PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 1959, 10 September 1891, Page 17

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

The Public Works Statement waslail on the table of the House on Tuesday afternoon. It was of extreme length. We make the following extracts from it :—

RAILWAYS.

Otago Central.— This line was opened to Middlemarch, a distance of 40 miles from the junction with the main Dunedin and Invercargill railway, on the 4th May last. The line has also been formed and rails laid for a distance of two miles beyond Middlemarch to connect with a ballast reserve. Working drawings and estimates have be,en prepared for a further 56 miles of this railway— namely, to Ida Valley, opposite Blackstone Hill, a distance of 98J miles from WiDgatui junction on the main Invercargill line, and 106 miles from Dunedin. In connection with this work much has been said and much written, and probably the House is well versed in the history of the subject. But having heard so many conflicting opinions, I decided to make a personal inspection of the line and country it traverses, with the result that I have come to the conclusion that the work should be expeditiously proceeded with. Central Otago is approached at the present time on the north by a line from Palmerston to Dunback, in the centre by the Ofcago Central, and in the south by the Lawrence and Eelso-Tapanui lines. The goods for Central Qtago are conveyed principally by the D cutback" and Lawrence lines, so that on the extension of the Otago Central Railway the carriage of goods on those lines will decrease, but every mile' of the Obago Central line now made will bring it nearer to land fit for cultivation. It will have the effect of promoting settlement, besides considerably lessening the cost of carriage to settlers. The state of the roads for traffic in winter is bad— they were bad when I went over them, and that was in fairly good weather.' Taking into consideration the necessity for railway communication, and the money already expended, it is impossible to stop the line at its present terminus. We therefore propose to appropriate a sum of L 30.000 to be expended in constructing the line from Middlemarch towards Hyde. This must only be taken as an instalment on account, and as further funds are available additional allocations will be made. In my tour through Central Obago I did not see the country at its best, but ono redeeming feature of all others was that in each place the repeated cry was we want some land thrown open for settlement. With a genuine demand for land for settlement, and with the prospect of irrigation, which is almost indispensable in the early future, there is every probability that two things will shortly disappear — that is the rabbit pest and the non-progressive condition of the people settled in this part of the colony— we shall find that, by the construction of the railway, instead of a wild waste occupied largely by rabbits, we shall have a thrifty population settled in a prosperous and productive country. As the existing loan allocations for this railway is practically exhausted, it is proposed to provide the amount required for its further extension partly from the released sinking funds and partly from a reallocation of loan moneys under Fart 3 of the Public Works fund.

Oatlins River Railway.— The Glenomaru section of this railway, a length of 6| miles, has recently been completed, and vested in the Railway Commissioners, and the line opened for public traffic to the township of Glenomaru on the 15th July last. A farther short section (half a mile in length only, but including a tunnel 12J chains long) has been let by contract, and is well in hand. On the completion of the works on the Otago Central railway, the want of employment in the district became very great. There being some money available for the construction of the Catlins River line, a section of about 2J miles in length was authorised to be let on terms similar to those for the construction of the Ngakawau-Mokihinui railway. There was a little friction at first, but the work is now proceeding rapidly, and the men employed are fairly satisfied with their returns. The vote proposed is required to complete the line to a point Jto which it is now in hand. When completed to that point it will meet all the requirements of the district for the present. There is, moreover, considerable diversity of opinion in the locality as to the best route to adopt for the further extension of the railway.

Seaward Bush Railway. —As considerable diversity of opinion seemed to exist in Southland as regards the relative merits of the Seaward Bush and Edendale-Fortrose railway, and as both lines will to a large extent open up the same district, I determined to visit the locality, and after making inquiries on the spot I have come to the conclusion that it would be a greater advantage to the colony to extend the Seaward Bush railway than the Edendale-Fortrose line. The land in the vicinity of the former line is fairly good, and the extension would promote settlement and would also bring within marketable distance a very large forest of valuable timber ; in fact, the ' cost of extension of the line would quickly be recouped from the sale of timber alone. As compared with the proposed extension of the Edendale-Fortzose railway, the advantages are greatly on the side of the Seaward Bash line. Under these circumstances, therefore, we propose to take a vote for L 12,000 to complete the latter line from its present terminus to a point well within the forest, a distance of about five miles. Its further extension will depend upon funds being available thereafter.

