H.— Bio

1919. NEW ZEALAND

SAMOAN EPIDEMIC COMMISSION (REPORT OF).

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

COMMISSION. Liv bepool, ( } overnor-Greneral. To all to whom these presents shall come, and to George Elliot, Esquire, 0.8. E., of Auckland ; Thomas Wilson, Esquire, of Wellington ; and Lieutenant-Colonel William Harold Sefton Moorhouse, M.8.E., of Wellington : Greeting. WHEREAS in or about the month of November, one thousand nine hundred and eighteen, an epidemic of pneumonic influenza broke out in the Islands of Western Samoa, then in the military occupation of the Expeditionary Forces of New Zealand : And whereas it is expedient that inquiry should be made as to the circumstances and causes of the introduction of that disease into those islands and its extension there : Now, therefore, I, Arthur William de Brito Savile, Eafl of Liverpool, the Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand, in exercise of the powers conferred by the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1908, and of all other authorities enabling me in this behalf, and acting by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of that Dominion, do hereby constitute and appoint you, George Elliot, Thomas Wilson, and William Harold Sefton Moorhouse, to be a Commission to inquire into and report as to the following matters, namely,— 1. The circumstances and causes of the introduction of epidemic pneumonic influenza into the islands of Western Samoa in or about the month of November, one thousand nine hundred anil eighteen, and of its extension in those islands. 2. All matters connected with the departure of the steamship " Talune " from the Port of Auckland on or about the thirtieth day of October, one thousand nine hundred and eighteen, her voyage to the said islands and her arrival there, in respect of the bearing of those matters on the introduction of the said epidemic. 3. Whether the introduction or extension of the said epidemic was caused by any negligence or default on the part of any persons in the service of the Crown, whether in respect of the Executive Government of New Zealand or in respect of the administration of the said Islands of Western Samoa.

I—H. 31c.