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

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1927 Session I, A-02

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1927. NEW ZEALAND

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

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

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1927. NEW ZEALAND. 1) ESPATCHES FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DOMINION AFFAIRS TO THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF NEW ZEALAND. Presented, to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency. INDEX. "o «g Date. Subject. Page. 1925. 1 Nov. 25 German Reparation (Recovery) Act, 1921 .. .. .. .. ., .. 2 2 Dec. 8 Reciprocity in medical registration between the Irish Free State and New Zealand .. .. 2 3 Dec. 18 Preference to Dominion products in supplies for H.M. Forces .. .. .. .. 3 4 Dec. 21 Purchase of British and Empire Goods .. .. .. .. .. .. 4 5 Dec. 23 High-power wireless-telegraph station at Rugby.. .. .. .. .. .. 4 6 Dec. 31 Arbitration convention with Denmark .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 6 1926. 7 Jan. 2 Precedence of consular officers .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 7 8 Jan. 2 Visit to Australia and New Zealand of Maharaj Rana of Jhalawar .. .. .. 7 9 Jan. 13 Denunciation of the Hague Convention VI of 1907 .. .. .. .. .. 8 10 Jan. 13 British official wireless news messages .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9 11 Jan. 22 New treaty with Iraq .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9 12 Jan. 27 Contamination of apples by arsenic .. .. .. .. .. .. | 10 13 Feb. 16 New treaty with Iraq .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. I 11 14 Feb. 22 Im perial wireless chain .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 13 15 Feb. 27 Bureau of hygiene and tropical diseases .. .. .. .. . . .. 14 16 Mar. 10 Imperial defence .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..14 17 Mar. 26 Interchange of botanists .. .. .. . . . .. .. 15 18 Mar. 26 Imperial War Graves Endowment Fund Bill .. .. .. . . .... 17 19 April 1 Recent disturbance at Ocean Island .. .. .. . . .. .. 19 20 April 12 Marketing of Empire produce.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 19 21 April 13 Uniform of New Zealand Air Force .. .. .. .. . . 20 22 April 26 International Union against tuberculosis .. .. .. .. .. 20 23 May 7 Rubber exports from Ceylon and Malaya .. .. .. .. 21 24 May 11 Double income-tax agreement with the Irish Free State .. .. .. .. .. 21 25 May 12 Establishment of meteorological station in the Marquessa Group . . .. 23 26 May 25 New Zealand-Japanese relations .. .. .. .. .. . . 23 27 May 27 Smuggling of liquor into the United States .. .. .. .. . . 23 28 June 7 Double income-tax agreement with the Irish Free State .. .. . . ■ 25 29 June 14 New Zealand war diaries .. .. .. .. .. .. 27 30 June 23 Treaty with Iraq .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 27 31 ; June 30 Bankruptcy law .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. 28 32 [ July 7 Imperial Defence college .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 29 33 | July 12 Austrain consular archives .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 29 34 July 14 Report on the group settlements in Western Australia .. .. .. . 30 35 July 19 Establishment of meteorological station in the Maqruesas Group .. .. .. .. 38 36 July 21 Taxation of State enterprises .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 39 37 July 23 Coasting trade of the world .. .. .. .. .. . . .. 40 38 July 28 Report of the Director of the Imperial Bureau of Entomology .. 40 39 Sept. 4 International Union against tuberculosis .. .. .. , . . 45 40 Oct. 13 Postal concessions to members of His Majesty's Forces on active service .. .. .. 45 41 Oct. 29 Restriction of rubber exports from Ceylon and Malaya .. .. . . .. .. 46 42 Oct. 30 Army Reserve Officers resident in the Dominions .. .. . .. 47 43 Nov. 8 Courses of instruction on prison administration .. .. .. .. .. 48 44 Nov. 8 Police courses for senior officers of the Dominion Forces .. . . .. .. 49 45 Nov. 8 Regulations for flying the Blue Ensign.. .. .. .. .. .. .. 50 ! I 1—A. 2.

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No. 1. New Zealand, Dominions No. 503. Sir, — Downing Street, 25th November, 1925. With reference to Mr. Thomas's despatch, Dominions No. 216, of the 10th May, 1924, I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, copies of a parliamentary paper (Cmd. 2524) containing a statement showing the amounts paid into the Special Account under section 1 (3) of the German Reparation (Recovery) Act, 1921 (11 Geo. V, c. 5), and the application thereof, during the period Ist April, 1924, to closing of account. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. Statement under Treasury Minute of 24th March, 1921 (Cmd. 1251), showing the Amounts PAID INTO THE SPECIAL ACCOUNT UNDER SECTION 1 (3) OF THE GtERMAN REPARATION (RECOVERY) Act, 1921 [11 Geo. Y, c. s], and the Application thereof, during the Perjod Ist April, 1924, to closing of Account. Receipts. Payments. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. Balance in hands Paid to Army funds on account of of Paymaster- costs of British Army of Occupation General on Ist for year ended 31st March, 1925 .. 479,891 6 3 April, 1924 .. 10,483,825 13 3 Paid to Dominions and colonies on Repaid from account of their share of reparation Army funds to receipts:—• £ s. d. adjust over- Canada .. 257,692 6 2 issue for costs Australia .. 257,692 6 2 ofßritishArmy New Zealand .. 103,669 6 5 of Occupation South Africa .. 35,543 15 4 for year ended India .. 71,087 10 8 31st March, Newfoundland 5,923 19 3 1924 .. 56,580 6 11 Crown Colonies 21,326 5 3 — 10,540,406 0 2 752,935 9 3 Collected by the Commissioners of Paid to Agent-General for Reparation Customs and Excise and paid into payments in repayment of receipts the account under Treasury minute in certain months in excess of of 24th March, 1921 (Cmd. 1251).. 7,303,857 3 7 British share of the Dawes annuity 335,864 0 0 Paid to H.M. Exchequer .. .. 16,275,572 8 3 £17,844,263 3 9 £17,844,263 3 9 Treasury, October, 1925.

No. 2. New Zealand. No. 223. Sir, — Downing Street, Bth December, 1925. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency's despatch, No. 194, of the Bth September, and to transmit to you, to be laid before your Ministers, the accompanying copy of a despatch from the Governor-General of the Irish Free State concerning the question of reciprocity in medical registration between the Irish Free State and New Zealand. I have, &c.j L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.Y.0., &c.

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F. 283. Despatch No. 336. Sir, — Viceregal Lodge, Dublin, 2nd December, 1925. I have the honour to refer to your despatch, No. 409, of the 27th October, enclosing a copy of a despatch from the Governor-General of New Zealand on the question of reciprocity in medical registration between the Irish Free State and the Dominion of New Zealand. 2. My Ministers would be glad if you would kindly convey to His Excellency their appreciation of the offer of reciprocity contained in the last paragraph of his letter, and inform him that my Ministers have at present under consideration the question of establishing a separate medical register for the Irish Free State, and that as soon as the matter has been settled they will be pleased to enter into communication with the Government of New Zealand. I have, &c., T. M. Healy. The Right Honourable the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, Downing Street, London S.W. 1.

No. 3. New Zealand, Dominions No. 531. Sir, — Downing Street, 18th December, 1925. With reference to my despatch, Dominions No. 82, of the 25th of February, I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, copies of parliamentary questions and answers on the 7th and Bth of December on the subject of preference to Dominion products in supplies for the Navy, Royal Air Force, and the Army respectively. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.Y.0., &c.

Enclosure. Royal Navy.—Dominion Supplies. 33. Sir John Power asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, in view of the report of the Imperial Economic Committee, which shows that the self-governing Dominions purchase British goods per capita to the extent of £6 17s. 3d., as against Europe 12s. Id., South America 18s., and the United States of America 9s. 6d., he is prepared to arrange for the use of Dominion supplies in the Navy in preference to foreign supplies ? The First Lord op the Admiralty (Mr. Bridgeman) : A substantial preference in price is given to Dominion over foreign products .in obtaining supplies for His Majesty's Navy, and supplies from, the Dominions and colonies are used wherever they can be obtained of a suitable quality, in adequate quantities, and at satisfactory prices. Royal Air Force.—Dominion Supplies. 34. Sir J. Power asked the Secretary of State for Air whether, in view of the report of the Imperial Economic Committee, which shows that the self-governing Dominions purchase British, goods per capita to the extent of £6 17s. 3d., as against Europe 12s Id., South America 18s., and the United States of America 9s. 6d., he is prepared to arrange for the use of Dominion supplies in the Air Force in preference to foreign supplies ? The Secretary of State for Air (Sir Samuel Hoare) : It is the general policy of the Air Ministry to rely upon British sources of supply wherever possible, and preference is given to Dominion as opposed to foreign goods in the placing of contracts. Dominion Supplies. 29. Mr. Ramsden asked the Secretary of State for War whether, in view of the report of the Imperial Economic Committee, which shows that the self-governing Dominions purchase British goods per capita to the extent of £6 17s. 3d., as against Europe 12s. Id., South America 18s., and the United States of America 9s. 6d., he is prepared to arrange for the use of Dominion supplies in the Army in preference to foreign supplies ? Captain King : It is the practice of the War Office, in purchasing supplies for the Army, to give effective preference to Dominion products over those of foreign origin.

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No. 4. New Zealand, Dominions No. 539. Sir, — Downing Street, 21st December, 1925. With reference to my despatch, Dominions No. 155, of the 14th April, i have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copies of a circular letter to local authorities from the President of the Board of Trade and the Minister of Health, regarding the purchase of British and Empire goods. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. Board of Trade, Great George Street, S.W. 1. Ministry of Health, Whitehall, S.W. 1. Dear Sir, — 28th October, 1925. All in the country are anxious to do what lies within their power to improve British trade and to help employment. It will be generally agreed that there is an obvious way in which the men and women of this country can help individually. By buying British goods they will stimulate production, give employment and, by enlarging the output of our factories, enable them to produce more cheaply and compete more effectively. By increasing their purchases of British goods in the Home market they will reduce the volume of foreign imports and improve the trade balance, thereby enabling this country to invest more in the development of new markets. By increasing the purchases of Empire goods in the Home market they will enable the countries of the British Empire to buy more from the Mother-country. Every man and woman in Britain can help in these ways. Every purchase helps, and if all join in a common effort the stimulus to British trade, Home and Imperial, will be great and immediate. In many quarters people have already shown that they appreciate the need and the possibilities. But there can be no doubt that a national movement to help British trade by buying British goods will be greatly quickened if a suitable occasion is taken which will focus attention at once upon the need and the opportunity for meeting it. Such an occasion offers itself as the Christmas season approaches. We therefore venture to ask you to consider whether it will be possible to organize in your district a British shopping-week before Christmas ? If a shopping-week, devoted particularly to a display of British Home and Empire products, could be held in the cities and towns of this country it would afford to their inhabitants an opportunity of helping the trade and employment of this country which would appeal to the British people, and of which we believe they would be eager to take advantage. Should you decide to give favourable consideration to our proposal we would venture further to suggest that you should communicate with your local Chamber of Commerce or any similar bodies which may exist in your locality and obtain their co-operation. Yours faithfully, P. CUNLIFFE LISTER. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN. The Chairman of the Rural District Council.

No. 5. New Zealand, Dominions No. 545. Sib, — Downing Street, 23rd December, 1925. I have the honour to request you to inform your Ministers that the Post Office high-power wireless station at Rugby is now being used experimentally, and is expected to be ready for commercial working early in the new year. It is anticipated that the station will have a world-wide range, and its opening will thus provide a means of broadcasting messages by wireless telegraphy for simultaneous reception throughout the world. His Majesty's Government propose that the station.should be used for the transmission of the British official news bulletins, which are at present broadcast from the Leafield station ; and the increase thus effected in the range of this service will, it is hoped, be attended with good results. 2. The inadequacy of the existing wireless facilities for the distribution of British news and commercial intelligence in distant parts of the world has frequently been criticized by travellers, and there have been complaints that

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the lack of a station in this country sufficiently powerful for the conduct of such a service has left a clear field for the distribution of news and commercial intelligence from French, German, and American high - power stations. His Majesty's Government trust that the establishment of the Rugby station will remove the ground for complaint in this respect. 3. In particular, the opening of the Rugby station will afford an opportunity of extending to world-wide range a service which has for some time past been conducted from the Post Office station at Northolt, for the distribution to European countries of messages containing commercial information, exchange quotations, and cotton, metal, and other market prices. These messages are despatched by certain agencies, including Reuters, and, with the exception of a few news messages in clear language, they are transmitted in a special code, copies of which are deposited with the Post Office. The companies concerned derive their revenue from the subscriptions paid by the recipients. In some cases the messages are picked up by the companies' agents themselves ; in others they are received by public wireless-telegraph stations and transferred to the companies' agents, by whom they are either decoded and distributed by telephone or telegraph, or, alternatively, retransmitted by wireless to subscribers. The subscribers are provided with copies of the special code, which is changed periodically. 4. I am informed that this service has been attended with a considerable measure of success, and that representations have been received in favour of the provision of a similar service from Rugby. It is obviously of advantage that British prices and commercial information should be distributed throughout the world from Rugby, rather than that foreign prices and information should be received from high-power stations in other countries which are developing services of the kind. His Majesty's Government have decided, therefore, to provide facilities for such a service at Rugby for any responsible agency which desires them and is prepared to observe the conditions prescribed. These conditions will be in accordance with Article LXVII ter. of the International Telegraph Regulations adopted at the recent Conference of the Telegraph Union at Paris, the main provisions of which may be summarized as follows : — (a) The service will be limited to messages, in code or in clear language, containing news or information of a political, commercial, or public character, and will not be used for private or personal telegrams. (b) The service will be open to any responsible agency which complies with the conditions prescribed by the Administrations concerned. (c) The sending Administration will obtain from the senders and communicate to each receiving Administration the addresses of the proposed recipients in its territory. (d) The receiving Administration will be free to decide whether or not the addressees proposed by the sender shall receive the messages, and, if so, under what conditions. (e) Each receiving Administration will take appropriate measures to ensure as far as possible that only stations authorized to receive the service make use of the messages. (/) The sending and receiving Administrations will respectively fix and collect from the senders or receivers their own fees for transmission or reception, as the case may be. ((/) The receipts will not be included in the international accounts. (h) The agencies participating may be required to deposit with the Administrations concerned copies of any codes used. 5. It will, of course, rest with the Government of every country to determine whether the reception of the proposed messages from Rugby should be permitted within its territory, and, if so, on what conditions : that is to say, whether the messages should be received at Government or other public wireless-telegraph stations, or whether licenses should be issued for their private reception, and in either case what charges should be paid by the agency for the service. It will be necessary for any agency which proposes to despatch such messages from Rugby to make its own arrangements with the Administrations of the countries in which the messages are to be received.

