DESPATCHES TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DOMINION AFFAIRS FROM THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF NEW ZEALAND.

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1926 Session I, A-01

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1926. NEW ZEALAND.

DESPATCHES TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DOMINION AFFAIRS FROM THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF NEW ZEALAND.

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

INDEX.

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No. I of Date. j Subject. Page. Series. 1925. 1 Jan. 19 Invitation to New Zealand to be represented at the International Fair of Colonial and Foreign 2 Products 2 Mar. 4 .Double income-tax, Recommendation of Royal Commission appointed to inquire into .. 2 3 ,,26 Upkeep of the Imperial Institute .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 4 ,,26 Invitation to New Zealand to be represented at the International Prison Congress .. ,. 3 5 April 22 Invitation to New Zealand to participate in the International Congress of Agriculture .. 3 6 ,,23 Sheep-farming industry of the Falkland Islands .. .. .. .. .. 3 7 ,,23 Fourth International Congress of the Building Industry and Public Works .. .. 4 8 ,,27 Second Imperial Entomological Conference .. .. .. .. .. .. 4 9 June 2 International Exhibition of Inland Navigation and Utilization of Hydraulic Power .. 4 ]0 ,, 2 Dominion commercial representatives in foreign countries .. .. .. .. 4 11 ,, 12 International Conference on the Education of the Deaf.. .. .. .. 5 12 ,, 15 Permanent Bureau of the International Map of the World' .. .. .. .. 5 13 ,, 22 Arrangements whereby British seamen may land at French ports without holding passports, &c. 5 14 July 4 Permanent International Trade Exhibition .. .. .. .. .. .. 6 15 ,, 15 Ratification of Universal Postal Union Convention of Stockholm, 1924 .. .. .. 6 16 „ 17 Cancer research .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 6 17 ,, 18 Revision of the International Sanitary Convention of 1912 .. .. .. .. 7 18 Aug. 29 Amendment to the Final Protocol of the Universal Postal Convention of Stockholm .. 7 19 Sept. 8 Reciprocity in medical registration between the Irish Free State" and the Dominion of New 7 Zealand 20 9 Universal Postal Convention of Stockholm .. .. .. .. .. .. 8 21 ,, 22 Apia Observatory .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 8 22 Oct. 10 Sesquicentennial Exposition .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 8 23 Nov. 19 Bankruptcy laws of the Empire .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9 24 ,,23 International Radio-telegraph Conference .. .. .. .. .. 9 25 Dec. 3 International Geological Congress .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9 26 „ 16 Imperial preference in public contracts .. .. .. .. .. 10

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No. 1. New Zealand, No. 7. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 19th January, 1925. With reference to your despatches, Dominions No. 546 and Dominions No. 553, of the 24th November and 2nd December last, respectively, conveying the Swiss Government's invitation to New Zealand to be represented at the International Fair of Colonial and Foreign Products to be held at Lausanne in June and July, 1925, I have the honour to inform you that, while greatly appreciating the kind invitation, my Ministers regret that it will not be possible to accept it, as the New Zealand Government has decided to continue its display at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley. 2. A communication to this effect was sent to the High Commissioner for New Zealand on the 22nd December last, in reply to a similar invitation which had been addressed to him by the Swiss Minister in London. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies.

No. 2. New Zealand, No. 44. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 4th March, .1925. With reference to your despatch, No. 8, of the 12th January, I have the honour to inform you that the New Zealand Government does not at present propose to introduce legislation in pursuance of the recommendation concerning double income-tax of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the subject of land and income taxation in New Zealand. 2. Ministers would be glad, however, if an expression of their appreciation may be conveyed to the Board of Inland Revenue for its kind offer of co-operation in the event of the introduction of legislation being contemplated. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies.

No. 3. New Zealand, No. 59. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 26th March, 1925. With reference to your despatch, No. 243, of the 29th December, 1924, I have the honour to inform you that my Ministers have advised me that the New Zealand Government will be pleased to contribute for the current year 1924-25 the sum of £1,200 towards the upkeep of the Imperial .Institute, and also the sum of £384 towards the retention of the Exhibition Galleries of the Institute, making a total contribution of £1,584 from New Zealand for the period mentioned. I have, &c.,, CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies,

