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not regularly continued from time to time by adjournment; and, further, that all the powers, duties, and authorities by these presents vested in you, the said Commissioners, may be exercised and performed by any two of you sitting and acting together. And Ido hereby require you or any two of you, with as little delay as possible, but not later than the thirtieth day of November next ensuing, to report to me, under your hands and seals, your opinion resulting from the said inquiry in respect of the several matters and things inquired into by you under or by virtue of these presents. And, lastly, I do hereby declare that this Commission is and is intended to be issued subject to the provisions of "The Commissioners' Powers Act, 1867," and " The Commissioners' Powers Act Amendment Act, 1872." Given under the hand of His Excellency Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, Lieutenant-General in Her Majesty's Army, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same; and issued under the Seal of the said Colony, at the Government House, at Wellington, this twenty-first day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six. Wm. F. Dbummond Jeevois, Issued in Executive Council. Governor. Fokstee Goeing, Clerk of the Executive Council.

Beport of Commission. To His Excellency Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, K.G.0.M.G., G. 8., Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand, and ViceAdmiral of the same. May it, please your Excellency,— We, the undersigned, appointed by a Commission, dated the 21st day of September, 1886, under the hand of the Governor, and sealed with the Public Seal of the Colony, to inquire into all the facts and circumstances connected with or incidental to the purchase by the Government of New Zealand of 28 acres and 16 perches of land at the North Shore, near Auckland, for defence purposes, from one Robert Adam Mosley Stark, and into the conduct of all persons concerned in or taking part in the said purchase, respectfully submit for your Excellency's consideration the following report of our proceedings and of the opinions we have formed in respect of the several matters and things inquired into by us under and by virtue of the said Commission. In accordance with the terms of the Commission, we caused the following advertisement to be inserted in the daily papers circulating in the district: "Ba the Stark Purchase.—Whereas by Commission under the hand of His Excellency the Governor, and under the Seal of the Colony of New Zealand, we, the undersigned, were appointed Commissioners to inquire into the purchase by the New Zealand Government of land from one Eobert Adam Mosley Stark, and into all the facts and circumstances connected with or incidental to the said purchase, and the conduct of all and every person or persons concerned or taking part in the said purchase in any way : Now, therefore, we hereby give notice to Thomas Seaman, of Auckland, estate agent, and H. M. Brewer, of Auckland, Government Land Purchase Officer, and generally to all other persons who may desire to offer evidence before us in respect of the matters comprised in the said Commission, that we will be prepared to enter upon the said inquiry on Monday, the 11th instant, at 10 o'clock, in the offices of the Harbour Board, Auckland." And we lost no opportunity during the inquiry of impressing on the minds of the community that we were prepared to examine not only all witnesses suggested by parties concerned, but to summon any persons whose names might be mentioned to us as able to furnish information on the matters we had to investigate. Fifty witnesses have given evidence on oath, which evidence has been taken down and transcribed in writing, signed by such witnesses, and accompanies this report. We have permitted the utmost latitude in their examination, cross-examination, and re-examination by counsel, and by other persons who desired to question them. The counsel for the so-called Vigilance Committee requested that the Hon. Sir Julius Vogel, the Hon. Mr. Eichardson, and Mr. Sperrey should be called to give evidence; but as we had no power to summon witnesses residing over two hundred miles from the place of sitting, and as we had been informed that the Ministers could not then leave the seat of Government, but that the place of sitting of the Commissioners could, if necessary, be extended to Wellington, we replied that we should be prepared to adjourn and continue our inquiries there if the counsel could attend himself, or if his Committee could appoint another counsel to represent them, or if they furnished us with the points on which they wished the Ministers to be examined. The counsel did not press this request any further. As a guide to the points to be inquired into we had the evidence taken before the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Eepresentatives, Mr. Mitchelson's letter to the Premier of the 7th September, a list of witnesses furnished by the counsel for the Vigilance Committee, and the petition prepared by the said Committee, which had been signed by a large number of Auckland residents, and forwarded for presentation to both Houses of the General Assembly, but which, we understand, arrived too late to be presented last session. Mr. Mitchelson stated in his letter that there was no doubt in his mind but that there had been a conspiracy to defraud the Government; and the petitioners averred their belief that if a Commission were held on the spot evidence could be supplied to show that such a conspiracy had been entered into. They have, however, in our opinion, entirely failed to sustain these allegations