E.—l

I would also like to point out that the New Zealand railways are not so very much inferior to those of many other countries. They cannot of course be compared with the first-class English and Victorian lines, but they are equal to most of the American and many of the Continental railways. The ruling gradients and curves on the main lines in the Middle Island are easier than on the latter, and even in England there are occasional gradients and curves worse than those we have here. Comparisons are frequently made between the lin 50 gradients in Otago and perfectly level lines : it is pointed out that the same locomotive will pull six times as much on the level as it does on a gradient of linso ; but these are not correct premises to start from. A perfectly level railway is like a mathematical line—something to reason from, but nothing more; it is never met in practice. Of late years the limit of steepness that seems to be adopted on first-class English lines is lin 70. The difference between this and the 1 in 50 of Otago is simply that five locomotives do the work of six. I think that with our sparse population we may be well satisfied in thus getting fivesiiths of what is required on the railways that connect the main centres of population in England. There is also considerable misapprehension as to the speed of railway trains. It is popularly supposed that 45 or 50 miles an hour is a common rate. There is no ground for this belief. There are only five or six trains in the world that attain anything like those speeds. Nearly all the American and perhaps three-fourths of the European traffic is carried at much the same speed as the ordinary Now' Zealand trains, although the former lines are on the broad gauge and all their works are correspondingly heavier. There are, of course, many minor improvements that can be introduced on the new railways, chiefly in the direction of making the works somewhat heavier, more particularly the permanent way; but 1 think the general principle of light lines should be confirmed. The following table shows the lengths of railways authorized and open, together with the expenditure and liabilities to and on the 30th June, 1879, inclusive of the lines taken over from the Provincial Governments of Canterbury and Otago : —

The following table shows the rate at which the several railways in the Middle Island have been completed during each financial year, further details being given in Table A hereto appended : —

40

Name of Railway. Total Length authorized. Open for Traffic. Expenditure to 30th June, 1879. Liabilities on 30th June, 1879. .TJTIIOKIZED BY " THE PUBLIC WOBKS Ad, 1876 :"— Nelson-Foxhill Picton-Blenheim ... Brunner-Greymouth Westport-Ngakawau Amberley-Waitaki Waitaki-Bluff and Branches Winton-Kingston ... Western Railways... M. C. 20 11 18 32 7 50 19 63 316 30 339 53 68 35 37 37 M. C 19 10 17 10 7 50 19 19 309 65 338 31 68 35 17 77 £ s. d. 127,665 11 2 163,308 15 11 190,145 2 7 205,909 8 10 1,545,254 11 .2 2,249,634 6 6 238,916 19 4 56,615 15 9 £ s. d. 3,037 17 1 8,954 2 8 9,071 11 1 6,669 0 3 125,358 18 5 205,232 3 2 773 7 9 38,266 14 5 Total 827 71 797 57 4,777,450 11 3 397,363 14 10 xthoeized by "the immigration and public wobks Appropriation Act, 1878," Section 17 : — Otago Central—Dunedin to Albert Town, Lake Wanaka Amberley to Brunnerton Greymouth to Hokilika Canterbury Interior Main Line, Oxford to Temuka Main Line to Upper Ashburton Opawa Branch Extension ... Waipahi to Heriot Burn Edendale to Toitois Otautau to Nightcaps Clutha to Catlin's River AVaimea to Switzers Lumsden to Mararoa Palmerston to Waihemo Oamaru to Livingston Main Line to Shag Point ... Amberley to Cook Strait Little River and Akaroa Approximate. 160 110 26 85 20 20 25 26 16 18 15 35 12 16 1 67 145 41 1,939 18 3 59 10 5 553 1 2 135 12 0 133 10 4 45 11 3 333 11 2 50,059 1 3 1,082 5 0 9,871 19 6 8,106 16 1 9,879 2 6 7,983 4 4 250 0 0 9,835 11 10 4,968 19 6 5,298 10 10 42 3 10 1,490 14 3 107 16 0 9 19 4 1,096 13 7 166 13 4 75 8 2 4,642 7 1 1,092 4 0 i' 67 28,576 9 9 495 0 0 Totals 771 67 1 67 6,114 14 11 142,216 19 10 General Totals 1,599 58 799 44 4,783,565 6 2 539,580 14 8

Miles of Railway opened during Financial Year Total. Up to 30th June, 1872. 1872-73. 1873-74. 1 1874-75. 11875-76. 1876-77. 1877-78. 1878-79.1 M. C. 58 51 M. C 22 42 M. C. 11 11 M. C. j M. C. 127 43 243 G4 i M. 184 c. 4 M. C. 94 13 M. C. 58 20 M. c. 799 44 iddle Island