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6. The use of Rugby for the world-wide service described above has been discussed by the Committee on Imperial Wireless Services, and fears have been expressed by certain of the Dominion representatives (i) that the conditions proposed would not ensure effective control over reception, and (ii) that the scheme would divert traffic from the beam wireless services which are shortly to be opened. 7. With regard to the first point, His Majesty's Government are advised—and this view is confirmed by experience of the service from Northolt —that the prescribed conditions' will afford adequate safeguards against illicit reception. It will obviously be in the interests of the agencies to make their coded meassges as difficult as possible for unauthorized persons to decipher, and His Majesty's Government propose also to require agencies to undertake not to supply copies of their special codes to any persons other than those authorized for the purpose in each receiving country. Any news messages which may be transmitted in clear language will necessarily be exposed to the same risk of illicit reception as normally attends the wireless transmission of such messages, and if they should be picked up and published without authority the question of infringement of copyright would arise. 8. With regard to the second point, His Majesty's Government are advised that the beam stations which are being erected in this country would not be suitable for a broadcasting service of a world-wide range such as is to be conducted from Rugby. It is understood, however, that the views of the Dominion wireless companies which are represented on the Committee would be met to a considerable extent if the Dominion Governments should decide that the reception of the messages in question in their territory should be entrusted exclusively to those companies. This is, of course, a matter which is solely for each Government to decide, but your Ministers may like to know that the weight of opinion on the Committee was in favour of limiting reception, wherever possible, to the beam stations. 9. His Majesty's Government propose that the service should be inaugurated earlv in the new year. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

No. 6. New Zealand, Dominions No. 562. Sir, — Downing Street, 31st December, 1925. With reference to Mr. Churchill's despatch, Dominions No. 316, of the 29th August, 1922, and to the Duke of Devonshire's despatch, Dominions No. 25, of the 22nd January, 1924, I have the honour to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers that the arbitration convention with Denmark, which was signed at London on the 25th October, 1905, and was last renewed, both in respect of Denmark and Iceland, by the conventions signed at London on the Ist May, 1922, for a period of five years, will, unless further renewed, reach a termination on the 4th May next. 2. His Majesty's Government propose, in accordance with the established policy, which they understand is in harmony with the views of your Ministers, to take steps for the renewal of the convention, both in respect of Denmark and Iceland, at the proper time, by means of an exchange of notes or other formal instrument. It is, however, proposed, as in other recent cases, to substitute the Permanent Court of International Justice for the Permanent Court of Arbitration as the Court to which reference shall be made. In this connection I would invite reference to my despatches, Dominions No. 285, of the 10th July, and Dominions No. 298, of the 18th July, regarding the renewal of arbitration conventions with Sweden and Norway. 3. I shall be glad to learn whether your Ministers concur in the proposed action. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellencv General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart.. LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

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No. 7. New Zealand, Dominions No. 3. Sir, — Downing Street, 2nd January, 1926. With reference to my despatch, Dominions No. 527, of the 15th December, 1 have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copies of a circular to His Majesty's Consuls abroad regarding the precedence of consular officers in relation to officers of the fightingservices. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. Precedence of Consular Officers in relation to Officers of Fighting Services. Sir, — Foreign Office, 17th December, 1925. I am directed by Secretary Sir Austen Chamberlain to enclose herewith a schedule embodying changes which have recently been made in the precedence of Consuls-General and Consuls in relation to officers of His Majesty's Naval, Military and Air Forces. 2. I am to request that you will make the necessary amendments in Chapter II of the Consular Instructions, and to point out that the advancement of Consuls-General in the table of precedence entitles them to a salute of thirteen instead of eleven guns. I am, &c., W. TYRRELL. Consuls-General rank with, but after Rear-Admirals ; Major-Generals ; Air-Vice Marshalls. Consuls rank with, but after Captains, R.N. ; Colonels'; Group Captains in the Air Force. Vice-Consuls rank with, but after Lieutenant-Commanders ; Majors ; Squadron Leaders in the Air Force. Consular Agents rank with, but after Lieutenants, R.N. ; Captains in the Army ; Flight Lieutenants.

No. 8. New Zealand, No. 3. Sir, — Downing Street, 2nd January, 1926. With reference to my despatch, No. 191, of the 20th October, 1925, I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, to be laid before your Ministers, the accompanying copy of a letter from His Highness the Maharaj Rana of Jhalawar, expressing his gratitude for the great kindness and hospitality extended to him during his recent tour in Australia and New Zealand. 1 have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Govern or-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. My Esteemed Friend, — Prithvi Vilas Palace, Jhalarapatan, 29th October, 1925. As I have now returned to my State from my tour, I desire to take the earliest opportunity of asking you to be good enough to convey to His Excellency, and through His Excellency to the Governments of Australia and New Zealand, the deep sense of gratitude that I feel for the great kindness and hospitality which, as a result of His Excellency's efforts on my behalf, were extended to me throughout my recent tour. The Australian and New Zealand Governments were kind enough to place transport facilities at my disposal, and not only were I and my party provided with free railway passes over all the railways of both countries in special saloons, but motor transport on several occasions was also supplied. In this connection I would ask that my special thanks be conveyed to the Railway Commissioners of the Several States through which I travelled for the very excellent arrangement which were made by them for my comfort. I feel also very deeply indebted to the Governor-General and the State Governors of the Commonwealth for their great kindness in making me their guest at the different capitals that I visited, and to the Governor-General of New Zealand for similar hospitality and kindness in New

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Zealand. My thanks are also due to them for the interesting itineraries prepared by the Tourist Departments, which enabled me to visit all places of interest in the greatest comfort, and for all the facilities afforded me to inspect the various irrigation-works, Government farms, industries, and manufacturies. Although on my departure from Australia and New Zealand I took the opportunity of writing to thank my distinguished hosts individually for all their hospitality to me and my party, I would request, should you see no objection, that a further expression of my gratitude and appreciation of their kindness may be conveyed in a less informal manner through the Government of India to the Governments of Australia and New Zealand. I remain, &c., Bhawani Singh, Maharaj Pa na of Jhalawar. To the Hon. Lieutenant-Colonel S. B. A. Patterson, C.1.E., 1.A., Agent to the Governor-General in Rajputana.

No. 9. New Zealand, Dominions No. 18. Sir, — Downing Street, 13th January, 1926. I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, copies of a parliamentary paper (Cmd. 2564) containing a despatch to His Majesty's representatives abroad notifying the denunciation by His Majesty's Government of the convention (No. VI) signed at The Hague on the 18th October, 1907, relative to the status of enemy merchant ships at the outbreak of hostilities. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c,

Enclosure. Despatch to His Majesty's Representatives Abroad notifying the Denunciation by His Majesty's Government op the Convention (No. VI) signed at The Hague on the 18th October, 1907, relative to the Status op Enemy Merchant-ships at the Outbreak of Hostilities. London, 18th December, 1925. g IE Foreign Office, 18th December, 1925. I have to inform you that on the 14th ultimo His Majesty's Government gave notice of denunciation of the convention (No. VI) signed at The Hague on the 18th October, 1907, relative to the status of enemy merchant ships at the outbreak of hostilities. 2. This convention, which resulted from the deliberations of the Second Peace Conference at The Hague, was admittedly in the nature of a compromise between the views of the various Powers assembled, but the aspiration of those who framed the convention was not only to introduce uniformity of practice into the treatment by belligerent States of enemy merchant ships found in their ports, or which might fall into their hands at the outbreak of hostilities, but also to ensure an amelioration of the lot which befel enemy ships in such circumstances. 3. This purpose appears wholly to have failed of achievement. This is largely due to the form which the convention ultimately took. It did not provide definitely that enemy merchant ships which were at the commencement of hostilities in an enemy port should be allowed to depart within a certain period, but merely provided that it was desirable that this should be done, and it contains certain provisions dealing with the disposal of enemy merchant ships which had been unable or had not been allowed to leave the enemy port. The result of this was that, during the recent war, days of grace were in some cases granted, but in most not; a considerable number of ships were, in fact, allowed to depart in accordance with the terms of the convention, but it is true to say that in most foreign countries which were parties to the convention enemy merchant ships which were in their ports at the moment when belligerency commenced were appropriated by the Government concerned, either with or without Prize Court proceedings. 4. To His Majesty's Government this practice is difficult to reconcile with the attitude of the Powers assembled at The Hague in 1907, and with the provisions of the convention. They are themselves debarred from adopting a similar practice for the following reason : It has been held by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the case of the " Blonde " ([1922] 1 A.C., 313) that, under the terms of the convention, enemy vessels which were in port at the outbreak of war or which entered port unaware of the outbreak of hostilities were, if not allowed to depart freely, subject to detention only and not to condemnation. Consequently, if circumstances should again arise in which the convention would be applicable, the interpretation which His Majesty's Government would be

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bound to place upon it would differ fundamentally from that adopted by the majority of the other parties to the convention, and would place them in a position which is less favourable than that enjoyed by other countries, as these countries have, notwithstanding the terms of the convention, felt able to exercise the right of condemnation or of confiscation. The one thing certain about the position would be that there would not be uniformity of action by all the countries concerned. 5. Moreover, of the Powers which signed the convention, no less than seventeen have failed to ratify it; two (Germany and Russia) signed and ratified it with important reservations ; while the United States did not sign at all. 6. The convention appears, therefore, to have wholly failed in its original purpose. It has secured neither uniformity of practice nor liberal treatment in favour of enemy vessels. His Majesty's Government have therefore decided that no course is open to them but to avail themselves of the, right conferred by Article 10 and to give notice of denunciation to the Netherlands Government in conformity therewith. This has accordingly been done. I have, &c., Austen Chamberlain.

No. 10. New Zealand, Dominions No. 21. Sir, — Downing Street, 13th January, 1926. With reference to my predecessor's despatch, Dominions No. 327, of the 22nd July, 1924, and in confirmation of my telegram of the 7th January, I have the honour to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers that the British official wireless news messages, formerly transmitted from the Leafield station, are now being transmitted from the new high-power wireless station recently erected at Hillmorton, near Rugby. The change in the transmitting-station was made on the Ist January. 2. The messages are broadcast from Rugby on a wave-length of 18,740 metres, in the English language, in Morse alphabet, and addressed to all stations. The times of transmission remain unchanged —namely, daily at noon, eight p.m., and midnight, Greenwich mean time. Each message is prefixed by the Rugby Wirelesstelegraph Station call-signal " GBR." and the words " British official wireless." 3. While reliable reception of signals from the Leafield Wireless Station has been limited, even under favourable atmospheric conditions, to distances of about three thousand miles, the new Rugby station has a world-wide range. This should make it possible for the news bulletins to be received regularly in any of the Dominions where suitable stations are available, and if such reception is arranged for in New Zealand your Ministers will no doubt consider the advisability of the utilization of the messages for publication in the Press. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.Y.0., &c.

No. 11. New Zealand, Dominions No. 35. Sir, — Downing Street, 22nd January, 1926. With reference to my despatch, Dominions No. 1, of the Ist January, I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, copies of the text of the new treaty with Iraq, which was signed at Bagdad on the 13th January by the Acting High Commissioner for Iraq and the Iraq Prime Minister. The treaty has now been accepted by the Iraq Chamber of Deputies. 2. Copies of the signed treaty have not yet been received, but the enclosed text may be regarded as substantially accurate. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.Y.0., &c.

