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tration. Every railway company of standing makes provision for its servants under such conditions. Means should be devised of placing the support of disabled servants of good character on a legitimate footing. In tho meanwhile there is no great saving to be effected by turning off the few persons who remain in such capacities, and they are, at the same time, safeguards of the public at particularly dangerous road-crossings. Another instance of mismanagement which is laid to my charge is the great variety of locomotive engines. It is true there are sixteen different classes on the rails of the Middle Island. Of these sixteen classes I am responsible for the importation of two. One I introduced for the Provincial Government of Otago, for the Southland railways, some years ago, and one since I had charge of the Middle Island railways; the rest were imported by other authorities, without any reference to myself at all. Some were imported by the Provincial Government of Canterbury, some by the Provincial Government of Otago, another by the original proprietors of the Dunedin-Port Chalmers Railway, others by the Public Works Department, and oue by the Working Railways Department, on my responsibility. With reference to the last, I can say that it is partly due to the service rendered by this class of engine that larger grain trains than were ever before seen in New Zealand were run with ease and increased economy, and so contributed to tho success with which the .Railway Department has coped with the last and heaviest grain season on record, the freight having been despatched with great regularity throughout the Island without block or hitch. No one can regret more than myself the multiplicity of classes of engines, which no doubt increases the cost of repairs. In my evidence before the Commissioners I stated my opinion that five classes of engines would have sufficed for all the varieties of work to be done on this system of railway. At the same time, Ido not propose to sacrifice the other eleven classes, which contain a large aggregate number of engines. They are here, and have cost a considerable sum to the colony; my business is to make the best use possible of the stock placed at my disposal. Ido not consider it surprising that there should be so many classes now found on the railways when it is remembered how many distinct agencies were engaged in procuring them; and experience had to be gained by actual experiment of the engines best suited to the gauge and varying character of railway and peculiarities of fuel obtaining in this colony. Considering the evidence the Commissioners actually have in their possession, it is injustice on their part to endeavour to saddle upon me the blame of introducing this multiplicity of classes of locomotives which they condemn. Under the head of "Waste and Careless Losses," the Commissioners write, "We found a large staff employed by the department as contractors for the collection and delivery of goods. This is open to the objection of throwing on the Government additional work for the public, and should be checked. A large staff may be reduced, and the public convenience better served, without an increase of cost." Nothing could have been penned that could more completely display the utter want of ordinary business knowledge, as connected with railway working, than the above. The delivery service is the most important part of the goods department; without it we should bo in utter confusion. Before its introduction the goods-sheds were blocked : consignees were allowed to cart their own goods, which they did when it suited their convenience. The department contracts at per ton, and charges consignees in the same way : if one-quarier ton is delivered in Dunedin or Christchurch, one-quarter ton is charged for at Is. 3d. per ton. Instead of throwing additional work on the Government, it has a directly contrary effect, as the contractors not only clear the sheds but collect money. It is the Pickford and Co. and Carver and Co., of Britain, on a small scale, that the Commissioners condemn and recommend should be checked. Again, as to the railway carriages being left exposed to the weather. Prior to the opening of the through line of railway, while Oamaru was disconnected from Canterbury, twenty-two 6-wheeled carriages were landed at Dunedin for the Waitaki and Moeraki section. They were carted overland to Oamaru, and then erected. When the line from Waitaki to Oamaru (a length of about fourteen miles) was opened only two or three carriages were required for use. The remainder were placed on a siding at a wayside station, where they remained for about two years, until the line was connected, when they were run to the shops. The varnish then required renewal, and other repairs were found necessary, in consequence of the exposure to the weather. ~ Again, previous to the connection of the-lhrough line from Dunedin to Invercargill a larger number of carriages had been landed at the Bluff than were required for use on the Southland railways. These, in like manner, remained in disuse, exposed to the weather, until the lines were connected, when the carriages were sent to the shops for repairs. These were the instances referred to by the Commissioners when the sum, which they state was £1,477 was expended to make good the damage suffered by exposure to weather. The landing of these carriages, both for the Oamaru line and at the Bluff, took place prior to the abolition of the provinces. I was at the time General Manager of the Otago Railways, in the service of the Provincial Government. The carriages were imported by the General Government. I had not tho remotest connection with the transactions. Had the Commissioners' investigation been less superficial these facts might have been elicited, and this unjust criticism on my management need never have been made. I am further blamed for the exposure of valuable engines to the weather and spray of the sea. That engines should have been thus exposed I much regret, and more, that they still are so ; but I can refer the Commissioners to my numerous recommendations to the Government to authorize the erection of suitable sheds for the purpose of protecting these engines. The Commissioners condemn the absurdity of two engineers being required, one from the Construction and one from the Maintenance Departments, to decide on the laying of a new siding. lam far from advocating any such thing. I have always urged that such works should be done under the direction of the Engineer for Permanent-Way only, and this is practically the case now. The reason is obvious. If any person not directly responsible to the General Manager of the Railway is to be permitted to displace the rails, what security can be insured to the lives of passengers travelling in the trains. When I was appointed to the general management of the railway I found no system in force by which safety in these matters could be absolutely insured. There was nothing to prevent any person who might be employed by any one of several different authorities from coming upon the railway and