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During the fourteen months I have been in charge! of this district I have on frequent occasions personally impressed upon Workshops Managers, Foremen, Car and Wagon Inspectors, and Train-examiners the absolute necessity for exercising the greatest care in the examination of rolling-stock, so that no vehicle should remain in service in a faulty or unsafe condition. My officers have clearly realized their responsibility in this direction, and I can confidently state that the stock on this district has never been in a more efficient condition than it is at the present time. In any alterations in the design of rolling-stock made dining recent years the chief aim has been to increase the efficiency of the various parts subject either to wear or strain, but no alterations have been made thai would be liable to impair the safety of any vehicle. There has been no shortage of any material necessary for the safe running of stock in this district, and, as I have previously intimated, the statements made in Parliament have no foundation in fact. S. P. Evans, Locomotive Engineer.

Statement of Charles Thomas Bargh, Workshops Manager. Pel one. I read Mr. Wilford's question re condition of rolling-stock, and I came to the conclusion that he had received some information re the use of broken draw-bar springs. I have been Workshops Manager at Pctone since April, 1913, and our methods in keeping ear and wagon stock in good and efficient running order have not been altered All vehicles sent to the Petone Workshops are put in good order, and are passed by the Car and Wagon Inspector before being sent into service. The Car and Wagon Inspector is just as rigid in his examination as obtained three years ago, ami I am satisfied that no vehicle loaves the workshops in an unfit condition. The instructions regarding the upkeep of stock affecting safety have not been relaxed or amended in any way. I have not noticed that any alteration in design of rolling-stock has affected the safety of the vehicle; on the contrary, I consider they have been improved as regards the safety of the travelling public. The renewal of axles, tires, A\-c, has gone on just the same, and the only shortage we have experienced was with draw-bar springs. Wagons have occasionally left the shops with pieced draw-bar springs, but this does not affect its safety. No car has been allowed to leave the shops even with a broken draw-spring, while the underframes and running-gear are maintained in first-class running-order. C. T. Bargh, 18th July, 1916. Workshop Manager. Statement of James Forrester Mackley, Brake Inspector (North Island), Wellington. I have relieved the Car and Wagon Inspectors in both the North and South Islands on , occasions, and I am fully conversant with the Car and Wagon Inspectors' duties as laid down by Instruction No. 328 in the Loco. Codes. The first time T was sent to relieve a Car and Wagon Inspector was about three years ago, when I relieved Mr. Turner at Dunedin, and since then I have relieved the Car and Wagon Inspectors at the following centres: Christchurch, Wellington, Wanganui, and Auckland. As regards the upkeep of the rolling-stock, both cars and wagons, T consider the methods of to-day are better than they were three years ago, and T consider the stock generally in first-class order. I have never received any instructions to relax those regarding the maintenance of rollingstock, and I have never known of any vehicles being allowed to run in an unsafe condition. I am relieving the Car and Wagon Inspector at Wellington at the present time, and I consider the condition of the rolling-stock is excellent in every respect. During the times I have relieved I have never known any vehicle to run in an unsafe condition, and I have never been debarred from sending vehicles to shops. I should not consider it at all unsafe to run vehicles with broken draw-bar springs, and no doubt many vehicles run for some time before the broken draw-bar spring is discovered. I would not allow any vehicle with a broken bearing-spring to run, and no car or wagon would be allowed to run even if one leaf of the spring was broken. J. F. Maokley, Brake Inspector (Acting Car and Wagon Inspector).

Statement by Charles George Kelly, Car and Wagon Inspector, Wellington. I was appointed Car and Wagon Inspector for the Wellington District in February, 1915. Before my appointment T acted as Car and Wagon Inspector on two or three occasions, relieving both Mr. Smith and Mr. Moore, the former Car and Wagon Inspectors on the Wellington districts. T am fully acquainted with the duties and responsibilities o,f a Car and Wagon Inspector as laid down in Instruction No. 328 in the Loco. Codes.