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Enclosure. His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, of the one part; and His Majesty the King of Iraq, of the other part : Anxious to give full effect to the stipulation in the decision of the Council of the League of Nations dated the 16th December, 1925, fixing the frontier between Turkey and Iraq in pursuance of Article 111 of the Treaty of Peace signed at Lausanne on the 24th July, 1923, to the effect that the relations between the High Contracting Parties now defined by the treaty of alliance and by the undertaking of His Britannic Majesty's Government approved by the Council of the League of Nations on the 27th September, 1924, should, be continued for a period of twenty-five years, unless Iraq is, in conformity with Article I of the Covenant of the League of Nations, admitted as a member of the League before the expiration of that period : Bearing in mind the intention which the High Contracting Parties have mutually expressed in the protocol of the 30th April, 1923, to conclude a fresh agreement regulating the subsequent relations between them : Have decided by means of a new treaty to ensure the due fulfilment of the said stipulation, and have for this purpose named as their plenipotentiaries — His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, .... His Majesty the King of Iraq, . . . Who, having communicated their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows 1. The provisions contained in Article XVIII of the treaty between the High Contracting Parties signed at Bagdad on the 10th October, 1922, and in the protocol signed on the 30th April, 1923, so far as they relate to the duration of the said treaty are hereby abrogated, and the said treaty shall remain in force for a period of twenty-five years from the 16th December, 1925, unless before the expiration of that period Iraq shall have become a member of the League of Nations. The various agreements between the High Contracting Parties subsidiary to the said treaty of the 10th October, 1922, shall, so far as their duration is made dependent on that of the said treaty, likewise remain in force for the period laid down in the present treaty, but in other respects their provisions shall not be affected. 2. The High Contracting Parties agree, immediately after the ratification of the present treaty and approval by the Council of the League of Nations, to continue active consideration of the questions which have already been under discussion between them in regard to the revision of the agreements arising out of Articles YII and XV of the treaty of the 10th October, 1922. 3. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article VII of the treaty of the 10th October, 1922, in regard to the admission of Iraq into the League of Nations, or to the provisions of Article XVIII of the said treaty, which permit revision at any time, subject to the consent of the Council of the League of Nations, of the provisions of the said treaty or of certain of the agreements subsidiary thereto, His Britannic Majesty undertakes that, at the time when the treaty of the 10th October, 1922, would have expired under the protocol of the 30th April, 1923, and at subsequent successive intervals of four years until expiry of period of twenty-five years mentioned in the present treaty or until admission of Iraq into the League of Nations, he will take into active consideration the following two questions, namely, — (1) The question whether it is possible for him to press for admission of Iraq into the League of Nations. (2) If it is not so possible, the question of the amendment, on account of the progress made by the Kingdom of Iraq or for any other reason, of the agreements referred to in Article XVIII of the treaty of the 10th October, 1922. 4. The present treaty shall not be modified except with the consent of the Council of the League of Nations. The present treaty, in English and Arabic, of which in case of divergence the English text will prevail, shall be ratified and the ratifications shall be exchanged as soon as possible. In witness whereof the above-named plenipotentiaries have signed the present treaty and have affixed thereunto their seals. Done at Bagdad, the in three copies, of which one shall be deposited in the archives of the League of Nations at Geneva and one shall be retained by each of the High Contracting Parties. 9-

No. 12 New Zealand, No. 27. Sir, — Downing Street, 27th January, 1926. I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, to be laid before your Ministers, the accompanying copy of a memorandum regarding the contamination of apples by arsenic,

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2. A copy of the memorandum is also being sent to the Governors-General of Canada and the Commonwealth of Australia. 3. It is understood from notices which have appeared in the press in this country that the matter is already engaging the attention of your Government. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. Contamination of Apples by Arsenic. A circular, a copy of which is enclosed, regarding the contamination of apples by arsenic has been issued to,the local authorities of England and Wales by the Ministry of Health. The Minister of Health has come to the conclusion that the amount of arsenical contamination found on apples from the United States of America appears recently to have been on the increase. Various provisions are contained in the laws of this country for enabling local authorities to protect the public against the sale of contaminated food, the most effective for the present purpose being those of the Public Health (Imported Food) Regulations, 1925, under which an officer of the Port Sanitary Authority may seize at the port of entry any imported food which is found tij be unfit for consumption and have it destroyed. For this purpose he would be empowered to detain a consignment pending the result of the chemical examination of a sample. The Minister, however, felt that the necessity for any such action would be averted if steps could be taken to secure that apples are reasonably free from contamination at the time of packing, and his Majesty's Ambassador at Washington has accordingly been asked to make representations to the United States Government with a view to securing, in the case of apples exported from the United States of America, that suitable precautions are taken before the fruit is packed. Ministry of Health, Whitehall S.W. 1, 21st December, 1925. Contamination of Apples by Arsenic. Sir, — I am directed by the Minister of Health to say that his attention has recently been drawn to the presence of considerable quantities of arsenic on the surface of certain imported apples. Two cases of arsenical poisoning have been traced to the consumption of imported Jonathan apples, and a number of samples of these apples which have been examined have shown various amounts of arsenic, ranging up to grain per pound. The contamination of apples by arsenic has been occasionally reported for a number of years, but the quantities of arsenic found by analysis on former occasions have generally been insignificant, and until recently no cases of illness have been traced to the consumption of such apples. The amount of arsenic is liable to be especially large in apples grown in dry foreign climates where the apples are repeatedly sprayed during growth and the rainfall is not sufficient to wash off the deposit. The Minister "understands that importers of apples from the regions concerned are taking such steps as are possible to secure the removal of the contamination from future consignments, but he desires to urge upon local authorities the necessity, especially during the next few weeks, of making full use of their powers under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, the Public Health Acts, and the Public Health (Imported Food) Regulations to protect the public by the examination of samples of apples likely to be affected, and by arranging for the withdrawal from sale of those which are found to be dangerously contaminated. I am, &c., R. B. Cross, Assistant Secretary. The Town Clerk, or the Clerk to the Council, or the Clerk to the Port Sanitary Authority.

No. 13. New Zealand, Dominions No. 81. — Downing Street, 16th February, 1926. With reference to my despatch, Dominions No. 35, of the 22nd January, I have the honour to transmit t.o Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copies of a parliamentary paper (Cmd. 2587), containing the treaty with King Feisal, signed at Bagdad on the 13th January, 1926, with an explanatory note. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

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Enclosure. Treaty between His Britannic Majesty and His Majesty the King op Iraq. His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, of the one part; and His Majesty the King of Iraq, of the other part : Anxious to give full effect to the stipulations in the decision of the Council of the League of Nations dated the 16th day of December, 1925, fixing the frontier between Turkey and Iraq in pursuance of Article 111 of the Peace Treaty signed at Lausanne on the 24th day of July, 1923, to the effect that the relations between the High Contracting Parties now defined by the treaty of alliance and by the undertaking of His Britannic Majesty's Government approved by the Council of the League of Nations on the 27th day of September, 1924, should be continued for' a period of twenty-five years, unless Iraq is, in conformity with Article I of the Covenant of the League of Nations, admitted as a member of the League before the expiration of that period : Bearing in mind the intention which the High Contracting Parties have mutually expressed in the protocol of the 30th day of April, 1923, to conclude a fresh agreement regulating subsequent relations between them : Have decided by means of a new treaty to ensure due fulfilment of the said stipulations and have for this purpose named as their plenipotentiaries — His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, Bernard Henry Bourdillon, Esquire, C.M.G., Acting High Commissioner of His Britannic Majesty in Iraq : His Majesty the King of Iraq, 'Abdul Muhsin Beg al-Sa'dun, Prime Minister of the Iraq Government and Minister for Foreign Affairs : Who, having communicated their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows : — Article I. The provisions contained in Article XVIII of the treaty between the High Contracting Parties signed at Bagdad on the 10th day of October, 1922, of the Christian Era, corresponding with the 19th day of Safar, 1340, Hijrah, and in the protocol signed on the 30th day of April, 1923, of the Christian Era, corresponding with the 14th day of Ramazan, 1341, Hijrah, in so far as they relate to the duration of the said treaty are hereby abrogated, and the said treaty shall remain in force for a period of twenty-five years from the 16th day of December, 1925, unless before the expiration of that period Iraq shall have become a member of the League of Nations. The various agreements between the High Contracting Parties subsidiary to the said treaty of the 10th day of October, 1922, shall, in so far as their duration is made dependent on that of the said treaty, likewise remain in force for the period laid down in the present treaty, but in other respects their provisions shall not be affected. Article 11. The High Contracting Parties agree, immediately after the ratification of the present treaty and its approval by the Council of the League of Nations, to continue active consideration of the questions which have already been under discussion between them in regard to the revision of the agreements arising out of Articles YII and XV of the treaty of 10th October, 1922. Article 111. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article VI of the Treaty of the 10th October, 1922, in regard to the admission of Iraq into the League of Nations, or the provisions of Article XVIII of the said treaty which permit the revision at any time, subject to the consent of the Council of the League of Nations, of the provisions of the said treaty or of certain of the agreements subsidiary thereto, His Britannic Majesty undertakes that, at the time when the treaty of the 10th October, 1922, would have expired under the protocol of the 30th April, 1923, and at subsequent successive intervals of four years until the expiry of the period of twenty-five years mentioned in the present treaty or until the admission of Iraq into the League of Nations, he will take into active consideration the following two questions, namely (1) The question whether it is possible for him to press for the admission of Iraq into the League of Nations. (2) If it is not so possible, the question of the amendment, on account of the progress made by the kingdom of Iraq or for any other reason, of the agreements referred to in Article XVIII of the treaty of 10th October, 1922. The present treaty, in English and Arabic, of which in case of divergence the English text will prevail, shall be ratified and ratifications shall be exchanged as soon as possible. In witness whereof the above-named plenipotentiaries have signed the, present treaty and have affixed thereunto their seals. Done at Bagdad, the 13th day of January, 1926 of the Christian Era, corresponding to the 28th day of Jamadi al Ukhra, 1344, Hijrah, in three copies, of which one shall be deposited in the archives of the League of Nations at Geneva and one shall be retained by each of the High Contracting Parties. B. H. Bourdillon, His Britannic Majesty's Acting High Commissioner in Iraq. 'Abdul Muhsin al-SA'DUN, Prime Minister of the Iraq Government and Minister for Foreign Affairs.

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Explanatory Note. 1. In their decision of the 16th December, 1925, the Council of the League of Nations attached the following condition to their award on the Turco-Iraq frontier question : — " The British Government is invited to submit to the Council a new treaty with. Iraq, ensuring the continuance for twenty-five years of the mandatory regime defined by the Treaty of Alliance between Great Britain and Iraq and by the British Government's undertaking approved by the Council on the 27th September, 1921, unless Iraq is, in conformity with Article 1 of the Covenant, admitted as a member of the League before the expiration of this period. " As soon as, within a period of six months from the present date, the execution of this stipulation has been brought to the knowledge of the Council, the Council shall declare that the present decision has become definitive and shall indicate the measures required to insure the delimitation on the ground of the frontier-line." 2. In pursuance of this invitation of the Council of the League of Nations His Majesty's Government have concluded with the Iraq Government the new treaty, which is printed above. It has been accepted by both Chambers of the Iraq Parliament. 3. The effect of Article 1 of the new treaty is to extend the operation of the Anglo-Iraq treaty of October, 1922, and of the subsidiary agreements concluded in March, 1924, in so far as their duration depended upon that of the treaty, for a period of twenty-five years, or for such shorter period as may elapse before Iraq obtains admission to the League of Nations. In so far as the duration of the subsidiary agreements was not dependent upon that of the main treaty, their provisions are not affected. Consequently, the principle enunciated in Articles 1 and 3 of the Military and Financial Agreements respectively —viz., that Iraq shall accept as soon as possible, and in any case not later than the year 1928, full military and financial responsibility for the preservation of internal order and for the defence of Iraq against foreign aggression—remains in force. 4. The discussions referred to in Article II of the new treaty relate to various points of detail and do not affect the question of principle mentioned in the foregoing paragraph. 5. The undertaking given by His Majesty's Government in Article VI of the treaty of 1922, to use their good offices to secure the admission of Iraq to membership of the League of Nations as soon as possible, remains in force. The provisions of Article 111 of the new treaty expressly provide for periodic consideration of the situation with this object in view. On the admission of Iraq to membership of the League of Nations the operation of the treaty will come to an end. 6. The decision of the Council of the League of Nations of the 27th September, 1924, included their acceptance of an undertaking by His Majesty's Government to agree to no modifications of the terms of the Treaty of Alliance (i.e., the treaty of 1922-, the protocol of 1923, and the subsidiary agreements) without the consent of the Council. A similar undertaking in regard to the new treaty will be given to the Council. Colonial Office, 28th January, 1926.

No. 14. New Zealand, Dominions No. 92. Sir, — Downing Street, 22nd February, 1926. I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copy of a question and answer in the House of Commons on the 16th February, regarding the Imperial wireless beam stations and the results of the tests made at the Rugby Station. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. (Official Report, 16th February.) Imperial Wireless Chain. Colonel Day asked the Postmaster-General the present position in regard to the Imperial wireless chain ; and what have been the results of the tests made from the Imperial wireless station at Rugby ? Sir W. Mitchell-Tiiomson : The contractors hope to complete the Bodmin and Bridgwater stations, which are to be used for the Canadian and South African services, early in April, and the Grimsby and Skegness stations, which are to be used for the Indian and Australian services, in August next. The corresponding stations in the Dominions and India will, it is understood, be completed about the same time as the English stations. The tests of the Rugby Station show that

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it can be received in all parts of the world. The station has been used regularly for the official wireless news service since the Ist January and for the transmission of long-distance radio-telegrams to ships since the 31st January. Owing to its world-wide range, messages can be sent from Rugby to ships at any point on the high seas, however remote ; and considerable use is being made of the new facilities thus afforded. The question of operating other services from Rugby is under consideration.

