PUBLIC WORKS ESTIMATES.

Marlborough Express, Volume LIII, Issue LIII, 25 October 1919, Page 2

PUBLIC WORKS ESTIMATES.

[FROM OUR COIUV&SPONJ3ENT.] j WELLINGTON, Oet 24. j During the debate on tho Public ; Works Estimate in the House, Mr | Forbes (Hurunui) held that, the pay- : mcnt offered to engineers oi £4UO . to £500 a year was ridiculaus. Wliy, ; ho said, a man could earn more on i tho wharf. Dealing with tho South Island Main Trunk line, ■he con-J tended that the \ piecemeal system • was absolutely absurd. The line was ■ a national one, and the £15,000 pro- j vkle.d was quite out oi proportion to , the magnitude of the work. There j should be at least £150,000 yearly j voted. _, ,~: Mr P. Fraser (Wellington Central) j expressed disappointment that in- j sufficient provision had been made j for housing, and urged the organisa- [ tion of .labor and building materials ■'on national lines. If wages were made sufficient to support the j workers' families there would be no. lack .of labor for public works. Mr R. P. Hudson (Motueka) complained that the South Island was not treated fairly in the provision made! for railway extension, as comp.'trr'rl with the North Island. Mr Hvdson hoped that everything possible would be done to improve housing accommodation, even if lntmr wore diverted temporarily from public build ings to meet the more -urgeat r.ecds "of -the people. The

wages of the workers and the salaries of experts must also be improved to get the best results from the public works expenditure. iMr Witty (Riccarton) iirged that Ihe Otirn, Tunnel be hurried ,on - and trie line electrified, as it was a matter of national importance. Mr Anderson (Mataiira) stressed the need for providing assured finance for local .bodies, and the recasting of the methods of carrying out public works. The present system produced too much waste. More money should be spent on properly reading lands opened for soldier settlement. The railways under construction should be completed as quickly as possible, so that some return might accrue for the large amount of money sunk in them. Mr Jennings (Taumarunui) urged the concentration of effort so that fewer public works should be carried on simultaneously and thus comexpeditiously. Mr Colvin (Buller) pleaded ( for greater expedition in prosecuting the West Coast Railway works. •The Hon. G. W. Russell (Avon) declared that the great effort and great sacrifices made by New Zealand in the- war made it imperative that the country should extend the settlement of waste spaces and increase production and population. The repatriation of soldiers heed not deter the Government from embarking on a sound immigration policy. Work could bo f'-und for the soldiers of France and Belgium and other

Allied countries in developing the country. Mr Russell regretted that the Minister held out no hope of completion of the Otira Tunnel within a year, which served a district 'of such importance from mining and settlement points of view. He condemned the continuance of the old system of roads and bridges grants, which were the gift of the Government in power. This kind of expenditure should Be controlled by a special expert and an impartial board. _ Where new railways enhanced private land values, portion of the increment should revert to the State. / Mr R. Semple (Wellington South) pleaded for a more courageous policy of coping with the housing question in cities" and on public Avorks. A vigorous prosecution of the WestportKeeftoA railway would open up very large coal deposits, which would make importation unnecessary. He added that if the conditions were made attiactive labor would be obtainable to complete ihe Otira tunnel in less than a. year. , x