E.—l

1875. NEW ZEALAND.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH AGENT-GENERAL, LONDON.

MEMORANDA EROM THE MINISTER EOR PUBLIC WORKS.

Presented to both Souses of the General Assembly by Command of Sis Excellency.

[Note. —The formal memoranda, ordering railway material and rolling-stock, have been omitted; but the orders forwarded to, and shipments advised by, the Agent-General have, for convenience, been scheduled and inserted at the end of this paper.]

No. 1. Memorandum No. 37, 1874, for the Agent-General, London. I have to draw your attention to the accompanying copy of a report of the Engineer at Napier on a portion of the material landed ex " Queen of the North." Tou will learn therefrom that the material was in itself exceedingly poor, the workmanship of the roughest description, and that the material, when shipped, was probably in bad condition, there being every appearance of the cases having been exposed to heavy rain. You will be good enough to call the attention of the Inspecting Engineers to the details of Mr. Weber's report; and, as an expense of 255. per case has been demanded by Messrs. Brogdens on the 55 cases of fangbolts, you are directed to take any steps that may be found possible to recover that amount from the manufacturers or other parties concerned. Public Works Office, Wellington, sth June, 1874. Edward Richardson.

F;rfeßeplyNos.2 and 3, Letters from Agent-Gen-ral, E.—2.

Enclosure in No. 1. The Resident Engineer to the Engineer-in-Chief. I am sorry to have to bring to your notice that the 55 cases of fangbolts received ex " Queen of the North," and manufactured by Bayliss, Jones, and Bayliss, arrived here not only in bad condition, but that they are of very inferior quality. The iron is exceedingly poor, many bolts and nuts are rent, and tho workmanship of the roughest description. The bolts in many cases are rusted to such an extent that it will be expensive to clean them sufficiently for the working of the nuts. Mr. Dunbar has refused to sign the receipt for them as in good order, and will make a claim for cleaning them. In the event of Messrs. Brogden sending a claim, I shall call a survey upon the damaged portion, and try to recover from the ship, unless I receive from you other instructions. The rails by Shaw, Johnston, and Reay appear likewise of indifferent quality. The ends of at least a dozen are split in stowing and handling, which appears to indicate great brittleness of the iron, and the general finish is not equal to former shipments. In addition to this, the rails are very much rusted. As the ship appeared very dry, and the rest of the cargo has arrived in good order, I conclude that the rails and fangbolts were shipped in bad condition. • I have, &c, Charles Weber, Engineer's Office, Napier, 18th March, 1874. Resident Engineer.

No. 2. Memorandum No. 41, 1874, for the Agent-General, London. In fitting up the rolling-stock arrived by the "Loch Awe," one of the carriage under-fratnes Was found to be in a very bad condition. Will you be good enough to call the attention of the Inspecting Engineer to the following extract from the report made by the Resident Engineer, Auckland: — 1-E. 1.

Pjrfe Kcplv No. 8. E.—2.