554
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE

NEW ZEALAND FLAX.
£4,000 REWARD.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 18th Dec., 1863.

THE Government of New Zealand is pre-
pared, subject to the undermentioned
conditions, to give rewards to the amount of
£4,000 for the discovery of efficient means
for rendering the Flax and other fibrous
plants of New Zealand, available as articles
of export, viz.:-

£2,000
To the person who shall, by some process
of his own invention, first produce from the
Phormium Tenax or other fibrous plant in-
digenous to New Zealand, forty tons of
Merchandize.

£1,000
To any person, other than the person en-
titled to the first reward, who shall, by some
process of his own invention, next produce
from the Phormium Tenax, or other fibrous
plant indigenous to New Zealand, forty tons
of Merchandize.

£1,000,
Viz.:-£200 to any person, not exceeding
five in all, other than those entitled to the
first and second rewards, who shall, by any
process, whether of his own invention or not,
produce from the Phormium Tenax, or other
fibrous plant indigenous to New Zealand,
twenty tons of Merchandize.

Every claim for the above rewards must
be preferred before the 1st January, 1866.

The Merchandize must be saleable as an
article of export from the Colony of New
Zealand, and have been produced at a cost
not exceeding 75 per cent. of its value at the
Port of entry from which it is exported; and
the process used must be fully made known,
with a view to the discovery being at once
made unconditionally available to the public.

His Excellency the Governor of New Zea-
land will from time to time appoint Com-
missions, to consist of not less than three
persons, to act at such places as circumstan-
ces may require, and each claim for reward
will be referred to such Commission as may
be considered the most convenient for its
proper investigation. The acts of the ma-
jority will be deemed the acts of the Com-
mission.

Each Commission shall be at liberty to
adopt such means as it may deem most fit
for determining the value and cost of pro-
duction of the Merchandize, for ascertaining
the process employed, and for fully investi-
gating in all respects and reporting upon the
validity of any claim.

Every competitor wishing to have flax in-
spected must apply to the Collector of
Customs at the nearest Port, who shall
forthwith give notice to the Commissioners
acting for the particular locality, who shall
forthwith appoint some convenient time and
place for the inspection, and communicate the
same in writing to the competitor. Any
competitor may exhibit to the Commissioners
any quantity of flax not less than five tons at
a time.

For each quantity inspected and approved
by the Commissioners they shall give the
competitor a certificate signed by a majority
of them, a duplicate of which must be forth-
with deposited at the Collector's Office, at
the nearest Custom House.

When the total quantity shall have been
inspected by instalments and more than one
certificate is given to a claimant, then each
certificate after the first shall state in words
the quantity already passed and approved on
behalf of the same competitor. Whenever
the quantity approved of on behalf of any
one competitor amounts to forty tons, the
Commissioners shall certify in words, at
length, the date on which the full quantity
was passed, and the name of the competitor,
which certificate they shall immediately de-
posit with the Colonial Secretary, keeping
one copy for themselves, and giving the
competitor one. The date of such certificate
shall be deemed the day on which the claim-
ant produced the forty tons of Merchandize
required.

Whenever any quantity of flax is brought
for inspection, satisfactory proof will have
to be given to the Commissioners that no
part of the flax has been already inspected
by them.

One half of the reward will be paid at
once to any person whom the Governor, on
the report of a Commission, shall declare in
writing to be entitled to the same, after
which no other claim to a reward of the
same class will be entertained; and the
other half of such reward will be paid upon
satisfactory proof being given to the
Governor, or his appointee in London, of
the bona fide sale of twenty tons of the
Merchandize in Europe, at an advance of
not less than twenty per cent. upon the
actual cost of the article landed in Europe.

All costs and expenses connected with the
carriage to or removal from the place of in-
spection of any flax offered for inspection,
and all other expenses, if any, connected
therewith, to be borne by the competitor.

WILLIAM Fox.

PROVINCE OF AUCKLAND.

Bills of Provincial Council left to their
operation.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 16th Dec., 1863.

THE following Bills, passed by the Pro-
vincial Council of the Province of Auck-
land, intituled-

"The Sheep Act 1863 Amendment Act,"
"The Sale of Bread Act, 1863,"

having been laid before the Governor, His
Excellency has been pleased to leave the
same to their operation.

WM. Fox.