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P. (+. IULZTKLL.

30. Not by giving them shares in the companyt—Well, I dan say that would suit us better, but they would probably prefer to have cash payment, because they have an abundance of land in the remaining area. 31. You say you intend to cultivate this land : is it not pumice land, mostly flat? —Yes, undulating country. 32. What do you mean by "cultivating" it?—l think, as far as I can ascertain from the agriculturists, it is land that must lie fertilized. It is land that needs capital for its development. •!■!. Is much of it hush land? —I think, of the total area there might be up to, say, 100,000 acres, or probably less than that, hush bind. Some of it is good timber bush and some not. It varies a good deal, and that is one reason why it makes it so expensive and unprofitable to work. It is too scattered. 34. If your proposal was agreed to, do you think you would have sufficient security to enable you to get about £300,000 or £400,000 to spend on this enterprise? —The purchase-money of the railway and the lands would run into over £200,000, and the cost of development would, of course, have to be added to that, ami that probably would be very considerable. 35. The loading/ — Noj I mean the fencing and fertilizing. It is all pumice land, and can l)i- easily roaded. 36. Will you submit a report on the matter?—l understand Mr. Mac Donald is calling certain Government experts who know this country. 37. How long will the milling timber now left on the company's land keep the railway running? —We estimate about fifteen fears. 38. Are the rails all steel rails?— Yes. 30 lb. rails. 39. What is the gauge of the line? —•'! ft. (i in. The sleepering is very good—it is better than that on the Government iines—and Mr. Fulton, who was the engineer for the construction of the line, advised us that it was equivalent, owing to the extra-good sleepering, or equal to, the ordinary Government 401b. rail. 40. Are the grades low? —Yes. and 1 think better than on the Johnsonville line; —at any rate, equal to those. 41. Mr. Forbef.] What is the cost of construction of the railway.'—About .£130.000. 42. It lias been constructed how many years?— The construction was finished about September, 1905. 43. You are cutting on Native lands now, are you not? —Yes. 44. Is there much bush hind round those 200,000 acres? —We do not contemplate acquiring the bush land at all. We do not propose to acquire the timber lands for this line. 45. You only want the open country? —Yes. 46. And the intention of the company is to test the land to see what can be done with it? -Yes. 47. Has there been much land bought and sold in this locality?—No; it has always l>een looked upon as land which it would not pay to work. 48. Has that been a recent purchase, the land held by the Patetere Land Company.'—The Freehold of the area from Putaruru to the Waikato River was sold very many years ago. 411. Is it pumice land?— Yes, and the bulk of it has remained unoccupied for all that time. Til). Does that give you any indication of what the pumice land will do in the way of farm ing?—Noj the portion near to Putaruru has recently been occupied, and it is the successful farming on that land which has largely induced people to think that there is a great future for the whole of the pumice country. They have been farming that country profitably —in some cases very profitably. 51. Mr. Mander.] How far is Rotorua from Lake Taupo?—lt is fifty-six miles by road. Of course, a railway is generally a good deal longer than the road. You may have to go where you can get a fair grade. 52. What distance is your line from the Main Trunk line?— You cannot go aoross country from our line except by getting round by way of Putaruru. There is no road or railway across that way. 53. Waimarino is the nearest point, and Raurimu is about forty miles away?— Yes. Tin' shortest way is by going round by Putaruru and back to Frankton. 54. You say it is not necessary in this case to put through an Order in Council?—l do say it is necessary, but it is not necessary to put through an Order in Council to enable the Natives to enter jnto a contract. It is necessary to get an Order in Council to enable us to occupy land, as we propose here, for the purposes of development. 55. It was necessary to get an Order in Council in dealing with the Mokai lands?— Without an Order in Council you cannot get any right to occupy the land, and for the purposes of development and subdivision it is necessary to have that right. 56. At what do you estimate the cost of your railway? —Ihe total cost is .£130,000. 57. A little over £2,500 a mile? —Yes Included in that are some rolling-stock and other things; £120,000 would be about the cost of the railway . 58. Do you think that that railway, costing £2,500 a mile, would be good enongh for the Government to take over? —The best answer I can give is that we have been running it for six years, and timber traffic, as you know, is as heavy a class of traffic as you are likely to get. and the line to-day is very mhcli better, and is constantly improving. 69. But the Government would not use 301b. rails ? —Of course, that is not their standard; but there is no reason why, if the company can run on those rails, the Government should not. But it would require an alteration in the system. 60. 'Die total distance from Putaruru to the lake, would be about sixty miles? —About sixtyfive miles.