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

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1894 Session I, A-01a

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1894. NEW ZEALAND.

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

[In Continuation of A.-l, 1894.]

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

INDEX.

No. 34. (No. 23.) My Loed, Government House, Wellington, 7th June, 1894. In accordance with the usual practice, I have the honour to request that Messrs. E. J. Seddon, W. P. Eeeves, J. McKenzie, J. G. Ward, and A. J. Cadman may receive Her Majesty's gracious permission to retain the title of "honourable" on their retirement from office, they having severally been members of the Executive Council and Ministry for more than three years. I have, &c, GLASGOW. The Eight Hon. the Marquis of Eipon, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 35. (No. 24.) My Loed, Government House, Wellington, 2nd July, 1894. I have the honour to report, for the information of your Lordship, that I opened the first session of the twelfth Parliament of New Zealand on the 22nd June 1894, and enclose copy of the Speech that I read on that occasion. 1 have also the honour to forward copies of the Addresses in Eeply that have been presented to me by the honourable the Legislative Council and the House of Eepresentatives respectively. I have, &c., GLASGOW. The Eight Hon. the Marquis of Eipon, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. of ieries. Date. Subject. Page. 34 85 30 37 7 June, 1894 .. 2 July, , .. 2 July, „ .. 25 July, „ .. Ministers to retain title of " honourable " on retirement Opening of first session of twelfth Parliament Address from General Assembly, death of French President Carnot Connection of Cook Group with New Zealand 1 1 2 2

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A.-l, 1894 No. 21.

No. 36. (No. 25.) My Loed, — Government House, Wellington, 2nd July, 1894. I have the honour to forward herewith copies of addresses presented to me by the honourable the Legislative Council and the House of Eepresentatives of New Zealand respecting the death of President Carnot, the substance of which was conveyed in a cablegram to your Lordship on 27th June, 1894. I have, &c, GLASGOW. The Eight Hon. the Marquis of Eipon, G.C.M.G., &c.

Enclosures. Address prom the Legislative Council. 26th day of June, 1894. To His Excellency the Eight Honourable David, Earl of Glasgow, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand: May it please your Excellency,— We, the Legislative Council of New Zealand, respectfully request that your Excellency will convey to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, for presentation to the French Government, the expression of this Council's indignation at the dastardly assassination of President Carnot, and of the Council's deep sympathy with the French nation in the affliction caused by this untoward event. H. J. Miller, Speaker of the Legislative Council.

Similar address from the House of Eepresentatives.

No. 37. (No. 33.) My Loed, — Government House, Wellington, 25th July, 1894. I have the honour, at his request, to enclose, for your information, the correspondence mentioned in the margin which has passed between myself and the Premier, The subject of the correspondence is my despatch to your Lordship (as yet unanswered), No. 61, dated 26th December, 1893, and its enclosures, with reference to the connection between the Cook Islands and this colony. The whole correspondence is to be laid on the table of the General Assembly at the request of the Premier. I have, &c, GLASGOW. The Eight Hon. the Marquis of Eipon, G.C.M.G., &c.

Enclosures. Auckland, 9th May, 1894. Memorandum. Understanding that the Premier wishes to see the papers mentioned in the margin, they are enclosed. Being original drafts, the Governor begs they may be returned as soon as finished with. [For enclosures see A.-l, 1894, No. 21.]

(No. 56.) Premier's Office, Wellington, 16th June, 1894. Memorandum for His Excellency the Governor. The Premier presents his compliments to His Excellency, and begs to acknowledge the receipt of his memorandum of the 9th ultimo, with enclosures, amongst the latter being Despatch No. 61, dated the 26th December, 1893, which the Premier has seen for the first time. In the first paragraph of Despatch No. 61 His Excellency is pleased to remark as follows : " I am of opinion that the intermediary position which this colony holds between the islands in question and the Colonial Office should no longer be maintained." In paragraph 5 His Excellency is further pleased to remark, " I have communicated with my Ministers with regard to this matter, and this despatch represents my opinion as well as their own." The Premier entirely agrees with His Excellency that the position of New Zealand with regard to the Cook Group is not so satisfactory as could be desired; but His Excellency will observe, on further perusal of the correspondence, that the opinions expressed and held by him are not so expressed in the communications from Ministers, and, inadvertently, His Excellency has placed a construction upon those communications never intended by his Advisers.

