PARLIAMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15141, 4 November 1912, Page 8

PARLIAMENT.

PUBLIC WORKS ESTIMATES.

RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION VOTE THE CARRIAGE OF COAL. [BY. TELEGRAPH. ASSOCIATION.] Wellington, Saturday. The House of Representatives met at 10.30 a.m. to consider the Public Works Estimates. ■

The voto for railway construction was first discussed. The total vote amounted to £1,304,500. Mr. Buddo (Kaiapoi) desired to deal with the question of the difference in railway freights (as they would apply to the Midland line) and sea-borne carriage, but he was ruled out of order. Mr. Pearce (Patea) moved that the vote of £70,000 for the Otira-Bealey section of the Midland railway should be reduced by £1. as an indication, that an independent board should be set up to ascertain whether there was any possibility of the line paying. Sir A. R. Guinness (Grey) quoted figures to show that coal by rail to Canterbury would have an advantage over sea-borne coal, apart altogether from the loss occasioned by slack coal created in many handlings inseparable from watercarried coal. Mr. Pearce said that coal could be carried on scows at lesser freights than those charged by the Union Company. Hon. R. McKenzic said ho would like to see Mr. Pearce attempt to carry a cargo of coal on a scow over the Grey bar. The amendment was ' defeated by 48 votes to 4, and the vote pasf«d unaltered. On an item of £255,000 for rolling stock Mr. Buchrnan (Wavrarapa) drew atteni tion to the scarcity of railway trucks. The Minister for Public Works (Hon. W. Fraser) said trucks wero being built as rapidly as possible. New Zealand was better served with rolling stock than any of the Australian States in proportion to Hie population. Next year ho would perhaps introduce a separate Loan Bill on the lines of the Railways Improvement Bill, which would allow him to largely improve the railway system. The item was agreed to. The next item discussed was the public buildings, for which the total vote proposed was £465,500. The Hon. R. McKenzie asked for information about the new Parliament buildings, and what was being done in regard to the erection of a Dominion museum. Would the Minister, ho asked, assure the House that 'these buildings would be put in hand as feoon as possible ? The Minister for Public Works (Hon. W. Fraser) said in regard to the Parliament buildings that he hoped to have tenders called by the beginning of the year. A building for the museum was a necessity, but the House over and over again had deprecated expenditure on public buildings when money was required for roads. A temporary building was being erected for the housing of exhibits, and meanwhile ho would only add that " the sooner wo had a museum worthy of the Dominion the better.'-'. The vote was passed. ■ . The post and telegraph, agricultural, mental hospitals, public health, school buildings and. minor sections of the same vote wero passed without discussion. On a proposed vote for £85,000 for water-power development, in reply to Mr. Ell (Christehurch. South), the Minister said that the Lake Coleridge work would be completed in contract time. This scheme would have to be first completed before any others of. a similar kind were gone on with.' At 12.40 the whole of the votes had been put through. The remainder of the sitting was devoted to a discussion in regard to Mr. R. McNab's historical research. The House rose at 1.10 p.m.. and will resume on Monday at 2.30 p.m. THE LOAN BILL. MR. ALLEN IN REPLY. [BY TELEGRAPH.— rSESS ASSOCIATION.] Wellington, Saturday. ' After the telegraph • office closed 'this morning the Minister for Finance (Hon James Allen) commenced his reply in the House of Representatives to the debate on the. Loan Bill.. He declared that one reason for the amount of the loan proposed was the extent of the commitments of the past Government. He. went on to say that last year £424,000 was expended on roads and bridges. The votes for those works this year totalled £550 in addition to which there would probably be £40,000 or £50,000 on the Supplementary Estimates. • FF The reading was carried, and the House went into committee on the Public Works Estimates. After the first ten of the Estimates had been taken, the House rose at 1.40 a.m. SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES.

TO BE BROUGHT DOWN TO-MORROW. [in- TELEGRAPH— COItRKSPOKDENT.] Wellington-, Sunday. The Cabinet tab yesterday afternoon, and completed the preparation of the Supplementary Estimates for expenditure from the consolidated fund. They will bo brought down by Governor's message probably on iuesday evening, ami submitted to the House m Committee of Supply on Wednesday. lL ' It is now expected that Wednesday's sitting will bring the session to a clok though it will probably be during the early hours of Thursday morning when the final business is completed.

GRAMMAR SCHOOL SITU. AN INCREASE IN AREA, [ivr TKM9GXATO— CORRESPONDENT.] Wellington, Saturday. Portion of the gaol reserve, vested' in the Auckland Grammar School Board last year as a site for the new school, was defined as containing 14 acres 3 roods 6 5 perches By . a clause in the " washing up Bill it is proposed to repeal the schedule to the Act and substitute a new one defining a site of 15 acres 21 perches The description of the boundaries is Yevised, the principal change. being that the frontage to Mountain Road is increased from less than three chains to slightly over four chains. THE " WASHING UP" BILL. MINOR AUCKLAND MATTERS. [BY TELEGRAPH— SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.] Wellington, Saturday. The annual "washing up" Bill was introduced in the House of Representatives this morning by Governor's message. It comprises 62 several of; -which

concern various areas of land in the Auckland district. The Peria. native school site, -which was transferred to trustees in 1875, is now to bo vested in the Auckland Education Board for a. school site. It contains eight acres. -Another clause authorises an exchange of land between the Crown and the Tauranga Borough Council. As ifc has been found that owing to the nature of the country 100 acres, the maximum of village homestead allotments, is insufficient for the maintenance* of a settler and his family upon the Kinohoku villagesettlement, a provision is made in the Bill that any person may. on the recommendation of the Land Board, and with the approval of the Minister, acquire the lease of two or more allotments in the settlement, provided that no lessee sliall acquire or hold more than two hundred | acres in the settlement.