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No. 4. New Zealand, No. 60. Sir,-— Government House, Wellington, 26th March, 1925. With reference to your despatch, Dominions No. 597, of the 29th December, 1924, I have the honour to inform you that my Government are pleased to accept the invitation to be represened at the International Prison Congress to be held in London in August next. 2. Ministers state that owing to the death of Mr. Matthews, the late UnderSecretary for Justice, who was. appointed to represent New Zealand at the Congress, it has now been decided that Mr. Edward Page, Stipendiary Magistrate, will attend as this Dominion's representative. 3. With regard to the fifth paragraph of the Commission's letter which accompanied your despatch under reply, the New Zealand Government have decided to adhere to the Permanent International Commission, and this decision was transmitted to the High Commissioner for New Zealand by cable on the 30th October last. 4. Sir Evelyn Ruggles-Brise's book, " Prison Reform at Home and Abroad," which you forwarded with the above-mentioned despatch, is much appreciated by the Prisons Department. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies.

No. 5. New Zealand, No. 81. Sir,— Government House, Wellington, 22nd April, 1925. With reference to your despatch, Dominions No. 36, of the 29th January, I have the honour to inform you that my Government, whilst appreciating the invitation to participate in the Twelfth International Congress of Agriculture to be held at Warsaw in June next, regret its inability to be represented. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor- General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies.

No. 6. New Zealand, No. 82. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 23rd April, 1925. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 20, of the 6th February, forwarding three copies of the report by Mr. H. Munro on the sheep-farming industry of the Falkland Islands. 2. It is very gratifying to my Government to lea,rn that Mr. H. Munro's services were so highly appreciated, and it is hoped that as an outcome of his visit the sheepfarming industry of the Falkland Islands will be established on a sound and enduring basis. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies.

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No. 7. New Zealand, No. 83. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 23rd April, 1925. With reference to your despatch, Dominions No. 593, of the 27th December, 1924, I have the honour to inform you that my Government much appreciate the invitation to participate in the Fourth International Congress of the Building Industry and Public Works to be held at Paris in June, 1925, and have instructed Mr. W. R. Davidson, an officer of the New Zealand Railway Department, to represent New Zealand at the Congress and to furnish a report of the proceedings. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies.

No. 8. New Zealand, No. 88. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 27th April, 1925. With reference to your despatch, No. 228, of the 12th December, 1924, and in confirmation of my telegram of to-day's date, I have the honour to inform you that my Ministers advise me that the New Zealand Government has now decided to be represented at the Second Imperial Entomological Conference which is to be held in London in June next. 2. Mr. J. C. Myers, Assistant in Entomology, who is at present furthering his studies in America, will attend the Conference as the representative of this Dominion. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies.

No. 9. New Zealand, No. 114. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 2nd June, .1925. With reference to your despatch, Dominions No. 132, of the 28th March, enclosing a copy of a note from the Swiss Minister regarding the International Exhibition of Inland Navigation and Utilization of Hydraulic Power to be held at Bale in July-September, 1926, I have the honour to inform you that my Government, whilst appreciating the invitation, regrets that it cannot see its way to become an exhibitor at the Exhibition. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies.

No. 10. New Zealand, No. 115. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 2nd June, 1925. With reference to your despatch, Dominions No. 81, of the 24th February, and in continuation of my telegram of the sth May, I have the honour to inform you that my Ministers advise me that they will keep you posted with all changes and fresh appointments of special and commercial representatives of the New Zealand Government, both in foreign countries, in other self-governing Dominions, and in colonies and protectorates. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies.

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No. 11. New Zealand, No. 123. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 12th June, 1925. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, Dominions No. 101, of the 10th March, conveying an invitation to the New Zealand Government from the President of the Board of Education to be represented at the forthcoming International Conference on the Education of the Deaf to be held in London from 20th to 25th July, 1925. 2. My Ministers advise me that, whilst they very much appreciate the invitation, they regret that it has not been found possible to arrange for New Zealand to be represented. They state, however, that they would be glad if they could be furnished with copies of any report that may be published on the proceedings of the Conference. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies.

No. 12. New Zealand, No. 124. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 15th June, 1925. I have the honour to inform you that I duly invited the attention of my Ministers to the terms of your despatch, No. 67, of the 7th April, relative to the Permanent Bureau of the International Map of the World. 2. The Prime Minister has advised me, in reply, that the preparation of the maps of the area undertaken by the Government of New Zealand will be put in hand shortly, but that, as complete topographical information will not be available for many years, the proposed edition will be provisional only. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor- General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies.

