PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Inangahua Times, Volume IX, Issue 1462, 27 October 1884, Page 2

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Mr Speaker. — The information usually contained in the Public Works Statement has been somewhat anticipated this year by the particulars laid upon the table of the House. During tho last .short session the time that has elapsed since Government took office has not been sufficient to enable me to make myself thoroughly acquainted with the proceedings of tho various branches of the Public Works Depart raent, and I have had to depend in a great measure, upon the figures and reports submitted to me by the several official heads of the departments. I may state, however, that so far as time has permitted I have looked into the question of the staff of tho department ns provided for in the present estimates. Reductions were supposed to be made | in the year 1881-82 ; but I find that ) those reductions were more nominal than real, and that the bulk of the j officers who at that time disappeared from the list of the permanent staff were placed on the top-story charge, and provided for out of the votes i for the construction of works. Although j I am not as yet prepared to state to | what extent reductions cm be made, j I am of opinion that the stalf is much ■ larger than is necessary for the due supervision of tho works the Colony now has in hand. The railways being the most important works carried on by the Department, I propose to allude J to them first under the several headings j of " Railways in course of construeI tion," " Additions to opened railways," 'and "Working of railways already I opened for traffic." Before going into tho details of the several lines, however, it may be well to state that on the 31st March, 1884, the Colony had 1,404 miles of railway open for traffic, on which there had been expended tlm sum of £11,251,033, and that there wore 234 miles in course of construction. It was to this 234 miles of unfinished railway that my Hon. colleague, the Col. Treasurer principally alluded when he stated that it will be our endeavor to push on to a speedy completion the various unfinished portions of lines, so us to add this extra mileage to our revenue producing railways. Railways in course of consteucti y. I shall now shortly refer to those portions of our railways which were under construction during the past year. Nelson Roundell. — This line has been completed from Nelson to Belgrove, 23 miles, for some time, and the only extension now in progress is the Waity section, 2-J* miles, the formation of which is well advanced. Greymouth, Nelson Creek. — A length of 60 chains of heavy formation work beyond Brunnerton has been completed on this railway for some time past, but no further extension of it is at present in hand. Greymouth — Hokitika. — On this railway a total length of 10 miles of formation is partly executed, 6 miles at the Greymouth end and 4 miles at the Hokitika end. The work done during the year has consisted of a small formation section at the Hokitika end for which sleepers have also been provided. The formation of bridges and station buildings on the section between the Hurinui river and the crossing of the main toad near the Red Post is in progress. This will bi ing the railway to a central position, 69 miles from Christchurch, commanding the traffic of the Amuri and Hanmer Plains. In the Middle Island the principal surveys are those for the East and West Coast railway. Four main routes have been surveyed in detail, the Cannibal Gorge, Hurnnui Pass, Arthur's Pass, and Lake Lyndon routes, and a reconnaisance survey has been made of a fifth by tlie Amuri. Reports with maps and sections, giving the result of these surveys will be laid before you The total length of the telegraph lines now existing within the Colony is 4,074 miles carrying 10,037 miles of wire and in addition to this the transmitting capacity of tlie wiro is increased by 2800 miles which is duplexed the extension at present contemplated amounts to 142 miles of line. In marking the width of the channel at Westport the small river training wall on the northern side is well advanced, a survey is in progress of a line of railway to Cape Foulwind, which has been suggested as a m<*ans of bringing stove to the breakwater. At Greymouth tiie southern break water was continued at the usual rate of progress till May last, when the works wero suspended, in consequence of the vote being exhausted as shown by the statements furnished by the Engineer. The harbor works at Greymouth are proving of great beuefit to the port. When the Harbor Bills, now bafore the Parliament, become law further provision for these '

harbors will be unnecessary. The coal fields of the Colony for some years past have been left to private enterprise. The only relation which Government has maintained* to their being that of control and inspection under the regulation of " The Mines Act, 1874." Tho reports of the Secretary for Mines, dated the 20th June, 1884, (Parliamentary paper C 5), is already in the hands of members, and shows that this most essential industry is slowly but surely increasing in importance. Thus during the last 6 years while the total consumption of, coal in the Colony has increased 75 per cent the proportion which the coal raised in the Colony bears to the imported coal has increased from 43 per cent in 1878, to 77 per cent 1883. I regret to say, however, that c marked falling off in production has been experienced in thecaseofthoKawakawa mine at the Bay of Islands, ou which the northern port of the Colony has for many years been chiefly dependent for supply of steam coal, and the permanent failure of this mine would be a serious loss to the Colony, as the expensive railway that has been made to connect it with a deep water wharf would become iv that case unproductive. From the reports of tiie j Geological Department there appears, j however, to lie good ground for ex- j pecting that the falling off is only one of the fluctuations incident to the development of all coalfields, and it 13 anticipated that a more active and extended use of the diamond drill, and I the result of its use iv discovering new coal seams on the property has been very successful. There is no doubt that in the diamond drill, if it is used with judgment, we have a means i of placing the development of our coal mines on a solid basis, by