—before a doctor was able to attend to him. There was two serious cases where a want of a nurse had been very keenly felt and one unfortunate woman had to attend to herself. The nurse could not be secured in time and all subsequent nursing had to be done by the one woman. The other was a similar case, but fortunately they came through safely, although it is apparent that the reverse might easily have been the case. The Government might give a block of land in Mullewa and obtain donations of material or labour form the settlers and erect a little home for a nurse with a room for urgent cases. If that were done they would consider themselves fortunate, but there would be some outlay in material that they could not provide amongst themselves in the district. They might easily arrange to have a working bee to erect the building. After the place had been erected and furnished for the reception of cases, there would come the question of the nurse's salary. She did not know what the sum stipulated by the Department was; she thought it was £50 a year, but that was not sufficient for any woman to live on. It should be £100 at the least in that district. When the Farmers and Settlers conference was held there the suggestion was made to give a district nurse £75 a year and for the settlers to raise an equal amount, but she did not know how the proposal had since fared.

Mr Venn suggested that the ladies of the district should draw up a petition and hand it in to the Commission, who would embody it, if necessary, in their report.

The Chairman said the Commission were well aware of the urgency of the matter and would strongly report in favour of it. At the same time a petition should be presented to the department as the request was a very reasonable one and would be endorsed by the Commission. It was very vital that growing children should be provided for, and a well trained nurse made available.

Mrs. G.C. Smith drew attention to other disabilities under the settlers wives were labouring. She, for instance, had had her first holiday in five years recently, consisting of a week in Geraldton. The housing accommodation was also very indifferent, her own home being constructed of bush timber and iron. Owing to the defective quality of the habitation during the last winter her family had been seriously ill. Her husband after harvest was hoping to make bats for a new house, but as he was single-handed with a lot of other work to do he was unable to carry out his intentions. Everything had been against farming in that district for some years past. There was no library or other means of local recreation. Mrs. May stated that she was on the relieving staff of the Education Department. Mrs. Smith was so far removed from the township that she had to do her own teaching, and her's was by no means an isolated case.

The Chairman informed those present of the system by which a full-time school could be obtained, as well as driving allowance. Ordinarily speaking, there was no accommodation whatever for a teacher at Mullewa.

Mrs. Smith said it had not been their intention to mention anything about the schooling facilities, as they knew it would be an impossibility to make satisfactory arrangements. It was recognised that the farmers could only work satisfactorily when their wives lived in comparative comfort.

Mrs. May said in reference to the Industries Assistant Board scheme, that the sustenance allowance was not sufficient. she herself had had to leave her home and take to teaching in order to provide an adequate food supply. The men were practically employed to work their farms for the Government and were paid 9s a day, but that had to be repaid and interest in addition; but it was rarely that the 9s a day was paid.

The Chairman pointed out that the 9s was not wages, but merely a sum advanced against the crops grown, and if the Government shut off that advance they would be in a worse plight than ever, and as the money had to be found by all the taxpayers, the Government had to pay interest on their borrowed money, and it was only reasonable that the farmers who got the benefit of that borrowed money should also pay interest.

Mrs. May said that their liabilities that her husband had received assistance last year from the Government, but everything that was provided was sent up too late. For instance, they received a plough after the other farmers had their crops off. She herself was ill and had no one to look after her. She had to be left all day alone while her husband was away at work, and after all that the crop was a failure and produced no return whatever. At the present time her husband had to look for work anywhere he could find it to keep things going, while she was entirely alone from morning till night. She had looked after the pigs and fowls and everything generally during the day, and all she had to look forward to was possibly after all their work they would be turned off their holding penniless. She had helped her husband to clear, fence, sink well, and to do everything that had to be done on a farm. Now they could get neither sympathy nor assistance. She had not a single penny to get a cup of tea with. That was her experience of farming in that district. Even then, after her husband had been working for other settlers, when it came to paying his wages he was told they had nothing to give him, but that he would get paid by and by. The inspector of the department had not called at their place. They had to sell the only horse they had, and when they came there they had over £400 of their own money, all of which was gone. The price they were charged for the wheat seed, super and railage from Northam left them without any profit. They applied to the Board for assistance as soon as it began operations. They had been for three years on their present holdings. They used to work till 12 o'clock at night clearing, but got nothing off the little crop they put in. Then they applied for assistance to put it in again and after a lot of trouble got it, but that was when it was too late. The seed and super did not come till the month of June, and some of it as late as July. They got the super first and then the wheat, and then the horse feed in June. When they finished in the second week in August a neighbour was cutting his hay. They put in 150 acres and had 250 acres rolled. Would the Government find the timber and iron for a new home if they themselves made the bats for the walls.

(The deputation then withdrew.)