TUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, 9 August 1880, Page 2

TUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Tbe following memo, was transmitted by wire on Friday evening last ;— Tbe Minister for Public Works said : Sir. — Following tbe usual course I propose to begin by briefly reporting the op* erations of the Public Works Depart* ment for tbe seven months which have elapsed since I had a like honor last December. I shall pondense this part of my Statement as much as possible, as I do not wish to weary the House with a multiplicity of details, and because it will when printed be accompanied by full rex ports from various departments, by copi« ous tables, and by maps which I bope hon. members will find useful as exhibits ing the progress we have made in the construction cf the railways already an* thorised. r Here follows a dry recital of the work performed upon North Island railways.] MtDDtE ISLAND BAILWATf*; Nelson to Greymouth* Tbe works on this line at the northern end have been confined to tbe completion of the railway connecting ti.e city of Nelson with the port, and an extension three miles beyond Fox-Hill, by the Bell-grove contract now almost completed. At the Grey« mouth end, tbe Still water contract, an extension of the original Brunner railway for thrpe quarters of a mile, bas been found to be a work of considerable difficulty and expense. The contract price for 63 chains being £12,234, for formation only. The harbor works at Grey* mouth, which have been carried on as part of the improvements designed to deyelope the coal industry in that district, were almost suspended for some little time, while awaiting Sir John Coode's report. It arrived in March lasf, and it is satisfactory to find that the work already executed has been approved and adopted by him as part of his design. HOKITiKA GBEYMOUIH BAIIWAT. Some small contracts on the Greymouth and Hokitika railway have either been finished, or are near completion, and no new works were begun this year. Picton«Huran>ii railway. The lqst one and a, quarter miles of the railway from Picton to Blenheim have been completed, and the slation buildings at Blenheim are ia hand Hurunui* Waitaki railway, with branches. The new railway on the main lines from Hurunui to Waitaki are the Wais pari contract, of seven mile?, extending from Amberley to tbe Waipara river, and the Weka Pass section, nine miles, a Gontinustion of the line through the Pass to tbe Waikari and Hurunui Plains. The latter $eption was reserved from coniract in order to provide work for the un* employed of Christcburcb.

Springfield branch. The extension of the Malvern' branch to the Springfield colliers was completed in February last. Little River and Akaroa branch. The Ellesmere formation contract for the tittle River and Akaroa Branch was finished in March last. A, contract has just been made for a portion of the platelaying. Ashburlon branch. The first ten and three quarter miles of. the Ashburtou branch will open for traffijtegn the 7tli of April. ■§¥ Opawa branch. On this* branch the bridge over the Opawa river has been built by contract, and the remainder of the work, with the exception of another bridge, has been reserved in order to give work to the unemployed in ihe neighbor hood. Canterbury interior main line. The only work on this line which has been carried on daring the year are two bridges those ow the Eyre and Temuka rivers, which are now finished. Works sou' hof the Waitaki have been almost entirely confined to the improvement of stations, and the increase of wharfage and other necessary accommodation on branch lines. The great depression from . which nearly all our industries have suffered lately has thrown many workmen out ot employment, and the Government have been called on to alleviate the consequent distress by finding work for them on the railway and roads which are in course of construction. We have thought it our duty to comply with these requests, and I am sorry to say that no less a number than 1674 of those men nre now being employed at low wages in various of the Colony. Although it is to be deplored that in a new country of such great natural resources as New Zealand this state of things should exist— yet it is by no means a new experience in the history of the Colony. At various- times during the last twenty years the authorities have found it necessary to afford similar temporary employment, but for tunately the need for the interference of the Government has in every case passed away, and has been succeeded by a large demand for labor in the ordi* nary industries of the Colony, and at the highest rate of wages known in any part of the world. I believe that hon. mem" bers wi'l agree with me in thinking that this season of depression will soon paas away, and give place to another period of prosperity not inferior to that which we had until lately eujoyed. The disorgan* isation of the labor market is again begin* ning to work its own remedy by bringing into existence new industries' in the chief centres of population, and developing the self*reliant spirit of our working classes. There are also the most encouraging in» -di<j»tionft f -o4 f *sT«Ti^al of the gjldfielda industry, which may be of the greatest value to