obtaining without expensive shafts accurate records of the thickness and nature of the coal measure. The principal areas occupied by coal measures concerning theextended value lof which more extended formation is required, are the following : — lu the North Island the Bay of Islands district; the district at the source of the Waipa and the Mukau rivers, and the lower Mokau district, where seams of valuable steam coal are known lo ! exist, and probably to extend into the upper district of the Wanganui river. In the South Island the area of coal formation on the Paparoa range, north !of Greymouth, and the country from j Reefton to tlie source of the Buller river require a more definite explorI ation, similar to that which the Mount j Rochfort coalfield has received. The fact that large coal deposits exist, m i ihe above districts has been ascertained. j But the determination of the exact exI tent might have an important bearing |on the great question of the most j advantageous way of improving the facilities for export trade from the West Coast, and also on the best lines for internal communication. There can j scarcely be any doubt that if the Colony could afford to give substantial en- I conragement towards the employment of the diamond drill by coal company's, aud private persons much good would ensue. Good results would also come to the Colony and considerable sums ; of money would be saved to companies j and individuals were there is more liberal expenditure on the Geological Department, which at present receives a very small vote. Proposals for the future. The proposals lam about to make are based j ou the principles which after long dis- j cussion with my colleagues, I have decided on submitting to the House as ; the foundation of our future Public J Works policy. Tiiere are two points j which we must distinctly bear in mind ; first, that there is great work for us : in the way of feeding the railways and ( of opening up the country by the construction of roads and bridges, and at intervals, when the Colony needs it, of increasing the population by imnn- j gration, which, to speak moderately cannot be in any sense exhausted for ■ two or three generations. To put it { |in another form ; the people have : before them for a longer period than it ' is necessary to look forward to the J colonizing of the Country. They have j not to do this by spurts with intervals ' of inaction, but by steady a"d continuous action. The secoud point I have to ask the House to remember is, that inasmuch as we are not engaged on a spasmodic work, but on one that will last our lives and the lives of our chil dren, and childrens children, we must endeavour to bring to its performance as much of system as is possible. If we consider these two points jointly it will be evident that they really amount to no more thau this, that we must stwadily pursue the functions of colonization as fast and not faster than our means permit, and it will also be evident that though we may make prognostications, if the extent of future money at our disposal in exact determination can only be arrived at from year to year, but in order to obtain a general index of the future means, it is necessary to know what is the policy of finance that is to be adopted. The Colonial Treasurer has already at some length enunciated the views of the Government on the subject, and I may be permitted to supplement what has been already stated, taking the present year as a starting point. The object after this year will be to bring the expenditure charged on the consolidated fund within the means of that fuud, without the aid of the Property Tax. We foresee that that can easily be done by shifting to local expenditure some of the present charges made on the consolidated fuuci, notably the charitable expenditure, and some other small ' items, let us say, amounting with the j charitable aid to some £100,000 a year. It is clear that the local bodies cannot Undertake this without an additional

revenue, and to dispense with needless points of controversy at present, we may suppose that £100,000 is supplied by either a property tax or a land tax but other revenues will also have to be supplied to local bodies, as it cannot be satisfactory to continue for a lengthened period the policy of making and maintaining roads and bridges out of borrowed money, which has been virtually what has beeu going on for some time. The borrowing for roads and bridges cannot be abruptly brought to a conclusion, but its cessation must be an end kept in view. I need not further pursue the subject of providin* local -revenue, but may come to that winch is of most moment to my present object— considering how we are to find the means of pursuing colonizing operations. If we accept the starting point of this year, which I have assumed, we shall have to ask ourselves how, without increasing taxation, we may have the means of meetiugthe additional annual charges to the money borrowed for the work of colonization. Tliere are three sources of increased revenue or increased means to which to look forward. First, the natural net increase of revenue from year to year ; second the increased revenue from new railways, and also the increase in revenue (apart from natu'-al increase) from existing railways as they are fed by new railways, roads and bridges ;" and third, the_ annual saving from reduced rate of interestt 01 loans converted apart altogether from the saving of the expenditure of sinking fund, with* wnich I have in the Statement nothing to do. Now, there should benex^ year, and for some years to come, at least a nett natural in.reasw of revenue of £50,000. There should also be over many years an average additional saving of at least £20,000 annually on account of reduced interest on converted loans Some years it will amount to a great deal more. From the other sources, if we pursue the wise i policy of endeavoring, as soon as possible, to obtain resuru from borrowed money expended, we should obtain considerable increases of revenue, apart from the natural increases. When the North Island Trunk Railway is finished the increase from feeding to all the fragmentary systems in the Island will be enormous. Putting this prospect on one side, I anticipate that if you allow me to pursue the work with a view toearly returns there will be during the next two or three years an average increase in railway revenue of at least £250,000 per annum. We have theu