FISHERIES COMMISSION. REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS.

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1919 Session I, H-28

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1919 NEW ZEALAND.

FISHERIES COMMISSION. REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS.

Presented to both House* of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

To His Excellency the Right Honourable Arthur William de Brito Savile, Ear] of Liverpool, Member of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of - the British Empire, Member of the Royal Victorian Order, Knight of Grace of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, and Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in and over His Majesty's Dominion of New Zealand and its Dependencies. May it Please Your Excellency,— Whereas by an Order in Council dated the Bth day of October, 1918, the Board of Trade was authorized and empowered to inquire into the matters following : — (1.) As to whether the price charged for fish to the public in Auckland is reasonable : (2.) As to whether the trawling-area of the Hauraki Gulf should be further restricted or further extended, and the reasons for the finding : (3.) Whether any limit has been imposed on fishermen on their catches of fish, and the reasons for such limit (if any) : And whereas the Board of Trade was further authorized and empowered by such Order in Council to delegate to the undersigned all or any of the powers and functions in respect of the inquiry and report thereby authorized : And whereas in pursuance of such order, by appointment dated the 10th day of October, 1918. the Board of Trade delegated to the undersigned all its powers and functions in respect of the inquiry and report authorized by the said Order in Council : And whereas by an Order in Council dated the 19th day of December, 1.918, the Board of Trade was further authorized to inquire and report — (4.) As to whether it is possible to avoid taking fish below the size or weight prescribed by the Fishery Regulations in trawl-nets having a mesh of the prescribed size, and, if not, whether the size of mesh should be made larger ; and further (5.) Whether it should be made lawful to sell any undersized fish which may be taken in the authorized nets : And whereas the last-mentioned Order in Council did further authorize and empower the Board of Trade to delegate to the undersigned all its powers and functions in respect of the inquiry and report thereby authorized : And whereas by appointment dated the 6th day of January, 1919, the Board of Trade delegated all its powers and functions in respect of the aforementioned inquiry and report to the undersigned : Now, therefore, in pursuance of such orders and appointments, we the undersigned have the honour to report as follows : — The Commission held public sittings for the purpose of hearing evidence and addresses of counsel at the Thames, at Helensville, and at Auckland, and sat for this purpose on twenty-five days. In response to the invitation of the Commission the following parties were represented by counsel and brought evidence before the Commission : The Northern Fishermen's Union ; the Auckland City Council; Sanford Limited ; a number of Auckland fish-dealers ; and the Marine Department was represented by Mr. L. F. Ayson, Chief Inspector of Fisheries. In addition to the evidence brought before us the members of the Commission, by the courtesy of Sanford Limited, had the advantage of a trip on a trawler. They also visited the Auckland Municipal Fish-market, the works of Sanford Limited at Auckland and Thames, and the works of the Thames Fisheries (Limited) at the Thames ; and at both the Thames and Helensville they visited the wharves used by the fishing-boats, and examined the gear employed in the industry.