Summary. — The various appropriations proposed for railway works this year total to a sum of L 484.976. Of this sum L 323.289 is proposed for expenditure out of allocations already made to the railways on which it is proposed to expend ifc, LBB,OOO is taken from released sinkiDg funds,

L 14.000 is derived from the sale of rolling stock no longer required, and the remainder is obtained from a rearrangement of the balances under the allocations as determined by previous loan. As regards the allocation of these unexpended balances the Government considers that the pressing requirements for the works on which it is proposed to expend them, and the dearth of employment which exists at the present time, and which has caused co large an exodus of our industrial population, fully justify the proposals submitted. Oae of the allocations proposed to be diverted ia that fo* doubling the line between Auckland and Penrose, for which work a sum of L 23,000 was provided no less than five years ago, but which no Government has yet proposed to expend. Another 13 the allocation for the RiverddaleSwitzers railway, which, as stated by the late Government in their Public Works Btatement of 1889, is insufficient to complete the line. That Government did not see its way to provide the additional amount required to complete ifc, and recommended that no further work should be done upon the line. The Hon. E. Mitchelaon, when Minister for Public Works in the late Administration, took the view that the line, being a branch line, would be an expensive one to work, requiring as it would a special staff and special rolling stock, and its further prosecution waß not warranted at present; and last year no mention whatever was made of the railway in the Public Works Statement delivered by my predecessor. These two allocations are*nentioned as instances merely, but there are others that are situated almost similarly, and which we propose to deal with in the same way. In view, therefore, of the facts that the money at present is lying idle and useless, and that interest has to be paid upon it notwithstanding its unproductiveness, and also that other works that could be constructed with it, and which when constructed would be of a reproductive character, are urgently required, the Government proposes a reallocation of these unexpended balances with a view o£ terminating them. After all it is largely a mere question of accounts, and if circumstances alter materially hereafter the moneys now proposed to be diverted can doubtless be replaced.

