tion with the State Implement Works which we paid in cash to the works, and which represented the amount owing by the assisted settlers for machinery purchased from the works at various times. We took over the whole of that indebtedness. The amount mentioned also includes water rates. We also took over liabilities from other departments amounting to £30,833, including £25,000 on old seed wheat in connection with advances made prior to 1914, and in 1914 by the Department of Agriculture. It includes advances to Tammin settlers of £1,333 11s. 6d. and advances to civil service settlers of £4,500. These advances were made by the Agricultural Department, and have all been consolidated now in our books. We are handling the whole of the proceeds and have taken over the whole of the liabilities. It was thought that by having the accounts consolidated under one department they could be better handled and the duplication of book keeping saved.

8693. By Mr PAYNTER : Does that include advances made to Esperance settlers? - No.

8694. By the CHAIRMAN : The board has really acted as a clearing house for the other departments? - Yes.

8695. Has the board an opportunity of ascertaining whether the goods taken over are good or not? - No. We will have a better opportunity of protecting the public revenue as we are handling the proceeds of the settlers crops than the other departments who have no security. We have already recouped a considerable amount out of the proceeds we have received from the seed wheat advances. For last year the advances made amounted to £981,292. This includes machinery £72,293, horses £14,639, land rents £124,659, bank interest £136,387, land tax £3,660, roads board rates £4,210, State Implements Works £32,815, water rates £9,090, liabilities taken over from other departments £30,833, miscellaneous, super., bags, wages, labour, living expenses, insurance, railage, spare parts, £618,636. On the actual advances for cropping it works out at 16s. 3d. per acre for 2,300 settlers.

8696. What are the receipts by the board for the 1915-16 season? - For wheat £726,836 on the basis of 3s. 2d. a bushel, chaff and other produce £81,847, but that does not include the recent 6d. dividend of approximately £115,000.

8697. How many acres were under crop during that season? - 615,000 acres.

8698. How many settlers are you assisting this year? - 2,250, that is for the coming season.

8699. What is the estimate for the 1916-17 harvest? - On the 2s. 6d. basis we received £490,000, but a great many of the certificates are not yet in.

8700. What will the gross result in bushels be? - On a 10 bushel average we should get five million bushels. That is allowing for about 750,000 bushels retained on the farm. There should be five million bushels delivered. Then there is the hay on the property. We allow 10 per. cent for hay, which was the proportion cut in the previous year. In the report for June 1915-16 it is shown that the settlers had then delivered 1,964 tons of chaff, the estimate being 57,903 tons on hand. A good deal of that has been delivered since.

8701. The receipts from this harvest will roughly be one million pounds plus the hay? - Yes.

8702. As against the cropping advances of £615,000? - That is for 1915-16. This year it is £640,000.

8703. How many settlers have paid off the board? - No record was kept for the first year. This year, to date, we have given clearance to 50 settlers. We anticipate that a considerable number will also ask for their clearances, or be in a position to get them when the further dividends are paid. We have given clearances to 50 on the 2s. 6d. advance.

8704. How many settlers might have obtained their clearances if the advance of 4s. had been obtainable? - About 500.

8705. How many accounts have you on the books of the board which would be likely to cause possible trouble? - I do not know exactly, and it would not be right for me to hazard an opinion. This year we have probably stopped 40 settlers, whose accounts were regarded as hopeless, and whose farming operations were generally unsatisfactory. The others we are carrying on, and we think there is every possibility of their pulling through with good seasons. It is difficult to say that a man is hopeless, because our experience has been able to retrieve their position.

8706. What amount is the board responsible for to outside creditors? - For 1915 the claim of outside creditors was originally £610,148. Last year we distributed amongst the creditors £70,851. Claims were withdrawn to the amount of £23,200, leaving an amount still due to creditors of £516,097. The claims withdrawn represent claims by the State Implement Works, which we have since paid out of capital.

8707. What dividends are outside creditors likely to get this year? - We should be able to distribute from £200,000 to £250,000. That would be practically 50 per. cent.

8708. Settlers have represented to use that these outside creditors were continuing to send invoices to them plus 10 per cent., and in some cases were rendering invoices quarterly, adding 10 per cent. each quarter? - In the last amending Act special provision was made to deal with that question, and creditors were not allowed to add more than eight per cent. per annum. It may not be generally known. Our difficulty was that the original Act did not lay down any procedure with regard to paying interest on those creditors claims, and it was thought they were entitled to reasonable interest. The interest on some of the accounts which were submitted to the board was thought to be exhorbitant, and a clause was inserted in the Bill empowering us to pay up to eight per cent. The machinery merchants added 10 per cent. to their overdue bills, but they cannot do that now.

8709. Are there any cases that you can cite showing that your clients have done well out of wheat growing alone?- Yes, I can quote a considerable number. I can give you seven now. These farmers have all had their clearances from the board. They depended entirely on wheat growing. The particulars are these:-