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Further, in addition to a number of reports and other matters brought to its attention the Commission had before it the interesting report of Professor Prince on the fishing industry in New Zealand, reports made at various times by the Chief Inspector of Fisheries, and a copy of the evidence given at Dunedin before the Industries Committee of the House of Representatives by the Hon. G. M. Thomson, M.L.C., which. Mr. Thomson very kindly forwarded at the request of the Chairman of the Commission ; and finally the Commission had the advantage of the evidence of Mr. Ayson, Chief Inspector of Fisheries, given after he had heard the whole of the evidence adduced by the various parties represented. Trawling Restrictions. It will be convenient to deal with this matter first. On this subject the evidence disclosed great diversity of opinion. At the present time trawling is prohibited in the Hauraki Gulf inside a line starting at Matakana and extending from there to the southernmost point of Tiritiri, and from that point to Cabbage Bay. In the opinion of a large number of witnesses this line should be placed much farther out, so that the area within which trawling is prohibited would be greatly extended. On the other hand, a large number of witnesses were of opinion that no injury would result, but on the contrary great benefits to the fishing industry would accrue, if trawling were permitted much farther into the gulf than at present. In considering this question the following points have been taken into consideration :— (1.) The preservation of fish from unnecessary destruction or disturbance ; (2.) (a.) The need of allowing trawling in grounds sheltered as far as possible from the prevailing winds ; (b.) In fixing a line, the making use as far as possible of prominent headlands, or other natural features, which could fairly easily be picked up by the trawlingmasters ; (3.) The protection of certain areas from trawling in the interests of the line and net fishermen ; and (4.) To some extent, the protection of areas from trawling in the interests of sport, and of fishing by members of the public. With respect to the preservation of fish, there was a great conflict of evidence and diversity of opinion as to the extent to which the Hauraki Gulf is a spawning and breeding ground for fish. But whether or not such fish as snapper spawn in the gulf, the great weight of evidence shows that the smaller fish inhabit the shallower waters of the protected bays and inlets, and there grow while more or less protected from part of their natural enemies. The evidence goes this length : that though large —and even very large —fish may be caught in these shallower waters in the bays and inlets and in the waters in their vicinity, a great proportion of the fish are small. On this ground it is the opinion of many witnesses that trawling should not be permitted anywhere near bays such as Cabbage Bay, Whangaparaoa Bay, and the sheltered waters between Kawau and the mainland, and that the only satisfactory way of attaining this would be to fix a line very much farther out than the present line, it being suggested that the lino should extend from Bream Head to Cape Colville. As against this it is pointed out by the trawling-masters that such a line would leave them no trawling-ground protected from easterly and northerly winds, and that consequently there would be fairly often recurring periods when they would be unable to catch fish. Great weight, in our opinion, must be given to the question of shelter. The evidence shows that the price of fish in Auckland is very much lower than the prices in the other four centres, and undoubtedly the greatest factor in bringing about that result is that in the Hauraki Gulf we have not only excellent fishing-grounds, but also grounds some of which will be protected from practically whatever wind may at the time be blowing. The effect is that though there may be considerable variations in the supply of fish, there is seldom, if ever, a dearth of fish such as may be produced in other parts of the Dominion by continuous bad weather ; and no factor is more important in keeping down prices than a fairly continuous supply. The Commission was informed that with the line, where it is now, the average time lost by a trawler owing to bad weather is about one day in a fortnight. It was suggested that if larger and more powerful trawlers were used the difficulty of protection would be got over ; but it seems fairly clear that this would not be so—that no matter how powerful the trawler, trawling would not be practicable while the vessels were exposed to very heavy weather. On the other hand, the Commission was asked by those interested in the trawling industry— and the application was supported by a considerable weight of evidence— to recommend that trawling should be permitted in the gulf up to a line from Whangaparaoa Point to Thumb Point on Waiheke Island, and thence to the sandspit, and thence to Deadman's Point. When the members of the Commission were on the trawler three " shots " were made, each with the trawl down for one and a half hours. One " shot " was made just outside the present line, terminating four or five miles off Cabbage Bay, and two " shots " were made inside the present limits. It was a noticeable feature of the fish obtained from each of these three trawls that the great bulk of them, though of good marketable size, were not large. This may have been more or less accidental, due to special conditions, but it lends weight to the considerable body of evidence brought before the Commission that the farther into the gulf a trawler works the greater the proportion of small fish taken. The evidence shows fairly conclusively that fish cannot now be caught in the gulf by the line and net fishermen with the same ease with which they were caught many years ago ; but the evidence also shows that this greater difficulty in. catching the fish was noticeable even before the advent of the trawler, and the evidence that the trawlers have had any great part in producing this state of affairs is far from conclusive. Undoubtedly, however, the trawlers have had some part in bringing it about, and if in trawling well up into the gulf the greater part of their catches consists of moderate-

