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On the 7th August, in the same section, I took part in a general discussion on the " Fishery Resources of the Pacific Region," stressing in particular the very important part which New Zealand was yet destined to play as one of the great fishery countries of the world. On the 11th August, in the section on Animal Husbandry, 1 read a paper on " Live-stock in New Zealand," which was supplemented by the Hon. Mark Cohen, M.L.C. The same afternoon I presented and gave a precis of Dr. R. J. Tillyard's paper on " Insects in Relation to the New Zealand Food-supply," in Section IV. This paper was justly considered as one of the most valuable read before the Conference. At the close of the Conference a very large series of resolutions was submitted to the Executive Committee, of which I was a member, and thirty-three of these were adopted by the Conference. I would especially draw your attention to Resolutions 9, 11, 13, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 28, and 33, as these have a more or less direct bearing on New Zealand. Resolution 9 reads as follows :— Resolution 9. Whereas the various peoples living about the borders of the Pacific Ocean use many different systems of weights and measures ; whereas the various systems of weights and measures are not well understood in other than the home countries ; and whereas the metric system, based on the standard metre at Paris, is a common meeting-ground : Be it resolved, That the First Pan-Pacific Food-conservation Conference recommends to the Governments of the various circum-Pacific countries, and to private individuals and institutions in such countries, that statistical data be expressed in units of the metric system in addition to expressing them in units of the local system ; and that when this is not done, conversion factors be given with each table or in, each publication, whereby the local units may be converted into the universally understood units of the metric system. This is of a general nature, the gist of which has frequently been brought before the notice of the various Governments concerned, and which has already received Government sanction in several countries, including New Zealand. It is, however, a matter which requires constant emphasis and reiteration in order to educate the publics of the various countries concerned, hence the unanimity with which it was passed by the Conference. Resolution 13. Resolved, That the First Pan-Pacific Food-conservation Conference recommends to the various Governments of the countries bordering the Pacific that there be prepared and sent to the organizers of the Pan-Pacific Science Congress to be held in Japan in 1926 a comprehensive list of the individuals, institutions, and agencies engaged in research, extension work, or advanced educational work pertaining to useful products of the sea and of the soil, or those branches of science related thereto (such as ichthyology, marine biology, oceanography, economic entomology, plant pathology, agronomy, animal husbandry, genetics, agricultural geography, meteorology, agricultural chemistry, and agricultural bateriology) ; and that this list be supplemented by a brief resume of investigations in the aforesaid branches which have been completed, are now in progress, or are contemplated. In this connection I would draw your attention once more to the paper drawn up last year by my son, Dr. J. Allan Thomson, and myself, on " Scientific Research in New Zealand," and published in the New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology for December, 1923. Copies of this paper have been forwarded to several of the gentlemen interested in the forthcoming Science Congress which is to be hold in Japan in 1926, under the segis of the International Board of Scientific Research. Something of the same sort drawn up and published in other countries would be valuable not only as general information, but especially as showing how far similar problems were receiving consideration from workers in other lands. Resolution 33 reads as follows : — Resolution 33. Inasmuch as legislation dealing with the adulteration and misbranding of foodstuffs in the several Pacific countries varies greatly in character and scope ; and inasmuch as the definitions and standards for a given food commodity may vary in different countries ; and inasmuch as, therefore, a given food commodity may be sold lawfully in one country but not in another ; and inasmuch as this lack of harmony in legislation, in definitions, and in standards acts in many cases as a serious restraint upon the free interchange; of commodities between nations, not infrequently causing waste of food and heavy loss to individuals : Therefore lot it be resolved, That the First Pan-Pacific Food-conservation Conference strongly recommends to the nations of the Pacific area the formation of an international commission for the following purposes : — (1.) The formulation of uniform definitions and standards for food commodities entering into the trade between nations, in order that such definitions and standards may receive from the administrative officials of the several nations whatever consideration may be proper in each case. (2.) The preparation, for the consideration of the several law-making agencies, of recommendations which would tend to minimize, so far as possible, discrepancies in existing food-control legislation. I propose to refer to the other resolutions specified, as well as to cognate questions which arose during the Conference, in a series of supplementary notes for the consideration of those Departments of Government specially concerned.
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