Sir,—This Committee, in asking you to turn the first sod of the Thames Valley Railway, desire to express to you the great satisfaction which they, in common with every inhabitant of the District, feel on the present occasion, which is the happy termination of a long and arduous agitation commenced more than six years ago, and carried on without much encouragement. Notwithstanding the want of success which attended their efforts to obtain a favorable consideration of this question for many years, the Committee never lost sight of the object they bad in view, but took every opportunity of pressing it upon the attention of the Government of the day, but still without any result until you, sir, appeared upon the scene, and announced to the people of the Thames that you considered the scheme to be not only practicable, but reasonable, and a project deserving the attention of the legislature of the Colony and of capitalists seeking profitable investments. From that time until the last session of Parliament the prospects of the Thames Valley Railway continued steadily to improve, when your Government took the decided step of placing it on the schedule of railway works to be undertaken by the Colony of New Zealand. This recognition of a scheme no less useful than necessary redounds much to the credit of your Government for justice, impartiality, and foresight, and we now have the pleasure to invite you thus to crown an undertaking which already owes so much to your advocacy, by making a formal commencement of the work.