Both of those were worthless works compared to others in the distriot recommended by the Commission. The eeeret was that these two lines were favorite .rejects with the engineer-in-chief for the l__dle Island. The two lines which ought : tbh&Yebean made were the Riverton-Ore -ale gud Edendale-FortrOße. Those were _n„ which would have paid, whereas the ' BsjaM. prospects of those provided for were J very doubtful. He again referred to the ' Otaeo oe_— The first estimate of tho ' cart of that line to Cromwell was £600,000 j i text year got an estimate for the same 1 woA carrying it on to Alberton, 18 miles 1 further, of £1,100,000. His g estimate, < however, was that it would not ' be short of £1,500,000. Now he con- 1 tended that they would not bo justified in l inc-rring suoh an expense simply to open up 1 212,000 acres of land, for that in reality was ' the'main contention in it. favor. He thought i that the Minister for Public Works had not sufficiently explained many of hia proposals. < He mentioned the very large sum of money 1 proposed to be spent on the Kawakawa line. 1 It was the more necessary that they should i hare had explicit information as to the data < of this work, seeing that a distinguished 1 member of the Executive was personally in- t terested in the work. The estimated cost by ( _& Blair of the Greymouth harbor works s —_ £600,000,, and judging from the character t of the estimates made by that gentleman in i connection with other works the probability c vas that the cost would be very much more, c He took it that that expenditure was wholly " na justifiable. Again, there wore wharves at x Wellington, Bluff and Foxton which were in 1 excess of the requirements of these places. I It was high time that this recklessness should r be checked. The Commissioners recoin- i mended that the railways should be removed ' from politioal influence. They had strong i evidence of the necessity for that. If no t better scheme could be devised, he was in c „Tor of allowing all employes to share in the profit!, that was over 4 per cent. 