Papers Past | Parliamentary Papers | Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives | 1880 Session I | DESPATCHES FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO THE...

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1880. NEW ZEALAND.

DESPATCHES FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO THE GOVERNOR OF NEW ZEALAND.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

No. 1. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Offices, Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 10th August, 1878. I have the honor to transmit to you for your information the accompanying copies of a letter which has heen received from Sir J. Hooker, respecting the " Flora Australiensis," a work specially devoted to the botany of Australia, the completion of which is now announced; and of my reply to that letter. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure 1 in No. 1. Sir J. D. Hooker to the Colonial Office. Sir, — Royal Gardens, Kew, 24th July, 1878. It is with peculiar pleasure that I call your attention to the publication, during the present year, of the seventh and concluding volume of the " Flora sVustraliensis.-" I believe that this work occupies a unique place in botanical literature. lam not aware of any other which, treating of the vegetation of so large a portion of the earth's surface, has been successfully brought to a conclusion. For the last sixteen years it has engaged the unremitting attention of its author, George Bentham, Esq., F.R.S., late President of the Linnajan Society of London, who has carried on the studies necessary for its elaboration in the Library and Herbarium of the Royal Gardens so largely enriched by his own munificent gifts. The utility of the work, in describing in a uniform manner and in easily intelligible language the plants of a country so rich in vegetable products, cannot be over-estimated, and it is a matter of daily experience that without such a work these plants could not be accurately discriminated, and could not therefore be turned to useful account with any certainty. In a scientific point of view the " Flora Australiensis "is of inestimable value. It records the nature of the great bulk of the flora with all the knowledge and skill of one of the greatest living systematists, and this while the natural conditions of the country can still be easily distinguished from the inevitable changes which must follow agricultural occupation and the operations of a wide-spread commerce. The accumulation in London, and principally at Kew, of the important botanical collections made by successive travellers and explorers, from the date of Captain Cook's voyage to the present day, have made the preparation of the " Flora Australiensis " in this country a matter of necessity. The labours of these men are bound up with the history of the Australian Colonies, and the mere barren enumeration of Australian plants, apart from the names of their first discoverers, would be an ungrateful obliteration of much that Australians will always hold in respect. Nor must it be forgotten that many species obtained through the industry of these early collectors have never been gathered since. I—A. 2.

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To no one was the force of these facts more apparent than to Baron von Mueller, the distinguished Government Botanist of Victoria- not merely did he therefore waive his own, in many respects, pre-eminent claims to the authorship of the " Flora Australiensis," but, with singular generosity, he transmitted to this country his immense Australian Herbarium, the examination of which was indispensable to the proper elaboration of the work. He furthermore allowed duplicate specimens to be taken from his collections for preservation at Kew as the authentic types upon which the descriptions published in the "Flora" had been based. I trust that the completion of this, the most important of the series of Colonial Floras projected by my late father, will be recognized as evidence of the value of Baron von Mueller's services, and of the botanical establishments of Melbourne and Kew, in furthering the development of the inexhaustible vegetable resources of our Colonial Empire. I have, &c, The Hon. R. Meade, Assistant Under-Secretary, Jos. D. Hooker. Colonial Office.

Enclosure 2 in No. 1. The Colonial Office to Sir J. Hooker. Sir, — Downing Street, 9th August, 1878. I am directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 24th of July, calling his attention to the publication of the seventh and last volume of the " Flora Australiensis," compiled by Mr. Bentham, late President of the Linnssan Society of London. 2. I am to request that you will convey to Mr. Bentham the expression of the Secretary of State's gratification at learning that this important work, which Sir Michael Hicks Beach is aware has long engaged Mr. Bentham's. attention, and which will remain a valuable and exhaustive record of the botany of the Australian Colonies, has been brought to a satisfactory termination. 3. Sir Michael Hicks Beach will have pleasure in transmitting a copy of the correspondence to the Australian Governors and for communication to Dr. von Mueller, who has so largely and generously contributed to the success of the undertaking. 4. A copy of Mr. Bentham's work has been ordered for the use of the library in the Colonial Office. 5. Sir Michael Hicks Beach feels no doubt that the facilities which you have afforded to Mr. Bentham in carrying on the studies necessary for the elaboration of the work have been of great use to him, and that, as on many previous occasions, the colonies are indebted to yourself for much personal care and attention. I have, &c., Sir J. Hooker, K.C.5.1., C.8., Kew Gardens. R. G. W. Herbert.

No. 2. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby. (No. 34) My Lord, — Downing Street, Ist September, 1878. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 25, of the 22nd of June, transmitting printed copies of communications which have taken place between Sir George Grey and yourself, respecting your submission of certain constitutional questions to the decision of my predecessor and of myself. 2. I approve of the terms in which, in your memorandum of the 17th of June, you replied to the opinions expressed by Sir George Grey in his memorandum of the Bth of that month. It may, of course, become a question of considerable delicacy whether a Governor should, without the advice of his Ministers, publish a correspondence between himself and the Secretary of State ; and there are cases in which it is obviously undesirable that Her Majesty's Government should appear to interfere. But in the present case an important point has been raised, in public documents printed by order of the House of Representatives, respecting the duty and powers of a Governor in certain circumstances; and, as you had informed Parliament that you would lay the whole case before the Secretary of State for his consideration, and he was clearly the authority to whom you had to look for an explanation of your position, and it was moreover desirable that the Parliament should know the instructions given to you on the subject, I think you did rightly iu requiring the publication of the further correspondence.

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3. With reference to Sir George Grey's remarks in regard to the conduct of business in the Colonial Office, although this is a topic which I am not called upon to discuss, I may observe that I make it my practice (as the records of the department fully show that my predecessors have invariably done) to peruse at length and form my own judgment upon all documents relating not only to the principal subjects that are dealt with in this department, but also to questions of second-rate importance. 4. Sir George Grey's great experience as a colonial Governor renders it unnecessary for me to enter into any lengthened explanations of the fundamental principles which regulate the functions of the Governor of a colony with the Constitution such as that of New Zealand. These principles remain the same as they were when he last held the Queen's Commission as Governor. But with regard to his remarks as to the power of legislating on constitutional questions vested in the General Assembly, it seems desirable to observe that the Constitution Act of New Zealand, in directing (section 57) the reservation of the Queen's decision of laws affecting the prerogative, has expressly limited the powers of legislation possessed by the General Assembly on such subjects as that referred to by Sir George Grey in the seventeenth paragraph of his memorandum of the 20th June. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanbv, G.C.M.G, &c.

No. 3. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 3rd September, 1878. I have the honor to transmit to you the draft of a Bill which it is proposed to introduce into Parliament to make further provision for the removal of prisoners from Her Majesty's possessions abroad. The object of this measure, as you will perceive, is to provide machinery for removing from any of Her Majesty's possessions to the United Kingdom, or to any other possession, prisoners who have been tried under the authority of Imperial Statutes, or who at the time of committing the offence were subject to the Mutiny Act or the Naval Discipline Acts, and prisoners not falling within either of the above categories, whose life is likely to be endangered, or whose health is likely to be permanently injured, by further imprisonment in the possession in which they are undergoing punishment, or whose removal from such possession is expedient for the more efficient carrying-out of their sentences, or for their safer custody. The want of a law to provide for these purposes, especially in the case of removal on the ground of injury to health from climate, has frequently been felt, and it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to introduce this measure as early as possible in the next session of Parliament. I have to request that you will submit the draft to the consideration of your Government without delay, and I shall be glad to receive, at as early a date as may be possible, any observations which they may desire to offer upon it, in order that the measure may be completed before the commencement of the next session of Parliament. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 3. An Act to make Further Provision for the Removal of Prisoners from Her Majesty's Possessions Abroad. Whereas it is expedient to provide for the removal of prisoners to the United Kingdom or tq auother possession in cases hereinafter mentioned ;

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Be it enacted hy the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows : — 1. This Act may be cited as "The Prisoners Removal Act, 187 ." 2. The following terms and expressions shall be understood as hereinafter defined or explained, unless there he something in the subject or context repugnant to such definition or explanation, that is to say : — " Possession " shall not include any place within the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, or the Channel Islands, but shall include such territories as may for the time being be vested in Her Majesty under or by virtue of any Act of Parliament for the government of India, and shall also include any colony, plantation, territory, or settlement situate elsewhere within Her Majesty's dominions, and for the purposes of this Act all colonies, plantations, territories, and settlements under a central legislature shall be deemed to be one possession under the same local government: "Secretary of State" shall mean any one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State": " Governor " shall include the officer for the time being administering the government of any possession : " Mutiny Act" shall mean any Act of the Imperial Parliament in force for the time being for punishing mutiny or desertion, or for the better payment of the army and their quarters : " Navy Act" shall mean any Act of the Imperial Parliament in force for the time being to make provision for the discipline of the Navy, or for the regulation of Her Majesty's Royal Marine forces while on shore : " Prison" shall mean any place of confinement or any place where prisoners undergo punishment: " Sentence" shall include a commuted sentence : " Imprisonment with hard labour " shall include rigorous imprisonment. Any jurisdiction or power by this Act conferred on " the Governor" or "the Governor in Council" of a possession or on " the Government of a possession " may, within the territories subject to their administration respectively, be exercised by the Governor in Council of Madras, the Governor in Council of Bombay, and the Lieutenant-Governor of any part of India which, for the time being, is under the administration of a Lieutenant-Governor. 3. A Secretary of State, with the concurrence of the Government of every possession concerned, may order that a prisoner who is undergoing in any possession a sentence of a Court of competent jurisdiction be removed to another possession, or to the United Kingdom, there to undergo the rest of his sentence or any part thereof, in any of the following cases:— (a.) Where the prisoner, not being a native of nor domiciled in such possession, has been tried under the authority of an Act of the Imperial Parliament • (b.) Where the prisoner at the time of committing the offence of which he was convicted was subject to the Mutiny Act or Navy Acts ; and the consent of the prisoner shall not be necessary to such removal. Moreover, a like order may be made in respect of a prisoner not falling within either of the two previous cases if— («.) The life of such prisoner is likely to be endangered or his health permanently injured by further imprisonment in such possession; (/;.) If it is expedient for the more efficient carrying-out of the sentence or for the safer custody of such prisoner to remove him from such possession. Provided that such prisoner shall not be removed from any place not lying between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn to a place within those limits unless his consent has been first obtained. 4. If the prisoner is undergoing a longer sentence of imprisonment with hard labour than could have been awarded in the place to which he is to be removed, the Secretary of State may in the order of removal direct that the prisoner be removed to undergo the punishment of penal servitude for a term not exceeding that of his sentence of imprisonment. 5. Where any prisoner has been removed under this Act on the ground of ill-health, or for the more efficient carrying-out of the sentence, or for safer custody, a Secretary of State, with the concurrence of the Government of every possession concerned, may order that such prisoner be returned to the possession from which he was removed, there to undergo the residue of his sentence or any part thereof. 6. The concurrence of the Government of any possession shall for the purposes of this Act be signified by the Governor in Council, and be testified in any possession in India by a writing under the hand of a Secretary to Government, and in any other possession by a writing under the hand of the Clerk of the Council. The consent of a prisoner shall be testified by a writing under his hand. 7. On receipt of an order of the Secretary of State for the removal or return of a prisoner under this Act, the Governor of the possession in which the prisoner is confined may, by warrant under his hand and the seal of the possession addressed to the keeper of the prison in which he is confined, order the delivery of the prisoner to such person or persons as shall be authorized to convey him to his destination• and the prisoner shall be delivered accordingly.

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When a prisoner is to be returned from the United Kingdom a warrant to the like effect may be issued, but under the hand of a Secretary of State; and the prisoner shall be delivered accordingly. 8. The removal of a prisoner under this Act may be effected upon the authority of a warrant under the hand of the Governor and the seal of the possession in which the prisoner is confined, and addressed to the master of any British ship, or any other person or persons ; and the person or persons to whom such warrant is addressed shall have power to convey the prisoner therein named to his destination, and to deliver him, when there, together with the warrant, into the custody of any authority designated therein, or empowered, if in the United Kingdom, by a Secretary of State, or if in a possession, by the Governor, to receive the prisoner. The return of a prisoner under this Act may be effected in the same manner as is herein prescribed with respect to the removal of a prisoner, with this addition, that where a prisoner is returned from the United Kingdom the warrant authorizing his return shall be under the hand of a Secretary of State. 9. Every warrant for the delivery and removal or return of a prisoner purporting to be issued in pursuance of this Act, and to be under the hand of a Secretary of State, or to be signed by the Governor of a possession, and to be sealed with the seal of such possession, shall be received in evidence in every Court of justice in Her Majesty's dominions without further proof, and shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth. 10. Every prisoner removed to the United Kingdom under this Act shall, as soon as conveniently may be after his arrival, be delivered into the custody of the keeper of such prison as a Secretary of State directs, aud shall undergo therein the term of penal servitude or of imprisonment with or without hard labour specified in the order of the Secretary of State, and shall be subject to the same laws and regulations, and shall be dealt with in the same manner in all respects, as if such term of penal servitude or imprisonment had been imposed by the sentence of a Court of competent jurisdiction in the United Kingdom. 11. Every prisoner removed from any possession to another possession under this Act shall, as soon as conveniently may be after his arrival, be delivered into the custody of the keeper of such prison as the Governor of the possession to which he is removed directs, and shall undergo therein the term of penal servitude or imprisonment, with or without hard labour, specified in the order of the Secretary of State, and shall be subject to the same laws and regulations aud be dealt with in the same manner in all respects as if such term of penal servitude or imprisonment had been imposed by the sentence of a Court of competent jurisdiction in such last-named possession. 12. Every prisoner removed or returned under this Act shall, from the time of his leaving his prison in the place from which he is removed or returned to the time of his reaching his prison in the place to which he is removed or returned, be deemed to be undergoing his sentence and to be in the legal custody of the person or persons empowered to remove or to return him, and to be subject to the same restraint and, in the event of misbehaviour, to the same punishment as if he had continued in prison, and as if the person or persons empowered to remove or to return him were the gaoler or gaolers of such prison ; and if he escape or attempt to escape from such custody, such prisoner, and every person aiding or attempting to aid him in" such escape, shall be subject to the same punishment as if such escape or attempt to escape were an escape or attempt to escape from prison. Any person punishable under this section may be tried and punished in the possession from which or the possession to which he is in course of being sent at the time of the offence, or in the United Kingdom in the event of his being in course of being sent to or from the United Kingdom, and the law applicable to such person shall be the law of that part of Her Majesty's dominions in which he is tried. 13. Where a prisoner is removed from any possession to another possession or to the United Kingdom on the ground of ill-health, or for the more efficient carrying-out of the sentence, or for safer custody, or is returned to any possession, the expenses of his removal or return and the cost of his maintenance in prison shall be payable by the possession from which he was removed • and where such prisoner is removed to the United Kingdon as having been tried under an Imperial Act of Parliament, or as having been subject to the Mutiny Act or the Navy Acts, the said expenses and costs shall be defrayed out of moneys to be voted by Parliament. 14. The forms contained in the Schedule to this Act, or forms to the like effect, with such variations and additions as circumstances may require, may be used for the purposes therein indicated, and instruments in those forms (as regards the form thereof) shall be valid and sufficient. 15. Nothing contained in this Act shall affect any agreement already made or hereafter to be made under the Colonial Prisoners Removal Act, 1869.

SCHEDULE OF FORMS. I. —Form op Order of Removal. " The Prisoners Removal Act, 187 ." (Royal Arms.) To all to whom these presents shall come, I, , one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, send greeting : Whereas A.B. was on the day of , before the Supreme Court of the Presidency of

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[Colony of] , convicted of the crime of forgery [or, of assault with intent to commit murder on board the British ship " ," on the high seas, or as the case may be], and sentenced to penal servitude for the term of five years, of which three years are yet unexpired : And whereas it hath been represented to me that the health of the said A.B. is likely to be permanently injured by further imprisonment in the said Presidency [colony] : [or that the said A.B. is not a native of or domiciled in the said Presidency (colony), and that it is expedient that he be removed therefrom] : Now, therefore, I, as such Secretary of State as aforesaid, under and by virtue of the powers aud authorities in that behalf by " The Prisoners Removal Act, 187 ," or otherwise in ma vested, do hereby order that he, the said A.8., bo removed to the United Kingdom [or to the Colon)- of ], there to undergo the punishment of penal servitude for a term of years in such prison as one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State [or the Governor of the said Colony of ] shall direct. In witness whereof I have hereunder appended my signature this day of , 187 .

II. —Governor's Warrant to Keeper oe Prison. " The Prisoners Removal Act, 187 ." (Royal Arms.) By His Excellency , Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Presidency of [Colony of] and its dependencies. To , Keeper of the Prison. Whereas A.8., a prisoner in this Presidency [colony], is now in your custody under sentence of penal servitude for the term of years, from the day of , for the crime of : And whereas, under and by virtue of "The Prisoners Removal Act, 187 ," one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State has ordered that the said A.B. be removed to the United Kingdom [or to the Colony of ], there to undergo a term of penal servitude for years : Now I do hereby order you, the said Keeper of the Prison, to deliver the body of the said A.B. into the custody of CD., master of the British ship " ," or of E.F., 'or of G.11., who is authorized by warrant under my hand and the seal of this Presidency [colony], to receive the said prisoner and convey him to the United Kingdom [or to the Colony of ], and for so doing this shall be your warrant. Given under my hand and the seal of the said Presidency [colony] of , this day of , 187 . [l.s.] Governor, &c.

lll.—Governor's Warrant oe Removal. " The Prisoners Removal Act, 187 ." (Royal Arms.) By His Excellency , Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Presidency of [Colony of] and its dependencies. To CD., Master of the British ship " ; " and E.F., Chief Officer of the said ship; and G.II. Whereas A.8., a prisoner in Gaol, was on the day of , convicted before the Supreme Court of tho said Presidency [colony] of the crime of forgery [or of assault with intent to commit murder on board tho British ship " ," on the high seas, or as the case may be], aud sentenced to five years' penal servitude : And whereas , one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, has, in pursuance of " The Prisoners Removal Act, 187 ," ordered that the said /V.B. be removed to the United Kingdom [or to the Colony of ], there to undergo penal servitude for the term of years: Now I do hereby, in further pursuance of the said Act, authorize you, the said CD. and E.F., G.11., and any or either of you, to receive the said A.B. into your custody, and to convey him to the United Kingdom [or to the Colony of J, and there deliver him, together with this warrant, to , or such person as shall be empowered by one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State [or by the Governor of the said colony] to receive him ; and for so doing, this shall be your warrant. Given under my hand and the seal of the said Presidency [colony] of , this day of 187 . [l.s.] Governor.

No. 4 Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Ngrmanby. (General.) My Eord, — Downing Street, 16th September, 1878. I have had under my consideration your Despatch No. 18, of the 22nd May, enclosing a memorandum by Sir George Grey on the subject of the permission granted by the Queen to the retired Judges of the Supreme Court of New Zealand to retain the title of " Honorable " for life within the colony.

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I request you to inform Sir George Grey that no doubt is entertained by Her Majesty's Government as to the power of the Queen to confer such an honor as the one in question; and, as the recommendation in this particular case was made by the Governor in accordance with the wishes of his Responsible Advisers, there would seem to be no advantage in now discussing further an act which has been completed. Sir George Grey's suggestion, however, that the grant of such a privilege as that in question should be notified in the London Gazette, is one which deserves consideration; and lam at present disposed to think that it may be expedient to follow that course. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 5. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeficer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 16th September, 1878. I have the honor to transmit to you for publication, and for any action which may be necessary on the part of your Government, a copy of a letter from the Council Office, enclosing a memorandum relative to the provisions in " The Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1878," which relate to animals imported from abroad, and calling attention to section 5, subsection (9), of the Act, by which animals imported from Her Majesty's colonies are deemed, for the purposes of the Act, to be foreign animals, in order that the information referred to in the memorandum may be furnished by any colony that may desire to apply for exemption from the provisions of the Act as regards slaughter at the port of debarkation. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 5. The Privy Council to the Colonial Office. Sir, — Privy Council Office, sth September, 1878. I am directed by the Lord President of the Council to transmit to you the enclosed copy of a memorandum which has been sent to the Foreign Office for the purpose of calling the attention of foreign Governments to the provisions in " The Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1878," which relate to animals imported from abroad. The Lord President requests that you will lay the memorandum in question before Secretary Sir Michael Hicks Beach, and that you will call his attention to section 5, subsection (9), of the above-named Act, by which animals imported from Her Majesty's colonies are deemed, for the purposes of the Act, to be foreign animals; and I am to suggest, for the consideration of Sir Michael Hicks Beach, whether the attention of the various colonial Governments should not be called to this fact, in order that the information referred to in the memorandum may be furnished by any colony that may desire to apply for exemption from the provisions of the Act as regards slaughter at the port of debarkation. I have, &c, The Under-Secretary of State, &c, Colonial Office. C. L. Peel.

Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure in No. 5. Memorandum. The attention of all foreign Governments should be called to the provisions of " The Contagious Diseases (i^nimals) Act, 1878,-" under which, except in the case of countries specially exempted by the Privy Council in whole or in part from the operation of the Act, all animals landed from abroad in any part of the United Kingdom will, after the Ist January next, be slaughtered at the port of debarkation. The Lords of Her Majesty's Privy Council will require from any country applying for exemption—-(1) a statement of the laws which regulate the importation of animals into that country; (2) of the methods adopted to prevent the spreading of any contagious disease when it exists there; (3) a periodical report ou the general sanitary condition of their animals.

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It is also desirable that their Lordships should be furnished, before the Ist of November next, with such information, on the points above referred to, as Her Majesty's representatives in foreign countries which export animals to the United Kingdom may be able to obtain through the British Consulates.

No. 6. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby. (No. 42.) My Lord,— Downing Street, 18th September, 1878. I referred for the consideration of the Board of Trade the papers connected with the inquiry held into the circumstances attending the wreck of the barque "Ann Gamble," which accompanied your Despatch No. 31, of the 18th of July; and I have the honor to transmit to you, for communication to your Government, a copy of a reply which I have received from that department, together with a copy of a previous letter from the Board of Trade on the same subject. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby, G.C.M.G., &c.

Enclosure 1 in No. 6. The Boaed of Trade to the Colonial Office. Board of Trade (Marine Department), Whitehall Gardens, S.W., 3rd September, 1878. Sir, — Casualties. I am directed by the Board of Trade to transmit to you a copy of a despatch from the New Zealand Government, relative to an inquiry held into the wreck of the barque "Ann Gamble," and I am to request you to move Sir Michael Hicks Beach to cause the report of the inquiry, and other documents referred to, to be forwarded to this department as soon as they are received in the Colonial Office. I have, &c., The Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. George J. Swanston.

Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure 1 in No. 6. The Marine Depaktment, New Zealand, to the Board of Trade. New Zealand Marine Department, Sir,— Wellington, 18th July, 1878. I have the honor to forward herewith casualty return for the barque "Ann Gamble," which vessel was wrecked at the Bluff Harbour, in this colony, on the 16th May last. The report of the Court of Inquiry, together with a copy of the depositions of witnesses, and the master's certificate, which was suspended for six months, have been forwarded to His Excellency the Governor for transmission to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. His Excellency, who confirmed the report, has been advised to recommend that the Board of Trade should re-issue Captain Morgan's certificate at once; and has also, under the provisions of "The Inquiry into Wrecks Act, 1869/-" directed that a New Zealand certificate as master should be granted to him in the meantime, which has been done; and such certificate has, at Captain Morgan's request, been forwarded to the Registrar-General of Shipping and Seamen, as he left the colony before it was issued. On the return of Captain Morgan's Board of Trade certificate, I should feel obliged if you would obtain from him, and return to this department, the New Zealand certificate above referred to. I have, &c., The Assistant Secretary, Marine Department, R. Johnson, Board of Trade. Officer in Charge.

Enclosure 2 in No. 6. The Board of Trade to the Colonial Office. Board of Trade (Marine Department), Whitehall Gardens, S.W., 14th September, 1878. Sir,—- Inquiries Certificate. I am directed by the Board of Trade to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the sth instant, forwarding a despatch from the Governor of New Zealand, with a report of the inquiry held into the circumstances attending the wreck of the "Ann Gamble."

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With reference to the letter from this department of the 3rd instant, enclosing a copy of a communication from the Marine Department at Wellington respecting this case, I am to request you to state to Sir Michael Hicks Beach that, iu. accordance with the recommendation which has been made, the Board of Trade have returned to Captain Morgan his certificate, which had been suspended. The New Zealand certificate granted to Captain Morgan has been returned by him, and is herewith enclosed for transmission to the Marine Department, as requested by Mr. Johnson in the communication above referred to. I have, &c., The Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. George J. Swanston.

No. 7. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby. (No. M.) My Lord, — Downing Street, 25th September, 1878. I have the honor to transmit to you herewith a copy of a letter from Mr. John Cooper, resident at Waitangi, Chatham Islands, bringing under notice the services rendered by two Natives in attempting to save life from drowning. I am informed by the Eoyal Humane Society, to whom I caused a reference to be made on the subject, that the Society are unable to entertain these cases unless the particulars are fully stated in the usual forms, of which copies are forwarded to you herewith. You will be so good as to take such steps in regard to the application made by Mr. Cooper on behalf of these Natives as you may think fit. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby, G.C.M.G., &c.

Enclosure in No. 7. From Mr. S. J. Cooper to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Noemanby. My Lord, — Waitangi, Chatham Islands, 20th April, 1878. I must apologize for intruding upon your valuable time, but, having heard that a decoration was instituted by his late Royal Highness Prince Albert for any act of saving people from drowning, I have taken the liberty of sending you the particulars of two cases, the parties referred to being Natives of the Chatham Islands. The conferring of such a decoration on them would tend to stimulate other Natives to act in a similar manner. Apologizing for the liberty I have taken, I have, &c., Samuel John Cooper.

Case 1. —Bewai tried to save the life of Archibald Brown, on the 81st day of March, 1878, when, in company of Archibald Brown, on crossing the Great Lake, the latter fell into a large and deep hole, liewai got hold of him, and tried to save him. He sank twice with him; but was obliged to let go his hold of Brown, and very narrowly escaped being drowned himself. Case 2.—-Hapuna Pawa has rescued from being drowned three persons on this island. On the 31st March last, when in company with Brown and liewai, he managed to save the life of Rewai lvhen he was rising to the surface for the last time. He tried also to rescue Brown, but that was found to be impossible. Hapuna is a cripple, labouring under partial paralysis of both legs.

