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Session 11. 1921. NEW ZEALAND.

THAMES HARBOUR COMMISSION (REPORT OF).

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

To His Excellency the Eight Honourable John Eushworth, Viscount Jellicoe, Admiral of the Fleet, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Member of the Order of Merit, Knight Grand Cross of the Eoyal Victorian Order, Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in and over His Majesty's Dominion of New Zealand and its Dependencies. May it Please Your Excellency,— Your Excellency's Commission, dated the 9th March, 1921, directed us to inquire into and determine the following matters, that is to say, — (a.) Whether any, and if any, then what, areas shall be added to or excluded from the Thames Harbour District. (b.) What amount of rates shall be leviable upon the various properties within the respective areas comprised within the Thames Harbour District. Your Excellency's further Warrant, dated the 31st May, 1921, extended the time within which we were required to furnish our report to the 31st July, 1921. The Commission assembled at Thames on the 21st June, 1921, upon which day the inquiry was formally opened in the Miners' Union Hall. The taking of evidence at Thames continued until the 24th June, when the Commission adjourned to Morrinsville, where evidence was further taken until the 29th June, when the Commission returned to Thames and received further evidence on the Ist July. The Commission then proceeded to Auckland to review the evidence and prepare its report. During the course of its investigations the Commission examined forty-seven witnesses. The proceedings were open to the public, and were fully reported in the daily newspapers. The parties represented before the Commission were :— The Thames Harbour Board, represented by Mr. E. J. Clendon, solicitor, Thames. The Thames Borough Council, represented by Mr. G. J. Garland, solicitor, Thames. The Morrinsville Town Board, represented by Mr. E. McGregor, solicitor, Morrinsville. The Ohinemuri County Council and the Paeroa Borough Council, represented by Mr. J. L. Hanna, Solicitor, Paeroa. The Hauraki Plains County Council, represented by Mr. E. Walton, solicitor and County Clerk, Ngatea. The Matamata County Council and the Matamata Town Board, represented by Mr. S. Lewis, solicitor, Cambridge.

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