H.-22

6

advantageous to the country by affording a new outlet for labour, and to some extent favourably affecting the exchanges. The Commission are of opinion, however, that the bonus offered to this industry by the Act of 1879 is sufficient to encourage capitalists to embark in it, and they do not recommend any further concession to be made to it, unless the whole question of facilitating the local production of tobacco is to be dealt with apart from the revenue question. Sugar. The evidence on the subject of sugar is meagre, somewhat contradictory, and almost entirely speculative. It appears to the Commission that, while there is every probability of parts of New Zealand being found adapted for the growth of saccharine plants, no experiments of a conclusive character have yet been made to show that sugar can be produced here profitably. Lying, as New Zealand does, conveniently to the Mauritius and the islands of the Pacific, and drawing unlimited supplies of the finest sugar from these sources' on fairly advantageous terms, the conditions of local production would need to be very favourable indeed, in order to render the industry worth prosecuting. Bearing in mind, however, that the capabilities of this country as regards climate and soil are as yet but little known, and also that the sugar industry has been made to flourish in countries less favoured than this, the Commission recommend that a bonus should be offered by the Government for the production of sugar from saccharine plants grown in New Zealand. Fruits and Preserves. The preparation of fruits and preserves is an industry for which New Zealand is better adapted than almost any other country in the world, and the fact that it has been so little engaged in is not easily accounted for, except on the ground that money has been earned so easily in less laborious ways as to deter the people from turning their attention to this. The industry has been established on a limited scale in various parts of the colony, and is everywhere found to be both easy and profitable, even when engaged in with but little capital and simple appliances. It does, in fact, need no artificial assistance, and the Commission are of opinion that if those who are engaged in it were to adopt the same means of pushing their trade that are employed by most men of business, they would speedily find themselves in a very satisfactory position. The success of any industry depends at least as much upon the degree of skill and energy with which its products are brought into the public markets as upon the quality of the products themselves. The fruit trade requires publicity and vigour in competition more than anything else. Taking into consideration, however, the great desirability of getting this thoroughly domestic, wholesome, and much-needed food industry firmly established, the Commission recommend that arrangements should be made for allowing a rebate on sugar used in the preparation of preserved fruits. The singular apathy with which this trade is at present'followed is shown by the fact that a number of applicants have asked for a remission of the duties on sheet tin and solder, being evidently unaware that there are no duties on those articles. This curious mistake as to the existing duties has been found, however, in many other trades besides that of fruit-preserving, and shows how little difference there is between an imaginary and a real grievance. Linseed. The growth of linseed is shown to be an industry which could not fail to succeed or to prove of great value in New Zealand. The Commission think the papers on the subject are sufficient to justify their recommending that a bonus should be offered by the Government for the manufacture within the colony of the various products of linseed. Starch. The wonderful suitability of many parts of New Zealand, including areas in some localities which are at present considered almost entirely worthless, for the growth of potatoes, seems to render the profitable manufacture of starch a very simple and a very desirable matter. The only reason why it is not established