The Secretary of State promptly transmitted this request to diplomatic representatives in the countries named and responses have been received from all countries except Sweden and Portugal. The responses are as follows:

AUSTRALIA.

NEW SOUTH WALES.

(1) Sixty-nine thousand one hundred and ninety-one miles (in 1912).

There are no roads of tarred metal, asphalt, or wood blocking outside municipalities.

(3) The State is divided into three divisions: Eastern, 95,719 square miles; central, 89,150 square miles; and western, 125,498 square miles. In the two former there are 62,901 miles of roads (outside of municipalities and Federal territory) controlled by 134 shire councils, the areas varying from 27 to 5,730 square miles, and averaging 1,350 square miles. Roads in the western division, to an extent of 6,290 miles, are maintained by the Government public works department and under its control.

(4) The roads have not been classified as to cost, which varies considerably, according to the nature of country, location and cost of material, the most costly roads being those within 30 miles of the coast; whilst in the whole of the western division and about one-half of the central division the roads are over black soil plains and left in their natural state, or have been cleared with occasional patches of raised forming. The cost per mile for construction varies from £200 ($972) on flat country without ballast and only partly formed, to £2,000 ($9,720) in heavy country, including metaling, but excluding bridges.

(5) Annual maintenance costs from £10 ($48) on lightly trafficked unmetaled roads, to £250 ($1,215) on heavily trafficked metaled roads (latter generally with 18 to 30 feet of metal; former from 16 to 30 feet, formed or cleared.

(6) The information collected does not disclose with sufficient accuracy the cost of merely maintaining the roads, distinct from construction or renewal, but it may generally be accepted that maintenance represents about 63 per cent of the whole cost for roads and 40 per cent of the cost for bridges.

There are 263 national bridges of a total length of 105,706 feet, or an average of 402 feet. Some of these have cylinder piers filled with concrete founded at considerable depths by the pneumatic process, with steel or iron superstructures; many have composite superstructures of steel and hardwood, some have hardwood pile piers and abutments, and a few have opening spans to permit navigation. The types are numerous.

7. The shires collected in 1910 £428,179 ($2,080,950), mainly for roads and bridges and administration; in 1911, £465,000 ($2,259,900), and in 1912, £520,000 ($2,527,200), almost wholly from a general rate of from one-half penny (1 cent) to 2 pence (4 cents) in the pound on the unimproved capital value of all shire lands (except vacant Crown lands), the present taxable value of the shire areas of about 180,567 square miles being £100,447,860 ($488,176,600).

8. The shire councils have control of expenditure on roads and bridges in their charge.

The constitution and powers of shire councils are as provided in the local government acts.

"National" works in the shire areas and the roads within the western division are constructed and maintained from Government departmental votes, the work being supervised by district officers under the director general of public works.

9. The answer to question 3 gives some information on this subject in respect of New South Wales.

The units are the department of public works, representing the State, and 134 shire councils representing the shires, counties being merely geographical terms.

The eastern and central divisions, which are incorporated under local government and other acts, comprise 184,869 square miles (including about 892 square miles of Commonwealth Government territory, 2,886 square miles of municipalities, and about 270 square miles of navigable water area).

The western division comprises 125,498 square miles.

10. There is no State Government tax on abutting land for the construction or maintenance of "national" works, but shire councils levy rates on the unimproved capital value of all alienated land within their area. (See Parts XVIII to XXIII of the local government act and answer to question No. 7.)

11. No such tables available.

12. This cost varies with localities and seasons and according to the prices of fodder. A common rate for hauling loads of about 5 tons of wool or wheat on fair roads in moderate seasons (neither drought or flood) for distances from 5 to 100 miles is 1 shilling (24 cents) per ton per mile. Wheat is seldom hauled over more than 28 miles of road. The wages in such districts would probably be for the drivers about 30 shillings ($7.29) per week and board and lodging. Where roads are not metalled, wagons drawn by teams of bullocks are the favorite kind of vehicle; where roads are metalled, wagons drawn by teams of horses. Road trucks drawn by traction engines (road locomotives are used to a very limited extent only). These road locomotives draw loads up to 30 tons, including weight of trucks. The cost is less than horse traction in particular districts and when the engines are also used for other purposes during the slack season for carriers.