No. 8. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby. (No. 45.) My Lord, — Downing Street, 26th September, 1878. I have the honor to transmit to you a letter from Sir George Grey to the Earl of Beaconsfield respecting an alleged agreement between Sir Theophilus Shepstone and Ketchwayo, the King of the Zulus, to attack the late Transvaal Republic. 2—A. 2.

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2. I have to request that you will inform Sir George Grey tbat his letter has been duly received by the Prime Minister, who has communicated it to me to be considered and answered. 3. The story to which Sir George Grey's attention has been drawn appeared in the Marcli number of " Macmillan's Magazine," and on referring to the article I find that the charge against Sir Theophilus Shepstone is merely part of a resume of political events as they appeared to the narrator (who is a native printer), and is not stated to have been derived by him from the Zulu King. The story is, in my judgment, wholly incredible, because Sir Theophilus Shepstone could bave had no expectation of any conflict with the Boers, as he was, in fact, advancing into their country on a friendly mission, with an escort of no more than twenty-five policemen. So far from inciting the Zulu King to attack the Boers, tbe Natal authorities, including Sir H. Bulwer and Sir Theophilus Shepstone, had for some time previous strenuously and successfully exerted themselves to prevent Ketchwayo from invading the Transvaal. 4. In communicating these remarks to Sir George Grey you will suggest to him in courteous terms that, while Her Majesty's Government will at all times pay attention to any representations which he may desire to bring before them, they will be obliged by his transmitting them in tbe usual way to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, through the Governor of his colony. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby, G.C.M.G., &c.

Enclosure in No. 8. Sir George Grey to the Earl of Beaconseield. My Lord, — Wellington, New Zealand, 4th June, 1878. On the 12th April last I sent to you a telegram regarding a line of policy stated to have been pursued in South Africa in the name and under the authority of the Queen of England : I now propose to state in detail the circumstances to which 1 alluded in that telegram. 2. I feel sure that your Lordship will thank me for thus affording an opportunity to the British Government of putting on record a denial that it either contemplated or authorized arrangements stated to have been made in South Africa which might have resulted in what I believe would have been a great national calamity. 3. For your Lordship's convenience I have annexed, as an enclosure to this despatch, a copy of an extract from a paper written by a Zulu Kaffir for the Bishop of Natal, detailing a visit which he paid to Ketchwayo, the King of the Zulu nation. 4. An important part of this statement is : "I wish to tell you that all the Zulus across the Tugela (refugees in Natal) wish to return here to-day, being oppressed with trouble coming from the black men having to pay much money to the Government and the white landowners. A little while ago Somtseu (Sir T. Shepstone), son of Sonzica (Mr. Shepstone, a missionary), sent a message to Ketchwayo to say that he was going to set the Boers to rights, and that Ketchwayo must collect an armed force to assist him in case anything should happen from the Boers fighting with him. So Ketchwayo mustered the whole tribe of the Aba-Zulus, which live to the north, and said they were to stay assembled at Somtseu''s word, and to attend to Somtseu's word, and in case the Boers should fight with him, then the Aba-Zulus were to render help and go at once to assist Somtseu. Ketchwayo did all that, wishing to obey the commands of the Queen, though he did not want to do it, since no occasion had arisen for his fighting with the Boers, as they had not attacked him • but from what I saw at Maizekauye he is well prepared with ammunition, &c., in case any one should attack him. Well, so the Aba-Zulus stayed on in full force until Kaitshama came, sent by Somtseu to say that all was right—there was no fighting among the Boers • and then the Aba-Zulus dispersed to their homes." 5. It consequently appears, if the above statement is true, that the arrangement made was as follows : That if the Boers resisted the annexation of the Transvaal to the British Empire, and any fighting took place, a large portion of the Zulu nation were to fight against the Boers for the purpose of assisting the British Government in the contest, although the Zulu King stated that they had no cause of war against the Boers, and had suffered no wrong from them. 6. It is calculated that the fighting force of the Zulu King is about 50,000 fighting warriors, .-all of them barbarians, and brought up under a system which accustoms them to witness constantly ihe performance of atrocious actions.

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7. The Zulus appear to have entered unwillingly into this arrangement against a people who had done them no wrong, and upon whom they must have been well aware a war waged by their race, aided by the power of Great Britain, must have brought the very greatest of calamities. 8. At first it might seem incredible that such an arrangement could have been contemplated by Great Britain, or by any one acting on her behalf and using the Queen's name ; but a knowledge of the Kaffir nations induces me to believe that there must be some good foundation for the statement made. The narrative enters into details upon all particulars; it is complete in itself. There is the proposal for the arrangement, the very proper objection made to it, the subsequent yielding to demands advanced on behalf of the Queen of England, the carrying the arrangement into operation to the extent of assembling the force which was to carry it out, the issuing of the requisite orders to that force, their detention under arms and ready for action until a message, as previously arranged, was delivered, stating that no necessity for action had arisen, or was likely to arise, and then the dispersion of the force. All this is stated in a manner which must, I think, create the impression that the events narrated actually occurred. At least, I am satisfied a cause for inquiry has arisen. 9. If we now consider the people for whose ruin the contracting parties entered into this arrangement, if it really was concluded, we find the people of the Transvaal Republic, all of whom are closely related to families inhabiting the Orange Free State and the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope—we find that these people had committed no offence against Great Britain. They had been forced, having been abandoned by the British Crown, to form themselves into a republic. Formal treaties had been concluded by Great Britain with that republic. I believe that at least one other European nation had entered into negotiations with them. They were to all intents and purposes an independent nation, whose liberty and freedom had been solemnly guaranteed to them by Great Britain. They had done no wrong to the British nation. It had simply been determined, with a view to British interests, to re-annex the Transvaal State to the British Empire. 10. The question therefore arises, Was it, under those circumstances, a justifiable act to enter into a secret compact with a barbarous nation, which had itself no cause of quarrel with the Transvaal State, to undertake hostilities against that republic if it resisted the destruction of its liberties and of its Government, which Great Britain, having first required it to accept, and then guaranteed to it, had next determined to take from it ? 11. In forming an opinion upon this point, it must be remembered that never before in South Africa had one European race induced a barbarous nation to join with it in attacking another European race, and that civilized nations generally justly regard as at once cruel and impolitic any plan for engaging a barbarous nation under any circumstances to fall upon a civilized race inhabiting the same country. 12. The Boers are chiefly a pastoral people, living in homesteads isolated from one another, having no facilities for resisting any sudden incursion of a barbarous enemy ; and it is certain that, had the Zulu nation attacked them, atrocities of the most dreadful kind would have taken place. 13. Moreover, the whole European population of South Africa would have sympathized with the Transvaal people; and I think Ido not exaggerate in stating that in the eyes of that population a crime would have been committed by Great Britain which they never would have forgotten. I believe a flame of discontent would have been kindled which it would have taken many years to extinguish. 14. The effect of such an arrangement upon the native race must also have been bad. In their estimation, had it been carried out, a great crime would have been committed by one European race against another. They would never themselves have afterwards felt safe against some surprise from a power which could have done this. From the fact of their having been appealed to as the nation which held the balance of power in its hands between two European races in South Africa, their pride and self-confidence would have been greatly raised. Combinations would probablyhave been formed between the native tribes against the Europeans • because, on the one hand, they would have distrusted a nation which against men of its own colour and race could have formed a plan which the natives objected to as wrong, and could have stooped to solicit natives to aid them in carrying that plan out, whilst, on the other hand, they would have despised the weakness of a nation which admitted its inability to cope itself with so small a population as inhabits the Transvaal territory at the present time. From both these reasons they would have been led to think that they saw a favourable opportunity of weakening the white race in South Africa, and thus adding to their own safety from people whose designs with regard to themselves they constantly mistrust, and at the same time of obtaining booty in cattle, horses, sheep, and every kind of property which is so tempting to barbarians. In fact, Ido not think that means could have been devised which would have been more likely to plunge a great part of South Africa into a series of contests between the scattered European population inhabiting that territory and the numerous native tribes by whom they are surrounded. 15. An effect apparently not anticipated arose from the arrangements stated to have been made by Sir Theophilus Shepstone, that the Zulu warriors should assemble for the purpose of falling on the Boers if they resisted him. For it appears (see Home News, March, 1877, and subsequent months) that the assembling of an armed force in the Zulu territory created an impression in the Transvaal that a restless feeling existed amongst the Zulus whieh at any

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moment might lead them to break into the Transvaal, and that Ketchwayo, the Zulu King, had assumed a menacing attitude towards the Transvaal Republic. It was hoped by some that British influence might succeed in pacifying him. Therefore the effect produced upon the republic by this attitude upon his part was to accelerate the movement for its union with England. 16. These statements regarding the motives which actuated some of the inhabitants of the Transvaal Republic are made by the public Press. If true, it is clear that the Boers not only did not believe that Great Britain was exciting the Zulus to attack them, but that some of them believed that one chance of safety from the violence meditated against them by the Zulus lay in their receiving aid from that power which had made arrangements for using, in a certain contingency, the Zulu nation against them. I have, &c, The Right Hon. the Earl of Beaconsfield, G-. Gbey.

Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure in No. 8. " Macmillan's Magazine," March, 1878, p. 431. Extract from article headed "A Visit to King Ketchwayo," by Magema Magwaza, who is the manager of the printing-office of the Bishop of Natal, and for whose accuracy the Bishop of Natal vouches in a note in the magazine, dated 29th October, 1877:— Magema. —Well, then, Butcleri [the name of an ancient ancestor, here used as surname for Mnyamaua], I, for my part, have enjoyed myself with the King; but I wish to tell you that the izanusi are doing what is not right, and whereas Tshaka and Dingane condemned them, you, the King's Indunas, allowed them to be here. That seems to me bad—very bad. I wish to tell you that all the Zulus across the Tugela (refugees in Natal) wish to return here to-day, being oppressed with trouble coming from the white men, through having to pay much money to the Government and to the white landowners. But I assure you that there is not one who will come back to be killed, for truly you are people ruled by izanusi, who tell you that this or that person is an evil-doer. I don't believe for a moment that those persons are evil-doers, and I blame very much your doings in this respect. Why, don't you know that you have now joined yourselves entirely with the laws of the Queen? I don't see Avhat good you are doing by allowing these izanusi. Further, I wish to tell you that it would be good that all the children of Zululand should be instructed, and get power to be wise like white men. Your sons ought to speak with the white chiefs, and to cross the sea and speak with the great Queen of the English, who is kind and gracious in all she does. You ought to know that. Now, I can venture to speak to you thus freely, for I admire —I admire the government of Zululand as it is carried on by you. I should say confidently that among the Zulus the country is quiet, and life is pleasant here. Nay, I find—what is most excellent—the King judging the causes of his people. I had been told that many people were being killed, and you know that Sobautu and ail good white men are grieved to hear that, and it grieves all native people too like myself. Now I bid you farewell. But I wish to tell you that, to my mind, Ketchwayo's doings which I have seen are excellent. There ought to be here some instructed black men to instruct your children. Also I ought to tell you that I have spoken with Sobautu, and told him that I wish to go to Capetown some time or other, and see the living and ruling and doing of the white men. All this they agreed to, saying that my words were excellent; all three also gladly assented to the teaching of the children. They parted pleasantly from ns, and begged to be very much remembered to tho Inkos' Sobautu. We went off, and went to sleep at Ensindeni. Now let me give some account of the peaceful state of Zululand. There is no war, there is no calling together an impi. A little while ago, Somtseu (Sir T. S.), son of Sonzica, sent a messenger to Ketchwayo to say that he was going to set the Boers to rights, and Ketchwayo must collect an armed force to assist him in case anything should happen from the Boers fighting with him. So Ketchwayo mustered the whole tribe of Aba-Zulus, which lives to the north, and said that they were to stay assembled at Somtseu's word, and to attend to Somtseu's word, and in case the Boers should fight with him, then the Aba-Zulus were to render help, and go at once to assist Somtseu. Ketchwayo did all that, wishing to obey the commands of the Queen, though he did not want to do it, since no occasion had yet arisen for his fighting with the Boers, as they had not attacked him; but from what I saw at Maizekauye he is well prepared with ammunition, &c, in case any one should attack him. Well, so the Aba-Zulus stayed on in full force until Kaitshana came, sent by Somtseu to say that all was right—there was no fighting among the Boers; and then the AbaZulus dispersed to their homes. The next day we arose at Ensindeni, and said farewell to Gaozi, and went on our wav. . . . Ketchwayo stated: "I hope that Sobautu (Bishop of Natal) will always have a care for me ; for those white men are talking, talking, talking, and they want to come down with might upon me. But, for niy part, as I have done no wrong I will not run away, and yet through that I know the ruin of the land will come."

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No. 9. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, Ist October, 1878. Her Majesty's Government have lately had under their notice a case in which certain colonial officers in receipt of Imperial pensions have been permitted by the colonial Government to draw part of their emoluments by way of gratuity, thus evading the Imperial law under which, otherwise, these officers would have been subject, temporarily, at least, to a reduction of their pensions. 2. The Eords Commissioners of the Treasury have expressed their very grave reprehension of the course taken in the cases in question, and have pointed out that these officers have been led into a position which, if they had themselves been exclusively responsible for it, would justly have subjected them to the severe penalties which the law imposes (40-41 Vict., c. 61, sec. 6, 3rd paragraph). 3. The law respecting Imperial pensions payable to persons in colonial emplovment is to be gathered from the Acts 4-5 William IV., c. 24, sec. 20, and 35 Vict., c. 12. 4. It cannot rightly be contended that by calling a certain periodical payment " a gratuity " instead of " salary " any difference is made either in the law or in the practice of tlie case. 5. The Eords Commissioners of the Treasury have informed me that, in consequence of the irregularity which has occurred in this instance, they have been obliged to consider very seriously whether they can safely continue to allow pensions to be paid out of the United Kingdom. Their Eordships state that they are under no obligation to pay pensions in the colonies, but, for the convenience of the recipients, they have consented to allow officers in charge of Treasury chests abroad to pay pensions, and have even made arrangements for the payment of pensions in colonies where no Treasury chests exist; but they have pointed out that they will be compelled to withdraw this privilege altogether if irregularities such as have taken place in the present instance are permitted by colonial Governments. 6. Although I have no reason to suppose that any similar case has occurred in the colony under your government, yet I think it right to address this despatch to you in common with the Governors of all the other colonies. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

No. 10. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor the Most Hon. tbe Marquis of Norma.nby. (No. 48.) My Lord, — Downing Street, Ist October, 1878. I duly received, and caused to be communicated to the Board of Trade, a copy of your Despatch No. 85, of the 20th July, together with the replies which I had received from the Governors of New South Wales and Victoria, with respect to the practice alleged by the British Consul at Noumea to prevail at certain Australasian ports, of depriving sea-men of their certificates of discharge and charging an additional fee for the issue of a permit to reship; and I have tbe honor to transmit to you, for the information of your Government, a copy of the reply which I have received from that department. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor tbe Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby, G.C.M.G., &c.

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Enclosure in No. 10. The Board of Trade to the Colonial Office. Board of Trade (Marine Department), Whitehall Gardens, S.W., 19th September, 1878. S'R, — Seamen Abroad. I am directed by the Board of Trade to acknowledge tbe receipt of your letter of 13th instant, forwarding a despatch from the Governor of New Zealand relative to the practice alleged to prevail at certain Australasian ports, of depriving seamen of their certificates of discharge, and charging an additional fee for the issue of a permit. The Board have also considered the despatches forwarded by the Colonial Office from the Governments of New South Wales and Victoria upon the same subject. The practice which appears to be adopted in all these colonies of issuing permits or licenses to ship under certain circumstances does not seem to call for any observations from the Board of Trade. With regard to certificates of discharge, it appears that in New South Wales the law requires that, if the seaman ships or engages, the certificate should remain in the Shipping Office after the man's engagement. The Board of Trade think that such a regulation is open to objection, and they would be glad if Sir Michael Hicks Beach would request the Governor to furnish further information, and to explain the object of the law. I have, &c, The Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. George J. Swanston.

No. 11. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight. Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby. (No. 48.) My Lord,—- Downing Street, 10th October, 1878. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 21, of the 22nd of June last, enclosing a memorandum from Sir George Grey, and also one from the Attorney-General of the colony, with regard to the maintenance of the independence of tbe New Hebrides Islands. As regards the opinion expressed by Sir George Grey that the New Hebrides Islands are already a possession of the British Crown, as indicated by his Commission of Governor of New Zealand, I have to observe that by the Act 26 and 27 Vict., c. 23, passed in 1863, the boundaries of New Zealand are declared to be the 162° cast longitude, the 173° west longitude, and the 33° and 53° south latitude. The New Hebrides, therefore, are no longer within the limits of New Zealand ; and, as this country has for many years exercised no rights or functions of ownership within the group, and moreover as, by the Western Pacific Order in Council of 1877, Her Majesty has given to the natives of those islands protection from the misdeeds of British subjects, and has provided British subjects with Courts of justice having civil and criminal jurisdiction, Her Majesty's Government, as at present advised, have no intention of proceeding further in the direction of a political protectorate. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby, G.C.M.G, &c.

No. 12. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby. (No. 49.) My Lord, — Downing Street, 15th October, 1878. I have received, and read with interest, the Pinancial Statement made by the Colonial Treasurer of New Zealand in the House of Eepresentatives on the Oth August last, copies of which you enclosed in your Despatch No. 37, of the Bth of the same month; and I have caused copies of it to be transmitted for the information of the Eords Commissioners of the Treasury and of the Board of Trade. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby, G.C.M.G, &c.

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No. 13. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normaney. My Lord, — Downing Street, 18th October, 1878. I have the honor to transmit to your Lordship a copy of a despatch, with its enclosures, addressed by the Acting Deputy Commissioner in Samoa to the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, reporting the result of an inquiry which he had instituted into certain alleged cruelties to Polynesian labourers on the estate of an English, proprietor in the Navigators Islands. As Mr. Maudslay's report shows that the estate on which these cruelties have been practised is worked by an agent of Messrs. McArthur and Co., of Auckland, I request that you will bring the subject under the serious consideration of that firm, in order that the necessary steps may be taken with a view of putting an end to the abuses which have been shown to exist on their plantation. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanbv, G.C.M.G, &c.

Enclosures in No. 13. (For Enclosures see Appendix to Journals of House of Representatives, Session 1., 1879, A.-6, pp. 4-10.)

No. 14. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby. (No. 51.) My Lord, — Downing Street, 19th October, 1878. I duly received and communicated to the Board of Trade your Despatch No. 32, of the 18th of July, replying to the inquiries contained in my despatch of the 6th of Eebruary as to certain irregularities said to exist in the Australasian Colonies with reference to the shipping of sailors without their being first brought before a shipping-master; and I have the honor to inform you in reply that the Board of Trade has no further observations to make upon the subject, as the practice in New Zealand seems to be unobjectionable. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 15. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir,— Downing Street, 21th October, 1878. An application having been recently made for the recognition of an officer in the Government Service of one of the colonies as Consul of a foreign State, I have the honor to inform you that Her Majesty's Government are of opinion that such appointments are undesirable, and have decided to make it the rule in future that public officers will not be allowed to act in a consular capacity for a foreign State. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH, The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

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No. 16. Copy of a DESPATCH from tho Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Norm/INBY. (No. 52.) My Lord, — Downing Street, Ist November, 1878. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 14, of the 13th September, informing me of your visit to the Middle Island to open the railway between Christchurch and Dunedin. I have heard with much satisfaction of the completion of this most important work, and have read with interest your remarks respecting the progress of the raihvays generally in New Zealand; I have also noticed Avith much pleasure the important increase of the grain crop of the colony which you report. I have, &c.j M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby, G.C.M.G, &c.

No. 17. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby. (No. 53.) My Lord, — Downing Street, 16th November, 1878. I have to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 13, of the 13th of September last, enclosing printed copies of the Statement delivered by the Minister of Public Works on the 27th of August, which I have read with interest. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 18. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir,—- Downing Street, 27th November, 1878. I have the honor to acquaint you that the Secretary of State for War has represented that, under the provisions of the Eoyal Warrant for Promotions of the 13th August, 1877, it is no longer possible to allow an officer to hold the appointment of aide-de-camp to a colonial Governor, or any other colonial appointment, without replacing him in his regiment; and that under these circumstances the additional cost of appointing an officer to such a post will not now bo limited to the staff pay and allowances, but will involve the increased charge of his regimental pay, which in the case of a captain is £211 per annum. 2. As the conditions on which aides-de-camp have been allowed to colonial Governors have been that the whole additional charge shall be met by the colony, it will in future be necessary for the colonies either to pay the full regimental pay of these officers, when claimed by the War Office, in addition to the staff pay and allowances, or—which the Secretary of State for War thinks will be the most convenient course —to make arrangements with each officer to pay him his total emoluments for the whole term of service fixed for the appointment. 3. It is to be understood that the amount of the staff pay and allowances of an aide-de-camp to a colonial Governor may be fixed at such rates as each colonial Government may decide upon. 4. The regimental pay of such officers will continue to be defrayed from Imperial funds until the 31st of March next inclusive, but from that date either it must be defrayed from colonial funds, as well as the staff pay and allowances, or the officers must return to their regiments, from which they can no longer be spared. I have, &c, The Officer Administering the Government M. E. HICKS BEACH. of New Zealand.

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No. 19. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 6th December, 1878. I lxslvq the honor to transmit to you, for publication in the colony under your government, a copy of a treaty between Her Majesty and the King of Spain for the mutual surrender of fugitive criminals, as well as a copy of the Order in Council of 27th November, for carrying that treaty into effect. It will be observed tbat under Article 17 the treaty comes into operation ten days after its publication in conformity with the laws of the respective countries. It will therefore be in force in this country from the 9th instant. I have, &c.j M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 19. Copy of a Treaty between Her Majesty and the King of Spain for the Mutual Surrender of Fugitive Criminals. (See the New Zealand Gazette, 6th March, 1879.)

No. 20. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor tho Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby. (No. 56.) My Lord, — Downing Street, 11th December, 1878. I have to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatches, No. 45, of the 13th of September, and No. 19, of the 12th of October last, enclosing an address to the Queen from the Legislative Council of New Zealand, expressing gratification at the success which has rewarded the efforts of the representatives of Her Majesty's Government at the Berlin Congress to secure a peaceful settlement of the Eastern question. I have to acquaint you that the address was duly laid before the Queen, who was pleased to receive it very graciously; and I request that, in informing the members of the Legislative Council through their Speaker, you will at the same time convey to them an expression of the high appreciation with which tho Imperial Government has received the assurance of their loyalty and patriotism. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 21. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer .Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) g lßj — Downing Street, 16th December, 1878. It is with the deepest regret that I have to communicate to you the melancholy intelligence of the death of Her Eoyal Highness the Grand Duchess of Hesse, Princess Alice of Great Britain and Ireland, second daughter of Her Majesty the Queen. Her Eoyal Highness expired at Darmstadt on the morning of the 11th instant, shortly before 8 o'clock, to the inexpressible grief of Her Majesty, the Eoyal Eamilv, and the nation. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. 3—A. 2.

