A NEW POST OFFICE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21366, 20 June 1931, Page 10

A NEW POST OFFICE.

There has been so much disappointment in the past three years about the erection of a new Post Office that the people of Dunedin could hardly have been blamed if they had lost all faith in the sincerity of the Government’s intention to replace the obsolete and inadequate premises that were “ commandeered ” fifteen years ago with a structure commensurate with the volume of the postal business of the .city. The announcement, therefore, that the Cabinet has given the necessary authority for tenders to be called for the erection of the new building will be received with a good deal of satisfaction. It is to be recognised that it may be argued that economic conditions at the present time are not favourable to the immediate prosecution of an undertaking, the cost of which may amount to £200,000, and that it would' thus be not unreasonable on the part of the Government to postpone the work until a more convenient season. There are, however, considerations of distinct moment which support the conclusion that the present is really a convenient season for the erection of the building. While the pro-' ject had its origin in times of comparative prosperity, the conditions are not so desperate to-day as to demand even the temporary abandonment of a necessary work upon which many thousands of pounds have already been expended. Having embarked upon the undertaking the Government cannot now turn back without adding greatly to the ultimate cost of a public building which must be provided sooner or, later. It has been calculated that in the three years that have elapsed since the old building was demolished the Government has lost £13,500 by way of interest on the value of the site, and,,, if this be the case, the expenditure on the foundations, approximating £20,000, will increase to between £SOOO and £6OOO the annual interest bill that must be met until the building is completed. It is clearly important that these losses should not be allowed to accumulate for an indefinite period, and, in the circumstances, they can be avoided only by the completion of the work at the earliest possible moment. Then there is the consideration—a very important consideration in present circumstances —that a large number of men of different trades will be provided with employment as soon as the work is put in hand. The recruiting of the skilled and unskilled labour necessary to the fulfilment of a large

contract should have a distinctly beneficial effect on the labour market in Dunedin. It is estimated that in the case of heavy construction work of the type that will be carried out in the building of the new post office the percentage of the cost absorbed by the payment of wages is as high as 60. If this estimate is correct, as we believe it to be, the amount of money that will be spent on wages in the construction of this necessary building will be approximately £133,000. The distribution of such a sum will be so highly welcome that it is to be hoped that the work entailing the expenditure will be put in hand as speedily, as possible.