No. 13. New Zealand, No. 126. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 22nd June, 1925. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, Dominions No. 142, of the 4th April, forwarding copies of (1) a circular, dated the 3rd November, 1924, to His Majesty's Consular Officers in France regarding arrangements whereby British seamen may land at French ports without holding passports or other similar documents of identity on production of their dischargebooks furnished with a photograph ; and (2) a circular, dated the 19th March, to His Majesty's Superintending Consuls regarding the authentication of photographs attached to seamen's discharge-books. 2. Ministers advise me that the necessary action is being taken to advise New Zealand seamen of the arrangements which have been made. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies.

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No. 14. New Zealand, No. 142. Sir,— Government House, Wellington, 4th July, 1925. With reference to your despatch, Dominions No. 185, of the 29th April, I have the honour to inform you that my Ministers regret the inability of New Zealand to participate in the Permanent International Trade Exhibition to be held at New Orleans in September next. 2. Ministers state that this decision has been arrived at owing to the fact that New Zealand is at present participating in the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, and that most of these exhibits will not be available for display purposes until after October. The Government of New Zealand is also participating in a local International Exhibition to be held at Dunedin in November, and the exhibits for this Exhibition are now being collected and will not be available for further display until after the end of April, 1926. 3. My Government, however, is prepared to assist the authorities conducting the Exhibition to get in touch with commercial and industrial interests in New Zealand, and, with that end in view, communicated with the President of the New Orleans Exhibition on the 12th June. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies.

No. 15. New Zealand, No. 155. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 15th July, 1925. With reference to your despatch, Dominions Treaty No. 9, of the 10th February, I have the honour to transmit to you, at the instance of my Ministers, the accompanying instrument of ratification setting forth New Zealand's formal acceptance of the Universal Postal Union Convention of Stockholm, 1924. The instrument setting forth New Zealand's formal acceptance of the agreement for the exchange of insured letters and boxes concluded at Stockholm on the 28th August, 1924, is also enclosed. 2. My Ministers would be glad if these instruments could be deposited at Stockholm not later than the Ist September next. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor- General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs.

No. 16. New Zealand, No. 158. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 11th July, 1925. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, Dominions No. 214, of the 20th May, forwarding a copy of a note to the French Ambassador regarding the participation of His Majesty's Government and the Government of India in the Conference which it is proposed to hold at Paris to consider the revision of the International Sanitary Convention of 1912. 2. My Ministers advise me that they hope to be able to arrange for New Zealand to be represented at the Conference which, as advised in your telegram of the 23rd June, is now due to open at Paris on the 10th May, 1926. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies.

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No. 17. New Zealand, No. 182. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 17th August, 1925. With reference to your despatch, Dominions No. 192, of the 6th May, I have the honour to inform you that my Ministers advise me that no regular systematic research in connection with cancer has hitherto been undertaken in New Zealand. Such an investigation is about to begin, however, and if, as part of an Empire scheme, it would assist the Departmental Committee which has been set up by the English Ministry of Health were the New Zealand Government to undertake an investigation under the lines suggested my Government will be glad to favourably consider instituting such an inquiry. 2. It is considered that the conditions desired for such an investigation obtain in this Dominion, where the Maori race lives alongside our own, under similar conditions. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs.

No. 18. New Zealand, No. 190. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 29th August, 1925. With reference to your despatch, No. 111, of the 18th June, forwarding a certified copy of an amendment to the Final Protocol of the Universal Postal Convention of Stockholm, I have the honour to transmit to you, at the instance of my Prime Minister, the enclosed document, dated the 18th August, setting forth New Zealand's formal approval of Article XII of the Final Protocol. 2. As I did not receive your despatch under reply until the 30th July, it has not been possible to comply with the requirement that the instrument of ratification should be deposited at Stockholm not later than the Ist September. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs.

No. 19. New Zealand, No. 194. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, Bth September, 1925. I have the honour to request that I may be advised, for the information of my Ministers, whether it is possible to establish reciprocity in medical registration between the Irish Free State and the Dominion of New Zealand. 2. Ministers state that hitherto graduates of Irish Universities have been registered in New Zealand because of their eligibility for registration in the United Kingdom. Now, however, that the Irish Free State is a separate administration my Government are of the opinion that it is very desirable that reciprocity in this matter should be established between that State and this Dominion. 3. If the medical registration body in the Irish Free State is prepared to grant registration to graduates in medicine of the University of New Zealand by virtue of such graduation and without further examination, the New Zealand Medical Council, which is the registering body in this Dominion, will be glad to reciprocate so far as graduates in medicine of Irish Universities are concerned. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs.

