PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 2989, 10 September 1891, Page 3

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT

[BY TKI.KGIt.WII. | WklmnoTON, Tuesday. [\ t.h" House tonight the Minister for Public Works Ithe Hon. R. Seddon) delivered the Public W oiks Statements as 10l lows Mr Similiter,—A* my hon. colleague, the Colonial Treasurer has already intimated in his Financial Statement, that tho Government is of opinion that tlorrowmg 111 the V'.nglish money murket most cense ; and, as the announcement of tho intention to borrow largo sums of money, together with tho statement "f the manner of its proposed expenditure,were thechief elements of attractiveness in former Public Works Statement--, it is evident, at the outset that the statement wliio!) I bave to make to tho House this evening must be considerably less attractive and interesting than some of its predecessors have been. To make it pleasing I have found to be impossible—there being [so much work to bo done and so little money available to do it with. With tho view of miking myself fully acquainted with tho requirements of each district, and tho works in progress therein, I havo during the brief recess since tho last short session of Parliament, visited the several provinces. It is true that the time at my disposal was somewhat limited, but as .1 pledge had been given that tho HouHo should bo called together early in June,it wasnecossary that 1 should be as expeditious as possible. The result of my personal observation will be disclosed as tho several works to be referred to herein are brought, under review ; but boforu dealing with the works in detail, it will perhaps be well for mo to fully iDforni hon. mombers of the conditions of the public works fund.

H'JII.IC WOItKH FEND. The state (if this fund on the 31st March last (including an asßet r>f £(>2,974, due under the Govorninent Loans to Local Bodies Act, 1880) shows, after deducting liabilitesjaxjsting onMnrcti,Hist IMll,abidance of iM77,70'.! available. An hns already been intimated in the Financial Statement,thoWovornment propose to devote £-00,000 of the accumulated sinking fund,set freo this year by our loart .conversion operations,to public works purpose- 1 . On the 31st of March next, if the. proposf>lq»; which I have now tlie honour-to sttVmit; to thoHoligo areapproved of. W estimated' bnhmce nvai able for futuro appropriation will bo L'IM.GI'O. The expenditure on all works and services.' throughout the colony under tho public works. i fund up tothe 31st March last, including tho purchase of the provincial and district railways, has amounted to a total sum ot £28,110,081, the principal items being as follows,, viz. Railways. £15,505,3^4; roadH, £3,598,103 ; immigration, £2,145,150 ;public buildings, £1,780,789 purchase ' of native lands, £1,19ti,47!); lighthouses, harbour works and defences, £881,818 ; defence purposes generally, £429,719; telegraph extension, £000, waterworks. ' on goldfields, £061,101 ; cost of and discount on raising loans,,etc., £1,021,472 ; and, departmental, id©frton/''!-v.. • f (A great portion of the Statement delivered by tho • Minister necessarily refers to works throughout tho Colony. We have thersfore only taken in those portions of tho Statement of interest in this district.]

MAHAJWTOWJi-TE ABOIIA. 'Very lifetle work has been done on this line during the last year, as maybe judged from the smallnes-s of the expenditure thereon, which amounted to £973 only. Theio is a considerable sum of money standing to the credit of this line, however.under tho allocation funds as determined by the Loan Act of 1886, the unexpended balance on the 31st March last being iliJi.OOfi.. A sum oi £31i,W0 has been expendeff pn the work, the whole of which is lying a perfectly useless waste, ancrwhilst in the near future there is not much hope of tho full completion of tho line it would still be well to construct the railway from Te Aiohn to £aeroa,as by so doing Borne return upon the"wtiole outlay would be received. The mines in the district referred to are now in a most prosperous condition, and the general outlook warrants the Goverment in giving special consideration to the construction of tho lino between the two places mentioned. The Government will, therefore, ask for the appropriation of £32,000 for this railway,which is practically the whole amount of their existing loan allocation for the work.

PUTAIIUHU-ROTOROA. On this line the Kaponga contract, which includes plat.elaying 10A miles in length, which brings the line to a point about iniles from Kotorua township, is expectod to ba finished in about three months from now. Of the remaining 13.'. miles, between the end of tho contract and Rotorua, six miles of earthwork, culvorts and some drainage works at the Rotorua end of the line have already been done, having been undertaken by Maori labour about three years ago. The completion of the Kaponga iiection will not, however, bring the line to u point whore it will be of any use for traffic, l b has been suggested that a road might be made from the present road to tho termination of tho Kaponga contract, but tho construction of this road, which would be six miles in length, would take a largo sum of money, and when completed would not shorten the distance to liotorua appreciably. Instead, therefore, of constructing a road the Government proposes, with the utmost despatch, to extend the line three miles, which point would intersect the road from Cambridge to Rotorua. The balance, £19.429, available from the existing loan allocation for this work is only just sufficient to cover the liabilities alreudy incurred on account of it; therefore, we propose to allocate an additional sum of 115,571 thereto out of the released sinking fund. This will bring tho total available-funds for the line up to £30,000, and any further amount that may l>e required in order to complete the line to the point indicated can be allocated tvheu available.

