2890
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 102

By-laws of the Hokianga District Maori Council, under the Maori Councils Act, 1900, and the Health Act, 1920, approved.

Native Minister's Office,
Wellington, 1st November, 1921.

I T is hereby notified that His Excellency the Governor-General has been pleased to approve of the following by-laws made by the Maori Council of the Hokianga Maori District, under the provisions of section 16 of the Maori Councils Act, 1900.

J. G. COATES, Minister of Native Affairs.

Approved.

JELLICOE, Governor-General.

THE MAORI COUNCIL OF THE HOKIANGA MAORI DISTRICT.

BY-LAWS.

THE Maori Council of the Hokianga Maori District, constituted under the Maori Councils Act, 1900, and its amendments, and the Public Health Act, 1920, hereby makes the following by-laws in lieu of the by-laws published in the New Zealand Gazette dated 10th April, 1902, under and by virtue of the said Acts and amendments, such by-laws to come into operation upon approval thereof by the Governor-General and the publication of the same in the Gazette and Kahiti.

INTERPRETATION.

In these by-laws, except where inconsistent with the context or when otherwise expressly provided, the following expressions shall have the meanings attached thereto:—

"The said Act" means the Maori Councils Act, 1900, and its amendments, and the Public Health Act, 1920:

"The Council" means the Maori Council of the Hokianga Maori District constituted under the said Acts:

"Committee" or "Village Committee" means the Village Committee of a Maori kainga, village, or pa appointed by the Maori Council under the provisions of the said Acts:

"District" means the Hokianga Maori District proclaimed by the Governor-General under the provisions of the said Acts:

"Native Township" means a township constituted under the Native Townships Act, 1895:

"Prescribed" means prescribed by rules or regulations made under the said Acts or by these by-laws.

(A.) GENERAL PROVISIONS.

1. All deaths shall be notified by the nearest of kin, or in his absence by the owner or occupier of the dwelling where death took place, to the nearest Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages within thirty-six hours of death. Failure to comply shall render the offender liable to a penalty not exceeding £1.

2. In every case of death, where the deceased has not been attended to by a qualified medical practitioner, the Committee shall investigate the circumstances surrounding such death with regard to the nature of illness, duration, treatment, and names of persons who treated or were in attendance on deceased, and report the results of this investigation to the nearest Registrar of Maori Births, Deaths, and Marriages.

3. Human corpses shall be buried, if the death occurs between the 15th day of March and the 15th day of September (both days inclusive) in any year, within four days after death; and if the death occurs between the 16th day of September and the 14th day of March of the following year (both days inclusive), within three days after death, unless the Medical Officer of Health or the Director of Maori Hygiene shall otherwise direct.

4. Where death has occurred from an infectious disease, the corpse shall be buried within twenty-four hours after death. The corpse shall be removed from the dwelling, tent, hospital, or place where death occurred to the cemetery without being allowed to lie in state at any intermediate or village, and no tangi shall be held.

5. It shall be the duty of the nearest relatives of the deceased, or, in their absence, of the owner or occupier of the house or premises wherein deceased died, to comply with the provisions of by-laws 3 and 4; and all or any of them shall be deemed guilty of a breach thereof as the Council may deem fit, and shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding £5 for each offence.

6. No human corpse shall be buried, except with the permission of the Council, in any place other than a burial-ground recognized by the inhabitants of a Maori kainga, or reserved or set apart by them or some duly constituted authority as a burial-ground.

7. No human corpse shall be permitted to lie in state in front of any meeting-house or in the courtyard (marae) thereof, but may lie in state at some other spot in the vicinity that may be indicated by the Chairman of the Committee.

(B.) BUILDINGS.

8. No person shall erect a dwellinghouse upon any site not having natural or artificial subsoil drainage sufficient to prevent such site being damp, or upon any site having matter thereon which may prove injurious to the health of the occupants of such buildings. The ground underlying every dwellinghouse shall be so formed and graded that no water can flow or lodge thereon or under any part of such building. Where the site of an erected dwellinghouse is considered injurious to the health of the occupants, the Council may order the owner or occupier to remove such building to a more healthy site.

9. Every person who shall erect a dwellinghouse shall construct every room intended to be used as a living-room so that the same shall be not less than 8 ft. 6 in. in height from the floor to the ceiling in every part; provided that every room intended to be used as aforesaid with a sloping or unceilinged roof shall be not less than 9 ft. in height from the floor to the roof over one-half the superficial area of such room, and no wall thereof shall have a less height than 5 ft. before any slope of the roof commences.

10. Every person who shall erect a dwellinghouse shall provide that for every sleeping-room therein there shall be at least 36 square feet of floor-space to each adult or every two children under ten years of age sleeping in that room, and there shall be a window-space clear of frames equal in area to at least one-tenth of the area of the floor of such room, of which window-space at least one-half shall be made to open.

11. Every person who shall erect a dwellinghouse must provide each sleeping-room with a boarded floor so that there shall be between the underside of every joist, plate, stringer, and bearer on which such floor may be laid or supported and the upper surface of the ground a space of 4 in. at the least in each part, and he shall cause the area below such floor to be thoroughly ventilated by some effectual method.

12. In the case of houses already erected the Council may require the owner or occupier of any dwellinghouse which does not comply with Section B, clauses 10 and 11, to make such alterations or additions as may be deemed necessary.

13. The Council may, or shall if the Medical Officer of Health or Director of Maori Hygiene so directs, order the removal or destruction of any building in a dirty and unwholesome state, if in its opinion it is unsuitable for human habitation, or if the owner or occupier thereof fails after due notice to clean, renovate, or himself remove or destroy the same.

14. The Chairman of the Committee, or any person duly authorized by the Committee in that behalf, may by notice in writing direct the owner or occupier of any house or other building in a dirty and unwholesome state to clean or cause the same to be cleaned within a time to be specified in such notice.

15. Any person refusing or neglecting to comply with notice for removals, alterations, or cleaning under clauses 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £1 for the first offence and £5 for every subsequent offence, and in the case of persistent refusal or neglect to comply, the Committee may order the work to be done. Any costs incurred by the Committee in and about such removals, alterations, or cleanings shall be a debt due to the Committee, recoverable as liquidated damages by process in a Magistrate's Court.

16. The Committee may, in its discretion, ease or modify the application of the foregoing clauses 8, 12, 13, and 14 in the case of any old, ill, or feeble person occupying any such buildings as aforesaid, so that such clauses shall not press heavily on such person. The Chairman of the Committee shall report the case and all the circumstances to the Chairman of the Council, whereupon the Council shall consider such case and decide whether it shall devote part of its funds towards cleaning and otherwise improving the dwellings of such sick, old, or feeble persons.

17. The owner or occupier of a dwellinghouse shall be held responsible for preventing more persons sleeping in any room thereof than are allowed by the floor-space laid down in clause 10. Failure to comply with this shall render him liable to a penalty not exceeding 5s. for a first offence and not exceeding 10s. for every subsequent offence.

Movable and Temporary Dwellings.

18. Every person who shall own or occupy temporarily a tent, shed, whare, or similar structure shall be responsible that the same is clean, dry, weatherproof, and ventilated. Each adult and every two children under ten years of age shall be provided with 16 square feet of floor-space.