PUBLIC WORKS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 67, 16 September 1925, Page 9

PUBLIC WORKS

MINISTER'S STATEMENT

CAREFUL REVIEW NECESSARY

IN VIEW OF LOAN RATIONING

1 INCREASING LOCAL BODY. EX-

PENDITURE.

The pronouncements made in London recently concerning, the necessity of rationing loan moneys com- | pel us to consider very carefully our programme of proposed publio works, so that any curtailment ot our activities contingent upon the • ■difficulty of borrowing may be. effected without serious dislocation of the labour market and .with' -the minimum of inconvenience to the workers. '.*>. (' : ; V ■'<*■

Iri making thi» announcement in .'the cornea of/his Publio .Work* Statement presented to Parliament yesterday, the Hon. J. Q. Coates Bays that while it is inevitable that Publio Works of a varied and extensive nature should be carried on, in developing a young country, if these are not-to prove wasteful: and unnremunerative it is iessential: that .the sources of wealth production should be expanded concurrently. One: of the most difficult .tasks of the' Minister of Public Works is to balance and utilise' money and labour, available so that progress may not be hindered, while production is increased sufficiently to alla^ all anxiety as to th« lource. from :wmch the interest on money! expended will accrue. , -,;■;■-,.: ■"; ■.■:■ ■ '■".:■,, ■}. The increasing amount of money wnicn is being expended annually by tne Government ana by local .bodiei is a matter whioh arrests attention and demands the consideration: of all concerned... To the Minister's mind this v a iubjeot of paramount importance, and should command the most earnest attention, sot only of members of this House, but of all local bodies and of the public generally. . .;• :/- '" ''•"' •■■ • • ■ ■ Dealing, with the question of what »urn should be, npent annually on Public Works, Mr. Ooates says:— It seems to me that the best mode of procedure is to see that every, proposed expenditure is thoroughly analysed and-considered from the point of • view of its net economic result to the ■ country; If the conclusion is;favourable, then do the job, and do" it as efficiently and as speedily as possible. Thus costs will be kept at a : minimum,; and those, to be served by the under-, taking r benefited without undue delay.

WORKS COMPLETED

The outstanding work completed daring the year vu the major stage of the Mangahao hydro-alectrio station, "which was officially opened by th* lat« Right Hon. W. K'Massey,' this being indeed • one of his\ last public »ct«. It, it now i supplying the greater part of the southern end of the North Island, the irans- / mission lines' \ reaching and being in op- :'■ eratiori from' Wellington,ln the south to Bunnythorpe in the north, and to 1 Masterton and Dannevirke in the east. In addition, the lines have been extended nearly to Wanganui, -and, are reaching out to Napier. ■■■.••■'.' ; '..'•■■ " . ; From a railway point of r Tiew the most important milestone was, the final handing-over to the Working Railways Department-of the Arthur's Pass Bee- ' tion pf the Midland Railway -complete ■with its electrification system. ; A'mim- ■ ber of other , short sections, totalling' y-vvith this over 2<B miles, 'were completed and handed over, .while rails were laid . on an -additional 89 miles. "I had hoped that it-would have been possible, to hand- : over' to the Working Hallways the con- • nection between . the 'Whangarei' and . Auckland < systems,", taid Mr. ' Coates, "but owing, to the treacherous^ nature >of the -pan of the - country , through which this line runs, together with the' adverse climatic conditions referred- to earlier, it was not thought advisable to do this until the Vorks had been proved 'for a long period and had been ifurther consolidated. As ill classes of, traffio are being carried over this section by; the Publlo Works Department,-as in: the case of some 160 miles of other railways, the population are "receiving all facilities which the railways can provide." ; From a reading point ■of Iview probably „ the largest, achievement was. the practical completion of ;the bridge over the Northern Wairoa River, at Dargaville, which is now carrying traffic. ' y '"The excellent relations existing between myself and those erigaged' in the ;- actual carrying out'of the work, which was referred-to in my last Statement, are satisfactorily maintained," says the Minister. "Evidently, the men feel that Government and the staff, are determined to give, Jhem: a 'fair deal,', and ,they, reciprocate; accordingly.','.'■■; .' . \

THE FINANCIAL SIDE

I The total net expenditure, under \all votes ;and accounts appearing on the Public Works Estimates for 'the financial year ended 31st; March, 1925, was £6,258,952., Of this sum £4,373,370 was expended out of General Purposes Account, and the balance, '£1,885,582, out of special accounts. , ' ;■ At_3lst March there was a credit balance in the account for general purposes of £379,439. : Legislative authority .■.'«-' ists for raising a further £4,000,920. It is proposed to transfer from accumulated surplus to capital purposes; £1,000,----000 {if required), and to ask for further legislative authority to borrow, when . required, £4,000,000. ' This will make available for' public works, general' purposes, a total of; £9,380,359. The \ estimated expenditure under the ■ account for the.current financial' year, including, the transfer of £200,000 to ■ Main Highways Construction Fund, 'is £4;918,500. The balance at 31st March, 1925,. in respect, to some of the more important public works under special accounts, plus legislative authority to raise additional loans/, amounted to ,'£11,936,968. ■) ' . , . N:■• = ■

