344
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 18

Lands temporarily reserved in the Land Districts of Auckland, Wellington, and Canterbury.

RANFURLY, Governor.

WHEREAS by the two-hundred-and-thirty-fifth section of “The Land Act, 1892,” it is enacted that the Governor may from time to time, either by general or particular description, and whether the same has been surveyed or not, reserve from sale temporarily, notwithstanding that the same may be then held under pastoral license, any Crown lands which in his opinion are required for any of the purposes in the said section mentioned:

Now, therefore, I, Uchter John Mark, Earl of Ranfurly, the Governor of the Colony of New Zealand, in exercise and pursuance of the power and authority vested in me by the said Act, do hereby temporarily reserve from sale the lands in the Land Districts of Auckland, Wellington, and Canterbury enumerated in the first column of the Schedule hereto, for the purposes specified in the second column of the said Schedule, and opposite the descriptions of the lands so intended to be temporarily reserved.

SCHEDULE.

As witness the hand of His Excellency the Governor, this fourth day of February, one thousand nine hundred and one.

C. H. MILLS,
For Minister of Lands.

Notice under “The Foreign Insurance Companies’ Deposits Act Amendment Act, 1900.”

RANFURLY, Governor.

IN pursuance and exercise of the powers and authorities vested in me by the second section of “The Foreign Insurance Companies’ Deposits Act Amendment Act, 1900,” I, Uchter John Mark, Earl of Ranfurly, the Governor of the Colony of New Zealand, do hereby prescribe that for every certificate issued under section 4 of “The Foreign Insurance Companies’ Deposits Act, 1894,” there shall be paid to the Public Trustee by the foreign company receiving the certificate so to be issued as aforesaid the fee of three guineas.

As witness the hand of His Excellency the Governor, this thirty-first day of January, one thousand nine hundred and one.

J. G. WARD,
Acting Colonial Treasurer.

Midland Railway Commission.

Public Works Office, Wellington,
31st January, 1901.

THE following Commission, appointing Commissioners to inquire into and report on certain questions respecting the New Zealand Midland Railway, is published for general information.

WM. HALL-JONES,
Minister for Public Works.

EDWARD THE SEVENTH, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India, to our trusty and loving subjects William Fraser, of Wellington, in the Colony of New Zealand, Esquire, M.H.R.; Arthur Morrison, of Dunedin, in the said colony, Esquire, M.H.R.; Roderick McKenzie, of Westport, in the said colony, Esquire, M.H.R.; Charles Hudson, of Wellington, in the said colony, Assistant General Manager of Railways; and Frederick Back, of Hobart, in the Colony of Tasmania, General Manager of Railways of the said colony: Greeting.

WHEREAS during the last session of our Parliament of New Zealand three petitions were presented to the House of Representatives in our said Parliament, the first being the petition of James Hugh Buchanan Coates, the Receiver appointed by the Supreme Court of New Zealand for the debenture-holders of the New Zealand Midland Railway Company (Limited); the second being the petition of Lord Avebury and others, debenture-holders of the said New Zealand Midland Railway Company (Limited); and the third the petition of the New Zealand Midland Railway Company (Limited), by Norman Howard Maxwell Dalston, its Attorney and General Manager: And whereas the said three petitions were referred by the said House of Representatives to the Public Accounts Committee of the said House, and the said Committee considered the matter of the said petitions and heard evidence thereon, and reported to the said House of Representatives in the terms following:—

“Your Committee has taken evidence and heard counsel on behalf of the petitioners and the Government, but time will not permit it to conclude its investigations this session. Without prejudicing the situation or in any way committing the colony, your Committee deems it advisable that evidence be obtained as to the value as a going concern of those sections of the railway which were completed at the time the Government took possession. This should be done irrespective of any expenditure of moneys in the construction of any portion of the unconstructed portions of the railway. It should be left to the Government to determine as to the best means of taking such evidence during the recess. This could be done either by Royal Commission or otherwise. For the purpose of dealing with these petitions the Committee would ask the House to allow the present petitions to be dealt with by the Committee as petitions of next session. That the evidence so taken during the recess by Royal Commission or otherwise be printed and circulated amongst members of the Public Accounts Committee prior to the opening of next session.”

And whereas We have deemed it advisable that a Royal Commission should be issued to obtain the evidence desired by the said Committee of the said House of Representatives, and to ascertain certain facts and valuations which may thereby be more conveniently ascertained:

Now, therefore, know ye that We, reposing great trust and confidence in your zeal, knowledge, and ability, do by these presents constitute and appoint you, the said

WILLIAM FRASER,
ARTHUR MORRISON,
RODERICK MCKENZIE,
CHARLES HUDSON, and
FREDERICK BACK,

to be our Commissioners, and you, the said Arthur Morrison, to be the Chairman of our said Commission, for the purpose of making inquiry into the matters following, that is to say:—

1. The sums actually expended by the said Company in constructing the sections of the said railway from Stillwater