocated its construction. In the South Island, the railway works of note are tlie extension (though slow) of th> Main Trunk, and the prosecution of work on what is known as the Midland a and West Coasts of the Island, and at the same time bring the Nelson and " es I t P ort ™>lways into touch with the *xiel-ng railway system. Very inanr districts will no doubt be sorely disappointed with the scanty reward 'of their hopes in the matter of now railways " but we are sure the country ~s : , , -,'.-' is with the Government in its "cneril j policy of completing ■ the trunk systems, and making the necessary connections between existing lines,'before commencing new wo rks. , The proposed expenditure on roads is but little less than the record vote of last year, when £494,057 was expended. The estimates this year pro vide for votes totalling "£752,151 The expenditure during the early portion nf this ycar-largely owing to the pushi w on of work to relieve unemployment" was at a much greater rate, and to keep within the available funds, progress is now steady, but slower imin | during the period of abnormal conditions. There is no use expectino ton much; the country cannot, much "as it might be wished, be roaded in a year and an expenditure of approximately half a million pounds a year is as w a strain as the country "should be expected to stand. There are the us-i-il provisions fo r telegraph and tolephnv extension, for schools, hospitals in' public buildings, etc. On the who'e. the Statement is a solid, biisincss-li> statement of [he position of flie conn trys development works, and if the proposals are carried out in as Ims'-ness-likc a manner, the country will early show its ability to produce n handsome return on the larec annual expenditure necessary t 0 bring about the opening up 0 f the Dominion.