; ROAD CONSTRUCTION

In connection with road construction it is interesting .to note'(:that of the 56,680 odd miles of legalised roads and / tracks in the Dominion,, 23,097 : miles have been fully metalled to dray-road ■width, and an additional 16,114 miles formed to dray-road width. It is estimated that an expenditure approximate ' ■ ing £50,000,000 will yet be* required to , fully complete all roads as. metalled dray-roads. . r .. . . The general question of maintenance: haa assumed '"considerable importance since the advent pf fast motor traffic. This, has rightly received careful 1 consideration by the Department, and Mr. Coates says he cannot too strongly stress the importance of constant and sufficient maintenance. The initial cost of construction is now not the only factor to be considered in connection with a metalling scheme, but the ability of the district Us ■ adequately maintain fhe road one* it U metalled j# by ao menu

the least important consideration. The principle has therefore been adopted of investigating a local body's capabilities in this direction before any comprehensive' metalling scheme receives the., approval of the Department,, and in future, no authorisation of. approved grants or subsidies will be .made 1 for metalling purposes until the .local body satisfies the Department, by a resolution of the council, that it has arranged to provide and ,set aside annually" sufficient funds to .efficiently. and effectively maintain the work. "Although maintenance _of roads,is, strictly speaking, the function of .local authorities, it is my Department's/duty to watch the interests of the State, and by directing attention to necessary maintenance safeguard the value of the State's investment in such roading: schemed ; Usually the. State has as much invested in the road surface as the local authority. It'is pleasing to note that local bodies are themselves; to. a greater extent than has been the case in the past, moving in the right direction so far as maintenance of roads is concerned." . . .-•.'-•.•

-. Reviewing the highways scheme, the Minister says, that some local authorities, feeling the difficulty of obtaining borrowed money at the allowable rate of interest,, have negotiated a bold policy of.doubling, or at any:rate greatly, increasing, their rates, so as to provide their subsidy With which to take up the board's pound for pound assistance towards new works.

This is a. sound policy, ■ and will result in much improvement of the highways without. passing on to pos- > terity a load of debt : which': night last/far longer than the road to build which it was incurred. ,<

Although roads! have, not been declared main highways through boroughs, except in two or three very. Bpecial cases, the board: has found it possible with the\funds at its disposal to give assistance to. boroughs of not more than siK' thousand inhabitants to an extent equal to that given :to the adjoining rural bodies where roiltes of through traffic pass along borough' streets.

HYDRO-ELECTRIC WORKS

■■:' In connection ; with ' hydro-electrio works, the Statement says, that the works now under construction and about to be started at an early! date will: require' a capital expenditure of .about £l t ooo,ooo per annum for the next few years, but are such that they may be reasonably expected to pay interest and operating-costs within: a short period after completion. Meanwhile the investigation of additional sources of power, particularly in the South Island, will be continued, bo that as soon as there is any.'indication that the present: stations are likely to become fully loaded, or that any considerable power load is ; likely to develop in ne,w districts,. a scheme of development will be ready for construction. ' ..',■ ';/■" .'.' • •.• ■ i.' ■" •'■ /.-. In addition to carrying on investigation work: on power schemes to meet the ordinary industrial and .domestic 1 development, it. is proposed* to put in hand more detailed surveys of some of the large power sources that exist on the western sounds of Otago and SouthV land. It is thought that if-the potential value of these sources of power, is, made known in concise antl accurate form, it may be the means'of attracting special industries to the locality to take advantage of the very cheap power thaV can undoubtedly be developed in these localities.' )■■ ■;.-. (■ .."■■■ '• 'v. ■.'■ :■'.'. ■ '.. '-'

At Mangahap a second dam: is ,to be erected to give storage necessary to run the station to full capacity. 1 If satisfactory contracts for; the sale of power are entered into, a commencement will- be made with the: construe-, ition of; the Waikaremoana scheme.

-, Apart from, the business,of generating and supplying'*power: in -bulk,' the. Department has a most important function in controlling and regulating the various electrical works carried out by.power boards and other local authorities throughout New Zealand.' As an-indica-tion of the growth ) of this: side of; the electrical development it is mentioned that since 1921 the number of miles of electric; lines has increased from 1909 to 6011, or an-increase of 215,' per cent. in four-years.. '. / : '< ..'-." ; ■ . "With such rapid growth)" says the Minister, "we must be very careful to see,that the construction and operation is uniformly safe ' and economical,, and that the general ''consumer, in most cases unskilled' in the intricate techniical details i of electrical supply, is "protected mall ways. This, section of >the' work is fast outgrowing.; the capacity of the present, organisation' in the De-' partinent, and.it is hoped, during the year toVreorganiso it, so as .to enable this work'toi.be carriod out in a more -com-. ". prehensive way. As, this' section affects 'the interests not' only of the Department and -the ordinary consumer, but also the interests 'of other State Departments, of the; power-supply 'authorities, 1 the in-, surance companies, and, the electrical' traders, we.have under'consideration the' setting up of an advisory board containing of these bodies to act with., the Department in framing regu-, lationsariH.^taking, other steps, to see that work is carried out in the most satisfactory way." ' --. ■; ■ , '■'■'-,

THE DEPARTMENT'S POLICY

After summarising the operations of the i Department during the six years in which he has had it under his'control,,Mr. Coates says that the object towards which the poilcy of the Depart- 1 inent is directed, "is the providing of transport means adequate to the demand,. whereby the primary producer, and, to ; a' leaser extent, the secondary industries, may, be brought into convenient and economical communication with other;.:markets;., whether the ■ same. be overseas or local; Where the produce to be; carried is heavy,' or the distances ;are\long, the 'railway still. remains the cheapest method^ and with- the funds available, under a reasonable development, scheme, steady progress . will be made, and all the disconnected links of the national system will be eventually connected, as well as in some .; cases pushing existing lines out :into country at present unprovided with adequate transport."., ' ■•'.':

The Minister concludes:—. .■ Generally Bpeaking,. while avoiding finything in the nature of a; boom by means of borrowed money, I hope to continue to spend capital on' works which have a. reasonable prospect of firiaricial Boundness,- and which will improve the general \ productiveness -• of the country and •' \ the comfort of its people.'