The Manawatu Railway.

In the process of the extinction of private companies’ rights over the country's railways, the final act was the purchase of the Manawatu Railway section from the company which had built and operated it. When the Purchase Bill went through Parliament in 1908, after long negotiations, many tributes were paid to Sir Joseph Ward's skilful handling of a difficult matter. The bargain was fair to the owners of the line, and satisfactory in the interests of the colony.