NORTH ISLAND JIAIN' TKUSK IiAJI.W.W. The only work that has been in hand on the northern end of the lino for some time past is the Fprotoran tunnel, and which has been conpleted during the year. At the southern oud of the lino a contract for the Manganuko section (nearly four miles in length, including pli\teluyinj<), has buen lot, :u\d i\ good start mado on the work ; and a further length, about twu miles, between the end of the section, and the Mangahino has been tfot ready for construction to meet'the demands of the labour market, and is now in course of formation by the unemployed. The balance to the credit of the North Island Main Trunk Uailway account on tho 31st March last was £314,007. Of the i,' 1,000,000 loan spocially raised for this work, £394,'. Ml has been spent on _tho construction of tho railway, £'-tS,l:>7 on the construction of roads to give access thereto, iiK!li,4s4 on the purchase of native lands within the railway area, £12,572 on departmental service, while the charges and expeuao of raising the loan amounted to £31,788, leaving an available balance on 31st March last of £356,107, aa already stated. Of this amount, £83,831 has been specially allocated to purchase uativo lando, being the balance of tho unexpended amount on the 31st March last. Wo ask now for the appropriation of £130.000 for railway construction works, £50,000 for roads to Rive access to tho railway, and for further surveys £13,000. At the north end of the line there is a section between tho portion already completed and the Porotorau tunnel, on which nothing at present has been dono. Tho scction, which is eleven tpilas nine chains iu length, is proposed to be put in hand as soon as my hon. colleague, the Native Minister, is in a position to state that the acquisition of land in the locality has progressed satisfactorily to admit of the work being gone on with, without detriment of land purchase transactions of his Department A vote of £56,000 has been placed on theKstimates for this section accordingly. With the view of saving time, it is also proposed to let a contract for the Makahine viaduct, at the southern end of the line, as the work will take a considerable time to construct. Tf not put in hand soon it would retard tho prosecution of the works when the nativo land difficulty is removed. The vote proposed provides for this land and tho completion of the Makahine section now in hand by tho unemployed. Nativo lands ate being acquired as fast as possible, aud as soon as circumstances permit the < roveminent will call tenders for tho works for wbiob votes have been taken.

KOADH TO Oi'EN UP LANDS UUt nilK SALK. Theaa roads, looked at from a settlement point of view, aro at prosent the most important in the colony, a s it is only by means of thorn that thu remaining Crmvn landj, lying for the must part far inland in the country, through which there are only bush tracks, can bo profitably occupied by settlers The funds provided yearly are utilised in making roads or tracks into occupied Urowu lands, and, as settlement advances, in widening and improving such tracks so us to more easily reach the land.. ft is proposed to ask for a vote of iiiSOO for the current year for this purpose, and to aupplcineut this by a vote of £30,000 out of tho consolidated fnud, fin announced iu the fionijcial Statement, mid also' by w loan >.u

tho Minister of Lands under tho provisions of tho (Jovermr.ont. Loins to Local Bodies Act Amendment Bill. If that Hill becomes law it is expected that this expenditure will largely conduce to bona title settlement, full details of the work dine and of the lands opened up by these puds during the past year will appear in the annual report of tho Survey Department. ROADH TO UtVK ACCESS TO THE NORTH ISLAND MAIN THI NK RAILWAY. Good progress has been made with tho work 011 these roads during the year, notwithstanding the exceptionally wet weather experienced. In addition tothe work dons, several contracts have been prepared, and will bo advertisod as soon as funds are voted. During nextmimmer it is expected that soma important roads will bo completed, a (fording amongst other advantages direct communication between the terminus of the northern and southern systems of railway. At the Kaiori road nearly throe mile# of formation are approaching completion : five miles havo been let by contract, and six miles havo been let at piecework ratos to Maoris living in tho vicinity of Tekoura and laumainmii, and the survey of a portion of tho mad from Mokau station to Taumaranui, -13 miles, is well advanced towards completion. On the Ruraipapanga-Kairi road nearly five miles of the old road havo boon re-fonned and contracts, enmprisihg nearly 12 miles of deny road, are finished, besides about five miles of open country lussocked and levelled off. On the Hunterville-Tur.ingarere road an engineering survey has been made; loi miles have been constructed, 5A miles are under contract, aud plans aud specifications are ready for the remaining 1-J.V miles to Turaugarere as soon as funds ThU will complete road communication between Huntervillo and the Muriniotu Country. On irha Turaugarere to Tokaano rosd the grade survey of 33 miles is completed, and the Tongariro bridge is finished. Four tnileH of road formation have been let to Maori contractors, and tenders have been called for a further seven miles. Tenders nro also called tor ISA miles more. This will complete the most difficult part of the road, the remainder being on open plain. It is expected that the route will be completed for wheeled traffic during next summer. The Rotoaira to Waimarino and Oluikene to Pipiriki roads have been improved and maintained, and a quantity of timber -has been cut for bridges and culverts. The latter work is now under survey preparatory to calling for tenders. The Mansoara-St rat ford road is surveyed to tho extent of 34 miles. Six miles of formation are under contract at Mangoara and fivo miles at the Stratford end. Plans are almost ready for tenders for 11 miles further. With tho view of further opening the Waimarino Country by means of the Wanganui River, which is the natural highway to very much of it, my predecessor in office last year entered into a contract for a weekly steam service between Wanganni, Pipiriki, and wayside places for a term of four years, commencing from January next, for a total sum of £2000, payable in certain proportions each year. Under this contract mails are to be carried free of charge, and passengers and cargo carried at reasonable rates. A special steamer for the work is being built by private enterprise in England, under Government supervision, and will shortly arrive.

I'O.N'CLUSION. After having enumerated the various railway and other work.s upon which we purpose to expend moneys available, I feel certain that I have not given satisfaction ; but that dissatisfaction will have arisen, not so much from the manner of distribution as from the fact that the moneys available are so -imall and the wants so great. However, the Amounts T now propose to be appropriated must bo regarded as merely instalments on account, and as moneys are from time to time available from the conversion of loans and other sources so our public works can be extended and completed. It is the intention of tho Government to place the works to be gone on with in hand as expeditiously as possible, 60 an to get a greater part: of the same done in the summer months. Work will thus be done much cheaper, and by being placed in the market at once will provide the mucb needed employment for our working population.