Special legislation is included to satisfy the requirements of the Counties Act, constituting Great Barrier island a county.

MR. McNAB'S RESEARCHES,

QUESTION IN PARLIAMENT. [BX TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] Wellington*, Saturday. In the House of Representatives this morning Mr. Russell (Avon) asked whether the attention of the Government had been directed to the published statement by Mr. B. McNab that in consequence of the criticisms which had been passed on his actions he did not intend to proceed further with his historical researches in regard to New Zealand. The Prime Minister (Hon. W. F. Massey) said that no one appreciated more than ho did the value of the work which Mr. McNab had done. A return bad been presented to Parliament showing that he had not received a single penny for the work he had been engaged upon, but if there was anything more that could be done to allay Mr. MeNab's feelings, ho was quite prepared to do it. He did not think Mr. McNab was fully aware of what had occurred in Parliament. The Minister for Marine (Hon, F. M. B. > Fisher) also stated that ha had written to Mr. McNab explaining the incident which had occurred in the Honse, and authority had been given to publish his second book. Mr. Russell expressed the hope that tho Prime Minister would smooth over .the difficulty. j . 1 RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION, j THE EAST COAST LINE. WAIHI-TAURANGA SECTION. —.■ • WHY WORK HAS BEEN STOPPED. [by telegraph— . CORRESPONDENT.] Wellington-, Saturday. Further construction work on the WaihiTauranga section of the East Coast Main Trunk railway has been postponed until next financial year. The reasons for this decision to include this section; in the list of works to be discontinued were explained bv the Minister for Public Works (Hon. W. Fraser) in the House of Representatives this morning. Mr. Fraser said there were 23 different sections of railway in hand when he took office. Mr. Russell (Avon) : Which do you propose to stop? Mr. Fraser: There is the WaihiTauranga line. A railway lias been built from what is called the Mount, near the harbour of Tauranga, to To Puke, and is continuing thence to Paengaroa. A bridge is to be put across the, harbour at Tauranga to connect this line with that town. I came to the conclusion that for thiq year, at any rate, it would be of no use to go on spending money on the W'aihi-Tauranga line. How- much did the last Administration'spend on that line last year? A member : Twenty-two pounds. Mr. . Fraser : Yes, £22; and, yet we hear some of those members now talking about the enormous injury I am doing to the country by the stoppage of■ that line. Let me say now with regard to the Tauranga Harbour that that bridge must be built, but I could not tackle it this year. On the Supplementary Estimates we are providing about 550,000 fn* *oade, bridges, and railways,, and I have been asked to devote £20,000 of' that aura, for this harbour bridge. Of course, I could not do that. I «av again, however, that the bridge must be put across the harbour, and \ I hope to be able, to provide the money for it next year if I am in my present position. As soon as it can get the money for : it the work will bo commenced, and I will tell members why. At present the line goes to a temporary wharf at the Mount, 1 and the inconvenience to which vessels I discharging cargo there are put are such as should not be allowed to continue longer than can possibly be helped. The proper place to bring your bridge across is where the town is, where all the appliances will be, where the warehouses are, and I believe myself that can bo done.

A COSTLY WORE.

XGAHERE BLACKBALL LINE.

[bt TEL?.

"Wellington*. Sunday.

Hidden away in the maze of departmental returns is the fact that upon one short line of railway in Westland there has been an expenditure equal to £42,165 per mile. .This is the Ngahere-Blackball line, a length of three miles 40 chains, the construction of which has cost £147,577.. Originally authorised in 1901, it was intended that the line should extend- to the right bank of the Blackball Creek, near Blackball township, a distance of about 2£ miles. Subsequently it was decided to carry it on a further 70 chains for the purpose of serving both the Blackball and the Paparoa coal mines. The principal expenditure anticipated at first was the construction of a combined railway and Toad bridge over tho Grey River at Ngahere, for which a contract was let in September 1902, the price being £23,331. When that contract was let it was estimated that the lino could be constructed to the vicinity of the mine adit by an expenditure of a further £30,000 in addition to the cost, of the completed work (£20,63*), and that of the main bridge. The extension subsequently decided upon was not contemplated in that estimate, but when it was announced in the Public Works Statement of 1907, the expenditure to March 3lßt, of that- year, had already reached £49,456. # During the next two\-ears the construction of the line absorbed a further sum of £54.343. and finally the line was completed and handed over to the Railway Department on July IS, 1909 the aggregate cost to March 31, 1910 having been £134,170. Since then further sums have been expended upon it until its cost has reached the enormous sum of £147,577, spread over nearly ten vears