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sized fish, it follows that more fish will be destroyed than if the same weight of larger fish were taken. If, as seems quite clear, the shallower waters of the bays and inlets are inhabited by small fish, it is to be expected that trawling anywhere in their vicinity will lead to the catches containing a considerable proportion of smaller, even if not undersized, fish. In any event the interests of the line and net fishermen require consideration. Trawling would interfere with their operations, and even though there may be a considerable area inside the present line which is not in fact now being fished by the line and. net fishermen, it is suitable ground for their operations, and it is quite reasonable to provide a protected area in view of the considerable increase in their number which may be expected when all our men have returned from the war, when the ordinary increase in population has taken place, and when further encouragement is given to the industry. Mr. Ayson, after having heard all the other evidence brought before the Commission, gave it as his opinion that the advantages of fixing the line farther out than at present were outweighed by the disadvantages, and he suggested a. slight variation in the present line- namely, to start from Mahurangi Heads and run thence to Tiritiri, and thence to Cabbage Bay. His reason for suggesting the concession to the trawlers of a small additional area at present protected is that in his opinion the advantage of affording them an area where they may work protected from northerly weather, and so permitting more continuous fishing, outweighs the disadvantage that this allows trawling in such protected waters as those between Kawau Island and the mainland. Mr. Ayson is also of opinion that, considering purely the question of the preservation of fish, trawling should not be permitted so close in to Cabbage Bay as is likely with the line fixed as at present, and he at first suggested that the line should be put farther out. But, after weighing all considerations that were brought out by the inquiry, he is of opinion that that part of the line should, remain as at present. In fixing the line as proposed by Mr. Ayson the only point which has not received as much consideration as we should have liked to give it is that of selecting prominent headlands for the points of the line. The greater part of the line would remain as at. present, but where a change is made it is an improvement from this point of view. The landmarks are not all as prominent as we should have liked, but that, after all, is a question of secondary consideration. It was strongly urged on the part of those interested in the trawling industry that fixing a. line which permitted trawling farther into the gulf would save the trawlers time in their trips to their fishing-ground, and so reduce the cost of catching fish. The evidence is that trawlers are usually engaged about thirty-six hours upon a trip. As it takes a trawler less than three hours to reach the present line, any alteration of the line in the way suggested could not save the vessel more than an hour or two per trip, and this appears to us a matter of minor importance when weighed against other considerations. Taking all the circumstances and all the varying interests into consideration, we beg to recommend that the line be fixed from Mahurangi Heads to Shearer Rock, off the north-east point of Tiritiri, and thence to Cabbage Bay. The Mesh of Trawl-nets. The evidence adduced before us does not justify us in recommending any alteration in the present regulations dealing with the size of the mesh in trawl-nets. The size of the mesh at present used apparently gives the best results. To increase it would certainly not altogether stop the taking of some undersized fish, and would probably result in the loss of a considerable number of fish of marketable size. Sale oe Undersized Fish taken in Authorized Nets. There seems to us to be strong reasons against permitting the sale of undersized fish, whether caught in authorized nets or not. The regulations at present permit the sale of snapper as small as three-quarters of a pound, and this question is only of importance in reference to snapper. Snapper under the size of three-quarters of a pound is not satisfactory, the amount of available flesh upon it not being great, and we do not think that the public would be fairly treated in being offered fish of a. smaller size than that fixed by the present regulations.* There is also the point that if the sale of fish under this size is prohibited trawlers will be discouraged from working in any area where they catch a large proportion of undersized fish. We do not recommend any alteration in the present regulations. Limits on Catches. The Commission was empowered to inquire whether any limit has been imposed on fishermen on their catches of fish, and the reasons for such limit (if any). It was admitted by the Auckland City Council, by Sanford Limited, and by the Thames Fisheries (Limited) that limits were at times imposed on the fishermen restricting, if not their catches, at any rate the number of fish that would be purchased from them. This was shown to be entirely due to the variations in the fish-supply. At times fish are caught in greater numbers than can be absorbed by the market, and in such cases the dealers, if they accepted a greater number of fish than they could put upon the market, would incur the expense not only of purchasing fish which they did not require, but of getting rid of them. There was no evidence of any description from which it might be inferred that such limits on catches were due to an arrangement among the dealers in order to keep up prices. The difficulty is one that could be overcome only by the provision of a large amount of cold-storage room, and even this would not wholly get over it, because flounder, which is one of the classes of fish as to which this difficulty particularly arises, does not lend itself to satisfactory freezing ; and mullet, the other class of fish to which it particularly applies, has, as compared with the other fish caught in the Auckland district, a more limited market.