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No. 20. New Zealand, No. 197. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 9th September, 1925. With reference to your despatch, Dominions No. 287, of the 11th July, I have the honour to inform you that my Ministers advise me that the necessary action is being taken by the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department in connection with the introduction, as from the Ist October next, of the provisions of the Universal Postal Convention of Stockholm and of the agreement concerning insured letters and boxes. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs.

No. 21. New Zealand, No. 205. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 22nd September, 1925. With reference to your despatch, No. 131, of the 20th July, regarding the contribution from Imperial funds towards the cost of maintenance of the Observatory at Apia, I have the honour to confirm my telegram of to-day's date stating that the New Zealand Government is prepared to carry on as from the Ist April, 1926, the full work of the Apia Observatory with a reduced contribution of £400 from His Majesty's Government, on the understanding that it may be necessary later to ask for an increased subsidy should the financial position of the Dominion at any time in the future necessitate that course. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs.

No. 22. New Zealand, No. 218. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 10th October, 1925. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, Dominions No. 327, of the 31st July, transmitting copies of two notes from the United States Ambassador conveying invitations to His Majesty's Government, and the Governments of the Dominions, India, and the colonies, to participate in the Sesquicentennial Exposition to be held at Philadelphia from Ist June to 30th November, 1926. 2. My Government, whilst much appreciating the invitation to participate in the Exposition, regret that they are unable to do so. 3. Ministers state that the New Zealand Government has already committed itself to make a comprehensive display at the New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition, which is to be held at Dunedin, New Zealand, towards the close of this year, and which will ran until May, 1926. The exhibits to be displayed could not, in the circumstances, be shipped and made available for exhibit purposes at Philadelphia in June of the same year. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs,

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No. 23. New Zealand, No. 253. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 19th November, 1925. With reference to your despatch, Dominions No. 390, of the 4th September, relative to the bankruptcy laws of the Empire and to the statutory provisions relating to the enforcement in New Zealand of proceedings against a bankrupt or a company in liquidation so adjudged in some other part of the Empire, I have the honour to inform you that the matter was referred by my Ministers to the Solicitor-General, whose reply is quoted below :— " The only provision relating to the enforcement of foreign bankruptcy proceedings is section 163 of the Act, which is as follows : 'If any person who has been adjudged or declared bankrupt or insolvent by any British Court out of New Zealand, and has not obtained his discharge or certificate, is seised of or entitled to any real property in New Zealand, the Assignee, trustee, or other representative of his creditors may apply for and, on proof of such bankruptcy or insolvency, and of the want of such discharge or certificate, and without further evidence, obtain adjudication against him in the Supreme Court; and such adjudication shall have the like effect and consequences as if he had been originally adjudged bankrupt by that Court.' " There are no provisions in the Companies Act enabling a foreign liquidator to rely on an order or judgment obtained in another part of the Empire." I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs.

No. 24. New Zealand, No. 254. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 23rd November, 1925. With reference to your despatch, Dominions No. 419, of the 16th September, I have the honour to inform you that my Ministers would be glad if you would be so good as to cause the United States Ambassador in London to be advised that the New Zealand Government gladly accepts the invitation of the United States Government to be represented at an International Radio-telegraph Conference to be held at Washington in the spring of 1926. I have, &c.\ CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs.

No. 25. New Zealand, No-. 261. Sir,- Government House, Wellington, 3rd December, 1925. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, Dominions No. 441, of the 6th October, transmitting a copy of a note from the Spanish Ambassador conveying an invitation to be represented at the Fourteenth International Geological Congress to be held at Madrid in May, 1926. 2. My Ministers would be glad if you would cause the Spanish Government to be informed that, while they much appreciate the invitation to be represented at the Congress, they regret that it will not be practicable for a member of the Geological Survey Staff of New Zealand to be present. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs.

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No. 26. New Zealand, No. 272. Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 16th December, 1925. 1 have the honour to inform you that I referred, for the consideration of my Ministers, your despatch, Dominions No. 57, of the 13th February, and its enclosures, relating to the proceedings of the Imperial Economic Conference on the subject of Imperial preference in public contracts. 2. The Prime Minister has now advised me that the principle enunciated in the resolution passed by the Imperial Economic Conference in 1923 is operative as far as New Zealand is concerned, and that effective preference is being given in public contracts to goods made and materials produced within the Empire. I have, &c., CHARLES FERGUSSON, Governor-General. The Right Hon. L. C. M. S. Amery, M.P., Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs.

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