PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 152, 13 August 1881, Page 2

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Mr. Hall delivered the Pnblic Work* Statement on Tuesday night. He said thtf expenditure during the past financial year,. £969.165. had be n u almost wholly on woTJfiL begun before the expenditure during the first financial year. Including the expends , ture during ihe fir't quarter of the current year and the liabilities outstanding on the 30th June last, the votes of last session had not yet been exhau ted. Below we give those portions of the statement which more> immediately concern our readers :—•- HRW PLYMOUTH-FpXXOJT B AIRWAYS. The northern division of this trunk line, being the por' iOn from -New Plymouth to. Hawera, a length of about, fifty-one miles, is com pleterii Twelve miles between Ngaire an>i tf ormanby were opened for traffic during the lait financial year, and the remainderwill be opened m a few days. The furtherdivision of- theJKeW Plymouth-Foxton liae, being the length between ETawera^and Foxton, has now a total extension of ninetyeight miles, of which nineteen miles between Kai Iwi and' Waverley have been opened during the year. The length remaining to. unite Waveriej and Hawera -is twenty-five mil> ¥ s. <if -which -the precise direction betwen Mahntahi and Hawera is, as yet* undetermined. The pregent enrveyed line is near thi Goast, bu^|vve|co iil«rthat it would l b preferable to adopt due further inland if it should turn out to be economicallypracticub c; The Wanganui wharf has been finishel, and has a total frontage availablefor vessels of about 946 feet. Steps are being taken to provide necessary, station buildings on the reclamation, and to bring the new station into proper working- order.. FOXTON-WBLfcilfGTnir - - The earth works on this part of the; tiunk line (the totai length of which is about seventy miles) were begun m the-nei"hbo-hood of Wellington by the labor of tha " unemployedj" but funds riot beingavaiiable for its contimntion the wdiks havebeen discontinued. The Houa^ will' be aware that with a view of carrying on \lxq- , project a company has been instituted m Wellington^ The promoters have, been m. tie.aty with tbe Government for terms, m«. eluding the grant of land on the line, of thi earth- works executed, and of material already provided. The Government pro? pose^also to undertaker the definition and survey of the whole line, and, m any arrangement which may be may bejmade, to. reserve to the Colony the right of purchase.. The completion of this work "would open unbroken railway communication between-. Wellington and the whole Waaganui" and Taral^Vi country by a line of StO mjlea. This mattPTwill come before the Legisla-^ ture m coaneslion with a bill to be injrodnced empowering grants. of land .for purposes of this kind. : RKQ IBBD i TO; D?M*IiBTE TBUNK LINBi Unreserved intervals of 120 miles on thewest, and 160 ingles ori 'the east, separate, the es.t^mitjr of the Waikato line at, Awamulu from. 7 Waitara (Tarariakj) and Napier Jgsnecfctvely. , The; Ctpvernment will lose no "oppoituuity may present . itself for 'ohtafiuug such- informafon with, rega d to hi intkveriiogcorintTy*s!willenable the bevt moie of completing this main, arteria' lme to L-i determined. ..-.-; WELipSGTOX FQEEOiC A &m»3l vote is required to wind; up ac>. counts on the works, including payment of/ ; l»udi ? -'• ■■ ■ „ ,■.;■-•• roXTON-liBBWT^Ii^MOTJT;?.. The vdta" asked for tti northern division, of this line.' will complete the -works now m hand. The yote .for the southern,.division. will provide for the formation of the liae. between Waverley and Patea, and from, thence to Manutahv It will; alto provioe: for the 6Us vey of the unfinished saction be-, tween Hawera. and Patea and cover outstanding liabilities. , . T OOMPANY BAILWATO. I have already said tlat negotiations have been opened with the> promoters o£ companies for e»Trying out the lines from Wellington to Foxtpn,. .wad from Canter--hnry to Westlan,), and- that one part of the p. oposals. is a grant of crown lands by way of subsidy. The Government are assured thst subwlifs. m 'he fojm of land grants would iiiduc capitalists to- undertake useful work «>f this character, which the condition of the Public Works Fund and of the revenjie, and the. pledges of the colony, preclude the Legislature proceeding (with, at prefent. Although, with, regard to the Oiago Central Line no definite proposal have yet reached the Government. I do m doubt that so favourable