A.—4b.

And whereas the Samoa Commissions of Inquiry Order, 1927, has now been enacted, and it is expedient that you should be constituted, appointed, and invested with powers by virtue of the Samoa Act, 1921, and the said Order : Now, therefore, I, General Sir Charles Fergusson, Baronet, Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand, in exercise of the powers conferred upon me by the Samoa Act, 1921, and the Samoa Commissions of Inquiry Order, 1927, and of all other powers and authorities enabling me in this behalf, and acting by and with the advice of the said Executive Council of that Dominion, do hereby constitute and appoint you The Honourable Sir Charles Perrin Skerrett and Charles Edward MacCormick to be a Commission to inquire into and report upon the following questions :— 1. Whether, having regard to the duties undertaken by the Government of New Zealand under the said Mandate, there is just or reasonable cause for such complaints or objections. 2. Whether the Administrator or the officials of the Administration have in any manner exceeded their duty in the exercise of the authority entrusted to them respectively, or have failed to exercise their respective functions honestly and justly. 3. Whether, having regard to the Samoan Native customs and to the due maintenance of government and order in the Mandated Territory, it would be prudent and safe to wholly repeal and abrogate all power to require a Samoan to remove for a definite period from one place on the islands to another. And further I do hereby appoint you the said The Honourable Sir Charles Perrin Skerrett to be the Chairman of the said Commission. And you are hereby authorized to conduct any inquiries under these presents at such times and places, including Western Samoa, as you deem expedient. And, using all diligence, you are required to report to me under your hands and seals as soon as conveniently may be. And you are hereby strictly charged and directed that you shall not at any time publish or otherwise disclose, save to me in pursuance of these presents or by my direction, the contents or purport of any report so made or to be made by you. And it is hereby further declared that these presents shall continue in force although the inquiry is not regularly continued from time to time or from place to place. And it is hereby further declared that these presents are not to derogate from or annul your appointment made on the advice of the said Executive Council of the Dominion of New Zealand under my hand on the fifth day of the current month as a Commission to inquire into and report on the same matters, but are made with the intent that in respect of such inquiry and report you should have, in addition to the powers under such appointment, all the powers and authorities arising pursuant to the enactment of the Samoa Commissions of Inquiry Order, 1927. And, lastly, it is hereby further declared that these presents are issued subject to the provisions of the Samoa Act, 1921, and the Samoa Commissions of Inquiry Order, 1927, and under the said Act and Order and all other powers and authorities enabling me in this behalf. Given under the Land of His Excellency the Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand, and issued under the Seal of that Dominion, this twelfth day of September, one thousand nine hundred and twentyseven. [seal.] J- G. Coates, Prime Minister. Approved in Council. F. D. Thomson, Clerk of the Executive Council.

III