PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3507, 7 August 1880, Page 2

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

WORKS PBOPOSED.

RAILWAYS PAYING 2£ PER CENT.

WORK FOR THE UNEMPLOYED.

HOADS ON THE WAIMATE PLAINS.

[BY TELEGRAPH.] . THE Hon. Richard Oliver, the Minister for Public Works, delivered the Public Works Statement in' the House of Representatives 1 .List evening. He commenced by briefly reporting the operations of the Public Works * Department for the seven months which had elapsed since he had made his last statement to the House. ] FOXTON-XEW PLYMOUTH RAILWAY. \ On referring to the line in this district, he ' said : The railway from New Plymouth was opened as far South as Stratford on the 19th December, and a further section to Ngaire will, it is expected, be open in a few weeks. Some other portions of this line between Stratford and Carlyle are under contract. Some are t being done by day labour ; and between Car- ■ lyle and Wanganui the Waitotara contract is approaching completion. The Waverley section is in hand, and the Carlj-le wharf contract has been let, while some portions of the works in the neighbourhood of Carlyle are now being prepared for absorbing unemployed labour. Commodious workshops have been built at Wanganui ; and a contract has been made for a new railway station and wharf at Foxton. THE UNEMPLOYED. The great depression from which nearly all our industries have suffered lately has thrown many workmen out of employment, and Government has been called on to alleviate the consequent distress by finding work for them on the railways and roads which are in course of construction. We have thought it our duty to comply with these requests, and I am sorry to say that no less a number than 1,074 of these men are now being employed at low wages in various parts of the Colony. Although it is to be deplored that in a new country of such great natural resources as New Zealand this state of things should exist, yet it is by no rneaus a new experience in tlie history of the Colony. At various times during the last twenty years the authorises have found it necessary to afford similar temporary employment ; but fortunately the need for interference of Government h:is soon passed away, and has been succeeded by a large demand for labour in the ordinary industries of the country, and at the highest rates of wage 3 known in any part of the world. I believe, sir, that hon. members will agree with one iv thinking that this season of depression will also pass away and give place to another period of prosperity not inferior to that which we have until lately enjoyed The disorganization of the labour market is already beginning to work its own remedy by bringing iuto existence new industries in the chief centres of population, ami developing the self-reliant spirit of our workiug classes. There are also the most encouraging indications of the goldfields industry, which may be of the greatest value to the Colony at large. Meantime, it is satisfactory to find that, although many of the men thus employed by us are engaged in work to which they are unaccustomed, yet from their labour the Colony has obtained a fair equivalent for the outlay. GENERAL PROGRESS IN RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION. The sums voted by Parliament for addi- { tional railway works in the last session, exclusive of preliminary surveys for lines not yet authorised, amounted to £2,308.700. On the 31st March, £856,550 of this sum had been expended, and liabilities incurred amounting to £910,500, making a total of £1,767,056, and leaving an unexpended balance on last year's vote of £541,644. Recognising the necessity for spreading the expenditure of the remaining public works fund over a period of at least the next three years, and believing that as some of the railway works had been adopted in times of great prosperity, Parliament would not disapprove, in our changed oiicu instances, of having an opportunity, affor-ted of reconsidering them, I have not been in haste to press on the construction of new works ; in fact, in the Middle Island only one uew section of railway has been commenced since the end of our last session. Many new sections were got rea ly for contract, and in some instances tenders wero invited and received, but the grave considerations connected with a falling revenue and increased deficit from our finished railways, could not be evaded, and obliged us to defer the acceptance of some of these tenders so that time might be given for re-examiniug our future railway policy. EOADS. The expenditure of the votes for roads in this Island has for the most part been entrusted to the various local governing bodies. The main roads under the charge of the Government have been maintained as usu il during the year. These include the Great South Road, Aucklaud ; the Tauranga-Taupo. and the Taupo-Napier Roads. On several, other local roads a considerable amount of work has been done. ROADS IN TARANAKI. The road works instituted on the West Coast, between the Waiongongoro and Stony Rivers, crossing the Waimate Plains, have been carried on very satisfactorily, and the two sections of the road will probably meet in a few days. The character of the country is very favourable, no natural obstacles having been met. The cross road from Stratford to Opunake through the bush is also being pushed on, aud gool progress is being ma.le. The amount expended on roads and bridges in the South Island during the past year is very small, and no new works of importance have been undertaken. [The Hon. Mr. Oliver then referred to the public works at the Thames, and the water races in the South Island.] THE COAL INDUSTRY. Almost every month brings new discoveries of coal in some part of the Colony, and it has become apparent that New Zealand is exceptionally rich in this mineral. Our most important lines of steamers are. now almost wholly supplied from the coal mines of the Colony, and the more extended use of native coals will effect a saving of £8,500 on our railways in the Middle Island for the current year, in addition to an almost equal amount heretofore saved on those in the North Island. [Hon. Mr. Oliver, then, at some length, dwelt on the management of our railways,

