Mr. D. N. McLeod, continued.

943. And for how many years?—Three Parliaments; for between six and seven years; a broken session in the first Parliament. I followed Sir Henry Wrixon at a by-election, where he went to the Ottawa Conference.

944. Have you had experience in Victoria?—I have; a bitter one.

945. Have you been personally interested regarding rabbits?—I have.

946. You have suffered through their ravages?—I have.

947. You have travelled over this State, I suppose, as much as most people?—I have ridden through from below Cape Leeuwin up to De Grey.

948. Have you ever seen anything in the herbage or grasses or in the feeding qualities in this country to lead you to suppose that rabbits would not increase in this State?—Not a single point.

949. Is it your opinion that the rabbits would get thoroughly acclimatised and would increase and multiply in this State?—Most decidedly.

950. Do you think that this State is in the same danger now of being overrun with rabbits as the other States have been?—Every bit as much so.

951. And you would expect, unless very stringent measures were at once taken, that this State would suffer from devastations of rabbits as much as Victoria and New South Wales have done?—Equally so.

952. If rabbits increase in this State what effect will they have on the agriculturists; just generally?—It might be possible for the agricultural interest to meet it by the skin of their teeth. The pastoral interest— —

953. Wait a minute. I understand, from your remark, the agricultural interest could meet it by a very great expenditure of money?—That is so. The holdings of agriculturists, of course, are so much smaller, compared with the pastoralists, that they might with very great expense be able to meet it. They might. I do not know they could.

954. What effect do you think it would have on the pastoral interest?—R-U-I-N. Four letters would cover it all.

955. Do you think the pastoral areas of this State would pay for rabbit-proof fencing?—Decidedly not.

956. That is by individuals?—Decidedly not. The areas are too large.

957. And you think that these Northern pastoral areas would prove a most congenial home to the rabbits?—Decidedly; nothing to prevent it. All the conditions are there suitable for breeding the rabbits.

958. By Mr. Richardson: On a large scale?—Yes.

959. By the Chairman: Do you think that a national fence running from a certain point on the Great Australian Bight through to the Northern coast of this State would prove a considerable check to this invasion?—I am not prepared to give an opinion as to the geographical features of, say, any starting point where it goes, but a fence ahead of where the rabbits are now, I think, is the only means of dealing with them. Prevention instead of finding the cure after the disease is in.

960. Do you think this ought to be a national matter, this fence?—Most decidedly; just as much so as dealing with a plague.

961. By Mr. Richardson: Mr. McLeod, you say you had some experience of rabbits in Victoria; a somewhat bitter experience. What were your interests in land in Victoria? What was the size of your holding, and what was your occupation?—A small holding. I was in the model dairying—dairying with machinery; butter and cheese making.

962. What was about the acreage of your holding that you occupied?—About 2,000 acres.

963. And you were occupied chiefly in dairying and agriculture combined; was that it?—That is so.

964. And you felt that for a holding that size the presence of rabbits put you to considerable loss and expense?—That is so.

965. From your experience in Victoria, are you cognisant of the fact that in many place in Victoria where rabbits were in small detached colonies, they did not seem to increase for a number of years? Is that your experience?—"Yes" or "no" will answer some questions, and another will want some explanation. I have to go round them a bit.

966. Elucidate that?—I have known of my personal knowledge and experience, from ocular demonstration, a small colony of rabbits exist a number of years in a district and not materially, or at all increase. Their natural enemies in the shape of native cats, carpet snakes, eagle hawks, and so on, were in a majority. When the rabbits come in a wave, the rabbits take charge, but I consider the fact that rabbits having been in a district for many years without increase in the first place is no evidence that rabbits will not increase there.

967. I want to bring out one more point. It is this: When a wave of rabbits come to some locality in which the rabbits existed for some years without increasing, in a separate colony, that same country would become overrun?—That same individual piece of country I was paying 1s. 6d. an acre rental for, for pastoral purposes, was costing me over 2s. an acre for killing rabbits.

968. That was the same class of country in which rabbits had existed for some years without material increase?—Not only the same class, but the same individual piece of country.

969. By Hon. R. G. Burges: Have you had experience of rabbit-proof fencing?—I have seen a lot. I did not not put up any myself.