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traffic, that one always has to hesitate in making such changes; and if a body, or several of them, were appointed in the country, such as that suggested above, I am of opinion that it would be found that it would take a considerable time for them to become acquainted with the necessary information to enable them to deal practically with the subject, and that nothing but a permanent Board, whose members would give their whole time to the subject, would meet the case. EOADS NOETH OP AUCKLAND. With reference to the sum of £70,000 allocated to the counties north of Auckland in 1884 for these roads, the following table shows the allocations made to each county, and also the payments thereon up to the 31st March last:—

The total expenditure for last year on these roads was .£33,763, and the difference between this sum and the amount £31,303 referred to above represents amounts which Government has had to expend in respect of liabilities incurred before the allocation of the £70,000 was made. EOADS AND BEIDGES GENEEALLY, INCLUDING MAIN EOADS AND MISCELLANEOUS EOADS AND BEIDGES. The amounts authorized for works under this heading (which are exclusive of Eoads north of Auckland, Eoads to open up Crown lands, Eoads on Goldfields, and Eoads under the Eoads and Bridges Construction Act) have gradually decreased for some years, and the amount which I propose to ask the House to authorize for them this year is, in round numbers, £77,000 less than the amount authorized for the year 1883-84. Speaking still in round numbers, the amounts authorized for the last few years have been as follows: 1883-84, £178,000; 1884-85, £154,000; and 1885-86, £119,000; and the amount which I propose to ask the House to authorize this year is £101,000. It will be seen, therefore, that the works of this class which have been undertaken from year to year have been gradually of less and less magnitude, and it will therefore not be necessary for me to dwell to any great extent upon those which were undertaken during last year. A brief summary of those worth mentioning is as follows :— In the North Island.—The roads from Tauranga to the East Cape, and from Cambridge and Tauranga to Taupo, and from Taupo to Napier, and also the Manawatu Gorge Eoad, have been maintained during the year in fair order, and subsidies have been given to the local bodies, as hitherto, towards the maintenance of the Seventy-Mile Bush Eoad. In the South Island. —The Takaka Bridge, in the Collingwood District, has been brought close to completion.

Payments. County. Allocation. 1884-85. 1885-8G. Total. Waitomata • ■ £ s. d. 12,000 0 0 £ s. d. 1,000 0 0 £ s. d. 0,350 0 0 £ s. d. 7,350 0 0 Rodney.. 11,000 0 0 1,000 0 0 5,815 0 0 6,815 0 0 Hobson.. .. 9,000 0 0 2,000 0 0 2,500 0 0 4,500 0 0 Whangarei • • 12,000 0 0 1,750 0 0 5,250 0 0 7,000 0 0 Bay of Islands .. 10,000 0 0 5,000 0 0 5,000 0 0 Hokianga 7,000 0 0 1,500 0 0 l,50d 0 0 Mongonui .. • • 9,000 0 0 1,000 0 0 4,888 0 0 5,888 0 0 Totals 70,000 0 0 G,750 0 0 31,303 0 0 38,053 0 0