Waikato Times With which Is Incorporated Tho Waikato Argus. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1931. PUBLIC WORKS POLICY.

Waikato Times, Volume 110, Issue 18478, 5 November 1931, Page 6

Waikato Times With which Is Incorporated Tho Waikato Argus. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1931. PUBLIC WORKS POLICY.

At long last the Public Works report for the year has made its appearance. It purports to set forth what it is proposed to do during the current year, but as seven months out of twelve have passed it is fair to assume that more than half the work is done. The proposed expenditure for the year is £5,532,000 and as the Department began the year with £1,340,036 in hand, they must already have considerably overspent, but we are told that they have arranged with the Minister of Finance to supply the necessary funds. At present the arrangement is that the country borrows the money the Department asks for, and pays the interest on it. The Department spends the money as it thinks fit, retains any income received from hydro-electric works or from other sources, and runs Us own budget. Hitherto it has rendered a report of its doings when half the year has passed. This year It is seven months, and no one would be surprised, or apparently perturbed, if in future it ceased to furnish any report. Mr Coates, who is again Minister for Public Works, recognises the necessity of some apology for the Department, but he has himself in the past entrenched them so strongly that it is doubtful if he will be able to carry out any of his ideas. The process of grasping for more and more power and authority Is ns aotlve today as ever. All school buildings are to be erected by the Department, though it was supposed that its officials were engineers not architects. The plans of every building erected within any local body’s area must be approved by a Public Works engineer, and a fee must be paid for it. Recently this Department was engaged on the construction of railways and when a board of business men were asked to report on these lines they recommended that work be stopped. Should not another board of competent outsiders be asked to report on the various works which the Department puts in hand? If these works yield a revenue the Department keeps it; if they result in a loss the country pays it. There is no control over the works which the Department puts in hand, or over the management of the works under its control. The figures for Hora Hora are illuminating.

The only hope of any improvement lies in the fact that it may be difficult to borrow money at Home, but Mr Coates proposes to got round this by borrowing locally, and he may bo successful in doing so, but not. if Investors consult the Official Year Book. We all know by the painful experience of being taxed for them that railways do not pay, but is it generally realised that hydro-electric works likewise do not pay? For the live years which ended March 31, 1920, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930 there was a loss every year, if the sinking fund had been dropped there would still have been a loss. What, is the use of carrying out large works if they cannot pay the cost of construction? It is safe lo say that if private enterprise had been allowed to carry out the work the, charges to the public would have been no higher, but a reasonable profit would have been earned. It is not that there are any particular shortcomings

amongst the officers of the Department. What they suffer from is a want of criticism and control. Neither the Government, the House nor the public ever questions their efficiency, and it would be asking too much to expect them to do so themselves. The only means we have of forming an opinion Is after the millions have been spent and have failed to earn interest. A great deal of the expenditure carried out by the Department should not come from loan money at all, but from the annual budget. . The method of finance that we have followed for a long time has been shockingly wasteful. The country has borrowed every year to provide funds fdr work that has not paid for itself. Much of the money has been spent on subsidies to county councils, of which the councils are advised’ too late in the year to take full advantage. In the early days of borrowing no one questioned the method, and if the money had been spent with care there would be much to be said for it. A great deal of It, however, was spent in obtaining the election of members of one party or another, and this generation is paying interest on the money, just as succeeding generations will continue to pay interest on the railways that are shut down and the hydro-electric works that do not pay. The theory of a Public Works Department is all right but like so many theories it works out in practice differently from what was expected. It was not anticipated that the public works should live entirely on loans, or that it should have a budget of its own, free from any criticisms or suggestions of outsiders. It was not intended that it should keep the revenue that arose from its works and leave the Consolidated Fund to meet the losses. It was never expected to become the centre of attraction for districts calling for roads and bridges and prepared to elect any man who could work the oracle. It. did not enter the minds of those who started the department that it would control all the main roads, after deciding what were main roads, or that it would build all the schools of the country, and inspect the plans of all other buildings. The Department has been fortunate in living on loan money, for it led the Government'to leave work in its hands that would otherwise have gone elsewhere, and _the country has been unfortunate in* having to pay for works that cost too much; that could not pay interest on their cost arid that in some cases should not have been constructed at all.

Costs Revenue. 1925 .. ... £48,131 £05,184 1920 75,824 85,830 1927 91,031 108,748 1928 . . . 119,130 125,312 1929 . .. 150,802 135,511