THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1922. FUTURE OF PUBLIC WORKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18018, 17 February 1922, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1922. FUTURE OF PUBLIC WORKS.

A presumption has been raised by the Public Works Statement that the development of the natural 3 resources of New Zealand is now 3 proceeding at an unprecedented rate. Unfortunately this needs qualification. The evidence that during tho 1920-21 financial year the expenditure on rof.ds reached a record figure and that on railways was the highest for 40 years is gratifying as far as it goes, but it is necessary to remember that expenditure is by itself a very fickle test. The cost of railway j construction has more than doubled, i and other charges have increased in j something like the same proportion. ! When allowance is made for this disturbing factor it will be realised that the activities of the Public ' i Works Department are actually on a smaller scale than before the war. ~ 1 Probably the fairest test is the num- ) ber of men employed. This, agaiu, is subject to qualification. If the 1 department were making the fullest ; possible use of machinery it might J be doing more work now than before | the war with the same or a smaller staff. As a matter of fact its atti- | tudc to labour-saving devices is still : conservative, but it is using ! machinery more extensively than formerly and must therefore be credited with having effected some I economy in man-power. Tho average number of men employed before the war was about 6000. In 1907 the figure reached 7000, and in 1909 was |as high as 7500, but 6000 may be | considered above rather than bolow j the average. The department is (now working with a smaller staff, as - the monthly returns for 1921 prove

An interesting feature of these returns is the increase under "other works " for the second half of the year, but particularly during the (winter months, presumably due to j the absorption of unemployed. The ! number of men engaged on railways, j roads, and hydro-electric works, that I is in primary development, showed a i tendency to decline during the year, falling progressively from 4510 in February to 3213 in December. The real point of the figures, however, is that the Public Works Department is content to move at a pace below its pre-war average and that the attempt to overtake the arrears of development has not yet been made. The Prime Minister once spoke of putting 12,000 men on public works after the war, and even Sir William Fraser, despite his habitual caution, held out a prospect of em- ! ploying 8000 or 10,000. Some such 1 effort must be made and maintained 1 over a number of years if the war is 1 not to leave a permanent mark on ' the development of the Dominion. Those who have most faith in the future of New Zealand are the most j anxious that the effort should not be unduly delayed. There are obvious difficulties at the present time. Money is dear, wages high, and some classes of material still expensive. Pound for pound of its present expenditure the State is receiving less of permanent value now than it did before the war and less than it will receive in the future. The question is, how long the Government can afford to go slow on public works, whether the retardation of industry and development is not a greater loss than is , involved in the high cost of public I works, and at what period it will be true economy to face the new economic and financial conditions boldly in the interest of public progress. It would be foolish to dogmatise because a great many factors are involved, but the indications are that that period is not far off. Prices of most materials used in public works have already fallen heavily, the cost of living in the Dominion is falling, r and wages will follow in the natural course. The London money market is easing and a further reduction of the bank rate is now forecasted. Probably within a year conditions all round will be very much more favourable for public works development than they are now, but it will take at least a year to lay plans for development on the scale that New Zealand needs. There are not only arrears of road and railway construction to be overtaken, but the hydro-electric works will employ a large number of men for several years. There is in addition the Hiley scheme of railway improvements, which is none the less urgent because it has been quietly shelved owing to the Government's financial difficulties. In some respects indeed it is the most urgent ot all the public works because it can be postponed again only at the ri a partial breakdown in rail-

way transport within a few years. In the aggregate these programmes will call for the expenditure of a very large amount of money, and will create a great deal of employment. It would be reassuring to know that the Government is not wholly obsessed with its present difficulties, but, while striving for the most rigorous administrative economy, is preparing for an era of development which will go far to widen the basis of production and so lift the Dominion to a higher level of prosperity. It is not too early even now to elaborate plans for the large programme of public works which cannot be delayed .much longer except at the sacrifice of the Dominion's future.

Rail- Eke- Other i ways. Roads. tricity. Bldgs. Works- Tl. Jan. 2016 1564 410 577 332 -1899 Feb. 2160 1923 407 708 298 5516 March 2127 1761 403 644 314 5249 April 1951 1362 534 542 352 4741 illy 1909 1255 533 569 582 4848 l Juno 1956 1164 527 560 1163 5370 j July 1952 1059 522 500 1547 6580 Aug. 1923 1014 485 548 156-1 6534 | Sept. 1916 947 452 536 1453 5304 1 Oct. 1932 886 -Up 445 1303 5011 Nov. 1997 924 427 411 1189 1918 Dec, 1903 915 390 348 1089 4650