v.

REPORT.

To His Excellency the Right Honourable Sir William Grey Ellison-Macartney, Privy Councillor, Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, Governor in and over the State of Western Australia and its Dependencies in the Commonwealth of Australia.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY—

In conformity with the Commission issued by Your Excellency's predecessor on the 13th September, 1916, we have the honour to report as to the possibilities of successful farming in the mallee belt of the State, and particularly with reference to the Esperanza lands, and also as the the advisability of experimental work being undertaken.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMISSION.

Notification.—Full publicity was given to the proceedings of the Commission by advertisement in the principal newspapers, and by direct notification to the local authorities in the districts concerned.

Scope of enquiry.—To save the time and expense which an inspection of the whole of the mallee belt of the State would have entailed, a direction was sought at an early stage as to the scope of our enquiry, and an intimation received that a report in respect of the lands lying between Salmon Gums and Esperanza, and traversed by the railway survey, would furnish adequate data as affecting the whole of the mallee belt.

Sittings.—The Commission held 111 sittings, at 24 of which evidence was taken. The remainder were occupied in inspections of land, the study of departmental files and reports, in discussion, and the preparation of this Report.

Press Reports.—Press representatives were permitted to attend and report the examination of witnesses.

Evidence.—the witnesses examined numbered 86, including settlers and owners of property, in the Esperanza district, departmental official, and the Parliamentary Member for the district. Information was also obtained from Government officials, settlers, and local authorities in the States of South Australia and Victoria.

Visit to District.—The Commission visited the Eastern Goldfields and the Norseman-Esperanza district. The country and settlers' holdings were inspected and soil samples collected. A report of this visit will be found in Appendix No. 1.

Salt problem.—The question of the existence of salt in excessive quantities in the Esperanza lands having been raised, the Commission decided to have the matter investigated by a professional expert. The services of Professor J. W. Paterson, B.Sc., Ph.D., were made available for this purpose by the University authorities, and his report appears in the Appendix.

Delay in reporting.—The investigation of the salt problem was of necessity protracted, and the Commission was in recess on several occasions pending its completion. But for this the present report would have been submitted some months earlier.

Visit to Eastern States.—Comparisons between our mallee lands and those of the Eastern States were frequently made during the course of evidence. To enable conclusions to be formed from firsthand information and personal inspections, the Commission visited the mallee districts of South Australia and Victoria, and were thus enabled to collect much valuable data. A report of the visit will be found in the Appendix.

Previous reports on the district.—Amongst the more important documents placed before the Commission were the following:—

Reports of—

The Agricultural Railways Advisory Board, dated 17th March, 1911, respecting the proposed Esperanza-Norseman railway, and including the majority report of the late Messrs. H. F. Johnston and John Muir; minority report of the Chairman (Mr. William Paterson); land inspection report of Messrs. A. G. Hewby and G. M. May; and survey report of Mr. C. E. Watkins.

The Agricultural Commissioner for the Wheat Belt (Mr. G. L. Sutton), dated 27th May, 1912, outlining scheme for developing the agricultural industry in the mallee belt.

The Engineer for Goldfields Water Supplies (Mr. P. V. O'Brien, M.I.C.E.), dated 30th August, 1912, respecting Esperanza district water supplies, soils, railways and harbour, and covering survey report of Mr. Middleton and report by the Government Analyst (Mr. E. A. Mann) on soil analyses. Survey report of Mr. J. A. Hall, dated 16th January, 1914, respecting lands east of Fraser Range road.

The Trustees of the Agricultural Bank (Messrs. Wm. Paterson, Managing Trustee, and Richardson and Cooke), dated 13 April, 1916, respecting the suggested extension of the Bank's operations to the Esperanza District; including report of Mr. A. G. Hewby (Chief Inspector).

For convenience of reference a copy of each of these reports is submitted in the Appendix hereto.