No. 15. New Zealand, Dominions No. 103. Sir, — Downing Street, 27th February, 1926. With reference to my despatch, Dominions No. 547, of the 24th December, 1925, I have the honour to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers that, in view of the increasing importance of preventive measures in dealing with tropical diseases, the managing committee of the Tropical Diseases Bureau have recently recommended that reference should be made in the title of the Bureau to this branch of its activities. The committee consider that the publication of the new Bulletin of Hygiene (which formed the subject of my despatch under reference) will afford a convenient opportunity for such an alteration to be made. Approval has accordingly been given for the name of the Bureau to be changed from " Hie Tropical Diseases Bureau " to " The Bureau of Hygiene and Tropical Diseases," with effect from the Ist January, 1926. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart.. LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

No. 16. New Zealand, Dominions No. 125. Sir, — Downing Street, 10th March, 1926. I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, copies of a parliamentary question and answer of the 25th February on the subject of the independent status of the Air Force and Air Ministry. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. (Official Report, Thursday, 25th February.) Imperial Defence.—Three Co-equal Services. Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald (by private notice) asked the Prime Minister whether he can inform the House before to-day's debate whether the Government have any intention of raising afresh, by inquiry or otherwise, the question of the independent status of the Air Force and Air Ministry ? The Prime Minister : I think it is essential to announce that, in accordance with the policy of successive Administrations, the Government have no intention of reopening the question of a separate Air arm and Air Ministry. We intend to pursue the organization of Imperial defence on the existing basis of three co-equal services. It is in the interests of the fighting services that controversy upon this subject should now cease. We are convinced that the way to secure the higher co-ordination in our defence machinery, indispensable to full efficiency, and, indeed, to economy, lies not in the abolition of any one of the three established arms of His Majesty's Forces, but in combined action between all three through the machinery of the Committee of Imperial Defence and the agency of the recently instituted Committee of Chiefs of Staff. We are sure that we can rely upon all concerned to devote themselves loyally and wholeheartedly to this end.

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No. 17. New Zealand, Dominions No. 150. Sir, — Downing Street, 26th March, 1926. With reference to Resolution 1 of the Imperial Botanical Conference, 1924, referred to in Mr. Thomas's 'despatch, Dominions No. 511, of the 27th October, 1924, 1 have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, to be laid before your Ministers, the accompanying copies of the report of the sub-committee of the Executive Committee of the Conference appointed to advise on the interchange of botanists in the different parts of the Empire. 2. Steps are being taken to constitute the permanent committee referred to in Section IV of the report. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. Interchange op Botanists in different Parts of the Empire.—Report of the Sub-committee of the Executive Committee, Imperial Botanical Conference, 1924, appointed to advise on the Best Steps to be taken to give effect to Resolution 4 of the Conference. (This report has been adopted by the Executive Committee.) Your sub-committee has considered a number of possible ways of giving effect to Resolution 4 of the Imperial Botanical Conference, 1924, and makes the following recommendations : — I. That no further steps be take,n for the present with regard to the exchange of botanists in different parts of the Empire where such an exchange would imply that each of an exchanging pair would be charged with the duties of the other. It appears to be impracticable to arrange for an exchange of this nature between heads of departments or persons engaged in lecturing, and inadvisable to complicate proposals to facilitate the interchange of botanical workers by any such proviso. 11. That the interchange of botanical workers in different parts of the Empire be promoted by— (A) Eacilitating visits of British botanists to the Dominions and colonies ; (B) Providing information to overseas botanists regarding the facilities for advanced study and research available in England ; (C) Securing grants for transit and maintenance of British botanists desirous of visiting the overseas parts of the Empire for the purpose of advanced study and research ; (D) Arranging for lectures by individual botanists so that they may visit university centres or research institutions without expense, and that students and others may hear their views at first hand. 111. In order to give effect to recommendations (A) to (D) the sub-committee further suggests— (A) (1) That a list be maintained of botanical workers in England who would be glad to proceed overseas, the names to be communicated with a statement by the heads of the institutions concerned that the visit is approved and facilities for leave with/without pay will be given. (2) That the shipping companies be approached with a view to securing free or reduced-rates passages from England to the Dominion or colony concerned and back. Eight free first-class passages annually have been placed at the disposal of the Universities Bureau of the British Empire* by the Australasian iines, for graduates of the universities of Great Britain and Ireland who wish to visit Australia or New Zealand (a) for the purpose of holding temporary teaching posts, or (b) for the purpose of prosecuting research into problems connected with their development and resources. Some of these might become available for botanists. They are restricted to applications supported by the authorities of the graduate's university, are available at certain times of the year only, and cover only a part of the Empire, so that further facilities on simlar lines or on a reduced-fare basis (possibly by a cheaper class) should be sought. (3) That information of value to the intending traveller, especially such as would enable him to get into touch with the right people at the other end, be provided in England. Much information as regards universities is already available at the Universities Bureau of the British Empire, but it requires amplification in matters of special interest to botanists and extension to cover institutions other than universities, including Government Departments. (B) That a list be drawn up of the institutions in England that provide research facilities for overseas workers, with information regarding the facilities available in each. As far as research students are concerned, the facilities available in universities and associated institutions, regulations for degrees such as the Ph.D., and other academic information likely to be required by overseas visitors are dealt with in the British Empire Universities Year-book, issued annually by the Universities

* See Appendix I,

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Bureau. A list of the chief research centres in the country in which scientific workers from the Dominions and colonies would be received is appended to this report.* It is recommended that the Universities Bureau be approached with a view to the incorporation of information regarding such of these institutions as are not already included in the Universities Year-book. Information with regard to the special facilities available for botanical workers of greater experience should be collected by the proposed permanent committee for communication to intending visitors. (C) The position in regard to existing funds which might possibly be applied for the purpose outlined above appears to be as follows : — (1) There are a certain number of university grants for research, for which botanical students, amongst others, are eligible, and which are available for study in the overseas parts of the Empire, though in practice rarely so used. Amongst these may be mentioned —The 1851 Scholarships ; the Carnegie Scholarships and Fellowships (restricted to graduates of Scottish universities) ; two travelling scholarships in the University of London ; the Mary Ewart Scholarship at Somerville College, Oxford ; the J. R. K. Law Scholarship at Glasgow (tenable in Canada) ; the Vans Dunlop Scholarship at Edinburgh ; the Kilgour Scholarship at Aberdeen. For the most part these are intended to be taken immediately or soon after the degree course, and would not ordinarily be available for more advanced workers. (2) There are a number of studentships in the sciences applicable to agriculture granted by the Empire Cotton-growing Corporation, but these again are given to recent graduates for the purpose of completing their training, are restricted to persons who propose to take posts in connection with cotton-growing, and the recipient is ordinarily required to proceed to the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, Trinidad. (3) Amongst Government grants we are only aware of the following : — (a) Travelling research fellowships granted by the Development Commission through the Ministry of Agriculture, and restricted to members of agricultural-research institutions. (b) Grants from the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research under the heads of maintenance allowances to students and personal payments to investigators. The maintenance allowances are for advanced training and may be held wherever the best training is to be had ; the personal payments are for investigations in England, but it is thought that an investigator would not be debarred from going abroad for field work, the collection of material and the like. (4) So far as we can ascertain, the fellowships awarded by the International Education Board founded by John D. Rockefeller, jun., in 1923, are the only really suitable type of grant for the purposes which we have in view. Details concerning these fellowships, which could, we understand, be held by British botanists proceeding to the Dominions or colonies, are appended to this report.f Apart from the Rockefeller Fellowships just mentioned, we are of opinion that there is at present no entirely suitable source from which grants could be obtained for the purpose under consideration, and we recommend that steps be taken to place the position before the Committee of Civil Research with a view to secure the relatively small grant required. We believe that an incontrovertible case could be made to show that interchange such as we propose would increase knowledge by promoting the exchange of ideas between representatives of different schools of thought and the introduction into the laboratory visited of methods that have been tested by the visitor. Such action would doubtless lead to reciprocity on the part of the Dominions, and would promote the flow of Dominion workers to England. We do not, however, recommend that any steps be taken by the Executive Committee to secure funds for the latter purpose, as this is properly a function of the Dominions themselves. We may mention, however, that the Australasian shipping companies offer twenty-two free first-class passages annually to Australian and New Zealand universities for graduates holding scholarships proceeding to Europe to continue their studies. (D) That a list be prepared, for the information of intending visitors, of the universities, colleges, or other bodies that are willing to offer fees for occasional lectures. IV. In order to give effect to these proposals we endorse the recommendation of the Imperial Botanical Conference that a permanent committee be set up, and we further suggest that a payment be made to the convener of that committee to enable him to prepare the necessary information and to communicate it to interested persons in the Dominions and colonies. Early steps should also, we consider, be taken to bring to the notice of the Dominions and colonies any action resulting from this proposal, with a view to the appointment of similar organizers, with whom the convener in this country could keep in touch. H. C.|l. GWYNNE-VAUGHAN. C. J. Russell. W. Bateson. E. J. Butler.

Appendix I. —Note on the Universities Bureau of the British Empire. The Bureau committee is composed of fourteen members, seven representing the universities of the British Isles and seven representing the universities overseas. Its headquarters are at 50 Russell Square, London, where there is a permanent staff, with Dr. Alex. Hill, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.S., as Secretary.

* Appendix 111. f Appendix 11, (N.B.—Not included with this copy.)

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Its aims were defined by Dr. (now Sir George) Parkin as the utilization of the " experience and experiment in educational organization " made in the different parts of the Empire, and the placing of the lessons learned, and a knowledge of the progress made, at the service of all. " The first duty of the Central Bureau would be to collect university information from every part of the Empire and to put it in a suitable form for easy distribution." The bulk of this information is contained in the Empire Universities Year-book. Also, the temporary exchange of professors and other teachers was to be arranged ; the migration of students from one university to another facilitated. One of the most important functions of the Bureau is to supply information regarding opportunities for advanced study and research. The Bureau is in a position to supply or procure information and advice for British students who contemplate migrating to other lands for the purpose of undertaking special courses of advanced study and research. There is in every university of the Empire a correspondent of the Bureau, who undertakes to keep the committee informed of all important developments in university work, and a summary of this information is incorporated in the Universities Year-book. The latter is supplied gratis to all universities of the Empire, and in exchange to many of those in the United States and other foreign countries. Pamphlets prepared by the several Home universities on the opportunities they afford for advanced study and research have been distributed by the Bureau. Information prepared with the co-operation of the universities and colleges of the Empire, and possibly foreign countries, regarding the management, discipline, and expenses of residential hostels for students is distributed as far as funds permit. Appendix 111. —List of Centres of Research. The Universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield, and Wales, in England and Wales; of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and St. Andrews, in Scotland ; and of Belfast, Dublin, and the National University, in Ireland. The University Colleges of Exeter, Nottingham, Reading, and Southampton. The British Museum (Natural History), London. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The Imperial Institute, London. Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden. The John Innes Horticultural Institution, Merton, London. The Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Plymouth. The Marine Station of the Scottish Marine Biological Association, Millport, Great Cambrae Island, Bute, Scotland. The National Institute of Agricultural Botany, Cambridge. The Scottish Society for Research in Plant-breeding, Corstorphine. The Imperial Forestry Institute, Oxford. The Imperial Bureau of Mycology, Kew. The Royal Horticultural Society's Gardens, Wisley, Ripley, Surrey. The Horticultural Research Station, Cambridge. East Mailing Research Station, Kent. The Experimental and Research Station of the Nursery and Market-garden Industries' Development Society Cheshunt, Herts. Campden Eruit and Vegetable Preservation Research Station, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire. The Low-temperature Research Station of the Food Investigation Board, Cambridge. The Shirlev Institute of the British Cotton Industry Research Association, Didsbury, Manchester. The Linen Industry Research Association, Lambeg, Belfast. The Forest Products Research Laboratory, South Farnborough, Hants. The British Flour-millers' Research Association, Sopwell, St. Albans.

