PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1673, 15 December 1887, Page 4

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

The following is the concision of the Hon. M. Mitchelson’a Public Works Statement, delivered in the House of Representatives on Monday night, and partly reported in our last issue Railways, BLENHEIM-AWATERE. The rate of expenditure proposed on this line this year was £7OOO, and for the two following years £ 15,000 and £18,675, respectively, making in a 1! £40,675. GREYMOUTH-HOKITIKA, ON THE HOKITIKA AND GREYMOUTH RAILWAY. The total length finished and under construction at the two ends is 20 miles. This leaves a gap of 4 miles between the Kapitea and Teremukan. The money available, with the addition of £2OOO now proposed to bo allocated for the purchase of further rails, will finish this line with permanent way complete for 9 miles at. the Groyrnonjh end and 4 miles at the Hokitika end, and will also complete the formation from the fourth to the eleyenth mile at the Hokitika end. The rate of expenditure proposed, exclusive of the amount required for rails, is for the year £24,000, and for the next two years £20,000 and £19,004, respeclively. The total sum available for construction of works is £63,904. MOUNT SOMERS. The funds provided f n- this work under the loan of ltß6 are exhausted, but it is proposed to alloca'e £70,000, including £20,000 for rails, out of the loan now contemplated to finish the line to Springburn, which is a very convenient stopping place. LIVINGSTONE BRANCH. It is not intended to carry it any further at present, the sum of £IOOO allocated to it under loan now proposed being mere'y to provide for soiao additional accommodation required to the stations, OTAGO CENTRAL. _ It is estimated that the line will be ready for opening to the Deep Stream (20 miles from the commencing point) about September next, it is proposed to supplement the funds already provided by * further sum of £105,000, including £20,000 for rails, which it is estimated will enable tl,o rail way to be completed for traffic from Chain Hills to Middlemarch, a distance of 40 miles. The rate of expenditure proposed, exclusive of amount required for rails, is for this year £70,000, and for tiie next two years £60,000 and £40,074, respectively. catlin’s river. The Gatlin’s River Railway is completed and open for traffic from Ealclutha to Romahapu, a distance of 8 miles, and further ferrnation is now under construction by the unemployed. The rate of expenditure proposed is for this year is £12,000, and for the next two years £15,000 and £10,398 respectively. RIVEBSDALE-SWITZEES, The balance of tbs allocation for this railway under the loan of 1886 is only sufficient to complete it with permanent way, etc., a distance of 3 miles, and to do the formation 11 miles further it wou'd require a further sura of £15,000 to complete it altogether. It is merely proposed to go on with the expenditure of the funds in hand for this line so far as they will reach. Thn rate of expenditure proposed for this year is £3OOO, and for the next three years £SOOO, £SOOO, and '£6646,"respectively. SEAWARD BUSH. The total length from Appleby to Waimahaka is 23 miles, and about II miles are completed. It is proposed to finish it to Oteramaka, about II miles. The total expenditure will be £7508. LUMSDEN-MARAROA. The Lumsden-Mararoa Railway is open for traffic from Lumsden to Mossburn, a distence of .104 miles. EDENDALE-EORTROSE. The money already provided under the loan of 1886 will complete the railway to the crossing of the main road at the Glenham homestead, andit is not proposed to carry it any further this year. The expenditure proposed is £26,756. ADDITIONS TO OPENED LINES. The expenditure on additions to opened lines (which includes a multiplicity of works, such ns additions to railway stations, additional sidings, and additional rolling stock, etc.) was in 1883-84 £174,169, in 3884-85 £140,326, in 1885-86 £90,962, and in 1886-87 £79,761. He thought that the expenditure which he had provided for during the present and the next three following years on this class of works would be sufficient, namely, for the present year £40,000, and for the three following years £39,000 ; £29,000, and £19,239 respectively, and after that he thought the expenditure might bo made a charge on revenue. WORKING RAILWAYS. The receipts for the year ending 31st March last were £998,768, and the expenditure £699,072, the net profit being £299,696, or £2 6s per cent upon the outlay of £13,017,567, which the lines open for traffic had cost up to 31st March last. The rates of profit on the various sections have varied from £.15 10s 2d on the Greymouth section to lid on the Picton section. In considering this profit it should bo borne in mind that the railways do a large amount of free work for other departments, probably to the extent of about £35,000 per annum. The mileage open at (he end of the year was 1722 miles, 124 miles having been opened or purchased during the year. The result of working during the present financial year up to the period ended tho 15th October is that the revenue for the 28 weeks of this year is nearly £20,000 in excess of that for the corresponding period last year, while the expenditure is slightly less. But reductions in expenditure are being made wherever ’ possible, and he believed that still further economy could be (ffec’od even with the possible addition to our business which he looked forward to. The Government had already stated that in its opinion the groundwork of the system is defective, and that it is essential fer the proper administration of this valuable property that commissioners should be appointed, who would act independently, and who will deal with tho railways and conduct their business unfettered by political control. He wished to state lie had no fault to find witli the officers on the rail*ay, hut expected they would do even better wmk uncb r the eomrnissioneis. Roads and Buidues. The length of roads constructed and improved in the colony generally out of pubb'c works funds from the commence-

