THE OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2087, 22 February 1894, Page 18

THE OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, — During a meeting held to-day between the executive of the Otago Central Railway League and a number of Otago M.H.R's., it was very clearly evidenced that a wide misconception exists in certain quarters in regard to the several expenditures, "net and liable," made

from time to time by the Government upon this work. Will you, therefore, for public information, publish the following promises and performances of the Hon. R. J. Seddon, Minister for Public Works, as they appear in his several Public Works Statements ? If we turn to his Public Works Statement of 1891, we find, after his proving the urgent necessity of vigorously prosecuting this work : " We therefore propose to appropriate a sum of £30,000, to be expended in constructing the line from Middlemarch to Hyde. In my tour the repeated cry was : 'We want some land thrown open for settlement,' " &c. As it is necessary to show how the Minister found affairs when he took office in January 1891, we must examine table O and No. 2 of his Public Works Statement Bth September 1891 :— Allocation as determined in July 1890 (Atkinson finance) £29,939 0 0 Expenditure during year ending 31st March 1891 25,456 0 0 Balance of allocation unexpended 31st March 1891 £ 4,483 0 0 Liabilities on 31st March 1891 ... 3,042 0 0 Total expenditure on line by the General Government £539,438 13 7 [Note.— The Minister, though having full control of the department from January 1891, met the House with an unexpended balance of allocation over liabilities of £1441.] Amount authorised for expenditure 1891-2 £30,000 0 0 Total expenditure, liabilites (£3042) aDd construction, 1892 £11,586 10 0 Total works on open lines, 1892 ... 207 9 0 Additions to rolling stock, 1892 ... 2,995 19 7 Total actual expenditure, 1891-2 ... £14,669 18 7 Liabilities £8,158 15 11 Total expenditure by General Government, 31st March 1892 . . .£554,318 12 2 With a discrepancy of £15,000 between his bold language and acts of 1891, we find him in this (1892) Statement giving utterance to the following : — " The Government regard thiß line as the most important work now under construction in the Middle Island. An authorisation of a substantial sum is asked for — namely, £36,000, of which amount £30,000 will be required for expenditure within the current financial year. The authorisation asked for will complete the formation and bridge werks between '.Middlemarch and Hyde, &c. It will be noticed also that a sum of £3293 8s 7d is put down for rolling stock and repairs to open lines." Amount authorised for expenditure 1892-93 £36,000. 0 0 Total expenditure (liabilities, £8158 15s lid) and construction, 1893 20,516 9 5 Total works on open lines 6 17 6 Total actual expenditure, 18921893 £20,523 6 11 Liabilities £8,259 0 0 Total expenditure by General Government, 31st March 1893... £574,841 19 2 Again we are met with another chronic discrepancy of £15,000, and, with an assurance that would do justice to Charles Surface, we are told in his 1893 Public Works Statement : " The works upon this line have been energetically proceeded with. The Government hope to be able to open the line for traffic to Hyde in the early part of the New Year. The appropriation proposed for the current year n £45,000, which will provide for the completion of the Middlemarch-Hyde section and for a substantial expenditure on the Hyde-Eweburn section." Pie-crust Promises. The Minister of Public Works requested authority of the House (which w.as never questioned) to expend upon thiß work Bince assuming the portfolio the following sums :— VOTED. 1891-2 £30,000 0 0 1892-3 ' 36,000 0 0 1893-4 45,000 0 0 Total £111,000 0 0 At March 31, 1891, after having control from January, there was a credit over as against the liabilities to be met of £1441. Actual Performance. 1891-2— Expended £14,869 18 9 1892-3— Expended 20,529 0 0 1893-4— Expended (if we get[?l the full vote of £45,000 by March 31) 45,000 0 0 Total £80,398 18 9 Promises £111,000 0 0 Performance 80,398 18 9 Difference £30,601 1 3 If this £30,000 had been expended and we had a rapid expenditure of the currer?t £4-5,000, Hyde would have been open for traffic ere this and the tunnel would have been prosecuted with vigour. — I am, &c., Dunedin, Feb. 19. William Earnshaw.