PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1122, 12 July 1882, Page 2

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

'At the evening ■sitting, -the Publio Works Mmker (Hon, ' W.- Johnston) made his statement, He said he,did not intend to I deal Jljia year. _with the Jargb' question whdtljer. tho administration of constructed • railways; should; be .confided to a board of manage rnent, That question iWas altogether too'irnport nt for a hurried conclusion to be come to- respecting'it, tiad beenln various stflges pf-'progress, miles (23 in each Inland), had been opened for traffic, and on '3lst'March' last 1333m ,iles were "open; of which 485 miles were in the North, Md' 875 iiiilgs. in-the' South Island,' . After givingrna'rticulars as to operatiogs on each section^the hon. gentleman said thatthe' S""" . WOrKIKO OF THE'OPjSED LINES showed- good results,- TlieMncrease-in' duiung haid been 1jd5,572, -against art-, increase' of only L 1142 in expenditure/ The goods traffic showed ap :i.n.o.re.3fae ■ of t sSP;93l- tons? and, the number of carried, had been 61,916-. in'.'excess •of those- during 1880 81. Takmg tlielas'tihree years, the revenue hadbeen.increased about 17 per -cent., while the.expenditure had been de ; th6.fflct: that ap'addit'opal.l47 miles had been worked and maihtam^d.:. ;Still;ftirther, 'the 'had' beei.in-creased;-17 ~per J cent;.'' Only - durin? the Jhree yeari,; the tonnage moved had been mbretised;b^out : Mper-c(€tVand : t!ieparcftls aiid live s(ock':by'about ; 80'per cent. - Up to the 4 31afc : March. lest,* the total expenditure upon' railways, jjficlud.; ing th6se'takeh;oyer';from the Provinces was; L10,0?4,000, but of this totaiTt wai estimated was. not. in a position; to, contribute" to, tlie' ' during'the ,past year.- .'The th^ 19,443,C00, and the surplus;of receipts over the expenditure," .shbwea a return of L 3 18s { ''-' : The Minister gave.a.detailed ezplana-' , on . works, aiid'.itheir.' cost during the-year, as to ljarbor- woi-fes and lighthouses, and as to on ccameldstindon goldfieldsi. ; ■:i

PEOPOSILS FOR THE FUTURE,• - ' ~ I now come (continued", the 'honorable .gentleman) to*".the"" pi'o'pos'ilr'for ; the which comprise the scheme i of the loan so far',as it is available for^rajlway. construction.over, such of the. works, ■ authorised, *as"""thV Government, consider should pushed on as rapidly as possible":;, The Treasurer has tpjd'-the Honse-'that'the'amouut of dlst oE,March last, remainedlirthe hands' of the Government free of all liabilities, 0 was.LmOOO, of, whijch;:LlOO,ooo'.was »•' % tlbie, -.Fa f ifee:: Mitt is ter : t b.-co 2»«d.o.the of fnourredoS^ll^

in d iuat e d>o 'th p fequae. that r to'"oompleie' and^rtborly.equip our opetf : iih©B%ill 53 a^: !^,' 1 f hichI ea , in la tedr [ it: L376,Q(J|. dtogjithß next; three jmt, exclusive :i of fencing and other cbfatince'it-: cies,sand .this expenditure ia .not onlft/ necessary as I have shown '^ajjooflnt:of #?'Hi Un u X ? e °Mi i and large '""WaTe Of tiatho, but Will also materially facilitate it is. ex•peoted'wiH'consequently add iolhe'neT revenue. So that even.without making provisions.feland.ptttchases, and with out commencing any,further-.conatrucTiotT works toe required additions ind improvements to open ljries-wilFpraotically exhaust the whole sum of. 1384,000 in hand an the 31st March. • The greater part of ■this forwote atAuokland,Timam,ind:DjiMdin,andlhe J re'majnder i being required for additions to the work-' shops at Hillside and Addlrig'tin, fofauch: share of the coat, of heavier rails as is" .usually debited to loan";fo.r. fiijnor; . upon over 1300 mi'os of railway, and for additional ,rblling.siock is / Unnecessary of which the House will be asked to make pi'ovision-thisßesiidii.'iK-.willj 1 think,-, be convenient if..we assume fdr'-the ipqr v pose of simplifiying the Statement, that the LIOD,OOO needed during'the. durr'eilf year by out os the : new loan,' thus enabling,the, balance in hand toprovide for the proposed. expenditure and-leaving. ,the consideration-"of- the' queslioh-'iliow; best to apply the three million - loan to further.'conatruction uncomplicated by the necessity /or _aj t t jp nfo ri tiipr ove men ta -ol' for further rolling slock. In considering what shall be the works to be iMoni---mended for prosecution.lot us,look in the, hist place at the probable cost'of com-' pleting the ogngeotion.between Auckland and Wellington and Between Piotonaiid 'lnvercurgill, and of other