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No. 22. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby. (No. 58.) My Lord, — Downing Street, 17th December, 1878. I have the honor to inform you that the Queen has approved your appointment to be Governor of Victoria in succession to Sir George Bowen, who has been appointed to the Governorship of Mauritius. Sir George Bowen will leave Victoria by the Peninsular and Oriental mail steamer which will leave Melbourne for Galle on or about the 20th Eebruary, and I have to request that you will arrange to arrive in Victoria and to assume the government of that colony as soon as possible after your predecessor's departure. I have to add that your Commission and Instructions as Governor of Victoria will be sent to you as soon as possible, and that, in order to prevent any inconvenience from the possibility of the Letters Patent and Instructions being delayed, a temporary Commission to administer the government will be sent to you at once. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 23. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. Sir, — Downing Street, 19th December, 1878. A correspondence having recently taken place between this department and the Admiralty relative to the payment for coals, &c, consumed on board Her Majesty's ships when employed in the conveyance of the Governors of colonies and other officials on colonial service, I have the honor to call your attention to Lord Kimberley's circular despatch of the 13th December, 1871, on the subject, and to inform you that whenever a Governor requires a Queen's ship for any purpose which the naval authorities do not consider to be part of her ordinary duty, the cost of the coal will be charged against the colony under his government, and paid by it in the first instance. If, however, the Governor should be of opinion that the cost of the service in question should be charged, not against the colony under his government, but against some other colony, or against Imperial funds, such representations as he may make to this effect will be considered, and, if they appear right, the money will be refunded to the colony under his government. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

No. 21. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. (General.) Sir, — Downing Street, 21th December, 1878. I have the honor to transmit to you herewith the Queen's Commission appointing you to administer the government of New Zealand in the event of the death, incapacity, or absence of the Governor. This Commission is issued to you pending the preparation of permanent Letters Patent and Instructions, and your Commission as Governor. Every effort will be made to complete the latter instruments so that you may be able to assume the government under them; but, in the event of their not being corn-

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pleted in time, you will be guided by the Commission and Instructions issued to your predecessor, of which I enclose a copy. I have, &c, Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, M. E. HICKS BEACH. G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 25. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 30th December, 1878. I have the honor to transmit to you the accompanying copy of a letter which I have received from His Eoyal Highness the Prince of Wales, relative to the part taken by certain of Her Majesty's colonies in the Paris Exhibition, together with a copy of the letter which I have addressed to His Eoyal Highness in reply. I have, &c, M. E, HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure 1 in No. 25. H.R.H. the Prince of Wales to Sir Michael Hicks Beach. Sir,— ' Marlborough House, Pall Mall, S.W., 9th December, 1878. The labours of the International Juries of the Paris Universal Exhibition having been completed, and the Exhibition brought to a close, I desire to bring under your notice the action taken by the various colonial Governments in response to the invitation forwarded to them to take part in the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878. Notwithstanding the numerous calls made upon the British colonies of late years to take part in the various International Exhibitions, tho amount of zeal and energy that have been shown in their response on this occasion has not been previously equalled, and is highly gratifying to notice. Influential local Commissions were appointed by the representatives of Her Majesty in the several colonies, the necessary funds were liberally voted by the respective Legislatures, and administrative and executive Commissioners appointed to select and arrange contributions that should be worthy of the occasion, and to carry out their other responsible duties. The success of the general and individual efforts thus made is shown in the satisfactory results of the collective exhibits arranged by the colonics. The aggregate expenditure of the colonial Commissions that has been provided for by the sums voted by the various Legislatures and Crown Colonies is estimated at £80,000. The demands made for space on the part of the colonies, especially the Dominion of Canada and Australia, were so large that great difficulty Avas found in providing for them, and ultimately a part of the grand vestibule, in addition to the dome, which was the post of honor allotted to the Indian Empire, was ceded to some of the smaller colonies. The arrangements of the Dominion of Canada, which included all Her Majesty's possessions on the American Continent, were carried out by Mr. Thomas Keefer, C.E., C.M.G., on a scale far surpassing any previous representation of British America. The cases and fittings of native woods were most effective and striking, as were the enormous sections of Douglas pines sent from British Columbia. The woods and minerals, the products of the fisheries, of agriculture, and of manufacturing industry, so successfully arranged by Mr. Selwyn, Director of the Geological Survey, were of a very important character, and received high awards from the juries. The Educational Department, under the skilful superintendence of Dr. May and Mr. W. E. Archambault, was particularly well represented, and gained two diplomas of honor and six gold medals; and the Ministers of Public Works and of Agriculture were also honored with diplomas and gold medals. The African Colonies were represented by the Cape of Good Hope, under the management of Mr. Spencer Todd, C.M.G., and by Lagos, under Mr. Arthur H. Porter. The unsettled position of affairs in the colony operated unfavourably upon the South African exhibition, and prevented the colonial Government from devoting to it so large a parliamentary grant as would have been necessary to secure a really perfect display of the resources of this colony and of the great progress it has made since the date of the last Paris Exhibition. Samples of almost every South African product were, however, shown. Three exhibitors of wines gained gold medals. Wool, mohair, angora hair, hides, and leather were represented by small but well-chosen specimens ; and the only undressed ostrich feathers to be found in the Exhibition were in the court of

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the Cape Colony, illustrating an industry which has developed in a most remarkable manner of recent years. Carefully-selected specimens of the diamonds found iu tho mines of Griqualand West were also exhibited,- and the mineral wealth of South Africa was well represented by a beautiful nugget of Transvaal gold, by coal from Qaeenstown, copper ore from Namaqualaud, manganese ore from Wellington, and cobalt ore from the Transvaal. The Educational Class was also well filled with maps, drawings, specimens of printing and bookbinding, and interesting ethnological studies. Perhaps one of the most striking exhibits from tho colonies was the representation made by Her Majesty's dependencies at the Antipodes. Australia and New Zealand have advanced with great strides since the last Exhibition in Paris. These provinces of the Empire, with a population of over two and a half millions, have an external commerce exceeding ninety millions a year, the greater part of which is with Great Britain and her dependencies. It is not, therefore, surprising that the enterprise of these colonies should have brought them prominently forward at this international competition, and that each made a creditable display of its own products and industry. New South Wales, the oldest Australian colony, exhibited the magnitude of her natural resources in her splendid display of wool, for which she gained a grand prix; in her display of coal, with which she supplies the countries of the Pacific ; for her scientific display of mineralogical and natural-history collections by Professor Liversedge; and for tlie excellence of her varied branches of manufactures. The Hon. Edward Combes, M.P., C.M.G., late Minister for Public Works, the Executive Commissioner for New South Wales, remained in continuous care of the exhibits of this important colony during the whole period of the Exhibition. The energy and industry of the colonists of Victoria is remarkably shown by the great number and varied character of her exhibits. Representations of tho enormous wealth attained through her gold discoveries are only evidences of the future riches which will accrue to her from the encouragement of her industrial resources. Wools, woollen fabrics, silks, wines, carriages, preserved meats and provisions, and almost every branch of industry was here represented. The Hon. J. J. Casey, M.P., C.M.G., President of the Victoria Commission, superintended the arrangement of the collections sent from his colony until his return to Victoria, after which his duties were performed by Mr. G. Collins Levey, C.M.G., the Secretary to the Commission. The great natural resources of South Australia are shown by her exhibits of wheat, wool, gold, copper, wine, and oil. South Australia, as on some former occasions, received the highest award for her magnificent collection of wheat, and a gold medal for flour. The granary of Australia, she also furnishes to the mother-country some of the finest description of grain. For her merino wool, amongst other prizes, a gold medal was awarded. The exhibits of gold and of native and manufactured copper attracted considerable attention and received suitable awards; whilst the wines and oil shown give promise of a rich reward to capitalists and labour. Mr. Josiah Boothby, C.M.G., Under-Secretary to the Government of South Australia, ably represented the colony throughout. Queensland has shown the variety and magnitude of her resources iu a display of wool, sugar, minerals, pearl-shell, and other articles of indigenous produce, which secured a large number of awards. Queensland was represented by Mr. A. Macalister, C.M.G., Chairman of the Commission, the Agent-General in Loudon, and by Mr. A. Hodgson, C.M.G. Western Australia exhibited a small collection of general products, but was exceedingly important in its splendid exhibit of jarrah-jarrah and other forest timber not surpassed for its imperishable qualities, and which is obtainable in great abundance. The exhibits of this colony were placed under the charge of the Secretary of the Royal Commission. New Zealand, represented by Mr. T. P. Russell, sent only a small collection. The International Juries have placed on record the merits of the above-mentioned colonial exhibitions by the number aud importance of the medals and honorary rewards voted, which far exceed those granted at any previous Exhibition. The youngest of our British possessions, the Fiji Islands, was awarded several gold medals for the quality of its cotton. Of the Eastern Colonies, Ceylon sent the finest collection of produce, native manufactures, and jewellery ever yet exhibited. These were arranged by Sir Charles P. Layard, K.C.M.G. The Straits Settlements, for the first time since their establishment as a separate colonial Government, made an interesting representative collection. Mauritius, with its dependencies, the Seychelles Islands, represented by Mr. Custave Adam, Mr. Alphonse Lucas, and Mr. Edward Elias, obtained relatively the highest awards in general, and especially for the article upon which the industry of their populations is concentrated; and the only grand prize awarded to cane-sugars was won by Mauritius, in addition to five gold medals for the same produce, and a gold medal for vanilla. The only West India Colonies which took part in the Exhibition were Jamaica, British Guiana, aud Trinidad. The principal products shown were sugar, rum, coffee, and specimens of woods. Each of these colonics gained a considerable number of medals, indicating a fair average of excellence. British Guiana was represented by Mr. William Walker, and Trinidad by Dr. J. Court. These exhibits from Western Australia, Jamaica, the Straits Settlements, and Seychelles, with British Guiana, Trinidad, aud Lagos, were placed under the charge of Sir Philip Cunliffe Owen,

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as Secretary of the Royal Commission. He has been mainly assisted by Captain Harris, Royal Engineers, whose valuable and efficient services to the colonies generally Sir Philip has never failed to bring specially under my notice; whilst for the technical arrangements and immediate superintendence of the collection from these above-mentioned colonies, Mr. P. L. Simmonds was well qualified, by his official services at previous Exhibitions and his thorough knowledge of colonial products, to bring these collections prominently before the International Juries. Nearly all the colonies published and circulated valuable descriptive catalogues, which afforded most useful information to visitors; and these were freely distributed, with many other colonial publications of scientific or popular character. Considering that the number of exhibitors was more limited, the colonies have carried away a larger proportion of medals than the mother-country. Taking advantage of the presence in Paris of a number of gentlemen qualified by their personal experience to judge colonial produce, I secured the services of the following Colonial Commissioners upon the International Juries :•— The Dominion.— -Mr. Thomas C. Keefcr, C.E., C.M.G.; Dr. S. P. May; Mr. Alfred Selwyn, F.R.S., F.G.S. ; Mr. W. E. Archambault. New South Wales. —Tlie Hon. Edward Combes, C.M.G.; Professor Liversedge. Victoria. —Mr. G. Collins Levey, C.M.G. South Australia. —Mr. Josiah Boothby, C.M.G. Mauritius. —Mr. Gustave Adam, Mr. Alphonse Lucas, Mr. Edward Elias. Cape of Good Hope. —Mr. Spencer Todd, C.M.G. I am further glad to acknowledge the valuable services upon the jury of Mr. Colville Barclay, C.M.G., a well-known officer in the Colonial Office. These gentlemen at the same time gave valuable assistance to the juries of their respective classes, were watchful for the interests of the several colonics that they represented, and no less careful for the interests of the exhibitors from the mother-country. In. conclusion, I desire to bring under your notice the copy of an address from the Executive Commissioners of the Colonies which I had the pleasure of receiving at the British Embassy during my last stay in Paris. In the copy of my reply, you will observe that I have expressed my satisfaction at the proposed formation of a Colonial Museum, and my readiness to co-operate in any scheme which may have received the mature consideration of the respective colonies. I have, &c., Albert Edward, P. The Right Hon. Sir Michael E. Hicks Beach, Bart, M.P., &c.

Enclosure 2 in No. 25. Sir M. Hicks Beach to H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. Sir, — Downing Street, December, 1878. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the letter dated the 9th instant, which your Royal Highness was pleased to address to mo with reference to the part taken by the British Colonies in the Paris Exhibition. 2. The hearty response of tbe colonial Governments to your Royal Highnesses invitation to them to take part in the Exhibition, the able and zealous co-operation of their representatives, and the distinguished success of the colonial representation, have afforded me the greatest satisfaction. 3. I am very sensible of the great advantage to the colonies of your Royal Highnesses active and friendly attention to their interests at the Exhibition, and I bave already received from gentlemen connected with the colonies, officially and otherwise, warm expressions of gratitude for the trouble taken by your Royal Highness on their behalf. lam confident that the colonial Governments feel deeply indebted to your Royal Highness for the valuable services which you have rendered to them. 4. I feel sure that the ready assistance and co-operation given at all times by Sir P. C. Owen and the members of his staff are also fully appreciated by the exhibitors and official representatives of the colonies. 5. With reference to the proposed Colonial Museum in London referred to in the address from the Executive Commissioners of the Colonies to your Royal Highness, I have the honor to state that I shall be ready to co-operate on the part of the Crown Colonies, so far as their means will permit, on learning that the important colonies enjoying responsible government are prepared to deal with the suggestion made by the gentlemen in Paris in a manner which would appear to me to promise success. 6. I shall have much pleasure in transmitting a copy of this correspondence to the Governors of all the colonies, and in including it among the papers to be presented to Parliament in relation to Her Majesty Js colonial possessions. I have, &c, H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, K.G., &c, M, E. Hicks Beach.

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JNo. 26. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealslnd. (Parliamentary.) Sir, — Downing Street, 3rd January, 1879. I have sent you, per book post, certain parliamentary papers, the titles and number of copies of which are specified below; and I request you will be good enough to acknowledge their receipt. Title of Paper. No. of Copies. Colonial Timber ... ... ... ... ... 6 I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

No. 27. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (No. 1.) Sir, —■ Downing Street, 4th January, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a telegram, dated the 20th December, tendering, on behalf of the citizens of Auckland, a message of condolence to the Queen in reference to the loss which Her Majesty and the Eoyal Eamily have recently sustained by the death of Her Eoyal Highness the Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse-Darmstadt. I have laid the message before Her Majesty; and lam commanded to request that you will convey to the citizens of Auckland Her Majesty's gracious appreciation and recognition of the expression of heartfelt sympathy in her bereavement. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

No. 28. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby. (No. 2.) My Lord, — Downing Street, 10th January, 1879. With reference to your Lordship's Despatch No. 51, of the 3rd November, I have the honor to transmit to you the enclosed form which has been received from the Eoyal Humane Society, in order that the particulars required by the Society may be given to enable them to consider the case of William Jenkins and his crew, who saved life in New Zealand at the wrecks of the ship " City of Auckland" and of the ship " Eelixstowe." I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby, G.C.M.G., &c.

Enclosure in No. 28. ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY. Instructions to Applicants for the Rewards of the Society, setting forth the Particulars of the Case of , who risked his Life in rescuing or attempting to rescue at ,on the ,18 . Pecuniary rewards are limited to cases which occur within thirty miles of tlie metropolis, 1. Name, address, age, and occupation of the applicant. 2. Name, address, age, and occupation of the person saved.

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3. Time of day, date, and place at which the accident occurred, with exact particulars of how the accident happened, and in what manner the person was reached. If in a river, state breadth aud depth, and whether any tide or stream running. If in a canai, lake, pond, or reservoir, its breadth, depth, and size. The distance from the shore or bank of the spot where the rescue took place, and the depth at that spot, with any other particulars explanatory of the cause of the accident. 4. If the case occurred at sea, state the nature of the wind, weather, and sea ; speed of the vessel; whether under sail or steam, or both ; and whether a life-buoy and other appliances were used. To be verified by the commanding or other superior officer. 5. The precise nature of the risk incurred by the applicant, with every particular of the exertions made to save the life. 6. How long the person rescued had been in the water, and his state when rescued. 7. Who was sent for ; who came; what was then done,* and what kind of treatment was adopted. (Signature of applicant.) It is requisite that all the above questions be answered as fully as possible. This paper to be accompanied by certificates of one or more eye-witnesses, who should add their profession or trade and address, and state fully, in their own handwriting, the precise nature of the applicant's exertions, showing the actual risk incurred. The above details to be left or sent to the Society's office, 4 Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, with as little delay as possible. Lambton Young, Secretary.

No. 29. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir,— Downing Street, 14th January, 1879. I have the honor to request that you will transmit to me annually, for the use of the Intelligence Branch of the War Office, returns in the accompanying forms relating to fortifications, ordnance, arms, ammunition, &c, barracks, huts, &c, colonial naval forces, naval reserve, railways, telegraphs, and canals. I have also to request that you will at the same time forward a duplicate copy of these returns for record in this department. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Tbe Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

No. 30. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 21st January, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you, for information and publication in the colony under your government, copies of an announcement published in the London Gazette on the 14th inst., relative to the notices given by the French Government to terminate, on the Ist of January, 1880, the commercial treaties now in force between this country and Erance. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 30. Extract from the London Gazette of Tuesday, 14th January, 1879. Foreign Office, 13th January, 1879. The Government of France have given notice for the termination of the following commercial treaties with this country : —■ The Treaty of Commerce of the 23rd of January, 1860; Additional Article of 25th of February, 1860; Second Additional Article of 27th of June, 1860; First Supplementary Con-

* Should the patient have been taken to a publichouso, a certificate of the landlord, verified by the medical attendant, jiiust be attached, stating what accommodation was afforded.

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vention of 12th of October, 1860; Second Supplementary Convention of 16th of November, 1860; Treaty of Commerce and Navigation of 23rd of July, 1873; Convention Supplementary to ditto of 24th of January, 1874; and Declaration relative to Expertise of 24th of January, 1874. This notice will take effect on the Ist of January, 1880.

No. 31. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Ze/Uuand. (Circular.) Sir, —■ Downing Street, 27th January, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you, for information and publication in the colony under your government, a copy of an Order of the Queen in Council of the 30th December last, under the Merchant Shipping Act, modifying a previous Order in Council of the 29th of Eebruary, 1868, exempting from remeasurement in this country Danish vessels the certificates of Danish nationality and registry of which are dated on and after the Ist of October, 1867. It appears that the Board of Trade did not furnish this department, as in the present instance, with a copy of the Order in Council of the 29 th of Eebruary, 1868, for transmission to the various colonial Governments: I therefore enclose copies of that Order, which (if not already published in the colony) should be published at the same time as the amending Order. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 31. At the Court at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, the 30th day of December, 1878. Present: The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council. Whereas by "The Merchant Shipping Act Amendment Act, 1862, " it is enacted that "whenever it is made to appear to Her Majesty that the rules concerning the measurement of tonnage of merchant ships for the time being in force under the principal Act have been adopted by the Government of any foreign country, and are in force in that country, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by Order in Council, to direct that the ships of such foreign country shall he deemed to be of the tonnage denoted in their certificates of registry or other national papers, and thereupon it shall no longer be necessary for such ships to be remeasured iu any port or place in Her Majesty's dominions, but such ships shall be deemed to be of the tonnage denoted in their certificates of registry or other papers, in the same mariner, to the same extent, and for the same purposes, in, to, and for which the tonnage denoted in the certificates of registry of British ships is to be deemed the tonnage of such ships :" And whereas by "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1876," it is enacted that when "Her Majesty has power under cThe Merchant Shipping Act, 1854/ or any Act passed or hereafter to be passed amending the same, to make an Order in Council, it shall he lawful for Her Majesty from time to time to revoke, alter, or add to any Order so made :" And whereas by an Order in Council dated 29th day of February, 1868, Her Majesty, to whom it was made to appear that the said rules for the measurement of the tonnage of merchant ships had been adopted by the Government of His Majesty the King of Denmark, was pleased to direct that the ships of Denmark the certificates of Danish nationality and registry of which were dated on and after the Ist October, 1867, should be deemed to be of the tonnage denoted in the said certificates of Danish nationality and registry : And whereas certain modifications have been recently made in the rules concerning the measurement of tonnage of merchant ships in force in Denmark, whereby, from and after the Ist day of October, 1878, the allowance for engine-room in certain steamships will be estimated in a mode differing from, that in force in this country : And whereas it has been made to appear to Her Majesty that it is desirable to alter the said Order in Council, so far as the same applies or relates to the mode of estimating the allowance for engine-room in Danish steamships : Her Majesty is hereby pleased, by and with the advice of her Privy Council, to direct, as regards Danish steamships, that if the owner or master of any merchant ship belonging to the said Kingdom of Denmark, and measured after the said Ist day of October, 1878, which is propelled by steam or any other power requiring engine-room,

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desires the allowance for engine-room in his ship to be estimated under the rules for engineroom measurement and allowance applicable to British ships, instead of under the Danish rule, the engine-room shall be measured and the allowance calculated according to the British rules. C. L. Peel.

No. 32. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby. (No. 4.) My Lord, — Downing Street, 29th January, 1879. I am commanded by the Queen to acknowledge the receipt of a telegram from the Mayor of Christchurch, New Zealand, tendering a message of condolence on behalf of the citizens of that town upon the loss sustained by Her Majesty and the Royal Family by the death of Her Royal Highness the Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse-Darmstadt; and I am to request that you will convey to the Mayor Her Majesty's gracious appreciation and recognition of the expression of heartfelt sympathy in her bereavement. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanbv, G.C.M.G, &c.

No. 33. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 31st January, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you a copy of a letter from the Board of Trade, with certain forms of import and export accounts, and to request you will cause these new forms to be substituted for those now in use in drawing up the colonial Blue Book. I am further to call your attention to the observations of the Board of Trade as to the expediency of dispensing with the distinction between goods imported and exported in British and foreign vessels, and the importance of stating separately, in the import and export accounts, the interchange of gold and silver, distinguishing bullion and specie. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 33. The Board of Trade to the Colonial Office. Office of Committee of Privy Council for Trade, Sir, — 23rd January, 1879. I am directed by the Board of Trade to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 13th instant, relative to the returns of the re-export of foreign merchandise from British Honduras; and in accordance with Sir Michael Hicks Beaches request, lam directed to forward herewith certain forms of import and export accounts which the Board of Trade would suggest should be substituted for those now in use in the colonial Blue Books, in order to secure the distinction between the exports of domestic and those of foreign produce in the country account, as well as the present distinction in the detailed tables of articles. I am further to suggest that the distinction between goods imported and exported in British and foreign vessels might with advantage be dispensed with, as this division has long been omitted from the trade accounts of the United Kingdom, and may add materially to the work of compiling these tables in the colonies. I am to add that it would he desirable, in any circular that may be issued calling attention to these charges, that each colony should be reminded of the importance of stating separately, in the import and export accounts, the interchange of gold and silver, distinguishing bullion and specie. I have, &c, The Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. R. Giffen. 4—A. 2.

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No. 31. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, sth February, 1879. I have the honor to inform you that the Secretary of State for War has requested an expression of my opinion as to whether the clause of the Commissariat Regulations, a copy of which is enclosed, gives sufficient protection to colonial revenues, or whether goods imported by contractors should first pay duty, and rebate be granted after the delivery of the goods have been made to the Commissariat Department. I have to request that you will favour me with your opinion on the subject. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Tbe Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 34. 151. With the view of preventing articles which have been imported duty free for the use of Her Majesty's troops from being brought into general consumption without the payment of duty, it is directed that whenever any articles which have been so delivered for the use of the troops are subsequently returned upon the hands of tbe contractor, or sold, the District Commissary-General will forthwith apprise the officers of the Customs of the particular quantities and description of the articles so returned, in order that they may be enabled to receive the duty thereon.

No. 35. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, Bth Eebruary, 1879. I have the honor to acquaint you that Her Majesty's Government have been informed by the United States Minister in this country that General Grant, late President of the United States, accompanied by Mrs. Grant and their son, Colonel Frederick Grant, proposes to make a tour in India, and possibly in Australia and New Zealand, and has already embarked for that purpose from Marseilles. Her Majesty's Government are further informed that General Grant has been joined by the Hon. Mr. Borie, formerly Secretary of the United States Navy, and that the Government of the United States have placed at General Grant's disposal the ship "Richmond," which will meet the party at some Eastern port. I have to add that no salutes or official honors should be given in the event of General Grant visiting the colony under your government, but that he should receive all such courtesies as are proper in the case of a distinguished foreigner. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

No. 36. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 11th Eebruary, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you a copy of a letter from the Eoreign Office, enclosing a copy of a note from the Italian Ambassador at this Court, applying on behalf of his Government for information as to the regulations in

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force in the British colonies respecting the production and manufacture of tobacco, as well as the rates of duty to which it is subject in those colonies. I shall be glad to receive such information on this subject as you may be able to furnish for transmission to the Italian Ambassador. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering tbe Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 36. The Foreign Office to the Colonial Office. Sir, — Foreign Office, 31st January, 1879. I am directed hy the Marquis of Salisbury to transmit to you herewith a copy of a note from the Italian Ambassador at this Court, applying on behalf of his Government for information as to the regulations in force in the British colonies respecting the production and manufacture of tobacco, as well as the rates of duty to which it is subject in those colonies; and I am to request that, in laying the above communication before Secretary Sir Michael Hicks Beach, you will move him to cause the necessary steps to be taken for procuring the particulars on this subject desired by the Italian Government. I have, &c, The Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. T. V. Lister.

Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure in No. 36. M. Le Makqtjis,— Londres, 15 Janvier, 1879. Pour pouvoir fournir a mon Gouvernement quelques renseignements qui lui permittent de completer ceux qu^il est en train de recueillir sur la production et la manufacture des tabacs dans les differents Etats, j-'aihhonneurd'avoirrecours a Pobligeance accoutumee de Votre Excellence, ct de la prier de vouloir bien me faire connaitre quels sont, a ce sujet, les reglements en vigueur dans les colonies de la Grande Bretagne. La production et la manufacture des tabacs sont-elles libres dans toutes les colonies du Royaume Uni, ou bien Pexploitation se fait-elle dans quelques colonies par PEtat ? Et les droits d'importation des tabacs sont-ils, dans le premier cas, les memes pour les possessions coloniales de Sa Majeste la Reine que pour PAngleterre ? Son Excellence le Marquis de Salisbury. Menabrea.

No. 37. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 25th February, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you for information and publication in the colony under your government, copies of a tabular statement whicb. I bave received from the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, showing the alterations in the Italian general tariff in consequence of the conclusion of the Austro-Italian Treaty of 27th December, 1878. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 37. Tabular Statement of Italian General Tariff sent to Customhouses for Record and Inspection.

No. 38. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (No. 7.) Sir, — Downing Street, 26th February, 1879. I am directed by the Secretary of State to transmit to you a copy of a

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telegraphic despatch which has been sent to you this day : " Convey my thanks "to Grey. His suggestion Natal will receive attention." I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

No. 39. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Robinson. (General.) Sir, — Downing Street, 27th February, 1879. With reference to my despatch, marked " General," of the 24th December, I have the honor to transmit to you herewith Letters Patent, passed under the Great Seal, constituting the office of Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, together with instructions under the Royal sign-manual and signet to accompany the same. I also transmit the Queen's Commissions appointing you to be Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, and the Chief Justice or Senior Judge for the time being of New Zealand to be Administrator of the Government in the event of the death, incapacity, or absence of the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor. I have to request that you will return to me the Commissions noted in the margin,* in order that they may be cancelled in the usual manner. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, G.C.M.G, &c.

No. 40. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular No. 1.) Sir, — Downing Street, 27th February, 1879. With reference to the Earl of Kimberley's circular despatch of the 27th of June, 1871, transmitting regulations respecting the supply of British silver coins to colonial Governments, I have the honor to enclose, for communication to your Legislature and for publication in the colony under your government, extracts of a letter from the Treasury enclosing revised regulations for the supply of new silver and bronze coin. 2. I entirely concur in the opinion expressed by the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury that, as the conditions of supply of new coin have now been made so favourable, it is incumbent on the Governors of Her Majesty's colonies to secure that the silver coinage is kept in proper condition by the systematical withdrawal of worn coin; and I trust that they will specially charge themselves with that duty. 3. Copies of this despatch and of its enclosures have been sent to the Crown Agents for the Colonies and to the Agents-General in London for the Australasian Colonies. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 10. Extracts from a Letter from the Treasury to the Colonial Office, dated 12th February, 1879. " Sir Michael Hicks Beach will perceive that the Mint will from henceforth defray all expenses connected with the shipment of silver and bronze coin to the port in the colony agreed

* 19th December, 1878, Sir Hercules Robinson, Administrator ; 7th November, 1874; Chief Justice or Senior Judge, Administrator.

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on between the Master of the Mint and the Agent of the colony in London, including packing, freight, insurance, and shipping charges.*''' "7. This bronze coin is now for the first time included in the Regulations, and the colonies using Imperial token coin will in all cases be supplied with such amounts as they require on the mere payment of its nominal value. " 8. I am to request that the Secretary of State, if he approve of the proposed arrangement, will cause copies of the amended Regulations to be sent to the Governors of all colonies using the Imperial system of coinage, and to the s^gents of those Governments in London. " 9. It will be observed that it is not necessary to require that applications for supplies of coin should any longer be made to the Mint through the Colonial Office and the Treasury." " 12. My Lords trust that the Secretary of State will point out to the Governors of the colonies affected by the Regulations that, as the conditions of supply have now been made so favourable, it is incumbent on them to secure that the silver coinage is kept in proper condition by the systematic withdrawal of worn coin."

Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure in No. 40. Regulations for the Supply of British Silver and Bronze Coinage to the Colonies. New silver and bronze coin (half-crowns, florins, shillings, sixpences, and threepences, and pence, halfpence, and farthings) can be supplied to colonial Governments from the Royal Mint on the following conditions : — 1. On receiving an application from the Agent of the colonial Government in London, the Master of the Mint will cause to be packed, and held to his order, such an amount of silver or bronze coin as may be required on behalf of the colony. 2. The Master of the Mint will undertake the payment of all expenses, including packing, freight, insurance, and shipping charges, connected with the shipment of silver and bronze coin to the port in the colony agreed upon by the Master of the Mint and the Agent of the colony in London. 3. The Agent of the colonial Government will be required to pay to the account of the Master of the Mint at the Bank of England, on or before the delivery of the coin, the sum representing the nominal value of the new silver or bronze coin ordered. 4. The colonial Government will be required to make such arrangements as may he deemed necessary for the withdrawal of worn silver coin from circulation, and to cause the coin so withdrawn to be forwarded to the Mint or one of its branches (at Sydney or Melbourne) for recoinage. The Master of the Mint will defray all expenses, including freight, insurance, and shipping charges, incurred in the transmission of worn coin to London, Sydney, or Melbourne from a port of shipment to be agreed upon by the Master of the Mint, or the Deputy Master at Sydney or Melbourne, and the Agent of the colony. 5. The Imperial Government will pay to the colonial Government or its Agent the nominal value of the worn coin so withdrawn from circulation, as soon as it is received at the Royal Mint or one of its branches. Treasury Chambers, 12th February, 1879.

No. 41. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. Sir, — Downing Street, 4th March, 1879. I have sent you per book post certain parliamentary papers, the titles and number of copies of which are specified below; and I request that you will be good enough to acknowledge their receipt. Title of Paper. No. of Copies. C.-2173. Further Correspondence respecting the Constitutional Question in Victoria .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 C.-2217. Further Correspondence respecting the Constitutional Question in Victoria .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

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No. 42. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering tbe Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir,— Downing Street, 7th March, 1879. With reference to my circular despatch of the 24th of April last, enclosing regulations with regard to the interchange of visits between officers of Her Majesty's ships and Governors, Lieutenant-Governors, Administrators, and Presidents of colonies, I have the honor to state that, questions having been raised respecting these regulations, it has been considered desirable to revise them; and I now transmit to you copies of the new rules, for insertion in any volumes of the colonial regulations in use in the colony under your government. 2. You will observe that, under the new regulations, provision has been made for paying and returning visits in certain cases by deputy, and that it is provided that officers acting temporarily in higher civil offices or commands are, in respect to visits, to be upon the same footing as if they were confirmed in such ofiices or commands. 3. The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have stated, in reply to a reference made to them on the subject, that the words " in command" in the regulations are used to designate all officers who may be in command of any of Her Majesty's ships, and are not intended to mean the senior only of the officers in command of vessels when two or more are present in port at the same time. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering tbe Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 42. Chapter XIX. Interchange of Visits between Officers of Her Majesty's Ships and Governors, LieutenantGovernors, Administrators, and Presidents of Colonies. (Sec. 431.) 1. A Governor is to receive the first visit from all naval officers iii command. 2. A Lieutenant-Governor is to pay the first visit to a flag-officer or commodore of the first class, being a commander-in-chief; but to receive the first visit from all other officers. 3. An Administrator or President is to pay the first visit to all flag-officers or commodores, but to receive the first visit from all other officers. 4. Return visits are to be paid within twenty-four hours, and in person, to all flag-officers, commodores, Lieutenant-Governors, Administrators, and Presidents; but by an aide-de-camp or other officer deputed by the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Administrator, or President, as the case may be, to all other naval officers. 5. Should the Governor or any other officer administering the government of a colony find that from indisposition or pressure of important business he is unable to pay or return these visits in person, he will depute his aide-de-camp or some other officer to do so. In like manner, should a flag-officer or commodore, from indisposition or pressing occupation, be precluded from paying or returning these visits, he will depute his flag-lieutenant, or other officer not below that rank, to do so. In each case the officer failing to pay the required visit in person will report the circumstance, and assign the reasons which led to the omission, to the department under which he is acting. 6. Officers acting temporarily in higher civil offices or commands are iu respect to these visits to he upon the same footing as if they were confirmed in such offices or commands. 7. The senior naval officers present will arrange, when necessary, to provide suitable boats to enable Governors, &c., to pay any official visits afloat, and to re-land them, on their notifying their wishes to that effect.

No. 43. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir,— Downing Street, 18th March, 1879. With reference to Lord Carnarvon's circular despatch of the 16th of January, 1878, I have the honor to transmit to you, for publication in the colony

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under your government, a copy of a letter from the Eoreign Office enclosing a copy of an Order in Council, dated the 22nd Eebruary, 1879, for giving effect to the treaty, the protocol, and the two conventions between Great Britain and the Swiss Confederation, for the mutual surrender of fugitive criminals, respectively signed on the 31st of Marcli, 1874, the 28th of November, 1874, the 19th of June, 1878, and the 13th of December, 1878. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 43. The Foreign Office to the Colonial Office. Sir, — Foreign Office, sth March, 1879. I am directed by the Marquis of Salisbury to acquaint you, for the information of Sir Michael Hicks Beach, that an Order in Council for giving effect to the treaty, the protocol, and the two conventions between Great Britain and the Swiss Confederation, for the mutual surrender of fugitive criminals, which were respectively signed on the 31st of March, 1874, the 28th of November, 1874, the 19th of June, 1878, and the 13th of December, 1878, was passed on the 22nd ultimo. This Order in Council, of which I enclose copies, was published in the London Gazette of the 28th ultimo. I have, &c, The Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. Tenterden.

Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure in No. 43. (Extract from the London Gazette of Friday, 28th February, 1879.) At the Court at Windsor, the 22nd day of February, 1879. Present: The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council. Whereas by the Extradition Acts of 1870 and 1873, it was amongst other things enacted that, where an arrangement has been made with any foreign State with respect to the surrender to such State of any fugitive criminals, Her Majesty may, by Order in Council, direct that the said Acts shall apply in the case of such foreign State; and that Her Majesty may, by the same or any subsequent Order, limit the operation of the Order, and restrict the same to fugitive criminal* who are in or suspected of being in the part of Her Majesty's dominions specified in the Order, and render the operation thereof subject to such conditions, exceptions, and qualifications as may he deemed expedient: s^.nd whereas a Treaty was concluded on the thirty-first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, between Her Majesty and the Swiss Confederation, for the mutual extradition of fugitive criminals, which Treaty is in the terms following : — Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Swiss Confederation, having judged it expedient, with a view to the better administration of justice aud to the prevention of crime within their respective territories and jurisdictions, that persons charged with, or convicted of, the crimes hereinafter enumerated, and being fugitives from justice, should, under certain circumstances, be reciprocally delivered up, have named as their Plenipotentiaries to conclude a Treaty for this purpose, that is to say: Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Alfred Guthrie Graham Bonar, Esquire, her Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Swiss Confederation; And the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation, Joseph Martin Kniisel, Member of the Swiss Federal Council; Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following Articles:— Article I. The High Contracting Parties engage to deliver up to each other those persons who, being accused or convicted of a crime committed in the territory of the one Party, shall be found within the territory of tbe other Party, under the circumstances and conditions stated in the present Treaty. Article 11. The crimes for which the extradition is to he granted are the following : — (1.) Murder (including infanticide) and attempt to murder. (2.) Manslaughter. (3.) Counterfeiting or altering money, uttering or bringing into circulation counterfeit or altered money.

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(4.) Forgery, or counterfeiting, or altering, or uttering what is forged, or counterfeited, or altered; comprehending the crimes designated in the penal codes of either State as counterfeiting or falsification of paper money, hank-notes, or other securities, forgery or other falsification of other public or private documents, likewise the uttering or bringing into circulation or wilfully using such counterfeited, forged, or falsified papers. (5.) Embezzlement or larceny. (6.) Obtaining money or goods by false pretences. (7.) Crimes against bankruptcy law. (8.) Fraud committed hy a bailee, hanker, agent, factor, trustee, or director, or member or public officer of any company, made criminal hy any law for the time being in force. (9.) Rape. (10.) Abduction of minors. (11.) Child-stealing or kidnapping. (12.) False imprisonment. (13.) Burglary, or housebreaking with criminal intent. (14.) Arson. (15.) Robbery with violence. (16.) Threats, by letter or otherwise, with intent to extort. (17.) Perjury or subornation of perjury. (18.) Malicious injury to property, if the offence he indictable. The extradition is also to take place for participation in any of the aforesaid crimes as an accessory before or after the fact. Article 111. No Swiss shall be delivered up by Switzerland to the Government of the United Kingdom; and no subject of the United Kingdom shall be delivered up by the Government thereof to Switzerland. Article IV. The extradition shall not take place if the person claimed on the part of the Government of the United Kingdom, or the person claimed on the part of the Swiss Government, has already been tried and discharged or punished, or is still under trial, in one of the Swiss Cantons or in the United Kingdom respectively, for the crime for which his extradition is demanded. If the person claimed on the part of the Government of the United Kingdom, or if the person claimed on the part of the Swiss Government, should be under examination or have been condemned for any other crime, in one of the Swiss Cantons or in the United Kingdom respectively, his extradition may be deferred until he shall have been set at liberty in due course of law. In case such individual should be proceeded against or detained in the country in which he has taken refuge, on account of obligations contracted towards private individuals, his extradition shall nevertheless take place; the injured party retaining his right to prosecute his claims before the competent authority. Article V. The extradition shall not take place if, subsequently to the commission of the crime, or the institution of the penal prosecution, or the conviction thereon, exemption from prosecution or punishment has been acquired by lapse of time, according to the laws of the State applied to. Article VI. If the individual claimed hy one of the two Contracting Parties in pursuance of the present Treaty should be also claimed by one or several other Powers, on account of other crimes committed upon their respective territories, his surrender shall be granted to that State whose demand is earliest in date ; unless any other arrangement should be made between the Governments which have claimed him, either on account of the gravity of the crimes committed, or for any other reason. Article VII. A fugitive criminal shall not be surrendered if the offence in respect of which his surrender is demanded is one of a political character, or is connected with a crime of that nature, or if he prove that the requisition for his surrender has, in fact, been made with a view to try and punish him for an offence of a political character. Article VIII. A person surrendered can in no case be kept in prison, or be brought to trial in the State to which the surrender has been made, for any other crime or on account of any other matters than those for which the extradition shall have taken place. This stipulation does not apply to crimes committed after the extradition. Article IX. The requisition for extradition must always be made by the way of diplomacy, and to wit, in Switzerland hy the British Minister to the President of the Confederation, and in the United

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Kingdom to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs by the Consul-General of Switzerland, who, for the purposes of this Treaty, is hereby recognized by Her Majesty as a Diplomatic Representative of Switzerland. The requisition for the extradition of an accused person must be accompanied by a warrant of arrest issued by the competent authority of the State requiring the extradition, and by such evidence as, according to the laws of the place where the accused is found, would justify his arrest if the crime had been committed there. If the requisition relate to a person already convicted, it must be accompanied hy the sentence of condemnation passed against the convicted person by the competent Court of the State that makes the requisition for extradition. A requisition for extradition cannot be founded on sentences passed in contumaciam. Article X. A fugitive criminal may, however, be apprehended under a warrant issued by any Police Magistrate, Justice of the Peace, or other competent authority, in either country, on such information or complaint, together with such evidence or after such judicial proceedings, as would in the opinion of the officer issuing the warrant justify its issue if the crime had been committed in that part of the dominions of the two Contracting Parties in which he exercises jurisdiction. Provided, however, that in the United Kingdom the accused shall in such case be sent as speedily as possible before a Police Magistrate in London. Such requisition may be made by means of the post or by telegraph. The accused shall, however, be discharged if, within such reasonable time as, with reference to the circumstances of the case, the Police Magistrate may fix, the requisition shall not have been made according to the stipulations contained in Article IX. Article XI. The extradition shall not take place before the expiration of fifteen days from the apprehension, and then only if the evidence be found sufficient, according to the laws of the State applied to, either to justify the committal of the prisoner for trial in case the crime had been committed in the territory of the said State, or to prove that the prisoner is the identical person convicted by the Courts of the State which makes the requisition. Article XII. In the examinations which they have to make in accordance with the foregoing stipulations) the authorities of the State applied to shall admit as entirely valid evidence the sworn deposit tions or statement of witnesses taken in the other State, or copies thereof, and likewise the warrants and sentences issued therein, provided such documents are signed or certified by a Judge, Magistrate, or officer of such State, and are authenticated by the oath of some witness, or hy being sealed with the official seal of a British Secretary of State, or of the Chancellor of the Swiss Confederation. Article XIII. If sufficient evidence for the extradition be not produced within two months from the date of the apprehension of the fugitive, he shall be set at liberty. Article XIV. All articles seized, which were in the possession of the person to be surrendered at the time of his apprehension, shall, if the competent authority of State applied to for the extradition has ordered the delivery thereof, be given up when the extradition takes place, and the said delivery shall extend not merely to the stolen articles, but to everything that may serve as a proof of the crime. Article XV. The Contracting Parties renounce any claim for the reimbursement of the expenses in* eurred by them in the arrest and maintenance of the person to be surrendered, and his conveyance to the frontiers of the State from which he is required; they reciprocally agree to bear such expenses themselves. Article XVI. The stipulations of the present Treaty shall be applicable to the colonies and foreign possessions of Her Britannic Majesty. The requisition for the arrest and surrender of a fugitive criminal who has taken refuge in any of such colonies or foreign possessions shall be made through the Swiss Consul-General in London to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, who shall proceed in conformity with the provisions of the present Treaty and the laws of the land. Her Britannic Majesty shall, however, be at liberty to make special arrangements in the British colonies and foreign possessions for the surrender of such individuals as shall have committed in Switzerland any of the crimes hereinafore mentioned, who may take refuge within such colonies and foreign possessions, on the basis, as nearly as may be, of the provisions of the present Treaty. The requisition for the surrender of a fugitive criminal from any colony or foreign possession of Her Britannic Majesty shall he governed by the rules laid down in the preceding Articles of the present Treaty. 5—A. 2

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Article XVII. The present Treaty shall come into force ten days after its publication in conformity with the forms prescribed by the laws of the High Contracting Parties. It may he terminated by either of the High Contracting Parties, hut shall remain in force for six months after notice has been given for its termination. The Treaty shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Berne, in four weeks, or sooner if possible. In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms. Done at Berne, the thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four. (1.5.) A. G. G. Bonar. (1.5.) J. M. Knusel. And whereas a Protocol amending Article XVI. of the aforesaid Treaty was signed by the Plenipotentiaries of Her Majesty and of the Swiss Confederation on the twenty-eighth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, which Protocol is in the following terms: — The undersigned Plenipotentiaries of Her Majesty the Queen of the United. Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation, having met in Conference, have taken into their consideration the following subject:— They have directed their attention to the fact that the second paragraph of the sixteenth Article of the Treaty, which stipulates that the requisition for the arrest of a fugitive criminal who has taken refuge in any of the colonies or foreign possessions of Her Britannic Majesty shall he made through the Swiss Consul-General in London to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, was not in accordance with the law of England, and they have consequently resolved to declare that the second paragraph of that Article, beginning,— "The requisition for the arrest/-' and concluding with "and the laws of the land," shall be null and void, and in lieu thereof the following words shall be substituted : — " The requisition for the surrender of a fugitive criminal who has taken refuge in any of such colonies or foreign possessions shall be made to the Governor or to the supreme authority of such colony or possession through the Swiss Consul, or, in case there should be no Swiss Consul, through the Consular Agent of another State charged for the occasion with the Swiss interests in the colony or possession in question. " The Governor or supreme authority above mentioned shall decide with regard to such requisition as nearly as possible in accordance with the provisions of the present Treaty. He will, however, be at liberty either to consent to the extradition or report the case to his Government." The other provisions of Article XVI. remain in force as they have been agreed upon in the Treaty. This Protocol shall be regarded and acted upon as forming part of the Treaty in question. In witness whereof the undersigned have signed this Protocol, and have hereunto affixed their seals. Done in duplicate at Berne, the twenty-eighth day of November, in the year of grace one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four. The Plenipotentiary of Great Britain, (1.5.) Edwin Corbett. And whereas the ratifications of the said Treaty and Protocol were exchanged at Berne on the thirty-first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four : And whereas under and by virtue of the powers in and by the seventeenth Article of the said Treaty reserved and contained, the Swiss Confederation did on the twenty-second day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven, give notice to Her Majesty's Government of the termination of the said Treaty, subject to the provisions in the said article contained that the same should remain in force for six months after notice should be given for its termination : And whereas on the nineteenth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight, a Convention was entered into between Great Britain and Switzerland in the following terms :— The Swiss Federal Council having, by a note of the 22nd December, 1877, denounced the Extradition Treaty of the 31st March, 1874, which exists between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Swiss Confederation, and a new Extradition Treaty not having as yet been concluded, the High Contracting Parties, being desirous of prolonging the duration of the Treaty now in force, have named as their Plenipotentiaries for this purpose : Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir Horace Rumbold, Baronet, Her Majesty's Minister Resident to the Swiss Confederation; and The Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation M. le Coneeiller Federal Fridolin Anderwert, Chief of the Federal Department of Justice and Police; "Who, after having communicated to each other their full powers, found in good and due form, have concluded tho following Convention : — The duration of the Treaty of the 31st March, 1874, between the United Kirigdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Swiss Confederation is prolonged for six months, to date from the 22nd June, 1878.

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Done at Berne, this nineteenth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and seventyeight. The Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, (Signed) Horace Rumbold. The Plenipotentiary of Switzerland, (Signed) Andeewert. And whereas on the thirteenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventyeight, a further Convention was entered into between Great Britain and Switzerland in the terms following:— The Swiss Federal Council having, by a note of the 22nd December, 1877, denounced the Extradition Treaty of the 31st March, 1874, which exists between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Swiss Confederation, and a new Extradition Treaty not having as yet been concluded, the High Contracting Parties, being desirous of prolonging the duration of the Treaty now in force, have named as their Plenipotentiaries for this purpose : Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir Horace Rumbold, Baronet, Her Majesty's Minister Resident to the Swiss Confederation ; and The Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation, M. le Conseiller Federal Fridolin Anderwert, Chief of the Federal Department of Justice and Police ; Who, after having communicated to each other their full powers, found in good and due form, have concluded the following Convention : — The duration of the Treaty of the 31st March, 1874, between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Swiss Confederation is prolonged for twelve months, to date from the 22nd December, 1878. Done at Berne, this thirteenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventyeight. The Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, (Signed) Horace Rumbold. The Plenipotentiary of Switzerland, (Signed) Anderwert. Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, and in virtue of the authority committed to her by the said recited Acts, doth order, and it is hereby ordered, that the said Acts shall apply in the case of Switzerland and of the said Treaty and Protocol and Conventions with the Swiss Confederation. C. L. Peel.

No. 44. Copt of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New ZesVland. (Circular.) Sir,— Downing Street, 28th March, 1879. I desire to call the particular attention of your Government to the analysis of returns in reply to queries relating to colonial timber, presented to Parliament in August, 1878 (C.-2197), the transmission of copies of which was advised in my despatch, marked " Parliamentary," dated the 3rd of January last. 2. I have thought it desirable to call the attention of your Government to this paper, as the question of the conservancy of colonial forests is one of great importance. I bave, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

No. 45. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering tbe Government of New Zealand. Sir, — Downing Street, sth April, 1879. I have tbe honor to transmit to you, for information in the colony under your government, a copy of a letter from the Admiralty enclosing revised regulations respecting naval cadets. I have, &c, M. M, HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand,

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Enclosure in No. 45. The Admiralty to the Colonial Office. Sir,— Admiralty, 31st March, 1879. With reference to your letter of the 21st instant, I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to acquaint you, for the information of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, that, in view of the standard of qualification for the entry of naval and colonial cadets having been raised, they consider that the revised regulations should be issued to the Governors of colonies; and I am to forward herewith 250 copies for transmission accordingly. 1 am, &c, The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. Robert Hall.

Snb-Enclosure to Enclosure in No. 45. Regulations respecting Naval Cadets. (For the Information of Candidates.) 1. Nominations for naval cadetships will take place half-yearly, immediately after the report of the last examination has been received. 2. An examination of the young gentlemen who have obtained nominations will be held at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, under the direction of the Admiralty Examiners, on the third Wednesday in June and the last Wednesday in November iu each year; but the appointments will date from the 15th July and January following respectively. 3. No candidate will be eligible for examination in June whose age will not be within the following limits on the 15th July following—viz., not less than twelve nor more than thirteen and a half years of age—nor in November whose age will not be within those limits on the 15th January following. 4. Every candidate will be required to pass the medical examination according to the prescribed regulations, and must have been found physically fit for the Royal Navy. He must be in good health and free from any physical defect of body, impediment of speech, defect of sight or hearing, and also from any predisposition to constitutional or hereditary disease or weakness of any kind, and in all respects well-developed and active in proportion to his age. Any candidate rejected at the medical examination will, subject to the approval of the Board, be finally excluded from the Royal Navy. 5. The candidate will be required to produce—(l) a certificate of birth,* or declaration thereof made before a magistrate; (2) a certificate of good conduct from the masters of the school or schools at which he may have been educated during the two previous years, or, if educated at home, from his tutors or the clergyman of the parish in which he resides; and (3) a certificate of good health. 6. The candidates will be required— Marks assigned. (a.) To write English correctly from dictation in a legible hand .. 100 (b.) To read from a modern English author with intelligence, and to parse easy sentences .. .. . . .. .. .. .. 100 (c.) Arithmetic, as far as proportion and vulgar and decimal fractions .. 200 (d.) Elementary algebra, up to easy fractions and simple equations, with one unknown quantity.. .. .. . . .. .. 200 (e.) Elementary geometry—viz., definitions, axioms, postulates, and demonstrations of the first twelve propositions of the First Book of Euclid's Elements 200 (/.) Latin : To read, translate, and parse passages from Latin authors into English, and to translate easy sentences from English into Latin 200 (g.) Read, translate, and parse easy passages from French „. .. 100 (h.) Scripture history .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 100 1,200 Four-tenths of the marks assigned must be obtained in each subject, and 720 marks in the aggregate. 7. A candidate whose age does not exceed thirteen on the 15th July or 15th January (as the case may be), who may not be successful, will be allowed to present himself again at the next examination without undergoing a fresh medical examination; but no candidate will be allowed more than two trials. Candidates whose age exceeds thirteen on the 15th July or 15th January following the examination will not be allowed a second trial. 8. Any candidate who fails to appear at the examination after he has obtained a nomination will not be allowed to present himself at any future examination without a fresh nomination,

# A certificate of baptism will not be accepted^

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except in the case of illness, certified by a physician or surgeon, and approved by their Lordships, in which case the candidate will be allowed to present himself at tlie following examination, provided he is still within the limits of age; but under no circumstances will such a candidate be allowed to appear at more than one examination. 9. For all cadets entered under these regulations, the annual rate of payment will be at the rate of £70 per annum for the period in the " Britannia," to be paid half-yearly in advance to the Accountant-Gcneral of the Navy. ]3ut the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty reserve the power of selecting from among the candidates nominated at each half-yearly examination a number, not to exceed ten, being sons of officers of the Iloyal Navy, Army, or Marines, or of civil officers under the Board of Admiralty, with respect to whom the annual payment for the two years in the " Britannia" will be £i0 only. In selecting these their Lordships will have regard solely to the pecuniary circumstances of the parents or guardians of the cadets. No application for admission on such reduced scale will be entertained unless made before the candidate is nominated. 10. The period of training on board the " Britannia''-' will be, as now, four terms. There will be two terms in each year. The first term of each year will be from February to July, the second from August to December. The vacations will be five weeks at Christmas, two weeks at Easter, and six weeks at Midsummer. 11. There will be examinations in seamanship and study at the end of each term. 12. Cadets who pass unsatisfactory, examinations at the end of any term will bo " warned," and they will be liable to be discharged at the end of the following or any subsequent term should they again be reported as failing to attain the proper number of marks at the examinations. 13. The same rule will apply to cadets who may be reported for unsatisfactory conduct during their service in the " Britannia." 14. Any cadet who shall have been specially reported to their Lordships as for any reason unfit for the service will be removed from the Navy. 15. Cadets will, on passing out of the training-ship, take the order in which they pass their final examination. 16. The parent or guardian of every cadet will be required to provide outfit as under the regulations in force hitherto, and to sign a declaration (on the admission of the cadet to the " Britannia ") to the effect that he shall be immediately withdrawn on the receipt of an official intimation of his being considered unfit for the Royal Navy. 17. Candidates entered under these regulations must understand that they are liable, at any period of their service subsequent to the date of their leaving the training-ship, to be selected to qualify for the gunnery or navigating branches of the service at the discretion of their Lordships; who will, however, only exercise such power of selection in the event of there not being a sufficient number of volunteers for such duties. By command of their Lordships, Admiralty, Bth March, 1877. Robert Hall.

No. 46. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. (No. 18.) Sir, — Downing Street, 13th April, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the Marquis of Normanby's Despatch No. 3, of the 31st of January, relative to a letter addressed to me by Sir George Grey, referring to South African affairs. I have to request you to inform Sir George Grey that I have received and considered his letter, but that I do not think there would be any advantage in the further discussion at present of the points to which it relates. I shall be obliged if you will also intimate to him that I prefer to continue the ordinary course of communicating through the Governor with any gentleman residing in a colony, notwithstanding that he may hold a high and exceptional position, as there might be much inconvenience in establishing a precedent for direct correspondence between Her Majesty's Government and any one except the Governor. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

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No. 47. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (No. 19.) Sir, — Downing Street, 18th April, 1879. With reference to my predecessor's circular despatches of the 23rd of August and of the 31st of December, 1877, and to your predecessor's Despatch No. 53, of the 2nd of November last, relative to certain questions preferred by the Society of Agriculture of Algiers on the subject of the Eucalyptus and other Australian trees, I have the honor to transmit to you the accompanying copy of'a despatch from the British Consul-General at Algiers, received through the Eoreign Office, acknowledging the receipt of the detailed information which that despatch has contributed to supply; and I desire to take this opportunity of conveying to your Government the expression of my thanks for the trouble that has been taken in furnishing me with details upon the subject. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 47. Consul-General Playfair to the Foreign Office. (Commercial No. 2.) My Lord, — British Consulate-General, Algiers, 24th March, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Foreign Office Despatch No. 2, of the 17th instant, enclosing copies of the replies made hy the Australian Colonies to the queries proposed by the Society of Agriculture here on the subject of Eucalyptus and other Australian trees. I shall lose no time in forwarding these documents to the Society. They contain a mass of information which cannot fail to be of the greatest service to the colony ; and I have no doubt that the action of Her Majesty's Governmeut in obtaining them will be gratefully appreciated. I have, &c., R. L. Playfair.

