The Waikato Times WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 1941 PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMME

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21414, 7 May 1941, Page 6

The Waikato Times WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 1941 PUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMME

Nine million pounds will probably be included in the next Budget to finance the public works programme, according to a statement by the Minit.er, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong. Much of the money, he said, would be expended on machinery which could not be delivered last year and which was required to bring several big construction schemes into operation. While the proposed expenditure represents a substantial reduction from the amounts provided in recent years, the Minister will have difficulty in justifying such an outlay in the present circumstances when the Budget comes before the House. There may be much regret that some important public works should be postponed. Some of these undertakings may be distinctly desirable for the development of the country or for the improvement of the comforts of life, but the only standard by which such activities can be judged in the present crisis is the effect they will have upon the fighting efficiency of the country. Could the £9,000,000, or part of it, be more wisely expended in providing New Zealand with the means of defending itself against extinction or in assisting the British Empire to smash the menace to its very existence ? Is New Zealand spending all that it could spend on the war effort ? Has it a sufficient surplus, of cash or credit, above the maximum possible war expenditure to permit of continued heavy expenditure on public works ? Until the Minister submits the details of his programme final judgment is not possible. It is known, however, that he intends to proceed with the construction of several railway lines, hydro-electric schemes, irrigation and land improvement projects and certain highways. To what extent can these be classed as war efforts ? The most readily justifiable, perhaps, are those schemes which aim at increasing the generation of electric power, some of which presumably will be required to drive the machinery to make possible increased manufacture of wartime requirements. Many of the other projects could well wait to provide employment when the soldiers come back from the war. Not only money but a great amount of manpower is involved in the public works programme, and if the war effort is to be “ all-in,” surely the men engaged could be put to work where the country so desperately needs their services. New Zealand needs more war equipment. It has been said that production is limited by the amount of machinery and the number of skilled men available. Yet public works machines are to be imported and the men to manipulate them are to be employed on civilian projects. Is it not more urgently necessary that the money and the effort should as largely as possible be diverted to the manufacture of the machines of war and the manufacture of the equipment that may mean the difference between victory and defeat ? New Zealand has for years gone without a completed railway between Napier and Gisborne and between Blenheim and Christchurch. Surely in the midst of the greatest crisis in history they could wait a little longer if by waiting they could assist in making their defence sure. It may be argued that suspension of the work would mean the waste of what has already been done. The position is that New Zealand cannot afford to spend unnecessarily now even to recover past expenditure—unless it aids in reaching the main objective.