THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1909. PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14249, 21 December 1909, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1909. PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

The Minister for Public Works took Parliament into his confidence last night by reading that ponderous collection of facts, figures, anticipations and promises, known as the Public Works Statement. Mr. JR.. McKenzie very naturally drew attention to the points ' which appeared most favourable to his Departmental administration, and was particularly careful to call attention to the breaking of. records in all directions. What he did not allude to, however, was the frequent discrepancy between amounts voted for railways and amounts actually expended, a feature of our Public Works system which, is calculated to disturb the satisfaction of districts complimented by tho stalwart sums allotted to their railways on the Departmental paper. Last year's Public Works Statement was presented to the House immediately before the general election, and the Herald then reviewed the practice of placing fanciful sums upon the Public Works Estimates upon such political occasions, sums which experience showed to be never spent unless it suited the Government to do so. The experience of 1908-9 is no exception to the prevailing rule of much promise before election and much less fulfilment after. Nor is it any exception to the invariable rule that the South Island actually receives more railway, money than the North Island in spite of its smaller population and of the disproportionate amount of its existing railway mileage. The figures for the North Island are:— ■ , .

Amount voted (North Island), £460,000. Amount spent, £300,8*1. •» It will be noted that only in one case, that, of the Stratford line which is being systematically carried on from the southern end only, was the amount voted to any North« Island construction exceeded. Only' in the case of the Main Trunk can it be claimed that all possible work was carried on, and this evidently means that an unwarranted amount' was set down in order to swell the total of the nominal allocation to the; North Island. In the, South, though the. amount voted was/largely in excess, of that spent, the position was very different. The Southern figures are:— - v '.' • ' : . ' r ' r

Amount voted (South Island), £450,000. Amount spent, £344,465: The meaning of this is best shown by a summarising table: Promised. Spent. North Island £460,000 £300,000 South Island £450,000 ■> £344,000 The larger amounts voted to Southern constructions were not wholly expended, but several of the favoured short lines drew far more than their allocations. And thus it must always be as long as the administrative Departments are kept in Southern hands. : . ,■ ;.> Upon the Estimates for the curpent year Mr. R. McKenzie does hot take the trouble to make the pretence of equalising the railway inequalities of North and South. He calmly proposes to spend over £50,000 more in the South than in the North, as under:—

Proposed expenditure in South ... £339,000 Proposed expenditure in North ... £287,500 South Island excess .« ... £51,500 When we remember that the South also gains by a sympathetic control of the purse . strings, as has been shown above, the prospect of the North obtaining its fair share of railway expenditure is faint indeed. And it is the same all along the line. Previous 'years' spendings on the duplications have been against Auckland, but although the Government persistently refuses to duplicate the Parncll Tunnel, it can , readily . find large '. amounts for favoured localities. The amounts spent last, year 1 , and proposed for the current < year for the various duplications are:—

Yet in spited of' all this those who protest are not only denounced as parochial malcontents ■by ."; the Government, but are decried as misrepresenting Auckland feeling by those whose blind partisanship enables the existing system of, arranging railway construction to our disadvantage and injury to continue unchecked. % :'

Voted 1903-9. Spent. £ .£ Kawakawa 40,000 . 22,616 North Auckland ... £0.000 50,983 East Coast 60,000 . 40.601 8tratford 40,000 43,071 Mt. Ef?mont ... ... 15,050 2,738 Main Trunk ... ... 225,000 140,832

';■'■■: Voted. • 1908-9. Spcn*. £ £• Blenheim ... 50,000 36,761 Midland ... ... .150,000 124,402 Wostport-Inangahua ... 15,000 8,567 Blackball ... ... ... 20,000 33,804 Greymouth-Pfc. Elizabeth -30,000- . 24,984 Hokitika-Ross ... ... 15,000 . 14,293 Roxburgh ... ;.. ... 30,000' 14,076 Gore-Waik'aka • "... ... ,12,000 ' 16,153 Catlins ..... 80,000 35,091 Riversdale-Switzers ... 18,000 20,478 Orcpuke-Waiau ...... 50,000 15,846-

NORTH-ISLAND. \ -- ■■■■■ '■■■'': . ■£■ Kawakawa ... ... 40,000 Kaikohe .., ... 2,500 North Auckland ..." ... ... 80,000 East Coast ... ... ... ,.. 80,000 ; Stratford .... ... .... ... 60,000 Mfc. Egmont ... ... ... ... 5,000 Main Trunk ... ... ...... 20,000 SOUTH ISLAND. ... . .' • ■ ■;'■• £ ■ Blonhoim-Waipara ... ... 45,000 Midland ... " ... J. ... 170,000 Wcstportrlnangahua ... ... 20,000 Ngahere-Blackball ... 30,000 lireymouth-Pt. Elizabeth ...' 50,000 Hokitika-Roea ... ... ... 4,000 Lawrence-Roxburgh •.. ... ... 12,500 Gorc-Waikaka . ..; ,... ... 3,000 Catlins-Waimahaka .... ... .80,000 Rivcrsdale-Switzers ... .20,000 Orepuki-Waiau ... ... ... 15,000

, "Spent. . Proposed. , v 1908-9. ' 1909-10. '.;.'•..• -',;/■:'. 'V ' £ ;■«.>" 'v,-£: Wollington-Hutt ,' ... 53,951 74,602 - New HtittHoad ... 12,457 - ' _ ■'■ Dunedin-Mosgiel ■ •'.';..- 73,019' ' 90,000 : -i Addington-Kollosfcoa ..;'■ 37,510 ' 11,000 . Aucklaad-Peuro.se ... 31,005 5.000