The Northern Advocate Daily SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 1936. MAIN HIGHWAYS POLICY

Northern Advocate, 13 June 1936, Page 4

The Northern Advocate Daily

SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 1936. MAIN HIGHWAYS POLICY

Registered for transmission through the post as a Newspaper.

In a statement made yesterday, the Minister of Public Works, the- Hon. K. Semple, outlined the Government’s main highways policy. In doing so he released Information which will be read with keen interest by county ratepayers throughout the Dominion/ The Minister disillusioned those who believed the Government intended to assume I control of all the highways in the country, and, using the petrol tax to finance reconstruction and maintenance, relieve conn ty ratepayers of rates fori highways purposes. There was never real ground for such belief, but it nevertheless existed. | The Government intends to take over only the trunk highways of the Dominion—the highways which, it is estimated, carry 851 per cent, of the road traffic. Thei total mileage of these highways.®

which are- to be designated State j highways, is 4146, consisting ofj 2300 miles in the North Island j and 1800 miles in the South Is-1 land. These highways are to be i administered by the Main Highways Board, which, no longer the supreme authority, will be responsible to the Minister of Public Works. Thp decision of the; Government to take over the | trunk highways will be welcom-j ed, but there will doubtless be | some outcry when the implications j of the policy are properly under-1 stood. The Government does not j intend to recompense county I councils for expenditure on construction or maintenance of the roads now declared State highways.; This means that the ratepayers of a local body which has maintained a good standard of highway will be asked to make to the Dominion as a whole a gift out of proportion to that made by ratepayers of a local body which has not observed the i same standard. The Minister recognises the anomaly, but he is probably right when he says that this is common experience. Thathowever, does not remove the anomaly, which will rest more heavily oil some counties than on others. The Whangarei County? will not be affected to any appreciable extent, for the reason that the highways on which loans totalling £60,000 .have been expended are not included in the State highways classified by the Government. An exception is a smaj.l sum expended on the Maunu section of the Whangarei-Dar-gaville highway. If the Mangakahia highway had been scheduled the position would have been different. The Government, however, has decided upon the Kaitaia - Ohaeawai-Kawakawa-Hiku-rangi route. The classification of State highways and the effect this will exercise upon county finances will no doubt to eventual changes in local body government. The nationalisation of highways is undoubtedly the object 'of the Government. This will call for enlargement of the Public Works Department . and the elimination of local body engineering responsibilities. Whether this will increase l or reduce the national cost is a matter upon which opinion is divided. A parting of the ways has been reached. Mr Smple, as Minister of Public Works, has initiated a new system which may transform Public Works practice. He has increased the pay of workers, and is providing comforts and amenities of life that have not existed on Public Works undertakings in the past. In return for this he has made a strong appeal to the workers not to let him down. He has made it a matter of honour, as well as of expediency. If his spirit permeates the workers who enter the employ of the department, the nationalisation of highways and the nationalisation of many other public utilities will be brought nearer. , Another experiment, fraught with great possibilities of success or failure, is being launched by the Government.