37

E.—3

In the South Island there are, exclusive of those built by the Provincial Governments, 200 miles open, of which 154 are in Canterbury, and 46 in Otago. They are being worked by those Governments. In Canterbury two of the brauch railways are stated by Mr. Maude, the Secretary for Public Works for the Province, in his annual statement, to be earning less than their actual working expenses, although the maintenance of way and works and the junction and management expenses were not charged to them. The branches had only been opened four months, however. There was a profit of £14,677 on the whole Canterbury system, but this includes the Christchurch and Lyttelton, and Christchurch to Selwyn Railways, which are the property of the province ; and as the accounts of the different lines are not kept apart, the profit due to the General Government railways cannot be stated. The Canterbury provincial lines, and 20 miles of the General Government lines, are broad gauge (5 ft. 3 in.). In Otago (North) 14 mdes are being worked by the Provincial Government—that is, from Dunedin to Port Chalmers, 8 miles, and from Dunedin to Green Island, 6 miles. The annual report by Mr. Conyers, the General Manager, states that a profit of £17,104 was earned during the last year, although the Green Island section was opened for only nine months. This is equal to 20 per cent, on the average cost of New Zealand railways. In South Otago, 32 miles of the Invercargill and Mataura Railway are being worked by the Provincial Government in connection with their own lines, and the profits of the different sections cannot be separated. The General Manager reports a profit on all the lines of £5,219, to which should be added £1,518 properly chargeable to capital, making £6,737. This is equal to 23 per cent, on the average cost of New Zealand railways. As an average of all the railways—excluding the Dunedin and Port Chalmers, which is doing an exceptionally large traffic —it may be said that they are already paying from 2to 3 per cent., although the opened portions are generally too short to catch the main part of the business they will eventually get. When we consider that they have been opened less than a year, this result must be considered as very favourable. The Victorian railways paid less when they had been opened four years than the New Zealand railways are paying in their first year ; the revenue of the former has now increased to 4 per cent, per annum on their cost. It is therefore reasonable to expect that the revenue of the New Zealand railways will also increase, and that they will very shortly pay the whole interest on their cost. During the past year a portion of the Canterbury Press has re-opened the subject of gauge for railways, and so much has been said adverse to the narrow gauge, and impugning the wisdom of the Government in constructing cheap lines, that a few remarks on the subject may not be out of place. We have in the Dunedin and Port Chalmers (narrow gauge), and the Christchurch and Lyttelton (broad gauge) Railways, examples which are so similar in many of their conditions, that the relative advantages of the two systems may be most instructively compared. Both lines connect the capital of the province in which they are situated with its sea port; they are both very short, the broad gauge being 7 miles and the narrow gauge 8 miles long. The receipts for 1873 on the broad gauge were £44,426; for 1874-5 they were £32,592, on the narrow gauge. The difference in the receipts was due to higher rates charged on the broad gauge, the traffic on the two lines being nearly the same. Both lines are well and substantially built with heavy rails, and are managed by able and experienced men for the respective Provincial Governments. Here the points of resemblance cease. The points of difference are that the broad gauge is nearly straight, with a ruling gradient of 1 in 140; the narrow gauge is a succession of reversing curves of from 8 to 10 chains radius, with a ruling gradient of 1 in 57. The narrow-gauge sea terminal station is miserably insufficient; and the city terminus was, until quite lately, nearly as bad. On the broad gauge both stations are roomy and convenient. On the whole, the facilities for working are immensely in favour of the broad gauge. The revenue returns, however, by no means show this advantage. The one line is worked with low speed and light rolling stock ; the other as a first-class line, with high speed, heavy rolling stock, and luxurious carriages, the result being shown in the relative cost of working. In 1873 the working expenses of the broad gauge were 65-84 per cent, of the gross revenue. I am unable to use a later year for comparison, as the Christchurch and Lyttelton accounts are not now separated in the printed returns from those of the other Canterbury lines. It is fair to assume, however, that no great change in the cost of working has taken place in the interval, as the percentage for all the Canterbury lines was in 1873, 74 per cent.; in 1874-5, it was 76 per cent., or rather would have been, had not a reduction of rates been made, which raised the actual ratio to 84 per cent. The change in the whole being so slight, there has probably been no great change in the Lyttelton section. We may therefore fairly compare the narrow-gauge working for last year with the broad gauge for 1873. In the first place the rates on the broad gauge are much higher than on the narrow gauge, as will be seen from the following table : — Christchurch and Lyttel- Dunedin and Poet ton Railway. Chalmers Railway. 5 ft. 3 in. Gauge 3 ft. 6 in. Gauge Rates. Rates, llfd. ... ... 7d. ... ... Per ton, per mile, ordinary merchandise. 9,d. ... ... 4d. ... ... Ditto ditto, farm produce and heavy goods. 2d. ... ... Id. ... ... Per 100 sup. ft. of timber. 3d. ... ... Ud. ... ... Per bale of wool. 4?d. ... ... 3d. ... ... First-class passengers, per mile. 2d. ... ... 2d. ... ... Second-class ditto, ditto.