No. 18. New Zealand, No. 67. Sir, — Downing Street, 26th March, 1926. I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, copies of the Imperial War Graves Endowment Fund Bill, together with copies of an extract from the House of Commons official report of the 15th of March containing the debate on the second reading. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

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Enclosure. Imperial War Graves Endowment Fund Bill.. Order for second reading read. Sir L. Worthington-Evans : I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a second time. This is a Bill which was referred to the other day when the supplementary estimate was before the Committee of the House. It is a Bill which really has only two clauses. Clause 1 incorporates the trustees of the Endowment Fund by the name of the Imperial War Graves Endowment Fund Trustees. They are the trustees who are being set up for the Imperial War Graves Endowment Fund, and, as was explained the other day in Committee, a sum of £5,000,000 is to be contributed, as to 81 per cent, or thereabouts by the funds of the United Kingdom, and as to the balance by the various Dominions who share in the fund. In order that that money shall be in trust perpetually, and that the income shall be accumulated in order that the capital sum shall be raised, this Bill is brought in to incorporate the trustees, and, notwithstanding anything in the Charter, the trustees shall have power to accumulate the income of the fund. Honourable members will remember that it was stated on the supplementary estimates that this Government would contribute £50,000 for the next three years towards the fund, £125,000 for the subsequent two years, and then for each subsequent year £300,000, until the capital reached the British proportion of £5,000,000. The Bill goes on to give the trustees power to make investments, to accumulate tlie income, and provide for the audit of the accounts. I do not think there is anything else I could explain to the House, and I trust that a second reading can be given. I ought, perhaps, to say that, when a second reading is given, the Bill, as it affects private interests, has to go before a hybrid Committee, appointed partially by Select Committee and partly nominated by the Government, and has to be considered by them before it comes back to the House. Major Hills : I do not want to detain the House long, and I do not want to oppose the BillI merely rise for the purpose of making a suggestion. First of all, I should like to congratulate my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for War on the very great interest he has taken in this fund and the very successful way in which the fund has been run. The suggestion I make is this : The Imperial War Graves Commission was founded by Royal Charter, and that Royal Charter went before the Imperial Conference of 1917. I believe it was discussed clause by clause. The Charter was amended twice by subsequent Imperial Conferences, and now the Government proposes to make a further amendment by Bill. I quite agree that the Bill is necessary for changing our law, and that subsection (1) and subsection (2) permit accumulation of interest that is not allowed by British law ; but when I come to the rest of the Bill I do see a grave objection that I hope my right honourable friend will consider. Supposing we pass this Bill, the fund is contributed to by all the Dominions, and they share with us the work of the Imperial War Graves Commission. Supposing we pass an Act of Parliament, is it not probable that all the Dominions will feel it necessary to bring that Act before the Parliaments of the Dominions ? I think, if you put yourself in the position of the Prime Minister of any of these Dominions, that it is very likely to occur ; and then if that does happen, do we not run some risk of something being passed by the Dominion Parliaments which might conflict with this Act ? Up to now we have gone by Royal Charter, and we have had the consent of the Imperial Conference. If we now proceed by Bill and Act of Parliament, I rather fear there might be some conflict between the views that this House might take and the views that the Parliament of Canada, of Australia, or of South Africa might take. It would be a cumbrous procedure that this matter should go all round the Dominion Parliaments ; but the real danger is that there might be some conflict. The Imperial War Graves Commission has been a great act of Imperial co-operation, and it would be very disastrous if that were endangered. I do not want to test it. I merely suggest the point for the consideration of my right honourable friend, for I think there is a real risk of something occurring that might endanger the matter. The point can be considered in Committee, or perhaps between now and the Committee stage it might be considered. I need hardly say that in no sense do I oppose the Bill ; I merely wanted to point out the danger and to express the hope that the Government would consider it. The Financial Secretary to' the Treasury (Mr. Ronald McNeill): We must proceed by Bill, and therefore we must have one. My honourable and gallant friend admits that clause 2 must be in the Bill. He appears to fear —I do not know why—that the Parliaments of the various Dominions may think it necessary to take action ; but there is not the slightest danger of any trouble. I do not know whether my honourable and gallant friend has noticed the point that this Bill only deals with our contributions. It does not deal with those of the overseas Dominions. Therefore I really cannot imagine why any legislation passed here should come into conflict with the proposals of the Dominions. But my honourable and gallant friend has achieved the end he had in view, for the Committee point he has raised will be very carefully considered. Question put, and agreed to. Bill read a second time. Bill committed to a Select Committee of nine members, five to be nominated by the House and four by the Committee of Selection. —(Mr. R. McNeill.) Ordered, That all petitions against the Bill, presented five clear days before the meeting of the Committee, be referred to the Committee ; that the petitioners praying to be heard by themselves, their counsel, or agents, be heard against the Bill, a.nd counsel heard in support of the Bill. Ordered, That the Committee have power to send for persons, papers, and records. Ordered, That five be the quorum. —(Mr. R, McNeill.)

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No. 19. New Zealand, No. 72. Sir, — P? Downing Street, Ist April, 1926. I have the honour to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers that the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific has reported his high appreciation of the cordial and prompt assistance which has been afforded by the New Zealand Naval Board in connection with the handling of the recent disturbance at Ocean Island, Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony. 2. I shall be glad if you will convey to your Ministers an expression of the grateful thanks of His Majesty's Government for this assistance. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.Y.0., &c.

No. 20. New Zealand, Dominions No. 172. Sir, — Downing Street, 12th April, 1926. With reference to my despatch, Dominions No. 353, of the 14th August, 1925, I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copies of a statement which I made in the House of Commons on the 31st March regarding the marketing of Empire produce. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. Empire Produce (Marketing). —Government Decisions. 45. Sir Harry Brittain asked the Prime Minister what steps His Majesty's Government propose to take to give effect to the recommendations of the Imperial Economic Committee on the subject of promoting the sale in this country of Empire products. The Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs (Mr. Amery) : I have been asked by the Prime Minister to reply to this question. The following decisions have been reached by His Majesty's Government with regard to the recommendations of the Imperial Economic Committee on the subject of the proposed grant for the furtherance of Empire marketing :— (i) As some time will be needed before the more important schemes for the expenditure, of the grant mature, it seems unlikely that the full amount could profitably be used in the next financial year ; it is therefore intended to set aside the sum of £500,000: in the financial year 1926-27, but it is proposed that the full amount of £I,ooo,ooo,should be provided for the year 1927-28. (ii) The Imperial Economic Committee in their report contemplated that the body to be set up for the administration of the grant should be responsible to Parliament, and, in order to preserve strictly the principle of Parliamentary responsibility, the estimate for this service will be brought before Parliament in the form of a special vote to be administered by the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs. He will be assisted by a Commission or Board, which, in addition to himself as Chairman, will include the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies as Vice-Chairman, the Einancial Secretary to the Treasury, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health, Scotland, and members nominated by the Secretary of State in consultation with the Chairman of the Imperial Economic Committee. The Secretary to the new body will be accounting officer for the vote. The grant will be in the form of a Grant-in-aid, so that the balance unexpended within the financial year can be carried forward. The new body will be able to appoint sub-committees, when necessary, with outside personnel; but it is desired that it should so far as practicable make use of existing Governmental machinery—e.g., that full use should be made of the existing organizations for research. It will be a direction to the new body that home agricultural produce should be included with imported Empire products in the scope of the grant. I should add that His Majesty's Government have proposed, and the other Governments concerned have agreed, that an additional member should be appointed by His Majesty's Government to the Imperial Economic Committee itself as representative of home agricultural interests. The form of the proposed organization for the administration of the Empire marketing grant, as well as the future of the Imperial Economic Committee itself, will no doubt be fully considered at the forthcoming Imperial Conference.

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No. 21. New Zealand, No. 80. Sir, — Downing Street, 13th April, 1926. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency's despatch, No. 29, of the Bth February and to request you to inform your Ministers that the Air Council note with pleasure the decision of the New Zealand Government to adopt for the Dominion Air Force the uniform of the Royal Air Force modified only in so far as the lettering on the Royal Air Force badges is concerned, by the substitution of the letters " N.Z." for " R.A.F." The Council believe that action such as this will be very helpful in furthering co-operation between the Air Forces of the Empire in the interest of Imperial Defence. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

No. 22. New Zealand, No. 86. Sir, — Downing Street, 26th April, 1926. I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, to be laid before your Ministers, a letter addressed to you by the president of the National Tuberculosis Association of the United States inviting the participation of the Government of New Zealand in a meeting of the International Union against Tuberculosis, to be held in Washington in September and October next. 2. This letter was transmitted to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs by the United States Charge d'Affaires with a request that it might be forwarded to you. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. His Excellency the Governor-General of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand. Excellency,— In acceptance of the invitation of the National Tuberculosis Association of the United States, the International Union against Tuberculosis will hold its next meeting in Washington, 30th September, Ist and 2nd October, 1926, of which the Government of New Zealand has doubtless been fully advised through the bulletins of the International Union. The National Tuberculosis Association of the United States sincerely hopes that representatives of the medical divisions of the Government of New Zealand having an interest in the subject of tuberculosis will be able to send representatives to this meeting, at which three topics will be discussed, namely : (1) Anatomic structure of tubercle from histogenesis to cavity ; (2) the part played by contagion in tuberculosis among adults ; (3) tuberculosis and milk. A reporter for each topic will be selected by the Council of the International Union at its meeting in January. Following the meeting of the International Union, the National Tuberculosis Association of the United States will hold its annual meeting at Washington on 4th, sth, and 6th October. The programme of this meeting will be divided into three sections, as follows: (1) Pathological; (2) clinical ; (3) sociological. Each section will hold two or three seances, and the programme will be planned so that the clinical will not conflict with the pathological seances. A copy of the preliminary programme will be sent to you in a short time. In this meeting the National Tuberculosis Association of the United States cordially invites the participation of those members of the New Zealand Government who may attend the meeting of the International Union. To all such, the association will extend a most cordial welcome. We avail ourselves of the opportunity to assure Your Excellency of the great respect with which we subscribe ourselves. Your obedient servants, Theobald Smith, M.D., President National Tuberculosis Association.

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No. 23. New Zealand, Dominions No. 210. Sir, — Downing Street, 7fch May, 1926. With reference to my despatch, Dominions No. 350, of the 12th August, 1925, I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copies of a. statement issued by the Colonial Office on the 26th April regarding the restriction of rubber exports from Ceylon and Malaya. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellencv General Sir C. Eergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c. Enclosure.

Rubber Exports Restriction. It has been decided that the percentage of standard production of rubber which may be exported at the minimum rate of duty from Ceylon and Malaya during the quarter beginning the Ist May, 1926, shall be 100, and that the maximum limit of 500 lb. an acre provided under the regulations applicable to assessment of estates of more than 25 acres in Malaya shall be abolished. The maximum limit for assessment of standard production in the case of small holdings will be raised to 400 lb. an acre for mature rubber and 200 lb. for rubber in bearing but not mature. At the same time provision will be made for restriction to 80 per cent, for the quarter beginning the Ist August should the average price of spot rubber on the London market fall below Is. 9d. a pound during the quarter beginning the Ist May. Colonial Office, 26th April, 1926.

No. 24. New Zealand, Dominions No. 216. Sir, — Downing Street, 11th May, 1926. I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copies of a parliamentary paper (Cmd. 2632) containing the text of an agreement between the British Government and the Government of the Irish Free State in respect of double income-tax. 1 have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Eergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. Agreement. The British Government and the Government of the Irish Free State, being desirous of concluding an agreement for the reciprocal exemption from income-tax and super-tax of persons who are resident in Great Britain (including Northern Ireland) or in the Irish Free State but are not resident in both countries, and for the reciprocal granting of relief from double taxation in respect of income-tax (including super-tax) to persons who'are resident in both countries, and being desirous of making such supplemental consequential and incidental provisions as appear necessary or proper for the purposes of such agreement, have agreed as follows : — 1. (a) Any person who proves to the satisfaction of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue that for any year he is resident in the Irish Free State and is not resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland shall be entitled to exemption from British income-tax for that year in respect of all property situate and all profits or gains arising in Great Britain or Northern Ireland and to exemption from British super-tax for that year. (b) Any person who proves to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that for any vear he is resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland and is not resident in the Irish Free State shall be entitled to exemption from Irish Free State income-tax for that year in respect of all property situate and all profits or gains arising in the Irish Free State, and to exemption from Irish Free State super-tax for that year.

