P.—No. 1

36

PAPERS RELATIVE TO CONSTRUCTION OP

MANAWATU AND SEVENTY MILE BUSH DISTRICT. No. 45. Mr. Stewaet to Mr. Coopee. Sic, — Manawatu, 7th September, 1870. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 29th August, No. 85-E, informing me that an advance of £565 10s. 9d. had been made to me for the month of Juno, and requesting me to preserve a distinction between the expenditure for the periods before and after the 30th June, 1870. In reply, I have to state that the above sum represented the amount required to meet contracts entered into and liabilities incurred for works commenced prior to 30th June, as nearly as I could estimate. I shall attend to your request to keep distinct the expenditure to that date. On the line " Foxton to Oroua Bush," thirteen miles, the work, as I have before reported, has been confined to making the detached swamps, and difficult and impassable places, available for light dray traffic, leaving untouched considerable extents between these points thus constructed ; I find, however, that these flats intervening, become very heavy traffic during wet weather. I have gone over the line to examine this, and now propose to partially form and drain the road over these parts. The expenditure will be moderate considering the length of line, the amount required being £250. I consider this as exceedingly desirable to complete as a light traffic road, the distance mentioned, and I now submit this for your approval. I have, Ac, John T. Stewaet, Engineer in Charge of Eoad Works, Manawatu District. G. S. Cooper, Esq., Under Secretary, Wellington.

No. 46. Mr. Coopee to Mr. Stewaet. Sic, — Colonial Defence Office, Wellington, 10th September, 1870. In reply to your letter of the 3rd instant, I have the honor to inform you that an advance of £75 will be made to you, to enable you to meet the expenditure caused by the heavy rains in August last on the Foxton and Oroua Bush Eoad. Mr. McLean desires me to impress upon you the necessity of keeping in mind the distinction between main trunk lines of road and intermediate or district roads, as the General Government will not be justified in expending any money on the latter, which are matters of local concern, and must be dealt with by local Eoad Boards in connection with the Provincial Government. The Colonial Government will therefore look to you to take care that funds provided by the whole Colony are not spent upon works which are the special concern of the local authorities of a Province. I have, Ac, G. S. Coopee, J. T. Stewart, Esq., Manawatu. Under Secretary.

No. 47. Mr. Stewaet to Mr. Coopee. Sic, — Manawatu, 12th September, 1870. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 10th September, No. 91-E, in which you inform me of Mr. McLean's desire to you to impress on me the necessity of keeping in mind the distinction between main and district lines of road in regard to expenditure thereon. In reply, I beg to state, for the information of the Hon. Mr. McLean, that the Colonial Government expenditure under my charge in this district has been wholly confined to one line, as directed by the Hon. the Premier when the work was commenced, viz., the main road line from the port of Manawatu, at Foxton, leading to the Upper Manawatu country, and being part of the through line to the East Coast; the two divisions referred to in my letter, viz., " Foxton to Oroua Bush," and " Ngawhakarau and Oroua Bush," being continuous portions of the same road line. There have been no operations by any Eoad Board in connection with this main line. No part whatever of the amount has been expended on any other road line, and I shall at all times strictly attend to your instructions now sent in regard to this matter. I have, Ac, John T. Stewaet, Engineer in Charge of Eoads, Manawatu District. G. S. Cooper, Esq., Under Secretary, Wellington.

No. 48. His Honor J. D. Oemond to the Hon. the Colonial Secbetaby. Sic, — Napier, 24th September, 1870. [The first and concluding portions of this letter relate to other roads, and will be found in the papers relating to Hawke's Bay and the East Coast Districts.]