The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, JULY 5, 1883. THE PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1422, 5 July 1883, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. THURSDAY, JULY 5, 1883. THE PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

The two most interesting features of the Public Works statement are the proposals to create an additional seat in the Cabinet, and to secure to the colony the increment accruing to the value of lands through which future railways will pass. With respect to the former, it must bo admitted that it would pay to appoint a Minister exclusively to look after the working railways of New Zealand, On the other hand the number' of members composing a colonial Cabinet must bear a certain proportion to the number of persons in the Chamber, from which it is mainly selected. It is a question whether the existing number from this point of view is tot sufficient. We do not consider that it would make the Lower House more effective if one member in every six or seven became a Minister, It has been found in the past that the work of the Government could bo earned on with one seat in the Cabinet unfilled. In the face of this, the proposal to create an extra seat should be received with considerable caution. It would be better to vote a substantial salary to an experienced general manager rather than enable the Hon. Mr Johnston to give his undivided attention to the details of railway management. Tho Honorable the Minister for Public Works talked eloquently about only a responsible Minister being entrusted with our railways, but there is, we believe, a certain amount of delusion in supposing.that political control is a good thing for them; Take tho free pass system for example. Every number of the Legislature has a pass, every newspaper in tho colony has one, and hundreds and thousands of people who have no earthly business to travel at the public expense, do so under the free pass system. In this mattor the Legislature and the press are directly interested in plundering the public, and even if the Government go a step farther than this and oblige their friends with occasional free passes, they can do so with impunity. These things are the natural out-growth of political railway management, and are likely to perpetuate it, We now come to consider the important proposal of the Government with respect to lands benefited by railway communication. On this subject the Hon, Minister spoke as follows :

I dow come to the consideration of the manner in which lands specially benefited by the construction ef railways should be dealt W t-L y^ leimm io *be advantages which have accrued in the past, the Government doos not intend now to make any proposals, for it is not practicable to suddenly seize for- the State a share of ; these advantages without inflicting numberless wrongs, But with regard to the future the case is different, and wo are free to consider, unembarrassed by any apprehension ■ of committing injustice, what share the com. mumtymaybe entitled to of tho wealth : created'by tho construction of railways with public money. Inseeking tho simplest and fairest course to adopt, the first suggestion which will have probably occurred to 'the minds of hon, members is that the State ishouMrepwohaßeall the land for a certain distance on either side of the proposed line, at a certain inoreass upon the property tax valuation, Valuations for taxation are usually low.;' on'the other. hand, compensation for expulsion'should be liberal—perhaps compensation to tho dispossessed landholders of 25 per cent more than the valuation for property;tax would not be inequitable; and when.railtvays are extended through country suitable for settlement, there,can bo nb|dqubtr that, the resale in mderatinizedlfarnjs of the land'oo taken would produce \ profit sufficent to make a ! contribution towords the cost of the railway

and moreover, would bring into oxistanco a traffic large enough to cause tho railway to boa. source of considerable rovenuo, Gie.f collateral advantages would accrue to the colonyfrom tho increase in our total 'productions'; aadifrom the reveniio contributed by an additional population.-; r ; ' No newprinoiple is involved in ilio'proposal,. Already, under the. Publib.fWorka Act, and under theßesumptibn of Land;:fpr Mining Purposes 'Act, wo have detormmod that for several publio purposes land, may bo resumed by the State, and no more importaut or desirable purpose can be imaginod than the proper Bottlement. of.the.land by-,ft-numerous population. But to carry out tiiis procosfl would mean raising a \ considerable loan to bo applied to this, special i purpose, for if the land were so!d by the Oovornment ou deferred payments :pr leased,,as would probably be the case in order to insure rapid settlement, then for some time tho"colony would have to lie out of a large sum, This drawback brings us to considering tho alternative which has been suggested—m,, that of having the land' re-valued after tho railway is made, and oliarging it with a sharo, say one-half, of' the increment of value, 'tho landowner to be at liberty to redeem this chargo whon'he' may please; and in tho meantimo'to pay interest upon it at tho rato of 5' por center aniium.' This would no doubt, give 1 the State a good return for the cost of the lailways. but it raid not secure the settlement of tho laud with the same certainty as the former method. . It has, however, ■ the advantage of requiring no money to carry it out, The Govcrmneat has determined to submit a Bill empowering it to adopted both plans, with the intention of flenemly acting on the second, and at the same time proposing to confine the operation of the first plan to to situations favourable to settlement, whilst using it so as not to deprivo any ono of his residenco or of the land attaohed, to an extent not exceeding an acreage to bo determined by the legislature, The act of resumption in each ease not to bo deemed to be finally completed until after the particulars are laid before Parliament and an appropriation granted for the amount of tho compensation to bo paid, With»ither plan the gain to tho community is great, and no injustice is dono to tho individual. It will be noticed that the. Government scheino is an alternative one. The first proposition is to buy land on either side of a proposed railway line, at 25 per'cent, advance on assessment values, and then to sell it. This project looks well in theory, but the question is how 'it will appear in practice. The existing assessments throughout the colony are so uneven that they do not furnish a reliable basis for such transactions. It is obvious, too, that a door is open to chicanery when a Government has not only the control of the valuation, but tho power to purchase. The feeling throughout the colony will, we think, be in favor of the Government leaving land speculation severely alone. There nre land rings enough outside the Cabinet without having ono in it. The alternative proposal is also open to objection. Taxing a farmer, say, 5 per cent, annually on his unearned increment looks simple, but it presents difficulties,' Is a farm within one mile of a railway, within five miles, or within ten miles, to be taxed? All are more or less benefited, and to take the one mile radius and leave out the others would bo an injustice, Say John Smith had forty acres of land along a line, valued at £GO, which by the construction of a line is benefited to the extent of .£lO, is it worth while to worry John Smith year after year for Ms live shilling contribution 1 Is the game worth the candle? Before we can accept this new schemo we must know how much revenue per annum this new and peculiar tax may be expected to yield; and, also what the cost of collecting it will amount to, That it will retard and embarrass the settlement .of land is obvious, and unless it has some substantial advantages to recommend it, the colony will be better off without it.