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(13) In this State roads existed before railways. Where the latter have been constructed, the course of traffic has been in many cases diverted and the roads have generally become feeders to the railways, being less used as highways through districts. Good roads have not to any degree been substituted for railways, but generally in districts where branch railways are projected roads giving access to existing railway depots have already been improved to cope with the user of same, but not with the view of taking the place of a railway, which latter may take an entirely different route to that following by the road.

All railway lines, except a few short ones connecting private coal mines with the seaboard, are owned and worked by the Government. (14) Wool is supposed to pay for its haulage by road almost any distance up to 120 miles.

Wheat is not deemed profitable if it has to be hauled over 30 miles by road, and most of it is not hauled more than 15. Potatoes are seldom drawn by road more than 10 miles. No statistics are available.

(15) See answers to questions 6 and 10. The source of revenue for the Government endowments is the State's general taxation and the return of a specific percentage of the customs duties collected by the Commonwealth government.

(16) A system of bookkeeping has been arranged which shire councils are required to follow.

(17) The increases in values of property for many years past have have been continuous and considerable. No doubt improved means of access by road and rail have been factors in this growth, but the general prosperity of the State has been so great that no concrete instances can be given in which the increased values have resulted from highway improvements alone. Generally speaking, road construction in this State follows and does not precede the development of new districts. Farming and dairying have for some years past outstripped the local consumption and exportation is now an important factor in both industries, and in this it can easily be understood the provision of roads to bring cream to the factories has been an important factor in the progress of this industry.

The latest annual report of the railway commissioner will show the extent of wheat and other freights. Where special roads have been made to connect Crown areas with a port, the value of the lands served has risen by about £2 ($9.72) or £3 ($14.58) per acre. In some parts of the rough, rich land on the north coast of the State land was unsalable until opened up by roads, but it has sold readily on the constructing of roads. The Government's practice is to load the lands opened for closer settlement with a certain sum per acre, generally 10s. ($2.43), then for the works department to clear and form the roads through the areas to be sold, whilst with respect to private estate subdivisions the owners are called upon to at least clear the proposed roads before a council permits sale. In towns, councils generally require roads to be cleared, formed, ballasted, or metaled and drained.

The following publications, for the information of the department, are transmitted herewith under separate cover. Where possible, duplicate copies have been secured, but in some instances one copy only could be furnished:

1. Annual Report of the Department of Public Works for the year ended June 30, 1911, in duplicate.

2. Report of the Chief Commissioner for Railways, New South Wales, for the year ended June 30, 1912, in duplicate. 3. Local Government Act, 1906. 4. Local Government Act, 1906. 5. New South Wales Statistical Local Government, in duplicate.

Regulations (Shires), in duplicate.
Ordinances (Shires), in duplicate.
Register for 1910 and previous years. Part XII,

6. Local Government Acts, 1906-1908, in duplicate.

7. New South Wales Local Government Accounts. One copy. 8. Classification Sheet of Shires. One copy.

9. Map of New South Wales, showing Shires. One copy.

1. At the end of 1909, 119,518,643 kilometers (74.265 miles) in all Provinces of Austria.

2. Materials employed for bridges and culverts are wood, iron, and reenforced concrete. Wood is now employed for temporary constructions and for repair of the wooden bridges still existing, which latter are now, as necessity arises and means allow, being replaced successively by constructions of iron or reenforced concrete. Of stone materials, lime, sandstone, or granite are employed. The masonry is generally of broken stone; at times of brick. The masonry of the larger constructions is faced with so-called "Hackel" stones; the smaller merely have the cracks disguised. Granite stones are generally employed only as surface blocks and for base of railings. Concrete is almost exclusively used for foundation and, where dictated by economy, for the visible masonry also. The bearing parts of bridges consist of fused Martin iron, the layers of fused Martin steel and cast iron. The bearing constructions of the concrete iron bridges are built according to the Monier or Hennebique system.