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Price of Fish in Auckland. The evidence discloses I he fuel I hat Auckland is in a. very favourable position in regard to the price of fish as compared with the oilier centres of the Dominion. This is due nol only in the fad dial there is a very large supply of lish in the Auckland waters, but also, and probably in a greater degree, to the fact thai waters protected from any given wind can be found ill the district. '.I here is no doubt, too, that the industry in Auckland is well organized : and the evidence as to the expense of dealing with fish, and as to the price charged to the public, leaves the impression that the people of Auckland have, in present circumstances, no grounds of complaint on the question of price. We are of opinion, however, that there is still ample room for reduction in the price of fish in Auckland, and we hope that when the cost of the materials used in the industry again conies back to the normal, level, and effect is given to our recommendations, fish will be supplied to the public in Auckland at a lower price than at present. This question of the cost of lish leads to several other recommendations which are outside the order of reference, but which we respectfully beg leave to submit. Chilling and lobmakinq Plants. We are of opinion that the provision of chilling plants and icemaking machinery in suitable places would lead not only to the lowering of the price of fish, but also to the encouragement of the industry generally. There is an outstanding need for an icemaking plant and cool storage for fish at Helensville. At Auckland the Municipal Fish - market and Sanford Limited have icemaking machinery, freezing plants, and cold storage of considerable capacity, and there is other cold storage in the city available. At the Thames the Thames Fisheries (Limited) now has a freezing plant and considerable cold storage, and this company is very greatly enlarging its works, so as to put itsell in a, position in which it hopes to be able to deaf with 100 tons of fish weekly. At. Helensville there are a considerable number of line and net fishermen, but there is constant complaint, both from them and from the Auckland dealers, that the provision for conveying their fish to the Auckland market is utterly inadequate. At first view it would appear that a. great part of the trouble lay with Ihe Railway Department, but thai in fact is nol Ihe source of the difficulty. Complaints were made by the fishermen that the cost to them of carriage of their fish to Auckland is very heavy, and that (he fish often arrive in Auckland not in good condition. The Railway Department is put to considerable dilliculty in dealing with the carriage of fish under present circumstances. Fishermen arrive with their catches at varying times and send them to Auckland by the next train. This leads to the Railway Department having to make provision for carrying continual driblets of fish, the consignors have to pay at high rates notwithstanding that the Department's charges appear lo be reasonable, and it is impossible to make such satisfactory provision for the carriage of fish as would be the ca.se if a large consignment were sent down regularly by one train daily. All these difficulties arise from the fact that there is no provision at Helensville for the storage of lish, and the fish intended for the Auckland market is stored on its arrival in Helensville merely by placing it in a truck to be sent with the next train. If cold storage, and also an icemaking plant, were available in Helensville all these difficulties would be overcome, and the fishermen would be very greatly assisted in their work of catching fish. It was disclosed by the evidence before the Commission that the most satisfactory way of carrying fish, and the most satisfactory way of keeping fish for a few days, is to pack them in ice. If there were at Helensville an icemaking plant and proper cool storage for fish the fishermen would be able to take ice in their boats in which to pack the fish when they were fishing at considerable, distances, and by this means the fish would reach Helensville in thoroughly good condition. The cool storage would enable the fish to be collected as each fisherman came in with his boat-load, and they could be kept and the whole day's supply of lish could be packed in ice and sent down to the city by one particular train in the day. This would enable the Railway Department to make much more satisfactory arrangements for the carriage of fish, and also for its delivery on arrival, and packing in ice would lead to its arrival in good condition. The Kaipara, apparently, is the part of the Auckland Fishery District which is most liable to fluctuations in the supply of fish. The evidence shows that at times the fishermen there are able to make very large catches, but the difficulties already mentioned have led to these fishermen particularly having limits imposed upon their catches, and also to considerable loss in the fish on their way to the market. The provision of this plant, which in our opinion is so extremely necessary, is a., difficulty. The fishermen in the Kaipara are not themselves in a. sufficiently strong position to erect such a plant ; it would probably be outside the scope of the undertaking of the Auckland City Council to expend its funds upon the erection of such a. plant ; and in the peculiar circumstances of the position it would probably not pay Sanford Limited to do so notwithstanding that it would be to the advantage of all these parties that such a plant should be provided. It would probably not pay Sanford Limited to erect a plant at Helensville unless it had the effect of giving the company the control of the industry there, and this would not be in the interests of the public. There seems to be no way out of these difficulties except for the Government to erect such a plant, and this we beg most earnestly to recommend. The Chief Inspector of Fisheries, in addition to recommending the erection of a plant at Helens ville by the Government, strongly advocated the*installation of similar plants at Whangaruru and the Mercury Islands. Inspector Plinn, of the*North*Auckland Fisheries District, stated that in his opinion very great advantage would accrue from of a plant at Whangaruru. He staled that there were a large number of'fishermen in and about Russell, that immense quantities of fish were to be caught in those waters, and that the encouragement to the industry which would be given