merit of the public works policy is as follows ;

Dray Hoads— Worth Island, 3234 miles. Middle Island, 1108 miles. Total Dray Roads, 4342 miles. Horse Roads— North island, 2452 miles. Middlolsland, 1126 miles. Total Horse Ronds, 4578 miles. Grand total of roads of all classes, ■ 7920 miles. ' The number of large bridges is in tbe North Idami is 611, having a total length of 48,239 feet, and in the South Island 154. having a total lengtii of 32,750 feet ; total for both Islands 765 bridges, having a total length of 80,889 feet. ROADS NORTH OF AUCKLAND. On roads north of Auckland the expenditure for the year ending 31st March last was £30,738, and from (he end of March to the end of Septerab'T there was a further expenditure of £2957, leaving a balance then available out of the amounts provided for this class of works to the extent of only £913. The area of country requiring development in so great, and the counties requiring aid are so numerous, that nothing short of £50,000 or £60,000 would be sufficent to attain any material benefit, and Government has not seen its way to make any allocation to anything like that extent. MAIN ROADS. Tim amount expended on Main Roads during the last 4 years has ranged from about £32,000 to £42,000 and the amount proposed for the present and next three years ranges Dorn about £19,000 to £SOOO. MISCELLANEOUS ROADS AND BRIDGES. It is proposed that the expenditure shall he gradually reduced for the present and the three following years from £35,000 to £SOOO per annum, and it is intended to stop snob expenditure altogether at the end of the fourth year. GRANTS IN AID, The transactions under ihe Roads and Bridges Constructien Act have been brought almost to a conclusion. The only grants made during the past financial year were for completing some bridges in Collingwood and Tuapeka Counties that had been commenced under the provisions of the Act, and the liabilities outstanding on the 31st March last were £l2,932—namely, £11,648 on main roads and £1284 on district roads. Subsidies to Local Bodies. It is proposed to reduce the amount of subsidies paid last year by one-half for the current year. Work for the Unemployed. The Government does not consider that any moneys expended on relief works are a proper charge to loan funds, It is intended that for the future only such amounts for “ unemployed ” shall be charged to loan as are expended on works of a reproduc’ive character. On the class of works hitherto undertaken for providing works for the unemployed the expenditure last year was £16,629, and provision has been made for a furl her expenditure, if requisite, to the extent, in all, of about £30,000 for the present and throe following years. Rchds to Up£N Up Crown Lands Before Sale, Also Village Settlements to Open Dp Crown Lands. As will be seen from the annual report of the Survey Department for the year 1880-37, the expenditure on this class of works has been very considerable, having been about £84,000 in 1883-84, £49,000 in 1884-85, £62,000 iu 1885-86, imJ £57,000 iu 1886-87, and for the present year the expenditure will be about £60,000. Tim amount proposed for 1888-89 is £45,000, and for 1889-90 £29,000, subject to seme slight modifications. VILLAGE SETTLMENTS EXPENDITURE. During the year ending 1880-87, on the basis of a vote of £SOOO then granted for this class of undertaking, the expenditure was £lß9l, and it has been found necessary to make further provision to the extent of £72,200 to cover the expenditure of £4032 between March and September lust, and the liabilities of £68,118 existing at tie end of September; total £72,150, or in round numbers £72,200. It is now expected that the whole of thin sum will not accrue, and if not the balance will he expended on roads to open up lands before sale. Roads on Goldfields. For the present and two following years the amounts proposed to he provided are £31,000 £30,000, and £10,760, respec lively. Waterworks on Goldfields. The total allocations proposed is only £I2OO and £BOOO respectively, to complete certain works. Purchase of Native Lands, North Island. The expenditure required to meet engagements this year is about £12,000, but ns £II,OOO will come to credit from the fund provided for land purchase along the North Island Main Trunk Railway, the actual charge this year will amount to only about £IOOO, and for the nest two years the expenditure is proposed to be £IO,OOO and £SOOO, total £16,000. The purchase has been completed of 207,000 acres, and negotiations are pending for the purchase of 507,000 acres. Immigration. - Between the Ist May 1886, and the 30th. November 1887, 14G0 nominated immigrants arrived in the colony, towards the cost of whoso passages the sum of £12,162 15« has been contributed by their friends in the colony. During the above period 80 farmers have arrived, who satisfied the Agent-General that they wore possessed of the requisite capital, amounting to £34,405, ns required by Hie regn- | latipns of 28th September, 1885. The total number of immigrants, exclusive ot small farmers, introduced since the inauguration of the immigration scheme by the Colonial Government is 113,953. For the present and three following years, the prwDosrd expenditure is respectively £10,120', £20,000, £20,000 and £14,000. Telegraph Extension. The expenditure proposed for the present and three following years is £20,100, £IO,COO, £6OOO, and £SOOO. Afier that ■imo it is proposed to throw the expenditure on the Consolidated Fund. Public Buildings. On public buildings generally tbe expenditure during the last four years has been in round numbers, respectively, ft 64,000, £117,090, £87,000, and H 89,000. During the present year the liabilities already incurred are such that the nxp'-nditure will have to be about £109,000. a d luring tin* three following ve.rs £69,000, £26,000, mid £7600. Tlih includes grants for-public offi* es in Auckland, and the new printing offices in Wellington