ihe Colony at large. In the meantime it is satisfactory to find that although many of the men thus employed by us are engaged in work to which they are unaccustomed, yet from their labor the Colony has obtained a fair equivalent for the outlay. GENEBAI, FUOGEESS IN BAIL WAT COX* STBUCTION. The sum voted by Parliament for additional railway works in the last session, exclusive of preliminary surreys for lines not yet authorised, amounted to £2,308, 700 on the 31st March— £Bs6,sso of this sum bad been expended and liabilities in« curred amounting to £910,506, making a total of £1.767,056, and leaviDg an unex* pended balance on last year's vote of -£511,641. Recognising the necessity for spreading the expenditure of the remaining Public Works Fund over a period of at least the next three years, and believa ing that as some of the railway works had been adopted in times of great prosperity, Parliament will not disapprove in our changed circumstances pf having an opportunity afforded of re-considering them. I have not been in haste to pr^ss on the constructipn of new works. In fact in the Middle Island only one new section has been commenced since the end of our last session. Many new sections were got ready for contract, and in some instances tenders were invited and res ceived, but the grave considerations con» nrcted with a falling revenue and increased deficit from finished railways could not evaded, and obliged us to defer the accept tance of some ofihene tenders, so that time might be given for re-examining our future railway policy. BCAD3. The future expenditure of the votes for roads in this Island has, for the most part, been intrusted to various local governing bodiesbodies. The main roads under the charge of the Government have been maintained as usual during the year— this includes the great South Road, Auckland, the Tauranga-Taupo, and the Taupo-Napier Eoads. On several other local roads a considerable amount of work has been done. The road works instituted on the West Coast between the Waimgogoro and Stoney rivers, crossing the Waimate Plains, have been'eairied on very satisfactorily, and the- -two sections of the road will probably meet in a few days. The character of the country is very favourable — no natural obstacles having been met, The cross road from Stratford to Opunaki through the bush is also. being pushed pn, and good progress ia being made. The amount expended on roads and bridges ia the tsouth Island , during the past year is very small, and no new works of importance have been undertaken;

SNAGGING THE TEAMS-! EIVEE. Although not such a public work as usually referred to in a statement of this kind, I cannot refrain from mentioning the self-reliant and public spirited efforts made by Mi- Firth of Matamata, to re« move the snags from the river Thamr-s at his own cost. In these days when colonists are too much in ihe habit of looking to the Government for almost everything, it is refreshing to see a public work useful to the community begun, carried, od, and finished, by a private person, without even an application hay« ing been made to the Government for aid from the funds of the Colony. WATER BACE*. As will be s en from the reports and statements attached, tbo expenditure upon water- races does not appear to have produced the large bene/i's which might naturally have been expected. Each of the companies subsidised by Government have been accede J, and in most cases Ihe undertakings have been abandoned. The total expenditure and labilities upon water-races and upon goldfields up to the 31st of March, amounted to £141,633. Of this anrnunt,*£42 229 gives no return whatever. Works have cost of £86,455 have been, handed over to local bodies, while from those races which are comparatively successful, viz., the Charleston, | Nelson Greek, Wairaen, and Mount Ida races, costing £312.819— the jenrly re« turn presents only about 1 r er cent. The number of men, however, to whom these races afford the means of remunerative employment is 771, and their earnings per man avenge £140 a year. THE C'AL INDIT.«TST, Almost every month brings new dis>» coveries of coal in. some part of the Colony, and it has become apparent that New Zealand is exceptionally rich in this mineral. Onr most important lines of steamers are now almost wholly supplied from the coal mines of the Colony, and the more extended use of native coals will effect a sanng of £SSOO on our r->iU ways in the Middle hsland for the current year, in addition to an almost equil amount heretofore saved on those in the North Island. - . "WOEKING RAILWAYS. .. During the recess, the management of the working railways ha? been the subs ject of enquiry by the .Royal Commis sion appointed by His Excellency the Governor, to report on the Civil Service of the Colony, and also to some exlent by the Royal Commissions on railways. Tbe reports of these gentlemen are calculated to be of great service, and point out many defects in organisation and practices, some of which have been already removed or are in cour=e of re* moval, and the whole question of the management of the railways is under consideration. In connection with the reports of the Commisßioners, the working Eailway Department began the last financial period under circumstances