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(c) Exemption under this article may be given either by discharge or by repayment of tax, or otherwise, as the case may require. 2. Relief from double taxation in respect # of?income-tax (including super-tax) in the case of any person who is resident both in Great Britain or Northern Ireland and in the Irish Free State shall be allowed from British income-tax and Irish Free 1 State income-tax respectively in accordance with and under the provisions of section 27 of the Finance Act, 1920 : Provided, however, that— (a) The rate of relief to be allowed from British income-tax shall be one-half of that person's appropriate rate of British tax or one-half of his appropriate rate of Irish Free State tax, whichever is the lower : (b) The rate of relief to be allowed from Irish Free State income-tax shall be one-half of that person's appropriate rate of British tax or one-half of his appropriate rate of Irish Free State tax, whichever is the lower : (c) For the purpose of determining that person's appropriate rate of British tax, the rate of British income-tax shall be ascertained by dividing by the amount of his total income from all sources as estimated for income-tax purposes the amount of tax payable by him on that income before deduction of any relief granted in respect of life-assurance premiums or any relief granted under the provisions of the said section 27 'as amended by this article, and the rate of British super-tax shall be ascertained by dividing the amount of the super-tax payable by that person by the amount of his total income from all sources as estimated for super-tax purposes : (d) For the purpose of determining that person's appropriate rate of Irish Free State tax, the rate of Irish Free State income-tax shall be ascertained by dividing by the amount of his total income from all sources as estimated for income-tax purposes the amount of tax payable by him on that income before deduction of any relief granted in respect of life-assurance premiums or any relief granted under the provisions of the said section 27 as amended by this article, and the rate of Irish Free State super-tax shall be ascertained by dividing the amount of the super-tax payable by that person by the amount of his total income from all sources as estimated for super-tax purposes. 3. (a) Any person who is entitled to exemption from British income-tax by virtue of Article 1 (a) of this agreement in respect of property situate and profits or gains arising in Great Britain or Northern Ireland shall, if and so far as the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State so provides, and subject to any exemption or relief to which he may be entitled under the laws in force in the Irish Free State, be chargeable to Irish Free State income-tax in respect of such property profits or gains. (b) Any person who is entitled to exemption from Irish Free State income-tax by virtue of Article I (b) of this agreement in respect of property situate and profits or gains arising in the Irish Free State shall, if and so far as the British Parliament so provides, and subject to any exemption or relief to which he may be entitled under the laws in force in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, be chargeable to British income-tax in respect of such property profits or gains. (c) Any person who is entitled to relief by virtue of Article 2 of this agreement shall, subject to such relief, be chargeable, if and so far as the British Parliament so provides, to British income-tax in respect of property situate and profits or gains arising in the Irish Free State in like manner in all respects as if he were resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland but not resident in the Irish Free State, and shall, subject to such relief as aforesaid, be chargeable, if and so far as the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State so provides, to Irish Free State income-tax in respect of property situate and profits or gains arising in Great Britain or Northern Ireland in like manner in all respects as if he were resident in the Irish Free State but not resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland. 4. For the purposes of this agreement a company, whether incorporated by or under the laws of Great Britain or of Northern Ireland or of the Irish Free State or otherwise, shall be deemed to be resident in that country only in which its business is managed and controlled. 5. The Commissioners of Inland Revenue and the Revenue Commissioners may from time to time make arrangements generally for carrying out this agreement, and may in particular make such arrangements as may be practicable to avoid the collection of both British and Irish Free State income-tax on the same income without allowance for any relief due under this agreement-, and the Commissioners of Inland Revenue and the Revenue Commissioners may make such regulations as they respectively think fit for carrying out such arrangements. 6. The obligation as to secrecy imposed by any enactment with regard to income-tax shall not prevent the disclosure by any authorized officer of the British Government to any authorized officer of the Government of the Irish Free State, or by any authorized officer of the Government of the Irish Free State to any authorized officer of the British Government, of such facts as may be necessary to enable full effect to be given to this agreement. 7. Any question that may arise between the parties to this agreement as to the interpretation of this agreement or as to any matter arising out of or incidental to the agreement shall be determined by such tribunal as may be agreed between them, and the determination of such tribunal shall, between them, be final. 8. This agreement shall be subject to confirmation by the British Parliament and by the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State, and shall have effect only if and so long as legislation confirming the agreement is in force both in Great Britain and Northern Ireland and in the Irish Free State. Dated this 14th day of April, 1926. Winston S. Churchill, Chancellor of the Exchequer. EarnAn De Blaghd, Minister for Finance, Saorstat Eireann,

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No. 25. New Zealand, No. 96. Sir,— Downing Street, 12th May, 1926. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency's despatch, No. 32, of the 13th February, asking that representations may be made to the French Government with a view to the co-operation of that Government in the meteorological work now being carried out in the Southern Pacific area by the Apia Observatory, and in particular the establishment of a meteorological station in the Marquesas Group. 2. His Majesty's Ambassador at Paris has been requested to approach the French Government in the sense desired, and I will address a further despatch to you when a report of the result of his representations to the French Government is received. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

No. 26. New Zealand, No. 111. Sir, — Downing Street, 25th May, 1926. With reference to Your Excellency's despatch, No. 45, of the 14th March and connected correspondence regarding the exchange of messages between the Prime Minister of Japan and the Government of New Zealand, I have the honour to request you to inform your Ministers that His Majesty's Ambassador at Tokio has reported that the text of both messages was communicated to the press by the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, and that it appeared on the 24th of March in the Hochi, Jiji, and Tokio Asahi. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson. Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

No. 27. New Zealand, Dominions No. 237. My Lord, — Downing Street, 27th May, 1926. With reference to previous correspondence, I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, copies of a parliamentary paper (Cmd. 2647) containing an aide-memoire handed to the United States Secretary of State by His Majesty's Ambassador at Washington, and of a note received in reply, regarding administrative measures to be taken by British authorities in order to assist the United States Government in the prevention of liquor-smuggling from the sea. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

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Enclosure. Correspondence between His Majesty's Government and the United States Government REGARDING ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES TO BE TAKEN BY BRITISH AUTHORITIES IN ORDER TO assist the United States Government in the prevention or Liquor-smuggling from the Sea. [Washington, 27th March, 26th April, 1926.] No. 1. Aide-memoire handed to Mr. Kellogg by Sir Esme Howard. His Majesty's Government had already for some months been devoting the most careful consideration to the question of adopting active administrative measures to assist the United States Government in their efforts to prevent the smuggling of liquor into the United States from the sea, and the suggestions put forward by the United States Government as a result of the conference between His Majesty's Ambassador and representatives of the United States Department of State, the United States Treasury, and the Department of Justice, which took place on the 2nd December last, later received sympathetic attention. 2. His Majesty's Ambassador has now been instructed to notify the Secretary of State of the decisions arrived at by His Majesty's Government in this matter, which include the adoption of the following administrative measures : — 3. In the first place, in order to co-operate with the United States Government in the prevention of liquor-smuggling from the Bahamas, His Majesty's Government are prepared,'on account of the nature of the duties of the United States Coastguard and the difficulties in the way of giving notice, through the usual official channels, of the intended visits of revenue patrol vessels to Gun Cay and the adjacent islands, to permit specified United States cutters to enter British territorial waters at Gun Cay and the islands contiguous thereto without strict compliance with the Admiralty regulations governing visits of foreign armed vessels to British overseas ports. The only formality which His Majesty's Government desire to see observed in this connection is that the cutters in question should first call at Bimini to inform the Bahamas Commissioner of their intentions, and that it should be understood that, they will thereafter maintain a correct attitude and not use their lights to the danger of navigation. This concession is furthermore made on the condition that it be confined as to area to the Bahamas, and that it be limited in duration to a period of one year, at the end of which time His Majesty's Government will be prepared to entertain a request for the continuance of the arrangement, should the United States Government then deem this necessary. 4. Secondly, as regards administrative measures of more general application, His Majesty's Government have called upon Registrars of Shipping in the West Indies to take especial care to prevent transfers to the British flag of vessels intended for the smuggling trade, instructing them to make the most searching inquiries before permitting any vessel to be placed on the British register, and to refuse to register a vessel unless they are completely satisfied as to the bona fides of the application. The attention of the overseas Governments concerned has been drawn to the above-mentioned instructions, and they have been requested to accord to the local Registrars concerned the fullest measure of support which the law allows in the event of the latter's action being challenged in any individual case. 5. As an instance of the helpful and correct attitude of the Colonial Governments concerned, which it is felt will be as welcome to the United States Government as it is to His Majesty's Govern ment, His Majesty's Ambassador has been instructed to bring to the notice of the Secretary of State two cases of recent occurrence in the Bahamas where the British-registered owners of rum-schooners seized by the United States preventive authorities refused to provide bail for the crews on the ground that they had previously sold their vessels to United States citizens. When requested by the Bahamian authorities to explain why they had failed to record the sale of their vessels, the owners in question .pleaded ignorance of the law, notwithstanding which fact, and although both men are prominent Nassau merchants, the Governor of the colony has ordered legal proceedings to be instituted against them for an infraction of the Merchant Shipping Act. 6. The' recent case of the " General Serret " provides another instance of the methods employed by the administrative officers of His Majesty's Government to hamper vessels engaged in liquorsmuggling. Reports having been received that this vessel, whose provisional certificate was due to expire in four days, had loaded a cargo of whisky at Antwerp and was bound for Halifax for orders, the competent authorities of His Majesty's Government, upon her arrival at Dover, insisted upon compliance with the requirements of the Merchant Shipping Acts before the voyage could be continued. These requirements included drv-docking for inspection of draught —a formality normally postponed in the case of vessels with cargo on board ; no such postponement was permitted the " General Serret," and, there being no dry dock at Dover, the vessel was brought to London and there detained, her cargo of whisky being landed. 7. His Majesty's Government are also prepared to take administrative action to prosecute masters for infraction of the Customs Act when reasonable grounds of suspicion are available to believe them guilty of making false declarations in regard to their destinations. In this connection, His Majesty's Government rely upon the United States Government to co-operate by supplying them, in any individual case, with sufficient incriminating evidence to enable legal proceedings to be instituted with a reasonable prospect of conviction; so, too, His Majesty's Government are willing to take steps to remove liquor-smugglers from the British register upon production by the United States authorities of reasonably good evidence that the vessel concerned is really owned or controlled in America.

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8. In approaching the Secretary of State on this subject, His Majesty's Ambassador has been instructed to explain that the measures which His Majesty's Government are prepared to adopt do not constitute a binding engagement, but represent a spontaneous and voluntary offer of assistance on their part which is subject to withdrawal if not found to work satisfactorily in practice. 9. Finally, in the interest of closer co-operation, His Majesty's Government desire to extend an invitation to the United States Government to send a representative or representatives to London for discussion with the competent British authorities, to learn what are the latter's powers and limitations and to acquaint them with the nature of the information and assistance which the United States authorities are in a position to supply. It is felt that such a visit will materially contribute towards a full understanding and the efficient execution of this offer of co-operation, which it is hoped that the United States Government will accept as proof of the desire of His Majesty's Government to render such assistance as it lies within their power to give. British Embassy, Washington, 27th March, 1926. No. 2. Mr. Kellogg to Sir Esme Howard. Excellency,— Department of State, Washington, 26th April, 1926. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your aide-memoire of the 27th March, 1926, setting forth the administrative measures which your Government is prepared to adopt to assist the United States in its effort to prevent the smuggling of liquor into the United States from the sea. In the last paragraph of this communication you said that in the interest of closer co-operation His Majesty's Government desire to extend an invitation to the United States to send a representative or representatives to London for a discussion with the competent British authorities to learn what are the latter's powers and limitaions and to acquaint them with the nature of the information and assistance which the United States authorities are in a position to supply. It is stated that your Government is of opinion that such a visit would materially contribute towards a full understanding and efficient execution of the offer of co-operation which you request this Government to accept as proof of the desire of His Majesty's Government to give such assistance as it is possible to give in the circumstances. I desire to express the deep appreciation of this Government for the offer of co-operation contained in the aide-memoire in question. I feel certain that the administrative measures which you set forth will aid greatly in bringing about better enforcement of the laws of the United States prohibiting the importation of intoxicating liquors for beverage use. I have transmitted copies of the aide-memoire to the interested authorities of this Government, and I can assure you that this Government will co-operate fully in assisting your Government in obtaining the necessary evidence on which to prosecute persons who violate British laws on the subjects mentioned. I also accept, on behalf of this Government, the invitation to send representatives to London, and shall at a later date advise you of the names of the persons who will be sent. It would be convenient for the representatives to leave the United States about the 22nd May, which would make it possible to arrive in London on the 28th May. I should be pleased to be informed whether this would be satisfactory to the British authorities. Accept, &c., Frank B. Kellogg.

No. 28. New Zealand, Dominions No. 249. Sir,— Downing Street, 7th June, 1926. With reference to my despatch, Dominions No. 216, of the 11th May, I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copies of a parliamentary paper (Cmd. 2654) containing a memorandum explaining the agreement between the British Government and the Government of the Irish Free State in respect of double income-tax. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.Y.0., &c.

