I.—4a.

42

[t. gilmoue.

flood. I went tip with Captain Moore. He took the "Te Aroha " the first time ever she went up the river beyond the Ohinemuri Junction, and then the water was flowing over the banks in a great sheet down below Dibsell's; it was flowing over on to the Paeroa side about twenty miles above Paeroa, and running back into the river again as we came further down. They could not have taken the boat up unless the river was in flood. My object in going up was to look at land that had been surveyed and thrown open by the Waste Lands Board, opposite Waiorongomai. I was then pointed out silt lodged on a clump of trees opposite the hot springs at Te Aroha. The water-mark there on those trees was from 2 ft. to 2 ft. 6 in. While lam speaking about Waiorongomai I may say that I have a brother-in-law there, and the recent flood in January last flooded most ?f his land and destroyed the grass, and his cattle had to be removed to another farm to keep them alive. There was no silt or cyanide in the water there, but, for a fortnight after the flood the stench of the grass rotting was" very bad. 1 also visited Te Aroha when the High School sections were leased, in another flood. 4. Mr. Berries.] In what year was that?—ln 1882 or 1883. I am not very certain of the year, but it was in the early eighties. We stopped in the hotel at Te Aroha, on account of the "storm, from the Thursday till the Monday morning, and coming down the river then the banks were overflowing. AVhen we came to Paeroa it was nearly all under water. I do not know whether that flood extended any further than the Ohinemuri district; but it damaged the Thames Borough and suburbs to the extent of £10,000. I may say that I agree with the statement made by Mr. Morpeth yesterday in every particular, I visited Netherton in company with him and the Engineer in the month of March last, I think it was, to see the damage done by the silt and sand that had been lodged on those farms which I understand our friend Mr. Laughlin is representing. 5. The Chairman.] You mean at Netherton? —Netherton. We went down the road as far as the creamer}- —in fact, as far as Fisher's place. We saw some land ploughed up. It was said that the grass had been destroyed. I would not be surprised at some of the grass being destroyed, but we could see no grass that had been destroyed on the land then lying fallow; but we could see a little destroyed on the edge of the ditch on the main road, where the water had been lying for a considerable time. I understand that the water was flowing in from that side of the river for several days after the river had subsided. I understand, too, that the farmers complain that the water flows over by reason of the sand jamming up the Waihou at the mouth of the Ohinemuri — that the water flowed over at the higher level and came down over the land. I believe that is a fact, that the water did flow, not only from the Waihou, but the Piako, and the whole flat was in a sea for miles. We went up then to see a road that was constructed by the Ohinemuri County from Waitoa, and the Engineer pointed out to us where the flood had gone over there several times, three or four feet above the road; so there is no wonder the water came down and flooded the farmers out at Netherton. I l>elieve it was not from the Ohinemuri River jamming the water in the Waihou that this flood took place, because there is a fall in that river from Paeroa to Te Aroha of over 29 ft., and the distance, as the crow flies, is somewhere about fourteen miles, I think, so the Waihou River has a big fall. It was not anything jamming it up at Paeroa that made it overflow its banks as I have just described. With reference to the Ohinemuri, I must confess that the sand is lying there, and. that the land has been damaged by the battery-sand that has been lodged on the banks; but I do not think it is so serious as we hear. I understand there is a certain amount of river frontage on each side of the river. Sand lodging there does not affect the farmer; it is not his land. My opinion is that those men at Netherton are making a complaint before they have any just cause—that is, that away from that part of the river, away up at Te Aroha, the farmers have as much ground for complaint, but they do not get sympathy from the Government because there is no money up there —there are no batteries above them. And away over to the Waikato River it was just the same. Every farmer on that flat was injured more or less by the flood in January. Then I was pointed out by Mr. Laughlin a paragraph in a paper— a Wellington paper, I think—about a scheme laid down by a Mr. Brown. He would erect a large tailings plant somewhere in the vicinity of Paeroa, and dredge the tailings up and treat them, and lodge the refuse on the swamp or run it away into some level place. I candidly believe that that is not practicable. As far as treating the tailings is concerned, I will not say anything ; they- might treat them to advantage ; but I say they cannot put the tailings out On a flat and keep them -there, for they will run with water no matter where they are put, and if they are banked up for. a time it will only be till the first flood comes and away they go all over the country. lam aware that in Western Australia they have banked their tailings where there were no rivers to run them into. The result was that whole streets of business houses have had to remove their businesses, owing to the tailings being blown about by the wind and piled up in their premises. I have seen that in Victoria myself. If this scheme of treating the tailings at Paeroa is taken on 6. Is that Brown's scheme? — Yes. I hope it will be a success, but I am not going to say it will be. If putting the tailings where they put them now, and having no expense in running them a distance into the flat; if that does not pay, being a much simpler method, I have grave doubts about the other method. I do not believe it is practicable to run tailings into the flat and keep them there in any part of the Ohinemuri district. I have seen the experience at the AYaihi Battery when they were saving tailings for the sake of the bullion that was in them, and then they could not save the liquid matter and slimes that were in the tailings. They went with the water wherever the stuff was run. Ido not know that I have much more to say. I think our petition covers nearly all the ground I would deal with. Tf those men prove their claim, and the Government see fit to recompense them, well and good; but I think it should be done on evidence taken by a Commission and sworn to, and, after all, the evidence that can throw any light on the matter has been taken, especially that of the captains of the vessels that trade up the river. I have spoken to several of them trading to Auckland, and they tell me they can go up