PUBLIC WORKS

Southland Times, Issue 22997, 17 September 1936, Page 9

PUBLIC WORKS

The Government’s Policy Explained MORE THAN £8,000,000 TO BE SPENT (From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, September 16. The Public Works Statement, covering the Government’s policy of major works for 1936-37 was tabled in the House of Representatives to-day by the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. R. Semple. The Estimates setting out in detail the amounts of grants to local bodies for road construction and maintenance and other works were also presented. Important points in the Minister’s statement were: — It is intended to increase the number of men on public works jobs to 20,000 as soon as is possible. The total vote for maintenance of public works and services under the Consolidated Fund is £1,182,500 compared with £145,492 from the fund last year. The total proposed expenditure on public works for the year is £8,543,700, of which £5,605,000 will be spent on construction of means of communication and transport (railways, highways, roads, harbours and aerodromes). A programme of additional hydro-electric supply work will shortly receive consideration.

OUTLINE OF NEW POLICY

Agreement Made With Men

Mr Semple’s statement was as follows:— Since I took control of the Public Works Department in December last my whole energies have been concentrated in endeavouring to revitalize the activities of this important department. On assuming office I found there was not in existence a policy which could be relied upon to give sufficient guidance to the head of the department and his staff and which was necessary if the department was to function in the most efficient and satisfactory way. My effort has been to frame a policy such as I believe will ultimately result in clearly defining the system upon which the Government intends to carry out its public works, and which will give to the department that lead which it can rightly expect from the Minister in control. I was quite prepared to find, owing to several years of financial depression, that there might not be a settled policy, and I make due allowance for such difficulties, but I was not prepared to find that the whole of the public works activities had been converted into a system of relief for unemployment. With this end solely in view, methods of work had been adopted vzhich were not only uneconomical but, to say the least of it, were highly demoralizing to the men compelled to work under such conditions. It was a surprise to me that after years of work under this system the staff and workmen of the department should have retained the will and energy to work, which I found still existed among them. The whole position was most unsatisfactory, and gave absolutely no incentive to any one to give of his best. New life needed to be infused into the workmen employed by the department. In general, no exception could be taken to the value of the works upon which they were engaged. Some of them I did not approve of, and I did not hesitate to stop them. Others I would have stopped had they not progressed too far to make it inadvisable to do so; there were other works which should obviously have been started and had not. The Government has gone carefully into the necessity or otherwise of such works, and many of them have now been put in hand. I venture to say that there is not one of them that will not be found to return some economic value to the State. Scientific Methods. I wish at present, however, to dwell more upon the method of carrying out these works than upon their national benefit. In an age when machinery is doing so much to relieve the burden of hard work, and to reduce expenditure in every direction, I could not agree to continue to carry out work by methods that involved the unnecessary expenditure of energy and increase in cost, such as is inherent in a system of work for the relief of unemployment only. The engineers of my department have had to carry out a most unpleasant and distasteful duty in being asked to do work in such a way, and I am doing all I can to give them the plant and machinery that will enable them to undertake work in the way it should be carried out in this enlightened age. I have, of course, found it necessary to hold a balance between the use of machinery and the employment of men who are willing and cannot find work, and so far I have not found it necessary to diminish the number of men employed, but rather to keep them employed in a more useful way. I could not, however, ask men to work industriously for the inadequate living wage they were receiving when the present Government took control of public works. I decided that this state of affairs should not continue, and at the earliest possible moment issued a properly planned programme of the department’s activities, together with instructions that in future public works were to be undertaken as standard works, and that we were to depart from the relief system which had been followed for years past The first objective having been obtained, I then concluded an agreement with the New Zealand Workers’ Union covering all employees of the department. Under this agreement the men have been given the inducement to work—reasonable hours, good conditions, and fair wages. A five-day week of 40 hours has been introduced on public works in New Zealand for the first time, and is proving entirely successful from the point of view both of the department and of the men. Living conditions on the works have been improved by the provision of better camp accommodation, for which no charge is being made. Wages have been substantially increased, and the men are now able to earn a decent living wage. In November 1935 the average wage of workers on public works was 12/6 a day, whereas in June 1936 the average was 17/9 a day. As far as possible the aim has been to secure uniformity of average wages in all districts, but cli-

matic conditions and varying types of construction activity result in some differences in earnings.

