The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1940 Public Works Modification

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21573, 8 February 1940, Page 6

The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1940 Public Works Modification

THE Minister of Public Works has announced his intention of presenting to Cabinet a plan for the modification and general reorganisation of the public works programme, his intention being that works of secondary importance should be eliminated. The reason for this Mr Semple ascribes to the enlistment of engineers and other personnel, the Minister stating that there had been a higher percentage of enlistments from the Public Works than from any other branch of national activity. This, perhaps, is understandable when it is realised that the Public Works Department in the past year or so has been in charge of one of the country’s largest industries. Nevertheless, if the response from the Public Works camps is as great as Mr Semple says it is, the men are to be congratulated for their readiness to serve their country in a more hazardous capacity.

One point, however, must be mentioned. The men, by enlisting, have compelled the Government to take action which could not be much longer escaped. It would be ridiculous to suppose that the present programme of public works could be carried out when so much of the Dominion’s energy has to be devoted to the grave task of contributing to the Allied victory. The Government, in fact, has been needlessly hesitant in using the pruning knife. It was recognised, even before the war broke out, that too much was being spent on public works. The estimates for the present year are the highest on record. They were based on a boom income, but the boom has passed by. Reorganisation, therefore, was imperative, and it would have had to be effected whether the engineers and personnel had enlisted or not. That, at least, must have been tlie position if the Government was determined to fulfil to the utmost its duty to the country. The feverish public works programme was a device to assure the rapid circulation of money, and to some extent it was the basis of the Government’s inflationary scheme, but there is no need for such a method when the cost of war must inevitably serve a similar purpose. Taxpayers would have been more grateful had the Government admitted candidly when war came that public works as a whole had to be substantially curtailed. Now, it seems, circumstance has forced the hand of the Government and relief is to be given at last.