D.—3

6

merit Railways Act, 1887," is now or at any time hereafter may be directed or required to be done or suffered by the New Zealand Eailway Commissioners constituted under the said Act, then, and in any such case, the obligation to do, perform, or suffer such act or thing shall devolve upon the said Commissioners, who shall be deemed to be substituted throughout these presents for the Queen, or the Minister for Public Works, as the case may be, so far as relates to any such act or thing as aforesaid : Provided that if the hereinbefore-mentioned Act shall be repealed, or the powers and duties of the said Commissioners shall in any manner be determined or be suspended, then the Queen, or the Minister for Public Works, as the case may be, shall be entitled to resume the right to do, perform, or suffer any such act or thing as aforesaid, subject to any provision in that behalf made by the General Assembly; and the Queen and the company shall in any such case as lastly provided for have all such mutual rights and liabilities in respect of any act or thing as aforesaid as if the said Act had not been repealed or the powers and duties of the said Commissioners had not been determined or suspended. In witness whereof these presents have been signed by the Governor of the Colony of New Zealand, in the name and on behalf of the Queen, with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the said colony, and the seal of the colony and the common seal of the company have been respectively hereunto affixed, the day and year first before written.

Schedule of Bates. To be the schedule of rates and fares in force on the Wellington and Masterton Bailway in October, 1893, plus 25 per cent., and to include the right to charge double mileage rates over the incline section of the main line.

No. 3. The General Manager, Midland Eailway Company, to the Hon. the Bremier. Sir,— ' ' Wellington Club, Wellington, N.Z., sth October, 1893. I have just received a cablegram from my directors asking me to, if possible, agree to the terms of the proposed new contract on the basis of your amendment to the report of the Committee, to enable the company to finance immediately so as not to delay works, and I am also to return at once to London. Will you kindly have this matter settled to enable me to return to Christchurch on Saturday next. I am, &c, Eobert Wilson, The Hon. the Premier, Wellington. Engineer-in-Chief and General Manager.

No. 4. The General Manager, Midland Bailway Company, to the Hon. the Premier. Sir,— Wellington Club, Wellington, N.Z., 6th October, 1893. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the sth instant, and in reply beg to state that it is necessary for me to go south on Saturday next to attend to the business of my company there. Having left with you a draft proposed contract for your perusal, I shall be glad to hear of any amendments thereto you may wish to make at your earliest convenience as I am leaving for London the end of this month. I am, &c, Eobert Wilson, The Hon. the Premier, Wellington. Engineer-in-Chief and General Manager.

No. 5. The Hon. the Minister for Public Works to the General Manager, Midland Bailway Company. Sir, — Public Works Office, Wellington, 13th December, 1893. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 6th October last, in which you refer to the draft proposed contract you lately left with me and ask for any amendments thereto which I may wish to make. In reply, I beg to point out that the resolutions adopted by the House of Bepresentatives on the 2nd October do not at present permit the Government to vary the existing contract without the authority of an Act of the General Assembly. Further legislation will be necessary to sanction the proposed modification of such contract, and the new Parliament will, as a matter of course, fix the exact terms of any such modification. The resolutions proposed by the Government, and which were adopted by the House of Bepresentatives on the 2nd October last, are accepted as the basis of the proposed modification of the contract. These resolutions, extracted from the Journals of the House, are as follows :— A. That in lieu of land-grants being made to the company on account of work hereafter executed by it debentures of corresponding value to the Bl value be issued to the company, bearing interest at the rate of 3f per cent, per annum, such issue of debentures in lieu of landgrants to be conditional on the company surrendering its right to select land within the reserved area of about 5,600,000 acres, after deducting the quantity to which it is entitled and to which it may be entitled for work clone.