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98

The average loss per man for the period works out to 208 days. The work began oc the Ist May, 1897, and the winter and summer following that date were exceptionally fine. The small loss is also in a measure due to the quantity of rock-work on this road, for as soon as it was dry overhead they could work to advantage, and the only clay section met with was completed before the rain set in. I am more confirmed than ever in the opinion that in such works the co-operative system is better for the men and cheaper for the employer. In this connection I should like to state that it is due to the men and to Mr. Young (the Inspector) to say that during the whole of the time the works have been going on here there has not been a single complaint made or a serious dispute between us and the contractors, and neither Mr. Young nor myself have, with a single exception, received from them anything but the greatest courtesy and ready compliance with our directions. During the ten months ended the 31st March, 1898, we have sent away in post-office moneyorders £2,439 15s. 2d., and have had no complaint from any of the men. I heard indirectly of one man leaving the works, and giving his mates as the reason that, as his wife was of intemperate habits and squandered all the money sent to her, and he found all the bills unpaid when he returned home, he was forced to leave. What truth there is in this I cannot say. We have been sending orders for eighty-six men, many of whom have expressed themselves thankful for the orders, because it saved them a lot of trouble in going to a post-office, often at a distance, to get the orders themselves ; and some of the men have asked us to send more than half their earnings, because they did not want to keep money about them, for fear of loss. The health of the men has been very good, and, except one unfortunate party of six men, no serious accidents have happened. In the case of the party alluded to, they had two explosions in attempting to draw blasts which had missed. In the first they seriously injured one man, and in the second two men were badly hurt, one of whom lost the sight of an eye. It is very difficult to get men to realise the folly of attempting to draw a charge which has missed. The men, not being very skilled in the use of explosives, were warned to be careful, and yet within a few months of the first accident they had a similar one from a like cause. The stores used by the men were—except meat, which was cheap—expensive, as they had to be packed about sixteen to twenty miles, bread costing them about 9d. a loaf, and other things in proportion. F. Stephenson Smith, District Surveyor.

NELSON. We have let thirty contracts in five distinct localities, and, with the exception of the one in the Maitai Valley, near Nelson, they have been a long distance removed from centres, and the cost of obtaining of supplies necessarily increased. On this account the contracts were priced a little higher than usual, so as in a measure to compensate for the disadvantages. Taken as a whole, they were a splendid class of men, for the most part miners and bush settlers accustomed to work, and no indolent agitators amongst them to create trouble. The works have been well done, and the average rate of wages earned per man all weathers was 7s. 2d. a day; for actual days worked, a small fraction of a farthing under Bs. Thos. Humphbies, Chief Surveyor.

WESTLAND. During the year twenty-three co-operative contracts have been completed—two for bridge-con-struction, fifteen for dray-roads, two for bridle-tracks, and four for a prospecting track. Of these twenty-three contracts two have been under the Lands for Settlement Act and eight have been carried out on behalf of the Mines Department. The system has worked well on the whole, and the average daily wage earned per man on all the contracts collectively is Bs. Ofd., the extremes being ss. 2d. and 11s. Of course, the weather and management are the two chief elements to be considered whether a co-operative contract will return a fair wage or not. In one case where the work was priced in bad weather, and the work was started in bad weather also, two parties made a daily average of 7s. 7d., while a third party started a little later when the weather was fair, and the daily wage earned was 10s. 4-Jd., although the contracts were similar. The third party had a better headman. In another case it was expected that there would be some difficulty in getting timber for culverts, and the price allowed for timber was high. However, the contractors succeeded in getting suitable timber nearer and more easily than was anticipated, and, in consequence, the daily average wage earned was 10s. o£d. Feedekick Withee, Eoad Surveyor.

OTAGO. All the roadworks carried out this year were under the co-operative system; in all, 128 contracts were completed. The minimum wage of 2s. 4d. was earned by a gang of settlers on the Main Waikawa Eoad, who were greatly retarded in their work through bad weather. The average wage earned all weathers (ss. sfd. per day) appears small, but I would point out that 118 out of the 128 contracts completed were in the Catlin's and surrounding districts, where the men are greatly handicapped through bad weather, and it conveys a false impression of the current rate of wages here, owing to the large amount of lost time through wet weather. The average wage earned for the actual time worked was 6s. 3d. In my road report I have given full particulars of the work performed, all of which was carried out in a satisfactory manner under the supervision of Mr. Inspector Sutton. John Hay, Chief Surveyor.