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No. 65.—Petition of J. N. Pdowman and 2 Others, of Napier. Praying for remission and reduction of interest and for reduction of final balance of the William Plowman estate for stamp-duty purposes. I am directed to report that in the opinion of the Committee the petition should be referred to the Government for favourable consideration, particularly in regard to a reduction of the rate of interest charged on unpaid duty from per cent, to 3 per cent, as from the time when interest began to accrue. 17th September, 1936.

No. 148.—Petition of C. E. Shakeshaft, of Hamilton. Praying for a refund of stamp duty. I am directed to report that, as the statutory period for recovery was exceeded owing to delay on the part of the Lands and Survey Department, in the opinion of the Committee the petition should be referred to the Government for most favourable consideration. 17th September, 1936.

No. 88.—Petition of New Zealand Airways, Limited, and Another. Praying for compensation for alleged unfair treatment in connection with the issue of licenses to operate air services in New Zealand. I am. directed to report that the Committee finds — (1) That the petitioners rendered unique service to New Zealand in developing airmindedness. (2) That the petitioners carried on this service recognizing that in the initial stages of aviation they would be faced with financial loss. (3) That the petitioners reasonably anticipated that such loss would be compensated by profits when the service became firmly established. (4) That the petitioners' application to the Transport Co-ordination Board, as Air Licensing Authority, was in order and was duly considered by the Board. (5) That the Board apparently laid down two conditions as at least desirable if not essential, viz.: — (a) That the machines to be used should be of British manufacture, (ft) That New Zealand capital should be used. (6) That the petitioners complied with both these conditions, the Boeing machines proposed to be used being of Canadian manufacture and the company giving an undertaking that it could and would raise the necessary finance in New Zealand. (7) That the Board gave the necessary licenses for the main services to companies which did not propose to use New Zealand capital. (8) That in one case the Board promised to issue a license to a company not then in existence, which has in fact never come into being. (9) That the petitioners, in being refused any worth-while license, were thereby placed in such a position that they could not recoup themselves for their outlay and the loss they had sustained in developmental work. (10) That, having regard to all the foregoing and the voluminous evidence placed before it, the Committee recommends that the petition be referred to the Government for most favourable consideration with a, view to the prayer of the petitioners being acceded to in some adequate and substantial manner by way of compensation or the granting of trunk air routes. 17th September, 1936.

No. 177.—Petition of E. C. McCormack, of Matamata. Praying that legislation be enacted enabling him. to apply for compensation under the Workers' Compensation Act, 1922, or that he be granted further compensation for loss of wife and child and for personal injuries sustained during the Waimangu Geyser eruption, 1917. I am directed to report that in the opinion of the Committee the petition should be referred to the Government for most favourable consideration. The Committee, having heard the evidence of the petitioner and his counsel, are convinced that the petitioner has been very inadequately compensated for his severe personal and family losses incurred on the occasion of the eruption at Waimangu, where he was employed as a guide. His wife and child died under the most distressing circumstances from injuries, and the petitioner suffers severe permanent physical disability. Four hundred pounds compensation and two years' subsequent wages paid cover only loss of personal property and hospital expenses. Further, there is no departmental record that the petitioner was subsequently offered suitable employment of a tolerable character in view of the serious nature of his injuries. 24th September, 1936.

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