ex* ceptionally unfavorable; Heavy floods in the Middle Island having interrupted traffic over more than a hundred mile 3 of line causing loes of revenup, as well .as a largo expenditure for repairs. Amongst the first effects of the eommers cial depression, from which wr> have beeji suffering, has been a diminution of our railway traffic. The result was to be expected, and the efforts of the depart* ment were directed to attaining greater economy in ftmr system of railway management working with a smaller staff of officers and men, and by reducing the number of trains and the speed at which they run, a considerable saving has been accomplished, whi'e the con* venienco of the public has not been materially curtailed. The train service has already been reduced by 370,000 ; milfs a year .; the staff has been re* duced by 266 men, and it is estimated and other economies which have up to this time been effected will save on the year upwards of £44,000. Serious atten» tion is still given to economise charges, and lam satisfied that Hie working ex* penses will be much further reduced, ns these alterations to which I have referred can hardly be said to have commenced until after the prorogation of Parliament, they had but a small portion of the last financial period wherein to operate. lam sorry to say that for the nine months ending the 31st March the railway? only | cave us a return equal to slightly under I 2£ per cent, per annum, while the rate of interest which we have to pay is over 5 per cent. The loss therefore on the co3t pf the lines, which stands at £8,629.552, was at the rate of £237.730 per annum, had to be furnished from taxation, In the prosperous years through which we had just passed we did not seriously regard the railway deficit, but thought only of the immense advantages of railways in settling and developing the resources of the country. We pointed to these advan« fcages as 'justifying the expenditure and spoke of our railways as remunerative undertakings, whether they contributed interest on their cost or not. Now if the colonists were a large joint-stock company with equal shares and an entire commuof interest, this view mi^ht be correct, but the benefits of railways are very unequally distributed ; many districts being quite unprovided with them, wliile all have to contribute to the taxation from which the loss is made up. This charge on the Colonial revenue is so great that it is a serions element in the expenditure of the Colony; and it be* comes questionable whether a desirable outlay in some of the departments of

tho Government can be continued if our railways be not made more neariy self-supporting. The failure to obtain a greater, direct return from our railways such as is looked for in ordinary coin* mercial enterprises, is no doubt mainly attributable to the smallne33 of our population. We are still a small community in point of numbers, and are thinly scattered over a wide extent of country. Our 'people are so few that they fail to furnish enough either of passengers or goods to make our lines pay at the ordinary rate hitherto current? We have already many more miles of railway in proportion to our population than ei'her^Rngland. France, the United States, Canada, or any of i he Australian Colonies. In Great Britain there is one mile of railway to about 2000 inhabitants, while in New Zealand there is one mile to 406. For every mile of railway in Victoria there are 108 per cent, nure customers than we have. In the Uuited States of America they have 43 per cant. ;"in Canada 53 per cent. In N.S. Wales 14S per cent, In Great Britain 333 per cent. ; and in Franc 614 per cent, more people per mile of railway lhan in New Zealand. If this contrast with other countries were confined to the South Island, which contains by far the largest portion of our railway?, it would show the disprrpor* tion still more forcibly, for instead of having 406 people per mile of railway, which I have said is the average for the Colonyi the Soutu Island has only 330 people per mile. In New Zealand our average receipts per mile of railway last year were £648, while in Fngland they amount to £3455; yet even with these comparatively large receipts the railway dividends declared in Eng'and only average 4^ per cent per annum- Next in importance in my opinion among the reasons for want of commercial surcess in railway workings is the nee3les<ly low tariff adopted in many districts. Between two places to which my attention has been called where before the railway Wi.s made the freii-ht was £3 per ton, our railway rate is 16-j 10J. In another instance the former rate was £6i and is now 17s 2J. In another instance it has been reduced from £5 tn 22s 2d. No doubt that at the commencement of a railway system in a new country it is easy to make mislakesjand by no means easy to make railways pay with only 406 peoplo to every mile ; the result however has proveJ that the reduction was too great, for although our chief end nnd aim in railway construe tion is by facilitating travelling and cheapening the transit of good?, to open (he country and develop its resource?, we now discover that we have gone too far, and find ourselves faco to face with a state of things as unpleasant as it was unexpected. I