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His Excellency will remember that on the 23rd August, 1893, he was pleased to address to the Premier a communication on the subject of Special Commissioner Eoss having held a Court at Barotonga, and requested the opinion of the Attorney-General as to the legality of the Court so held by Mr. Eoss. The view of the Attorney-General is contained in the opinion expressed by him in his minute No. 7 of the sth September, 1893, and is as follows : "I am curious to know what is New Zealand's position in such a case, and what duties (if any) have the Government of this colony in respect of the British Protectorate over Earofconga and the Cook Islands generally. I have never been able to understand our relative positions." The Attorney-General suggested, amongst other things, that the attention of the Imperial authorities should be called to the subject, and the Premier is not aware that any reply has been received from the Imperial authorities since that request was made by His Excellency. In returning Despatches Nos. 12, 13, 14, and 16 to 26, from the British Eesident at Earotonga, the Premier, in his memorandum of the 22nd September, 1893, advised His Excellency as follows : " The Premier has perused these despatches with much interest, but has arrived at the conclusion that this Government cannot see its way to offer any advice to His Excellency, as Earotonga is not an integral portion of New Zealand, and Ministers, therefore, have no power to interfere in any way with Mr. Moss's action. It is true that, in his despatch of the 13th December, 1890, Lord Knutsford speaks of Ministers instructing Mr. Moss, and Lord Onslow did give him some instructions on his first assuming office as British Eesident; but there is nothing in our Constitution to warrant the interference of the New Zealand Government in matters occurring outside the boundaries of the colony." The Premier can only suggest that copies of the correspondence relating to Mr. Moss's action at Earotonga, and to the schooner " Omaka," should be forwarded to the High Commissioner of the Western Pacific for his consideration, and also to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. The Premier will forward the paper on Maori Polity to the Polynesian Society, and will also have the correspondence printed for Parliament as suggested by His Excellency. Prom the foregoing communications it will be seen that His Excellency's Advisers have not recommended that the intermediary position which the Colony of New Zealand holds between the islands in question and the Colonial Office should no longer be maintained, but rather that the position should be more clearly defined. As the matter now stands, neither the Legislature nor the Courts of New Zealand can exercise jurisdiction within the protectorate; nor is the British Eesident to act on the advice of Ministers, nor have the Imperial authorities conferred upon him Her Majesty's judicial jurisdiction in the group. The position, as far as this colony is concerned, is not at all satisfactory. The New Zealand Government is paying the salary of the British Eesident, and to that extent has relieved the Imperial Government, but it has not relieved the Imperial Government of the duty imposed upon it of administering the Protectorate. The original, and existing, arrangement was made with the object of promoting the welfare of the native people, and it was expected that a commercial relationship would be establi shed between the group and the colony, with a view to opening up a trade which would be mutu ally advantageous. In doing this it was also anticipated, that it would lessen the danger of the islands in question being ceded to any foreign Power. If, therefore, His Excellency recommends that all communications are to go through the High Commissioner and direct to the Secretary of State, without any reference to the Governor or Government of this colony, and the Imperial authorities act upon such recommendation, there would no longer be any necessity for the cost of administering the Cook Group being borne by the tax payers of New Zealand. The Premier respectfully requests that this memorandum may be referred to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and presented to Parliament. E. J. Seddon.

Government House, Wellington, 19th June, 1894. Memorandum for the Premier. The Governor has received the Premier's memorandum on his despatch, No. 61, 26th December, 1893, on the position which this colony occupies with regard to the Cook Group. This despatch gave to the Secretary of State for the Colonies the Governor's reasons for thinking that the intermediary position of this colony between the islands in question and the Colonial Office should be no longer maintained, and went on to request that he might be relieved of the responsibility of further communication with the Eesident, suggesting that instead the latter should correspond with the High Commissioner of the Pacific. In paragraph 5 the Governor stated, " I have communicated with my Ministers with regard to this matter, and this despatch represents their opinions as well as my own." This sentence did not relate to the memoranda of the Attorney-General and the Premier, quoted by the latter, but to several conversations which he had had with the Premier and other Ministers. The late Mr. Ballance did not agree with the opinion of the Governor on this question, but, on the Premier's accession to office, the Governor found that he was favourable to the Governor's view; therefore, on receiving 'the Besident's report of a Deputy Commissioner's Court having been held in Barotonga, the Governor considered that this evidence of a double jurisdiction in the Group, coupled with the fact that his Government and he were in agreement on the question, formed grounds sufficient to warrant his despatch of 26th September to the High Commissioner, and his subsequent one of 26th December to the Secretary of State. In paragraph 7 of his memorandum to the Premier of 28th August on the subject, the Governor stated that if his Ministers approved he proposed to write to the Secretary of State in the sense indicated in paragraph 5. It is evident that the Premier's reply was a cautious one,

