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10. Any person who shall distil or manufacture any intoxicating liquor other than bush beer, or shall aid or abet in the distillation thereof shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine of not exceeding one hundred pounds sterling. 11. Any person evading or attempting to evade any of the provisions of this Ordinance, or any regulations made thereunder for which no penalty has been provided, shall, for each offence, be liable to a fine of not exceeding twenty pounds or in default six months' hard labour. 12. All offences under this Ordinance may be ptinished by imprisonment with hard labour in default of payment of fine. S. Savage, t» ~,. „,, j . -c, , lflri . Clerk to Council. Passed this Bth day of February, 1904. [Assented to by the Governor, sth July, 1904.]

[Alternative.] Rarotonga Council Ordinance No. 4. —An Ordinance to regulate the Sale of Spirituous Liquor withcn the Island of Rarotonga. Be it enacted by the Island Council of Rarotonga, — 1. The Short Title of this Ordinance is "The Sale of Spirituous Liquor Restriction Ordinance, 1904." 2. All spirituous liquors imported into the Island of Rarotonga, whether under bond or dutypaid, shall immediately after landing be placed in the Government bond, and shall only be issued thence under the orders or direction of the Collector of Customs. 3. No spirituous liquor shall be issued from the Government bond except at the discretion of the Collector of Customs, subject to any regulations which ma} - be made under this Ordinance. 4. The Resident Commissioner may make regulations in aid of this Ordinance, and any breach of such regulations shall be punishable as a breach of the Ordinance. 5. No spirituous liquor shall be sold or given to any Native inhabitant of any Polynesian island, except on the written permission of the Resident Medical Officer. For the purposes of this Ordinance all Chinamen shall be deemed to be Native inhabitants of Rarotonga. 6. The Collector of Customs may grant permission to an)' trader of good character to sell the light wine known in Rarotonga as " claret." Provided that such wine shall be issued out of the bond to the trader; that a book shall be kept for the inspection of the Collector of Customs, accounting for all sales made; that no claret shall be sold to persons prohibited by section five of this Ordinance, or to any person against whom a prohibition order may have been issued by a Court of competent jurisdiction. 7. The High Court of the Cook Islands may in the interests of the public issue prohibition orders against any person on cause being shown. 8. Any person evading or attempting to evade any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall, for each offence, be liable to a penalty of not exceeding twent) 7 pounds or in default six months' hard labour. Passed this Bth day of February, 1904. S. Savage, Clerk to the Council.

No. 144. Sir, — Rarotonga, Cook Islands, 25th February,l9o4. I have the honour to forward attached the Manihiki Local Ordinance No. 1, signed by the President of the Council, H. Williams. It is a pity that this Ordinance could not have been approved from the first, inasmuch as it was taken from the Council-book as it now stands, and is an exact translation of the measure as passed by the Council. There is no one in the Northern Islands who can reduce a Maori Ordinance into understandable English, and for this reason the Natives send their book to me to draft therefrom the laws they pass. I have, &c, W. E. Gudgeon, Resident Commissioner. The Hon. C. H. Mills, Minister for the Islands, Wellington.

No. 145. Sir,— Niue, 25th February, 1904. I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 7th December, 1903, enclosing a copy of " The Cook and other Islands Government Act Amendment Act, 1903," together with a copy of the Gazette containing the Order in Council. Your telegram reached me on the 28th December, 1903, and I at once reduced the duty on tobacco in accordance therewith. I anticipate that demands for refund will shortly be made by traders who have paid 3s. 6d. per pound duty during the 10th to 28th December. I should be glad of your instructions as to whether I should make such refund of 2s. 6d. per pound on all tobacco invoiced at Is. per pound or less. I have, &c, C. F. Maxwell, Resident Commissioner, Niue. The Hon. C. H. Mills, Minister of Trade and Customs, Wellington, B—A. 3,

No. 115.