D.-2

XV

There was a general increase in other classes of traffic, the principal item doing 20,(>00 tons of timber. Dairy-produce shows a decline of 1,260 tons on account of the dry weather. Wellington District-.—Revenue. £689,985 ; increase, £33,775. The numbers of passengers from Wellington were reduced by the absence of Easter holiday traffic, but some of the Manawatu stations show considerable increases. Tin , revenue from passengers also increased. The number of season tickets increased by 1,400, and tin , number of parcels by 12,6(X). Sheep traffic shows .in increase of 281,000. There were also small increases in cattle and pigs. Other classes of traffic, with the exception of wool and timber, show steady improvement, the principal items being 12,000 tons of grain, 12.imm> tons of merchandise, and 17,000 tons of coal. I'iciiDi Section. Revenue, £27.020 : decrease, £1,534. There was a decrease of 11,600 passengers and to"? passenger revenue. In the. previous year the Marlborough Jubilee and New Zealand Championship Regatta caused unusually large passenger traffic. There was an increase of 20.550 sheep, also small increase in wool and timber, but other classes of traffic show a decline. There has been very little interruption of the river traffic, and this has affected the business ai Picton. SchuH Section. Revenue, £24,842 ; increase, £1,483. Passengers show an increase in number, but a slight decrease in revenue. Sheep traffic has not improved. Wool and merchandise decreased somewhat, bul grain and minerals improved. Westport Section. Revenue, £116,449 ; increase, £421. Passengers show a small increase. There are increases in firewood, timber, grain, and merchandise, but coal decreased by nearly 17,000 tons. During the early part of the previous year there was an unusual demand for coal owing to labour disputes at Newcastle. Westland Section. Revenue, £143,121 ; increase, £13,472. Passengers show a decrease in number owing to the absence oi Easter holiday traffic, but the revenue is £179 better. Parcels show a slight improvement. There, is an increase of 3,000 sheep. Goods traffic shows a substantial increase, the chief items being 23.500 tons of timber, and 34,(KH1 tons of minerals. In August last a branch line serving the Blackball and Paparoa Mines was opened for regular traffic. South Island Main Line timl Branches. Revenue, £1,383,328 ; increase, £52,765. The principal items were : — Number. Number. Passengers .. .. .. .. .. 4,529,362; decrease, 8,578 Season tickets .. .. . . .. 78,514 : increase, 4,273 Parcels .. .. .. .. .. 597,674: ~ 23,845 Live-stock .. .. .. .. .. 2,905,143: .. 303,004 Tons. Tons. Goods .. .. .. .. .. 2,281,088; .. 56,930 The revenue per mile of railway rose from £1,015 Bs. 3d. last year to £1,037 2s. (id. for the year under review, and per train-mile from Bs. 6d. to Bs. 9{d. The variations of traffic in the different districts were approximately as follows :— Chrislchurch District.- -Revenue, £622,055; increase, £38,047. Passengers show a decrease of 8,000 in number, but an increase in revenue. The decrease in numbers is chiefly at Christchurch and Timaru, owing to the absence of Easter holiday bookings, but is counterbalanced to some extent by an increase at the suburban stations. Parcels traffic continues to improve. Live-stock traffic was swelled by large movements of sheep owing to the shortage of feed. There was an increase of 198,000 sheep as compared with the previous year. Cattle and pigs also increased. In other classes of traffic there were large increases of chaff, timber, merchandise, and coal, hut the tonnage of wool and grain was slightly less than for the previous year. Dunedin District. —Revenue, £447,246 ; increase, £4,487. There was a large decrease in the number of passengers, due to the absence of Easter holiday traffic, but the revenue shows a slight increase. Season tickets also increased. There is a steady improvement in parcels traffic. There was an increase of nearly 78,000 sheep. As in the Canterbury district, the movement of docks was affected by the dry weather.