No. 48. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. (No. 20.) Sir, — Downing Street, 18th April, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your predecessor's Despatch No. 5, of the 14th of Eebruary last, informing me that he had made arrangements for his departure from New Zealand on the 20th of that month. I have also received the Despatch of the 21st of Eebruary, No. 6, from Chief justice Prendcrgast, reporting the departure of the Marquis of Normanby, and his assumption of the government of the colony pending your arrival from Sydney. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules E,obinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

'■■w-f-M-^-r—■^"■--■■^■■■rT--^—""■"''■'-"■I ii ii ii ■ No. 19. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. (No. 23.) Sir,— Downing Street, 28th April, 1879. With reference to my Despatch No. 46, of the Ist of October last, and to previous correspondence on the subject of certain alleged irregularities in connection with the shipment of sailors in the Australian Colonies, I have the honor

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to transmit to you, for the consideration of your Government, the accompanying copy of a letter from the Board of Trade, dated tho Bth instant, enclosing a further despatch from Her Majesty's Consul at Noumea, together with a copy of the reply which has been sent to Mr. Layard by the Board of Trade. I have, &<s., M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

Enclosure 1 in No. 49. The Board of Trade to the Colonial Office. Board of Trade, Marine Department, Whitehall Gardens, S.W., Bth April, 1879. Sir, — Seamen Abroad. With reference to the letter from this department of the 19th September last, and previous correspondence relating to the practice at ports in Australia and New Zealand with regard to engagement and discharge of seamen, I am directed by the Board of Trade to transmit for the consideration of Sir Michael Hicks Beach the accompanying copy of a further despatch from Her Majesty's Consul at Noumea on the subject, together with a copy of one of its enclosures. I am to request that you also bring under the notice of Sir Michael Hicks Beach the comments of this Board on Mr. Bayard's despatch, which are written in red ink in the margin of the copy enclosed. I am, at the same time, to enclose a copy of the reply which this Board have caused to he sent to Mr. Layard. I am also to state that, although they expressed an opinion in the letter from this department of the 19th September last that the practice of issuing permits or licenses to ship does not seem to call for any observations from them, these practices assume so much more serious a character when taken in conjunction with the alleged hahit of depriving seamen of their discharges that it would seem desirable that the whole matter should receive careful consideration. The points noted by Mr. Layard with regard to the ahsenee of a column in the agreements of some colonies for the balance of wages paid, and the alleged practice in Victoria and New South Wales and other colonies of allowing seamen to be engaged on board their ships without proper guarantees that the men understand fully the terms on which they are engaged, would also seem to require the careful attention of the authorities of the various colonies. I have, &c., The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. Thomas Gray.

Sub-Enclosure 1 to Enclosure 1 in No. 49. The Consul at Noumea to the Board of Trade. Sir, — British Consulate, Noumea, 17th December, 1878. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt by this mail of your letter M/13,691, of the 19th September last, forwarding for such observations as I might have to make, the replies of the several Shipping-masters of Victoria (Melbourne), New South Wales (Sydney), and New Zealand (generally), through its Collector of Customs, to the representations I have deemed it my duty to make on certain practices in shipping British sailors, which I consider not in accordance with the British Merchant Seamen's Act. 2. My first observation is, that these gentlemen have confirmed everything I have advanced, putting their own construction on the Act, except the improper shipment of men —not before the Shipping-master. Here two out of the three colonies—New South Wales and New Zealand—are discreetly silent, Victoria cautiously obscure. 3. Victoria requests me to " particularize." I have less actual knowledge of Victoria than of either of the other colonies, few ships (I can only recall the " Loelia ") coming hither from thence—l can only repeat what the sailors have told me ; hut it is admitted that permits are issued to seamen, in the ahsenee of certificates of discharge, on payment of a fee of ss. Where in the British Merchant Shipping Act is this practice sanctioned? I repeat, it is contrary to its provisions, and against the liberty of a British subject. [The Consul forgets that the British Merchant Shipping Act does not regulate the arrangements for the engagement of seamen in a colony on board ships belonging to that colony.] 4. I cannot particularize any instance in Victoria in which a sailor has signed articles on board, and not before the Shipping-master. I can only say sailors have told me that they have done so repeatedly, that it is a common practice in all the colonies, and that the agreement-sheet, when full, is taken by the captain to the Shipping-master, and signed by him in the lump, without ever reading it over to, or even in the presence of, the seamen. Had this not heen the course

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followed (in Sydney), the row could not have occurred on board the " Iserhrook " (see mv letter of 15th Septemher, 1877). [Although this may be admissible under Victorian law, it is in principle objectionable that seamen should be engaged in a manner compatible with an imperfect knowledge of the terms on which they are engaged.] 5. Victoria says the forms of agreement are similar to those in use by the Board of Trade. I have not a Victoria form, nor do I remember the " Loelia's ;" but seamen tell me that colonial forms are all alike. I send herewith an old New Zealand form I happen to have: it is almost identical with the New South Wales form, and you will look in vain for any column for receipt of wages in it. I have learned since that these receipts are given on printed forms, for which a fee is charged, as is also the fee charged for the agreements. I fail to find any authority in the Merchant Shipping Act for this. [Tho column showing what wages are paid on discharge is very valuable. Without it the Government authorities have no means of checking the accounts between masters and seamen discharged abroad. Its absence encourages irregular discbarges, and collusion between masters and men for desertion.] I think I remember an Adelaide flour-ship having the proper form—Eng. 1, late A.A.C. and M. 6. New South Wales denies that a fee of ss. is charged for a "permit" to ship, but admits the charge of 3d. I have already shown how my error as regards the sum originated (see letter 31st May, 1878) ; but that is of no consequence —the principle is the same, and that I attack. Victoria and New Zealand admit the ss. charge, and put their own construction on it. That has nothing to do with me. lam an Imperial officer placed in a certain position to look after, among other things, the interests and rights of British sailors; and when I see these infringed I will protect them and report the causes to the Board of Trade. [It is doubtful how far the Consul's position as an Imperial officer entitles him to criticise practices allowed by colonial law and regulations ; but there can be no doubt that, whether as Consul or independently, he does good service in calling attention to practices, in colonies and elsewhere, that have injurious effects upon British subjects. The practice of charging a sum for a " permit" is practically a condonation of an offence—desertion—or a fine for neglect —not always tho neglect of the seaman —and is on these accounts objectionable; but, when there exists a practice, in the same colony, of depriving seamen of discharges, it at once becomes unjust, and little less than extortion.] 7. As regards the denial that certificates of discharge are taken from the sailors, I can only repeat what the men themselves, uncontroverted by the masters present, have told me. Mr. James Marter (see his statement annexed to letter above quoted) has just affirmed to me that, at this moment, the Shipping-master in Sydney has possession of his certificates. He (Marter) is returning to England by this mail, to look after his property. I have directed him to call at the Board of Trade and place himself at your disposal (giving him a letter of introduction to Mr. Monkhouse). This he has promised to do, and he will be able to afford you some information as to shipping practices out in these colonies. 8. I have already forwarded the statements made by Whitehead and Marter in the "Iserbrook" case : I now enclose another statement, on oath, made by a Mr. Mair, a gentleman by birth and education, and highly connected in New Zealand, who accidentally came to my office yesterday. It shows how things are conducted in that colony. 9. New Zealand, wdiile denying that certificates of discharge are taken away, says, " I have heard, however, that tho Shipping-master in Newcastle, New South Wales, deprives seamen of their discharges, and retains them in his office-" ! Are the practices different at the different ports of New South Wales ? Apparently not, according to Marter; and, if Marter's certificates are retained, either at Newcastle or Sydney, why should he be charged ss. for a " permit to ship," if he finds himself in Auckland or Melbourne ? [Further inquiry seems to be required about this practice, which is objectionable on all grounds. It is not fair t° deprive a man of proofs of good service. Tlie effect of doing so, among other evils, is to degrade the good workers to the level of the bad, the steady man to the deserter.] 10. As regards New Zealand's statement that certificates of discharge are used similar to those sanctioned by the Board of Trade—l presume to that annexed—l can only say a sailor deliberately refused to take such a one, and tore it up in my presence as useless, when I forced it on him ; and his master filled up the spaces in a square sheet, which he said was the form used, and signed it, as I refused so to do. He said the man would probably have to pay the ss. "per-mit-to-ship " fee. I begged him, if such was the case, to report at once to me, and I would refer the matter to the Board of Trade. [The most important difference between tho Board of Trade discharge form (Dis. 1) and this is, that it contained a report of character. Any regulations or conditions that tend to make seamen prefer discharges without certificates of character tend to lower the service. The Consul would have done better to have signed it.] 11. I have no further observations to make, except that I hope the Board does not think I invented the statements. They have been reiterated to me by sailors and others over and over again. I cannot interfere with the Shipping-masters. I did protest against agreements that permitted the master "at his option" to discharge his men on any island in the South Seas, and I gained my point; but I cannot interfere in what are evidently recognized practices. I can only report to the Board of Trade. This I have done. [The representations of Mr. Layard on this and other points have been productive of reform.] I have, &c., E. C. Layard, H.B.M. Consul.

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P.S.—Since the foregoing was written a vessel has arrived from Adelaide with flour; also a vessel from Fiji. Both these colonies use articles of agreement similar, or nearly so, to those issued by the Board of Trade. Adelaide also uses certificates of discharge similar to the form sent. I have found an old Sydney agreement, which I also forward, to show that New South Wales does not use the Board of Trade form, and that there is no place for the seaman's receipt of wages on his discharge.—E. C. Layard, H.B.M. Consul. 18th December, 1878.

Sub-Enclosure 2 to Enclosure 1 in No. 49. Henry Abbott Mair, sworn, states: I have served in the merchant service in the colonies. I once shipped as A.B. on board the "Ivanhoe," in Auckland. I had served before, but had lost my discharge. I was charged ss. by the Shipping-master for a "permit to ship/-1 besides the usual fee of 2s. for shipping. This occurred in 18744. I have also shipped and signed articles on board the ship itself, without even going before the Shipping-master,' and to my positive knowledge it is not an uncommon thing. The occasion I especially allude to I shipped on board the "Prima Donna/' Captain Norris, on the 11th August, 1872, one Sunday, in Auckland, and shipment was dated the 12th, as the captain thought, Sunday being a dies non, the entry would not be legal. H. A. Mair. Sworn before me, this 16th day of December, 1878, at the British Consulate, Noumea. E. C. Layard, H.B.M. Consul.

Enclosure 2 in No. 49. The Board of Trade to Mr. Consul Layard, Noumea. Board of Trade, Marine Department, Whitehall Gardens, S.W., 7th April, 1879. Sir, — Seamen Abroad. I am directed hy the Board of Trade to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 17th of December, in continuation of previous despatches on the subject of alleged irregular practices in various colonies of Australia and in New Zealand with regard to the shipping and discharge of seamen. In reply, I have to infoini you that they have caused a copy of your letter to be sent to the Colonial Ofliec, with comments expressing the opinion of this Board upon the following points— namely, (1) engaging seamen on hoard without proper guarantees that they understand the agreement upon which they enter; (2) depriving seamen of their discharges; (3) charging fees for permits ; (4) the absence of a column in agreements for the amount of wages paid on discharge require careful consideration from the colonial authorities. I am at the same time to point out to you that the regulation of all such matters in a colony with respect to the ships belonging to that colony is completely under the control of the local Governments, and is not subject to the Imperial Merchant Shipping Act. I am at the same time to inform you that the Government of New South Wales has introduced a Bill into the colonial Legislature " to protect the aboriginal natives of the islands of the Pacific Ocean from imposition when engaging as seamen " when iu New South Wales or elsewhere ; and that the Governor has decided not to grant any more licenses to Mr. Bell. I have, &c., Her Britannic Majesty's Consul, Noumea. Thomas Gray.

No. 50. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 28th April, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you, for publication in the colony under your government, copies of the second supplement to the London Gazette of the 4th of April, notifying the appointment of a lloyal Commission, of which His Hoyal Highness the Prince of Wales has consented to act as President, to promote the success of the International Exhibition to be held in Sydney in 1879, and the International Exhibition to be held in Melbourne in 1880-81. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government, of New Zealand. 6—A. 2,

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Enclosure in No. 50. Second Supplement to London Gazette, Friday, 4th April, 1879. (See New Zealand Gazette, 24th July, 1879.)

No. 51. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. Sir,— Downing Street, 6th May, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you a copy of a letter from the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury requesting, for the reasons therein stated, information as to the course pursued in the colonies on the death of intestates without known kin, whether legitimate or illegitimate, and whether natives or foreigners ; and I shall be much obliged if you will be good enough to furnish me with copies of any laws in force in the colony under your government dealing with this matter, as well as with any other information on the subject which may appear likely to be useful to their Lordships in connection with this question. I have, &c.j M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 51. The Treasury to the Colonial Office. Sir,— Treasury Chambers, 15th April, 1879. I am directed by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to acquaint, you, for the information of Sir Michael Hicks Beach, that it has been represented to this Board by their legal advisers that it would be desirable to obtain legislation with a view that on the death of persons intestate and without known kin, the estates of such persons should immediately vest in some officer who should be clothed with some general authority to act as ad interim administrator; it not being intended, however, to supersede the appointment of administrator in the usual course, but only to enable some one to act during the long period which must, and the still longer period which in some cases may, elapse before administration is granted. I am directed hy their Lordships to request that you will move Sir Michael Hicks Beach to be good enough to assist them in this matter by causing inquiries to be made and information obtained as to the course pursued in the colonies on the death of intestates without known kin, whether legitimate or illegitimate, and whether natives or foreigners. I have, &c., R. G. W. Herbert, Esq., Colonial Office. William Law.

No. 52. Copt of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir,— Downing Street, 17th May, 1879. I informed you by my telegram of the 13th instant that the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury would continue the present arrangement for the carriage of the Australasian mails, but after the Ist of Eebruary next would retain 2d. instead of ld. on the outward correspondence; and I have now the honor to transmit to you, for the information of your Government, a copy of a letter in which I caused their Lordships' decision to be communicated to the Agents-General, and to Mr. Graham Berry, as the representative of the Government of Victoria, who was then in this country. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

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Enclosure in No. 52. The Colonial Office to Mr. Graham Berry and the Agents-General for the Australasian Colonies. Sir,— Downing Street, 29th April, 1879. With reference to previous correspondence respecting the Australian postal question, I am directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to inform you that he has received a letter from the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, intimating that on being informed by (Mr. Berry) [you] that (he) |_you] had reason to believe that a fresh contract might be made with the Peninsular and Oriental Company for a fortnightly service both to Melbourne and Sydney, touching at King George's Sound and South /Australia, on terms which would be advantageous as compared with the existing rate, they are prepared, under such circumstances, so far to modify their previous decision on the subject as to agree that the Australian mails shall, as at present, be conveyed free of charge to the colonies between this country and Point de Galle or Colombo [in the event of the latter port being made the port of call for Ceylon], on the condition that the Imperial Post Office shall, after the Ist of February next, when the present arrangement will expire, receive 2d. in lieu of ld. as at present on the outward correspondence, which may be considered as equivalent to the inland rate on both the homeward and the outward correspondence. This arrangement would, of course, apply equally to the correspondence conveyed under other contracts via Singapore and San Francisco. I have, &c, The Hon. Graham Berry and the Agents-General E. G. W. Herbert. for the Australasian Colonies.

No. 53. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. (No. 26.) Sir,— Downing Street, 20th May, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 1, of the 27th of March, informing me that you had arrived at Wellington on the previous day, and had been duly sworn in as Administrator of the Government of New Zealand. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 54 Copt of OEEICIAL NOTIFICATION from the Chancellor of the Order of St. Michael and St. George to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. Chancery of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, Sir,— Downing Street, 23rd May, 1879. I am commanded to inform you that the Queen has been graciously pleased to give directions for the appointment of Mr. W. Eos to be a Knight Commander, and Mr. E. llichardson to be a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. I have, &c, c. COX, Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c, Chancellor.

No. 55. Copy of OEEICIAL NOTIFICATION from the Chancellor of the Order of St. Michael and St. George to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. Chancery of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, Sir,— Downing Street, 23rd May, 1879. I am commanded to inform you that the Queen has been graciously pleased to give directions for the appointment of Mr. E. "W. Stafford to be a Knight Commander, and of Mr. W. J. M. Larnach to be a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. I have, &c, c. COX, Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c. Chancellor.

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No. 56. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, (No. 32.) Sir,— Downing Street, 18th June, 1879. With reference to Chief Justice Prendergast's Despatch No. 14, of the 20th of March, in reference to the judgment of Mr. Justice Gillies in the Supreme Court, in the case of Eegina v. Eennell, I have the honor to transmit to you the copy of a circular despatch which I have addressed to the Governors of Australian Colonies (excepting Eiji), forwarding copies of the Western Pacific Order in Council, 1877. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

Enclosure in No. 56. Copy of Circular Despatch from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governors of Australian Colonies. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 18th June, 1879. From reports which I have received of the proceedings which took place in the Supreme Court of New Zealand in a recent case, liegina v. llennell, in which the prisoner was accused of murder at Bontaritari, one of the islands of the Gilbert or Kingsmill Group, in the Pacilie Ocean, it appears that the Court had no knowledge of the existence of the Western Pacific Order in Council of 1877, passed for the better government of Her Majesty's subjects in some islands and places in the Pacific Ocean. It is believed that the Governor of Fiji communicated copies of this Order in Council on its promulgation to the Governors of all the Australasian Colonies, in accordance with instructions which he received from the Secretary of State; but, as it appears either not to have reached New Zealand or to have been overlooked in that colony, I think it advisable to send you the accompanying copy for the use of your Government. I beg to refer you in connection with the order to section 6 of the Pacific Islanders Protection Act of 1875, 38 and 39 Vict., c. 51. I have, &c., M. E. Hicks Beach.

No. 57. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Parliamentary.) Sir,— Downing Street, 25th June, 1879. I have sent you, "per book post," certain parliamentary papers, the titles and numbers of copies of which are specified below; and I request you will be good enough to acknowledge their receipt. Title of Paper. No. of Copies. Victoria Constitutional Question ... ... 2 I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering tlie Government of New Zealand.

No. 58. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. (No. 37.) Sir, — Downing Street, 22nd July, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 16, of the 13th of May last, transmitting a memorandum from Sir George Grey, sub-

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mitting, with a recommendation from your Government, a petition addressed to the Queen by the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, and Council of the University of Otago, praying for a grant of Letters Patent providing for the recognition of the degrees of the University in the same manner as if they had been granted by any University of the United Kingdom. 2. I have also received your despatch of the 20th of May, No. 21, enclosing a petition to the Queen from the Governors of Canterbury College, praying Her Majesty not to grant a charter to any educational body in New Zealand other than the New Zealand University; together with a copy of the resolutions adopted by the Senate of the University of New Zealand, expressing the opinion that it is undesirable that the power to confer University degrees should be possessed by more than one institution in the colony ; and a printed Address by the AttorneyGeneral, containing information on the subject of the relations between the New Zealand and Otago Universities. 3. I request that you will inform the Chancellor of the Otago University and the Governors of Canterbury College that their petitions have been laid before the Queen ; but that, having regard to the objections pointed out in Lord Kimberley's despatch of the 31st of January, 1873, No. 8, to the grant of a charter to more than one University in New Zealand, and not being able to find anything in the present circumstances which would justify me in departing from the decision then arrived at, or in recommending the establishment of more than one chartered University in any Australasian colony, I have not thought it my duty to advise Her Majesty to authorize any steps towards granting Letters Patent to the University of Otago. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules E,obinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 59. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. (No. 38.) Sir,— Downing Street, 31st July, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you for communication to your Government the accompanying copy of a despatch from Her Majesty's Consul in New Caledonia, stating that vessels sailing from that port, as well as from Sydney and from Queensland, to the New Hebrides, carry with them large quantities of dynamite for trading purposes, and with the object of procuring fish. I think it right to communicate these papers to you in case your Government should think it desirable that steps should be taken with a view to check so dangerous a practice, if it should equally prevail in the case of any vessels sailing from the ports of the colony under your government. I have, &c., M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

Enclosure in No. 59. Mr. Consul Layard to the Marquis of Salisbury. My Lord, — British Consulate, Noumea, 21st April, 1879. I hope I shall not be exceeding my jurisdiction by informing your Lordship that I have certain information that most of the vessels sailing from Sydney, Queensland, and this port to the New Hebrides, carry with them, for the purposes of trading with the natives, and also for procuring fish for themselves, large quantities of dynamite. lam told that on some islands the first thing the natives now ask for is this dangerous explosive. No secret is made of it. 2. I need hardly point out to your Lordship how a small charge of this substance thrown into a boat, or even down the hatch .of a small vessel, would blow out the bottom of the craft, and leave the survivors to the mercy of the crafty and treacherous savage who planned the scheme. E. C. Layard, The Marquis of Salisbury, K.G., &c. H.B.M. Consul.

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No. 60. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 25th July, 1879. I transmit to you a copy of a report on the Leper Asylum at Mahaica, in British Guiana, with an appendix on the use of guyin oil in leprosy. I regret that the copy enclosed does not contain photographs of the cases referred to; but I trust, nevertheless, that it will be of value to the medical officer charged with the care of the leprous poor in the colony under your government. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. [The enclosures to the above despatch are filed in the Colonial Secretary's Office.]

No. 61. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 28th July, 1879. I have been requested by Lord Cranbrook to transmit to you a copy of the accompanying letter from the Government of India, and enclosures, on the subject of the expenses incurred on account of stowaways left behind by ships in British India, with the view of obtaining information as to the course pursued in such cases in Her Majesty's colonies. I am informed by the Board of Trade that stowaways, when landed in this country, become a charge on parochial funds, and that they cannot be held to be "seamen" within the meaning of "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1851." I should be much obliged if your Government would furnish me with the information desired by the Government of India, and, in the event of your transmitting to me any printed documents, I should be glad if they could be sent in triplicate. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 61. Copy of Letter from Government of India, dated 10th January, 1879.—N0. 1 (Commerce and Trade). We have the honor to forward copy of a letter from the Government of Bengal, soliciting instructions in respect to the course which should be taken in dealing with stowaways left behind in British India, together with our reply thereto, which states at length how the law on the subject appears to us to stand as we are at present advised. 2. Your Lordship will gather therefrom that in our law no special rules have as yet been laid down for the treatment of stowaways left in this country. We have failed to discover any statutory provisions relating to them, except those providing for their punishment. We shall therefore be glad if your Lordship will be pleased to ascertain the procedure adopted in similar cases by the authorities at British and colonial ports. Bearing in mind that the necessity for relieving persons of the class described really originates in the carelessness of masters of vessels, who fail to detect their presence on board before leaving port, we think it undesirable that the expenses incurred should, as is required by the present state of the law, be borne by the Indian taxpayer.

Sub-Enclosure 1 to Enclosure in No. 61. Letter from Government of Bengal to Government of India, dated 11th November, 1878. In submitting copy of a letter from the Conservator of the Port of Chittagong, in which it is reported that, of three stowaways who were brought to Chittagong on board the ship Durham, two were provided with employment on other ships, and the third was put on shore without means of subsistence by Mr. Charles Seymour, the master of the ship, I am directed to say that

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it seems doubtful whether the Conservator has not exceeded his legal powers in the action taken by him as regards these stowaways, who cannot come under the definition of "seamen," as supposed by Mr. Warden; but that this Government would be glad to have instructions how such cases should in future be dealt with. Apparently, stowaways left in India can only be treated under the European Vagrancy Act, and no claim on their account would be against the ship or its agents.

Sub-Enclosure 2 to Enclosure in No. 61. Letter from Government of India to Government of Bengal, dated 3rd January, 1879. I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated the 11th November last, reporting the action taken by the Conservator of the Port of Chittagong in the case of certain stowaways who were brought to Chittagong on board the ship " Durham," and soliciting general instructions how such cases should in future be dealt with. 2. In reply, I am desired to observe that, in the opinion of the Government of India, neither the provisions of "The Merchant Shipping Act, 18541/-' section 207, nor those of the Indian Act, XIII. of 1876, section 4, can, as supposed by the Conservator, be held to cover the case of stowaways. In both Acts the definition of " seaman" is practically the same, and includes "every person (except masters, pilots, and apprentices duly indentured and registered) employed or engaged in any capacity to serve at sea for the purposes of any ship," or " on board any ship." The words "employed or engaged" mean brought on board and shipped for the purpose of being employed there. The definition is confined, as the Government of India are advised, to persons with whom a regular contract of service has been concluded by entering their names on the ship's articles. 3. In the present case, the persons in question appear to have come on board without the knowledge and against the will of the master, and without any contract for service. Such being the case, he was entitled to leave them on shore at the first port he came to; and he cannot be said to have deprived himself of this right by making the stowaways work in return for the food he gave them. 4. With regard to the European Vagrancy Act (India, No. IX. of 1874), under which you propose to treat stowaways left in India, I am to say that, if the stowaways in question bad become vagrants within the meaning of that Act, they could no doubt have been dealt with thereunder. In section 31 of this Act it is laid down that, "whenever a sailor of European extraction, not being a British subject, is discharged from his ship in any British Indian port," the owner or master of the ship shall be liable for the expenses incurred by Government in the case of his becoming a vagrant ; hut in this instance the stowaways were British subjects, and, even had they not been so, it is very doubtful whether their case would have fallen under this section. In the Act there is no definition of " sailor/'' but the words which appear in section 31— viz ," whenever a sailor . . . is discharged from his ship"—seem to indicate the determination of a regular contract of service; and, as it has already been observed, no such contract can be considered to have been entered into in a case like the present. The expenses incurred on account of stowaways who are British subjects, and are left behind in British Indian ports, must therefore, in the existing state of the law, be borne by Government. 5. The Governor-General in Council is, however, not satisfied that these charges, originating commonly in the carelessness of shipmasters, should continue to fall on the Indian taxpayer, and His Excellency in Council has, with this object, addressed a despatch to Her Majesty's Secretary of State, soliciting information and instructions.