intimating that already a great saving bad been effected in their working, the train p service having been reduced by 370,000 miles s' a year, and the staff by 2GG men, and he ti anticipated that., with other economies, a V saving 0f. £44,000 might be accomplished, n He stated that for the nine months ending f 31st March the railways only gave a return . v equal to slightly under 2± per cent, per 1 annum, whilst the rate of Interest we have to £ pay is over 5 per cent. c This part of the statement is 'very interest- c ing, and we shall publish it in fall ou Monday, c PROPOSED WORKS. * The estimated cost beyond the present lli- s bilities of completing the lines of railway authorised by Parliament is £G.666;280 ; that f being the case it becomes sufficiently apparent * that we must greatly modify our scheme of * railway construction, postponing some im- * portant parts of it until the population and ' settlement have largely, increased, and until ] the railways already constructed have become ' more nearly self-supporting. We have not ' the funds necessary to complete it at present, j nor will our ordinary revenue bear the in- ' creased- demand which every additional mile of railway makes on it for yearly loss in working. We hare no alternative, therefore, but to confine our operations to the extension of some of the incomplete lines to ' such nearest points as will bring them into use, and as far as possible 'make the expenditure already incurred to some extent reproduc- , tive. Of the amount voted last year for* public works, no ■ less a sum than £2,356,725) was for actnal liabilities which- *we found in existence, and further expenditure to a considerable amount was made necessary by these liabilities. Realizing the position of the Public Works Fund, we have endeavored, sir, to minimise expenditure, and to spread it over as large a space of time as possible. We have stopped many new works, even after contracts have been prepared by the Department and tenders received. Nevertheless, the country has learnt from my hon. friend the Colonial Treasurer that the state of the f üblic Works Fund is most unsatisfactory. In his Financial Statement the Colonial Treasurer showed that the total ways and means on the 31st March last were £3,262.410, ail that the liabilities of the Public Works Fund on the same date amounted to £2,455,343, reducible, however, to £315,703, a Ivances in the hands of officers of the Government ; thus leaving a balance of £1422.800 on 3lst March, 1880, clear of liabilities. Since 31st March, the Ways and Means have been augmented by miscellaneous receipts and recoveries, £29,934 ; and during the four months ending 31st July the liabilities of the fund have been unavoidably in1 creased to the extent of £330,871. Adding, then, £29,934 to the balance of £1,122,860 on 3 1st March, and deducting £330,871, we ar- ' : rive at £821,923 as the available balance on y 3 1st July. The position of the account may , perhaps be stated more clearly thus : — The ' ' Ways aid Means on 31st July amounted to [ £2,677,910 17s. Id., consisting of— ' , £ s. d. " Cash in hand..." 593,910 17 1 ' Treasury and deficiency bills 1,217,000 0 0 ; Investments 67,000 0 0 ' Guaranteed debentures ... 800,000 0 0 [ Total £2,677,910 17 1 | The liabilities on the same date amounted \ to £2,202,474. There were, however, imprests 1 outstanding on' 31st July, £346,486, making £1,855,988 the net amount of liabilities to be ' provided for, and leaving a balance of £821,923, as already stated, for new works • and services. The estimates which I am - about to submit make a further demand on t this balance of £674,238, leaving £147,685 1 only for future appropriations from the Public 1 Works Fund. Bearing in mind the importance \ of spreading the expenditure of the balance of t loan over the next two years, we should have 8 preferred, sir, to ask for the appropriation of •' a much smaller sum ; but we have not found - it possible to do so. 1 The votes for the various works which we s now propose are designed to provide for 1 the expenditure up to 30th June, 1881. After I that date, and until we are again in a position 'i to become borrowers, the only sources from f vrftich we can draw supplies for these purII poses will hd a portion of the the proceeds of [1 land sales and the saving from the estimates for the purchase of native land, a saving which n we have reason to believe may be considerable, »• but which at present it is impossible to esti- - mate. 0 PUBLIC WORKS PROPOSED. I will now proceed, sir, to briefly sammarise the works proposed. '• Railways. — The present contract at KawaJf kawa will be completed, and the remaiuing 0 part of the line, including a small wharf, will ? be begun. The Kamo line will be finished, with a branch to the town wharf, so as to admit of the coal traflic being carried on. The 1 line from Kaipara to Te Avvamutu will be . completed fit for traflic. i. The question of the propriety of construct- . ing the Waikato-Thames R-iilway has been 1 raised by the Railway Commissioners, who t have recommended that it should at present „ be completed only to the junction with the L proposed Cambridge line, aud that the Camf bridge section of eleven miles should be substituted. The Government intend to have the subject very carefully investigated, with a t view to determine which proposal will be the • most beneficial to the Colony, and will act ac- [ cordiugly. The vote would therefore be prot posed in the alternative. :l The line between Napier and Makaroto will s be completed. T The Wellington and Opaki line will be 3 completed as far as Masterton, and provision B male for the unemployed on the extension to I Opaki. The station works at Wellington will t also be completed. The Foxton station and ! wharf, on the. Wellington and Foxton line, I will be completed. Sundry necessary works on the opened lines between Foxton and Kai Iwi will be executed, aud the extension to v Waverley, which is in hand, will be finished. The works in the neighbourhood of Carlyle will be preceded with, giving work to the unemployed. ? STRATFORD TO HAWERA ) RAILWAY. The contracts between Stratford t and Hawera will be pushed on, and i the formation to Normanby will i probably be completed within the ! present year. i; The extension of the line from Foxton to t Bellgrove on the Nelson to Greymouth line . will be completed. The Still Water section, , now in progress, will be fiuished, and the , Greyraouth harbour works carried on.

