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has done us a lot of harm. The last two or three months trade has been better, but last winter we were doing absolutely nothing. 712. Would an additional 5 per cent, secure you as against the Australian importation?—lt will make some difference, and put us more on a level with the Australian people. 713. Do you want any distinction made between, kangaroo- and wallaby-skins?— Wallaby comes in now at Id. per pound, and we want kangaroo made the same. 714. What is the difference in market-value between wallaby- and kangaroo-skins?—At the present time it is about 6d. a pound, but some time ago it was more than that. I think the wallabies were reduced to help me in the matter, and they have done me a lot of good. 715. Was that reduction made at the time the duty on kangaroo was increased?—l do not know. After the last revision of the tariff I paid 3d. per pound on both. Mr. Glasgow : As the tariff only mentioned kangaroo-leather, it was decided that we had no right to charge wallabies as kangaroo, so the benefit of the doubt was given to Mr. Calton. 716. Mr. Stevens.] Are there not large numbers of bridle-reins, headstalls, and martingales made in the colony from colonial-dressed hide ?—There is a man in Wellington who makes very little else than bridles, and I make a few of them, but I have not sold more than half a dozen. There is so much work in them it does not pay. Mr. Stevens : I know a man in my district who makes a good living by them. Witness : The kangaroo-skins are not stout enough for them. 717. Mr. Stevens.] Would good thin cow-hide make as good a whip as wallaby-skin?—l think so, if you get the leather properly dressed. 718. Mr. Tanner.] Are there many whips imported into the colony annually ?—Yes, a great many more are imported than are manufactured. A large number of Australian thongs are imported, to say nothing of English thongs. They came in as whips at 15 per cent. I make as many whips, or more, as any maker, and I suppose at the very most I do not make more than a thousand pounds' worth a year. Last year it would not amount to that— perhaps seventy or eighty pounds' worth a month. "The highest quantity we made last month was fifty pounds' worth. 719. Do you find you suffer a disadvantage on account of bad skinning, or branding, or cutting by barbed wire in connection with colonial cow-hide ? Do you lose much leather from this cause ?— Occasionally we have cow-hide with a brand that interferes with us. I get specially good leather from Hirst's. His leathers are the best I have had, and are more free from marks than any other. I pay a little more, but it pays me to do so, and to get a better article. The calf-skins are badly cut, and make a material difference. I had one skin that cut double the quantity of another on account of the latter being cut in the skin. As far as barbed wire is concerned, Ido not think there is much injury done to the skin from that cause.

Tuesday, 12th February, 1895. (19-) Coleman Phillips examined. 720. The Chairman:] What is the matter, Mr. Phillips, upon which you propose to address the Commission ? —Chiefly drawbacks upon the exports to the islands, and the encouragement of our local outward trade ; and I should like to inform the Commission of the present position of our neighbouring tropical outward trade, and in what manner our tariff can encourage it. The trade is a growing one. lam very anxious to see it encouraged for the general benefit of the colony. I revisited the Pacific Islands in December last after an interval of twenty years. The cargo of the s.s. " Upola," in which I went, consisted of sheep, cattle, pigs, fowls, ducks, turkeys, a large quantity of kauri building timber, boats, oars, piles for wharves, case-meats, keg-meat, rice, sugar, currant's, onions, soap, sashes and doors, flour, cabin and fancy biscuits, milk in cases, nails, fowls' wheat, corrugated iron, potatoes, oats, rope, tea, herrings, salmon, sundry groceries, maize, harness, buggies, tip-drays (a good many), drapery, hams, cheese, eggs, butter (tins in case, and kegs in cloth), mouldings, joinery, ironmongery, bottled fruit (tomatoes, gooseberries, plums, &c), jams of all kinds, tanks, New Zealand mullet, ridging and spouting, lime (hydraulic), anchors, brassware, bacon, bran, kerosene, tinned vegetables, photographic goods, sardines, malt, tobacco, salt, blue, cornflour, sharps, turnery, beer, stout, spirits, wire netting, glassware, lollies, corn-sacks (for cobra), split-peas, starch, sewing-machines, stationery, coffee, soups (in cases), vinegar, cigars, cigarettes, and 200 tons of coal. Of these, San Francisco also sends oars, sashes and doors, cabin and fancy biscuits (hundreds of tons), harness, tinned vegetables, &c. So that we have to consider San Francisco's competition as well as that of Sydney ; not that we should be afraid of San Francisco if our tariff and harbour dues were kept low, but rather that our factories should turn out these special lines that I have named. Of course, there are regular monthly, and sometimes fortnightly, mail-steamers to Samoa, Fiji, and Noumea across the Pacific now. Milk in cases is obtained from Europe ; so are bottled fruits (tomatoes, gooseberries, plums, &c). I should think in both lines New Zealand could well compete, providing tinware and solder were free of duty, and no imposts placed in the way of bottle-makers. Dunedm, Oamaru, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, Gisborne, and Auckland (chiefly) all share in the export of the above-named lines, so that the whole colony is directly interested in this special trade. Of the above monthly consignment, 3,737 packages were for Tonga and nearly 5,000 for Samoa, or 8,737 packages in all. The Fiji trade is an exactly similar one, but is carried on by the Union Steamship Company in the s.s. "Taviuni," which performs a monthly trip from Auckland. The Fiji trade is increasing in importance every year, and will be of great benefit to us if Sydney does not monopolize it. The s.s. "Taviuni" is 1,465 tons register, and is usually a full ship. The s.s. " Upolu "is 1,141 tons. The Rarotonga and Tahiti trade is carried on by the s.s. "Richmond " from Auckland, but three large schooners from San Francisco rather discount the efforts of the s.s. "Richmond." Personally, lam not satisfied with the work of the s.s. " Richmond," and I should like to see the Union Steamship Company put on a