8.—2

VII

Now, there are only three ways in which money for this purpose can be obtained: it must be got either from the proceeds of the land, or from loan, or from both these sources. After carefully considering the subject, the Government have come to the conclusion that the necessary funds can be obtained from the land itself, not only without injury but with advantage to settlement. We propose, therefore, that, after the land has been surveyed and the roads marked out, an estimate of the cost of forming and metalling the main road through the block shall be prepared by the local body having charge of the district, that to the fixed upset price per acre of land to be served by the road shall be added a sum, according to situation, sufficient to cover the cost of construction, and that the money so obtained shall be set apart and paid over to the local body, under proper safeguards, to be used for that purpose only. And we further propose that, when half the land in any block is sold, the Government shall advance the money to complete the main road through the block, recouping itself from time to time as the rest of the land is sold. We now come to the roads of the second class those unconstructed main roads running through settled or partially-settled districts. Our proposals in respect to these are in substance the same as last year, but the machinery of the Boads Construction Bill, by which it is proposed to give effect to the scheme, is, I hope, an improvement upon that of the Local Public Works Bill of last session. The constitution of the Board, which Avas objected to by many honorable members, has been altered, and it is now proposed that it shall consist of the Minister for Public Works, and three members to be appointed by this House. In order to provide for this necessary work, I shall ask the House to make a grant to the Board of £150,000 out of loan, and to cause to be paid over to it yearly a further sum not exceeding £150,000 out of the balance of the Land Fund. This fund will be applied in the following manner Suppose a local body desires to construct a piece of main road or build a bridge, which we will say is to cost £1,000, it will prepare estimates showing the cost of the proposed Avork, and submit them to the Board, and ascertain if there is money available; if there is money available, the local body will, after taking an affirmative vote of the ratepayers, strike such a special rate OA rer that part of the district benefited by the proposed work, including Government and Native lands, if any, as will in ten years repay, without interest, one-quarter of the amount obtained from the Boads Construction Board. In the case supposed of the work costing £1,000, the Board Avould have to strike a special rate which would produce £25 a year, or £250 in ten years; or, if the local body had £250 in hand which it could apply to the proposed work, or chose to first raise the money by general rate, it could then obtain from the Boads Construction Board £750> the balance of the £1,000 estimated to complete the work. In other words, for the purpose of main-road construction, for every pound which the district finds, three pounds is added from the Land Fund. In case more money should be applied for than the Board has at its command, grants pro rata would be made, but all applications in cases where a main road or bridge had been destroyed or Avashed away by a flood would take precedence. We have now only to consider the third class of road, that is, district roads. To enable Road Boards to make these district roads, Ave propose to ask the House to make a free grant of £100,000 to the Boads Construction Board, and to permit it to borrow another £100,000 at 5 per cent, from the Trust Funds, thus making a fund of £200,000 available for this purpose. We propose that this fund should be self-supporting, and that it should be dealt with in this way Suppose a Boad Board Avishes to borrow £100 for a small bridge or other Avork, it would submit an estimate of the proposed Avork to the Boads Construction Board, on ascertaining that there was money available, and, after taking an affirmative vote of" the ratepayers, the Boad Board would strike a special rate which would produce £9 a year for thirteen and a half years. The produce of this rate would be paid over to the Board half-yearly, and by the expiration of the period I have named the whole of the amount borrowed, with interest at 3 per cent, per annum, Avould be repaid.