H.—24

4

bound to the owner or lessee of the land, whether by special agreement to that effect, or by the difficulty in getting his gum conveyed elsewhere, in consequence of the owner or lessee being either by circumstances or express stipulation the only person who carts upon the ground. This state of things suggests the possibility of the owner of the land containing the gum taking advantage of the position in which he is placed to give the digger too little for his gum, and charge him too much for his stores. Accordingly, we have met with complaints upon this head, and the term " truck system " has been used in connection with these dealings ; but such complaints have been much less prevalent than we expected. It does not follow as a result of the conditions above described that the storekeeper will take advantage of the digger. The value of gum is pretty well known to diggers of experience; and if they found that they were systematically receiving much less than that value they would soon begin to consider the prospects offered by some other field, unless there were some compensations to induce them to remain. The same may be said of the price of stores, which will vary according to the distance the goods have to be carted, and other circumstances. Included in the Appendix to the evidence will be found a statement of moneys paid for gum-digging during a period of three months upon the ground of a lessee against whom the strongest accusations had been made of practising the so-called truck-system. This statement shows that during the period referred to a sum of £7,589 had been paid for gum to 476 diggers, after all store bills had been satisfied. This result shows that upon this field the average payment amounted to nearly 255. per week per man after the cost of his living was paid; and this being taken at 10s. or lis., the average wages on this field would be about 355. We think it right to say that the strongest denunciations of what has been called the truck-system have not come to us direct from the diggers who may have felt its operation, but from sources which are markedly open to the suspicion of strong animus, whether personal, commercial, or political. It is always easy, where the will exists, in such matters to rake up one or two cases of apparent hardship on the one hand, or harshness on the other; but our judgment on general questions requires a much larger basis than this for its foundation. We append a statement showing the ordinary prices of provisions on the principal leased and private .lands, as well as on the open fields, and the price given for gum relatively to the prices quoted in the Auckland papers. But this last item, in consequence of the great variations in price, and some uncertainty attending the quotations, might be a little misleading, unless read with some allowance for those variations. Strictly speaking, we understand by "truck" the payment of wages in stores and provisions instead of in money. This system cannot exist on the gumfields, because there are no diggers working for wages. The digger takes from the ground the gum which is the property of another man; and it would surely be unreasonable that he should be allowed to sell it without the consent of the owner. Moreover, it is not likely that the owner of the ground would continue an arrangement of this sort if the digger systematically bought his provisions at a store competing with his own, or in which he was not interested by the reception of rent or otherwise. The lessee of the land has, in some cases, a heavy rent to pay for it (in one instance as much as £1,000); and, without direct payment of license-fees or royalty, and the profits of the store, he would not be able to keep his engagements. It may be matter for regret that such large areas of gum-land should have been permitted to fall into private hands; but, taking the facts of the case as they are, we have not met with sufficient evidence to satisfy us that the dealings between the holders of gum-lands and the diggers deserve to be designated as a "truck-system," if that term is intended to carry any opprobrious sense, or that such lessees habitually take unfair advantage of their position to defraud the diggers. Upon the whole, we are glad to report that we have found the general relations between storekeepers and diggers to be of a friendly character, and their dealings to be conducted on a satisfactory footing. At page 183* of the evidence will be found some account of a new movement amongst the Maoris in the north, who have instituted a system of co-operative stores in connection with their gum-lands. The success of this undertaking is a matter of some interest, but the particulars need not detain us here. The connexion of the gum-digging industry with the settlement of the country is one of the most important matters affecting the future of the district north of Auckland. The gum-digger generally bears the reputation of not having in him the makings of a settler; and there can be little doubt that in the majority of cases his mode of life encourages a roving disposition, and indisposes him to bind himself down to a spot of earth consisting of a few acres only. Considering the digger as a class, entirely distinct from the settler, it is obvious that much of his work is of an injurious character. He takes the gum out of the ground and goes his way, leaving the land no better for what he has done, but much more difficult for the agriculturist to deal with. But, of course, in the majority of cases, the land is not such as to tempt the agriculturist at all, and against the mischief done by the gum-digger there is not wanting matter to set off. In the first place, there is a number of instances of gum-diggers who have become settlers, and who must be regarded as having done permanent good to the country. Another important benefit derived from the gum industry is the resource which it offers to small settlers, who, when the farming work is slack, go to the gumfields to earn a little money, by which means, and by which means only, a very large number of them have been able to maintain their position and to keep their holdings. We have been astonished at the number of settlers, and sons of settlers, who thus every winter resort to the pursuit of gum-digging. No doubt, in some instances, the young men may thus be led in a direction away from agriculture rather than to it; and where, as occasionally happens, young children go out to get gum, the unsettling tendency of such a pursuit may have serious effects upon their after career. But, upon the whole, where gumdigging and agriculture have thus gone hand in hand, it has been to the advantage of settlement. A further benefit conferred upon the country by the gum industry is the unfailing resource which it has provided for those who would otherwise be unemployed, and this, not only for the

* Page of manuscript.