HIGH WAGES EARNED

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 119, 16 November 1937, Page 10

HIGH WAGES EARNED

GOOD VALUE GIVEN

MINISTER PRAISES "ARMY OF MEN"

>fhe Minister said he was satisfied, hat although the men were earning M«h wagesTthe State was getting good X^for « s Expenditure wherever ■ S was being carried out on the coanerative contract system. ■ on every class of work," « states; "have improved wonderfully isktll and in output of work during Seyear^and how they are an army if men the nation can be proud .oi. Commenting on the Department's policy of expediting and lowering the «st of public work by the use of machinery the' Minister says that a sTm of Approximately *«W»hM been spent on modern plant. This expenditure appears large, he said, ''tiut the Department had no equipment to start with. When I tell honourable members that the Department has nearly twelve hundred works in Hand requiring some type of plant, the' disadvantages under which it was working can be realised. I have not endeavoured to replace men by machinery where it;; cannot be' showw tHat a substantial saving will result; but rather tpv preserve the balance between speed and economy. There are many classes of work which can- be carried but almost as economically by rh'anual. labour, supplemented by a smallampunt of mechanical plant, as they -can be 'entirely > < by machinery, and iri order not,to increase the numb;r of unemployed at the present time Ihaye 1 adhered to the. former procedure 'even though some sacrifice has been .made to speed.,in completing the work!:-1 /.:.-/■. '~ .■.:>..'■/ v. ■ ;.•■;' . "In other classes of work agam the use. of manual labour would be: distinctly uneconomical, and only machinery is justifiable if the work is to be done ,at all. An example of this class -if work is the-formation of flying lelds for aerodromes. As an instance, lie estimate to form an aerodrome at Nelson under the old system of utilis-ing-the unemployed on relief work was £172,000. By machinery the work was estimated to cost £36,000, and a contract was- actually let for this amount. .'..'"'■.. ' "Under the /manual methods of work on the aerodrome* completed within the last few years the cost has been something like £600,000, whereas by the use of modern excavating plant entirely they should have been completed for approximately £200,000. "Many .instances of considerable sayIng ■ in' cost .of construction can be supplied to honourable members, and indications of some of these savings are given elsewhere ■in this' statement. As stated above./ the Department has spent fairly. large amounts in the purchase of machinery, but, ■ notwithstanding this, it has been able to increase the number of men employed from 13,696 when the present Government took office to a maximum of 20,100 during last summer, and the number now employed .is; approximately 19,000. ROADING PLAN. '-'In travelling about New Zealand it has been apparent to me that the Department's men are employed on works that will-help to restore the country to a full measure of prosperity. It has also been apparent that there is rpom for'extension in some directions. While- I ,am ; convinced that we- are catching up rapidly on our main highway and railway systems, I feel sure th,at more could be done towards the metalling of our backblocks roads. I have, asked the Engineer-in-Chief to I prepare a five-year plan for metalling these roads, and an estimated cost of completely metalling all roads used for the trans'- -.' ■♦ion of our primary products. ;■■■•. . ~'■:■ -.; "Side, by side, with this programme there must,,of course* be a continued improvement in main highways to keep pace with the growing traffic fr.pm these country roads. For this reason,, and because of the ever-in-creasing .motor-vehicle traffic, and the apparent inability of local authorities to cope with it, 4000 miles of highways were. last . year taken over by the Main Highways Board and made State highways." / - This.year.a sum of £1.150,000 will be provided from the Consolidated Fund for1 expenditure on maintenance of public works and services. The expenditure from main highways revenue will be £2,572,000; from the Electric Supply Account £745,000; whilst £567,500 wiirbe made available from general revenue. Of the total1 expenditure under my control out of the Public Works Fund and other •■ accounts %of £9,799.000, a sum of £3,884,500 will therefore be provided from revenue, representing approximately 40 per cent. SPENDING PROGRAMME. The proposed expenditure from loan spending moneys on public works for 1937-38, as indicated in the Public Works Estimates, is as follows:— ■ . .1. Construction and Improvement of lines of communication—. * : Railways— • £ ■•-,€■ Construction of new lines .1,108,000 - Improvements, and additions. . to opei.ed lines 2,203,455 ~....-... ■■ . 3,31i;457 Highways and settlement roads —• . Construction ,and' ImproreKraft- of -highways ..'.... 1,906,000 <io*«ru«lon-aiid^ improve-: .* : . - WU 3*L roads. -„...,.. .^966^000.., Htfooi/r-works and light- •' ';. : b houses .'.........,.,• ••.. . ..-"■■. 35.J09 Telegraphs and telephones .; ... '50,000 , . 6,9«8,45T

