A.—3.

16

No. 42. Ordinances Nos. 11 and 12 op the Federal Council of the Cook Islands, forwarded by the Resident Commissioner for the Assent of His Excellency the Governor (August, 1903). No. 11. — An Ordinance to extend Section 2 of the Traders' License Act to the Islands of Manihiki, Rakahanga, and Pukapuka. Be it enacted by the Federal Council of the Cook and other Islands: — 1. The Short Title of this Ordinance is " The Trading Schooner Ordinance, 1903." 2. Section two of " The Traders' License Act, 1898," is hereby extended to include the islands of Manihiki, Rakahanga, and Pukapuka (Danger Island). 3. All trading-vessels within the meaning of section two shall pay the full license fee of ten pounds (£10) in advance. 4. Regulation No. 2, of the twenty-second day of October, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight is hereby repealed. Passed this twentieth day of July, one thousand nine hundred and three. S. Savage, Clerk to the Council. W. E. Gudgeon, President. [Assented to by the Governor on the 2nd September,' 1903.]

No. 12. — An Ordinance to regulate and insure the Attendance of Native Children at the various Schools established within the Cook Islands. Be it enacted by the Federal Council of the Cook and Northern Islands: — 1. The Short Title of this Ordinance is " The School Attendance Ordinance, 1903." 2. From and after the date on which this Ordinance shall come into force parents will be held responsible for the non-attendance at school of any child above the age of six years and under the age of thirteen years. 3. In all cases of truancy the father of the truant child shall be deemed to be primarily responsible for such truancy, but if it shall be shown in evidence that the father was absent at the time that the child had been adopted and was living with other people, or that for some other reason the father was not responsible, then the mother or the person in whose charge the child was living shall be held to be the person responsible to the Court. 4. It shall be the duty of all masters of schools established within the limits of the Cook and Northern Islands to maintain a regular attendance of the children at the school over which they preside, and report the non-attendance of any child to the police, whose duty it will be to inquire forthwith into the case and bring the parent or guardian before the nearest Court. 5. Any Judge or Magistrate of a Court within the Cook and Northern Islands aforesaid may inflict a fine of not exceeding one shilling for each act of truancy, provided always that where a child shall have been three times convicted of truancy within one month the parent or guardian shall on the third conviction be liable to a fine of not exceeding five shillings. 6. No Court fees shall be charged under this Ordinance in undefended cases, but it shall be in the discretion of the Court to charge the ordinary fees in all cases where the time of the Court has been wasted by the equivocation of parents or guardians. 7. Nothing contained in this Ordinance shall be held to deprive the master of any school of the power to give reasonable exemption from school attendance to any child at the request of the parents. 8. This Ordinance shall apply to the Island of Rarotonga only, but may be adopted by the Island Council of any island and brought into force by Proclamation in the Cook Islands Gazette. Passed the twentieth day of July, one thousand nine hundred and three. S. Savage, Clerk to the Council. W. E. Gudgeon, President. [Assented to by the Governor on the 2nd September, 1903.]

No. 43. Sir,— Aitutaki, Cook Islands, 10th August, 1903. From the delay in the approval of the Sale of Liquor Ordinance passed by the Island Council of Rarotonga, I presume that the Government of New Zealand sees reason to object to the principles of the said Ordinance. I have therefore the honour to submit for your consideration an alternative scheme by which the present miserable system may be superseded. The regulations that now govern the sale of spirituous liquor date from 1891, and are briefly as follows: There are no restrictions on the sale of liquor to Europeans other than this, that the liquor must be drawn from the Government bond, As for the Native inhabitants, the law of 1891 legalised the traffic so far as they were concerned, and this state of affairs continued up to the year 1898, when the system was exposed during the inquiry held by Sir James Prendergast, and from that date the Arikis refused to sign permits or allow their names to be signed by others, with the result that the Natives ceased to draw liquor directly from the bond; but there can be little doubt that they still obtain spirits from the foreign inhabitants —namely, the Chinese and others. That any effort on the part of the Government would put a stop to the drunkenness that may exist in Rarotonga is an idea that cannot be entertained for a moment, for the Natives do not depend upon imported liquor but manufacture intoxicating drinks from the orange, pineapple,

A.-3, 1903, No. 38