As a means of combating wear and dust, tar is almost exclusively employed in Austria. It is spread on the surface of the existing or newly constructed roads by means of the tar-sprinkling wagons, which is the system of surface tarring; or else the tar is mixed with the surfacing material and employed in reconstructing the road surface, which is the system of inner tarring.

Since the surfacing material is enveloped in the tar, which also fills up all interstices, the porosity of the stone for water is decreased and the penetrating of rain water into the road is prevented. Thus the hardening of the surfacing stone is maintained and wear and tear is lessened, while the laying of tar on the surface prevents formation of dust. Naturally, entire freedom from dust can not be permanently attained. In constructing the inner tarrings, various kinds of rock, stone, and tar have been experimented with. Lime, porphyry, and basalt have been employed for surfacing, the tar used as crude, as distilled hard-coal tar, and with admixture of resin and pitch. The binding of the material is easily executed when lime gravel is used. In basalt gravel, however, a materially larger quantity of tar is needed, since the increased hardness of the material makes the binding more difficult. Of the kinds of tar employed, the distilled hardcoal tar proved best. Crude tar kept the road soft for a long time, thereby hindering traffic. On the other hand, the addition of pitch

caused such brittleness of the material that frequent traffic resulted in crumbling of the road surface. Of the various methods employed, that proved the best whereby the material to be employed for constructing the road was enveloped in tar before spreading and rolling. The mixing was done either by hand on special platforms or with a mixing machine similar to the concrete-mixing machines. The tar, as also the gravel or broken stone (the latter only in cold weather), was heated to a temperature of about 200 to 212° F. So far as can be judged, the durability of the road is prolonged for two or three years, according to the hardness of the material employed, and provided that the inner tarring is correctly constructed.

The durability of the macadam roads, in the construction of which lime gravel is used, comprises from 2 to 3 years, according to average frequency of traffic; that of the basalt roads from 4 to 5 years. The basaltoid pavements do not show much wear or damage after having been in use for 4 years. The durability of the pavement of ordinary domestic granite stones or blocks varies from 8 to 10 to 12 years, of Bohemian granite 10 to 14 to 20 years, and even

more.

3. The roads of Austria are classified as Government roads, district roads of the first, second, and third class, and town roads. District roads of the first and second class are such as connect districts of large territorial areas. District roads of the third class are such as connect towns with one another or which lead to the larger roads or railways. Town roads include all other roads, as streets and squares in towns, unless forming part of Government or district roads, footpaths, bridle paths, etc. Bridges are regarded as part of the road unless particularly important. The Government roads in Austria comprise a length of 16,107.156 kilometers (10,008 miles), and all other roads a length of 103,411.478 kilometers (64,256 miles).

The classification of the Austrian system of roads is based upon the difference in their administration as indicated with each class. These governing or administrative bodies are also required to raise the funds necessary for the maintenance of the roads under their administration. Of the roads designated as "all other roads" there are of provincial roads 3,682.396 kilometers (2,288 miles), of district roads 63,106.558 kilometers (39,212 miles), and of town roads 36,622.524 kilometers (22,756 miles).

4. No data available.

5. The current cost of ordinary maintenance was obtained only in the case of the Government roads and amounts to 951 kronen per kilometer ($310.69 per mile); this, however, does not include levies for such portions of the roads through towns, nor has it bearing upon nongovernmental extensions under charge of either of the other road administrations as explained in answer 3.

6. The total cost of the maintenance of Government roads, inclusive of extraordinary expenditures, amounted in 1910 to 27,430,000 kronen ($5,568,290), inclusive of governmental contributions for the construction and reconstruction of nongovernmental roads. This amount also includes road-bridge reconstructions, the erection of Government guardhouses, tool magazines, and the purchase of road rollers and power vehicles. Neither convict nor pauper labor is employed in road construction in Austria.