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And in further pursuance of the powers vested in me by the said Act, and with the like advice and consent, I do hereby confirm the said Commission except as altered by these presents. Given under the hand of His Excellency the Right Honourable Arthur William de Brito Savile, Earl of Liverpool, Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Member of the Royal Victorian Order, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over His Majesty's Dominion of New Zealand and its Dependencies ; and issued under the Seal of the said Dominion, at the Government House, at Wellington, this fourteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and thirteen. F. M. B. Fisher, Approved in Council, Minister of Marine. J. F. Andrews, Clerk of the Executive Council.

EEPOET. To His Excellency the Right Honourable Arthur William de Brito Savile, Earl of Liverpool, Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Member of the Royal Victorian Order, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over His Majesty's Dominion of New Zealand and its Dependencies : May it please Your Excellency,— On the 2nd day of September, 1913, Your Excellency appointed us a Commission to inquire into and report upon the administration of affairs of the Westport Harbour Board under a nominated Board, with special reference to the following points :— (a.) Has the administration in the past been satisfactory ? (b.) Have the works been carried out with economy ? (c.) Has the Board in the past taken reasonable care that the land reclaimed at the Board's expense should not be alienated from the Board's control ? (d.) Under the existing method of levying wharfage rates or dues, is the burden of responsibility of maintaining the port borne equitably by those concerned ? (c.) The system which has been adopted in connection with keeping the accounts of the detailed cost of work of construction and of maintenance : (/.) The method of keeping the trading accounts of the Board : (g.) The suitability or otherwise of the present facilities for loading coal : (h.) Is the construction of the floating basin or permanent slipway necessary, and, if so, is it an urgent work ? (i.) As to whether the conditions of the endowment provided under subsection (2) of section 7 of the Westport Harbour Board Act, 1884, should be revised: And generally to inquire into and report upon such other matters as may come under our notice in the course of our inquiries and which we consider necessary to investigate in the public interest. Pursuant to the above Commission, we entered upon the said inquiry on the sth day of September, 1913, at Wellington, and pursued our investigations in Wellington until the Bth September. Thereafter we proceeded to Westport with all diligence. We arrived in Westport on the 9th September, and on the following day met some of the members of the present Harbour Board, and had the books, plans, and other documents in the possession or control of the Board placed at our disposal, and began our examination. We advertised in the Westport papers our intention to sit and hear evidence. On the 12th day of September we opened our sittings for the taking of evidence in the Courthouse at Westport. Mr. A. T. Maginnity, of Nelson, solicitor, appeared as solicitor on behalf of the Government Departments interested in the inquiry.