E.—l,

1874. NEW ZEALAND.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH AGENT-GENERAL LONDON. MEMORANDA FOR THE AGENT-GENERAL.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by command of His Excellency.

\_2fote. —The formal Memoranda ordering railway plant have been omitted, but the orders forwarded to, and shipments advised by, the Agent-Grcnoral, have been scheduled and inserted at the end of this paper.] No. 1. Memorandum No. 48, 1873, for the Agent-General, London. The only paragraph in your letter of 10th July (No. 465)* to which I need specially reply, is that in which you say,—" Of course I readily recognize that it would have been cheaper to have paid double or treble the amount of the highest freights above specified, rather than that the public works should have been stopped for want of material. But what I desire to point out is, that the plant has been more rapidly despatched than it could have been, for reasons already given, had it been sent out in ships expressly chartered for its conveyance." With reference to the first portion of the paragraph above quoted, I may remark, generally, that works have been in some cases delayed, owing to want of material and rolling stock; and with reference to the latter portion of the paragraph, that the two vessels chartered for deadweight have respectively made passages of 131 and 100 clays, while, if the passages had even been much longer, the relief occasioned by their large cargoes would still have been very great. Public Works Office, Wellington, New Zealand, Edward Richakdson. 29th September, 1873.

0 No. 2. Memorandum No. 49, 1873, for the Agent-General, London. Your cablegram of February last, in which you stated, " All orders in hand, except two specifications," together with the knowledge that you had chartered two ships specially for carriage of rails and fastenings, led me to believe that all the orders would be speedily executed. During the past two months the contractors for the various lines have been pushing on their works, and are now again complaining of the delay occasioned by their want of rails and fastenings. It is, therefore, with much pleasure I notice by your cablegram of the 2nd instant, that in addition to eight locomotives and sixteen wagons, you had shipped 1,800 tons of rails during the month of September; but this quantity will relieve the pressure very slightly, and after it arrives, works in several directions will continue to be seriously delayed. In enclosing a copy of a cablegram sent to you to-day, I trust that long ere this Memorandum is received, you will have taken such steps as will so effectually relieve the pressure for material on this side, as to allow the works to proceed without further delay on that account; and I avail myself of the present opportunity specially to urge you to spare no reasonable expense to have all the orders for rails and fastenings that have been sent to you completed and shipped with the utmost despatch. Public Works Office, Wellington, New Zealand, Edward Richardson. 24th October, 1873.

Enclosure in No. 2. Cablegram to Agent-General, London. October 24.—Works delayed want railway material. Press shipment.—Richardson. I—E.l.

*See Par. Paß E. 4a, 1873, M