D.—2.

VII

Bail-cars. It was very interesting to find that the New Zealand Railways have gone as far as most countries I visited in experimenting with the possibilities of rail-cars. The branch-line problem in Great Britain and other places has resulted in the trial of these units, and many different types are in use. England has adopted the steamdriven cars, whilst the Canadian National Railways are running storage-battery and, more recently, Diesel electric cars which are said to be giving every satisfaction. Petrol-driven rail-cars are more generally used in the United States. I had opportunities of travelling in the various types in different countries, and full operating and maintenance costs were obtained. The tendency is to concentrate on single-man-control units in order to reduce operating-costs, and special investigations are being carried out by our designing engineers on the data that have been secured. In previous statements I have indicated that we considered development along the line of extended use of these vehicles would assist towards a solution of many of our difficulties and the experiments and experiences of other countries have confirmed this view. There can be no doubt that ample scope is available in this country for the economic use of these vehicles. Fuel Research. A good deal of attention has been directed during the last year or two to the success achieved in Germany with regard to the economic utilization of lignite coals by the process known as low-temperature carbonization. The matter has such an important bearing on the coal position in New Zealand that last year the Government obtained a full report from a prominent English fuel authority on the adoption of a similar scheme in New Zealand in connection with Waikato coal. The report, together with full information of trial tests on the New Zealand railways of this fuel manufactured from Waikato coal, have been referred to a special council to consider all the data available on the subject and make recommendations to Government as to what course of action should be followed. Shortly, the process is to extract tar and other products from the coal, from which crude oil, petrol, &c., are distilled. The coke-like residue from the first low-temperature-carbonization process is pulverized and, with a small percentage of pitch mixed for a binder, is pressed into briquettes of various sizes. It is an interesting fact that the manufactured briquette (from which the oils have been extracted) is of a higher calorific value than the raw coal. It has the further advantage of being smokeless, and not liable to spark when used in railway locomotives. These advantages are of very great value, and should the schemes under consideration be found practicable and economically possible they will play a very important part in solving the coal troubles of the Dominion, for, owing to its sparking propensities, the use of Waikato coal on the railways is rendered impossible during the summer months, and in consequence the mines are usually idle for several days of the week. For many years New Zealand has had to import large quantities of coal. These importations could be limited to a large extent by the extended utilization of Waikato poal in this way, and still further if it is found possible to manufacture suitable briquettes from certain classes of South Island coals. A good deal of further investigation is essential, as every possible aspect of such a momentous undertaking must be fully weighed before finality can be reached. At the same time many other interesting processes are being looked, into, and these, of necessity, must be tried out by the Railways, for the Department, being the largest consumer, would be able to contract for a sufficiently large amount of fuel to enable any new enterprise economically to commence operations. Staff. The various systems of staff administration in vogue in the public Departments have naturally resulted in a good deal of difference in the methods and classification, adopted by the various Departments and this was particularly noticeable in the