The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 615, 23 April 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 1878.

That the traffic on most of the Colonial railways is greatly on the increase, and that many of them are yielding very handsome returns over and above their working expenses, is fully exemphhed by returns published in the New Zealand Gazette. The returns published give a comparative statement of the receipts on the several sections of railway for the foiu weeks ending Oth Marc'' of the prose*j year, as against thos* of the same r--nort of last year, and a statement of the receipts and on>eiKliture on Kie different sections the financial year, so rar as it had = one > "P t0 the oi]l .-vial earnings of the railways and the wharves in connection with them for the four weeks ending on the oth March last amounted to L45,G32 7s. OJ., as against L38,5C3 2s. sd. for the same period of last year, showing an increase of over LIO,OOO. Of course, we have to take into account the fact that several new lines, or extensions of existing Hues, have been opened for traffic during the year but these do not by any means wholly account for the very great increase, and, after making a fair reduction as a set uS against the new linra. there is still room for congratulating ourselves that the railways are steadily becoming more reproductive. Nearly the whc".e of the sections in the GVl.my sh--.v/ an increase of revenue as compared with the receipts for the same period of lust year, the most notable instances being the Christcimrch (which includes the Oamaru railways), the Dunedin. and the Auckland sections. The only cases in which the receipts from the railways show a backward tendency are on the Greymouth. Nelson, and Picton sections. It would, of course, be interesting to us to know what has been the earnings of the Oamaru lines ; but unfortunately, we hare no means <>f ascertaining, as the receipts from them are simply included under the comprehensive, if unsatisfactory, heading of " Christchurch section." We have every reason to believe, however, that the lines in this district have been amongst the most progressive in the Colony, and that they have fully proved the wisdom of those who favored theii construction. The return showing the total receipts and expenditure on the different sections for so much of the financial vear as had elapsed up to the compilation of the return (a little ovei eight months) is so full of meaning that we give the figures in a tabulated form as follow : SM-A Total : Total *.,.»;.,> ---i Revenue .Expenditure section. s|g| todate _ tn date. ~ . . t ifi •' 2,251 41" 3."32 2 4 haipara .. •■; ' • - () fi u 1770012 7 AueklMiil •• j a ?r -•'„ " " 2S '■■ l'Vl3l 1 S 7,090 1 f. Wellington .. .., Foxton .. .. .. •»>, >Wriyn.«.th* .. 21 3,0,2 1 6 3-J| ? Creymoutli .... 3 *,~ <m l2 - W«tport-» .... 1 ; %g\ k 3(ir3 g t }?; ot \ f, ■ ,'"7711 n »:»- 3 7 |-ict.>ii •■ ■- -■ '; i7-i'-{*i 17 11 123,107 12 U ChruMhtirch -. fS' 1 s4O OSS 12 6 a; 22,15^ 1001 ".316,501 1 1 203,521 13 2 - The revenue for wharves U not inelnded. ' t These results are abnormal, ieithcr of these lines is yet doins its proper traffic. From these figures it will be seen that, during the first eight months of the financial year, the railway returns show a balance ~cn. the right side of the ledger mounting to L 52,579 17s. lid. In addition to the figures given in the above table, ve have to consider the return of the receipts and expenditure with reference to wharves connected with railways, not included in the foregoing table. The receipts from thess for the same period amounted to L 4056 lis, lid., while the expenditure in connection with them was LIG39 3s. 5d., a balance being shown in ■heir favour of L 2417 Ss. Gd. Judging from the information which we have oefore us, and from the fact that the returns so far do not include the busiest portion of the year on most of the railways, ive may fairly assume that the total receipts from the railways and wharves

connected with them, and under Government control, for the financial year will not fall far short of L 600,000 ; and at the , .ante time we may assume that, after payin" working expenses, a balance of something like '1,150,000 will remain to go towards interest and sinking fund on the ! loans oat of which they have been eon- | s-.nick-fl. .