7

I.—ll

Wednesday, 4th September, 1889. The Committee met at 11 a.m., pursuant to notice. Present: Hon. Mr. Acland (Chairman), Hon. Mr. Miller, Hon. Mr. Peter, Hon. Mr. Pharazyn, Hon. Mr. Walker, Hon. Mr. Wigley, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Dodson, Mr. Duncan, Mr. Kerr, and Mr. Lawry. The minutes of the preceding meeting were read and confirmed. Mr. Hull being recalled was further examined, and, being thanked, withdrew. The Hon. Mr. Walker moved, That the Committee do now adjourn. The motion was, with the leave of the Committee, withdrawn. On motion of Mr Anderson, Besolved, That the Stock Department be requested to furnish the Committee with copies of all correspondence in connection with the appointment of Mr. Clifton as Chief Inspector of Sheep in the Wellington District. Besolved, That the Hon. the Minister of Lands be requested to attend the next meeting of the Committee. The petition of Cyrus Goulter and others was then considered. On the motion of the Hon. Mr. Miller, Besolved, That, as " The Babbit Act, 1886," makes provision for the subject-matter of this petition, this Committee has no recommendation to make. The Committee then adjourned till Friday next at 11 a.m.

Friday, 6th September, 1889. The Committee met at 11 a.m., pursuant to notice. Present: Hon. Mr. Acland (Chairman), Hon. Mr. Miller, Hon. Mr. Pharazyn, Hon. Mr. Walker, Hon. Mr. Wigley, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Dodson, Mr. Duncan, Mr. Kerr, Mr. Lawry, and Mr. J, McKenzie. Papers laid upon the Table : (L.S. 89/354), (L.S. 89/379), (L.S. 89/392). A draft report was submitted to the Committee, as follows : — Your Committee have the honour to report that they have inquired into various matters connected with the Stock Department, and are of opinion that the changes that were made last year have been beneficial, though they have not yet had the effect intended—of stamping scab out of the country. The three districts that were infected with scab at the time of the last session still remain so, namely, Tophouse, Kaikoura, and Miranda. At the Tophouse and the neighbourhood very energetic steps have been taken: two gangs of men were employed for some six months in scouring the country, and 1,250 wild sheep have been killed, many of them very scabby. No wild sheep are now known to exist there; but the Inspector of the district cannot be certain until he has had an opportunity of trailing sheep over the country. The Loan and Mercantile Agency Company own the Birch Hill and adjoining stations, and for the last twelve months they have apparently done everything possible to thwart the action of the Inspector. Had they co-operated with him, there is very little doubt that the question of whether the country was clean or not would have been decided. The Committee consider that the representatives of this company in this locality are deserving of the severest censure, in setting an example that would not be tolerated in a private individual, and which is most prejudicial to the best interests of the colony. Until this company is made to do its duty, this part of the country must remain on the infected list. At Kaikoura the flock that was infecied last year is now clean, but there has been a very remarkable outbreak in another direction. The country is known as the Bui Bui Bun, and was considered by the owners to be free from scab, having been unstocked for about two years. In February last scab was discovered in an isolated flock of 800 sheep, which were at once destroyed. The scab was supposed to have been about a month old ; but all the efforts that have been made to trace the cause of the disease have failed, and, until that is discovered, the country cannot be considered safe. At Miranda scab was discovered in a flock of 200 sheep. These sheep were not destroyed, they were ordered by the Minister to bo cleaned; and in coming to this determination your Committee consider that a grave mistake has been made : the sheep should have been at once destroyed. Thus, from various causes, New Zealand is still suffering from being an infected country; and, while your Committee recognise that good work has been clone during the last year, they would urge upon the Government the absolute necessity of increasing vigilance until a clean bill of health can be shown for the entire colony. Babbits. The number of rabbit-skins exported during the last year was 12,593,171, being an increase of nearly half a million on the preceding year. It would appear, therefore, that the number of rabbits is still increasing ; but it is hoped that their encroachment on any further area of country will be much less rapid than has been the case in the past. The Conference held in Sydney last year, after the most exhaustive experiments and most careful investigation, has reported that none of the diseases that came under their notice were of any practical use in getting rid of the rabbits, and they were compelled to fall back on the three known methods of dealing with them, namely, poisoning, the natural enemy, and fencing.