PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 3 
some areas are enjoying favourable seasons others may be 
suffering from intense drought, as is the fact at the present 
time. It is incumbent, therefore, that cross country lines 
should be taken in hand so that stock may be conveyed 
from one district to another by the nearest route, and that 
the carrying of fodder cheaply from favoured parts into 
others suffering from drought may be facilitated. 
If such railways can be constructed economically, a 
greater mileage can be built for the same money. Hconomy 
is thus all the more desirable, but in this case cheapness 
must not be sought in reduction of gauge, as no break 
should be tolerated where stock has to be carried. The 
changing of stock from one car to another is not only 
difficult, but in some cases highly detrimental. 
Hconomy in construction is of vital importance where 
traffic is light and the returns small, and this principle holds 
not only in the remote interior but also nearer at hand. 
We have along the coast tracts pining, as it were, for better 
communication, and yet because the country is rough and 
intersected by rivers, and construction therefore costly, 
they have not yet been put in hand. In such districts the 
cartage is expensive on account of the steep and hilly 
character of the roads, and yet railways have been hitherto 
considered impracticable, because the cost is supposed to 
be prohibitive. It isnot every district that can befavoured . 
as the Richmond River has been, with a railway costing 
£14,000 per mile or more. But need the cost of making 
such lines be prohibitive ? Certainly it may be so if sharp 
curves may not be used, but the difference in the conditions 
of a district supporting a main line with large traffic and 
those of a branch only with small traffic should be borne 
in mind. When the railway was laid over the Blue Moun- 
tains, 8 chain curves were adopted, but as the traffic 
increased and larger and heavier engines came into use, 