a nett internal increase of revenue oi £50,000, in addition to the saving on account of conversion of £20,000 faud £25,000 increase on account of new I works, in all, £05,000. The Governj ment consider that this justifies our borrowing a million and a-half during next, year, and that the probabilities are that in future years the increase of revenue will justify at least an addition of from one to one and a-half millions a year. The additional burden of this million and a-half will amount at present rates to £60,000, but probably in a year or two the money may be borrowed at 3£, instead -of 4 per cent. But it will be said I have forgotton the additional charge of the third million, to be negotiated next year. The third million, however, has not been forgotten, but in considering the difference between this year and next, it is to be remembered that the interest on money obtained by temporary expedients, and in anticipation of the Loan will cover the amount of interest on the third million. It is a million and ahalf that has already been stated we propose to take authority to borrow, and I may say we also propose that it should cover expenditure up to the end of March, 1886. I have not taken into account the annual charge of the North Island trunk line one million loan, because up to the extent of £100,000 1 think we can provide for that line out of the million and a half, and the Government wish to defer negotiating that loan until the expenditure on the line is very heavy, at first, with all eagerness to push it on. it will be impossible to spend much money on it, whilst, if the whole sum is brought into the Treasury, there will be the old danger of its being dpent for something else. On the Ist April 1884 there was an available balance for expenditure assuming that the advauces outstanding were cash, of £877,912, this does not include a payment of £75,203 duo from the land fund, the outstanding liabi ities on the 31st March, 1884, after deducting a large sum for native land purchases. I have already stated the available balance at the end of March last was £877,912, deducting this from the liabilities there is a deficiency of £672,084, but then there is the third million of the 1882 loan, and assuming it to come iuto the year's accouuts and to net par, there will be a balance of £327,916 only available for the votes of this year. Beyond liabilities, with the exception of this small balance, therefore the votes of last year practically disposed of the three million loan, and uot only of that but of the £250,000 raised under the local Inscribed Stock Act the proceeds of which have also been drawn in the fund. As far as I can see from careful examination it was intended that the 3 million loan should last out the year 1885-86. Tho financial year ends on he 31st March, and the Act proscribes that one million on y shall be borrowed in the three years 1883-84 and 85. Nelson — RoundelL — The vote pro- ! posed in this case is sufficient to complete the Waiti section. j Gtvymouth — Roefton. — For this i railway it is only proposed to vote sufficient to ccer existiug liabilities, and a few contingencies, which may

be anticipated, a3 the construction is expected to be undertaken by private enterprise as a portion of the railway from Nelson to Brunnerton. Greymouth—- Hokitika.— For this railway it is proposed to take a vote this year sufficient to cover the cost of tho completion of the four miles from Hokitika to Arahura, and it is intonded to continue its construction from year to year until Hokitika is connected by rail with the port of Greymouth. Otago Central Railway as above stated I consider that the Liudon section of this railway should be more rapidly pushed ahead and it will be my endeavor to further this end during tho current year by all means iv my power -and also to push forward the construction of the line generally as rapidly as is at all possible, in order to utilise as sood as possible the large expenditure of close upon £200,000 already made upon it. With this view it is proposed to ask this year for a vote which will be sufficient to enable all the work to be put in hand which can be reasonably got at withhot entailing a heavy loss for carriage of mater al. Our proposal is to take a vo,fce for the whole of the balance of the amount already allocated in the loan of 1882, which amounts to £102,800, and to distribute this sum amongst the various local bodies, to be expended by them during tlie remainder of this and the •whole of the next financial year. This is done in order that they make arrangements for the works being executed •during the most suitable period of tlie year, as it has been found that the annual allocation of small amounts made in midsummer has the effect of running the construction into the winter time And also of necessitating its being done in a very piecemeal fashion. For grants in aid under the Roads and Bridge Construction Act the vote proposed, and the one which so materially swells the total amount asked Tfor under the general heading of Roads, is £304,200, and it has to be explained that this sum includes a liability £204 200, being the total outstanding balance of allocations made up to the end of March last, together with £100,000 which we propose for allocation this year for main roads. This will leave the item of district roads still to be provided for under the permanent appropriation of £100,000 made by the *' Roads and Bridges Construction Act 1882." The balance available for allocation v tder this head, including -some £1803 of debentures already paid, being £43,987. For the roads, to •open up lands before sale, the amount proposed to be voted is £133,338, that being the balance of loan allocation of 1882, with some small additions to recommend this year. I venture to •express a hope that such a system of local Government will be introduced as will make it unnecessary income to this House for roads and bridges. In conclusion, Mr Speaker, I shall only add that I hope when tho time comes round for the next annual Public Works Statement I shall be able to sho-v that the Department generally is being administered with greater economy than at present ; that I may^ have been able to place the tnriff on the railways on a more satisfactory footing ; and that I shall be able to submit a Bill providing for the creation of non-political Boards of management -which will be satisfactory to this House and the country.