Lid (HOUSES. For this and next year the expenditure proposed is £4300 and £4OOO respectively, making in all £B3OO as tho lota! amount intended lo bo devoted to this class of works out of funds available and now proposed. Harbor Works. For harbor works a mini of £SOO only has been allocated, and it has already been expended. Marbor Defences. Tho cost of the; harbor fMnices of New Zealand up to the end of March last was £318,827, and a sum of £130,000 is required to pay off existing liabilities and complete the undertakings which are at present in hand, Hates on Native Lands. Tho expenditure last year was £25,13!), for this year £ls 000, and for next year it would he £10,700. It was proposed to repeal tho Act. Thermal Springs, Tho expenditure on Thermal springs last year was £7804, for lihs year £3200, and for the next year £3OO. Public Works Fund (Part 2),

To sum np the proposals of winch we have now been giving tho details, they amount to. tin's : In Fart 1 of tho Public Works Fond wo had on the 31st March last a balance of £491,246, and we are further entitled under this fund to a sum £83,814 under section 3 of “ The Government Loans to Local Bodies Act,” making in a'l £575,060, but against this we had expended up to 30th September £243 953, and liabilities actually hr night to book at tho same dale amonn *

ing to £280,495, find forth t «ngagement3 which, though oit brought to book, wore to fill intents and purposes liabilities amounting to £184,830. The total amount of those engagements over and above actual expenditure and liabilities in point of fact amounted to £105,446. But as against these there were credits to como in from the Consolidated fund, and Parts 2 and 3 of the Public Works fund, amounting to £20,010, thus bringing the net amount of engagements to £187,830. As before stated, my colleague the Colonial Treasurer in his Financial Statement referred to those engagements as amounting to about £150,000. But since then tiny have been accurately gone into during I he preparation of the Public Works Esti-

