S. J. LAUOHLIN.]

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C—l 4.

126. At the back of Netherton, 1 think, there is a lot of swamp country.'- 1 do not know what you call swamp country. It has a good day bottom. Ido not consider there is swamp land at the back of Netherton, or very little swamp. 127. Is there any swamp across the Te Awaiti country?—l cannot say much about that. 128. Is there not a big kahikatea swamp at the back of Netherton?—lf you refer to the land that has changed hands lately, that is good, hard, dry land. 129. Does not the kahikatea grow in swampy country?— Not always. 130. Is there not some marshy country at the back of Netherton?—ln some places there is peaty stuff on the top of the clay. I'll. Have you drains on your property/ — Yes. 132. How many?—The county has a large drain, and 1 have one or two little drains of my own. 133. What is the length of the county drain?— About 21 chains, and it is about 15ft. to 21 ft. wide. 134. The Chairman.] What is it on the water-level?— About 7 ft. 135. W : here does it start from?— From the Waihou River. 130. Where does it terminate? —The river side of the Netherton Main Road. . 137. Mr. MeVeagh.] What is the length and what are the dimensions of your two small drains?— One about 23 chains long, the other about 20 chains. One would probably be about 4 ft. deep, the other is a very shallow drain. 138. You have done a good deal of draining. Are the other settlers as industrious as you? —We have all done our work. 139. It must be very wet oountry? —I do not consider it is very wet. 140. The effect of the draining has been to consolidate your land and reduce its level I I cannot say. 141. Do you know that pumice comes down the Waihou?—l have heard about it, but I have not seen it. 142. Mr. Mueller.] In connection with the Komata Creek, are there not tailings in the Waihou up to the Junction? —Yes, on both sides of the river. 143. You said the Government valuation of your land is tO and £4 an acre. If I here had been no tailings in the river, would the value of the land be more or less than that?—Certainlx the value would have been more. 144. Has the Government reduced the valuation of the land since the proclamation of the sludge-channel ?—No. 145. Have they increased it? —No. 146. There has been no reduction due to the silt? —Not that I am aware of. 147. Is not the advance in the price of land in the district due to the dairy industry?— Yes. 148. If it had not been for the tailings the dairy industry would have increased the value of the land? —Yes. 149. What would be the result, in your opinion, if on the upper reaches of the Waihou re-duction-works were started and the material put into the river? —It would depend on the amount put into the river. 150. You suggest that before such works start the river should cease to be a sludge-channel/ —Yes. 151. As regards the swamp land supposed to be at the back of Netherton, could not cattle travel over that land in summer-time ?—Cattle could go over it now: 1 do not call il swamp land. 152. The Chairman.] Are there cattle on the land at the present time! Yes, here and there. 15:1. Mr. Mitchelson.] You have not told us the amount of silt on your land —you only referred to 2 acres along the bank of the river having silt on it : what was the damage done to the other parts?— That damage was not done by silt, but by the overflow of clear water. But the last flood had a lot of sediment in it—sediment from the mines. 154. You have reTerred to the block at the mouth of the Waihou : do you attribute the whole cause of the flood to that obstruction? —There has been a little island there as long as I remember. 155. Was that not caused by the willows? Do you not think the destruction of the willows would have some effect on the floods? —It would cause some improvement. 1 think the island at the Junction has grown considerably. It has a lot of tailings on it. 156. You admit that the overflow of clean water has done most damage on your land? —Yes. 157. We were told by a witness yesterday that the freshes causing an overflow of clean water do no damage?— They do a lot of damage. 168. The Chairman.] Iliver-flats are supposed to Ik- the most valuable land, are they not I Yes. 159. Does not a great portion of the water that comes on to your place come from the upper reaches of the Waihou ?—I know that the Waihou overflows from the Junction up, in flood-times. 160. You are a member of the River Board?— Yes: but, so far as I can see, it is only a River Hoard in name. 101. Mr. Moresby.] Prom the Junction right up to Te Aroha district there is only one farm to rate; the balance is Native land. There is only one-ninth part of the laml at Netherton that is rated .' —That may be so. 162. The Chairman.] You gave evidence at Wellington: Is there any of that evidence that you wish to alter in any way? —No. I have never changed my opinion as to the remedy. I would like to say thai 1 never heard that the river was to lie declared a sludge-channel: 1 received no notice from the Government or any one else. 103. Do you read the newspapers ?■- 1 was living at the Thames then. 164. Mr' Vickerman.] You would not got a personal notice: there would be an advertisement in the newspapers? —1 did not get the Paeroa papers.