MIDLAND RAILWAY. Although this railway ig not being constructed directly by the Government, the colony is so largely interested in the undertaking that I deem it desirable to make special reference to the progress being made with the work as was done by my hon. predecessor last year. At the south end of the Brnnnerton-Belgrove section of the railway, the portion between Brunnerton and Mawhera (Little Grey), a distance of 31 miles 3 chains has been opened for traffic. The further portion from Mawheraiti to Slab Hut (or Tawhai), 4 miles 50 chains in length, is now ready for opening, and the construction of remainder of line to Re,efton, 5 miles 30 chains in length, is well advanced. A large slip at the mouth of the tunnel near Reef ton has somewhat delayed the construction of the work and neces* sitated the steepening of the grades. The alteration of the grades was made without obtaining the written consent of my predecessor in terms of the contract, and the company on being written to on the subject disputed the right of the Government to interfere in the matter of of this nature, As, however, it turned out on inquiry that the alteration in question had been verbally mentioned to the late engineer-in-chief, and as, moreover, the department was aware that the same had been made, and had not objeoted to it. I allowed the matter to proceed; but I have taken steps to ensure that in future no alterations shall be made unless the plans thereof have been approved beforehand, in terms of the contract. At tbe north end of the same section of the railway a contract has been let, called the Belgrove contraot, (five and a-half miles in length, for the formation works of the railway from the junction with the Government; line from Nelson to Belgrove up to and including the long tunnel through the Spooner range, and the works,, are progressing satisfactorily. The estimated cost of this section, including the acquisition of the necessary land, probable extras on the contract, &c, is about L 60.000, and ,thejwork is to be completed by the 3rd October 1892, and a bond for L 20.000 has been entered into by the company to ensure that the expenditure on the section Bhall amount to at least L 60,000, as provided by the Midland railway contract, and a cash deposit of LSOOO has also been taken to ensure the due completion of the same as required by "The Midland Railway Contract Act 1890." On the East and West Coast section of the railway but little new work has been put in hand during the year. The question of the deviation of the line near Lake Brunner, which was authorised on certain conditions by the Midland railway contract 1890, not having been finally Bettled until the 7 fen July last, the company, however, let a contract for the Kotukntu section (5 miles and 34* chains in length) promptly on the deviation being assented to ; and will, I understand, let further contracts shortly. Some difficulty arose as to compliance with the conditions that Parliament imposed in reference to the deviation, which resulted in negotiations of a somewhat lengthened nature; and it was only after considerable trouble that the matter was definitely settled. It is not necessary to go into the details of these negotiations here t suffice it to say that terms satisfactory to both the Government and the company were ultimately agreed upoD, while at the same time the wishes of .Parliament were respected. A short piece of line from Kaimata to Stoney Creek (a distance of 1 mile 42 chains) haajrecently been completed and passed as safe and fit for traffic, thus bringing the total length of the completed line in this section of railway to a little over 10 miles. At the Springfield end of the same section no new works have, so far as the Government is aware, been put in hand during the late financial year ; but the Springfield contract, which was let in July 1890, is now nearing completion. The Midland railway contract was signed on the 3rd August 1888, the contract time for completion of the whole of the works contracted for being 10 years, from the date of the original contract entered into with a colonial syndicate on the 17th January 1885, so that a period of less than 3| years now remains before the whole railway from Springfield to Brunnerton and from Brunnerton to Bellgrovo should be completed and open for traffic. The amount agreed upon as the estimated cost of the whole railway was L2 1 500,000, and the cost of the works so far completed and ready for traffic (estimated on the basis laid down in the contract) is in round figures L 230.000. If we add to this a sum of L 120.000 as the possible value on the same basts of the work so far done on the sections now under construction, we have a total sum of L 350.000 as the approximate value on the contract basis of all the work so far dona by the company on its railway. This roughly represents about one-seventh of the whole work contracted for, leaving about six-sevenths of