hope, Sir, that I shnll not be misunderstood as advocating anr. illiberality in the management of our railways. The best policy is to reach the multitude. I fully adopt the opinion expressed by Mr Gladstone, when discussing the best means of making the Metropolitan District Railway pay. He said tbat "Asa rule the State or indi* vicinal or company thrives the best which divt-s deepest down into the mass of the community, and adtpts "its arrangements to the wants of tha greater number; but our populat'oa is.as I have a'readysaid, so small, and the country so sparcely settled, that rules d the kind just quoted have amongst us only a limited application. The large use made of the railways, however, proves that if our people were as numerous as the re« sources of the country warrant us in expecting they will become, our railways would pay far more than interest on cost. Even with our present tariff the tonnage carried on our railways compares very favorably with the neighboring colonies. Victoria carrying 1062 tons ; New South Wales 2299 tons and New Zealand 2217 tons per 1003 of population. The nutn« her of passengers on Now Zealand raiU ways last year was 2,932,279, being 578 per cent, of our population. The nurn* ber in Victoria was 3.829 256, being 437 per cent, of the population. Now our fceight traffic is not capable of indefinite increase, however low the rate may be ; nor can we raise our tariff beyond a fair payment for the service rendere.l, howeyer much wo might be inclined to do so. Our principal railways skirt the sea coast, and we are restricted in our tariff by tho competition of water carriage. On the inland railways too the tariffs are at present more strictly limited th;»n they would be, because of the cheap* ness of horses' food, and competition of ordiaary road vehicles. Even if this were not so I should not in any case advocate extremely high rates, it will take time to develop a true system of tariff adapted to our circumstances. Our efforts jiust necessarily be tentative —must be carefully roade. and constantly watched, but railway rates that are only designed to bring in 5 per cent, on cost, surely cannot be considered high, if com* peting "modes of conveyance permit their adaptation we need not despair. I believe, sir, of ultimately attaining a goofl result. We have covered the country with these stimulating and civilisiug agents. In their neighborhood settlement will extend population and industries will increase, and then our railways will become, if we desire it, aids to our revenue, instead of a source of embarrass sment. At present, however, there is a feeling of great disappointment at the re-

salt exhibited by their yearly balance* sheet, and amongst other remedies, it has been proposed to sell the railways. No doubt. Sir, if we could find a purchaser for them at cost price, sach a coarse might seem to present an easy solution of tbe difficulty. It is a suggestion that might have been expected and has at least one merit — that of exceeding simplicity. —Given a system of railway worked at a loss, to end the lojs sell the railway nevertheless ! I fear, Sir, the proferred solution will not help us much, for it is clear that no company would buy our lines except at a price calculated to yield at least the current rate of interest, which at present may be stated at seven to ten per cent ; these are the rates given for money advanced on freebold security, subject to little risk, and requiring from the owner scarcely any phonal attention ; while railway investments are ex» po^ed to dangers of various kinds, such as floods, heavy payments for accidental ' injuries, depression of trade, and so on. If, therefore, we seek to sell our railways which are now paying only 2£ per cent, interest, we shall hare to accept for them a sum representing only a portion of their { loss, probably we should have to face a loss of millions of money, and certainly we should still be liable for the payment of tbe whole of their in'erest, as at present, while we should abandon all chance of retrieving our position by improved management, and forfeit for the railway system the advantages of increased popu« iation, and growing industries. It the Co'ony were to sell the railways to a private firm, what would that firm do to en* sure a profit ? It may be answered in general terms " It would manage better." Well, Sir, 1 admit th.it the management is cipable of improvement ; I consider that the Government will probably never be able to manage co well as a private firm might, but no private firm is likely to engage in such a gigantic undertaking, and groes mismanagement by large public companies, is a state of things with "which we are not entirely unacquainted. Of cource a railway company would try to charge higher rates for carriage, but why cannot we ourselves do that ? Why should we submit to a heavy, loss of capital to begin with, and then to the payment of extreme rates as well ? Another, and not the least objection to the proposal is that a company occupying snch a position would be a great power in the State, *whose influence would probably not always be weilded in the interest of the people. I feel quite sure that it will never be necessary to accept this alternative, for I believe that careful and intelligent management, and the natural growth of traffic will yet make our railways commercially successful. Sir, the House will remember that at tbe end of last session the Government expressed their opinion that the character of the various lines of railway in course of construction had not been sufficiently examined before their adi option. That in the prospect of au insufficiency of funds to complete them, they ought to be reconsidered ; thac we announced out intention of advising the appointment of a Royal Commission to "to make a fuller, and more complete investigation of the cost and commercial value of the works com* menced and proposed, than it wonld be p**' sible for the Government to complete >efore the next session of Parliament." 