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|J. ARMSTEAD.

134. Mr. Escott.] 1 would suggest that when you come before the Committee again and probably have Mr. More with you you endeavour to put before us a concrete proposal for extending the line, also the best offer which you ran make for hauling the coal ?—I will take a note of that. If the Committee will give me any indication of what they would like 1 will see as far as I can that that information is before the Committee. A.LEXANDEK Wyi.uk Rodgeb further- examined. (No. 13.) 1. Hon. Mr. Fisher.] Let us suppose that the State by Act takes over Mores' railway at an arbitration value, and then decides to extend that red route on the plan over whatever way is necessary to Rirchwood : would thai meet your requirements? It certainly would meet the case, inasmuch as it would serve that country and take out the produce the coal and the othev produce ; but there would bo this disadvantage: that it would then be a branch line on a branch, of which Mr. Armstead made such a strong point yesterday. It would be at least two miles longer, and that disadvantage would be there for all time. 2. But y<iu would only require to const nut two miles instead of six and a half, would yon not j —No; you would have to construd approximately four miles. If you are going to work the thing satisfactorily the line should be taken down to Woodlaw, and it is very doubtful whether you have a sufficiently easy grade to get up to Ohai from the present terminus. The main reason for asking the Nightcaps Coal Company now to deviate their line and spend the money which the\ are spending at the present time is because of the grade and the very high rate of depreciation of the rolling-stock. And the grades on the line in question are worse than anything they ever had on the Nightcaps line. 3. I see the Engineer's report is against it '. Certainly. Any one going over the country cannot but arrive at the conclusion that it is the wrong place for the railway to go in, if it is intended to extend it. 4. Mr. Webl).\ I take it that both parties are practically in the same boal that unless you can get assistance from the Government to construct this line over the proposed route your company will not be in a position to construct the line : you have got to depend on Government assistance i No. I have never intimated that at all. To begin with, we are not going to construct another private line there, because I personally would never have anything to do with it. It would not serve the public. The objection to the present line is that it is not giving the public the benefit that the Government are there to provide. The Government are there to provide these facilities and to give the people the cheapest possible railway rates. That is the point with me. I am here on the condition that whatever is done will lie done under ( rovernmeni control, and I will have nothing to do with any private enterprise in connection with a railway going into that coalfield. •"). Mr. Robertson.] You are proposing in your petition to form a company with a capital of £12,600 '. —Yes. 6. Mr. Furkert's estimate of the , cost of construction of your line is £30,000 '. Yes. When I heard that report read it was the first intimation I had of the cost. I had put it down at £20,000, and we had lixed our capital at !; 12,500 in order to have something to come and go upon. 7. You said in your evidence on Wednesday that those coal lessees were bound to charge not more than IDs. a ton for the coal at the mine I take it it is at the mine. Now, this Wairio coal at the present time, after paying the high cost of haulage over the Wairio Company's railway, finds, I presume, a ready market at the prices '. I understand it does. But there is a very considerable difference in the quality of the two coals. I should like to put before the Committee documentary evidence as to that. . [nalysis of Coal. Ohai MoKenzie's Nightoapa Weutport JvntangaU Coal. I oal. Coal. Coal. Coal. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. JVrCent. Per Cent. Volatile carbonaceous matter .. 41-91 41-95 42-16 39-72 41-91 Fixed carbonaceous matter .. 55-29 52-28 18-58 58-50 49-44 Ash .. .. .., .. 2-80 5-77 9-26 1-78 8-65 100-00 100-00 100-00 100-00 100-00 Sulphur .. .. .. 0-83 0-97 1-49 1-19 li:i Moisture .. .. .. 17-77 23-42 23-84 Coke .. .. .. .. 58-09 58-05 57-84 Calories per pound of coal.. .. 7,382 7,290 6,790 7,449 7,262 8. Assuming the quality is the same, for the sake of argument, if they were charging at the other coal-mines that you are proposing to bap M>s. a ton as against 7s. now at the Wairio Mine, would that counteract any gain in freight charges by having a Government railway as against a private one?— I do not think it would sufficiently : but you must remember that the same conditions apply to these leases that are being granted as to those that are served by Mores' railway. In order to come into competition with them they would necessarily have to come down in price. 1). You could operate over the new railway without necessarily giving the public any benefit in the way of a reduced price merely by the lessees charging to the extent to which they are allowed to charge under the conditions of their lease namely. l<)s. a ton \ Yes. 10. And the public might not gain anything so far a,s that is concerned ? That is so. But mind you. although they were charging the full rate of 10s. a ton, and adding to that the cost of 7d. down to Wairio, the coal would certainly be cheaper than if they charged 7s. a ton and railed it over Mores' line at ss. 6d.