Contract System.

I have stated elsewhere that I firmly believe in the co-operative contract system of working. This system has been in operation on public works for over forty years, and I am convinced that it encourages the men to give of their best, because they are paid by results and know that they will be paid for what they earn. I have instructed that this system is to be continued at prices allowing men of average ability working industriously to earn the daily rates of wages provided for in the agreement. The workmen are allowed to select their work-mates and to appoint their own head man. From April 1, 1936, arrangements have been made for two pays per month instead of one pay per month, which was the practice hitherto. This concession is, I am sure, very much appreciated by the men and by their dependents. In addition to providing the five-day week, improved camp accommodation and increased wages mentioned above, provision has been made for workmen with two months’ service to be paid for seven statutory holidays—viz., Ndw Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday,- King’s Birthday, Labour Day, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. Workmen with twelve months’ continuous service are entitled to two weeks’ annual leave per annum, of which five days will be paid for where the continuous service is under two years, and ten days will be paid for where the continuous service with the Department is two years or over. Recreation halls and library facilities are being provided on the larger works, and arrangements have been made with the Young Men’s Christian Association authorities for pictures and other social amenities. The Government has agreed to meet any reasonable cost of the service in excess of the revenue received by the Y.M.C.A. The agreement with the New Zealand Workers’ Union provides for preference to unionists, and workmen are required to become financial members of the union within one month of commencing duty. Arrangements have been made for the department to collect the union subscription where the men give the necessary legal authority. Work For 20,000. From the above it will be seen that an endeavour has been made to provide reasonable conditions for the men to work under, and I now wish to outline the Government’s proposal for works to give employment to as large a number of men as possible. When the Government assumed office at the beginning of December 1935, 13,696 men were employed on public works, of whom 8289 were employed on relief work, while for the week ending August 15, 1936, 15,851 men were employed, most of whom were on standard works. It is intended to increase the number employed on public works to 20,000 as soon as possible. It will be seen from the estimates of expenditure for the Consolidated Fund already submitted to Parliament that provision has been made for the assistance hitherto provided from unemployment taxation for public-works activities now being found from ordinary revenue. The principal amounts are for irrigation, £97,500; for land improvement, £71,000; for additions and improvements to open railway-lines, £77,000. In addition, the Consolidated Fund is providing £39,000 towards the construction and improvement of settlement roads, £20,000 towards the cost of renewal of road bridges, £BO,OOO for restoration of roadworks, bridges, and etc., damaged by floods, and £20,000 for maintenance and repair of roads. For the construction of aerodromes and emergency landing grounds £341,000 is being provided, whereas the expenditure from the Consolidated Fund for this service last year was £6196. Provision has also been made under the Consolidated Fund this year for £lOO,OOO for the purchase of modem plant, which is additional to the amount of £90,000 for plant for main highways. The total vote for Maintenance of Public Works and Services under the Consolidated Fund is £1,182,500, as compared with an expenditure of £145,492 for this fund last year. I am anxious to pursue an energetic policy of public works so as to provide national assets, and at the same time assist in relieving the distress caused by the drastic cessation of constructional works by the late Government. My colleague, the Minister of Finance, in the Budget referred to this subject of the curtailment of public works as being a material factor in the increase in unemployment throughout the Dominion. From 1919 to 1931 expenditure increased from £1,350,408 to £8,388,529. In 1932 it dropped to £4,815,542, in 1933 to £1,727,076, and during the years ending March 31, 1934, 1935 and 1936, expenditure was £2,087,781, £2,242,535, and £2,484,561. When it is remembered that business develops under settled conditions, it will be realized that any sudden disturbance is fraught with far-reaching consequences. The reduction in expenditure from loan money of £6,661,453 in two years was disastrous, as when public works should have been expanding an opposite policy was being followed. The present Government is attempting to remedy the position by providing for a reasonable development

