Railways.

Soon after the passing of the Immigration and Public Works Act in 1870, the construction of railways on a large and systematic scale was commenced, and has proceeded vigourously since that time. The total length of lines open for traffic in October, 1885, was 1,497 miles; and there were under construction 155 miles.

The total amount of money expended in the construction of railways up to the 31st March, 1885, was £12,856,627; but the cost of lines open for traffic at the same date was £11,810,194.

It will be seen that the cost of working the railways for the twelve months ending on the 31st March, 1885, was less than in the previous year, for the revenue for that period exceeded the expenditure by £355,686, the ratio of the expenditure to the revenue being 65.99 per cent. The receipts per mile for the same period averaged £727 4s. 7d., and the expenditure £479 17s. 5d. The railways which are open for traffic thus made a return on the capital spent in their construction of £3 0s. 3d. per cent., which may be taken as a favourable result, for it may reasonably be expected that, when the many links in the chain of railways contemplated for the North Island are completed, some of the North Island lines will give a better result than they do at present. Quite recently the Auckland, Napier, and Wellington sections have shown a marked improvement, the last-named line having, in 1885, had, with the exception of the Greymouth page 92 coal line, the second highest annual yield per mile in the colony—viz., £898.