H- 19b

Kid. POET. in the matter of a Commission dated the Bth day of .July, 1915, under the hand of His Excellency the Governor, to the Honourable Mr. Justice Hosking, William Ferguson, Esq., and Arthur Anderson Martin, Esq., to inquire into and report on the administration of the Camp of the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces at Trentham. To His Excellency the Governor. May it please Your Excellency,— We have the honour to report as follows : — Action of Commission. 1. We entered upon the duties imposed on us by the Commission at as early a date as was practicable after its issue. We sat first on the 13th July, 1915, in order to settle the procedure. It was arranged, on the suggestion of the Commission, that counsel should attend to act on behalf of those who desired to make complaints, and that separate counsel should do so on behalf of all those who might be involved in any charges that arose in the course of the inquiry. Mr. Skerrett, K.C., and Mr. Gray, K.C., afterwards appeared in those capacities respectively. The Solicitor-General attended to assist the Commissioners, but upon the footing that he was not to be regarded as in the light of prosecuting counsel. 2. We caused advertisements to be inserted in the newspapers at the four centres and at Palmerston North inviting those who desired to give evidence to communicate with Mr. Skerrett or Mr. Gray according to the nature of their evidence. 3. The first sitting at which evidence was given took place on the 16th July, and the sittings were repeated on the 17th, J 9th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 30th, and 31st July, and on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, sth, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th August, that of the 31st July being held at Trentham Camp. 4. An announcement was made at the meeting on the 17th July to the effect that all witnesses attending upon subpoena would be entitled to maintenance and travelling-expenses in accordance with the Code scale of allowance to witnesses in a civil action in the Supreme Court, and also that all witnesses giving evidence would possess the same privileges and immunities as a witness in such an action is granted. 5. In anticipation of the sitting at Trentham on the 31st July, the attendance of the Commission was announced in the camp orders, so that it might come within the cognizance of all those in camp. Several witnesses were examined there, four of them having been picked at random from men about the camp by the secretary to the Commission. 6. On the 18th July we paid a visit of inspection to the camp and the racecourse hospital. We also supplemented our visit of inspection when we visited the camp on the 31st July. On the 2nd August we inspected Berhampore, then unoccupied. Nurse Faram accompanied us to indicate the various quarters occupied by patients. One of the Commissioners, Dr. Martin, inspected in detail the accommodation for patients at Levin and Co.'s store, Kaiwarra, and the racecourse hospital. 7. We examined in all 100 witnesses, and a shorthand note of their evidence was taken, the transcription of which was afterwards signed by them. The Index A herewith sets forth the witnesses' names and with a brief statement of the topics to which each spoke. In addition to the oral evidence, which was taken on oath, numerous plans, returns, and other papers were presented and considered.

Arrangement. of procedure

Advertisements.

Dates of sittings.

Expenses and immunities of witnesses.

Witnesses taken at Trentham.

Inspection of oamp and hospital accommodation.

Note of evidence.

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