2 —A. 4b.

A.—4b.

I wish, to mention is finance. The financial report is amongst the parliamentary papers, and the case will be based practically on that report. Mr. Gurr, a licensed accountant, will be called, and Mr. Smyth will be called as soon as he returns. The evidence will be practically confined to giving a reason as to why comparisons were made between Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa, the reason being that this was the most satisfactory way of showing the nature of the expenditure of this country, by showing the expenditure of Governments of the same nature. That will be in answer to statements in the Minister's reply, where he states it is a distasteful manner in which to criticize. The Minister also criticized the revenue shown per head—that is, £3 4s. It will be shown now that revenue was worked out, and why we consider it a correct revenue. It will also be shown that the revenue of the other countries was worked out the same way. The question of Yailima will be touched on. It is held that notwithstanding that it is necessary to keep it up partly on account of it being Stevenson's home and partly because it is the Administrator's residence, the expense is excessive. As a matter of fact, there is very little there now which was associated with Stevenson. Native affairs will be dealt with shortly. It will be submitted that the Native Department is too expensive, and that it would be less expensive if the Secretary for Native Affairs was relieved of the duties connected with the High Court, and an official of the High Court carried out those duties. It will be submitted that that would give greater satisfaction ; and, moreover, the Secretary would be in a much less invidious position than he is now, where he has to sit on the Bench and be counsel for both sides. It is submitted that it would relieve him of the work and also cut down the size of the staff, and would generally be more satisfactory by the separation of the judicial from the political. As I say, this arrangement would not cost the country money; it would not be necessary to put a full-time officer there; he would have other duties in the High Court, and the fees and costs would go to pay the cost of his salary and expenses. It will be submitted that the method of control of public money is unsatisfactory; and it will be shown, when the question of the Legislative Council is dealt with, that the position of the Legislative Council is such that there is in reality no control over the public money at all, apart from that of the Administrator and the Minister. Judge MacCormick: That will come under the heading of " Finance," and not " Native affairs." Mr. Baxter : I was speaking of that, but I went on to the control of public money. The Chairman : That is a subheading really. Mr. Baxter: Yes. There are certainly auditors, but the gentleman who comes from New Zealand is here only a month, for the purpose of reviewing the whole of the expenditure and work of the Administration and the New Zealand Reparation Estates ; and the local auditor, who is a gentleman in whom we have absolute confidence, is still not the independent man than an auditor should be, he being on the staff. There is no suggestion of any malpractice at all, and no suggestion of any malfeasance. It is the principle of the Government control of money which we consider is wrong. The committee quite recognizes that the subject of the New Zealand Reparation Estates and the Departments run by the Reparation Estates are outside the scope of the Commission—it is not part of the Administration, but is what might be called a separate venture of the New Zealand Government. I wish now to take the heading of " Legislative Council." The main evidence will be that, of course, of the three elected members, Messrs. Nelson, Williams, and Westbrook. Their evidence will be to show that they are not only outnumbered—six official against three non-official members—but are also consistently outvoted ; that the opinion of the elected members is neither sought inside the Council nor outside it, nor is it considered when it is offered. Evidence will also show that the officials themselves do not exercise their own discretion and judgment, but vote in accordance with the way matters are introduced—by the Administration or not. The Native evidence and the evidence of the elected members will show the advisability of having Samoans on the Legislative Council. It will be shown that by far the greatest taxpayers in the country are the Samoans, and that the Legislative Council is the only really legislative body here, and they are naturally interested in the work of the Council. It will also be shown that in Fiji Natives are allowed in the Council. It is also thought that it is essential that there should be an expression of the combined racial feelings and opinions as against that of purely Europeans so far as the Legislative Council is concerned. Through the medium of the half-castes the races are closely linked together here, and there is a combined racial thought and opinion which would be expressed if there were Natives on the Legislative Council. The Chairman: How do you refer so far as the half-castes are concerned ? Mr. Baxter: They are Europeans. It has been suggested in the report that there should be an increase in the number of non-official members. I suggest that if they were made equal—say, four to four, or six to six,- —the numbers do not matter. That would be very satisfactory and would make the voting more even, and would give a larger expression of local opinion, particularly if Natives were on the Council; and the risk of the stability of the Government being upset, or of Natives not getting fair treatment, would be entirely nil, from the fact that the presiding Chairman, the Administrator, who is responsible for the stability of the country, would have the casting-vote. The stability of the country would be safe because the Administrator, as I say, would, have the casting-vote. Under such circumstances it will probably be advisable that the matter in issue should be referred to the Minister for his expression of opinion on the matter, as he is the official really responsible for the country ; but as far as the country here is concerned it would make provision for a much better expression of opinion while guaranteeing the stability of the country where stability of government is most essential. There is another matter I wish to touch on, and it is this : On the Legislative Council the Chief Judge holds a seat. Now, the Chief Judge is a man in whom we all have the utmost confidence and for whom we have the utmost respect, but here again I want to speak of the principle and not of the person at all. There is an inherent feeling that the head of the Court should not have a seat on the Legislative Council. It is felt that it is unfair to him—that it places him in an invidious

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