1).—1

III

This leaves a balance to the credit of the Ways and £ Means Account at the end of the year of .. ■-. . . 1,293,101 For the current your it is proposed to provide additional funds as under : — Balance of authorized loan-money still to be raised 545,100 Making the total ways and means for 1916-17 £1,838,201 The estimated expenditure for public works for the current year (excluding separate accounts having their own ways and means) amounts to £1,838,000, leaving an estimated balance of £201 to be carried forward to next year (1917-18). In addition to the amounts described above, we have authority to raise, outside the Public Works Fund, the following sums :— £ Under the Aid to Water-power Act, 1910 .. .. 191,000 Under the Waihou and Ohinemuri Rivers Improvement Act, 1910 .. .. .. .. ~ 50,000 RAILWAY-CONSTRUCTION. Only two lengths of railway —one in each Island—were actually handed over and opened for regular traffic during the financial year which closed on the 31st March last. The opened sections were — M. eh. Huntly to Awaroa .. 7 20 . . 20th December, 1915. Ward to Wharanui .. 7 76 .. 4th December, 1915. 15 16 Several sections are, however, almost complete as far as construction is concerned, but remain in the hands of the Public Works Department in order to avoid the interference with construction-work which occurs when such has to be carried on over a section which has been handed over to the Railway Department. Meanwhile traffic is being worked by the Public Works Department as required. These sections arc as follow : —■ M. eh. Otamatea to Huarau .. .. .. 6 20 Mount Maunganui to Pongakawa . . .. .. 23 10 Whangamomona to Kohuratahi . . .. .. 4 54 Makaraka to Ngatapa . . . . . . 10 29 The total expenditure on railway construction and improvement work during last financial year amounted to £1,204,921, as under: — £ Construction of new fines .. .. .. 662,919 Addition to open lines . . .. .. .. 402,252 Railways Improvement Accounts .. .. .. 139,750 The following is a summary of the works which have been in progress during the year just closed : — Kaihu Valley Extension. At the beginning of the year construction-work was in progress upon the extension from Tarawhati to Donnelly's Crossing, four miles and a half in length. Formation and culverts were finished over about half the length when operations were suspended in Novamber last, and have not since been resumed. Kawakawa-Hokianoa. The section under construction at the beginning of the year commences at Kaikoke, the termination of the opened line, and ends at Okaihau, over eight miles