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Zealand Midland Railway Company, to enable the Commission to check the lands-purchase and compensation returns. The Commission then considered the printed proofs of Exhibits Nos. 61 to 101 inclusive, and, on the motion of Mr. Graham, the secretary was instructed to authorise the Government Printer to proceed with the printing of these returns. At 3.45 p.m. the Commissi m adjourned till 10.45 a.m. on Wednesday, 24th April, 1901.

Wednesday, 24th Apeil, 1901. The Commission met at 10.45 a.m. Present: Mr. McKenzie (Chairman), Mr. Fraser, Mr. Graham, Mr. Hudson, and Mr. McKerrow. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. Mr. Bell (counsel for Crown) and Dr. Findlay (counsel for the Receiver) were in attendance. Thomas Alexander, mine-manager and contractor, Westport, was called, sworn, and examined. Percy Sawtell Waldie, book-keeper, Public Works Department, was called and further examined on oath. Henry William Young, civil engineer, Greymouth, was called, and produced a return of the Land Purchase and Compensation Accounts (Exhibit No. 110). Norman Howard Maxwell Dalston, attorney for the New Zealand Midland Railway Company, was called, and produced certain returns (Exhibits Nos. 11l to 114). At 1.15 p.m. the Commission adjourned.

Fbiday, 26th Apeil, 1901. The Commission met at 2.30 p.m. Present: Mr. McKenzie (Chairman), Mr. Fraser, Mr. Graham, Mr. Hudson, and Mr. McKerrow. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. , Dr. Findlay (counsel for Receiver), Mr. Coates (Receiver for the debenture-holders), Mr. Dalston (attorney for the New Zealand Midland Railway Company), and Mr. Blow (Undersecretary for Public Works) were in attendance. A letter was received from Mr. Blow (on behalf of Mr. Bell, counsel for Crown), forwarding a memorandum in reference to the moneys contributed by the Midland Railway Company, or its debenture-holders, towards construction-works on the line carried out by the Government. Besolved, on the motion of Mr. Hudson, That the consideration of the foregoing memorandum be deferred until counsel for the Crown and counsel for the Receiver are both present. Besolved, That the Commission adjourn till 2.30 p.m. on Monday, 29th April, 1901, pending the completion and presentation of returns by the Receiver for the debenture-holders and the attorney for the Midland Railway Company. At 4.15 p.m. the Commission adjourned till 2.30 p.m. on Monday, 29th April, 1901.

Monday, 29th Apeil, 1901. The Commission met at 2.30 p.m. Present: Mr. McKenzie (Chairman), Mr. Fraser, Mr. Graham, Mr. Hudson, and Mr. McKerrow. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. A letter was received from Mr. Joseph Jay, civil engineer, Greymouth, amplifying evidence given by him at Greymouth on the 14th March, 1901 (page 83, question 1843, Minutes of Evidence), and stating that a six-roomed cottage of average size would contain from 15,000 ft. to 17,000 ft. of timber, of local value of £65. Dr. Findlay (counsel for Receiver) and Mr. Dalston (attorney for the New Zealand Midland Railway Company) were in attendance. Mr. Dalston informed the Commission that the return asked for in paragraph (1) of the Commission's letter of the 9th March, 1901, in regard to surveys, involved a large amount of detailed work and would take a considerable time to prepare, and he suggested that Mr. Young, the company's late chief assistant engineer, might be allowed to substitute therefor an approximate statement of the total expenditure for surveys allocated to the various sections. Besolved, on the motion of Mr. McKerrow, That Mr. Young be asked to furnish a statement showing, as near as he possibly can from the documents in his possession, supplemented by his own knowledge of the actual work, the cost of the survey between Stillwater and Jackson's and between Stillwater and Reef ton, and similarly for the two detached portions, Belgrove to Norris's Gully and Springfield to Patterson's Creek ; such return to be in lieu of paragraph (1) of the Commission's letter of the 9th March, 1901. At 4.20 p.m. the Commission adjourned till 10.30 a.m. to-morrow.

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