E.—l

IV

GENEEAL PEOGBESS IN EAILWAY CONSTEUCTION. The sums voted by Parliament for additional railway works in the last session, exclusive of preliminary surveys for lines not yet authorized, amounted to £2,308,700; on the 31st March £856,550 of this sum had been expended, and liabilities incurred amounting to £910,506, making a total of £1,767,056, and leaving an unexpended balance on last year's votes of £541,644. Eecognizing the necessity for spreading the expenditure of the remaining Public Works Fund over a period of at least the next three years, and believing that as some of the railway works had been adopted in times of great prosperity, Parliament would not disapprove, in our changed circumstances, of having an opportunity afforded of reconsidering them, I have not been in haste to press on the construction of new works. In fact, in the Middle Island only one new section of railway has been commenced since the end of our last session. Many new sections were got ready for contract, and in some instances tenders were invited and received ; but the grave considerations connected with a falling revenue, and increased deficit from our finished railways, could not be evaded, and obliged us to defer the acceptance of some of these tenders, so that time might be given for re-examining our future railway policy. EOADS. The expenditure of the votes for roads in this Island has, for the most part, been intrusted to the various local governing bodies. The main roads under the charge of the Government have been maintained as usual during the year. These include the Great South Eoad, Auckland, the Tauranga-Taupo, and the Taupo-Napier Eoads. On several other local roads a considerable amount of work has been done. The road works instituted on the West Coast between the Waingongoro and Stony Eivers, crossing the Waimate Plains, have been carried on very satisfactorily, and the two sections of the road will probably meet in a few days. The character of the country is very favourable, no natural obstacles having been met. The cross road from Stratford to Opunaki through the bush is also being pushed on, and good progress is being made. The amount expended on roads and bridges in the South Island during the past year is very small, and no new works of importance have been undertaken. SNAGGING THE THAMES EIVEE. Although not such a public work as is usually referred to in a Statement of this kind, I cannot refrain from mentioning the self-reliant and public-spirited efforts made by Mr. Firth, of Matamata, to remove the snags from the river Thames at his own cost. In these days, when colonists are too much in the habit of looking to the Government for almost everything, it is refreshing to see a public work so useful to the community begun, carried on, and finished by a private person, without even an application having been made to the Government for aid from the funds of the colony. WATEE-EACES. As will be seen from the reports and statements attached, the expenditure upon wafer-races does not appear to bave produced the large benefits which might naturally have been expected from it. None of the companies subsidized by Government have been a success, and in most cases the undertakings have been abandoned. The total expenditure and liabilities upon water-races upon gold fields up to the 31st of March amounted to £441,633; of this amount £42,329 gives no return whatever. Works which have cost £86,485 have been handed over to local bodies; while from those races which are comparatively successful, viz., the Charleston, Nelson Creek, Waimea, and Mount Ida Eaces, costing £312,819, the yearly return represents only about 1 per cent. The number of men, however, to whom these races afford the means of remunerative employment is 771, and their earnings per man average £140 a year.