The Picton and Blenheim line will be completed at the Blenheim end, where there are still some station works unfinishel ; the section of the main line from Araberlcy to the Waikari Plains is to be finished, the nine miles through the Weka Pass being reserved for the unemployed. A few urgent station works on the , open lines are provided for. The Waimakiriri Gorge portion of the OxfordSheffield line, which was reserved for the unemployed about a year ago, will be carried on, as the demand for work niny require the extension of the Opawa Branch towards Fairlie Creek, and will also be carried out by the same means. The Ellcsmere section of the Little River and Akaroa- branch is to be completed. The only expenditure proposed on the Otagomain line is for the completion of the stations and other works now in progress. The Duntroon Branch is to be finished across the Maercwhenua River, the bridge over which is already built. The formation on the first section of the Livingstone branch, recently resumed to give work to the unemployed, will be finished i by them. The sections of the Western Rail- ' ways now in progress, will be completed. The Hindon section of the Otago Central Railway, which was opened to the unemployed about a year ago, will be reserved exclusively for them, as it is no-.v almost the only suitable work in Otago on which a large number can b^ employed. At present there are about 700 men at work there, and although this number will in all probability decrease during the summer months, I fear there is no prospect of a complete cessation in the demand which will be made on us for this kind of employment, and we have, therefore, made provision for supplying it on this section. Water races, Middle Island. — The work of improving and extending the various water races now in progress will be carried on. ■\VAIMATE PLAINS. Roads. — In the North Island the proposed appropriations will admit of the road works on the Waimate Plains and other native districts being continued, as well as for the maintenance in a serviceable slate of certain main roads which it is neces-sary to keep open for traffic. In addition to the completion of the various works in hand, the road from Nelson to Greymouth and West port is to be improved throughout, so as to render it fit for traflic, and make it an arterial line of communication between the north end of the maud and the West Coast. CONCLUSION. In conclusion I would say that although tho Government have found it to be their imperative duty to aban lon the spea I at which public works have until lately been carrie 1 on, yet we believe that the time is not far distant when the works now temporarily suspended . : may be. resumed, and those now proposed tc t v be curtailed completed. The resources of New r Zealand are so great that for her there can b( , neither retrogression nor standing still. But J sir, it is incumbent on us to recognise that, fo: a state as for an individual, a stea iy progres: and an assured prosperity can only be main I* tamed by obe.liet cc to the dictates of pru j deuce. I have now, sir, to express rnj j gratification for the patient attention witi -v which the House has honored me.