; '-"i ~;v..-! , This cost is estimat'ed to be avfollows I 71 Awamutu - - southwards. £1,100,000; to complete Napier to .Wei-1 lington, and to connect with New Plymouth and j'to ; i complete New Plymonth-Foxton line £76,000; to connoet Piit6ni"''and ■ Christ'- - chmeh; -LI^OOjCJ :, to .connect 'Nelson l and Greym<juth,"El,2Oo,OOO ; to . connect. Hellensville and Kaikouii LBBO.OOO ; io ■conslruct the Otago central,:. Ll.flpa,ooo., Total L 6,125,000. When further we consider that to complete.tlie.variotiß. braijch lines now in course of construction will' cost ovel L 700,000, and in addition 1 thoro is a large annual expenditure upon -pub'; he buildings, roMs, ■ ; iinmferaiion,-' l tele- • graph extension, besides some L 200,000 required to complete our transactions in Native Lands, it will be seen tlufc^-----'...

. : ■ A- LOAN OF TEN ..MILLIONS ll__ to, provide for all these objects" would not . have been jejeessire/ But.7 the : Government believed that to'-increase our- - 'publio debt by L 1.000,000 per annum ;was as muoh as prudence would permit, and also that it was inadvisable to fkeauthority to raise this annual millionToF a period beyond the time for which this present; House is elected with the exoepv don ,that is.prepared to .recommend'.-the House to make special provision 'for th'e construction of the line from Te Awamutu southwards. These considerations deter" mined-the Government to limit the amount of the lnan for immigration and general public works to three millions o Q lvs announced in the financial state-, men( despite the fact thatjhia sum can only Accomplish ,a;part of wjiatjt .desires to be accomplished; and.it has decided to' recommend the following:— :' ' '

~ 4WROPMATJQR OF-'iHB LOAN,., , , ,-'■(■ ... ' Railways. ... '.£ To complete'Kawakawa.. : . : ;.17,500 11 : Whan«are:-K'imo..,, 1,600 | _ Hamilton-Cambridge' 50,000 ! 1. ■ Hamilton-Te Aroha 92,000" ThainuSj fe Aroha, Grahamatown to Kopu...; ... ' 23,000 Minn, trunkJjpeJfro'ni' To "Awa- ' : mntu ",.7 .„ 10,000 To completo Napier-Wood vil'e,-,.-160,000 Extension from Masterton and .:. Wellington to Wobdville. .;. 200,000, To .complete line of ,195 miles -• iNewJlymouth-Foxton , ~,. South Island, Roundell extension ' ; : from Belgrove ... ... 40,000 Greymouth - Reefton extension .towards Reefton - 100,000 Mam trunk line through South, Island extension, southward - ' from Blenheim ... ... 90 000 Completion of Weka (Pass- ahdv ~t / U ■ .Horsely Downs section, iuolud_ing bridge,:over .the Hurunui- 75,000 Main trunk line extension north-

n |War VK v •••180.000 Upper Ashburtou-braiich exten- .. ■j .'sinn ■ ~.. ... ... lo complete Lincoln Little Riyer. 30 000 Ashbury Creek branch extension -,to Bute's Pass ...,' 35.000 To complete Oxford to Sheffjeld 12,000 To complete first section Livingstone branch ... 22,000 To complete Palmerston-Wai' ' „; heno 18,000 io complete seofion from main-■ line to Port Molyueuxroad Catlins River branch... 22,000 To complete section to Swift ' Creekj Waipohi-Heriotbum... 12,000 Tii complete section to Mokoreta, .. { -Edendale Toitoia , 13 OOO 1 Otago central extension,,. ... 300 000 Lumsden, Mararoa branch, to complete to Centre Hill ... "35.000 To completo Riverton-Orepuki... 16,000

Total • ;v, 1,650,000 Purchase of Native Lands i„ 200,000 Publio.,Buildings 300,000 Immigration ' 200,000 Roads to open uo Crown Lands 200,000 Roads and bridges ... " ... ip:);000 Bo,ads, wharv.es and bridges north "of Auckland ... ... ... 100,000 Gold fields ... ' ...' ... 103,000 Harbors ... ... ... ... 100,000 [Telegraph extension " ... 80,030

