MR A MASON, continued.

1108. You have not followed up the rabbit question?—I have followed it up well enough, but I cannot say where the fence ought to go now. You want to fence always fifty miles beyond the rabbits.

1109. That is the limit you mention?—At the least; that is the very least. I expressed that opinion after very careful examination.

1110. By the Chairman: Do you see those various lines on the chart?—Yes.

1111. You see three blue lines there and a red line (chart explained). Do you know anything of the country on any of these lines? I would ask you South of the railway first?—I do not know anything of the South parts there at all.

1112. Or any of the four lines (marked on the chart)?—No, I do not know anything at all about them.

1113. You do not know anything of the Booracoppin country?—No.

1114. Generally speaking, would that be an ordinary line of country for a fence, having regard to the conformation of the country and the timber on it? Would there be any special difficulties?—There would be great difficulties so far as timber is concerned; there is no timber there.

1115. We get some of our best fencing timber there from the North?—But it is very poor up there.

1116. You say you know nothing about South of the railway?—No.

1117. Do you know anything of the line continued North of the railway?—No, I do not know anything about that.

1118. Do you know anything about the farthest West line?—No, I do not know anything about that.

1119. By Mr Richardson: Where did you go from with Mr Newman when you went out with him?—From Mt. Ida to Mt. Margaret, and then we came back and went up here (indicating map).

1120. But as regards the timber there?—There is no timber; I would not guarantee timber.

1121. By Hon. R. G. Burges: There is some forest?—You get patches of it, and mallee.

1122. Is not the mallee big enough to fence on Hampton Plains?—Yes, but it would not be good enough for rabbit-proof fencing.

1123. Have you been in the North-West district?—Only to Weld Springs.

1124. It is the same mallee as here; in fact it is higher here than in the North-West. Have you had any experience of rabbit-proof fencing?—Yes, I have seen a lot of it. I consider I really improved on the ordinary mode of fencing. I have seen different fences in different places, and the fence I suggested was rather an improvement. The fence I suggested may be more costly, but at the same time it is a better fence.

1125. By the Chairman: That was the suggestion you made in your report?—Not in the report you have before you, but in another report. You ought to have the papers.

1126. By Mr Richardson: Just one question to conclude with. After you had made your report and recommendations (you will remember that so far as I was concerned I resigned my position as Commissioner for Crown Lands) was the question followed up or was it allowed to drop?—Well, it was followed up.

1127. In what way?—I sent in a couple more reports that were asked for, but these reports were not followed out.

1128. No action was taken?—Absolutely none.

1129. By the Chairman: Have you any further information to give us?—All I suggest is that it is absolutely necessary to put the fence up; first of all to make exploration of the country to find out as far as possible where they have come in, the most Westerly direction, and then to erect your fence, say, 40 or 50 miles West of where they were seen last. I do not think I can make a better suggestion than that. Then we can afterwards go in for killing the rabbits by poison, cats, and animals like that. But the first thing to do is to erect a fence or you will have no hope of saving any part of the country, unless you do erect a fence or fences. I will not say one fence, but two of three. Money has been wasted in other places, but we do not want to go into that. A sum of £20,000, £30,000 or £40,000 will not make much difference to erect a fence now.

1130. What about the upkeep?—It would take very few men to look after 300 or 400 miles of fencing.

1131. BY Mr Richardson: What distance of fencing do you think one man could control?—I think he could control very easily at least 50 miles.

1132. Hon. R. G. Burges: Two men?—Two men could look after 100 miles between them and have a station between the two places. It is easy enough to do 50 miles on a camel, and the men could meet one another at night at their camp and go back again in the morning. They could do the journey once or twice a week.

1133. You are depending on two men camped together, and you think that these two men would keep in order at least 100 miles?—I reckon they would, but if the fence were broken down in 20 places that would make a difference; still that is not likely to occur if the men went out once a week.

1134. What about a bicycle?—Well, on a "bike" they could go up and down the fence and they would get a bike pad in time. They could carry tools to do all the necessary repairs. I think two men could attend to 100 miles of fencing. There could be a station in the middle with provision for them. I have done 70 miles on a bike myself, and I think that is very good for me. A man who can ride a bike at all can do 50 miles.