A GOOD UNDERSTANDING REACHED

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2873, 11 September 1916, Page 6

A GOOD UNDERSTANDING REACHED

MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS AND LOCAL BODIES. The Minister of Public Works (the Hon. W. Eraser) is leaving to-day for Taumarunui, where he will interview representatives of local bodies on Tuesday. . He will go on from there to Rotorua, to meet local bodies from the immediate vicinity,' and also four other bodies from the Bay.of Plenty district. Ho returns to Wellington from Rotorua, and then will go to Auckland to make a long tour nf the northern part of the province, returning by way of Napier and Gisborno. Be will then have to visit Wahganui and; New Plymouth lo complete his North Island tour. . In conversation with a Dominiox reporter on Saturday, Mr. Eraser said ho had found the local bodies most reasonable when they had the position of affairs explained to them. A few bad asked for more expenditure, but very few, and, of course, he had had to refuse their applications. He could only consider transfers of authorised expenditure from one work to another. "I am very glad I undertook this scheme of going round to the local bodies and meeting their representatives personally," said Mr. Eraser. "Things will orop up in these matters which could never bo satisfactorily dealt with by letter, and a personal interview makes everything clear. On ono point I found n great deal of misapprehension. Many local bodies 'are apparently under tho impression that when a sum is placed on the Estimates for a particular work this means that Parliament has directed that this money shall be spent, and that tho Minister has' no right to refrain from spending it. This is not at all the meaning of tho mere passing of an item on the Estimates. All that tho passing of tho Estimates means is that Parliament so declares for what purposes money provided may bo expended. But tho money to cover alLtho items in the Estimates is never 'provided. This year, for instance, the roads estimates came to about £500,000, and the money actually voted by Parliament for expenditure on roads was £300,000. This is one of the points I have been ablo to make clear.'