an oppoalunity fur the exercise of private enterprize wilt be taken .dvantageof, -With this view I shall b'mg down a bill authorizing soch grants witb.in limits to ba laid down, and. under arrangements to be subject to thp approval of • arliamtnt. This mode of tngaging private enterprize m the development «nd colooizitioa of the- conatry the. Committee; is well atyareis B,oTel.ty^ The method of di-. viding the territoiy abuting on the propoied line* iv nl "raate block* of moderate are*, for'gvant« 1: the railway companies, and for retention by the State, rcmovei all poX fcibility of tie land being occupied advantageously m very large aTeai a danger wh : ch, is m any case would not be serious, liuce the people of the adjoining landjs is the most ' pbioc* mode of making the railway enttr* ! prize profitable. ' - ,■ , I' continue to bring all our proposals underthis head within one view, whatever depart* ment may.be charged with their execution^ Bat there is a distinction between our other suggestions and those for roads to open,Crown Laudsii The full amount required for iho roadg of this class—vi^,

will be shown m the Estimates, but it is proposed 16 extend" the construction over . three years, and not to expend morejthnn ' some £5Q,000 durkg the current year. Th^ total vote a^ked for i\>ads ana bri ig. s including expenditu-c m the MaichJine quarter and all liabilities to the 30th June, amounts to about 260.000 Cimingdoiv:i theWetit Ooast to the Wellington Provincial District, and taking the railway lin-. as a bass, it is proposed to run <y-o -s-r eds i 'land from fever points to Crown Lands. With -this viewrroai.B are projects! l>'tmi Wave ey to Moumaaaki, Wanganui to Tokom^ '„ a line to Murimptu (inland line origraatirg a* M<rton), another ertendin^ tbe Kimboltoo road fiom 'he borders of -he Fmlding:"t-tlp« ment through the Waitapu and Otamak'--pua Blocks, and a Hue op inng up the Penan gina and Fltzherbert 81. .ka. '. c only other works projuct.l on t ■■■? W? y : Coaat of this island are a line co reeling Crown Lands, now under survey, wit*i Otaki, and the completion of tie bridle track cohuu ctihg Waikanae, to Mnngaroa, Upper Hutt. IMMIGBA.TIOK. Operations under this head have been almost suspended duri..«: the past year. The sLate of the labor market is still such that we should not feel jurtified m altemptinj to renew a large assisted immigration. I - lieving. however, as we do, that a cous"derable addition to the population of New is as necessary for the develbpe* v nient of its rieso irces as ' o the pt 03perity of those who are now settled within i. borders, we look forward J o being able at no distant date to again afford faciiiti : for the introduction of suitable immiwrant^. But at pieie.it circumstances do not \ us to do mori than to assist a number of persons who have been to some degree surprised by the suspension of the subsidized immigration, and to ex' nd this assistance to a very limited number of single women and of nominated immigrants who are anxious to join relat.oos m toe colony. The Government look on State Immigration operations as invjly n; a higher degree^if moral responsibility than perhaps aij? other with which they are charged. The vote asked for including a minimum staff r^i»fi'the cplany and m England, aDd tbe maintenance of buildings is £24,973. Afrer alluding to Major Atkinson's finsn.cial policy, Mr Hall said the charac >r of the proposals to be made on the meeting of next Parliament would depend to a gieat degree on the financial experiences of the current y>s»T. "But I •wish now to affirm few pi inciples which will be..observed m our propositions, should we be honored with the. continue i confidence of the country, and should our finance, as we anticipate, justify our immediate forward movement. | First, we shall make our propo-als ea /Ministers of the colony, although not neglect--ting the claims, needp» arid prospects, of any one of its varied districts; secondly, we shall ask the Legislature to define its future undertakings with all possible precision, aad to give the fullest guarantee m its power that the under f akings so defined shall be faithfully carried out; thirdly we shall ash that future boi rowing operations be limited strictly m amount by the ca culable prospects of the countiy, and that borrowed money be only employed for works •which give reasonable promise of being tf« muuerative within such a period as sound finance contemplates. Elaborate schedu'es of proposed works, etc., are attached to the statement.