NO RASH SPENDING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23075, 28 June 1938, Page 10

NO RASH SPENDING

USE OF PUBLIC MONEY CHRISTCHURCH PROPOSAL MINISTER'S OUTSPOKEN REPLY [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] CHRISTCHURCH, Monday "Our opponents say we are spending money like water. They say get in while you can, and they will crash all the sooner. I want to say that we are not going to be hamstrung, bulldozed and pushed into spending public money willy nilly. We want to know whether the expenditure is justified." In these words the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. 11. Semple, replied to a deputation arranged bj' the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, which waited on the Minister to ask what the present position was in regard to the Christchurch-Lyttelton tunnel road project. Mr. Semple said he did not want to pour cold water on tho scheme, but he had been given no information on the actual benefits that would result from the tunnel road, and there was not an estimate of the cost. ".We are not going to set up any undue competition against the railwavs," said the Minister. There is a good deal to be considered besides making speeches about the thing. Asking the Government to find all the money is asking too much. An}-one can pass the buck to the Government. I look at this question with an open mind, and if it has the merits you say it has, it will be considered and a decision made in due course."