No. 62. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 12th August, 1879. With reference to Earl Granville's despatch of Ist May, 1869,1 have the honor to point out to you that no provision at present exists for the relief and repatriation of distressed colonial seamen shipwrecked in the United Kingdom; and, as British seamen distressed through shipwreck in the colonies are sent home at Imperial expense, it would appear only right that colonial seamen becoming distressed by shipwreck in the United Kingdom should be relieved and sent home at the expense of the respective colonies to which they belong. I request that this subject may be taken into consideration by your Government, Avith a view to provision being made for such expenses; and I would suggest that the Shipwrecked Mariners Society should be authorized to relieve and send home distressed seamen belonging to the colony under your government when the Society is satisfied that such seamen cannot find means to provide for

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themselves by working their passage, and that the reimbursement of the expenses so incurred by the Society should be guaranteed by the colonial Government. The term " colonial seamen " is intended to refer to seamen who last served in a colonially-registered ship. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

urn i iii i üßim/iiimjiiiiiiiiwiMi mli 11 in in hi i n in mi iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii hi mhiii No. 63. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules E^obinson. (No. 42.) Sir, — Downing Street, 19th August, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 35, of the 21th of June, transmitting a letter addressed to me by Sir George Grey on the subject of my Despatch No. JB, of the 13th of April, in which I had intimated that I preferred to continue the ordinary course of communicating through the Governor with any gentleman residing in a colony. I request that you will inform Sir George Grey that his letter has been received, and that I fully accept his assurance that it was written in the belief that it was his duty to bring the subject of it under the notice of Her Majesty's Government ; and that neither this nor his preceding letter (which, as was stated in my Despatch No. 18, of the 13th of April, was duly considered) has caused me the least annoyance; on the contrary, I desire that a gentleman of Sir George Grey's high position and great experience should at any time be able, without any injurious restrictions, to communicate his opinions to Her Majesty's Government. I agree with Sir George Grey that, if such communication does not relate to the affairs of the colony from which it is written, any report on it by the Governor would be, in most cases, out of place, and it is not usual for Governors to make any reports on such communications ; but his own recollection of the position and functions of a Governor will enable Sir George Grey to appreciate the inconvenience which would result from any correspondence between Her Majesty's Government and persons in a colony, of which the Governor might not be cognizant. The existing rules are not now being established for the first time, but have been upheld for many years by successive Secretaries of State, with the concurrence of the colonial Governments; and, unless they should be shown to involve any substantial difficulties in practice, it would not be desirable either to alter them or to attempt to make exceptions to their operation. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 64 Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 22nd August, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you the accompanying copies of correspondence between the Secretary to Lloyd's and this department, and I have to request that you will inform me whether your Government would be prepared to issue such instructions to its Customs officers and others as the Committee of Lloyd's desire. I enclose copies of the forms in which it is requested that the desired information respecting wrecks and casualties may be furnished. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

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Enclosure 1 in No. 61. Prom the Secretary of Lloyd's to the Colonial Office. Sir,— Lloyd's, 10th October, 1877. I am directed by the Committee of Lloyd's to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the Bth instant, and to beg that you will express to the Earl of Carnarvon the thanks of the Committee for his kindness in manifesting a desire to accede to their request. With regard to the information which you are good enough to suggest as likely to be of material assistance to the Colonial Office, I have the honor to inform you as follows : — 1. Under section 448 of "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854," it is enacted that Receivers of Wreck shall forward to the secretary of Lloyd's a copy of any deposition made to them by the master of a vessel putting into a port in distress. I beg to enclose herewith a copy of the form of deposition which is supplied (marked A). 2. In some instances the Board of Trade has directed Receivers of Wreck, when damage is small, to substitute for the statutory deposition required by the Merchant Shipping Act a mere verbal account, from which the Receiver fills up a tabular statement or return which is not sworn to nor signed by the master ; and it has been ordered by the Board of Trade, carrying out the spirit of the Merchant Shipping Act, that in all cases where depositions are not taken, copies of such casualty returns for vessels of fifty tons and upwards are to be sent to Lloyd's upon the accompanying form (marked B). 3. As Lloyd's agents are always instructed to telegraph immediately to Lloyd's the report of any casualty which occurs in their district, for the information, not only of the marine insurance world, but also for the information of all the public press, Government offices, &c., in case agents should either be left ignorant of a casualty occurring which is known to the Receiver of Wreck in the district, it has been ordered by the Board of Trade that as soon as a wreck is known to the Receiver of Wreck he should immediately forward an announcement of this casualty to the Lloyd's agent of the district according to the enclosed form (marked C). 4. As usually Receivers of Wreck are Customhouse officers, the information at the disposal of the Customhouse is thus practically communicated to Lloyd's; but in special instances, such as at Gravesend, Liverpool, or large ports, special arrangements have been made by the Committee, with the sanction of the Government, for the officers in charge of the Customs to report both casualties to and the arrivals, sailings, and clearances of vessels direct to Lloyd's. 5. Since the year 1869, by the orders of the Admiralty, every casualty to shipping becoming known to the Coast Guard has been telegraphed direct to the secretary of Lloyd's from the Coast Guard station at which the accident is first discovered. The cost of the telegram is paid by the Committee of Lloyd's, and the Committee also pay any messenger who may be necessary to carry the intelligence from the Coast Guard station to the nearest telegraph station, on the system that the officer commanding the Coast Guard district in which the casualty occurs, when his telegram is despatched to Lloyd's announcing the casualty, or as soon after as convenient, makes a claim upon the secretary of Lloyd's for the cost of the telegram and the travelling expenses of the messenger. The amount is remitted to the officer in command without these sums being passed through the Government accounts in any manner. Should the Earl of Carnarvon so desire, I shall be happy to forward to you copies of the official documents under which these various instructions have been given. I have, &c., Henry M. Hozier, Robert Gr. W. Herbert, Esq., Under-Secretary of State, Secretary. Colonial Office, S.W.

Enclosure 2 in No. 64. The Secretary of Lloyd's to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Sir,— Lloyd's, E.C., 25th July, 1879. I am directed by the Committee of Lloyd's to inform you that, in consequence of an application made to the Colonial Office on the 10th October, 1877, Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies was good enough to give instructions to the Collectors of Customs and other Customs officials in the South African Colonies, to inform Lloyd's agents of casualties, wrecks, aud salvages which might come within their knowledge. I am now directed to request that you will be good enough to move Sir Michael Hicks Beach to allow the Committee of Lloyd's to be informed whether he would have any objection, to extending these instructions to all the colonies. The Committee of Lloyd's have the less hesitation in making this request, since at this establishment are collected and compiled vast masses of shipping intelligence, which are not only of use to the whole of the world interested in commercial and shipping matters, but also are of great value for the probate of wills, tracing of next of kin, and other important affairs. Hence it is extremely desirable that the records preserved at this office should be as complete and satisfactory as possible, and it is with the view of making them completely accurate that the Com--7

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mittee make this request. Such information, as soon as communicated to Lloyd's agent, is telegraphed by him to Lloyd's, and is published in the daily newspapers for general information ; and all details concerning shipping in possession of Lloyd's are always open to the Government offices. I may add that the Government of India have been good enough to give instructions to the Governors of the various Presidencies in India to issue orders to the Collectors of the various East Indian ports to arrange for communicating this information to Lloyd's agents. The Board of Trade have also given instructions to the Receivers of Wreck and Collectors of Customs in the United Kingdom and Ireland to give similar information to Lloyd's agents; and Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has issued similar orders to all British consular officers throughout the world. I have, &c, The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, li. M. Hozier, Colonial Office, S.W. Secretary.

Enclosure 3 ia No. 61. The Colonial Office to tho Secretary of Lloyd's. Sir, — Colonial Office, Downing Street, 2nd August, 1879. I am directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 25th ultimo, requesting to be informed whether he would have any objection to extending to the Governors of other colonies the instructions given to the Governors of the South African Colonies, in 1877, with reference to informing Lloyd's agents of casualties, wrecks, and salvages. 2. In reply I am to request that you will state to your Committee that Sir Michael Hicks Beach will be happy to transmit to all the colonies (other than the South African) a copy of your letter, with au intimation that he will be glad to learn that the colonial Governments have given the instructions desired. Sir M. Hicks Beach would also propose at the same time to send to the colonies a copy of your previous letter of the 10th of October, 1877 (No. 6,739), and lie would therefore request that this department may be furnished with 250 copies of the forms which it enclosed, for transmission in the proposed circular despatch. I have, &c, The Secretary, Lloyd's. E. Wingfield.

No. 65. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Eeach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (No. 44.) Sir, — Downing Street, 26th August, 1879. On the 25th instant I communicated to you by telegram, through the Governor of South Australia, the arrangements proposed for the transmission via, Brindisi after January next (when the existing contract with the Eeninsular and Oriental Company will expire) of the Eastern and Australian mails, and the proposed abandonment of the service via Southampton. I now enclose for the information of your Government copies of a correspondence between the Treasury and this department, upon which that telegram was founded. I have, &c., M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure 1 in No. 65. The Treasury to the Colonial Office. Sir, — Treasury Chambers, 23rd July, 1879. I am directed by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to transmit to you herewith, for the information of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, copy of a letter from the Postmaster-General, dated the 17th instant, respecting future arrangements for the conveyance of the portion of the Eastern mails now carried via Southampton; and I am to request you to move Secretary Sir Michael Hicks Beach to favour my Lords with any observations he may have to offer in regard to the proposals contained therein so far as they affect the correspondence with the Australian Colonies, New Zealand, Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, and Hong Kong. I have, &c, The Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. H. Selwin Ibbetson.

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Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure 1 in No. 65. The Post Office to the Treasury. My Lords, — General Post Office, 17th July, 1879. When the arrangements were made last year for the sea conveyance of the Eastern mails after the Ist February next, when the existing contract with the Peninsular and Oriental Company will expire, it was determined to make no provision for a service between Southampton and Suez, and accordingly that line is omitted in the new contract. It remains now to consider by what means the correspondence which is at present being forwarded by the Southampton route shall be sent after February. In the early part of this year I put myself in communication with the Post Offices of France and Italy, for the purpose of ascertaining what abatement they would respectively be willing to make in the amount of the transit rates now paid to those offices for the special weekly conveyance between Calais and Brindisi of the accelerated portion of the Eastern mails, provided the whole of the correspondence of every description was forwarded by that route. It is only very recently that I have received a definite reply from Italy. The following is the result: The French office will agree to reduce its transit rates from 15fr. 52c. per kilo, for letters, 60^c. per kilo, for newspapers, lfr. 21c. per kilo, for books, to lOfr. per kilo, for letters, 50c. other articles; and the Italian Post Office will reduce its rates of lOOfr. per kilo, for letters, 50c. other articles, by about 35 per cent. These concessions would reduce the special transit charges on letters by about 9fr. per kilo., leaving payable about 16Jfr. per kilo.; and after full consideration I have come to the conclusion that it will be desirable to accept the offers made, and to send the entire mail by the route of Brindisi and by the weekly mail. In a correspondence which I have had with the Director-General of tho Indian Post Office, he expressed an opinion that when the Southampton mail-packets aro withdrawn, all letters, &c, paid at the Southampton rate of postage, should be forwarded via Brindisi, by the ordinary mailtrains of France and Italy, so as to obtain the benefit of the ordinary union transit rates. But I cannot advise such an arrangement, which could not fail to give rise to much dissatisfaction. In the case of the outward mails, supposing the accelerated mail to be despatched from London on the evening of every Friday, as at present, and a packet to leave Brindisi early on Monday morning, letters sent by the ordinary trains might be posted in London up till the evening of a previous day (Thursday), and reach Brindisi in time to catch the packet. In the opposite direction the mails for England reaching Brindisi from the East would, if sent through Italy and France by the ordinary trains, arrive in London only about twenty-four hours after the express mail; or, if a Sunday intervened, both portions of the mails might be delivered together. The consequence of this would be that the bulk of the letters would assuredly be diverted from the quick to the slow mail, seeing that the difference in time would be so trifling. If such were the case there would be a risk that, on the one hand, the payments to France and Italy for the accelerated service might be diminished to an extent which would lead to a demand for higher transit rates, and that, on the other hand, the weight and bulk of the correspondence sent by the ordinary trains might become so great as to impose extraordinary charges for its conveyance, and thus induce the French and Italian offices to decline to accept the ordinary union transit rates. The right course, in my opinion, is, as I have said, to send the whole of the Eastern mails by the accelerated service. At the same time I pr'opose that the single rate of postage to be levied on letters to or from India, China, &c., should not exceed 5d., which is Id. less than the present Brindisi rate, and ld. more than the Southampton rate, which was reduced from 6d. to 4d. on the Ist of April last. In the case of letters to Australia the rate would be 7d. The amount derived from the supplementary charge of ld. per half-ounce will not be quite sufficient to cover the payments to France and Italy; but the loss which will fall upon the department will probably be less than we should have to pay to the Peninsular and Oriental Company, or any other company by whose vessels the slow portion of the mails might be sent between England and Suez. I have accordingly to request the authority of your Lordships to adopt the arrangements which I have here proposed. Before coming to a decision your Lordships will no doubt consult the Secretary of State for India, as the Indian Government bears a portion of the expense of the Eastern mail contract, and will also refer to Sir Michael Hicks Beach the proposal, so far as it affects the charge on letters exchanged with the Australian Colonies and New Zealand, or with Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, or Hong Kong. I have, &c, The Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. John Manners.

Enclosure 2 in No. 65. The Colonial Office to the Treasury. Sir,— Downing Street, 30th July, 1879. I am directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 23rd instant, enclosing a copy of a letter from the Postmaster-General respecting future arrangements for the conveyance of the Eastern and Australian mails now carried via Southampton and via Brindisi,

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With regard to the proposal contained therein, so far as it affects the correspondence with the colonies concerned—viz., that the mails shall in future be carried vid Brindisi alone—l am to request that you will move the Lords Commissioners of tho Treasury to cause Sir Michael Hicks Beach to be informed what are the proposed rates for books and. papers; and, secondly, whether, as the raising of the minimum postal charge would appear to bear hardly on the poorer classes, it might not be arranged that letters, &c, should still be conveyed as far as Suez by the numerous steamers trading between this country and the East, as " ship-letters," at the present, or even a lower rate. I have, &c, The Secretary to the Treasury. R. G. W. Herbert.

Enclosure 3 in No. 65. The Treasury to the Colonial Office. Sir, — Treasury Chambers, 14th August, 1879. I am directed by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to transmit to you herewith for the information of Secretary Sir Michael Hicks Beach, with reference to your letter of the 30th ultimo respecting the Eastern and Australian Mail Service, copy of a letter which my Lords have received from the Postmaster-General, dated the Bth instant. I have, &c, R. G. W. Herbert, Esq., Colonial Office. William Law.

Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure 3 in No. 65. The Post Office to the Treasury. My Lords, — General Post Office, Bth August, 1879. In returning the enclosed reference from the Treasury, No. 13,241, of the Ist ultimo, I have the honor to state, in reply to the first question raised by Her Majesty^s Secretary of State for the Colonies, that, in the event of the Eastern and Australian mails being forwarded vid Brindisi alone, as recommended in my report to your Lordships dated the 17th ultimo, I should propose to fix the postage rates upon newspapers, books, &c, as follows : — Newspapers, at l£d. per4oz., in lieu of the present rates of ld. vid Southampton and 2d. via Brindisi. Book-packets, patterns, &c, at l^d. per 2 oz., in lieu of the present rates of ld. per ounce vid Southampton and 2d. per ounce vid Brindisi. As regards the question of sending extra mails as far as Suez by the steamers trading between this country and the East, as ship-letters, I beg leave to inform you that, in accordance with the general practice of this office, any letters or newspapers which the senders might specially address for transmission by private ship would be forwarded as desired. Such letters, &c, would be liable only to the present rates of postage chargeable by the Southampton route. I have, &c. The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury. John Manners.

No. 66. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beich to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. (No. 15.) Sir, — Downing Street, sth September, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 17th of July, No. 10, informing me that a new Bill has been prepared to be submitted to the Legislature of New Zealand in place of the reserved Bill, No. 49 of 1878, entitled " An Act to amend the Law relating to the Administration of the Estates of Deceased Persons," embodying certain suggestions contained in my Despatch No. 8, of the 28th of Eebruary last. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 67. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. (New Zealand honors.) Sir, — Downing Street, 11th September, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 38, of the 15th of July last, enclosing letters from Sir George Grey respecting the grant

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by the Queen of the retention of the title of "Honorable" by retired Judges of the Supreme Court, and the bestowal of honors by Her Majesty on residents in New Zealand. In reply, I have to state that I do not desire to prolong a correspondence resulting from a misapprehension on the part of Sir George Grey, which unfortunately appears to continue to exist, as to the functions and prerogatives of the Sovereign in regard to the grant of honorary distinctions in a colony, whether under responsible government or having any other form of constitution. The instances to which Sir George Grey specially refers appear to me rather to illustrate the advantage of continuing the practice under which the Secretary of State takes the responsibility of advising the Crown with regard to the respective merits of rival political leaders in a colony. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules E,obinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 68. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Bight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. (No. 18.) Sir, — Downing Street, 12th September, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 15th of July, No. 39, enclosing for my information printed copies of the speech with which on that day you opened the fourth session of the present Earliament of New Zealand. I have, &c., M. e. hicks beach. Governor Sir Hercules E-obinson, G.C.M.G, &c.

No. 69. Copt of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, —■ Downing Street, 16th September, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you copies of the report of the Eoyal Commission on Copyright, together with copies of the minutes of evidence and analysis and index of the evidence, and of a Bill which has been laid before Barliament, and which substantially gives effect to the recommendations of the majority of the Commissioners as far as Her Majesty's Government have felt able to adopt them. 2. It has not been possible to proceed with the Bill during the present session, and Her Majesty's Government desire, before the next meeting of Parliament, to ascertain the views of the colonies upon those parts of the Bill which more particularly affect them. I shall therefore be obliged by your bringing the subject under the consideration of your Government as soon as you can do so. 3. It may be convenient, in the first place, to refer very briefly to those parts of the report of the Eoyal Commission in which the colonies are specially interested, and then to consider how the Bill deals with such questions. 1. I have first to call your attention to paragraphs 50 to 58, inclusive, of the report. It can hardly be doubted that it is desirable to remove the inequality there pointed out, which has given just ground of complaint on the part of colonial authors and publishers. The effect of the recommendation in paragraph 58 will be that the author of a book published in any colony will have Imperial copyright, not only in the United Kingdom, but in all other British possessions; thus obtaining Avhat may be conveniently termed "Imperial copyright," as distinguished from "colonial copyright" — i.e., copyright limited to a single colony or possession. 5. Eassing next to that part of the report which is headed " Colonial Copyright," pages xxx.-xxxvi., it will be seen that, after affirming the recommendation made in paragraph 58, the Commissioners proceed to consider what steps

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should be taken to secure that the literature of this country be placed within easy reach of the colonies (par. 181) ; and, after giving a short sketch of the law of colonial copyright, they propose (par. 202) certain remedies to meet the grievance put forward by colonial readers. 6. Their recommendations are to be found in paragraph 208, and are : (a) the introduction of a licensing system (par. 207), and, in case of the failure of the licensing system in the larger colonies, and further to meet the wants of the smaller colonies, where such licensing system could hardly be expected to operate, (b) a continuance of the Eoreign Reprints Act; proper provision, however, being made to secure the payment of the duty upon foreign reprints to the proprietor of copyright works (pars. 211-213). 7. With reference to the licensing system, it will be seen that the Commissioners, after pointing out the main features of the system (par. 207), suggest that the details of the necessary enactments should be left to special legislation (par. 208) in each colony. 8. With regard to the Foreign Reprints Act and the provisions which are to be made in the colonies to secure the rights of the proprietor of copyright, the Commissioners have made certain suggestions in paragraph 215, to which particular attention should be directed, and I should be informed how far, in the opinion of your Government, practical effect could be given to them. If doubt is entertained whether such suggestions would secure the desired object, or would be in themselves practicable, it is very desirable that other ways of meeting the difficulty should be brought forward for the consideration of Her Majesty's Government. 9. I have also to call your attention to paragraph 216, with respect to foregn reprints, and to the recommendation arrived at by the majority of the Commissioners, that colonial reprints should not be admitted into the United Kingdom. 10. Special attention ought to be given to paragraph 227, from which it will be observed that the existing powers of colonial Legislatures to deal with the question of colonial copyright are not interfered with. 11. I need hardly impress upon you that it is highly expedient that the Legislature of the colony under your government should adopt the principal provisions of the Imperial Act, as suggested by the Commissioners, especially {see par. 288) the term which may ultimately be adopted for the duration of copyright. 12. It is not, however, desirable that any legislation on the subject should take place in a colony until this and other questions have been settled by the Imperial Parliament; but it is very important afterwards to secure uniformity as to the duration of the term, so that, if possible, colonial copyright should practically be the same as Imperial copyright, except in mere matters of detail. It will be seen, by a reference to clauses 5-7 of the Bill, that it is proposed to secure this uniformity, as suggested by the Commissioners. 13. There arc other parts of the report which bear more or less directly upon the colonies, but the only other point to which it seems necessary for me now to refer you is that connected with registration, which is dealt Avith in paragraph 231. 14. I turn now to the Bill, and among those portions of it which indicate the general bearing of the proposed legislation so far as it affects the colonies, I must first call your attention to the limitation in clause 4, which gives effect to the recommendation in paragraph 227 of the report. By clause 6 effect is given to the recommendation in paragraph 58 —in other words, Imperial copyright is given to a work first published in any part of Her Majesty's dominions; and by clause 7 the term of Imperial copyright, or copyright throughout all Her Majesty's dominions, is fixed. By clause 38 provision is made, in accordance with paragraph 231 of the report, by which the necessity for registering colonial works in this country is done away with, provided that there is a colonial law regulating registration, and that the requirements of that law have been complied with. 15. The next clause that I have to refer you to is clause 40, which is framed, in accordance with paragraph 200 of the report, to secure to colonial readers a proper supply of English literature at reasonable prices. Before the provisions of this section arc made applicable by Order in Council to any colony, colonial legislation will be necessary to secure the objects there set forth, These observations require

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Uo explanation, and I need not repeat, what has been said before, that, if the suggestions thrown out by the Commissioners in paragraph 215 are not considered practicable, it is very desirable that the colonies should suggest some alternative course by which the failure experienced in working the Eoreign Eeprints Act, and the consequent injustice to proprietors of copyright, can be avoided. 16. The remainder of clause 40 provides for licenses to publish copies (subsection 1) and for the introduction of foreign reprints (subsection 6), after the expiration of some reasonable period to be fixed by the colonial law. With respect to licenses further reference may be made to clauses 46-18 inclusive. 17. The case of the smaller colonies is provided for, in accordance with paragraph 211 of the report, by clause 41, by which the immediate importation of foreign reprints of a book is allowed in certain cases ; and here again I may point out that some really effectual provision will have to be made under subsection b, for securing the percentage to the proprietor of the copyright: upon this part of the case I would refer you to clause 49. 18. I have now briefly referred to the leading features of the report and Bill so far as they affect the colonies, and I shall be obliged by any observations and suggestions which you or your Government may have to offer, especially as to the best mode of securing the payments due to proprietors of copyright. 19. It is desirable that I should receive your reply as soon as possible, so that full consideration may be given to it when the Bill is being finally prepared this autumn for re-introduction next session. I have, &c, M. e. hicks beach. The Oflicer Administering tbe Government of New Zealand.

No. 70. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, —■ Downing Street, 16th September, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you a copy of an Order of the House of Commons, for a return relative to banks in the colonies, and the authorities under which they carry on business ; and I have to request that you will furnish me at your earliest convenience with the desired information for presentation to Parliament. The subject to which this return relates is an interesting one, and probably further information beyond that comprised in the terms of the motion would prove valuable : I have therefore to request that you will at the same time be good enough to transmit to me, in a separate return, the detailed information indicated in the accompanying copy of a letter from the Board of Treasury respecting any banking institutions in the colony under your government. I have, &c., M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Oflicer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure 1 in No. 70. House of Commons, Tuesday, 20th May, 1879. Resolved, That an humble address be presented to Her Majesty that she will be graciously pleased to give directions that there be laid before this House a return giving a list of all banks carrying on business in India and in each British possession : Statements of all authorities, Imperial or local, whether charter, statute, or other instrument, under which each bank carries on business : And of all general laws, Imperial or local, regulating the conduct of banking in India and each British possession.

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Ordered, That the said address be presented to Her Majesty by such members of this House as are of Her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council. The Order, made upon the sth day of this instant May, for presenting an address to Her Majesty for a return relative to banks (Fast India and the colonies), has been discharged. T. Erskine May, Clerk to the House of Commons.

Enclosure 2 in No. 70. The Treasury to the Colonial Office. Sir, — Treasury Chambers, Bth September, 1879. With reference to your letter of the 23rd June last, I am directed by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury to request you to inform the Secretary of State for the Colonies that my Lords would be glad that, when instructions for the preparation of the return required for Parliament relating to banks in India and the colonics are issued, the opportunity should be taken of obtaining some more detailed information respecting colonial banking institutions ; and my Lords desire me to suggest that the colonial Governments should be invited to furnish the Imperial Government with particulars on the following points respecting each bank carrying on business within their respective limits, viz. : — 1. Name of bank. 2. Statement of all instruments, Imperial or local, under which the bank is empowered to carry on business. 3. Number of branches. 4. Nominal amount of each share. 5. Amount paid-up per each share. 6. Liability per share. 7. Dividend and bonus per cent, on capital during the last seven years. 8. Highest and lowest share prices quoted in the market during the year 1878. 9. Total authorized capital. 10. Total subscribed capital. 11. Total paid-up capital. 12. Reserve fund. 13. Amount of note issue authorized. 14. Highest and lowest amount of notes in circulation during the year 1878, or, if that information should be difficult to obtain, the amount of notes in circulation when the last two or three accounts were published. 15. Denomination of issue and proportionate amount of each denomination. 16. Amount of bullion or securities held, or required to be held, specifically against the note issue, adding whether such bullion or securities are "ear-marked" to the notes —that is, in the event of insolvency, would such bullion or securities be appropriated to the payment of the notes, or would they fall into the general assets of the bank, and be distributed pro rata among tbe general creditors, the note-holder only receiving payment as a general or ordinary creditor ? 17. The means (if any) which are adopted for ascertaining by periodical inspection or otherwise that the issue is not in excess of the amount authorized, and that the bullion or securities (if any) held, or required to be held, specifically against such issue are really so held. 18. The limitation (if any), which is imposed on the holding of land by the bank, or on the making of advances by the bank on merchandise. 19. Qualification required to make a shareholder eligible for a directorship. It would be useful if the return were also to state — 20. (1.) The amount of the deposits (a) at interest, (b) on current accounts, at the date of the last publication of accounts ; (2.) The amount of acceptance, (3.) The amount of gold and silver coin, (4.) The amount of bills receivable, (5.) The amount of advances to customers, on the 31st December, 1878, or at the date of the last publication of accounts in the year 1878. I am to add that, if the Secretary of State is prepared to give effect to the suggestions of this Board, my Lords would be obliged if he would be good enough to make known his intention to the Secretary of State in Council of India, with whom it will rest to give instructions for the preparation of so much of the parliamentary return as relates to India, in order that similar information may be obtained about Indian banks. I have, &c, Tho Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. William Law.

