Mar. 14. THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 949

3. For the purposes of this scheme the licensee of a meat-export slaughterhouse, or the manager of the store in which hides from the public abattoirs named in clause 4 are stored, shall in the matter of receiving, trimming, salting, classifying for valuation, storing, invoicing, bagging, branding, and delivering f.o.b. ocean steamer, accept the same responsibilities as are required of a Government broker.

4. Hides for sale to the Government must be delivered to a Government broker at the Broker's receiving-depot established at any place specified in the First Schedule hereto, except that, in the case of hides stored at a meat-export slaughterhouse or at the public abattoirs of Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill, and derived from cattle slaughtered at any such slaughterhouse or abattoir, the store in which they are contained will be held to be a receiving-depot for the purposes of this scheme.

5. Hides should be treated in accordance with the best freezing-works standard, and must be properly trimmed, and as free as possible from salt and fat, and must have been at least fourteen days in salt when submitted for purchase. The tare allowance will be as follows: On all hides up to the best freezing-works standard which have been properly washed before salting, 4 per cent.; on all other hides the tare to be as under:—

Per hide— 6 lb. to 16 lb. .. .. .. .. .. 1 lb.
17 lb. to 32 lb. .. .. .. .. .. 2 lb.
33 lb. to 69 lb. .. .. .. .. .. 4 lb.
70 lb. and over .. .. .. .. .. 6 lb.

6. Hides so delivered will require to be classified in accordance with the Third Schedule for examination by a valuer appointed and paid by the Government and hereinafter called “the Government valuer.”

7. Such hides, after examination and classification, shall be valued by the Government valuer, in accordance with the scale of values set out in the Second Schedule.

8. Any hides so delivered may be rejected by the Government valuer as not being of good marketable quality or in good marketable condition.

9. On any hides being valued and approved by the Government valuer, the Government broker, if duly authorized in that behalf by the seller, will purchase the same on behalf of the Government at the price at which they have been so valued. Such purchase will be effected by posting or delivering to the Controller of the Department of Imperial Government Supplies, at Wellington, an invoice for the hides, together with the Government valuer's certificate of classification and valuation on a form to be provided. All purchases so made will be subject to the condition that the seller will place the hides f.o.b. ocean steamer. If documents are in order the New Zealand Government, on behalf of the Imperial Government, will pay the amount of the purchase-money within fourteen days after the date on which the contract of purchase has been effected as aforesaid, and will also pay any storage after the expiration of twenty-eight days after the said date, the charges for storage to be at the rate of twopence per sack per week.

10. The property in all hides so purchased shall pass to the Crown so soon as the contract of purchase has been so effected, and the Government broker or the licensee of the meat-export slaughterhouse, or the manager of the store, as the case may be, will thereafter hold them on behalf of the Government. All charges, except storage as aforesaid and insurance from the date on which the contract of purchase has been effected, shall be paid by the seller.

11. Payment for all hides so purchased will be made by the Controller of the Department of Imperial Government Supplies in accordance with the scale of values shown in the Second Schedule hereto.

12. The Government broker to whom any hides are so delivered for sale to the Government will act as the agent and on behalf of the seller in doing or causing to be done all things required in respect of the receipt, trimming, salting, and preparation for classification and valuation of such hides and the storage thereof until the sale to the Government has been effected, and thereafter deliver such hides, bagged and branded as required, f.o.b. ocean steamer at one of the following ports: Bluff, Dunedin, Port Chalmers, Timaru, Oamaru, Lyttelton, Wellington, Napier, Gisborne, Auckland, Waitara, Wanganui, Picton, Nelson, Tokomaru Bay, Whangarei.

13. For the purposes of this scheme the Government will, so far as may be thought necessary, grant licenses to fit and proper persons to purchase hides for resale to the Government under this scheme. Such licenses will be granted on application to the Minister of Agriculture, and on such terms and conditions and on the payment of such fees as he thinks fit to impose, and may be cancelled by that Minister if he is satisfied that any breach of such conditions has been committed by the licensee.

14. No hides will be purchased by the Government from any person who has himself purchased the same, unless he was already the owner thereof at the date of this notification, or unless he was at the time of purchase a dealer duly licensed as such by the Government.

15. Tanners carrying on business in New Zealand may, on application to the Controller of the Department of Imperial Government Supplies, be granted a permit to purchase from brokers, licensees of meat-export slaughterhouses, or managers of hide-stores attached to the public abattoirs named in clause 4, hides which are under offer of sale to the Government, provided satisfactory proof is furnished to the Controller of the Department of Imperial Supplies that such hides are necessary for the legitimate purposes of their business. The price to be paid for the hides shall be based on the values determined by the Government valuer in accordance with the scale of values shown in the Second Schedule. Every tanner so applying must furnish with his application a statement showing the number of hides of each quality, according to the Third Schedule, which he has stored on his premises or elsewhere, or which he has agreed to purchase at the date of his application. He shall further furnish a similar return on the first day of each month thereafter to the Controller of the Imperial Government Supplies Department.

16. In all of the matters herein set forth the Minister of Agriculture will act on behalf of the Government either by himself or by such person or persons as he may nominate in that behalf.