The Waipa Post. PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER, 24, 1911. WHO'S TO BLAME?

Waipa Post, Volume II, Issue 64, 24 November 1911, Page 2

The Waipa Post. PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER, 24, 1911. WHO'S TO BLAME?

JUST prior to the general election in 1908 a million pounds was borrowed for the purpose of roadmaking. This amount, according to the promise of the Minister was to be expended at the rate of £250,000 per annum for four years. If that promise had been faithfully kept, the whole of that million would be expended on 31st March, 1912, But what is the position ? The fact is that less than one-third of the million has been spent, so that it is quite impossible to keep the promise made. To do so would mean doing twice as much work-in the: jiext four months as haV* been -done in the last four years, or in» ■'"other wprds, the rate of. work an<§" expenditure during tlv next foug months will h ive to be 25 times: faster'fhan th?t of the past fofli?years. This, of course, is impos|f fluring three-and-a-half years upt to a couple of . : months*ago, was' J,ju9,000, leaving ' a balance of £091,000 yet unspdnt. To keep his promise.the minister will have to spendftat the "rate of nearly ';£6600, per "day from now on to the•'3lst March next. Taking the amounts oi the votes, a'nl|!?,tfre, actual ' expenditure Tor /bad-, makingi'.'it is 'foundsthat durifijl .the Ward:, Administration thefigures read as follows,! —•. rJ./ Voted .. £2,750,000 ' Expanded ... ;.; : ;V.:,:( V ''"'-":-'}'M : ' ■' .— —75P . '-vSiV, .'-■; 'Unexpended ■ £970,000 ; T^^t; ( .m?ans-that gurinjg. the ■ pa : sii ) six yen j -'k<, :tJv a million pounds L w6rt^-6f v left : jahy stranger mig'hf v be,,ded, to thitikl that New Zealatid|has all-the roads., wa.njjs} ; vl>ut V'etfery . colonial'jfeho^p;that ; it:is%;e'xactly about. y-TKe cry erid of the Dominion to the other, and more especially in roe ' North is : .;'•"Roads," "Roads." fflwy 'then; if we want roads, is (nearly a Wii) left ■unexpended? The 1 ly* coition, of course, blames the ] .< : .v ; ':-;t'runent, whsc the Govern- ( nehtPor at auv. rate, some of its 1 juwprtcv.--, lij'rows the blame s lpon the local bodies. This, at j my--rate, was the contention of 1 tfr Greenslade, when, in answer y 0 a question why so much money I

was unexpended while we were in such sore need of more and better roads, he informed his constituents that the fault all lay with the local bodies. In proof of this he referred to the Pirongia bridge vote, which had been allowed to lapse through the local bodies interested failing to do what was required of them within the time limit. This was voluntarily confirmed by a member of the Waipa County Council (Mr J. B. Teasdale) who supported Mr Greenslade's statement, and said that the lapsing of the Pirongia bridge vote was through no fault of the Government's, but due entirely to the laxity of the ' local bodies concerned. What the circumstances governing the lapsing of this particular "fleabite" may have been, is neither here nor there, and does not need to be gone into here; that is a matter that may be left to the discredit or otherwise of the Waipa County Council and the other bodies concerned. If they failed in their duty as alleged then they are not deserving of the confidence or further support of those who elected them. To use that as an explanation of the non-expenditure of nearly a million pounds was scarcely complimentary to the intelligence of Mr Greenslade's audience, and is certainly very far from satisfactory to those who suffer to a greater or less degree from having to plunge through mud to the axles during the wet months of the year. So that it is difficult to accept the statement, that the responsibility for the decrepancy (£970,000) between the amount voted and the amount expended on the backblocks roads, rests entirely with the local bodies, and that the Government is in no way to blame. If our "local bodies" consisted of merchants and city men who have trams and taxi cabs handy, and asphalt everywhere, then there might be something of neglect and indifference in spending authorised votes on the formation and maintenance of. the backblock roads, but when it is remembered that almost every member of these bodies is more or less directly interested and personally affected every time they use the roads about their own doors. Then it is hard to believe or accept the statement made by the member for Waikato that " the Minister for Public Works is anxious to have the full amount of the votes expended." " Give us roads and our earning power will be doubled," is the cry of hundreds of Waikato settlers, and the same cry is to be heard from end to end of the Dominion, yet a million pounds voted for the very necessary work of roading remains unspent. It is a crying shame, and whoever is to blame should be brought to book.