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the said Marine Board of New Zealand;
and doth also appoint

Robert Johnson, Esq.,
Thomas Robertson, Esq.,
Archibald Kennedy, Esq., and
William Crush Daldy, Esq.,

to be Wardens of the said Marine Board; and doth also appoint the said

Thomas Robertson, Esq.,

to be the Treasurer of the said Marine Board.

And doth further appoint and declare that this Order shall take effect on and after this fourteenth day of December, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.

Forster Goring,
Clerk of the Executive Council.

NEW ZEALAND FLAX.

£4,000 Reward.

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

THE Government of New Zealand is prepared, 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 indigenous to New Zealand, forty tons of Merchandize.

£1,000

To any person, other than the person entitled 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 of 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 Zealand will from time to time appoint Commissions, to consist of not less than three persons, to act at such places as circumstances 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 majority will be deemed the acts of the Commission.

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

Every competitor wishing to have flax inspected 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 forthwith 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 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 deposit with the Colonial Secretary, keeping one copy for themselves, and giving the competitor one.