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the estimated value of L 2,150,000 to be dose in the remaining 3£ years of the contract term. From this it will be evident that the company will have to proceed at a very much more rapid rate in the future than it has done in the past if the whole of the works contracted for are to be completed within contract time. The land grants so far made to the company under the contract total to an area of nearly 150,000 acres, of the estimated total value of about L 115.000. The area granted daring the late financial year was 74,526 acres, of an estimated value of L 64.103. Negotiations have been going on between the Government end the company in regard to the question of mining reserves, and aho as to the disposal of lands for selection purposes. I have considered that the first step to be taken to conserve the auriferous lands for mining is to proclaim reserves amounting in the aggregate to say 250,000 acres out of the 750,000 acres which the contract allows us to reserve. The first selection being in the immediate vicinity of the workings, and in localities where gold is known to exist, and where the land would be wanted for bona fide mining. The proclamation of these reserves is proceeding as rapidly as possible. Two blocks have been already proclaimed and the company has not demurred to the fairness of the selection made. Farther proclamations will be issued as rapidly as plans can be prepared. When these reserves are made, the present regulation as to the disposal of lands for settlement can doubtless be modified. At the present time it takes several .months before any land can be acquired. This is owing to the caution necessary to prevent auriferous lands being acquire^ by those who are ever on the watch for each an opportunity. For this the company is in no way to blame. Persons who make the applications to them have selected land which is either auriferous or wanted for mining purposes, and they apply to the company to purchase. When, however, reserves are made, the same caution will nob be necessary, and land selectors should bo able .to obtain land at all events when the selections are advertised within at the most three months from the date of selection. ROADS. The total appropriation for the construction and|improvement of roads last year was L 181.112, and the expenditure thereon has been L 71,683, while the liabilities existing at the close of the year amounted to L 79.396, as follows :— Appropria- Expecdi- Liabilition. ture. ties. Main roads ... £14,180 £ 9.904 £ 3,590 Miaoellaneoui roads and bridges ... 18,733 12,489 4,687 Granti in aid ... 3,146 1,588 1,213 Boads to open up Crown lands bsfore •ale ... ... 46,570 21,282 24,676 Village epeoial settlements ... 31,033 40,884 16,910 Boads to give access < to North Island j Main Trunk railway 40,500 5,8*8 18,799 Boads on goldflelds 42,000 12,687 9.482 £181,112 £71,693 £79,396 MAIN BOADS. The expenditure on this class of roads has been devoted principally to maintenance purposes, although improvements of a permanent character have been made on same as far as the limited means at the disposal of Government would permit. In addition to the liability of L 3.500, it is proposed to vote a sum of L 11,159 for the current year, as the Government cannot at present hand over all these roads to the local bodies to maintain oat of their own funds. But the time is not far distant when the whole amount required for their up keep will have to be provided by the local authorities through whose districts they pass. MISCELLANEOUS BOADS AND BRIDGES. Under this heading is included the Lyell bridge, which is now finished, also the bridge over the Clutha at Cromwell which is being constructed by the Vincent 'County Council under a pound for pound subsidy. Farther improvements have been made to Pelortw Valley and other arterial roads. Details of the expenditure and liabilities on these roads will be found in the report of the surveyor-general, and in the tables attached to 'this Statement. A vote of L 15.200 is proposed for this class of roads. Grants in Aid.— The expenditure of L 1586 under this claim was incurred wholly to provide work for the unemployed. From January 1889 to Jnly 1890 the Government was not called upon to provide relief work, but at the latter date it became necessary to start j work in Canterbury and Otago, and the extensions of road works at Bealey Valley and at Catlins river were therefore put in hand. Farther works have recently been arranged for on roads near Pahiatua, in Wellington, and at Maerewhenua Pass, in Otago, In view of the necessity that attended the adoption of the cooperative system on the Ngakawa railway works it was decided to adopt the same 8 j stem with -the road works at Bealey. Previously the Government were paying 4s 6d a day to the men, and the result was that the State received but a poor return for its pittance, as no interest of coarse was taken in the work. Now the men, some 70 in number, are paid so much per chain for the work, and the total cost has not exceeded what it would have been had the work been done by contract, and the men employed are well satisfied. Men who have been working under the old system, and who the overseers had considered were not able to do a fair day's work, and who were, consequently, not worth even the 43 6d per day which they were paid, j have turned out excellent work, and are moreover anxious and eager to do the work. Instead of being disappointed and complaining as they were in the past they have been made happy, and contented and have been able to put by a little money. An entirely new. phase has, in fact, been put on the whole business. It will be necessary to ask for a further vote this year in ease work has to be found in districts where no authorised works are in progress. Efforts will be made to settle the men on small holdings in positions favourable to their obtaining work, and thus they will have a chance of becoming independent. Roads to Open up Lands before Sale.— -These roads looked at from a settlement point of view are at present the most important ones in the colony, as it is only by means of them that the remaining Crown lands, lying for the most part far inland in the country, to which there are only bush tracks, can be profitably occupied by the settler. The funds provided yearly are utilised in making roads and tracks into unoccupied Crown lands, and as settlement advances in widening and improving such tracks so as to more easily reach lands beyond. It is proposed to ask for a vote of L 3900 for the current year for this purpose, and to supplement this by a vote of L 30.000 out of the consolidated fund, as announced in the Financial Statement, and also by a loan to the Minister of Lands, under the provisions of the Government Loans to Local Bodies Act Amendment Bill. If that bill becomes law it is expected that this expenditure ' will largely conduce to bona fide settlement. Fall details of the work done, and of the lands opened up by these roads daring the past year, will appear in the annual report of the Survey department. Village Special Settlements,— The expendi.