2. Land development—' . ■ Land Improvement ....... 156,500' Irrigation .............. 105,000 Swamp-land drainage .... 23,000 Settlement of unemployed workers ............. 300,000 Native land settlement ~. 200,000 Dairy Industry loans .•• 30,000? gM>SOO 3. Development of electric power— . Hydro-electric supply, de- .' • velopmont .. , <00,000 4. PubUc buildings— . ' : . Schools 550,000 ' . . Postal buildings ■ • ?§2*S22 Mental hospital buildings . 160,000 Air defence buildings ... 210,000 Other buildings (departmental, Justice, Police, Health, Agriculture, etc.) 404,000 5. Development.of tourist . ~ resorts •• iIS'sSo 6. Departmental supervision .. ISO.OW ... ■■••• . •■. ■ £10,440,937 "The greatest item of expenditure this year will be on main highways, continued the Minister. "This is £4,165,200, of which £1,906,000 will be from, loan money.' ....'...' "It was desirable in the interests of the whole community that as many men as possible should be placed in full employment after long years of unemployment. Improvement of main higlrvtoys to meet the demands and safety of increasing traffic offered a ready and justifiable means for the purpose of returning men to lull-time useful employment. The undue loss of life and the number of personal injuries arising from road traffic made it necessary to render main highways safer for all Classes of road user. "There Is ample scope for activity in this direction, and my efforts Co prevent dailytragic happenings on our public thoroughfares will not <be relaxed until everything /possible has been, done to. provide that standard of construction and maintenance on main highways which will ensure safety for everybody. -.' , "A vote of £1,108,000 Is asked for this year for the prosecution of the Government's railway construction programme. ■■■ Particularly good progress has been made on railway works with the modern excavation plant now in use. A total of; 2800 men is now engaged on railway construction.' ','The Napier-Putorino section of the East Coast Main Trunk railway, which was damaged badly by the 1931 earthquake, has been completed and handed over to- the Railways Department ahead of the anticipated time. The formation work on the line from Wairoa to Gisborne is well ahead, but the tunnels are the deciding factor in the completion, of the line. There was some delay in obtaining plant for the tunnels owing to slow deliveries from England, but all plant is now installed. There are nearly four miles of tunnel to be /constructed. . '"* • "On the South Island Main Trunk and Westport-Inangahua railways particularly good progress is being made. Tunnelling on the former railway is again the key to the rate of progress, but all this work, is now well ebuipped with modern tunnelling plant. SETTLEMENT ROADS. , "A sum of £966,000 is proposed for expenditure on "pads other than mnin highways for the current year. As I have said, I should like to extend a policy of completing metalled roads to all primary producers throughout the country. ,I, have very definite ideas concerning the; improvement of settlement roads, and I wish to make it clear that I do not intend these roads to be built to the standard of our main roads. The traffic they are asked'to carry does not warrant this. .. .■ I look to local authorities to do their part in the upkeep of improved rural roads upon, which the Government spends money. . HYDRO-ELECTRICITY. "It has not yet been found possible to make any very drastic alteration in the existing procedure in relation _:o hydro-electric development. During my visit to Australia, and at other times, I have given considerable attention to this important feature of the Government's activities, and as opportunity offers I hope to be able to effect improvements in the general organisation of the electricity-supply business. "The various State hydro-electric schemes .continue to show an improving financial position, and .with increasing demands the position should still further improve. The revenue of the Electric Supply Account has grown to £1,216,468 this year, and a continued increase is anticipated. '.'■ PUBLIC BUILDINGS. "Last year it was anticipated that a greatly, accelerated programme of erection of public buildings would take placed but owing to scarcity of skilled labour and structural steel it has not been possible to maintain the rate of progress expected. These factors have already proved a source of considerable delay in the building programme. The Department is' now in a position to call tenders'for public buildings to the amount of £250,000, but is awaiting the investigation into the whole question of the order of precedence in building. ~ . , . "With the increase in commercial air services and the requirements of air defence, the Department , has -been exceedingly busy during the yea* on the construction of aerodromes and the preparation of plans for air defence. : "There has been rapid progress In air services, and the building of a chain of emergency . landing-grounds necessary to render these services safe has received particular attention during the year. , ! : . : ."The money for. aerodrome .construe: tion is now provided' from the Consolidated Fupd, with.a considerable amount' of assistance from Employment Relief Funds! It is hoped to make even more /progress on aerodromes

during the coniing year, and a sum of £320,000 is ,being provided from revenue for this purpose." : ', After referring to the importance of irrigation and river, control, and the efforts of the Department in this direction, the''Minister, remarks: "Severely handicapped for want of trained staff, by lack of materials, •by scarcity of up-to-date plant and skilled workmen, it is remarkable that in so short a time such an efficient organisation as the Public Works Department now is should have been created, and as Minister in Charge I am proud. of what has been done.";