C—s

14

lies on the bottom and raises the river-bed. The following table will show the result of working the channel during the past year :—

The value of channel-fees for the year has been £1,304 3s. Bd., against £2,219 18s. 7d. for tha previous year; and the amount of cash actually received for fees, including the payment of arrears which were standing on the 31st March, 1886, was £1,895 15s. 3d. In dealing with the receipts from the channel it is only fair to treat the value of channel-fees for the year—viz., £1,304 3s. Bd.; to which must be added £957 19s. which was obtained for gold got in the channel; thus making the total revenue £2,262 2s. Bd., or £42 4s. Id. more than the previous year. The expenditure on maintenance has been £5,957 11s. 5d., against £6,215 13s. for the previous year. The expenditure has to a certain extent been lightened by the number of persons who left the channel to sluice into the new one; and the revenue has been greatly increased, although there are not so many using it, by the amount of gold that has been obtained. Previous to this year the expenditure on maintenance was nearly £3 for £1 obtained as fees ; but this year, taking the amount of gold into account, it cost about £2 14s. for every £1 of fees and value of gold. The amount of outstanding moneys on the 31st March, 1886, was £149 os. 9d., and on the 31st March last this was reduced to £10 ss. The average number of men using the channel last year was 114, against 161 during the previous year. The value of free use of channel given to the miners during the past year was £261 12s. 6d., against £12 12s. Bd. the previous year. The total cost of this channel to date has been £17,200 12s. 6d. Waijiea-Kumaea Wateb-bace and Sludge-channel. Although the whole of the different works have been dealt with separately, they have to be taken conjointly to get at the advantages accruing from their construction, as they are all one work and under one management. The following table will show the results of the working of this water-race and sludge-channel conjointly : —

The total value of the sales of water and channel-fees for the past year was £9,450 17s. 4d., while the previous year they amounted to £13,799 11s. 3d.; thus showing a decrease of £3,348 13s. lid., which is due principally to the cause already mentioned when dealing with the Kumara branch supply—namely, the reduction in the price of water, a.nd a month's free water being given to the claim-holders to establish the system of payment in advance. The total expenditure on maintenance for the year has been £8,473 os. 3d., while that of the previous year was £8,802 10s. Gd.; thus showing a decrease in the expenditure for last year of £329 10s. 3d. The arrears for salas of water and channel-fees on 31st March, 1886, were £2,623 ss. 7d., and on the same date this year they amounted to £334 3s. Id. This shows that £2,289 2s. 6d. of outstanding moneys has been

Month. Channol-fees. Value of Golddust obtained from the Channel. Amount of Cash received for Channel-fees. Expenditure. Amount of outstanding Moneys at End of each Month. Number of Men using the Channel. \pril May Fune ruly \ugust September 3ctober November December 1886. : 1887. £ s. d. 173 12 3 5 3 9 168 4 6 138 6 10 119 15 2 123 6 3 95 12 G 110 1 4 S4 19 7 £ a. a. 153 16 0 139 13 0 177 14 0 145 11 0 93 19 0 £ B. d. 310 18 11 120 3 2 277 10 9 141 4 8 267 5 7 269 14 11 107 5 11 93 8 4 109 18 0 £ s. a. 484 8 7 559 0 8 540 9 1 622 8 0 998 19 2 540 7 4 387 2 4 469 6 9 289 8 9 £ s. d. 96 6 10 G4 14 1 5 11 3 6 0 4 12 4 6 G 1 6 3 5 0 3 5 0 8 13 9 149 1G3 132 156 105 116 83 95 95 Fanuary 7ebruary tfareh 57 8 9 115 11 8 112 1 6 79 1 0 84 16 0 83 9 0 27 18 8 89 14 2 80 17 2 317 10 7 288 4 0 460 6 2 14 12 6 10 13 4 10 5 0 91 91 91 Totals 1,30-1 8 8 957 19 0 1,895 15 3 5,957 11 5 114 average.

Month. Sales of Water and Channel-fees. Cash received for Sales of Water r-nd Use of Channel. Expenditure on Maintenance. Arrears of Sales of Water and Channelfees at the Ena of each Month. Number of Men employed. Approximate Amount ol Gold obtained. Yaluo of Gold. 188G. £ s. d. 1,105 16 3 122 16 5 836 7 0 608 0 1 877 11 4 930 17 1 893 9 11 947 17 10 770 9 6 £ s. a. 2,093 14 7 703 2 9 1,385 10 1 917 4 3 1,034 9 0 1,446 0 5 1,155 0 0 949 14 9 1,184 C 1 £ s. d. 710 3 10 845 6 1 740 13 8 709 7 6 1,223 15 11 729 5 2 599 11 2 740 19 5 526 18 9 £ a. a. 1,438 0 2 1,094 12 6 607 11 4 563 12 5 582 2 9 488 18 0 462 2 0 494 6 1 430 1 10 Oz. 1,602 1,320 1,465 1,604 1,502 1,529 1,569 1,462 1,020 £ s. a. 6,087 12 0 5,010 0 0 5,567 0 0 6,095 4 0 5,709 8 0 5,809 5 0 5,968 2 0 5,556 15 0 3,874 19 0 ipril .. May .. rune ruly .. August September October November Deeember 1887. 335 323 320 320 299 314 312 312 317 Fanuary February March 430 9 8 904 17 0 1,022 5 3 596 1 0 683 9 2 854 6 3 534 9 1 437 6 4 615 3 4 191 11 10 261 14 8 334 3 1 319 311 315 872 1,402 1,562 3,324 5 0 5,328 16 0 5,935 9 0 Totals .. 13,003 4 4 8,473 0 3 9,450 17 4 10,912 61,269 15 0