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No. 9. The Under-Secretary for Public Works to the General Manager, Midland Eailway Company. Public Works Department, Wellington, 22nd October, 1892. Sir, — Ec Midland Bailway : Proposals for a New Contract. I am directed by the Minister for Public Works to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 19th instant, containing modified proposals for a new contract to facilitate the construction of your company's railway. In reply, I am to state that the proposals have been fully considered in Cabinet, but I am to express the Minister's regret that they are still regarded as of too unfavourable a nature to admit of their being recommended to Parliament for acceptance. I have, &c, H. J. H. Blow, Eobert Wilson, Esq., C.E., General Manager, Under-Secretary for Public Works. New Zealand Midland Eailway Company,(Limited.)

No. 10. The General Manager, Midland Eailway Company, to the Hon. the Minister for Public Works. Sir,— Wellington Club, Wellington, N.Z., 22nd October, 1892. I am in receipt of your letter of to-day's date, in which you state that the proposals contained in my letter to you of the 19th instant have been fully considered in Cabinet, and that they are regarded as of too unfavourable a nature to admit of their being recommended to Parliament for acceptance. Will you kindly reply to the last paragraph of my letter of the 19th instant, and state what modification the Cabinet is prepared to accept. I beg to remind you that I have received no reply to my letter to you of the 19th instant relative to the extension of the contract time. I have, &c, - • • • Eobert Wilson, Engineer-in-Chief and General Manager, New Zealand Midland Eailway Company (Limited). The Hon. the Minister for Public Works, Wellington.

No. 11. The Under-Secretary for Public Works to the General Manager, Midland Eailway Company. Sir, — Public Works Department, Wellington, 24th October, 1892. Ec Midland Bailway: Proposals for Neiv Contract. I am directed by the Minister for Public Works to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 22nd instant, requesting a reply to the last part of your letter of the 19th instant, in which you ask the Government to indicate what modification in the existing contract they would be prepared to accept. In reply, I am to state that the Government is not desirous of making any modifications in the contract at all; any proposals for a change must therefore emanate from the company. I have, &c, H. J. H. Blow, E. Wilson, Esq., C.E., General Manager, Under-Secretary for Public Works, New Zealand Midland Eailway Company, Wellington Club.

No. 12. The General Manager, Midland Eailway Company, to the Hon. the Minister for Public Works. Sir,— Wellington Club, Wellington, N.Z., 25th October, 1892. I am in receipt of your letter of the 24th instant. I have the honour to point out that two fresh sets of proposals have been submitted to you by me on behalf of the company since the Public Accounts Committee reported on the proposals submitted to them. I must refer you to the report of the Committee, which states, " The Committee recommends that any proposals which may be the result of negotiations between the Government and the company should be submitted to Parliament at its next sitting." You must be aware that it is unreasonable to assume that negotiations can be carried on entirely by one party alone, or to suppose that the company can continue to submit proposal after proposal without receiving any comment on them by the Government, beyond their reply such as you give in your letter of the 24th instant. I deeply regret that this reply should indicate an absence of any desire on your part to arrive at a friendly or mutually advantageous solution of the present difficulty which has arisen in carrying-out the contract by the Midland Eailway Company. I trust you will reconsider the reply contained in your letter of the 24th instant, and give me some indication as to the modifications necessary to render the proposals acceptable to the Government. I have, &c, Eobert Wilson, Engineer-in-Chief and General Manager, New Zealand Midland Eailway Company (Limited). f The Hon. the Minister for Public Works, Wellington.