2i« Excellency the Governor according^ commissioned five gentlemen from different parts of the Colony to make the enquiry- The Commission promptly entered on their duties, and after taking evidence in nearly every district in which railways are being constructed, or are proposed to be made, they have prepared a very valuable Report as the result of their labors ; copies of this Report have, by command, beeu laid before Parliament, and although the result the Commision arrived at may not be universally approved, yet we feel sure that the Colony will recognise tbe impartial system upon which their inquiries have been conducted, and we believe that these gentlemen have well earned the thanks of the community. In saying this the Government should not be understood as adopting implictly the whole of their recommendation?. It is perhaps hardly, we think, within the bounds of possibility that a Beport d-al ing with so many work; and proposals in all parts of tho Colony should be accepted in every particular. For tbe present, however, even the restricted programme recommended by the Commissioners *iß far beyond our means. • The estimated cost beyond the present liabilities of completing the lines of railway authorised bj Parliament is £6,666,200. That being the case it becomes apparent that we must greatly modify our scheme of railway construction, postponing some important parts of it until population and settle- , ment have largdy in?reas''d, and until the railways alrcadv constructed have become more nearly self-supporting. We have not the funds necessary to complete it at present, nor will our ordinary revenue be increased to meet the demand which every additional mile of railway makes on it for yearly loss in working. We have no alternative, therefore, but to confine our operations to the extension of some of the incomplete lines to such nearest points as well bring them into use, and as far as possible make the expenditure already incurred to some extent reproducI tive. Of the amount voted list year for pub* lie works, no less a cum than £2,356 729 was for actual liabilities which we found in ex» istance, and further expenditure to a considerable amount was made necessary by these liabilities. Realising the position of tho public work* fund, we have endeavored to minimise expenditure, and to spread it over as large a space of time as possible. We have stopped many new works j even certain contracts that had been prepared by the department, and tenders received. Nevertheless the country has learnt from my hon. friend, the Colonial Treasurer, that the state of the Public Work? Fund is most unsatisfactory; In his Financial Statement the

Colonial Treamrer showed that the total ways and means on the 3lat March last was £3,262,410, and that the liabilities of the Public Works Fund on the same date amounted to £2,455.313, reducible, however by £315,763, advances in the hands of th c officers of the Government ; thus leaving a balance of £1,122,860, on the 31st March, 1930, clear of liabilities.. Since 31»6 March the ways and meang hare been augmented by miscellaneous receipts and recoveries, £39,934, and during the four months ending 31st July the liabilities of the Fund have been unavoidably increased to the extent of £330,871 ; adding then £29,934 to tbe balance of £11,022.860 on 31st March, and deducting £330,871, we arrive at £321,923 as the available balance on tbe 31st July. The position of the account may perhaps be stased more clearly thus : the ways and means on the 31st July amounted to £2,677,901 Us Id, consisting of cash i/i hand. £593,910 17s Id ; Treasury and DefiVeney Bills, £1.217,000; investments, £67,000; guaranteed debentures, £30,000, total £2.677,910. The liabilities on the tame date amounted to £220,247; 'here •were, however imprests outstanding on 31st July, £346,486, making £1.855,938. The net amount of liabilities to be providrd for and leaving a balanca of £321,923, as already stated, for new works and services. The estimates which [am about to submit make a further demand on this balance of £674,238, leaving £147,695 only for future appropriations from the Public Wo"ka Fund. Bearing iv mind the importance of Bpre«d--ing the expenditure of the balance of loan over the next two years, we should have preferred to ask for the appropriation of a much smailersum, but we have not found it possible to do so. The votes for the various works which we no* propo«e are designed to provide for the expenditure up to 30th Jane, 188 