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and that, as the Governor believes, he came to the only sound decision possible under the circumstances. He did not "approve," but merely announced that the Government could not see its way to offer any advice to the Governor, as Earotonga is not an integral part of New Zealand. This left the Governor a free hand, and he, therefore, wrote his Despatch No. 61, 26th December, to the Secretary of State, in the full belief that he was acting with the approval of his Government; and it must have been plain to the Secretary of State that, in making that statement, he did not rely on the Premier's memorandum, No. 8, which accompanied the correspondence. If the correspondence on this subject is printed, the Governor requests that this memorandum be included. Glasgow.

(No. 64.) Premier's Office, Wellington, 24th July, 1894. Memorandum for His Excellency the Governor. The Premier presents his compliments, and begs to acknowledge the receipt of His Excellency's memorandum of the 19th ultimo, in reference to the position which this colony occupies with regard to the Cook Group. The Premier is aware that the Besident Agent's (Mr. Moss's) demands for increased expenditure have been discussed, and also as to the legality of the Court held by Special Commissioner Boss; at the same time, neither of these questions involved the determining of the intermediary position of this colony in relation to the Cook Islands. The Premier was adverse, as stated to His Excellency, to further expenditure being incurred ; and that, as matters stood, the position of the colony in relation to the Cook Group was on anything but a satisfactory basis. The Premier would respectfully remind His Excellency that on being asked he refrained from advising in reference to the Court held by the Special Commissioner in question. The Premier has no recollection of having expressed any opinion as to the desirability or otherwise of determining the intermediary position of this colony in relation to the Cook Group of islands; but, as expressed in his last memorandum, No. 56, on this subject, that the position of the colony in relation to the Cook Group should be more properly defined, that the existing state of affairs was unsatisfactory, and that he did not think the colony at present got commensurate advantages for the payment of the Besident Agent's salary. The colony has not received that advantage in regard to trade with the islands that the Government had every reason to believe would accrue at the time the intermediary position was arrived at. His Excellency states in the memorandum under reply as follows: "In paragraph 7 of his memorandum to the Premier of 28th August on the subject, the Governor stated that if his Ministers approved he proposed to write to the Secretary of State in the sense indicated in paragraph 5. It is evident that the Premier's reply was a cautious one, and that, as the Governor believes, he came to the only sound decision possible under the circumstances. He did not 'approve,' but merely announced that the Government could not see its way to offer any advice to the Governor, as Barotonga is not an integral part of New Zealand." In paragraph 5 of the same memorandum His Excellency states as follows : " This incident is, therefore, only of trifling import in itself; but in the abstract, and as bearing on the relative position which the Cook Group bears to the rest of the West Pacific Islands, it appears to the Governor that it may be looked on as an object-lesson, showing, to a certain extent, the inexpediency of having two separate British authorities among these islands, which year by year have been attracting more attention from certain European nations and the United States, rendering it, therefore, highly necessary that there should be no divided counsels in connection with Island questions." His Excellency is correct when he says the reply was a cautious one, for the Premier avoided expressing any opinion or tendering any advice. The reference in paragraph 5 as to there being no divided counsels in connection with island questions, could as easily be applied to the islands becoming an integral part of New Zealand. In such case there would be no divided counsel. The Premier concurs that His Excellency had a free hand in advising the Secretary of State, Barotonga not being an integral part of New Zealand, and in further advising that there should be no divided counsel in connection with Island questions. At the same time, the Premier respectfully submits that any misunderstanding would have been avoided had His Excellency requested Ministers to advise as to the severance of this colony's intermediary position with regard to the islands in question prior to His Excellency's Despatch No. 61 of the 26th December being forwarded to the Secretary of State, and that it is to be regretted this despatch did not come before the Premier until after the 9th of May last. In conclusion, the Premier regrets there should have been any misunderstanding in reference to this question, and respectfully submits that, before advising, Ministers concurred in the colony severing its intermediary position in relation to these islands, which practically meant the reversal of a policy which had been approved by two previous Governments. All inadvertence would have been avoided had His Excellency invited his Ministers to advise direct upon the question. The Premier respectfully requests that this memorandum may be forwarded to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and be laid upon the table of the House with the other correspondence on the same subject. B. J. Seddon.

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