■j J ntal -'' ••• • 1,310,000 I Grand Total... 8,000,000 . ,v; Hon. members will observe that towards - the,, construction nf the lino "hotffeen ■Waikato and the railways in the southern part of the North Island, only. LIO,OOO has been allocated, whilst the estimated cost.of.,the work is L 1,100,000. This is in consequence of the.decision arrived-at ■hy the . Government " that, as I have already said, for the construction of this line they would make separato provision, and for-this purpose' they have come to the conclusion, after careful consideration, to introduce A S.PECiAL:LOiiij " for on? million, to be solely applied to this purpose ajs soon as circumstances will permit, .In the meau time-the LIP,OOO alloca ll'enab! ays; tp lo determine the best - route^ witii" regard to the .-pries .proposedS^'generally^ it iif> plain tKe--expenditure -named- iB--.de': termined tp'a large extent by the present position of kws in the courie of construe-. ' tion, and th'e necessity of either completing the branch.-lihies w,.of carrying, them, at all eventß-to-cbhvenieht:termini,-''lf the proposals of ihe are adopted by be m fflr advanced as to render their completion Hy the-rieit;Earlianient:a certainty,; -The New Ply'mouth-Foxton line will be co.npjefed, ' Most of the branch.lines.will also, be completed, and ' the reminder will be carried to convenient; placea for the local traffic, and placed .in; gosiHoji to/yield a to works other than railways, it is lestf -

nIB7Q. Even though for some M £ 0 ?' COmme \ C , e . meEt the amonnt'k- ' pended. upon, publio building was Verv small since 1870 the m the d ir the f C °^ butlons in aidof i ■ fund Bmount to over '. ° Dly wkich has beengmt.upon railways. The share of the to h °^ n ' Tr '' . railway,.construction .iasjeen,,. carefully considered, and lirnited i„ each case to ut MjM:a ; Bum_ag; possible/'. My Hon. . Ji T^i^' NaWve * Minioter hopgMhat ,wth in addition to the Llflffi which the Treasurer informed the louse ? v . ou ,d ; ''be-watited-Bhortly > --ho-TviU-be-able^''- ' rwiio BtJttlilNQS. .»■. .ji* the amounuet aside ie very'sraalfm Compar(So.n drith;.th 9 .recent- rate of vex. penditure, For ihe ■ t844? w h n out!tandin ß j The Govetnmeht .has .come to / tbexonolusion thafe.it will not be wise for"' pnbiic ü bulidi^s,aia>iiiHb'e re fig4 t yeat make other provision from the con■oftin m"" ofUr 0fUr 11 COnsidei ' able P ftrt ' 'expect tbatnot'more; thana.he =1.300,000 "" 'for^frill -be required, from 1 loan, Thq.;. ; ? IMMIOBAIIONPROPOSED : is iiplelyranpinlnatod immigration, except for "single' ffomen. .It is Relieved the amaunUe-Voted; \o it is sufficient, al:tbough, I am* glad to say,'as evidence that ithe come'to New Zea- ■ for immigration lias, in hand at the pre' Bent;mom"ent .morpjban . 5,000 nojnmalions of persons whom their friends in the"" colony.desire^ to. bring.out, and there is no that wlieir the • U<jv«uinent,advertises throughout the colony that they are prepared -to'H'edeive' nominations their . bo,- largdly inoreased." I need' tfdt sajr'thatllie'- expenility upon iminigratioo profitable'. - 8 upon ,'it -altogether •"!&' - 1870 rathor less thaii L 2,030,000, or in- • charge,, of.. about L 103.000, and hare'.introduced m all 101,214 persons.'. Since.lß7o our pnpala, tion have increased from 248,400 to (504,909,''whilst'at!thp same tinjc oq t . r f eniie . exclusive' of thp revaiiffe from railways and Crown Lands, haS'iticreased "from 1935,003 to L2,414,000,"a

sure' indioation that tho introduction of ■ this large ü bodjrof immigrants,- baßides ' -bemg-very_advantagflouß..toltlio.c6lQtiy ' and profitable to the' Treasury, has en> abled the immigrants tbemselvea to attain ' to a condition of comparative comfort in ■ - their new home. After speakinK of roada intended to open up Grown Linds before' ' offared for sale ilia lion, gentle. * man Baid: possibly the amount set aside • for - ■ ' ;• •Government proposed to make special pro-worksidf-theirclasi, but it mvut. ' jdjtiire: of the balance of our Publio Fund over tlie infaryal'uiitii we oau borrottT .- agam a considerably number of the wOrks\ ;

