IL—l2

1924. NEW ZEALAND.

PAN-PACIFIC FOOD-CONSERVATION CONFERENCE, HELD AT HONOLULU, 31st JULY TO 14th AUGUST, 1924 (REPORT ON), BY HON. GEO. M. THOMSON, M.L.C.

Laid on the Table of both Houses of the General Assembly by Leave.

Sir,— Wellington, 25th September, 1924. As stated in your telegram of the 11th June last, I was appointed as the New Zealand Government representative at the Pan-Pacific Food-conservation Conference to be held in Honolulu on the 31st July to the 14th August. The Hon. Mr. Mark Cohen, M.L.C., who was visiting Honolulu chiefly for health reasons, was also appointed a delegate, and we co-operated on all possible occasions in keeping New Zealand, prominently before the Conference. We left Auckland on the Bth July in the s.s. " Niagara," reaching our destination on the 18th July. Along with other delegates who were in Honolulu prior to the Conference dates, we met informally on several occasions, and at these preliminary gatherings arranged the order of business, so as to expedite matters when the official opening occurred. The accompanying programme [not printed] gives a list of 142 delegates who attended the Conference. The countries and States represented were —from west to east —Japan, Korea, China, the Philippines, Macao, French Indo-China, Siam, Dutch East Indies; Australia, New Zealand, Cuba, Mexico, and the United States of America. Many of the delegates were heads of Departments of the countries represented, the delegation from the United States being especially important and numerous. Dr. Leland 0. Howard, Chief of the Bureau of Entomology, United States Department of Agriculture, was elected Chairman of the Conference, arid the choice was an eminently satisfactory one. The work of the Conference was originally divided up into seven sections. Unfortunately, it was not found possible to house all these in the same building, and this entailed a considerable loss of time and effort on the part of those delegates, of whom I was one, who wished to attend more than one section. Section I was devoted solely to the sugar industry, and its meetings were held in the Experimental Station of the Hawaiian Sugar-planters' Association. This section did very excellent work, and Queensland, New South Wales, the Philippines, Fiji, Hawaii, and Cuba were very strongly represented. Section II did not meet except in general session of the Conference to hear an address from the Chairman, Dr. R. Masujima, of the Middle Temple, London, and First President of the International Bar Association. The sections in which, as New Zealand's representative, I took an active part were —111, Fisheries, Marine Biology, and Oceanography ; IV, Plant Quarantine, Plant Entomology, and Plant Pathology ; and V, Animal Industry. On the 4th August I read a paper in the Fisheries Section on the " Introduction of Foreign Food Fishes into New Zealand," opening a discussion on " International Exchange of Aquatic Species of Economic Importance." Later in the day I presented and enlarged on Mr. B. C. Aston's paper on " Bush Sickness in New Zealand," in the section of Animal Industry. The same evening, in the Army and Navy V.M.C.A., I delivered the first of the free lectures to a large audience on " Mountain, Valley, and Lake in New Zealand," illustrated by limelight views. On the 6th August, in-the Fisheries Section, I read a paper and opened a discussion on " United Action in the Pacific for the Study of Ocean Currents in their Bearing on the Distribution of Food Fishes," and described in detail our float experiments conducted at the Portobello Marine Fish-hatchery in connection with the distribution of the imported European turbot, lobster, and crabs which have been liberated from the station.