The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1910 THE PUBLIC WORKS FUND.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 272, 16 November 1910, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1910 THE PUBLIC WORKS FUND.

Wor the cause that lock* estt»tm»oe, for the wrong that need* rvniatuiwe, ■ #W the future in the tUitonoe, Ami the good that mc oo» do.

The allocation of the Public Works Fund: as a matter of grcait importance (to every district in the Dominion, and the Statement laid before Ithe House last night contains many extremely interesting features. TFroxa (our standpoint, iiha most important question in is the proportion in -which 'the voles are 'divided, itihe two and we may say a.% once that , the Puiblic Works Statement for 1910 oomparea in this respect very- favourably ■with, last year's. In 1900 the South Island received collectively £160,000 more than the North Island for railways. The .flagrant injustice of such a distribution becomes manifest as soon as we consider that the jSorth Island is mare populous, more wealthy, and more productive than the South, and ■that, though it has several hundred miles less of railway line, it provides tihe largest shaTe of tihe gross returns ito the pubOc revenue. This unfair division of ithe Public Works Fund has been to some extent remedied ibhis year, as the North Island votes come collectively to about £20,000 more than ithoae for the South Island. We accept this as proof that Government is beginnkig. to recognise the injustice to which tihe Northern half of the Dominion has (been so long compelled to submit, and as an earnest of i>etter things to come in the future. Buit the ibalance against us is still a long way from being made up, and da (several important particulars Parliament might well consider whether the votes to certain railway undertak-

ings in the North island might not be increased with great advantage to the wihole Dominion.

When we come to consider the-various votes individually, we find a good deal of ground for satisfaction. Railways in the Northern Peninsula are to receive o»er £300,000 in all, of w&ieh £ 100,000 goes to the North Auckland main line, and £65,000 to the extension of the Kawakaiwa lines. The expenditure of thk large sum Tvill certainly do a great deal toward promoting settlement and open-

ing up valuable land in Uife district. We may note in passing that, the reproach so long urged against the Public Works Department that it does not *pend the money which Parliament votes is now a thing of the past. Last year in the Sooth Island, albout £12,000 less than the total vote of £450,000 was laid out in railways, but in the North Island about £12;000 more than the vote oi £.257,000 iwas. expended. It -would seem therefore, that we may reasonably regard this year's .votes as so much, money actually to he spent on these lines; and £200,000 judiciously laid out will certainly make a great deal of difference to the railway system of North Auckland, and to its industrial and comanerciiU prospects. Of the other North Island lines, it is sufficient to point out that £100,000 is allocated to the Stuaut-ford-Ongame line, and £110,000 to the East Coast line, or, in all, about £70,000 more than was voted for these two lines last year. T3ie supreme value of these two railways to the whole Dominion is now becoming properly appreciated, and the only serious objection that "We civn raise to tihe Government proposals regarding tlhem is that no provision is made to push on the lines from (both end* —tihat is to say from Waihi as well as Gisbornc, and from Ongaxue as well as Stratford.

This -last .is a question of very serious interest to the •whole Dominion in general and to Auckland in particular. Plrom Auckland's .point of view it is, of course-, important that tine line should not ibe pushed into the Otfiura Valley ■only from the Taxanaki end, with, the cextaisty that itbe trade of the district tapped -will flow out toward New Plymouth ; or ithat the immense areas of rich, land between Opotiki and , Tauranga should not be drained of their trade solely in the direction of GiSborne and Uapier. This ia c. mtaUfcer that our representatives should recognise as "of great interest to us in regard to tih© future development of the- North. Inland and. the commercial status of, Auckland. If ithe Gistnorne-Napier line, rrahich. is now to Ibe. authorised, is completed ibefore connection is ntade between; Waihi and Poverty Bay, .the natural course •fonfcih.e Bay of Plenty and the East Coast- trade to take will ibe southward, via. Napier, itawaxd WeUingfcon. This, -we repeat, as a. question, that out public-men and , members. of Parliament must deal with, seri■ously. But we can hardly expect the rest of tie Dominion to 3be concerned so keenly in our point of view, and we hasten to add tthat in ibis case hhe interests of Aucldand coincide as usual "with the wider interests of the Dominion. The object of all this railway building is not the enrichment of any given town or district, but the development of the whole country and the exploitation, of its natural resources. It should need no elaborate argument to prove tha-t the districts to be opened up by the Stra/tf oxd-Ongarue line and the East Coast line will develop, and that their .prosperity will increase much, more rapidly with two outlets for their trade instead of one, and two means of connection with, outaide centres* of populai.tion instead, of one. It da in, the inioresta d 4Ji& <whois Doaiiaionj and aot

simply for the advantage of Auckland, •that we insist that these lines should <be constructed from -both ends at once,, and -we toope that our membera-mll urge this demand with all the force at their disposal.

Turning now in. anotiher- diredtion, we are glad to ibe aide to admit that,., as we have said, Pa-rliamemt has taken a m-oreieasonaiblfrViieepthisyeaiEof the relative claims of the 'Norfch. -and. ±he Soirth. It is Ifcrue that, though the South Island has considerably more than' 400 miles of raaiwiiy iii excess of oar tataJ, and itbongh the statistical evidence proves conclusively -that the North Island affords far hotter opportunities -than the South ifor the investment of pniblic money, the South Island is still to receive nearly as jmueh as the North for railway construction. But taore than ihalf of this sum is •altoca.ted to two lines, one of which, the perennial Midland Ea.il■way, takes.no-iess fchan £190,000. The beat that can; l>e said if or-this unfortun-ate-undertaking is .lihat--{Jovermnent lias no-alternative 'bat ibo-see it through; twit its (history should ibe a. continual waraing ito the country not ±o engage in such enterprises without careful pre3iminaTy investigation. In- addition to this, £80,000 is to go *o the Catlins-Waimaha-ka line, wihieh can fairly be described as a justifia/ble 'undertaking, as it will open up a large stretch of valuable country in the south-cast of Otago. As to ithe Southern Main Trunk, we are glad that Government has stuck to its guns and refused to hurry on this line so aa to enhance the value of certain 'blocks of land • through ■which it will speedily pass, and which may soon 'be required for settlement purposes. Under the circumsbaaices, a £50,000 vote is ample for the time. The three West, Coast lines account for nearly £100,000 between them, tout it may be contended that they are needed to open, irp the coal areas and exploit fhe mineral wealth of the country. Similarly, the email vote, on the Otre-puki-Waiau line may be justified. But we do not follow the logical process by which the Premier, ha-vdng , declared repeatedly that the Roxburgh-Lawrence line must be stopped, because it cannot pay, is still allowing it to "drag its slow length along." The vote is a email one —£15,000 —bnt tie money could be spent far better elsewhere. However, on the wlhale, we think that •the South Island has been fairly treated in the matter of railways. As to roads and other public works, we have no op-, portunity at present to discuss these votes in detail, but our readens should •be gratifi-ed to observe that by far the largest share of the money available for these purposes 'is to be spent in those portions of the Dominion where means of communication are fewest,.and -where •they are most sorely needed—generally, that is to. say, in the North Island, and particularly in Auckland district.