D.—No. 23.

8

CORRESPONDENCE RELATIVE TO NEW

Regulations for Expending the sum of Five Thousand Pounds, voted oy 'Parliament in the Tear 1865 for the Promotion of New Manufactures and Industries. 1. The Governor in Council shall appoint a Board, to whom shall be referred the consideration of all claims for premiums or rewards under the above grant. 2. Such sums as may be recommended by the said Board shall (subject to the approval of the Governor in Council) be paid to the persons or Company who shall have, since the Ist January, 1864, first successfully established, or may hereafter first successfully establish, in Victoria, any new manufacture or production. 3. Precedence of claim will be given to the following items, and the reward measured by the excellence and extent of the manufacture or article produced : — Woollen Goods. —Blankets, rugs, flannels, cloth, or other woollen fabrics of general use. Papetj.—Wrapping, printing, or writing. Glass. —Sheet or plate glass, tumblers, wine glasses, or bottles. Ceockebt. —China, porcelain, or any of the finer classes of earthenware. Leatiibh. —For excellence in the manufacture of leather for other and higher purposes than the sole and kip leather now produced. Olive Oil.' —The produce of trees grown in Victoria (the quantity not being less than twenty gallons). Flax.—Not less than one ton, properly prepared for manufacturing purposes. Flax (ob, Linseed) Oil.—Not less than 50 gallons, properly prepared for manufacturing purposes. Hemp.—Not less than one ton, properly prepared for manufacturing purposes. Cotton".—Not less than one ton, properly prepared for manufacturing purposes. Hops.—Not less than one ton, properly prepared. Silk. —Not less than half a cwt., the produce of silkworms bred in Victoria. 4. It shall be competent for the Board to receive, and, if approved of, to recommend rewards for other articles of local manufacture or production, or to offer and publish such special rewards or premiums as it may think fit; and also to refuse reward or premium to any new article of growth or manufacture, if it is not considered to be of merit and usefulness sufficient to entitle it to favourable consideration. It will be seen, firstly, that under the foregoing Regulations the Board are precluded from allowing premiums to any person who may have commenced the establishment of a new manufacture or industry before the Ist January, 1864. The principle may, at first sight, appear objectionable, as, of course, the earlier the commencement, the greater the merit of the promoter; but, as it would be difficult, in the state of the colony, to be retrospective, the fixing of a determinate and recent date has, in the opinion of the Board, been wise. The result, however, has been, both in this and the preceding year, to exclude a considerable number of meritorious applicants, which the Board regret but cannot remedy. It will be seen, secondly that the terms of Regulation No. 2 preclude the Board, in most cases, from offering any premium for articles which were inchoate, but not completed. This restriction has been peculiarly tested during the present year. A considerable number of the applicants have been desirous to obtain advances upon the strength of undertakings which are only just commenced or half carried through. This is the case with the two most important and, prospectively, most successful industries, paper making and woollen goods. In the first case a large portion of very valuable machinery has actually arrived, and an expenditure of some thousands of pounds has been already incurred; in the latter, an amount of machinery nearly, equal in value has been commissioned to be purchased in England, and is probably by this time on its way out. The sum which the Board have allotted respectively to each, subject to conditions hereinafter specified, is £1,500, absorbing three-fifths of the entire grant; but they have felt themselves legally precluded from advancing any portion of the same, as will be noticed in the conditions referred to, until an actual sample, of adequate quantity and quality, corresponding with the Regulations, has been produced. The above applies to the various articles of agricultural produce, of which, in most cases, no samples have been forwarded, or imperfect ones. Mr. McAndrew, ex. gr., can only receive £200, prospectively upon the production, within a specified time, of one ton of flax. Should the present grant be extended for the year 1867, it is almost certain that a very considerable quantity of at present incompleted work will have become eligible for reward. The only discretionary power which the Board have possessed has been under the 4th clause of the Regulations. The language of this clause has enabled them, in certain cases, to extend a limited assistance to enterprises precluded under the 2nd and 3rd clauses. The first meeting of the Board took place on the sth day of October, 1865, when five members, Messrs. Anderson, Francis, Harrison, Reeves, and Riddell, were present, by whom the Hon. J. G. Francis, Commissioner of Trade and Customs, was elected Chairman. The minutes of the proceedings will be seen, in a condensed form, in Appendix B. At the next meeting, which was held on the sth December, sixty-seven applications, which had been received on or before the Ist idem, were laid before the Board, and at that meeting, and those which, subsequently took place, were carefully considered in their order of receipt. The following is the list of the applications in question: — HST OP APPLICATIONS FOE EEWABDS OE PIUSHIUMS JOB THE ESTABLISHMENT OP KEW MANtTFACTUBES, INDUSTEIES, ETC. No. 1. Loughnan, Brothers, Melbourne. —Causing the cultivation of tohacco, and successfully establishing its manufacture in Victoria. No. 2. Q-. F. Chapman, Carloton. —Inventor of a certain description of medicine. No. 3. P. O. Grady, Kilmore. —Cultivation of tobacco, and erection of machinery for the manufacture thereof. No. 4. A. Cornwell, Brunswick.—Manufacture of chemical ware, &c. No. 5. H. Watts, Warrnambool.—Being the first person who has grown flowers, and distilled them for their essences, for perfumery. No. 6. E. M. Meyer, Ballarat.—Manufacture of chloroform, essences, &c.