H.—l7.

at once reject portions, which were sold at any price to cheap dealers, who hawked the meat for ale to consumers, which has the effect of demoralising the market value of frozen meats, and generally discrediting the industry and the people connected therewith. Stringent regulations and supervision are necessary in order to insure that due care and attention shall always be given to New Zealand's valuable product—meat. By-products. In my interim report dated the 13th instant I have dealt with by-products in detail. Hides, pelts, tallow, and preserved meats are now selling at high prices in all parts of the world, while wool and the minor by-products are also rising in value. Conclusions. The results of my investigations of the meat-export trade in the District of Wellington, as set out in this and the interim report of the 13th instant, justify the following conclusions : — It is imperatively necessary that a complete reformation of the industry from beginning to end should take place. In the first place, the farmers who produce the meat are dissatisfied with the treatment they receive from the freezing companies, who run the industry in the interests of the few shareholders who own the freezing-works. The farmers and the Government should co-operate to establish the industry upon quite new lines. The meat product is the property of the farmers, who should take upon their own shoulders the burden of marketing the commodity. To this end it appears to me that ways and means can best be provided by farmers submitting to the levying of a special rate upon their lands as security for the capital required. By this means the necessary money can be raised at minimum rates of interest, and, provided that the industry is properly managed, it will never be necessary to collect a penny of the rate which secures the capital loaned for the purchase of existing works or the erection of new premises, &c. In the second place, the general conduct of the industry is so very unsatisfactory that changes must be made, otherwise the inferior product of the Argentine will, owing to capable management, place our commodity in the secondary instead of the premier position on the Home market. Thirdly and finally, the industry is languishing for the want of the benefits that Government " grading" and supervision in all directions can secure. The financial stability of the colony is dependent upon the successful running and development of her exporting industries, and, as the meat trade is the second largest of these, its maintenance upon satisfactory lines is of paramount importance. Final Eemarks. The matter contained in my report specially applies to the Wellington District; but, as the conduct of the meat trade is very similar in the Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, and Auckland Districts, the report can be taken as entirely applicable to the North Island. In the South Island farmers are more fully alive to their own interests, and take care to secure a greater measure of the value in their fat stock than is the case with North Island farmers; consequently much of the matter reported will not apply to the industry in the South. However, Canterbury farmers are moving for the purpose of placing the industry under one controlling company or board. They realise that too many agents sell the colony's meat at Home, with the result that such agents are competing against each other, which competition is destructive of the realisation of good prices. I have, &c, F. T. Moore.

APPENDIX E. REPORT OF MR. F. T. BOYS ON HIS MISSION TO WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Sir,— Wellington, 31st December, 1901. I have the honour to report that, acting upon the instructions contained in your letter of the 4th October, I proceeded to Sydney, and immediately upon my arrival there communicated with the Premier of Western Australia by wire. In accordance with the wishes of the Western Australian Government, as expressed in the telegrams above referred to, I proceeded by first available steamer from Adelaide to Perth, and on my arrival was met by several members of the Legislative Assembly who were interested in the subject of my mission, notably Mr. J. M. Hopkins, the member for Boulder City, who was acting as Chairman of the Meat-supply Commission before which I was required to give evidence. The printed copy of the Committee's report, with the evidence and other papers, has just reached me, and I hand you herewith complete copies of same, trusting that the result of the inquiry may be of service to the colonies which are concerned. It may be of interest to you to note the opinions which I have formed, and the facts which have been elicited having a bearing on the matter in question. Western Australia, from the barren nature of the country, is incapable of producing her own foodstuffs, and, the population being concentrated in the capital and in the large inland mining centres, it follows as a natural consequence that the colony has to look elsewhere for the necessaries of life, and thus occupies among the Australasian Colonies the unique position of being almost entirely dependent upon outsiders for its food-supply.

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