A.—4,

90

Special trains are reported by the Stationmaster, who brings them on charge to the Traffic Auditor, but an independent report is also sent to him by the Locomotive Engineer Horses, carriages, dogs, and parcels are included in the passenger traffic, but are way-billed and accounted for in the same manner as the goods traffic they call for no special remark. A peculiar feature to be noticed in the passenger traffic of the New South "Wales lines is that return tickets are, with one exception, not used. They were abolished at the end of the year 1878, except for tickets issued on Saturday, to be in force till the Monday following A careful inspection of the existing traffic led to that conclusion that a diminution on the rate of single tickets to the extent of 10 per cent, would leave the revenue of the lines unaltered if return tickets were abolished. The diminution, however, actually made was largely in excess of the above rate, especially for long journeys the result was a serious decrease in the revenue. Return tickets are still issued for Saturdays, and are counted in the statistical returns, as usual, as two journeys. All goods are accompanied by way-bills much in the usual form. The waybills, when not sent with the goods, generally go in advance, in passenger trains. They are very rarely behind the goods. The way-bills are always dated a day in advance that is, the way-bills of goods sent on Wednesday are dated Thursday. The' intention is to expedite the returns at the end of the month, but the system of putting an artificial instead of a true date on the way-bills is on other accounts objectionable. Press copies of all way-bills are kept at the sending station, except where the traffic is very small, where they are copied into a book, the " Outwards Goodsbook." The original way-bills are sent in by the Receiving Station to the Audit, and returned to the station when checked. This plan is found to work very well, and is a sufficient answer to those who insist that all way-bills must be kept on the stations. A monthly abstract is made up from the way-bills, of outward traffic on a blue form, and of inward traffic on a red form, at every station, each abstract showing the traffic to ox from another station; and these, covered by a summary showing his outward and inward traffic to and from all stations, the Stationmaster sends to the Audit monthly. The principle in force in New Zealand and elsewhere of again summarizing the traffic of the whole line, and balancing the whole outicards and inwards traffic, is not in force in New South Wales. The traffic inwards of each station from any other station, as shown in the inwards abstract, is checked against the outwards traffic, as shown in the abstract of the sending station; and it is considered that this check is sufficient to provide for the detection of all errors in the total account. When errors are detected, the abstracts are altered in the Audit Office, and corresponding alterations made in the station accounts by Audit memoranda. It may be questioned whether this check is sufficient, or whether there is any absolute security for the detection of all errors except that provided by a general summary, in which the whole outwards is balanced against the whole inwards traffic of the line. If it were proved that the check provided in New South Wales is sufficient, some labour and expense would be saved which are now incurred at the head office in constructing the balanced summary, especially where, as in the large Middle Island system in New Zealand, the accounts of so many stations must be brought to balance in one summary A cross-check is however provided in New South Wales, by making up a detailed account of the traffic upon each of the several sections of the line for the purpose of general information. This account is made up from the outward abstracts only, but is checked against the inward summaries and abstracts, and so is supposed to provide to some extent a check similar to that obtained by the general balanced summary All errors in the abstracts are corrected by reference to the way-bills. The