14

PROVINCE OF NEW PLYMOUTH.

Henry King, Esq
Peter Wilson, Esq
Samuel Popham King, Esq
William Leech, Esq
Charles Brown, Esq
Peter Imlay, Esq
William Cutfield King, Esq
Charles Hetley, Esq
Frederic William Nory Norris, Esq
Alfred William East, Esq
Thomas Watkin Richardson, Esq
George Rutt Burton, Esq
Robert Parris, Esq
Thomas King, Esq
Henry Robert Richmond, Esq
William Morgan Crompton, Esq
George Curtis, Esq
John Blackett, Esq
John Stephenson Smith, Esq

Republished from the General Government Gazette of December 24, 1856:

NEW ZEALAND FLAX

£4000 REWARD.

Colonial Secretary\'s Office,
Auckland, December 20th, 1856.

THE Government of New Zealand is prepared, subject to the undermentioned conditions, to give rewards to the amount of £4000, for the discovery of efficient means for rendering the Flax, and other fibrous plants indigenous to New Zealand, available as articles of export, viz.:—

£2000

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, one hundred tons of Merchandise.

£1000

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, one hundred tons of Merchandise.

£1000

Viz.:—£200 to each of the first five persons, 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-five tons of Merchandise.

The Merchandise 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 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 Merchandise, for ascertaining the process employed, and for fully investigating in all respects and reporting upon the validity of any claim.

Every claim for reward must be preferred in writing before the 1st January, 1859, to the principal officer of Customs at the port of entry nearest to the place where it is desired that the examination of the merchandise shall take place, who will at once proceed to ascertain whether the full quantity in respect of which the reward is claimed is ready for examination, and if such quantity is ready, he will give a certificate to that effect, dated on the day on which he have ascertained the fact, and such day shall be deemed to be the day on which the merchandise was produced.

Whenever any officer of Customs is required to go more than three miles from his residence, his travelling expenses must be paid before-hand by the person requiring his attendance; and he cannot be required to attend a second time if the quantity was found deficient on the first occasion.

One-half of any reward will be paid at once to any person whom a Commission shall report and the Governor shall have determined to be entitled to the same—or after which no other claim to the same reward will be entertained—and the other half upon satisfactory proof being given to the Governor of the bona fide sale of the merchandise in Europe, at an advance of not less than 20 per cent upon the bona fide actual cost of the article landed in Europe.

By His Excellency\'s command,
E. W. STAFFORD.