PUBLIC WORKS CONTROL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 235, 4 October 1935, Page 6

PUBLIC WORKS CONTROL.

, It has been stated by the Minister of Public Works that tho activities of his Department have "almost reached the predepression level." Most of this expansion has occurred without any general realisation of its extent, and if it continues the staff, the organisation and tho annual expenditure will outgrow former limits before very long. It is not pleasant to contemplate a new era of spending under the conditions of the past, and if the public is to be protected from the possible mistakes and extravagances of departmental and political control a Board of Works will bo needed. The National Expenditure Commission strongly recommended the creation of such a Board.

Before any public works are undertaken in tlie future, or before any assistance is given by the State to public works carried out by local authorities, the proposals should first of all be subject to expert examination by an independent board of works akin t-o the Local Government Loans Board In any case where an adverse report is submitted by the board of _ works the proposal should not be proceeded with, except by special legislative authority.

This idea of a Board of Works is not new. When the first Public Works enterprise was launched in 1870, the Act provided for the appointment of a Board to advise and assist. But, as the Expenditure Commission stated, Board control is "more than over necessary at the present time" to safeguard the country against a repetition of its experiences in the post-war years.