Communications and transit > Enquiry on national public works

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All works connected with the reconstruction of installations destroyed during the
war on the existing railway lines are carried out by the Polish State Railways under the
general supervision of the central authorities (Ministry of Communications).
Contracts in respect of the more important works and supplies are awarded on the
basis of public tenders, in the majority of cases to local undertakings.
III. Method of financing the Above-mentioned Works.
Expenditure on works executed is covered in the following ways :
(1) Out of grants from the P.K.P. Investment Funds, which are included in
the ordinary general budget of the Polish State Railways—an undertaking which is
managed on commercial lines;
(2) By means of grants from the labour funds, the purpose of which is to provide
work for the unemployed and which are included in the general ordinary State budget;
(3) Out of the budgets of the district offices (Voivode of Silesia);
(4) By means of international loans.
In 1934, two international loans were contracted, more particularly for electrification
of the Warsaw junction—that is to say, of the connecting line and suburban sections;
for this purpose, an agreement was concluded between the P.K.P. and the English
Electric Company, Eimited, and Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Export Company,
lyimited, under which the English company undertook to carry out the works in question
at a cost of £1,450,000, to be paid in quarterly instalments during a period of six years as
from 1936.
The second contract, that with the Westinghouse Company for fitting coupled brakes
to the rolling-stock, was for a total of 132,400,000 zloty. According to the contract, the
brakes are to be supplied within six years, while payments are spread out over a period
of ten years, the sums due to bear interest at 6 %.
IV. Allocation of Expenditure as between Labour and Material.
As the works executed are not all of the same kind, it is impossible to make a detailed
accurate allocation of the expenditure between labour and material respectively.
The percentage of the total expenditure spent on labour during the construction of
the new lines was in the neighbourhood of 35 %. The material used on the works was
almost exclusively of local origin.
V. Benefits of an Economic Nature, with Particular Reference to
Unemployment, of the Works carried out or proposed.
As stated in the introduction, all works carried out or proposed are designed to raise
the national railway system to a level in keeping with the economic requirements of the
country and are regarded as the most urgent and indispensable works in the national
programme. Furthermore, the undertaking of extensive works makes it possible to find
employment for a considerable number of persons who would otherwise be idle, and
thus helps to mitigate the rigours of unemployment. In the current year, more than
8,000 unemployed have been engaged on railway works.