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No. 71. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir,- — Downing Street, 17th September, 1879. I have the honor to inform you that an arrangement has been arrived at with the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty under which claims on account of the expenditure of coal by Her Majesty's ships will in future be made upon this department only when the persons conveyed have been discharging duties which are strictly colonial. The adoption of this rule has arisen out of a claim advanced against this office, and subsequently withdrawn, for expenditure on account of coals consumed by one of Her Majesty's ships while conveying Sir Arthur Gordon and others on business partly in connection with the Western Bacific High Commission, and partly consular. It is only in few colonies that cases of the kind contemplated are likely to arise, but I have nevertheless considered it desirable to address this circular despatch to all colonial Governments with the view of giving general publicity to the arrangement. In cases where exemption is claimed, it will be necessary that the officer or officers engaged on Imperial service should certify the captain of the vessel that the voyage is not made on service connected with the colonies. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

No. 72. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 19th September, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you, for information and publication in the colony under your government, a copy of an Order of the Queen in Council of the 14th August last, exempting from re-measurement in this country ships of the Kingdom of Greece the measurement whereof, after the Ist July, 1878, has been ascertained and denoted in the registers and other national papers of such ships. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 72. At the Court at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, the 14th day of August, 1879. Present: The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council. Whereas by "The Merchant Shipping Act Amendment Act, 1862," it is enacted that whenever it is made to appear to Her Majesty that the rules concerning the measurement of tonnage of merchant ships for the time being in force under the principal Act have been adopted by tiie Government of any foreign country, and are in force in that country, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by Order in Council, to direct that the ships of such foreign country shall be deemed to be of the tonnage denoted in their certificate of registry or other national papers, and thereupon it shall no longer bo necessary for such ships to be re-measured in any port or place in Her Majesty's dominions; but such ships shall be deemed to be of the tonnage denoted in their certificates of registry or other papers, in the same manner, to the same extent, and for the same purposes, in, to, and for which the tonnage denoted in the certificate of registry of British ships is to be deemed the tonnage of such ships : And whereas it has been made to appear to Her Majesty that the rules concerning tlie measurement of tonnage of merchant ships now in force under "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854," have been adopted by the Government of His Majesty the King of Greece, with the B—A. 2.

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exception of a difference in the mode in certain steamers of estimating the allowance for engineroom, and such rules are now in force in that country, having come into operation on the Ist day of July, 1878, Her Majesty is hereby pleased, by and with the advice of her Privy Council, to direct as follows :— 1. As regards sailing ships, that merchant sailing ships of the said Kingdom of Greece the measurement whereof after the said Ist day of July, 1878, has been ascertained and denoted in the registers and other national papers of such sailing ships, testified by the date thereof, shall bo deemed to be of the tonnage denoted in such registers and other national papers, in the same manner, and to the same extent, and for the same purpose, in, to, and for which the tonnage denoted in the certificate of registry of British sailing ships is deemed to be the tonnage of such ships, 2. As regards steamships, that merchant ships belonging to the said Kingdom of Greece whicb are propelled by steam or any other power requiring engine-room, the measurement whereof shall after the said Ist day of July, 1878, have been ascertained and denoted in the registers and other national papers of such steamships, testified by the dates thereof, shall be deemed to he of the tonnage denoted in such registers or other national papers, in the same manner, and to the same extent, and for the same purpose, in, to, and for which the tonnage denoted in the certificate of registry of British ships is deemed to be the tonnage of such ships : Provided, nevertheless, that if the owner or master of any such Greek steamship desires the deduction for engine-room in his ships to be estimated under the rules for engine-room measurement and deduction applicable to British ships, instead of under the Greek rule, the engine-room shall be measured and the deduction calculated according to the British rules. C. L. Peel.

No. 73. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 21th September, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you, for your information and for that of your Government, copies of an Order of Her Majesty in Council, dated the 11th day of August, 1879, amending the Western Bacific Order in Council of the 13th of August, 1877, a copy of which accompanied my circular despatch of the 13th of June last. 2. It will be observed that the present order, which is to be read as if it were part of the original Order in Council, does not commence and have effect, except when it is expressed to operate from its making, until proclaimed under the hand and official seal of the High Commissioner for the Western Bacific, and that such Broclamation is to be published in the Boyal Gazette of Eiji. I have accordingly instructed Sir A. Gordon to inform you of the date of the issue of his Broclamation bringing the amending order into full operation. 3. I take this opportunity of suggesting that, with the view of making widely known the scope and power of the High Commission, the original order should be published in full, if this has not already been done in the colony under your government, and that the amending Order in Council should be similarly published. 1. It may possibly be convenient to defer the publication until you are informed by Sir A. Gordon that the Broclamation bringing the amending order into full operation has been issued. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G, &c.

Enclosure in No. 73. Amendments as to Constitution, &c, of High Commissioners' Court under Western Pacific Order in Council of 1877. (See New Zealand Gazette, 20th November, 1879.)

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No. 74. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 28th September, 1879. A question having recently been raised as to the right of a colonial Governor, when absent from his colony, to receive salutes and to use the Governor's flag, I have thought it desirable to lay down the rule of which a copy is enclosed, and which should follow No. 159 of the present Colonial Eules and .Regulations. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 74. A colonial Governor absent from his colony on leave, or otherwise than on a special mission expressly authorized by Her Majesty's Government, is not entitled to any salute, or to fly any flag, as these attributes are only allowable when he is actually representing the Sovereign. A Governor so absent should promptly decline all salutes or other official recognitions of a Royal character from any foreign ship or troops; but he should avail himself of any offer made to him to be received on board, or conveyed by Her Majesty's ships or boats ; though he cannot demand this attention.

No. 75. Copt of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinsot*-, (No. 49.) Sir, — Downing Street, Ist October, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt ot your Despatch No. 45, of the 11th August last, informing me of the prorogation ot the Eourfch Session of the Sixth Earliament of New Zealand, with a view to its immediate dissolution. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 76. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. (No. 50.) Sir, — Downing Street, Ist October, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 18, of the 15th ultimo, informing me of the dissolution of the General Assembly of New Zealand. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 77. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. (No. 51.) Sir,— Downing Street, Ith October, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 43, of the Bth August last, forwarding copies of the Addresses presented to you by the Legislative Council and House of Eepresentatives in reply to your Opening Speech, together with copies of your rejoinders. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

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No. 78. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 7th October, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you, for the information of your Government, copies of the two Acts passed in the last session of the Imperial Parliament relating' to the discipline and regulation of the army; and, at the request of the Secretary of State for War, I have to call your attention to section 5 of the Act No. 32, and to suggest for the consideration of your Government that any local Act which may have been passed in the colony for regulating the Militia or Volunteer forces, and which may contain a reference to the Imperial Mutiny Act, should be amended by substituting " The Army Discipline and Eegulation Act, 1879," for the Mutiny Act and Articles of War. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

No. 79. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. (No. 52.) Sir, — Downing Street, 11th October, 1879. I have the honor to inform you that Her Majesty will not be advised to exercise her power of disallowance with respect to the following Acts of the Legislature of New Zealand, transcripts of which accompanied your Despatch No. 16, of the 12th August last:— No. 1. An Act to apply a Sum of Money out of the Public Account to the Service of the Year ending the Thirtieth day of June, One thousand eight hundred and eighty. No. 2. An Act to authorize the Borrowing and Raising of Money for Immigration and Construction of Public Works, and for other Purposes. No. 8. An Act to enable the Governor in Council to fix tho Date and Place of Trial of certain Maori Prisoners. No. 1. An Act to supply a Sum of Money out of tlie Public Account to the Service of the Three Months ending the Thirtieth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine, and to appropriate the Supplies granted in this present Session. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 80. Copt of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir,— Downing Street, 17th October, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you, for the information of your Government, copies of a parliamentary paper containing a list of treaties of commerce and navigation between Great Britain and foreign Powers containing most-favoured-nation clauses; stating the period when terminable; and showing whether they apply to the British Colonies. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. [Enclosure, vide Appendix to Journals, A.-3, 1880.]

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No. 81. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 21st October, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you a copy of a Commission passed under the Eoyal sign manual and signet, appointing the Eight Honorable the Earl of Carnarvon; the Eight Honorable H. C. E. Childers, M.P.; Sir H. T. Holland, Baronet, M.P., K.C.M.G.; Admiral Sir Alexander Milne, G.C.8.; General Sir J. E. A. Simmons, G.C.8.; Sir Henry Barkly, G.C.M.G., K.C.8.; Thomas Brassey, Esq., M.P.; and Eobert George Crookshank Hamilton, Esq., to be Commissioners to inquire into the state of the defences of the more important colonial ports and naval stations, and the best mode of placing them in a thoroughly secure condition. 2. The Committee appointed by Her Majesty's Government in the early part of last year to inquire and report as to the defences of those ports which might stand most in need of defence in any sudden emergency, made considerable progress in the examination of the subject referred to them, and in pursuance of their recommendations much has been already done towards the provision of such temporary defences as appeared to be most urgently required; but the larger questions connected with the permanent defences of each place have, in most cases, yet to be considered. The Eoyal Commission which is the subject of the present communication has been appointed to deal with these questions, and Her Majesty's Government are confident that you will use every effort to insure that any information affecting the colony under your government, which may be necessary to assist the Commission in the prosecution of its labours, shall be promptly and carefully supplied. 3. It is, of course, not the intention of Her Majesty's Government, by the appointment of this Commission, to interfere in any way with the measures already taken in the colony under your government for providing an adequate system of defence. They recognize with great satisfaction the intelligence and public spirit with which this responsibility has been assumed, and the cordiality with which, in most cases, the recommendations, made after careful inquiry, have been adopted. 1. There are probably, however, many further points in regard to which the Commission, after considering the detailed local information which you may be able to place at its disposal, may render most valuable assistance to your Government, and I am fully satisfied, that the ability and special experience of its members will secure for its recommendations, and for such proposals as Her Majesty's Government may found upon those recommendations, the most cordial and earnest consideration. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 81. Draft of a Commission appointing the Right Honourable the Earl of Carnarvon; the Right Honourable 11. C. E. Childers, M.P.; Sir H. T. Holland, Bart., M.P., K.C.M.G.; Admiral Sir Alexander Milne, Bart., G.C.8.; General Sir J. L. A. Simmons, G.C.8., InspectorGeneral of Fortifications and Director of Works; Sir Henry Barkly, G.C.M.G., K.C.8.; Thomas Brassey, Esq., M.P.; and Robert George Crookshank Hamilton, Esq., AccountantGeneral of the Navy and Comptroller of Navy Pay, to be Commissioners to inquire into the State of the Defences of the more important Colonial Ports and Coaling Stations, and to consider the apportionment of the cost of such Defences ; aud Captain Herbert Jekyll, R.E., to be Secretary to the said Commissioners. Victoria, by the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the Faith, to Our Right Trusty aud Right Well-beloved Cousin and Councillor Henry Howard Molyneux, Earl of Carnarvon; Our Right Trusty

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and Well-beloved Councillor Hugh Culling Eardley Childers; Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir Henry Thurstan Holland, Baronet, Knight Commander of Our Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George; Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir Alexander Milne, Baronet, Knight Grand Cross of Our Most Honorable Order of the Bath, Admiral in Our Navy; Our Trusty and Well-beloved Sir John Lintorn Arabin Simmons, Knight Grand Cross of Our Most Honorable Order of the Bath, General in Our Army, Inspector-General of Fortifications and Director of Works; Our Trusty and Well-beloved Sir Henry Barkly, Knight Grand Cross of Our Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Knight Commander of Our Most Honorable Order of the Bath; Our Trusty and Well-beloved Thomas Brassey, Esquire; and Our Trusty and Well-beloved Robert George Crookshank Hamilton, Esquire, Accountant-General of Our Navy and Comptroller of Navy Pay; Whereas we have thought it expedient, for divers good causes and considerations, that a Commission should forthwith issue to inquire iuto the condition and sufficiency of the means, both naval and military, provided for the defence of the more important sea-ports within our colonial possessions and their dependencies, and of the stations established or required within our said possessions and dependencies for coaling, refitting, or repairing the ships of our navy, and for the protection of the commerce of our colonies with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with each other, and with foreign countries : And whereas it is expedient to consider and determine in which of our stations and ports it is desirable, on account of their strategical or commercial importance, to provide an organized system of defence, in addition to such general protection as can bo afforded by our naval forces; and whether such defence should consist of permanent works manned by garrisons of Imperial or local troops, or both combined, or of any local naval organization or other armaments and appliances : And whereas it is desirable to consider whether, and in what proportions, the cost of such measures of defence should be divided between the Imperial Government and the colonies to which they relate, or should be wholly defrayed by the Imperial Government or by the colonies : Now know ye that we, reposing great trust and confidence in your zeal, knowledge, and ability, have authorized and appointed, and do by these presents authorize and appoint you, the said Henry Howard Molyneux, Earl of Carnarvon; Hugh Culling Eardley Childers; Sir Henry Thurstan Holland; Sir Alexander Milne; Sir John Lintorn Arabin Simmons; Sir Henry Barkly; Thomas Brassey; and Robert George Crookshank Hamilton, to be our Commissioners for the purpose of such inquiries as aforesaid, and that you may offer such suggestions as may seem to you meet as to the best moans (regard being had to the works completed and in progress, and to the ordinary number of our naval and military forces voted by Parliament) of providing for the defence and protection of our colonial possessions and commerce as aforesaid, special attention being given to the necessity of providing safe coaling, refitting, and repairing stations in such of our colonial possessions and their dependencies as you may deem best suited for the requirements of our fleet and mercantile marine in time of war. And for the better enabling you to carry these our intentions into effect, we do hereby authorize and empower you, or any three or more of you, to call for, have access to, and examine all plans and designs for all works of defence now in progress or under our consideration, or any other plans or designs that may be laid before you for the same object. And we do give and grant to you, or any three or more of you, full power and authority to call before you such persons in our civil, military, or naval services, or others connected with our colonial possessions, as you shall judge likely to afford you the best and fullest information upon the subject of this our Commission, and to inquire of and concerning the premises by all other lawful ways and means whatsoever. And we do by these presents will and ordain that this our Commission shall continue in full force and virtue, and that you, our said Commissioners, or any three or more of you, may from time to time proceed in the execution thereof, and of every matter and thing therein contained, although the same be not continued from time to time by adjournment. And our further will and pleasure is, that you, our said Commissioners, or any three or more of you, upon due inquiry into the premises, do report to us, in writing, under your hands and seals, your several proceedings, under and by virtue of this Commission, together with what you shall find touching or concerning the premises. And we further ordain that you, or any three or more of you, may have liberty to report to us your proceedings under this Commission from time to time, should you judge it expedient so to do. And for your assistance in the due execution of these presents, we have made choice of our trusty and well-beloved Herbert Jekyll, Esquire, a captain in our corps of Royal Engineers, to be Secretary to this our Commission, and to attend you, whose services and assistance we require you to avail yourselves of from time to time, as occasion may require. Given at our Court at Balmoral, this eighth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine, in the forty-third year of our reign. By Her Majesty's command. M. E. Hicks Beach.

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No. 82. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eoeinson. (General.) Sir,— Downing Street, 22nd October, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you a copy of a letter from the Post Office, accompanied by a copy of the revised regulations and tariffs adopted by the International Telegraph Conference which met in London in July last; and, in compliance with the wish expressed by the Postmaster-General, I have to request that you will obtain, and signify to me at an early date, the approval of your Government of the revised regulations and tariffs adopted by the Conference. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

Enclosure in No. 82. The General Post Office to the Colonial Office. Sir, — General Post Office, London, 17th October, 1879. With reference to the recent International Telegraph Conference of London, at which New Zealand was represented, I am directed by the Postmaster-General to acquaint you, for the information of Sir Michael Hicks Beach, that, as the delegates of each country represented at the Conference were furnished with a signed copy of the Revised Regulations and Tariffs for submission to their respective Governments, and as no alteration in the Telegraph Convention itself had been made, it was not considered necessary that the Government of this country should notify to the other Governments the changes which had been agreed upon at the Conference. Under the terms of tho Convention the approval of the various Governments must be given before the Revised Regulations and Tariffs can come into force; but it was understood that such approval would be conveyed to the Government of this country without any request being made for it. This view appears to have been concurred in by two foreign Governments, at least, which have already, in accordance with Article 16 of the Convention, communicated their approval of the Revised Regulations and Tariffs. Another Government, however, has inquired whether it may expect a formal notification from the Government of this country; and this raises a doubt whether others may not also be looking for such a notification. Steps are now, therefore, being taken to notify the results of the Conference, through the diplomatic channel, to all the foreign Governments concerned; and Lord John Manners thinks it right, at the same time, to send a copy of the Revised Regulations and Tariff to the Colonial Office, and to suggest that, if Sir Michael Hicks Beach sees no objection, it may be brought to the notice of the Government of New Zealand, with a view to the approval of that Government being obtained at an early date. I have, &c, The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. S. A. Blackwood.

No. 83. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Slit, — Downing Street, 10th November, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you, for the information of your Government, the enclosed copy of a memorandum which has been prepared by the Local Government Board for the assistance of Guardians and others in framing and carrying out arrangements for the performance of public vaccination. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

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Enclosure in No. 83. Memorandum for the Assistance of Guardians and Others in framing and carrying out Arrangements for the Performance of Public Vaccination. [Vaccination Acts, 1867 aud 1871; Regulations of Ist December, 1859; and Regulations of 18th Eebruary, 1868.] 1. In order to secure the best sort of vaccination, the operation should, as far as practicable, be performed with fresh lymph direct from arm to arm. The lymph should be carefully selected from the best-formed vesicles upon the healthiest children, at the right period of the course of the vesicles. And the arrangements for public vaccination under the vaccination contracts ought to be framed so as to secure, as far as possible, these objects. 2. As, in ordinary circumstances, it is at tbe end of the week from vaccination that the arm of a child is in tlie state best fitted for yielding lymph, the attendances for the performance of public vaccination must be given at weekly intervals. 3. As, for keeping up vaccination in perfection it is essential that a public vaccinator should have on each vaccinating occasion a large choice of children and of vesicles, it is obvious that the cases for vaccination must not be divided between too many stations, or distributed over too many vaccinating days. 4. It is only in very populous districts that weekly vaccination can be maintained efficiently throughout the year. If au attempt were made to keep up vaccination throughout the year at a vaccination station to which, say, one hundred cases are brought annually, it would be found that, as the births are not equally spread over the whole year, and as accidental circumstances must often interfere with the bringing of children in particular weeks, there would not unfrequently be no cases at all at the station to supply lymph, and in the majority of weeks not a sufficient number of children to enable the vaccinator to make a proper selection. 5. Hence, in districts which are not very populous, it is necessary that public vaccination should be performed at certain periods of the year, as at quarterly or half-yearly periods, weekly attendances being then given for two, three, or four, or more successive weeks, according to the population for the accommodation of which tho particular station is designed. 6. Without attempting to lay down a precise rule on a question which must largely be decided according to the circumstances of each locality, it may be said, generally, that any station at which there are less than eighty vaccinations annually should not be attended more frequently than at half-yearly periods. 7. Provision is made by the 12th section of "The A raccination ilet, 1867/*" by which, in districts in which public vaccination is performed at intervals exceeding three months, parents of children attaining the age of three months do not become liable to penalty for the non-vaccina-tion of their children until after the next public vaccination held in the district subsequently to their having attained that age. 8. Children living within two miles of a vaccination station cannot (unless under special circumstances) legally be vaccinated by the public vaccinator except at the station, and at the time specified in the contract. If, however, some special reason require this rule to be departed from in any particular case, an entry stating the " special reason " must, in accordance with the Regulations of 18th Eebruary, 1868, be made in the vaccinator's register. 9. Having regard to weather and to other considerations, the months of April and October will generally be found most suitable for half-yearly vaccination. 10. In framing periodical arrangements for districts in which there are two or more stations, the attendances should not commence in the same week at all the stations, but a week or two should be given for establishing at the most frequented station a supply of lymph with which to start vaccination at the others. 11. It is convenient that, as far as.practicable, the stations of a district should be attended on the same week-day, in order that, when necessary, lymph may be taken fresh from station to station. 12. In districts in which public vaccination is fixed to take place periodically, the public vaccinator should, on the day week preceding the first day of the periodical attendances appointed under Schedule A to the contract, vaccinate with lymph stored by himself or obtained from the National Vaccine Establishment, or some other trustworthy source, two or three selected children, jirrangements should be made for bringing these children to the station on the day appointed for beginning the periodical vaccination of the district, and tho lymph from their arms will afford means of starting such vaccination satisfactorily. The public vaccinator, in registering these vaccinations, should, in accordance with Regulation 1 of 18th Eebruary, 1868, state in his register the special reason for their not having been vaccinated at the station. 13. By section 7 of "The Vaccination Act, 1867," it is provided that all vaccination stations (except at the residence or surgery of the public vaccinator) shall be provided by the Guardians. 14. Vaccination stations must be within the district for which they are to serve, and must not be fixed at union workhouses, as the independent poor are unwilling to resort for vaccination to an institution connected with pauper relief. The same objection applies, though perhaps in a minor degree, to the appointment of pauper pay stations as vaccination stations. The Board further consider it undesirable that public-houses should be selected, for the purpose. Whatever room or place be selected as a vaccination station, it is essential that the public vaccinator should have the exclusive use of it during the time of vaccination. 15. In large towns the vaccination station should, if possible, be at some public building— • e.g., town hall, meeting hall, or school, or at rooms specially hired for the purpose. Various

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objections exist to the use of the surgeries of public vaccinators in such towns, especially that they rarely afford the accommodation necessary for the number of children likely to be brought, and that they do not possess the distinctive public character which is desirable. 16. In rural districts schoolrooms are frequently found convenient for the purpose. It is of course necessary that the assent of the managers of the school should be obtained; that the vaccination should be fixed at such an hour as not to interfere with school arrangements; and particularly that the public vaccinator should have at the time fixed for vaccination the exclusive use of the schoolroom or class-room appointed for the purpose. 17. In order to secure at vaccination stations the punctual bringing-together of children (from some of whom lymph has to be taken for the vaccination of others), it is desirable that the time of attendance notified to parents should be that at which vaccination is intended to begin, as " at 10 a.m.," not " from 10 to 11 a.m." 18. The hour of public vaccination should never be fixed so late in the day as to make it impracticable to complete the business of the station by daylight. 19. Enough time (which should rarely be less than one hour) should be allowed between the times of attendance at different stations to enable the public vaccinator, after performing vaccination and making the necessary entries in the register at one station, to arrive punctually at the next. 20. The payments to be made for vaccinations performed at other places than stations should not in any case exceed the sum that would have been paid had the operation been performed at the station nearest to the residence of tho person vaccinated. 21. Every vaccination coutract must contain a stipulation or condition in accordance with section 7of " The Vaccination Act, 1867." The form in general use is as follows : — "A. " And it is hereby mutually agreed by and between the parties hereto that no money shall be paid to the said in respect of any person vaccinated by him until he shall have transmitted to the vaccination officer a certificate of the successful vaccination of such person, and otherwise fulfilled on his part the requirements of the Vaccination Acts, 1867 and 1871, and the regulations made thereunder." 22. The course to be taken if small-pox break out in a district where ordinarily the public vaccination is carried on periodically is explained in the office memorandum on the steps to be taken by Guardians in places in which small-pox is epidemic. 23. If an infectious disease, such as scarlatina, measles, or diphtheria, prevail to such an extent in a district that the public vaccinator considers that the bringing of children together for vaccination would be likely to spread the disease, he should represent the facts to the Guardians for communication with the Board, who will, on sufficient cause shown, be ready to authorize the postponement of the attendances prescribed by the contract. 21. A contractor for public vaccination must be a registered medical practitioner qualified in medicine and surgery, and (if admitted to practice since Ist January, 1860) possessing a special certificate of proficiency in vaccination from one of the Examiners authorized to grant such certificates for the purposes of the order of Ist December, 1859. 25. The duties of a public vaccinator must be habitually discharged by the contractor himself, and the employment of a deputy must be limited to those occasions when unavoidable circumstances prevent the contractor's personal attendance. 26. In order to provide for occasions when the public vaccinator is unavoidably absent, it is proper that a deputy (who must possess the same qualifications as a contractor) should be appointed under the Regulations of Ist December, 1859, and that the appointment, after having been submitted by the Guardians for the approval of the Local Government Board, should be indorsed upon the contract. It must be understood, however, that the approval of such appointment is not to be taken as authorizing any habitual omission on the part of the public vaccinator to perform in person the duties for which he is responsible. 27. Public vaccination cannot under any circumstances be legally performed by au unqualified person, and the Guardians cannot legally pay for any vaccination so performed. E. C. Seaton, M.D., Local Government Board, Ist January, 1879. Medical Officer.

No. 84 Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 21th November, 1879. At the request of the Board of Trade, I have the honor to transmit to you, for the information of your Government, copies of " The Shipping Casualties Investigations Act, 1879." I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. 9—A. 2.

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Enclosure in No. 81. "Shipping Casualties Investigations Act, 1879," 42 and 43 Vict., chap. 72. An Act to provide for the Re-hearing of Investigations into Shipping Casualties, and to amend the Rules as to the Mode of holding, and Procedure at, such Investigations. [16th August, 1879.] Be it enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows, that is to say : — 1. This Act may be cited as "The Shipping Casualties Investigations Act, 1879." 2. (1.) Where an investigation into the conduct of a master, mate, or engineer, or into a shipping casualty, has been held under "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854," or any Act amending the same, or under any provision for holding such investigations in a British possession, the Board of Trade may, in any case, and shall, if new and important evidence which could not be produced at the investigation has been discovered, or if for any other reason there has, in their opinion, been ground for suspecting a miscarriage of justice, order that the case be re-heard, either generally or as to any part thereof, and either by the Court or authority by whom it was heard in the first instance, or by the Wreck Commissioner, or in England or Ireland by a Judge of Her Majesty's High Court of Justice exercising jurisdiction in Admiralty cases, or in Scotland by the Senior Lord Ordinary or any other Judge in the Court of Session whom the Lord President of that Court may appoint for the purpose, and the case shall be so re-heard accordingly. (2.) Where, in any such investigation, a decision has been given with respect to the cancelling or suspension of the certificate of a master, mate, or engineer, and an application for a rehearing under this section has not been made or has been refused, an appeal shall lie from the decision to the following Courts, namely : — (a.) If the decision is given in England or by a naval Court, the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division of Her Majesty's High Court of Justice : (b.) If the decision is given in Scotland, either division of the Court of Session : (c.) If the decision is given in Ireland, the High Court of Admiralty, or the Judge or Division of Her Majesty's High Court of Justice exercising jurisdiction in Admiralty cases. (3.) Any re-hearing or appeal under this section shall be subject to and conducted in accordance with such conditions and regulations as may from time to time be prescribed by general rules made under section thirty of " The Merchant Shipping Act, 1876." 3. (1.) The list of persons approved as assessors for the purpose of formal investigations into shipping casualties shall be in force for three years only, but persons entered in any such list may be approved for any subsequent list. The list of those persons in force at the passing of this Act shall continue in. force until the end of the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty, but nothing in this section shall affect the, power of the Secretary of State to withdraw his approval of any name on any such list or to approve of any additional name. (2.) The assessor or assessors for each such investigation shall, instead of being appointed by the Commissioner, Justices, or other authority holding the investigation, be appointed in such manner and according to such regulations as may be from time to time prescribed by general rules made under section thirty of " The Merchant Shipping Act, 1876." (3.) Where any such investigation involves, or appears likely to involve, any question as to the cancelling or suspension of the certificate of a master, mate, or engineer, it shall be held with the assistance of not less than two assessors having experience in the merchant service. (4.) A master, mate, or engineer shall not be required to deliver his certificate under section four hundred and thirty-eight of "The Merchant Shipping Act, 1854," or section twenty-four of " The Merchant Shipping Act, 1862," unless the certificate is suspended or cancelled ; and the words " or is to be" in the latter of those sections are hereby repealed. (5.) Investigations into shipping casualties shall be held in some town hall, Assize or County Court, public building, or in some other suitable place to be determined according to general rules made for the purpose by the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, and, unless no other suitable place is, in the opinion of the Board of Trade, available, shall not be held in a Court ordinarily used as a Police Court. 4. Any general rule made in pursuance of this Act shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament within thirty days after it is made, if Parliament be then sitting, or, if not, within thirty davs after the commencement of the then next ensuing session. 5. This Act shall commence and come into operation on the first day of November, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine : Provided that any rules which may be required for the purposes of this Act may be made at any time before the commencement of this Act, but, if so made, shall not come into operation until the commencement of this Act.

