Financial Statement.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 7401, 17 September 1902, Page 4

Financial Statement.

The above was laid on the table 0. the House last evening, and we subjoin vario'is items.of interest from tho paper. n.et.iring th-- your tho railway con.tiue•viiDwoi';. in Ir'nrrd amounted 10 over 200 W . an! 'M\ mil s !i.'i*.« 1.-o* /. ciiiiDt'.'d ■■.:: .1 Irundird ■ > < V 10 th. Hairivy

inpait iteii . In ad \,'..0-, -J< j I i/iile--"'• I ins aro in parti tl us-, v.'lii o rii rail r. ,ye been laid upon f.iili- r 20 nsiii ...

iT'l niitiit'Crof co opr r_t.iv.-a employ- '< T il 3 ~337 in Ju.y, I'JCI, as again.-t 1712 ~, July, 1900. At the closo of the year tbe balance .ero-itiiiK* of ways and means was £454,059, and it is piopcetd to provide additional funds as follows :— Balance of 1901 loan, less co-t r.f raising say £99.833; new loan 1902, £1 700,000 ; further transfer frnin revenue £_o'_,oC(i; thi- will bring the totar ways aud uiennupto __-.f103.391. A tahl- app nded shows that wi'h thiexception of Ta«mat,ia New Z-aland's expenditure per head ..f the population is tho lowest in tho Australasian and .South AfriCHii.cirloirii'S. A bnf sketch of the several rai wa> works in progress in different pans of tho colony is supplied. North I«'und M.-.i.i Trunk—V ry considerable work has been do. c en ifns Ii c, the o.pendnurc during the jci«> havi g he-m the Urti-s- .'-:"<*-r the i-rl'ia-tion of tho wtrrk. Tin- ><:xix\ to date is £393.70r,. As nicii!i<>:i d 1 > !'' -t ye .1 -- -lateim-nt r-g-lar tn.il'i • :se in il on by ihe Pr.-p.iriu n: nt :i-c i..'!:li.-.:n .mi >i lire line as far i»*» irir r-c-:r>ra ._• tnv;...

From that point to O r,;ir-.i -, a trrs ance cf talh-riuore than !.m !>"_" 'H-I.*-.'-I"'' line is complete aod a'' at t:t>-r buii-.-irigri provided. Goods t.-ffi. 'Ms o--.ii wmttl on over this length f.r t-'tn- 1111:11.is and the section is to be handed over for r.gui-rworking on 13 h of next iri'iiith. Th . rails are als.i laid fee eigi.t miles beyond Ong-.uc and earthworks are fully ilireo fourths eomple!-d for a further five miles, and about half done on anoher section of two miles n>d a half, which brings the lino to Taumarunui. The bridgo work on this section is, however, behind haud, due to the delay of the contractors for the manufacture of the iron und steel work. Formation work is in hand up to where the railway will cross the Wtioganui riv.r, two mil s and a quarter byond Tautnarunui, and a service road has been constructed for some distance on tho south side of the riv.r, so as to facilitate the construction of the railway. At the southern end, tbe most noticeable event to record is tho practical completion of the Makohine viaduct, which I had tho pleasure of formally opening on 17th June last. There are 7480 cubic yards of concrete, about 1252 tons of steel and iron, and 26,-fcO superficial feet of timber in the struc -ore. Tbo viaduct is designed to carry locomotives weighing up to 80 tone followed by heavy trains. Tho erection of the .tracluro has occn pied about two years. Tho first tram crossed ihe viaduct on Oth June last. The cost of the strucure, including a due proportion of the ccst of tho pUnt and machinery. has be_n o-out £ 1 I.MJ. but as paintiog has been left over for a time, and a few small finishing works have yet to b- done, tho total cost will probably reach £72,000. This inc'ude, a large amount of work in fonnda-ion. and superstructure over and abovo w.ir-.t was providsd for when tend.rs were invited. Beyond the viaduct good progress haß been mads;, and in connee.tino with other bridges and viaducts tne present position of w.;rk at eourhern end is as follows:—The Hoc to _I-.ng«wek.i is practically finished, and will prooably bo handed over to tho Department for regu'ar traffic this month. It has been in daily use for goods traffi». since the Ist March. Between Mangaweka station and the site of the viaduct over the Mangaweka Ftream. he formation i« complete, and rails aro being laid, and wiil roach the viaduct rite by tbe end of tha present month, when the transposing of the iron and steel work for tho structure will be begun, and building up proceeded with. Tbo abutments, piers, and foundation aro already built. Between Mangaweka and Taihapo the formation is nearly complete, except three unfinished tunnels, which aro actively in p'ogtes?. Beyond Taihapo tho formation 19 well advanced for about five miles, and th - ground his been broken for another 11 miles, or as tar as 60 milas from Marton junction. Tbo totil expenditure on the line last year was £155,979. or £184,5-1 allowing for the value of tho permanent way materials u?cd. This constitutes a weerd, being tho lat-g-et amount expended on the line :n any one year since its inception. Tho total expenditure last year on the Midland railway wns £66,391. and this year a. vote cf £100,000 te proposed. Tbe total appropriations for railway eonstrnetion purposes amounts to £743,000. The net espindituro on roads end other works under tbe control of the Minister of Lands amounted to £335,347 with which sum 409 miles of engine, ring survey was made, 471 miles of dray road, 206 miles of bridle track and 127 bridges of a total length of 12,800 ft. wore constructed ; 785 miles of dray road and 80 miles of bridle road were j improved, and 2555 miles of dray road and 1047 miles ot bridge road were maintained.

Tho total am-iunt authorised and voted under tho Government Loans to Local Bodies Account was £40,577, and the nott expenditure was £31,978, for which 170 miles of engineering survey was made, nnd 42 miles of dray road, 61 miles of bridle road, and five bridges of a length of 201 feet were constructed. There wero also 63 miles of dray road and 203 miles of bridle road improved or nraintained. It will be seen that the balance unspent on this vote was .£14,599, but the moneys under it cannot be expended until they have first been raised under the Government Loans to Local Bodies Act, and it-is not possible to do this until tho lands have been sot apart for settlement and other formalities ohfervrd. Taking theso two accounts together, ther.* was an exponditvre of £62,611 moro than in the previous year. Tho Rroatcst expenditure was in the Auckland dis'.rict, annuming to £97,920. Wellington district came next wHi £94 939, Hawke's Bay 39.357, Taranaki jE3..,755. Southland .C 27.19-, Otago £22.878, Marlborough £17.474, Westland £14.235, Nelson £12,098 and Canterbury £5444. Tho authorisations submitted for" tho current year (including £49,900 under Government Loans to Looal Bodies account) total to £598,612. Tne total expenditure on public buildings last year amounted to £193,452, namely £47,852 under consolidated fund, and £145,600 under publio works fund. The increased expenditure is due to two causes—first the expansion of settlement, and second, to the more permanent and better class of buildings now erected. For the current year a total appropriation of £288,370 is proposed, namely, £47,900 under tho consolidated lund, and £240,470 under the publio works fund.

Genera!.—Under this head the expenditure amounted to nearly £17,000, the works being of a somewhat miscellaneous character, extending over the whole colony. For tho current year a vote of .£19,550 is asked for.

Summary and conclusion.—ln compiling this Statement and the Estimate's whioh acoompany it, * every endeavour has been made to meet the nspossary requirement'of the colony. The total appropriations proposed for all purposes, exclusive of the Government loanß to local bodies account, amount to Je2.196.052;