PUBLIC WORKS.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 107, 2 November 1904, Page 5

PUBLIC WORKS.

j DEBATE ON THE MINISTERIAL STATEMENT. STRINGENT CRITICISM. The Public Works Statement was debated by the House yesterday in conjunction with the Public Works Amendment Bill, the provisions of which have been explained, and which came up for its second reading. The Minister for Public Works, in opening the debate, referred to the nonexpenditure of "thirds" by County Councils, a subject with which the Bill deals, and said he could not understand why tke moiley was not spent in view of the need 1 that exists for roads in country districts. He wanted them to understand* under the Bill, if the money was not expended by the local authority the Government would step in and spend the money in the interests of the settlers. With regard to the Public Works Estimates, he said he was sure members were delighted to find that he had been able to do so well with the monejr available. (Laughter.) He did not believe one member tf ould say we would be justified in increasing our public works expenditure, and he contended that it was most necessary to exercise caution in that respect. The Minister claimed that the authorities for money voted last year had been issued as early as possible, and any -neglect in the expenditure of the money was the fault of the local authorities. He urged the Department to get all the expenditure to charge before the 31st March, and he contended that very good work had been done, the amount expended being about £80,000 over that for the previous yeto, in spite of the difficulty at times experienced in procuring labour and the delay caused by bad weather. The present 'year's r6sults would-be equally satisfactory, although the votes might be less. He was not aware of any unfairness 1 in the distribution of the money, and he intimated that the sum of £60,000 proposed to be voted for. telegraph and telephone extension would be chiefly expended in providing conveniences of that description in the back blocks. Tiie Leader of the Opposition said he believed the Statement was the least satisfactory that had ever been l(iid befdre Parliament, chiefly because of the feeling that the money had nbt been*fairly allocated. (Hear, hear.) There were districts in the colony which, had been favoured and districts which had been punished. The difficulty was that the whole system of public works expenditure was wrong. Parliament had no control of it, very few knew anything of the merits of the various votes, and the Government made it impossible for members to know by bringing down the Estimates at a time when members were anxious to go home. During the session he • had received a great many letters from back blocks settlers complaining of the difficulties they experienced through lack of means of egress from and ingress to their holdings. He contended that the Government, whose business it was to initiate legislation, should have laid before the House some proposals, to arhelibrate the condition of the back blocks settlers in regard to road communication. He. advocated a graduated system of slib^ sidies to local bodies in order to help the settlers. He complained of the reduced vote for the- North Island Main Trunk line, and said at the present rate of progress it would be five years before through communication by that line was established. The sooner the line was completed the better it would be for the colony, and he was convinced the majority of the House would vote to have it finished at the earliest possible moment. It was improper, he went on to say, to spend loan money on the maintenance of mam rodds. That expediture should not come out of the Public Works Fund, bub out of consolidated revenue. Our whole system of finance was rotten, and it was not to be wondered at that the colohy'a credit on the London market was not good. j Mr. Hogg contended that the votes had been fairly distributed over the colony. Mr. Buchanan complained* 1 that no con« sideration had been given to his district. Too much money, he contended, was being voted for railways, and that on some railways the expenditure Was nearly double the amount allocated. Twenty-one per cent, of the expenditure on railways construction last year was on the West Coast of the South Island, while the amount of new money to ba voted for roads was £14,080. Even on the Government side of the House, he declared, there was great dissatisfaction with the continued abuse of power shown in the unfair allocation of moneys for public •works. At this stage the debate developed into a general wail froln members, who complained of the neglect of their districts evidenced by the votes on the Estimates more particularly in regard to roads and bridges. Incidentally Mr. RutheVford expressed the opinion that a good deal of money was wasted iii votes for outlying settlements whose existence was nob worth encouraging. The point was made by Mr. Remington (a country member) that the expenditure of. the money should be I commenced earlier in the summer— before the end of the year— as it was impossible to do any work on the roads after the beginning of April. Also he expressed I the opiriidn that the vote for work on the North Island Railway was utterly inadequate, more particularly in regard to ! fchp roads, and he piedicted that the line would not be open to Turangarere until 1907. w j v The Government was congratulated by Mr. T. Mackenzie on having made more adequate provision for the asylums of the colony, but he made some strong remarks about the attempt that is being made to centraliss the educational work in Wellington. Let the school committees know, he remarked, that there are thdse in this House who have steadily and persistently endeavdured , to filch away the rights of Education Boards in order to centralise everything in Wellington. Under no conditions could the central office have the local knowledge necessary to carry on the work, as it is now being carried on by the Education Boards. The Department was, he declared, overshadowing everything, and it was high time that the Minister in charge of the Department (the Premier) asserted himself, nnd got that grasp of his responsibilities which was necessary to enable him to fulfil them aright. Mr. Herries wanted to know why the Minister had left so large a stim as £806,000 unallocated. Perhaps he was not confident of getting the whole of the £650,000 proposed to be transferred from the Consolidated Fund, and did not anticipate being able to raise the whole of the three-quarters of r million authorised under the Loan Act. Complaint was made by Mr. Lang of the difficulties caused to settlers by lack of roads, and he explessed the hope that the Government would make roads for its settlers in the same way as it compelled private people to make roads when they • cut up their lands. Mr. Aitken, speaking to the Bill, said the Hotise should hesitate before giving any nidre power to the Department. There was already too much interference with local bodies, and in its desire for the possession of power tlie Department was going too far. It already had quite enough power. As to the Estimates he again referred to the necessity for a new Post Office at te Aro, and urged that a sum should be placed ,on the Supplementary Estimates for that

purpose. It had been promised by the Government for some years, and the Government should, he contended, give some earnest of its intention to carry out that "promise. Further, he urged that telephone communication should be established between Wellington and such places as Palmerston and Masterton. .The member for Wallace (Mr J. C. Thomson) urged that the Government ought to bring in an amending Local Government Bill for the purpose of giving those bodies greater powers in carrying out local works, as the duties of Ministers under the present system were becoming so great thst .they were unable to give that attention to local requirements* which their importance demanded. Mr. Bollard referred to the North Island Mam Trunk Railway, pointing out that in two years only £290,000 had been spent out of £450,000 voted. What, he asked, was the good of deceiving the people in that way? Mr. Alison tfrged thafr votes were allocated not in the interests of the colony but on the factors of political influence and political servility, and that the Government based political support onipolitical patronage and the unjust distribution of public funds. Similar complaints were made by several other members, who, speaking to' almost eiripty benches as the night wore on, put forward the n»eds of their respective districts. , At 2.10 a.m. there were thirteen members in the House, of whom six (including two Ministers) were ask.sp, and the remaining" seven paid but liitle heed to Mr. Harding's assertion that Government supporters had had the best of the deal in the allocation of public moneys. Replying at 2.25 a.m., the Minister for Public Works said he was going to issue the authorities for public works as _ early as last year, and he was not going to issue them unless h3 found that they were expended by the local authorities. There were, he __ add»d, several , Votes that he hoped to'^be able to pro-! vide for on the Supplementary Estimates. I At 2.50 a.m. the second reading of the Bill was carried on the voices, and the Bill was committed. Mr. Lewis moved an amendment enabling a local body to make bylaws regulating the weight of the load which any traction engine may draw. 'Th*is was agreed to, and the Bill was then put through final stages. The House rose at 3.30 a.m.