E.—6,

4

stations will cost £2,600, which only leaves £651 for grading and other minor works on a line where there should be a continuous embankment of from 3 to 4 feet in height, and where the severance of property is considerable. The cost of the Q-reytown branch —particularly as it would not be charged with the bridge—would be less per mile than the other, were it not the terminal station on such a short length will probably bring up the average. The question as to which line best accommodates the district comes next under consideration, and under present circumstances it is one not easily determined. Prom the position of the main line running longitudinally along the eastern side of the plain, it is impossible to get a single branch going off at right angles which will accommodate the whole of the western aide. I pointed this out to a committee of the Provincial Council in 1870, and recommended that the main line should be carried further into the plain (see evidence published in General Assembly paper D. 1871, page 58) ; but the inhabitants of Outram would not be satisfied with anything short of the main line going through the village or having the terminus of a branch there, so my recommendation was not adopted. Prom the fact of both branches having their terminus at Outram, it is evident that it is recognized by both parties as the centre to which the trade of the district naturally converges ; it is also on the main road to Upper Waipori and the interior. The question of accommodation, as between the two lines, is therefore confined to the intermediate traffic. The G-reytown branch is all through cultivated land; but as it is in the hands of one or two proprietors, the passenger traffic cannot be extensive. The amount of produce sent to Dunedin will, however, be as great as from any other equal area on the Taieri Plain. The good cultivated land on the Mosgiel branch is confined to 1^ mile at each end, and Blocks X. XV. and XVI. (North Taieri) near the 12th mile. Prom 13 to 16 miles the line passes through a low uncultivated swamp, and there is only about 90 chains between it and the ranges; consequently a large traffic can never be developed on that portion. As the 1^ mile at the commencement of the Mosgiel branch is embraced by the main line, and the 1£ mile at the termination by the G-reytown branch, the only special advantages it possesses over the other, is the accommodation afforded to the three blocks in North Taieri, just mentioned. This reduces the whole controversy to the simple question, Is the traffic from North Taieri of such importance as to warrant the construction of 4j miles of railway for its special accommodation? So far as my judgment goes, I have no hesitation in answering it in the negative. Ido not think the advantages to be derived from the adoption of the Mosgiel branch instead of the Q-reytown one are at all commensurate with the extra expenditure involved. Having compared the respective merits of the branches, I shall now consider as to whether either of them is at present urgently required. It will be seen from the plan, that the Mosgiel branch, for the greater part of its length, is only 2f miles from the main line, and that the whole distance to the ranges is only 4 miles. Five miles is considered the standard distance between stations in England; consequently the Mosgiel branch is 3 miles too near the main line, and there is little of the plain beyond the English limit of remoteness from railway coinmunicatian. The Taieri Plain is also intersected in all directions by roads, many of them being formed and metalled. For these reasons, and the fact that there is no special trade, such as minerals, at any point on the plain, I believe, that there is no immediate necessity for either branch. I have, &c, "W. N. Blaie, The Engineer-in-Chief, Wellington. District Engineer. A copy of the Outram and Q-reytown Railway Ordinance, as passed by the Council, is herewith enclosed.—W. N. B. By Authority : Q-eobge Didbbuby, Government Printer, Wellington.—lB7s. Price 3d.]