E. Hi DE C. POWER* j

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Power, to act on our behalf at the. forthcoming-fitting of the Royal Commission on Gum Lands, to take place at Helensville, 11th June, 1914.—P. Carr, Joseph Bright, Patrick Fitzpatrick, Thomas Gibbons, Thomas Kennedy,-Henry Kennedy, James Hughes, Gum-diggers." They had had held a meeting amongst themselves, but, of course, there were others who lived in different parts whom he had not seen. There were several others living in that locality who dug gum, amongst them Messrs. Shanks and Hinds. The unanimous opinion of all the 'diggers was that the Kaukapakapa Reserve should be kept as a gum reserve. Henry George Mcßride, Gum-digger, of Kaukapakapa. To Mr.. Greville.] He had lived at Kaukapakapa about eighteen years, and had been gumdigging for about nine years. His average earnings were about £2 7s. 6d. per week. He was a single man- He had been on the Kaukapakapa Reserve with Mr. Power. He had dug mostly on Crown lands adjoining the reserve. He had been working on the railway for the last three mouths at 9s. per day. He had never worked more than six hours a day gum-digging; some work longer. He agreed with Mr. Power about the quality of the gum lands on the reserve. John Gavin Shanks, Carter, of Kaukapakapa, To Mr. Greville.] He had lived at Kaukapakapa for thirty years. His father owned a farm adjoining the reserve. His present occupation was that of a carter; now and again on wet days he filled in odd times working on the gumfields. He was working with his father's team. He knew the Kaukapakapa field well, and reckoned the average number of men always working on the Kaukapakapa Reserve at ten or more, and as far as he knew many of them made good wages there. Several had been there for years, but they usually shifted about. The deep digger shifts away -when the ground gets too wet. He agreed with the previous witnesses about the gum-bearing quality of the land. - Ernest Herbert Woodcocks, Gum-digger, of Wayby. To Mr. Greville.] He was a married man with a family, and owned about 38 acres of land. The Kaukapakapa Reserve practically surrounded him. He was born there, and had been a gum-digger all his life. He had only been on two other fields, and always came back to this one. His average earnings were £3 per week all the year round—sometimes £4. He dug mostly in the vicinity of his house. He only knew his own locality, and had been digging there for about fourteen years. During the last few years the number of gum-diggers had averaged about nine. At the present time there were about twenty-six men, several of whom had camped there recently. Some of the men did not make much, others did well, but an average digger could make his £3 per week there still. He knew Mr. Brown, a gum-digger, and knew that he. did not make high wages; he only put in about two days and a half a week, and worked .tor the settlers at times. He was quite positive any man could make £3 per week if he liked to work. The only stock he kept was one horse; he did not even keep a cow. He thought that the southern portion of the reserve had been lifted somewhere about five months ago. The authorities stop men digging there now. The portion of the reserve they took off was the best on the field; he used to dig on it himself. He was not asked his opinion as to whether he thought the reservation should be taken off. He did not know anything about it until it was being cut up into sections; as far as he knew none of'the other diggers knew about it. In his opinion, if the Wayby and the Te Arai Reserve, which contained 1,260 acres, was the only gum land remaining in New Zealand it w-ould support twenty diggers all the year round. There were a good many basins and small swamps. The deepest he had been down was 12 ft. in the swamp; it was only in the dry season he could work there. [He handed in a statement showing he had made £31 2s. Bd. for nine weeks and a half ending 9th June of this year; £11 2s. 9d. for seventeen days from the 3rd to the 23rd October; and £21 I6s. Id. for eleven days ending the 27th August,"l9l3.] To Mr. Stafford.] The highest price he had received for gum was £8 ss. per hundredweight, his lowest £7 per hundredweight. The depth of the digging ranged from 3 in. up to any depth. There were a great many slips on the reserve, and they were rich, in gum. He had made as much as £2 per day on one of the slips. Some of the slips did not carry gum. To Mr:..Greville.] Some of the recent arrivals on the field came from Kumeu, some from Mangawai. These men were making from £2 10s. to £3 per week. They were a mixed lot of Austrians and Britishers. The only thing that had kept the field back and in past years prevented more men working there was that there w r as no storekeeper there who would deal in gum. The men had always to swag their own food on to the field and swag their gum out, but recently a storekeeper and gum-buyer had started in business, and this accounted for the increase in the number of men now on'the field. He generally sold his gum in Auckland. ..James Parker, Farmer, of Wayby. -.... ....... ■•;„.: ::.':.■:::: To Mr. Greville.] He was a farmer at Wayby. and his .land adjoined the reserve. His wife and himself together owned .280 acres. He went in for dairying; milked twenty cows: He lived on the east, side of the reserve, : and knew'the reserve thoroughly. In the early days he .had'been:a f'um-digger, but did very little now. He had lived there for twenty years, during which time there had always been a fair number of diggers on the field. During the last winter the average number of diggers had .been ten, but the year before there were very few—perhaps five—and previous to that very few. , In his opinion as a farmer and gum-digger the field was nearly played out. The Austrians came there a few years ago and made big potholes about 6 ft. to 9 ft. deep, which would take some filling in. He reckoned the Austrians had worked the field out. In his