G. BUCHANAN.

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55. Have you ever appealed against that .'-No. There are paddocks that are le, for grazing at the rate of t 1 per acre a year. There is the land that has been le. for gardening purposes lira, was previous to ,he H Is. When they saw the Hoods they backed out" of he 7 agreement. Ihe agreement was no, signed. The Chinese have already given notice to leave the garden. I hey canno keep on any longer, although they have been fifteen years there ofa. It would be worth how much .'-An average of about €1 5s an acre " 57. Mr MUchehon.] That is for rental purposes/ Yes. Some of the land was sold at £60 a halt-acre tor building-sites. 58. The terms or cash/-Cash. The greater par. of those flats would be equally valuable lor building-sites ,f the tailings had never been put into the river •'•'■ ls fchere " m, ' h demand for building-sites; the town is not growing very rapidly J—lt would have grown very much more rapidly if if had not been for the tailings ' 60. What would have made the town grow?—lf the tailings had been stacked 61. Apart from the tailings, what would have mad,, it grow?—The mining industry and the farming industry. r • "° 62. Mr. Mueller.] Is there any unoccupied land about Paeroa? Yes, any a unt 63. Could thai beulilized if there hail been no tailings at all? The whole of the land would not be utilized for agricultural purposes, but plots were very much sought after hi. What do you reckon the present capital value of that property is?— Not more than £1 000 owing to the damage. We shall no, get the rental value for more than thai out of i, 65. Iht Chairman.] You will practically get half/--That is only since the las, flood. Had there been ,„, tailings in the river the land would no, have been so much damaged; the land would have been Ot vny much more value for building-sites. 66. You say that, apart from being agricultural land, it was suburban land, and as suburban land you might have been able to get a higher rental than £104: what rental/ I think the great majority ol v wouldhave been sold by this time at corresponding prices with Porritt's bi. How many new houses have been built in Paeroa during the'las, five years, a,.art from business premises?—] should think about forty or MI'U I, is impossible almost to sell township sections, owing to the Hoods. ' ~ 'if' Mr - .J 7 "'""'! ere has 'I"' building taken place/ On the high ground and I,ills near tne inames Railway. Four new houses have be,.,, built there practically within the last few months. 60. You are chairman of this Silting Association?— Yes. 70. What are the objects of the association : what does voiir association want as regards this silting matter/ We want the tailings not put in the river, or a remedy that will lie equally as We want the present condition of the rivers relieved at the earliest possible date. 71. If something is uol done, what do you think will be the result/ All the low-lying lands adjacent to the river will be practically useless in a very few years' time—il will be of very little 11 any, use. ' ' 72. Do you produce a letter received by one of the previous chairmen of the Silting Association—a letter in connection with the deposit of silt?— Yes; it is a letter from Mr Montgomery mining inspector, Western Australia. [Exhibit No. 6.] 73. Yon have described the result of the last flood on the land that you are trustee of. Has I hat land been previously Hooded, and to what extent/—During our residence here of eighteen years, we were here nine years before there was one Hood, which came after three days of very heavy rain. The water from that Hood covered about 10 acres of dial land that is. the lowest of it—about 18 in. deep. That would he about nine years ago. 74. The Chairman.] You do not know whether that rain was local?—No, I could no, say. It covered about 10 acres to a depth of about 18 in., except at the lowest place, where the creek' runs. It was about I ft. dee), there. The last flood completely covered the whole land. 75. Wdiat was the date/ About the 30th March.' It completely covered the whole of those flats—the whole of tin- Hi acres mentioned. 76. Mr. Mueller.\ The last Hood was considerably higher than the one of nine years ago?— Yes, there were two floods las, year, one within a week of the other, which covered the whole of the property except a si itp of about hall' a chain wide on the highest par, of the river-bank. 77. Mr. Tunks.] Could the steamers get to Paeroa a, the places you have spoken of except on the tide?—l could not saj . The Chairman: We understand that they came up with the tide: the Commission understand that. 78. Mr. Tunks.] Can they now get ,o the Railway Wharf on the tide/ I do not think it would be possible. 79. You have been her,' about eighteen years. During that time has there been any con siderable clearing of the country, felling of bush, and so forth .'--Yes, to a certain extent. 80. There has been a good deal cleared during the lasl eighteen years/ Noi much cleared for agricultural purposes; simply for mining purposes as far as the Ohinemuri is concerned. 81. That, of course, is the watershed?— Yes. 82. Will not that have a considerable effect in increasing the amount of water that is brought into the river?—lt would to a small degree, but only a limited area has been cleared of bush. 83. Would it not have the effect of bringing the water more quickly into the river? The Chairman : Do you not think you might bring such evidence direct/ Is there any object in asking such questions of this witness, when the question can lie dealt with directly by expert evidence? You will lie able to produce certain direct evidence that there has been a certain acreage cut down. There is no object in producing indirect evidence