Enclosure. Memorandum explaining the Agreement between the British Government and the Government op the Irish Free State in respect op Double Income-tax. The agreement between the British Government and the Government of the Irish Free State in respect" of double income-tax (Cmd. Paper 2632) is based on the solution of the double-income-tax problem which is described in the report of a committee of economists to the Economic and Financial Commission of the League of Nations as " the most desirable practical method of avoiding the evils

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of double taxation." The underlying principle is that Great Britain (including Northern Ireland), on the one hand, and the Irish Free State, on the other hand, shall each exempt from its tax income arising from sources within its borders to persons who. not being resident within its borders, are resident in the other country, and that income shall be taxed only by the country in which the person entitled to the income res des. 2. This principle of the exemption of the non-resident and of taxation solely by the country of residence has already been applied in relation to certain countries in the case of income derived from shipping, under the powers conferred by section 18 of the Finance Act, 1923. Under the agreement with the Irish Free State it will be applied without restriction as to the nature of the income, so that a person resident in either Great Britain (including Northern Ireland) or the Irish. Free State, but not resident in both countries, will be liable to income-tax, and to super-tax where chargeable, in his country of residence only, and will be entitled to exemption from the tax of the other country in respect of all his property situate and profits or gains arising therein. 3. Exemption from Irish Free State tax will be granted by the Irish Free State Revenue Commissioners to a person who proves to them that he is resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland but not resident in the Irish Free State, either by the non-charging of that tax, where this course is practicable, or by repayment. The title to exemption must be proved by written declaration ; the forms of declaration will be obtainable in due course from the Irish Free State Revenue Commissioners and from H.M. Inspectors of Taxes in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 4. A person resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland who is entitled to exemption from Tmh.Free State tax in respect of income .from the Irish Free State on the ground of non-residence in that country will be made liable to British tax, under the proposals contained in the Finance Bill, in respect of that income whether or not it is so chargeable under existing law. Under the existing law British tax in respect of income arising abroad is in certain circumstances chargeable only on the amounts remitted to this country, but it is a necessary corollary of the exemption of the non-resident and the taxation of income by the country of residence only that all the income exempted by the country of origin should be taxed by the country of residence. 5. The double resident (i.e., the person who is resident both in Great Britain, including Northern Ireland, and in the Irish Free State) is, ex hypothesi, not entitled to exemption from the tax of either country on the ground of non-residence, but will be liable in each as a resident. He will, however, be given double-income-tax relief by the two countries in respect of doubly taxed income to such an extent, as will eliminate the lower of the two rates of tax, British and Irish Free State, at which he is liable (each country giving relief at one-half of the lower rate), and leave him ultimately to bear only the higher of the two rates. 6. Certain administrative arrangements will be made to facilitate the smooth working of the new scheme and to prevent, as far as is practicable, the initial double payment of British and Irish Free State tax on the same income without allowance for any relief due under the agreement. The principal arrangements are as follows : — (a) Non-deduction of British Income-tax from Irish Free State Dividends, &c. Under the provisions of the Finance Bill, bankers and other persons in Great Britain and Northern Ireland who are now under statutory obligation to deduct British income-tax from Irish Free State dividends; &c., collected on behalf of their customers will be empowered to pay over the proceeds of the dividends without deduction of such tax, provided that they furnished to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue full particulars of the dividends and the names, and addresses of the customers, in order that the customers, where liable, may be directly assessed to British income-tax in respect of the dividends. It will be for each customer to elect whether this course (which is designed to prevent the deduction of both Irish Free State and British income-tax from the dividends) should be followed, and it therefore rests with him to procure the payment of the income without deduction of British tax. (b) Application of Tax repayable by the Irish Free State in Satisfaction of British Tax. A resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland who is entitled to repayment of Irish Free State tax on the ground of non-sesidence may authorize the Irish Free State Revenue Commissioners to make the repayment on his behalf direct to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, to be applied in satisfaction of British tax due from him. The Commissioners of Inland Revenue will remit to him any excess of the repayment received by them over the British tax due. (This arrangement also is designed to prevent the initial double payment of British and Irish Free State tax on the same income without relief, and it will not, therefore, be applicable in the case of Irish Free State dividends, &c., in respect of which the recipient has elected, notwithstanding arrangement (a), to have British income-tax deducted at the source.) (c) A Conjoint Office or Clearing-house. A conjoint office or clearing-house, in London, staffed by officers of the British and Irish Free 'State Inland Revenue Departments, will be established in order primarily to deal with the taxation difficulties of double residents. The double resident will be under statutory obligation to make returns to both countries, and will, subject to double-taxation relief, be taxable by both countries, as explained in paragraph 5. The clearing-house will, however, at his request, collate particulars of his taxation liabilities in the two countries, will compute the amount of double-income-tax relief due to him and his aggregate liability, after allowance of the relief, to British and Irish Free State tax, and will endeavour so to arrange any payments or repayments of the tax of either country that may be due from or to him as will prevent his having at the outset to pay in the two countries more tax than in the aggregate is found to be ultimately due.

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No. 29. New Zealand, No. 127. Sir, —- Downing Street, 14th June, 1926. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency's despatch, No. 65, of the 15th April, and to request you to inform your Ministers that I learn from the Army Council that copies of the New Zealand war diaries referred to therein have now been received by the Historical Section (Military Branch) of the Committee of Imperial Defence. 2. The Council have asked that an expression of their appreciation of the action of the Government of New Zealand in the matter may be conveyed to your Ministers. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

No. 30. New Zealand, Dominions No. 281. Siu, — Downing Street, 23rd June, 1926. With reference to my despatch, Dominions No. 144, of the 6th April, 1925, I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, copies of Treaty Series Paper No. 10 of 1926 (Cmd. 2662), containing the treaty with Iraq, signed at Bagdad on the 13 th January, 1926, regarding the duration of the treaty with Iraq of the 10th October, 1922. 1 have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Pergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. Treaty between the United Kingdom and Iraq regarding the Duration of the Treaty BETWEEN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND IRAQ OP 10TH OCTOBER, 1922. Signed at Bagdad, 13th January, 1926 ; ratifications exchanged at London, 30th March, 1926. His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, of the one part; and His Majesty the King of Iraq, of the other part: Anxious to give full effect to the stipulations in the decision of the Council of the League of Nations dated the 16th day of December, 1925, fixing the frontier between Turkey and Iraq ,in pursuance of Article 111 of the Peace Treaty signed at Lausanne on the 24th day of July, 1923, to the effect that the relations between the High Contracting Parties now defined by the treaty of alliance and by the undertaking of His Britannic Majesty's Government approved by the Council of the League of Nations on the 27th day of September, 1924, should be continued for a period of twenty-five years, unless Iraq is, in conformity with Article I of the Covenant of the League of Nations, admitted as a member of the League before the expiration of that period : Bearing in mind the intention which the High Contracting Parties have mutually expressed in the protocol of the 30th day of April, 1923, to conclude a fresh agreement regulating subsequent relations between them : Have decided by means of a new treaty to ensure due fulfilment of the said stipulations and have for this purpose named as their plenipotentiaries— His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, Bernard Henry Bourdillon, Esquire, C.M.G., Acting High Commissioner of His Britannic Majesty in Iraq; His Majesty the King of Iraq, Abdul Muhsin Beg al-Sa'dun, Prime Minister of the 'Iraq Government and Minister for Foreign Affairs .. - — ' Who, having communicated their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as-follows : — Article 1. : The provisions contained in Article XVIII of the treaty between the High Contracting Parties signed at Bagdad on the 10th day of October, 1922, of the Christian Era, corresponding with the 19th day of Safar, 1340, Hijrah, and in the protocol signed on the 30th day of April, 1923, of the

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Christian Era, corresponding with the 14th day of Ramazan, 1341, Hijrah, in so far as they relate to the duration of the said treaty are hereby abrogated, and the said treaty shall remain in force for a period of twenty-five years from the 16th day of December, 1925, unless before the expiration of that period Iraq shall have become a member of the League of Nations. The various agreements between the High Contracting Parties subsidiary to the said treaty of the 10th day of October, 1922, shall, in so far as their duration is made dependent on that of the said treaty, likewise remain in force for the period laid down in the present treaty, but in other respects their provisions shall not be affected. Article 2. The High Contracting Parties agree, immediately after the ratification of the present treaty and its approval by the Council of the League of Nations, to continue active consideration of the questions which have already been under discussion between them in regard to the revision of the agreements arising out of articles YII and XV of the treaty of the 10th October, 1922. Article 3. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article VI of the treaty of the 10th October, 1922, in regard to the admission of Iraq into the League of Nations, or the provisions of Article XVIII of the said treaty which permit the revision at any time, subject to the consent of the Council of the League of Nations, of the provisions of the said treaty or of certain of the agreements subsidiary thereto, His Britannic Majesty undertakes that, at the time when the treaty of the 10th October, 1922, would have expired under the protocol of the 30th April, 1923, and at subsequent successive intervals of four years until the expiry of the period of twenty-five years mentioned in the present treaty or until the admission of Iraq into the League of Nations, he will take into active consideration the following two questions, namely (1) The question whether it is possible for him to press for the admission of Iraq into the League of Nations, (2) If it is not so possible, the question of the amendment, on account of the progress made by the Kingdom of Iraq or for any other reason, of the agreements referred to in Article XVIII of the treaty of the 10th October, 1922. The present treaty, in English and Arabic, of which in case of divergence the English text will prevail, shall be ratified and ratifications shall be exchanged as soon as possible. In witness whereof the above-named plenipotentiaries have signed the present treaty and have affixed thereunto their seals. Done at Bagdad, the 13th day of January, 1926, of the Christian Era, corresponding to the 28th day of Jamadi-al-Ukhra, 1344, Hijrah, in three copies, of which one shall be deposited in the archives of the League of Nations at Geneva and one shall be retained by each of the High Contracting Parties. [l.s.] B. H. Bourdillon, His Britannic Majesty's Acting High Commissioner in Iraq. [l.s.] Abdul Muhsin al-Sa'dun, Prime Minister of the Iraq Government and Minister for Foreign Affairs.

No. 31. New Zealand, No. 144. Sib, — Downing Street, 30th June, 1926. With reference to Your Excellency's despatch, No. 253, of the 19th November last, regarding 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 request you to inform your Ministers that it is understood that the Board of Trade have received a statement from the Senior Official Receiver in Companies Winding-up that in carrying out the liquidation of companies ordered to be wound up by the Court in this country, which have assets in New Zealand, he is faced with claims for preferential treatment of local creditors ; that is to say, that it is claimed that the assets situated in New Zealand should be first applied in satisfaction of local creditors, leaving only the surplus (if any) to be handed over to the liquidator in this country for the benefit of the general body of creditors or any persons having claims in the liquidation of the company. 2. In view of the fact that your despatch under reference did not deal with the relative p6sition of local and other creditors, the Board have inquired what law or regulation in New Zealand authorizes the giving of such preference to local creditors.

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3. I shall be glad, therefore, to learn whether local creditors in New Zealand are accorded any preference over creditors in any other part of the Empire in (a) bankruptcy proceedings and (b) in the liquidation of a company. I have, &c., L. S. AMER Y Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.Y.0., &c.

No. 32. New Zealand, Dominions No. 313. Sir,— Downing Street, 7th July, 1926. With reference to my despatch, Dominions No. 265, of the 17th June, I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copies of a parliamentary question and answer regarding the proposed College of Imperial Defence. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. (Official Report, 29th June, 1926.) College of Imperial Defence. —Statement by Prime Minister. 34. Lieut.-Colonel Windsor-Clive asked the Prime Minister, Whether he is in a position to give any information with regard to the proposed College of Imperial Defence ? The Prime Minister (Mr. Baldwin) : I am able to give the following general and preliminary information in regard to the Imperial Defence College : The function of the College will be the training of a body of officers and civilian officials in the broadest aspects of Imperial strategy. The instructional staff will be drawn from the three fighting services, and the commandant will be nominated in turn by each service. The size of the College is being computed on the basis of thirty graduates per course, which includes vacancies held at the disposal of the Governments of the Dominions and India, should they wish to avail themselves of its facilities. Arrangements are being made for the co-operation of the Civil Service in the work of the College. It is intended that the College shall begin in a small way, and gradually develop to its full sphere of usefulness in the light of experience gained in its working. Mr. B. Peto : Can the Prime Minister say where this College will be situated, and in what building ? The Prime Minister : I think it will be in London. As the scheme is only being developed now, I suggest that further questions be put in the course of discussion of the Appropriation Bill. Mr. H. Williams : Has any estimate been made of the cost per graduate per annum ? The Prime Minister : The cost is very trifling and will not need any further estimate. , That is a subject which could be raised in later discussion.

No. 33. New Zealand, No. 156. Sib,- Downing Street, 12th July, 1926. 1 have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the Deputy GovernorGeneral's despatch, No. 76, of the 29th April, regarding the custody of the Austrian consular archives in New Zealand, and to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers that the Austrian Minister has been informed of the New Zealand Government's offer, and has asked that an expression of the thanks of the Austrian Government may be conveyed to your Government for the courtesy they have shown in this matter. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