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by such a plant would be very material, The fishermen at present I here were, he said, often capable iif catching lish in quantities thai could nol be deall with under present conditions, on account of the difficulty of conveying them to the Auckland market. The provision of a chilling plant would overcome this difficulty. Though in our opinion there is notjhe same urgent need for the erection of plants in these two places as there is in the case of Helensville, we consider that the erection of plants in these localities, more particularly at Whangaruru, would be of very great value; to the industry. Insurance and Assistance. One difficulty that is encountered by fishermen is the extremely high cost of insurance of their boats and gear. Jn the present circumstances few of them are able to insure at all. From the evidence put before us we formed the opinion that the Government Insurance Department could insure fishing-boats and "ear at very much lower premiums than are asked by the private insurance companies. The Commission was informed that the average loss of lishing-boats and gear throughout the Dominion does not exceed 2 per cent. The Commission had not before it evidence sufficiently full to enable it to recommend any scheme of insurance, but we are of opinion that insurance by the Government at reasonable rates would afford the fishermen very substantial relief and give encouragement to the industry. We beg to recommend that arrangements be made for the insurance of boats and vessels engaged in the fishing industry and their gear by the Government Insurance Department at the lowest rates which inquiries show to be practicable. We are also of opinion that very great encouragement would be given to the industry if the Government would make advances to fishermen upon the security of their floats and gear, in the same way as advances are made to settlers. It was proved before tin; Commission that the possibilities of the expansion of the industry are enormous. The evidence shows that the waters around New Zealand teem with fish. Inspector Iflinn informed us that in the bays and inlets towards Russell there are very large supplies of fish, at present scarcely touched. The fishermen in the Kaipara and Manukau stated that the) 1 could enormously increase their catches. At the Thames the managing director of the Thames Fisheries (Limited) informed us that with confidence his company was making provision to deal with 100 tons of fish weekly, and it was prepared to make further provision if it was found to be necessary. Mr. Ayson testified that there were very large quantities of fish in (he Bay of Plenty, and the Hauraki Gulf has consistently proved itself a, magnificent fishing-ground. If the industry is encouraged in the direction we are now recommending a large number of men without capital will have open to them remunerative employment. Without, in our opinion, injuring the trawling industry in the least, our recommendation with respect to the trawling-limits reserves a large sea area in (he Hauraki Gulf to line and net fishermen. If this branch of the industry is encouraged a large number of men will engage in it. The trawling industry can be depended upon with its own resources to expand as the market extends. With the increase in the production of fish that would be ensured in these two directions a steady supply of lish could be sent not only to the large centres, but also to the inland towns of the Dominion, while a huge export trade would probably be developed. Another way in which the fishing industry could be assisted by the Government with advantage would be for the Marine Department to import and sell to those engaged in the industry, al reasonable prices, material and gear such as nets, hooks, rope, and benzine. Inspection of Fish. Several other matters were brought before us by the representatives of the line and net fisher men. Complaint was made that the inspection of fish on its arrival in Auckland from outlying districts by an inspector appointed by the Auckland City Council had been discontinued. The ground of this complaint was that the fishermen felt that on occasions their fish were rejected by the dealers as not being in lit condition when the lish were in fact in good condition, but the dealers did not want them.. The. fishermen were of opinion that official inspection would save them this difficulty. Their evidence was to the effect that during the time when an inspector was in office the rejection of fish on the ground that it was not in good condition occurred much less frequently than when there was no inspection. At present the only inspection of fish is in the hands of the Public Health Department. The object of inspection is the protection of the public, and nol the facilitation of business between dealers and fishermen. So long as the public is protected from Inning sold to it fish in a condition unsuitable for human consumption we can hardly sec our way to recommend the appointment of inspectors, the expense of carrying out whose duties would he a burden upon the whole industry, in order to facilitate the business of a small number of those engaged in the sale of fish. FIISB-MARKETS AND AUCTIONING FISH. The line and net fishermen also asked the Commission to recommend that they be allowed to auction their own fish in the City of Auckland. They stated that the only place where fish are sold by auction is the Auckland Fish-market, and that there, when fish are auctioned, they receive lowprices. They were under the impression that the provisions of the Auckland City Markets and Empowering Act, 1915, preclude (hem from dealing with their fish in any other way than by sale to the present fish-dealers, including the Municipal Fish-market, or by auction at the Municipal Market. Section 5 of the Auckland City Markets and Empowering Act, 1915, makes it unlawful to sell lish wholesale or by auction within the city save at the Fish-market or some other market appointed by the Council. This seems to us to leave it open to the fishermen to arrange with the City Council for the appointment of some suitable place as a market where they may sell their fish by auction or otherwise.

