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A P P;E ND I X E. il J OTAGO CENTRAL RAILWAY: EXTENSION BEYOND CROMWELL. REPORTS BY DISTRICT ENGINEER MARKS, INSPECTING ENGINEER BAKER, AND THE ENGINEffiR-IN-CHIEE RESPECTIVELY. District Engineer to Engineer-in-Chihf. CROMWELL TO HAWEA. SECTION I.—PRELIMINARY. Object of the Report.—lmproved facilities for transport in the Upper Clutha Valley were asked for by the settlors, some of whom suggest the provision of an improved hard-surfaced highway, and others an extension of the Otago Central Railway beyond Cromwell. The object of this report is therefore to consider fully the merits and costs of each proposal, and to deduce therefrom— (a) Whether either or both are justified at the present state of settlement and production, and, if so, to what extent; (b) whether the future prospects of increased settlement and production will warrant either, and when. Description of District. —The district concerned comprises the extensive Hat lands along the Clutha Valley extending northward of Cromwell and widening to the south of Lake Hawea, and in the region of Mount Barker, Pembroke, and the Cardrona Valley, together with the Tarras flats and downlands and Ardgour Settlement in the Lindis Valley. The total (tat country comprises about 65,000 acres. In addition there are about 1,300,000 acres of high sheep-country bordering the valley and around the lakes which have no other outlet. A fair amount of very old settlement exists scattered throughout the district, being more concentrated about Hawea Flat and Mount Barker. Practically the whole of the flat area must rely upon irrigation for its usefulness as country suitable for close settlement. This has been practised in a very small way by private enterprise, but of recent years the Government has started to give attention to this region by providing extensive irrigation schemes. Of these irrigation schemes, Ardgour (2,000 acres) has just been completed, and Tarras (7,000 acres) is nearing completion. Quite extensive irrigation development is now being resorted to by private enterprise about Pembroke and in the Cardrona Valley. Preliminary investigations also show that Government works may provide irrigation for some 20,000 acres about Hawea, 1,000 acres between Luggate and Queensbury, 2,000 acres about Bendigo, and 2,000 acres between Queensbury and Lowburn. Summarizing, it would appear that at least half of the total flat area of 65,000 acres may be brought under irrigation. These irrigation-works, if pursued, might have a tremendous bearing upon the subject of transport by increasing the production of the district to an incredible extent. Dairying is likely to take a very prominent place in the industries of the district, together with the export of large quantities of lucerne and other hay, while sheep raising and fattening will also become tremendously increased. The sheep-carrying capacity of the hill lands will also be very largely increased by the provision of winter feed produced on the irrigable lands. General.- -Altogether this district offers such possibilities for increased settlement and production that its claims to consideration by the Government in regard to improved transport facilities cannot be ignored. To those people like myself who, from intimate knowledge, have realized what this district is likely to attain there would not be any hesitation in recommending the Government to proceed steadily onwards with a railway, purely as a national developmental work, at such annual rate of expenditure as the national finances might permit. It would, of course, be a great many years before such a railway would pay directly on the present very liberal railway transport tariff. This fact is unfortunately very evident with respect to most branch railways, but though some of these may now prove to have been unwarranted in most cases, and particularly in respect to the present Otago Central Railway, when the amount of settlement and production is realized, it is not possible to view them other than as sound assets in the development of the Dominion. However, realizing that in the matter of national development the Dominion has reached a stage when further immediate extension might be considered to be too far ahead of a sound rate of progress, it appears necessary to take a full and careful consideration of the present and immediate future situation before a decision is made with respect to committing the Dominion to any considerable increase in its national indebtedness. The matter of the alternative method of transport by improved highway must also be analysed in comparison with a railway. Terminating-point, Luggate. -To enable a fair comparison to be made between the merits of a railway and an improved highway a terminating-point must first be decided upon. This point will be fixed first for a railway, as the limit of its extension into a district is likely to be shorter than for a road, which latter might be carried on farther or on divergent lines to lower standards of construction. There seems to be no doubt that the vicinity of Luggate should mark the permanent terminus of a railway or specially constructed highway. At this point the lands on each side of the Clutha River are connected by a permanent heavy traffic-bridge, and roads radiate from it to the open lands both sides of the river. The greatest distance from the Luggate Bridge to the extremities of the open lands is about 9 miles, being about the same for the flats on both sides of the river. An extension beyond Luggate would slightly benefit one side without improving the situation for the other side. Therefore, for the purposes of comparison between road and railway, the length considered will be taken as ending at Luggate, and. any road improvements beyond that point may be considered separately. The distances between Cromwell and Luggate are approximately 271 and 29 miles by the proposed routes of railway and road respectively.