of the national resources, using ordinary revenue to assist where the works are of such a nature as not to realize a full return of the annual cost. This Year’s Expenditure. A study of the proposed expenditure on public works for this year, as indicated in the Public Works Estimates, shows that much the greater portion thereof is needed for means of transport and travel. Under broad headings the proposed expenditure is as follows: — £ Construction of means of communication and transport (railways, highways, roads, harbours and aerodromes) 5,605,700 Land development, including settlement of unemployed workers . 959,000 Erection of public buildings 1,215,000 Development of electric power 764,000 8,543,700 Railways will this year form a much larger proportion of the cost of the first item than they have for the past few years. Work bas been recommenced on the Napier-Gisborne railway, the South Island Main Trunk railway, and the Westport-Inangahua railway. Additional railway construction under the control of the Public Works Department will be the Turakina-Okoia deviation on the Wellington-New Plymouth railway. The proposed expenditure on road communications is very much larger this year than it has ever been in the past, and is more than half the total for all public works. On main highways alone it is proposed to expend £3,050,000, but more than £2,000,0001 of this is received from revenue. The Government is anxious to embark on an extensive • programme for the elimination of railway level, crossings over main highways,. and is prepared to place a very considerable sum of money on the estimates for this purpose. The design of these crossings, however, involves in each case a problem of its own, and some time must elapse before the full effect of the programme is felt, but I have instructed the department to expedite the work as much as possible. In a few months time a very large number of these works will be under way. I am particularly anxious to improve the roads to our backblock settlers, m order to give them easy access to their markets and ports of export, and this year over a million pounds will be provided for this purpose, and for the opening-up of further lands for development. With the policy of land improvement and reclamation, and improved methods of transport, our reading system must be brought up to a higher standard that has existed m the past. _ , As Minister of Transport I have a particular interest in improved roaa conditions, and propose to do all I can to render our roads safer for modern methods of transport and travel. Railways and roads are our chief means for the transportation of the products of the country, and the necessities of the community in general, and are still our principaLmeans of passenger travel, but I believe the day is not far distant when travel by air will play a big part in the passenger traffic of this country. Building Aerodromes. A comparatively large vote from the Consolidated Fund is asked for this year for the construction of aerodromes and emergency landing grounds, without which safe and adequate communication by air would be impossible. With an annual provision of this amount, or even less, for the next two or. three years I anticipate that air travel in this country will be placed on a safe and satisfactory basis. I consider that the construction of aerodromes is at present lagging behind the development of aviation in general. The work of erecting buildings is also very much behind what it should be to. keep pace with the development of social and other services of the Government. Instructions were given to the Public Works Department to increase considerably its staff to cope with this work. This has been done, and the architectural staff has been more than doubled. Anticipating that even this may not wholly meet the demand for public buildings, permission has been given to the heads of the departments for which buildings are required to allocate some work to architects in private practice if it should be necesSa Land development and improvement is considered most desirable by the Government, Irrigation plays a large part in the improvement of our farm lands in the South Island, and the Government is anxious to extend work of this nature provided it can secure to itself an adequate return for the expenditure involved in meeting the annual charges on money borrowed for this purpose. The provision of a sum of £1,030,000, including settlement of unemployed workers, is asked for on the estimates for these works. Hydro-Electric Supply. Hydro-electric supply has received a good deal of my attention since I assumed office. One of the proposed new works to increase power supply was under investigation at Waikaremoana. I was not satisfied that this was a sufficiently safe proposal, and therefore ordered the work to be stopped until I had an opportunity of going fully into the design of the scheme. This I intend to do as soon as possible. Works for the increase of power supply from Arapuni were well advanced when I took control of the department. I am not sure that I would have agreed to this work, but as it had progressed so far I have not taken any steps to prevent its completion. Further electric power will soon be required to cope with the demand, and a programme of additional work will shortly be considered. As mentioned in my opening remarks, I am desirous of carrying out public works with the help of the most up-to-date machinery, and I have asked for a considerable sum in my estimates to purchase modern plant. All new railway works, large road works, irrigation works, aerodromes and other works, will be well equipped with this plant. ... , I would like to take this opportunity of placing on record my appreciation of the services of Mr C. J.. McKenzie, who retired from the position of En-gineer-in-Chief on July 21, 1936, on account of ill-health. Mr McKenzies illness caused concern to every officer of the department, and it was with pleasure that we learned of his continued progress towards a complete recovery. I wish also to place on record my appreciation of the services of the other officers of the department who- have been at all times most willing to cooperate with me in my office as Minister of Public Works.