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We are of opinion that the fishermen should be given as much freedom in disposing of their catches of fish in the City of Auckland as is consistent with the proper control of the industry by the Auckland City Council. It was also mentioned as a grievance of the fishermen that the Auckland Harbour Board prevented them from bringing their boats to the wharves and there selling I heir fish. There are probably quite good reasons for this so far as the ordinary wharves are concerned, but we feel sine no exception would be taken by the Harbour Board to fishing-boats being brought to the wharf set aside for trawlers and fishing-boats, and to the fishermen there selling their fish from the boat. No exception, we are equally sure, would be taken by the Auckland City Council to this course, because the object of the Council in interesting itself in the fish trade is tin; cheapening of the cost of fisli to tin; consumer, and if permission to the fishermen to sell their fish in this way leads to that result no objection should be made by the Council. Length or' Set-nets. Another matter brought before the. Commission was the regulation restricting the length of net used, by fishermen to 301) fathoms. They asked to be allowed to use nets up to 600 fathoms in length. We can see no objection to this, so long as the regulation preventing " stalling " is complied with, and we recommend that the regulation be amended to permit nets up to 600 fathoms in length being used. Manufacture of Fish Oil and Manure. At the present time between 10 and 20 tons of fish-offal is every week taken out to sea from the City of Auckland, and thrown overboard. This is not only a source of expense, but is a serious waste of valuable material from which both fish-oil and fish-manure could be manufactured. 11 the offal were converted into these articles so that it became of value instead of a matter of expense it would have a considerable effect in cheapening lish. Furthermore, it would have other advantages, as the products would be of great value to the community. It is essential in order to obtain the full benefit from this industry that the manure produced should reach a proper standard of quality. In order to encourage its production we beg to recommend that the Government offer a. bonus of £500 for the production of the first 500 tons of fish-manure reaching the requisite standard of quality. Fish-hatchery. The members of the Commission were struck by the diversity of opinions expressed and the absence of reliable information with respect to the habits of snapper and the other fish common to these northern waters. We beg to recommend for the. consideration of the Government the provision of a fish-hatohery in the Auckland District on lines similar to that already in existence at Portobello, near Dunedin. Departmental Control. At the present time part of the fishing interests of the Dominion come under the control of the Minister in Charge of the Tourist Department and part under the control of the Minister of Marine. The desire was expressed by some of the. witnesses before the Commission that, all those interests should be brought under one, Minister. Having regard to the, importance which the. fishing industry should attain in New Zealand, and to the wonderful resources of the Dominion in the, matter, this does appear to us to be advisable if there are no serious departmental difficulties in the way. Conclusion. The, Commission desires to thank Sanford Limited for placing a trawler at its disposal, and to thank the Hon. G. M. Thomson for forwarding a copy of his evidence given before the Industries Committee of the House of Representatives; and also to express its appreciation of the unfailing courtesy of counsel for the various interested parlies to the inquiry throughout the somewhat lengthy proceedings, and to acknowledge, their able assistance. Our thanks are also due to Mi. F. W. Weston, of the Hansard staff, for his valuable services in the capacity of secretary and reporter to the Commission. We return herewith the Orders in Council and appointments forwarded to us, together with— (1) The minutes of proceedings ; (2) the. minutes of evidence ; (3) the exhibits enumerated in the schedule hereto ; (4) a number of communications giving information received from various sources. As witness our hands, at Auckland, this Bth day of May, 1919. E. C. CCTTBN, S.M., Chairman. J. 11. Bradney, 1,, ri , T ' [ Commissioners. Thus. Lonw,

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