£.—1

1876. NEW ZEALAND.

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT, BY THE MINISTER FOR PUBLIC WORKS, THE HON. EDWARD RICHARDSON, TUESDAY, 25TH JULY, 1876.

My. Speaker,— In obedience to the wish of the House, I propose this evening to give an account of the proceedings of the Public Works Department during the year just ended. I regret that lam called upon to do so at a period so soon after the close of the financial year, as it has compelled me to prepare this Statement more hurriedly than I should otherwise have done. When this Statement is printed for circulation, there will be attached to it Tables in similar form to those of previous years, together with a few additional ones which I hope honorable members will find interesting. One of these additional Tables has been prepared by request, showing the estimated cost of various classes of rolling stock, including shipping and colonial charges. The reports of the Engineer-in-Chief on railways, the Assistant Engineer-in-Chief on roads, the Colonial Architect on buildings, the Chief Inspector of Machinery on the working of his department, the Assistant Geologist on the Buller Coal Eield, and the Officer in Charge of constructed railways on the railways now being worked by the Government are, with maps showing the present position of the works, also appended. Throughout the statement, when I speak of the present yearj I mean the current financial year, commencing on the Ist of July instant. RAILWAYS. The railway works throughout the colony have not been pushed on so rapidly during the year under review as during the two years preceding, but a very large expenditure has taken place, and wherever works have been retarded care has been taken not to interfere with such as were approaching completion. This course was adopted so as to enable those portions of the railways under construction to be made remunerative at as early a date as possible. During the past year several circumstances have arisen in connection with the railways which have interfered with the estimates of previous years. In the first place, it has been found necessary to line several of the tunnels that had previously been considered would not require it, and this item will cause an addition to the cost of the railways of £59,000 over the whole colony. Then it is found that, to meet the requirements of the constantly increasing traffic on the railways now open, very considerable additions have to be made to the station accommodation previously estimated; and although last year large additional provision was made for rolling stock, honorable members will be glad to be informed that still further provision will, for the same reason, have now to be made. As I have on previous occasions referred in detail to most of the lines of railway, I think it will be convenient if I do so again to-night, taking them in the order they appear in the Appropriation Act of last year. I—E. 3.