ture of L 4884 under this class was incurred partly in providing roads in the vicinity of the settlements, and partly in makiog advances to the settlers for improvements effected on their holdings, in terms of the regulations under which they took up their lands. The proposed vote of L 17,629 foe the current year is to cover the estimated liabilities for further advances which the settlers can claim, and for such local roads as the vote will permit. Roads on Goldfields.— These roads have been constructed partly out of loan and partly from the consolidated fund. The expenditure out of loan on works of this nature last year amounted to L 12.687, and the liability to works in progress at the end of March last was L 9482. It is intended to ask the House this year for a total appropriation of L 30.550 to complete the works now in progress and for the construction of roads and tracks and other works in connection with the development of the mineral resources of the colony, and also for granting assistance to local bodies in the construction of roads and minor works on goldfields. PUBLIC BUILDINGS. The total appropriation for public buildings and domains last year was L124,136— viz., L 67.015 under the the consolidated fund and L 57, 1 31 under the public works fund ; and the expenditure thereunder during the year haa amounted to L 59.020 and L 22.819 respectively, while liabilities existed on the 31st March last to the amount of L 7753 and L 27.082 in addition. More than half the expenditure under the consolidated fund w&a devoted to school buildings, the remainder having been incurred in enlarging and improving and keeping in. repair the very numerous public buildings throughout the colony. The principal works in hand duriDg the year chargeable to loan fund have been the new lunatic asylum at Forirua, a contract for which was signed on the 7th February last, the contract sum being L 17,38 3; and the new judicial and police buildings at Dunedin, which have just been completed at a total cost of about L 6700. In addition to these works a new courthouse has been erected at Eaiapoi, a new custom house at Greymoutb, farther progress has been made with the new prisons at Auckland and Wellington, the stamp printingoflice at Wellington has been completed, extensive sanitary improvements have been made at the lunatic asylum at Auckland, and the asylum at Sunnyside has been restored, while several other syorks of a minor character have also been carried out. We ask this year for a total appropriation for public buildings and domains of L 133.775, of which amount L 52.950 is proposed to be charged to the consolidated fund and L 80.825 to the public works fund, details of the proposed appropriations under the consolidated fund have been before hon. members for some time, it will therefore probably ba sufficient to state that L 26.000 of the amount is proposed to be expended on school buildings, L 26.050 on ordinary maintenance and repairs of Government buildings throughout the colony, and L9OO on keeping in order the Government domains at Auckland and Wellington. Under public works fund provision has been made for a vote of L 7500 for school buildings to supplement the vote for the same purpose already provided for on the consolidated fund. The estimates are for enlarging the Govern* ment Printing Office to provide accommodation urgently required to take the place of that destroyed some short time since by the fire at the old office, also for completing the lunatic asylum at Porirua, and for some additions and improvements at the asylums at Auckland, Sunnyside,and Seacliff ; for anew telegraph office at Invercargill ; new courthouses at Hastings, Danevirke, and Mongonui ; for a grant in aid towards the cost of new hospital buildings at Dunedin, and sundry smaller works. MISCELLANEOUS CHARGES ON THE LOAN FUNDS. PUBCHASE OF NATIVE LAND.

