Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 1881. THE RAILWAY RETURNS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue 68, 26 April 1881, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 1881. THE RAILWAY RETURNS.

The; railway returns for the mouth ending March 5 show a slight increase :Over the previous month in 'the profit made by the Jines. For the month ending February 5 the revenue was £G6,,339 ; tor that ending March 5 Hftfasi'69,69B ; for the former period $he,expeuditure was £38,011 ; for the 'latter it was £40,329 ; so that although, the expenditure has increased the profits are over a thousand pounds more for the month ending March 5 than they were for the previous .peried. During 1 the month 27 additional miles of line were opened, viz., 24 miles on the Auckland line, and 8 miles on the New Plymouth line. The total length of the North jblindJLiueAJs.upw .440 miles, while title So'utli Island possesses 845. On tjfe #>rjn«jr the per oentageof expendi tur« to receipts during the financial -y^a*. has 'beeti 71.26 per cent ; on the latter 61.10. Referring particularly to the North Island lines, vre notice iflcTera^f revenlte accept thi Wellington and Whangarei-Kamo oues, the

falling off on the former being about £50 per week, and on the latter about £20 per week. The FoxtonWaverley line shows a satisfactory increase of nearly £400 on the month, and after the heavy depression which has passed over this Coast, with accompanying small railway returns, it is peculiarly gratifying to see that the local line during the month ending March 5 earned £8,214, being over £700 more than during the corresponding month of last year As showing that the improvement is real it may be mentioned that although the revenue was, as already stated, £400 more in the February month than in January, the expenditure increased only £61, so that on the month's operations the Wanganui line earned a profit of £1,186. or nearly double the profit returned by the Welliugton-Masterton line. The details of the working of the Wanganui section show that during the mouth under revi«w there was an increase in every item of the gools traffic except wool. The timber traffic continues to increase, having been in December 1,194 tons, in January 1,640, and now in February 1,855. On the whole, if we may regard the railway returns as a commercial barometer, they indicate that tho depression from which the seti ois on this coast have suffered during the past eighthteen months is passing away, and that in the immediate future we may look for a revival of trade and a return of prosperity.