navejndt yet been .commenced*" but' that ' the localities interested-look upon-the grants asb'eing still available, andthere are, moreover, works still to be carried out upon such roads as the one'frora '" Cliriatchurch to Hokitilia or that between ''' Greymouth and Nelson or upon-the ro'aclß "< 5 norih.ol Auckland. Indeedseeihg th'at'lhi portion-of the colony lying north of Auck- - land—is- necessarily excluded from any further railway construo:ioii out of the loanLnow, proposed, the Government deemed it onjy equitable to apecially.allo- • oate fur the roads, wharves, and bridges • in that district, the ,sum_of £IOO,OOO. "It '! is however, the intention of the Govern- V inent to afford no further assistance to local works otherwise than under the Bill proposed to be introduced, and it is hoped this class of expenditure will-soonceaaeto - bo a charge upon our Public Works Fund, As to gold fields works, members already knew .that it was proposed this year to spend:the amount hitherto placed upon, the estimates,-and it washoped that modified conditions would enable the vote to be more largely availed of than had been the case.-.-In, addition-it wiyrproposed to put out -'of ihe now loan,, partly for roads and partly for water raceav to whichthe Government-had been prae-. tically previous largo expenthie worW - weie'completed. - Reports-had-been obtained which would give to hdn.' rasmbers a toler»bly correct view of the of the works iii queii>tiou t ■ Tho ll&fbof works to be proceeded'with out Ohtfej iLipo,ooo:.t<iibe alloMlu£'such undeitakiogs were principally tho'se'j lit Greymontli-.end- H»Htika.-:, fy Weit-'. port a very ex'.eqditare wquld te needed to tt)&k4 the nvflr aarijceable fqt vessels of tqqnage," diid th« jovernuieut wete' tliirefore dtaposed tp Bonsider the.possibility of making some' concßftSiofi'*"to *tli© coal-companies which. •night iniluoo jheiji, to contact to/expend • within avlimit'ed period : upoii '• approved Mpw>rk» a suni to be agreed upon. l . rhe"hon; w gentWmin"thus ; concinded ! e l 5" juvenimeut to make to a'inudh' ijreatet ■ 3xtent than : haahitherto been thj,o9lo.all further loans to fie loans for railway construction, . There can bei nojdoubt of the anormous benefits whioli havp-accruod to the ,colony fromits railways! ttS/vagainat.. thermal! difference of a litfclopoVdf due!; it per cent.i boEween (.their: riftt .earnings and'"" the interest upon the coat of construction*---tba coloaieta- have, gained ;a oheap, safe, *. »nd rapid haulage 'of goods reaching.,-,-laatfear-tfr 1,487,714 tori v besid# facil'itatine the travelling of passengers;'' ''' ireasing t0'' t 2,921i477j during 'the -fame ?- period, . The. annual saying to the peopl# j thns. obtainefrnuisti>f itself amount ts. a considerable part of the whole' expenditure lupon /railways. In addition,;, the value of property secured by the railway system has greatly increased;;: Moreover, the burden of tho maintenance of ajong. length,of roadway, must ;j».!;YWßlc'rtSlk lessened by the relief afforded»by thwSW ' version of - the ... traffic i-toV, the'-rail ivays, The colony. jba<i - also gajgod iy 'he promotion he greatly increased {Wces mme cases'for itance on the' .Waimate : Platrns. lermitted .to expreSsiiert tftfj * regr he State did not, from -tjjo coiniUßnco-a|nt-'(rf the PdWiblWorKg''.policy,-; take lossession at this then value (Sfejolsiilef.ble areas of land, in the. .vfejnitpfuhe railway Klines; in ] order Uo' Cht :he'm up them~itr smalfc froitjeileadsi:! Thiioourse jwiid aotanly&rvV ' • •trgely. Jmitiished.Jhe.cost - of our M-. -A ways, but would also-have to their earnings, and the direct anSf-inV; direct taxation which this Additional popula! iqh ha v e OQntnfente3 "feth e• „ ■ i ?W thit- ihe Government is' ; -..': ■ tuoro ughly. of 11 he • '*««. of corapletiiig-J)®railway.system^t^'/*. .it is. an essential; : :of. -Itfijjpoliflyi'itoj"'" complete the constrhotion as iapidlf possible of ; Inlands, and of as*=-.--. -,J ■, Bspseirisnt

Construction Ail SSe i Railway Act. With this policy the colorly will, continue, tcf make, the pip--.gresfund enjoy the prosperity which we now happily experience; anliftke policy, ia earned cut with prudence there is no ' reason to' do'nbt that ■ the prosperity will • he enduring.!'. '.the conclusion of the Statement, Mr Montgomery moved the : adjournment, wd this being at once'agreed to, the • Houbd roso at 18 minutes before 9 o'olock.