Inclusive of a credit of L 50.000 from part 2, the amount voted last year for the purchase of Native lands in the North Island generally under part 1 of the public works fnnd was L 10.250, the actual expenditure during the period being L 9002. The result of this expenditure has been to close up the purchase of between 8000 and 9000 acres, -which are now available for settlement, and to advance towards completion the purchase of various other blocks of land covering an area of about 600,000 acres. Special attention having baen directed towards closing up of negotiations for such lands as are more or less adapted to the purposes of settlement. The Hon. Native Minister has also recently completed the purchase of some further lands to the extent of 35,281 acres at an expenditure of L 131,600 in the following districts— viz., Coromandel and Thames, 4144 acres; Waikato, 22,360 acres; Waikanae, Wellington, 8777 acres. That no purchases have been completed during the year under Part II within the area described in the second schedule of " The North Island Trunk Railway Loan Appropriation Act Amendment Act 1870" is due to the backward and complicated state of titles. The purchase of nine blocks, portions of the large Rohepotae block, containing in the aggregate about 200,000 acres, has, however, been commenced, and is now being proceeded with as circumstances permit. The total number of owners, many of whom are under disabilities as minors, in these nine blocks is 2129, of whom 148 have so far signed deeds ot sale to the Grown. For various reasons the majority of owners are at present more or lesa averse to land sales. At the southern end of the railway area the principal block, Awaru, has not been sufficiently advanced in the Native Land Court to admit of negotiations being commenced, but within the past few mouths the purchase of the adjoining blocks, Tekapua and Pohonuiatere, have been vigorously pushed on with, and these lands, containing about 35,000 acres, will be available lor settlement within a short period.

The expenditure under Part 2 during the year was L 13.913, which includes LSOOO transfered to Part 1, as explained above, and survey cost amounting to L2BOO. It is the intention of the Government to ask for a further allocation of L 14,000 for general land purchases outside the North Island Main Trunk Railway, and to enable the acquisition of valuable lands for settlement purposes in different parts of the North Island to be undertaken.

IMMIGRATION. The acceptance of nominations for passages was discontinued on the 16th December, 1890 and notice to that effect was published in the Gazette of the 18fch of the same menth. The number of immigrants introduced under the regulations during the year 1890 was 147, the total cost of their passages being L 1943, of which amount L 1250 was paid by the nominators in the colony, and LlO by the immigrants themselves in London. Since April last 14 persons have been provided with passages, and the number of nominations still on the books is 40

WATERWORKS ON GOLDFIELDS The expenditure under this heading out of loan last year waa £821 only. We propose to ask for a vote for thia year of L6OOO, to be applied towards the construction of water races and reservoirs, and also for granting assisted to private eaterpriee in conTtSg w «ks of « similar character. * 8 0I

1 TELEGRAPH EXTENSION. The expenditure out of loan on account 1 of telegraph construction and for extension lot telephone exchanges throughout the | colony amounted during the last financial | year to L 16.292, and of this sum an amount of L 8999 was expended on the telephone exchanges, making the capital cost at the close of the year L 72.365. Of the new lines l erected during the year for the extension of I telegraph communication, the most important are those to Waipiro, to Kaniata, to Kuaotunu, to Waikaki, to Ararimu, and from Makareta to Ongaonga, from Charleston to Addison, from | Queenstown to Glenorchy, and from Lumsden to Mosaburn. In all these extensions the lines have been brought into operation by means of telephones. In the Estimates for this year provision has been made for a second wire from ! Mohaka to Wairoa and for the extension of 1 lines from Makaretu to Ashley, from Taraekakapo to Hastings, from Gimmerburn to Eweburn and Naseby, from Riccarton to Christ- ! church, from Geraldine to Woodbury, from Christchurch to Tai Tapu, from Kawakawa to I Tomai, from Auckland to Pakuranga, from Karangahake to Waihi, from Wellington to I Petone and Hutt, from Merton to Hunterville, from Fielding to Awahuri, for the reconstruction of the Charleston line, and for an additional wire from Westport to Reefton. CONCLUSION. After having enumerated the various railway and other works on which we propose to expend the moneys available, I feel certain that I have not given satisfaction, but that the dissatisfaction will have arisen not so much from the manner of distribution as from the fact that the money available is so small and the wants so great. However, the amounts now proposed to be appropriated must be regarded as merely instalments on account, and as moneys are from time to time available from the conversion of our loans and other sources, so our public works can be extended and completed. It is the intention of Government to place the works to be gone on with in hand as expeditiously as possible, so as to get the greater part of the same done in the summer months. *The work will thus be done much cheaper, and by beiDg placed in the market at once will provide the muchneeded employment for our working population,