mates, and are now ascertained to be

£184,830. Adding together the expenditure tip to the end of September with

liabilities and engagements at that date gives in a 1 £709,284 as expenditure, Halo lities and engagements up to the end of September, as compared with the £575,060 assets on the same date, thus showing that our actual expenditure with liabilities and engagements on 30th September exceeded our assets on that date by £134,234, and this, too, without allowing anything for recurrent charges—such as the Immigration Department expenditure, roads maintenance, subsidies to local

bodies, work for unemployed, completing engagements in aid of land purchases, telegraph extension, additions to lunatic asylums, school buildings, and rates on native lands, etc. In view of these recurring charges, therefore, and also in view of tho deficit of the £134,234 altoady existing, it was considered, and it is still considered, by tho Government that nothing short of £500,000 additional funds would bs sufficient to admit of a reasonable sum being alloted tn immigration, and at the same time permit of our bringing our recurrent ong.getnsntH in respect of the other services to a close otherwise than in an abrupt and unsatisfactory manner. Public Wonts Fran (Past 1.)

Coming now to part I of tho fund, being the portion devoted to the North Inland Main Trunk Eailway, we had expended on the 31:t Match last the sum of £671,315, and on 30th September this was reduced to £615,258 with liabilities amounting to £137,474. Starting with the balance at the end of the year, namely £674,315, the expenditure suggested by the Enginsor-in Chief of the « ork to go on vigorously from both ends during the present and next three years is £619,800, which would leave a balance unexpended on Slab March, 1891, ci £14,575. Public Works Fund (Part 3).

Under part 3 of the Publ o Works Fund we | had unexpended on the 31st March last, the sum cf £769,235, and by the 30th Seotombor this was reduced to £556,645, with liabilities of £304,004, The net amount available for further undertakings on the 30fch September was therefore only £252,641, and aa this amount was quite inadequate for carrying the most of tho railways in hand to a point at which they would be at all reproductive, it was decided to ask for a further authority of £SOO 000, for railways including cost, (£30,000) of raising loan. Adding ibis Bum of £500,000 to the £769,225 before alluded to as existing at the 3ht March last, would give a total of £1,169,235, the expenditure of which, including the expenditure which has already taken place wo propose to gpresd over the present and next three years at the following rate, viz., 1887-88, £442,500; 1888 89* £437,403 j 1880-90, £298,917; and 1890 91* £67,444 ; giving a total for the four years of £1,266,264, which will leave £12,971 unexpended at the end of the year. Total Expenditure Proposed Undbb thb Public Works E»nd as a Whole, '.taking the whole three funds together, our proposed expenditure is for 1887 88, £1,127,550, for 1888-89, £986,900, for 18S9 90 £577,677, and for 1890-91 £248,994, giving an average throughout the 4 years of about £735,280 per annum. Tina would include the cost (£80,000) of raising the North Island Trunk .Railway loan of £1,000,000, and a further loan of £1.000,000 for which it was proposed to aik authority. Bails, Slbepees, Rolling Stock—£l2s,ooo. He explained that £45,000 of this amount was due to insuffioient provision having been made for this clrn-a of expenditure in the loan allocation of 1886, and be had charged it to additions to opened lines in order to avoid an undue charge falling on any of the individual railways, Departmental Expenditure, In connection with our future proposals to gradually reduce loan expenditure on all classes of works it would be necessary to correspondingly reduce the departmental esptnaiture, which was £30,156 for 1884.85, £49,643 for 1885-86, and £25,835 for 1886-87. The expenditure for this year Wuuld be about £25,000. He thought for the next throe years it could bo reduced to £20,000, £15,000, and £13,000, respectively, making in ail for tho four years £73,000. Conclusion. The chief feature in toe Q-ovefnraont proposals was to steadily reduce expenses under loan from in round numbers £1 100.000 per annum for this year to £300,000 per annum for the third year frora March next, and they believi'd that in this way the loan expenditure may be graauidiy brought to an B nd after March 1891, without, on the one hand, increasing our burden,-; overmuch, or, on the other hand, putting too sudden a check on ■progress of colonial industries.