l» Alter that date and uniil we are again in position to become borrowers, the only s< U'ce whenc* we can draw supplies fo? these purp^s will be a portion of the pro. ceeda of land sales, ani the Having from the estimates for the pu-c'<ase of Native land*«; a savirg which we have reason to believe may be considerable, but which at present it is im« possible to estimate. I will proceed, sir, to summarise the works of proposed railways : — The present contract at Kawa Kanra will be completed, a^d the end 6f the remaining part of the line, including a snail whar f , will be begun. The Kamo3 line will be finished with a branch to the town wharf, so a* to admit of the coil traffic being carried on tin line from Kaipira to Te Awamutu will Ik completed fit for traffic The question of t l6 ... propriety of constructing the Wail* t0 « Thames Railway has been raised V * n * Royal Commissioners, who have reeon-wncleo; it should at present be completed o*J *° tDe junction with the projected Canfdge line. That the Cambridge eection 0^ eleven miles 9 hould be substituted. The «wnment intend to have the subject *f 7 *"- vestigated with a view td determine which propel TviUftemostbeneilcialtothecountry and will »ct accordingly. The vote will therefore be proposed i« *• lh. line between Napier and tf-kVoko will be ■ompleted. The Wellington and Opaki Imtf will be competed as f« as M*stertoir, and provision made 'for the unemployed on the extension to Opaki. The station works .t Wellington will also he 0°™ t ™>*s'. Th « Foxton station and wharf on he WeW*n and Fox'on live shall b^ completed. Sundrr necessary works on *» opened »>J*«° v~.t™ .T,d TCm ™o will be executed, and Se Se "iJ T£ Warerley, which is in hand, h, od of c^y le wdl be P roceeded Wlth « ? lT * L w^V to the unemployed. The contract* Jrtir-n Stratford and H»we a will be pushed OPI and the formation to Normanby will probably be completed within the present year. The extension of the line from Foxhill to Bellgrove. on the Nelson to Greymouth Hoe, will be completed. The Stillwater *?c---tion, now in progress, will be finished, and the Gwymouth Harinr Work* carried on. The Picton and Blenheim line will be competed at the Blenheim end, where there are still B"me station works unfinished. The ccc* ton of the main line from Amberley on the Waikari Plains is to be finishel. The nin| miles through the Weka Pass being reserved for the unemployed. A few urgent station wbtks on the cpen lines are provided for. The Waimaknrui Gorge portion of the * Oxfor 1-SheffieU line, which was reserved for the unemployed about a year a>o, will be carried on as the demand for work may re* quire. The extension of the Opawv branch towards Fairlie Cr ek will also be earned out by the same mean*. The Ellosmere section of the Little Biver an 1 Akaroa branch is to be completed. The general expenditure pro • posed on the Otago main line is for the completion of the statins and other worka nojr in progress. The Dmtroon branch is to ba fin shed across the Maerwhenuia River ; tha bridge over which is already built. Tha formation on the first section of the Living* stone branch, recently resumed to givfrwork to the unemployed, will be finished by them, The section of the Western Eai'way now in pro?re«s will be completed. The section of the Ot»?o Centr»l Bitlway. which was opened to the unemployed about a year ago, will be reserved exclu«ivel.r for them, a* it i* row almost the only suitable work in Otago on which a large number c«n he employed— at present there are about 700 men at work. Tboneh this number, in all probability, will decrease during the summer months, it is feared there is prospect of a complete cessati 'n in the demand which will be made on as for this kind of employment, and we have therefore mad 3 provision for supplying it on ibis section. i watbbsßACES.— Middle Island. The work of improving and extending tho various wat 9 races now in progress will b« carried on. BOATS. In the North Island, the proposed appro-* priations will admit of the road works in the Waimate Plains and other native districts being continued, as well as for the main* tenance in a serviceable state of certain main roads, which it is necessary to keep open for # traffic, in addition lo the completion of the various works in hand. The road from Nel» son to Greymouth and Westport is to be itn-» proved throughout, so as to render it fit for coach traffic, and make it an arterial line of communication between the north end of Island and West Coa»t conclusion. In conclusion, sir, I would cay, although, the Government have, found it to be their imperative duty to abate the sp^d at which Public Works have until lately been carried on. yet we believe that the time is not far * distant when the works, now temporarily suspended, may be resumed, and those now proposed to be curtailed completed. The resources of New Zealand are bo great, that for her there can be neither retrogression nor standing sill, but, sir, it is incumbent on m to recognise that for a State, as for an in« dividual, a steady progress and assured prosperity can only be maintained by obedienca to the dictates of prudence. I have now, sir, to express my gratitude for the patient atten- g| tion with which the House ha* honored m,*