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No. 85. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 25th November, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you, for the information of your Government, copies of two letters addressed to Dr. Eorbes Watson respecting his scheme for acquiring the site of the proposed Opera House on the Thames Embankment for a Colonial Museum, in regard to which I understand that he has communicated directly with all the colonies. In the absence of any general concurrence and assurance of sufficient pecuniary support from the colonies, I have not felt myself in a position to make any definite suggestions on this subject to Her Majesty's Government. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure 1 in No. 85. The Colonial Office to Dr. Watson. Sir,— Downing Street, 24th May, 1879. I am directed by Sir Michael Hicks Beach to acquaint you that he has perused with attention your letter of the 29th ultimo, which explains very clearly the mode in which you would propose to carry out the scheme for a Colonial Museum in London, but that he cannot take any further step in the matter of the proposed establishment of such a museum until he has received replies to a circular despatch addressed to the Governors of colonics on the 30th December last; nor can he express any opinion at present as to the best site and other arrangements. I have, &c, J. F. Watson, Esq., M.D. R. G. W. Herbert.

Enclosure 2 in No. 85. The Colonial Office to Dr. Watson. Sir, — Downing Street, sth August, 1879. I am directed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to acknowdedge and to thank you for your letter of the 14th July, acquainting him with the substance of the replies which you have received from the Governments of the Australian Colonies inspecting your scheme for acquiring the site of the proposed Opera House on the Thames Embankment for a Colonial Museum. Sir Michael Hicks Beach has already intimated, as you are doubtless aware, his readiness to co-operate on the part of the Crown colonies, so far as their means will permit, in establishing a Colonial Museum in London whenever he may learn that the important colonies possessing responsible government are prepared to deal with the matter in a manner which would appear to promise success. As, however, you were informed in the letter from this department of the 21th May, he is not at present in a position to take any further stop in the matter until he shall have received replies from the colonies to the circular despatch in which the above intimation was conveyed to them; nor can he express any opinion as to the best site for such a museum, or with respect to any other arrangements which might be necessary in connection with such an undei'taking. I have, &c, J. Forbes Watson, Esq., M.D. R. G. W. Herbert.

No. 86. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, Ist December, 1879. I have the honor to transmit to you, for your information and for that of your Government, the accompanying copy of the Territorial Waters Jurisdiction Act, passed by the Imperial Parliament in 1878 (11 and 12 Vict., c. 73). I have, &c., M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

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Enclosure in No. 86. (See New Zealand Gazette, 29th April, 1879.)

No. 87. Copy of a DESEATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson. (No. 56.) Sir, — Downing Street, Ist December, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 58, of the Bth of October last, enclosing for my information copies of the Speech with which, on the 21th of September, you opened the session of the Barliament of New Zealand, together with copies of the Addresses presented to you by both Houses of Barliament, and of your replies thereto. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 88. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Birfit Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeficer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir,— Downing Street, 21th December, 1879. With reference to my circular despatch of the 18th of March last, I have the honor to transmit to you, for publication in the colony under your government, a copy of a letter from the Eoreign Office, enclosing an Order of Her Majesty in Council dated the 15th of December, for giving effect to the convention between this country and the Swiss Confederation, signed at Berne on the Bth of December, prolonging the duration of the Treaty of the 31st of March, 1874, for the mutual extradition of fugitive criminals. It will be seen that the Order in Council likewise applies to the treaty of the 31st of March, 1871, the protocol of the 28th of November, 1871, the convention of the 19th of June, 1878, and the convention of the 13th of December, 1878. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 88. The Foreign Office to the Colonial Office. Sir, — Foreign Office, 17th December, 1879. I am directed by the Marquis of Salisbury to acquaint you, for the information of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, that an Order iu Council for giving effect to the convention between this country and Switzerland, signed at Berne on the Bth of December, 1879, prolonging the duration of the treaty of the 31st of March, 1874, for the mutual extradition of fugitive criminals, was passed on the 15th instant. This order, of which I enclose three copies, likewise applies to the treaty of the 31st of March, 1874, the protocol of the 28th of November, 1874, the convention of the 19th of June, 1878, aud the convention of the 13th of December, 1878. I have, &c, Tne Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. Tenterden.

Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure in No. 88. (Extract from the London Gazette of Tuesday, 16t.1i December, 1879.) At the Court at Windsor, the 15th day of December, 1.879. Present: The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, Prince Leopold, Lord President, Earl of Beaconsfield, Mr. Secretary Cross, Mr. W. H. Smith. Whereas by the Extradition Acts of 1870 and 1873, it was amongst other things enacted that, where an arrangement has been made with any foreign State with respect to the surrender to such

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State of any fugitive criminals, Her Majesty may, by Order in Council, direct tbat the said Acts shall apply in the case of such foreign State, and that Her Majesty may, by the same or any subsequent order, limit the operation of the order, aud restrict the same to fugitive criminals who are in or suspected of being in the part of Her Majesty's dominions specified in the order, and render the operation thereof subject to such conditions, exceptions, and qualifications as may be deemed expedient: And whereas a treaty was concluded on the thirty-first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, between Her Majesty and the Swiss Confederation, for the mutual extradition of fugitive criminals, which treaty is in the terms following : — Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Swiss Confederation, having judged it expedient, with a view to the better administration of justice and to the prevention of crime within their respective territories and jurisdictions, that persons charged with, or convicted of, the crimes hereinafter enumerated, and being fugitives from justice, should, under certain circumstances, be reciprocally delivered up, have named as their Plenipotentiaries to conclude a treaty for this purpose, that is to say : Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Alfred Guthrie Graham Bonar, Esquire, Her Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Swiss Confederation; And the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation, Joseph Martin Kniisel, Member of the Swiss Federal Council; Who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following Articles: — Article I. The High Contracting Parties engage to deliver up to each other those persons who, being accused or convicted of a crime committed in tho territory of the one party, shall be found within the territory of the other party under the circumstances and conditions stated in the present treaty. Article 11. The crimes for which the extradition is to be granted are the following:— (1.) Murder (including infanticide) and attempt to murder. (2.) Manslaughter. (3.) Counterfeiting or altering money, uttering or bringing into circulation counterfeit or altered money. (4.) Forgery, or counterfeiting, or altering, or uttering what is forged, or counterfeited, or altered; comprehending the crimes designated in the penal codes of either State as counterfeiting or falsification of paper money, bank-notes, or other securities, forgery or other falsification of other public or private documents, likewise the uttering or bringing into circulation, or wilfully using such counterfeited, forged, or falsified papers. (5.) Embezzlement or larceny. (6.) Obtaining money or goods by false pretences. (7.) Crimes against bankruptcy law. (8.) Fraud committed by a bailee, banker, agent, factor, trustee, or director, or member or public officer of any company, made criminal by any law for the time being in force. (9.) Rape. (10.) Abduction of minors. (11.) Child-stealing or kidnapping. (12.) False imprisonment. (13.) Burglary, or housebreaking with criminal intent. (14.) Arson. (15.) Robbery with violence. (16.) Threats by letter or otherwise with intent to extort. (17.) Perjury or subornation of perjury. (18.) Malicious injury to property, if the offence be indictable. The extradition is also to take place for participation in any of the aforesaid crimes as an accessory before or after the fact. Article 111. No Swiss shall be delivered up by Switzerland to the Government of the United Kingdom and no subject of the United Kingdom shall be delivered up by the Government thereof to Switzerland. Article IV. The extradition shall not take place if the person claimed on the part of the Government ot the United Kingdom, or the person claimed on the part of the Swiss Government, has already been tried and discharged or punished, or is still under trial, in one of the Swiss Cantons, or m the United Kingdom respectively, for the crime for which his extradition is demanded.

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If the person claimed on the part of the Government of the United Kingdom, or if the person claimed on the part of the Swiss Government, should bo under examination or have been condemned for any other crime, in one of the Swiss Cantons or in the United Kingdom respectively, his extradition may be deferred until he shall have boon set at liberty in clue course of law. In case such individual should be proceeded against or detained in the country in which be has taken refuge on account of obligations contracted towards private individuals, his extradition shall nevertheless take place, the injured party retaining his right to prosecute his claims before the competent authority. Article V. The extradition shall not take place if, subsequently to the commission of the crime, or the institution of the penal prosecution, or the conviction thereon, exemption from prosecution or punishment has been acquired by lapse of time, according to the laws of the State applied to. Article VI. If the individual claimed by one of the two Contracting Parties, in pursuance of the present treaty, should be also claimed by one or several other Powers on account of other crimes committed upon their respective territories, his surrender shall be granted to that State whose demand is earliest in date; unless any other arrangement should be made between the Governments which have claimed him, either on account of tho gravity of the crimes committed or for any other reason. Article VII. A fugitive criminal shall not be surrendered if the offence in respect of which his surrender is demanded is one of a political character, or is connected with a crime of that nature, or if he prove that the requisition for his surrender has, in fact, been made with a view to try and punish him for an offence of a political character. Article VIII. A person surrendered can in no case be kept in prison, or be brought to trial in the State to which the surrender has been made, for any other crime, or on account of any other matters than those for which the extradition shall have taken place. This stipulation does not apply to crimes committed after the extradition. Article IX. The requisition for extradition must always be made by the way of diplomacy, and, to wit, in Switzerland, by the British Minister to the President of the Confederation, and in the United Kingdom to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs by the Consul-General of Switzerland, who, for the purposes of this Treaty, is hereby recognized by Her Majesty as a Diplomatic Representative of Switzerland. The requisition for the extradition of an accused person must be accompanied by a warrant of arrest issued by the competent authority of the State requiring the extradition, and by such evidence as, according to the laws of tho place where the accused is found, would justify his arrest if the crime had been committed there. If the requisition relates to a person already convicted it must be accompanied by the sentence of condemnation passed against the convicted person by the competent Court of the State that makes the requisition for extradition. A requisition for extradition cannot be founded on sentences passed in contumaciam. Article X. A fugitive criminal may, however, be apprehended under a warrant issued by any Police Magistrate, Justice of the Peace, or other competent authority, in either country, on such information or complaint, together with such evidence or after such judicial proceedings as would in the opinion of the officer issuing the warrant justify its issue if the crime had been committed in that part of the dominions of the two Contracting Parties in which he exercises jurisdiction. Provided, however, that in the United Kingdom, the accused shall in such case be sent as speedily as possible before a Police Magistrate in London. Such requisition may be made by means of the post or by telegraph. The accused shall, however, be discharged if within such reasonable time as with reference to the circumstances of the case the Police Magistrate may fix, the requisition shall not have be m made according to the stipulations contained in Article IX. Article XL The extradition shall not take place before the expiration of fifteen days from the apprehension, and then only if the evidence be found sufficient according to the laws of the State applied to, either to justify the committal of the prisoner for trial in case the crime had been committed in the territory of the said State, or to prove that the prisoner is the identical person convicted by the Courts of the State which makes the requisition.

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Article XII. In the examination which they have to make in accordance with the foregoing stipulations, the authorities of the State applied to shall admit as entirely valid evidence the sworn depositions or statement of witnesses taken in the other State, or copies thereof, and likewise the warrants and sentences issued therein, provided such documents are signed or certified by a Judge, Magistrate, or officer of such State, and are authenticated by the oath of some witness, or by being sealed with the official seal of a British Secretary of State, or of the Chancellor of the Swiss Confederation. Article XIII. If sufficient evidence for the extradition be not produced within two months from the date of the apprehension of the fugitive, he shall be set at liberty. Article XIV. All articles seized, which were in the possession of the person to be surrendered at the time of his apprehension, shall, if the competent authority of State applied to for the extradition has ordered the delivery thereof, be given up when the extradition takes place, and the said delivery shall extend not merely to the stolen articles, but to everything that may serve as a proof of the crime. Article XV. The Contracting Parties renounce any claim for the re-imbursement of the expenses incurred by them in the arrest and maintenance of the person to be surrendered, and his conveyance to the frontiers of the State from which he is required; they reciprocally agree to bear such expenses themselves. Article XVI. The stipulations of the present Treaty shall be applicable to the colonies and foreign possessions of Her Britannic Majesty. The requisition for the arrest and surrender of a fugitive criminal who has taken refuge in any of such colonies or foreign possessions shall be made through the Swiss Consul-General in. London to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, who shall proceed in conformity with the provisions of the present Treaty and the laws of the land. Her Britannic Majesty shall, however, be at liberty to make special arrangements in the British colonies and foreign possessions for the surrender of such individuals as shall have committed in Switzerland any of the crimes hereinafore mentioned, who may take refuge within such • colonies and foreign possessions, on the basis, as nearly as may be, of the provisions of the present Treaty. The requisition for the surrender of a fugitive criminal from any colony or foreign possession of Her Britannic Majesty shall be governed by the rules laid clown in the preceding articles of the present Treaty. Article XVII. The present Treaty shall come into force ten days after its publication in conformity with the forms prescribed by the laws of the High Contracting Parties. It may be terminated by either of the High Contracting Parties, but shall remain in force for six months after notice has been given for its termination. The Treaty shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Berne, in four weeks, or sooner if possible. In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms. Done at Berne, the thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four. (1.5.) A. G. G. Bonar. (1.5.) J. M. Knusel. And whereas a Protocol amending Article XVI. of the aforesaid Treaty was signed by the Plenipotentiaries of Her Majesty and of the Swiss Confederation on the twenty-eighth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, which Protocol is in the following terms: — The undersigned Plenipotentiaries of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation, having met in conference, have taken into their consideration the following subject:— They have directed their attention to the fact that the second paragraph of the sixteenth Article of the Treaty, which stipulates that the requisition for the arrest of a fugitive criminal who has taken refuge in any of the colonies or foreign possessions of Her Britannic Majesty shall be made through the Swiss Consul-General in London to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, was not in accordance with the law of England, and they have consequently resolved to declare that the second paragraph of that Article, beginning : " The requisition for the arrest," and concluding with, " and the laws of the land/ shall be null and void., and in lieu thereof the following words shall be substituted:

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" The requisition for the surrender of a fugitive criminal who has taken refuge in any of such colonies or foreign possessions shall be made to the Governor or to the Supreme Authority of such colony or possession through the Swiss Consul, or, in case there should be no Swiss Consul, through the Consular Agent of another State charged for the occasion with the Swiss interests in the colony or possession in question. " The Governor'or Supreme Authority above-mentioned shall decide with regard to such requisitions as nearly as possible in accordance with the provisions of the present Treaty. He will, however, be at liberty either to consent to the extradition or report the case to his Government." The other provisions of Article XVI. remain in force as they have been agreed upon in the Treaty. This Protocol shall be regarded aud acted upon as forming part of the Treaty in question. Iu witness whereof the undersigned have signed this Protocol, and have hereunto affixed their seals. Done in duplicate at Berne, the twenty-eighth day of November, in the year of grace one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four. The Plenipotentiary of Great Britain, (1.5.) Edwin Corbett. The Plenipotentiary of Switzerland, (1.5.) J. M. Knusel. And whereas the ratifications of the said Treaty and Protocol were exchanged at Berne on the thirty-first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-four : And whereas under and by virtue of the powers in and by the seventeenth Article of the said Treaty reserved and contained, the Swiss Confederation did, on the twenty-second day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven, give notice to Her Majesty's Government of the termination of the said Treaty, subject to the provisions in the said Article contained that the same should remain in force for six months after notice should be given for its termination : And whereas on the nineteenth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight, a Convention was entered into between Great Britain and Switzerland in the terms following : — The Swiss Federal Council having, by a note of the 22nd December, 1877, denounced the Extradition Treaty of the 31st March, 1874, which exists between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Swiss Confederation, and a new Extradition Treaty not having as yet been concluded, the High Contracting Parties, being desii-ous of prolonging the duration of the Treaty now in force, have named as their Plenipotentiaries for this purpose : Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir Horace Rumbold, Baronet, Her Majesty's Minister Resident to the Swiss Confederation; and The Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation, M. le Conseiller Federal Fridolin Anderwert, Chief of the Federal Department of Justice and Police ; Who, after having communicated to each other their full powers, found in good and due form, have concluded the following Convention :— The duration of the Treaty of the 31st March, 1874, between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Swiss Confederation is prolonged for six months, to date from the 22nd June, 1878. Done at Berne, this nineteenth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight. The Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Horace Rumbold. The Plenipotentiary of Switzerland, Anderwert. And whereas on the thirteenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventyeight, a further Convention was entered into between Great Britain and Switzerland in the terms following : — The Swiss Federal Council having, by a note of the 22nd December, 1877, denounced the Extradition Treaty of the 31st March, 1874, which exists between the Uidted Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Swiss Confederation, and a new Extradition Treaty not having as yet been concluded, the High Contracting Parties, being desirous of prolonging the duration of the Treaty now in force, have named as their Plenipotentiaries for this purpose : Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir Horace Rumbold, Baronet, Her Majesty's Minister Resident to the Swiss Confederation; and The Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation, M. le Conseiller Federal Fridolin Anderwert, Chief of the Federal Department of Justice and Police ; Who, after having communicated to each other their full powers, found in good and due form, have concluded the following Convention : — The duration of the Treaty of the 31st March, 1874, between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Swiss Confederation is prolonged for twelve months, to date from the 22nd December, 1878. Done at Berne, this thirteenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventyeight. The Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Horace Rumbold. The Plenipotentiary of Switzerland, Anderwert.

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And whereas on the eighth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventynine, a further Convention was entered into between Great Britain and Switzerland in the terms following : — The Swiss Federal Council having, by a note of the 22nd December, 1877, denounced the Extradition Treaty of the 31st March, 1874, which exists between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Swiss Confederation, and a new Extradition Treaty not having as yet been concluded, the High Contracting Parties, being desirous of prolonging the duration of the Treaty now in force, have named as their Plenipotentiaries for that purpose: Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir Horace Rumbold, Baronet, Her Majesty's Minister Resident to the Swiss Confederation; and The Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation, M. le Conseiller Federal Fridolin Anderwert, Chief of the Federal Department of Justice and Police; Who, after having communicated to each other their full powers, found in good and due form, have concluded the following Convention : — The duration of the Treaty of the 31st March, 1874, between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Swiss Confederation is prolonged for twelve months, to date from the 22nd December, 1879. Done at Berne, this eighth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine. The Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Horace Rumbold. The Plenipotentiary of Switzerland, Anderwert. Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice of her Privy Council, and in virtue of the authority committed to her by the said recited Acts, doth order, and it is hereby ordered, that the said Acts shall apply in the case of Switzerland and of the said Treaty and Protocol and Conventions with the Swiss Confederation. C. L. Peel.

No. 89. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Robinson. (No. 60.) Sib, — Downing Street, 22nd December, 1879. I caused to be forwarded for the consideration of the Lords Commismissioners of the Admiralty a copy of your Despatch No. 59, of the Bth October last, enclosing a memorandum by Sir George Grey pointing out the absence of medical officers in the naval schooners employed in the Pacific for the suppression of unlawful labour traffic, and I have now the honor to transmit to you, for the information of your Government, a copy of a letter on the subject received from their Lordships in reply. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

Enclosure in No. 89. The Admiralty to the Colonial Office. Sir, — Admiralty, 11th December, 1879. I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to acquaint you that I have laid before their Lordships your letter of the 2nd instant, enclosing a memorandum from Sir George Grey pointing out the absence of medical officers in the naval schooners employed on the Australian Station. I have, &c, The Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. Robert Hall.

No. 90. Copt of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Robinson. (No. 61.) ;Sib, — Downing Street, 22nd December, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 60, •of the 9th October last, reporting the resignation of Sir George Grey and the 10—A. 2.

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formation of a new Administration by Mr. Hall, and enclosing a list of the gentlemen who have accepted office in the new Ministry. I have, &c.j M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 91. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Robinson. (Circular.) Downing Street, 27th December, 1879. The Secretary of State for the Colonies presents his compliments to the Governor of New Zealand, and has the honor to transmit to him, for information in the colony under his government, a copy of a report on cases of leprosy treated by Surgeon C. T. Peters, M.8., 2nd P.W.O. Grenadiers Regiment Native Infantry, in Belgaum, during the years 1876-78. [The enclosures above-mentioned are filed in the Colonial Secretary's Office.]

No. 92. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, G.C.M.G. (No. 1.) Sir, — Downing Street, 6th January, 1880. I duly caused to be forwarded for the consideration of the Royal Humane Society a copy of your Despatch No 54, of the 12th September last, respecting the conduct of Mr. Jenkins in saving many persons from drowning at the wreck of the " City of Auckland." I have now the honor to transmit to you a letter from the Society, with a bronze medal, and I request that you will cause the medal to be presented to Mr. Jenkins in as public a manner as possible. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

Enclosure in No. 92. The Royal Humane Society to the Colonial Office. Royal Humane Society Office, No. 4, Trafalgar Square, W.C, Sir, Ist January, 1880. I have the honor to refer to your letter of the 30th December with reference to Wm. Jenkins and his boat's crew and others concerned. The Committee have carefully considered the case and have awarded the bronze medal to Wm. Jenkins only, in consideration of his being the principal person concerned in the rescue. The bronze medal has been forwarded to the Colonial Office, and the Committee will feel obliged by the Right Honorable the Secretary of State causing it to be forwarded to the Governor of New Zealand. I have, &c, J. W. Horne, The Assistant Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. Secretary.

No. 93. Copy of a DESPATCH from tlie Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to the Oeeicer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 24th January, 1880. I have the honor to transmit to you for publication in the colony under your government a copy of a declaration between this country and the French

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Government, prolonging the duration of the existing treaties of commerce and navigation between Great Britain and Prance, which was signed at Paris on the 10th of October, 1879. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 93. Declaration between the British and French Governments prolonging the Duration of the existing Treaties of Commerce and Navigation between Great Britain and France. Signed at Paris, 10th October, 1879. The Government of Her Britannic Majesty and the Government of the French Republic, foreseeing the case in which the commercial and maritime relations between Great Britain and France should not have been settled by fresh arrangements before the 31st December, 1879, the period at which the existing commercial treaties and conventions are to expire, and wishing to secure for the manufacturers and merchants of both couutries a sufficient delay to conclude the operations in course of execution, — Have agreed to prolong, for a period of six months before their definitive termination, the conventional acts in force between Great Britain and France. Considering, besides, that according to the terms of the law passed in France on the 4th August last, which confers on the Government of the Republic the power of prolonging the commercial treaties and conventions, the duration of their prolongation cannot exceed six months from the promulgation of the new General Customs Tariff submitted to the approbation of the French Chambers, — The High Contracting Parties agree that the stipulated delay of six months shall commence from the day either anterior or posterior to the Ist January, 1880, on which the new General Customs Tariff shall have been promulgated. The benefit of the prolongation shall apply to the conventional acts enumerated hereafter, that is to say —(1) The Treaty of Commerce of the 23rd January, 1860; (2) Additional Article of the 25th February, 1860; (3) Second Additional Article of the 27th Juno, 1860; (4) First Supplementary Convention of the 12th October, 1860; (5) Second Supplementary Convention of the 16th November, 1860; (6) Treaty of Commerce and Navigation of the 23rd July, 1873; (7) Supplementary Convention of the 24th January, 1874; (8) Declaration of the 24th January, 1874. In witness whereof, tbe undersigned, acting in the name of their respective Governments, have drawn up the present declaration, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms. Done in duplicate, at Paris, the 10th day of October, 1879. (1.5.) F. O. Adams. (1.5.) Waddington.

No. 94. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Robinson. (No. 7.) Sir, — Downing Street, 28th January, 1880. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 79,. of the sth December, forwarding six copies of the Statistics of New Zealand for 1878. The report of the Registrar-General, and the table showing^the progress of the colony for the last twenty-five years, which are prefixed to the volume, will, in accordance with your request, be re-produced in the printed papers relating to Her Majesty's colonial possessions which are presented to Parliament. I have, &c., M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

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No. 95. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Robinson. (No. 8.) Sir, — Downing Street, 29th January, 1880. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 74, of the 3rd December. I have learnt with satisfaction that an Order in Council has been issued, prohibiting the exportation of dynamite from New Zealand to any of the South Sea Islands. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 96. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks Beach to Governor Sir Hercules Robinson. (No. 13.) Sir,-—- Downing Street, 25th February, 1880. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch of 19th December last, No. 84, informing me that on that day you had prorogued by Commission the Eirst Session, of the Seventh Parliament of New Zealand. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. Governor Sir Hercules Robinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

By Authority: Geoegb Didsbuet, Government Printer, Wellington.—lBBo. Price 2s. 6d.]

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DESPATCHES FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO THE GOVERNOR OF NEW ZEALAND., Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1880 Session I, A-02

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DESPATCHES FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO THE GOVERNOR OF NEW ZEALAND. Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1880 Session I, A-02

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Pages 1-20 of 76

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DESPATCHES FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO THE GOVERNOR OF NEW ZEALAND. Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1880 Session I, A-02

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DESPATCHES FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO THE GOVERNOR OF NEW ZEALAND. Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1880 Session I, A-02

Using This Item

No known copyright (New Zealand)