35

E.—3

APPENDICES TO THE PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT, 1875.

APPENDIX .A. ANNUAL REPORT ON RAILWAYS BY THE ENGINEER-IN-CHIEF. The Engineee-in-Chief to the Hon. the Ministee for Public Woeks. Sib,— Public Works Office, Wellington, Ist July, 1875. I have the honor to submit my annual report on the position of the railways in New Zealand now under construction by the General Government. The expenditure on railways up to the end of the year 1873-4 was ... ... £1,713,613 During the present year 1874-5 it has been ... ... ... ... 1,857,029 Total expenditure to date ... ... ... £3,570,642 There are also liabilities on contracts to the extent of ... ... ... 1,620,365 Total expenditure and liabilities ... ... £5,191,007 Estimated cost of works not yet contracted for ... ... • ... ... 900,974 Total estimated cost of railways ... ... £6,091,981 Of the total expenditure during the year, £702,739 was for rails, rolling stock, and charges in England, leaving £1,154,290 as the work done in New Zealand. Considering the small population of the colony, the works are certainly being pushed on as fast as is advisable. Economy in first cost would be increased if a somewhat slower rate of progress were adopted.

As the simplest way of showing the present state of the works, I append a table of the mileage and cost of the several lines authorized:—

Name of Eailway. Appropriation. Estimated Cost. Total Length. Open for Traffic. Under Con-1 struction. Not yet Begun. Jawakawa Jaipara-Eiverhead i.uckIand-Biverhead i.uckland-Mercer ... Hercer-Newcastle ... N'ewcastle-Puniu tVaitara- Wanganui kVanganui-Manawatu Sapier- Waipukurau SVellington-Masterton ?oxton-Manawatu £ 42,500 65,000 127,500 344,000 170,000 200,000 160,500 318,000 220,000 388,500 60,000 £ 42,500 65,000 127,500 364,000 175,000 150,000 171,000 321,500 240,400 447,500 84,000 Miles ch. 8 ... 15 68 22 48 45 56 30 36 29 30 25 44 58 35 45 22 44* 39 24 73 Miles ch. 45 56 Miles ch. 15 68 30 36 10 14 19 44 34 38 27 9 20 23 24 73 Miles ch. 8 ... 22 48 19 16 6 ... 23 77 18 13 14 46 9 50 Total, North Island 2,096,000 2,188,400 350 51 78 35 182 65 89 31 Selson-Eoxhill Picton-Blenheim ... jrreymouth-Brunner rVestport-Mount Eochfort ... iddington-Kowai ... Canterbury Branches iielwyn-Bakaia Rakaia-Ashburton ... ishburton-Temuka remuka-Timaru rimaru-Waitaki tVaitaki Bridge iiVaitaki-Moeraki ... tfoeraki-Dunedin ... ?ort Chalmers-Dunedin Dunedin-Clutha Cokomairiro-Lawrence Clutha-Mataura invercargill-Mataura rVinton-Kingston ... 101,500 126,000 84,400 120,500 197,500 283,000 88,000 89,000 188,000 74,000 220,000 75,000 261,000 430,000 210,000 326,000 156,000 260,000 148,000 244,000 114,500 151,000 121,400 120,500 197,500 318,000 81,533 78,048 191,000 71,600 205,500 76,600 298,400 427,000 221,000 372,000 164,000 254,000 187,500 252,500 20 10 17 68 7 46 18 25 32 10 103 56 12 61 18 8 34 3 12 0 38 2 ... 66 39 21 47 67 8 0 51 35 22 0 47 72 39 56 68 36 20 50 83 31 12 61 18 8 18 29 19 10 17 10 7 46 11 17 11 40 15 67 15 64 12 0 38 2 ... 66 39 21 12 17 1 0 ... 58 "i "&• 4 38 8 0 6 5 35 50 45 30 22 0 25 72 7 46 50 0 22 0 32 10 18 36 Total, South Island „ North Island 3,681,900 2,096,000 3,903,581 2,188,400 640 2 350 51 199 34 78 35 351 18 182 65 89 30 89 31 Grand Total 5,777,900 6,091,981 990 53 277t 69 534 3 178 61 6 E.—3. * The section from Feat] t Of this total length, li lerston to Masterton is 18 miles were opened di not included iring the cun i. rent year.