THE DAY'S WORK IN PARLIAMENT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19197, 10 October 1930, Page 5

THE DAY'S WORK IN PARLIAMENT.

PUBLIC WORKS MATTERS ENGAGE THE MEMBERS. (Special to the “ Star.”) WELLINGTON, October 9. Consideration of the Public Works Statement and Estimates occupied the exclusive attention of the House at today’s sitting. Naturally, the question of railway construction was dealt with, e and in this connection Mr Coates, leade er of the Opposition, renewed his plea that a careful investigation should be made before work on lines under authorisation was proceeded with. He went t as far as to .suggest that the importl- ance of the question warranted the t holding of a special session of Parliaj_ m ent, if necessary, to determine the matter. He asked that, pending the recommendations of the special Select P Committee, there' should be a slackeni. mg off in work under way. A quite t- impassioned speech was made by Mr - Lysnar, Independent Reform member for Gisborne, who accused Mr Coates of an inconsistent attitude concerning some of the railways about which he t was now doubtful. An Obstructive Department. ' . The r obstructive attitude of the Pubt lie W orks Department towards the s Christchurch ambition to develop 1 hydro-electricity from the Waimakat riri was the final subject taken by Mr M’Combs in his remarks on the Public s \\ orks Statement in the House tot night. Christchurch pioneered the iiivestigation not only into the Waimaka- - riri but also Lake Coleridge in 1899, he t said, and in 1902 it secured authority t giving it the absolute right to harness 5 the Waimakariri and borrow £330,000 r for the purpose. That sum was not s deemed sufficient and it was endeav--2 ouring to obtain further authority. 1 Mr Speaker intervened, pointing out . that a member could not discuss a 2 measure now on the order paper. Mr M’Combs replied that he wanted , to show how Christchurch had been obstructed by the Public Works Dej partment in that matter. When the * , tried *° a clause in a local 2 Bill last year the Public Works Det partment wrote against it, arguing - that there would soon be sufficient power from the Waitaki. Preciselv 2 the same argument was used by it t against the Dunedin Bill, but that was . now statute law. He quoted an ar- , tide written by the president of the ; North-West Electric Light and Power ; Association, United States, who stated - that despite the unprecedented wealth - of water power on the Pacific slope the [ companies were definitely turning to . steam as a source of light and power. . His own company was building a five-million-dollar plant for steam genera- , tion and would produce as much from . that medium as from water power The remainder of Mr M’Combs’s argument was interrupted by the end of his speaking time. One-Man Trams. Notice has been given by the Minister of Public Works, the Hon W. B. Taverner, to introduce an amendment of the Tramways Act. It is understood that it will not raise general questions, some of which have been subjects of strong controversy in the House, but will be limited tcoa solution of the problem in Invercargill and other places where trams are controlled by one man. There is provision in the main Act that motormen must have training of one year as conductors.

With one-man trams there is no such opportunity, therefpre the Bill will authorise an alternative method to enable staffs of this class of tramway system to qualify as motormen. Whose Responsibility? Describing the many difficulties which the United Government had to face on assuming office, Mr G. C. Munns ‘(Roskill) reminded an Opposition which had been critical of expenditure on public works that the United Party did not construct Arapuni, which, according to the optimistic estimates of the Reform Party years ago, should now be paying a handsome profit. But: there was an enormous expenditure on Arapuni, and now the Government had to provide heaven knew how much to remedy someone’s blunder. Mr R A. Wright: An act of God.. Mr Munns: It may be an act of God, but somehow I think the Reform Party had a finger in the pie. (Laughter.) We cannot blame it all on to an act of God. I am inclined to think sufficient investigation was not made. Mr Kyle: That settles it. (Laughter.) Mr Munns: It nearly settled us. „lle thought when the original contractors refused to continue, and the present leader of the Opposition decided to carry it on to a finish, that at any rate some of the blame must rest in that quarter. Hydro Schemes. The Government had a new helpei in Mr Mason, member for Auckland Suburbs, who took to task, with Treasury bench austerity, Mr Fletcher (Grey Lynn), for his criticism of the Government in relation to the present hydro-electric scheme investigations. The opinion had been expressed by Mr Fletcher that it was a reflection on the engineer,s of the Public Works Department that every hydro-electric scheme in the country was at present under review by experts from abroad, lie alleged that the engineers had deliberately misled the country in order to carry out the schemes. To read the Public Works Statement made one’s blood boil, particularly concerning the statement that if another .€BOO.OOO were spent on Arapuni it would still be satisfactory from a financial standpoint. In the opinion of Mr Mason, the Government was cjoing the only thing possible in getting an expert to report on hydroelectric schemes. 'A great deal of alarm had been caused, and it was the very men who complained about the Government engaging the services of an expert who had given the alarm.