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camp, and from the force in camp should have supplied the necessary cooks. Had these things been done we are satisfied that further discontent by the officers and men on account of their rations would have been avoided. The tent accommodation, so far as space was concerned, appears to have been generally sufficient, though there was overcrowding in some instances. The straw allowed at first—one bundle and a half per tent—was insufficient ; afterwards more straw was obtained by Lieut.-Colonel Sommerville. It appears, however, that the ground was in such a saturated state of wet that no amount of straw would have remedied the discomfort of the men in the tents. In our opinion the camp should have been broken up altogether on Monday, the 17th June, and the men put under cover in Wellington, and the horses properly provided for elsewhere than at the camp. Beyond allowing some corps to shift their tents and horses (at their own risk) to the cover of the trees on the hillsides at Newtown Park, getting more straw, and allowing men to leave camp and to shift for themselves, the officer in command of the camp did nothing to mitigate the discomfort of the men and horses until the forenoon of Wednesday, the 19th June, when he brought the whole state of things existing at the camp to "the notice of the Commandant of the Forces, and through him to that of the Right Hon. the Defence Minister, who at once gave Colonel Sommerville instructions, through the Commandant, to break up the camp forthwith, and to make the best arrangements he could for the comfort of the men and horses elsewhere. There seems to have been some delay in these orders reaching the camp, according to the evidence of Captain Dunk and of Captain Watt. " 2. The alleged deficiency and bad quality and bad cooking of the rations at the camp at Newtown Park, and in the various Volunteer billets, from the 15th to the 22nd June." Report. —Owing to the absence of anything like proper discipline and organization for the issue of rations at Newtown Park Camp, it is impossible to say definitely whether there was any deficiency in quantity of rations supplied by the contractor. There seems to have been wholly insufficient supervision by officers of the day, or other orderly officers, of the issue of the cooked rations at the camp kitchens, some corps getting at times much more than they were entitled to, whilst others got much less than they were entitled to, and at some meals whole corps getting hardly any. The arrangements made for cooking the officers' and men's rations at Newtown Park Camp were inadequate. We consider that sufficient covering should have been provided for the protection of the fires at the camp kitchens, and of the cooks from the weather. The result of such precautions being disregarded was that the meat—apparently of good quality—was so insufficiently cooked as to be unfit for consumption. The tea and coffee supplied to the men were in many cases quite unfit to drink. The vegetables in a number of instances were improperly cooked, and thereby rendered unfit to be eaten. The evidence shows that an insufficient number of cooks were employed. The consequence of all this was that many men got their meals out of camp at their own expense. In the other billets, with the exception of one case at the X shed—where some meat was on one occasion cooked which was unfit for food, having gone bad (apparently from a faulty manner of keeping it), and which was duly reported—it appears that there were no complaints. The provisions supplied to the Volunteers were sufficient in quantity, of good quality, and properly cooked. The arrangements for the supply of water at Newtown Park Camp were insufficient and defective. " 3. To inquire into complaints, if any, at the time or since, as to the housing, victualling, and discomforts of the officers and men." Report. —-Complaints appear to have been made by the Volunteers in Newtown Park Camp to their officers of the discomforts to which they were subjected there, and as to the improper and insufficient manner in which the meat was cooked, as to the shortness of vegetables, and as to the bad quality of the tea and coffee. These complaints were laid before Colonel Sommerville, but beyond his telephoning to Colonel Newall and his speaking to the contractor and the cook nothing effectual appears to have been clone to remedy the existing state of things. Lieut.-Colonel Sommerville appears to have thought that after Tuesday, the 18th of June, the cooking gradually improved, so as not to justify complaint. The evidence of the bulk of the witnesses called before us does not support such a view. "4. The supply of forage and foraging for horses."