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No. 34. New Zealand, Dominions No. 327. Sir, — Downing Street, 14th July, 1926. I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, copies of a report on the group settlements in Western Australia(Cmd. 2673). I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. Report on the Group Settlements in Western Australia. By W. Bankes Amery, C.8.E., British Government Representative for Migration in Australia. 1. In the company of Lord Burnham and other members of the Imperial Press Conference, I inspected the group settlements in the Busselton (Abba River) area on the 28th October, 1925, and in the Margaret River District on the 29th October. On the 3rd November I inspected the Peel Estate, on the sth November the Catterick group at Hester, near Bridgetown, in each case accompanying Lord Burnham and the Press Delegation. On the Bth November I set out in a motor-car, accompanied by Mr. G. M. Richardson, the Field Supervisor of the Group Settlements, for a fortnight's tour of the settlements in the Manjimup, Jarnadup, PembertOn, Northcliffe, and Denmark areas. I regret that through lack of time I was unable to visit the settlements round about Augusta. Historical. 2. There can be no question that when the scheme was inaugurated the settlers, often arriving at the rate of one hundred families per month, came in greater numbers than could be satisfactorily handled and were faced by many difficulties. lam told by the Supervisors, who worked unceasingly to make the burden as light as possible, that the great majority of the settlers, realizing the difficulties which had to be contended against, exercised great patience and resource, and that serious difficulties could not have been obviated had the settlers not " played the game." 3. In those days the shacks were all erected around a central dump, near the foreman's quarters, the store-shed, &c. This system was very convenient in many respects, as it enabled the foreman to supervise his charges effectively, and it facilitated the delivery of stores, &c. Further, it prevented any intense feeling of isolation in the bush. But it was speedily discovered that there were serious disadvantages in the system, as there was little or no occupation for the women when the men were away. " Tidying " a shack is not a long task, and time was soon heavy on their hands. Further, there were no schools to divert the children's attention. The result was that quarrels between the children, leading to quarrels between the women, became alarmingly frequent, and threatened to disturb the peace of the whole community. As soon as was practicable, therefore, the men were given an opportunity to remove their shacks to their own blocks, where, as soon as a picee of land had been sufficiently cleared, the women could usefully employ themselves in growing vegetables, rearing poultry, &c., on the property which was eventually to become their own. In all future groups the shacks will be erected on the individual blocks in the first instance, though the officials of the scheme are somewhat fearful of the effect on the new settlers of the first few nights in the bush in these circumstances, as the nearest neighbour may in some cases be as far as a quarter of a mile or more away. 4. It was perhaps inevitable that in the early days of the scheme, when the Government were concentrating every effort in an endeavour to accommodate the maximum number of settlers, difficulty was experienced in matters such as the following : — («) Selecting the group settlers from amongst the general run of migrants. Apparently every married settler automatically went to a group without any preliminary training on a farm, as was contemplated during the negotiations in England. Many nominated and full-paying passengers applied for and were admitted to the scheme. (b) The selection of the administrative staff. (c) The provision of hospital accommodation, particularly for maternity cases. There was hardship for a time on these points, though this has since been rectified. (d) The adequate provision of roads and railways. The badness of the tracks separating the settlers from the nearest shops and doctor in the early days is quite indescribable. At Denmark, group 113, which has been established over two years, is thirty miles away from the nearest shop and doctor, and the road to it, which is now of excellent quality, has only just been finished. I believe that during the negotiations in London a railway from Denmark to Pemberton which would pass near this group was spoken of, but this railway, though authorized by Parliament, has not yet been begun. Similarly, the road from Pemberton to Northcliffe, which is nearly thirty miles long, has only just been finished. This applies also to main roads radiating from Northcliffe itself to the outlying Northcliffe groups, some of which are fully ten miles away from Northcliffe itself. (e) The provision of stores at which the settlers can purchase the necessaries of life. Private enterprise came along as quickly as possible, but high prices are frequently charged, and the cost of delivery is added in some cases. On the Denmark group 113 above referred to the cost of delivery amounts to as much as 4s. 6d. a hundredweight, recently reduced to 2s. 6d. a hundredweight.

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(/) The provision of the nucleus of a dairy herd. It frequently happened that when pastures were ready no cows were obtainable except perhaps at exorbitant prices, and the settlers had, and still have to some extent, the sad experience of seeing their pastures being wasted for want of stock to feed on them. There are now five thousand cows on the groups, and these have been recently supplemented by one thousand five hundred springers (heifers in calf) from New South Wales, which, though they will not yield milk at once, will soon add to the cow population. Present Position. 5. There are now approximately 1,290 assisted British families on the groups, and in addition approximately 376 British families who either paid their own fares or came to Western Australia before the 25th September, 1922, the date on which the scheme under the Empire Settlement Act was inaugurated. I was immensely pleased at the high quality of the families whom I saw ; and, while it is hard to account for the selection of a few families, I should like to pay a tribute to the way in which the selection work at Australia House has in the majority of cases been performed. I interviewed men who had followed almost every calling in the Old Country —to use a phrase which, alternatively with the word " Home," is to my great delight universally and affectionately used throughout Australia. Amongst others. I interviewed a London policeman, a Leeds policeman, a bricklayer, a baker, two cabinetmakers, a Life Guardsman, an Artillery man, a Royal Navy officer (a foreman), a piano-maker from Camden Town, a Government Explosives Inspector, a signwriter, several engineers, an inspector in the Gas, Light, and Coke Co., a chauffeur, several butchers, a detective on the L.M.S. Railway, a laboratory assistant, a greengrocer, several sailors, a printer's assistant, a railway fireman, a professional footballer, a platelayer, two legal clerks, a dock labourer, a grocer's assistant from Harrods, an insurance broker, an insurance clerk, a painter, a crane-driver, and a motor-body builder, together with many men with previous agricultural experience. I have made careful notes of the individual experiences of these men and of their wives, but the unanimous opinion of the whole seems to be that the scheme is on right lines, that the settlers have a reasonable chance of success provided they can obtain a reasonable capitalization and a reasonable rate of interest, points to which I shall refer later. One phrase used by a settler sticks in my memory: " This is a land of golden opportunities, but not of feather 'beds." No complaint was made even by the ex-clerks in regard to the excessive nature of the work involved. Physical fitness rather than abnormal strength was the predominant requisite. Apparently all the men find themselves very fatigued and their hands very sore for about three months, but after that time their muscles and hands harden, and they find themselves so fit that they are able after the completion of the day's work for the group to work on their own holdings so long as daylight lasts. Some complain of the foremen (to whom I shall refer later), others of the administration as a whole (though praising the general idea of the scheme), others of the red-tape of Government methods. One Scotsman assured me that he would not go back for a pension, and many declared that not even a free passage would tempt them to come home again except on a temporary visit. The great majority of the women whom I saw said that as soon as they were out of the shacks and in the cottages their cup of happiness would be complete. They are fast learning to make their own bread and cakes from homemade yeast, and generally to adapt themselves to country life and conditions. Several women from London itself assured me that they would not on any account return to England. With the exception of a few sad casualties the children are happy and well, and it is a very great pleasure to see them at work and at play at the bush schoolhouses. There was a welcome appreciation of the fact that, whatever may result so far as the parents are concerned, the scheme offers wonderful possibilities for the future of the children, of whom there are about five thousand. 6. I asked scores of the settlers whether they thought sufficient of the scheme to warrant endeavours to send an increasing number of additional settlers. Many stated that they had already nominated or recommended friends to come out, and others that they had no hesitation in advising me to send further migrants, provided they were fully informed beforehand of the nature of the work. Some claimed to have been mislead, but the London policeman—a recent arrival —stated that everything had. worked out exactly as described. Catterick. 7. I was specially interested in the two Catterick groups established at Hester, near Bridgetown. These groups have working foremen, to whom I allude in paragraph 12. The men were all lined up to receive Lord and Lady Burnham and their party, and it was one of the pleasantest experiences of my life to see a whole body of men and women so keen on their new life and so eager to describe their happy experiences that they all spoke at once, and almost behaved like a crowd of excited schoolchildren who could not find words quickly enough to describe their new life. Mr. Mather, of the New Settlers' League, takes a keen personal interest in the groups and visits them frequently. The shacks (each on a separate block) for the third Catterick group, then on the high seas at least a month away, were all ready for their reception, complete with 1,000-gallon water-tanks, and the foreman was on the spot mapping out his area. This is significant from the point of view of future administration. Leeds Group. 8. I made particular inquiries in regard to the Leeds and the Devon amd Cornwall groups, and I went much prepossessed in favour of local recruitment by towns or counties. I thought, and still think, that local recruitment is easier than promiscuous recruitment; that it would create and maintain a permanent interest in the groups in Great Britain, and provide ready means for amelioration

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in the case of disaster of any sort. These views were largely confirmed by my visit- to the Leeds group No. 107, ten miles from Northcliffe. I arrived there about three in the afternoon, and had not time to await the return of all the men before I left. I closely interviewed three women and two men, and found the whole atmosphere full of enthusiasm. Of the original nineteen families, sixteen remain. One man had committed suicide in unusual circumstances, not connected with the merits of the scheme. As regards the other two families who had left, the woman in each case found the isolation of country life more than she could endure, but I could discover no evidence that the families had suffered any distress as a result of their decision to leave. The Leeds families whom I saw were previously occupied in Leeds as follows : H. E. Wilson, ex-service man and later a gardener ; Bristow, motor-driver, Electric Light Co., Dewsbury ; Foxcroft, leading seaman, R.N., for fourteen years, then helped his father in a public house. These families were still in shacks, quite near one another, and were all enthusiastic about the scheme and their prospects. They had no desire to return to Leeds, and considered that their group had been a great success. They were having a keen competition with group 96 in regard to the acreage which had been cleared in a certain time. There had been no quarrels worth mentioning within the group, unlike some neighbouring groups, who were, so they said, frequently disputing with one another. They attributed their success in no small measure to the fact that they all came from Leeds and neighbourhood, and that they had an excellent foreman. In the light of my subsequent experience with the Devon and Cornwall groups, I attribute the success mainly to the foreman, who was an exceptionally capable, decent fellow. I saw him eventually, all covered with grime as a result of the day's " burningoff " operations, and his appearance furnished eloquent testimony of his own hard work with his team. The families found it cheaper to get their groceries from Perth than from Northcliffe, and had no complaints to make in regard to them. They were able to go to occasional football matches and to dances in the schoolroom, and thought nothing of a three-mile journey through the bush at a late hour after the dance was over. Devon and Cornwall. 9. I subsequently saw three Devon and Cornwall groups, which are in the Denmark area, but none of them is near another one. Group 116, as mentioned above, is thirty miles from Denmark, and the centre of group 113 is about twenty miles from Denmark. Group 114 is about fifteen miles from Denmark. Group 113 is a very scattered group, and is divided into two entirely separate portions, six miles distant from one aother. Undoubtedly each end of this group should have been separately administered, as it is impossible for one foreman adequately to supervise both ends. Under present methods a working foreman would certainly have been allotted to each end of the group (see paragraph 12 regarding working foremen). I arrived on group 116 about eight at night and went to a neighbouring shack, and eventually stayed there talking to as many settlers as the place would accommodate until nearly eleven. The united opinion of the settlers was that there was no special merit in coming together as one party from Devon and Cornwall. There was not necessarily any special tie, because one family came from, say, Honiton and another from Barnstaple. Coming from the same town was sometimes a positive source of trouble, as old scores or scandals were raked up, or, to use their own words, " the skeleton in the cupboard is dug up." Four of the Devon and Cornwall settlers had left, and the remaining settlers got on just as well with the settlers from other counties who took their place. I saw two of these settlers- — Short, from Wolverhampton (an ex-insurance broker), and Ravenhill, from Gloucester (a Singer sewingmachine agent) —and they were of a very fine handworking type. I did not come across evidence of hardship amongst the settlers who had left. One of the wives had nominated her sister, and the general attitude of the meeting indicated that, except for sundry minor irritations, the scheme was excellent and the settlers were well contented. I noted a further phrase used at the meeting : " The Aussies treat us like gentlemen." On my later visit to this group I interviewed two additional women, a Mrs. Hemmings and Mrs. Banbury. The former said the shacks could be made quite comfortable, and that she was quite content. Some of the settlers had had a bad time through illness, aggravated by the long distance to the doctor at Denmark and the then bad roads. (The road is now excellent.) A Mrs. Ould had died before the doctor could be got to her, a Mrs. Davy had lost her baby, and another woman had lost a little girl through meningitis. Mrs. Banbury had had a severe operation, but she was very cheerful and enthusiastic about the scheme, and said her children and her husband were happy and well, and that nothing would tempt either her or them away from the group. On group 113 (the one divided into two halves) I found that no fewer than seven of the original twenty Devon and Cornwall settlers had left, including Dymond, the captain elected by Colonel Newcombe. The outstanding personalities on this group were an ex-R.R. sergeant-major, and an ex-Naval petty officer. The former was very well pleased, and he has a very valuable piece of swamp land and a fine son (at work), who is happy and contented. I asked him why so many settlers had left, and he said that some would not work well. They had got jobs in roadmaking and in the Denmark stores, &c. I again obtained no evidence of distress. He would not admit that the county scheme was a failure, but said that it would have been a greater success if all the settlers had been Devon-born. His argument was that some of the settlers, though living in Devon at the time of recruitment, were London-born, and so on.. The Naval petty officer and a group of other men put forward many minor complaints. These were all debated with the Field Supervisor, who showed great tact and patience in dealing with the matter. The meeting expressed itself as completely satisfied with the explanations which were given, I found substantially the same situation on group 114. Eight of the settlers had left.

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I regret to say that on no Devon and Cornwall group did I come across much evidence that the Devon and Cornwall County Committee were keeping in touch with the settlers. This was distinctly disappointing to me, as I thought one of the main principles of the committee was to keep in frequent touch with their proteges. General Matters. 10. Having dealt with the views of the settlers themselves, I come to matters which are perhaps more germane to an official report, but first I may make some general observations. (a) I was amazed at the distances. No group, except those on the Peel Estate, can be reached except after a night's journey from Perth. It is over 300 miles from Perth to Denmark, and the journey takes, roughly, twenty-one hours by train. (b) The groups themselves are not necessarily compact, and several miles may separate one block from another on the same group. Quite frequently a settler's house may be a quarter of a mile or more from his nearest neighbour on the same group. (c) The country is amazingly beautiful, and in spring, when I was there, is a paradise of wild flowers. The flowers consist chiefly of varieties which do not grow naturally elsewhere in Australia or the world. (d) The men do not work in gangs of twenty at a time. Three or four are told off to do this job, three or four to that job, and so on. The foreman has a shack on the group, and his duties are purely of a supervisory nature, unless he is a working foreman —a point to which I shall refer later. (e) The extreme comfort of the houses : Each has four rooms and a veranda, and can be made very picturesque, especially if the woman takes an interest in the place generally, and arranges for a flower-garden. (/) There is a telephone service to the group post-office (kept by a selected settler for a small allowance) on most of the groups, and in others (notably Northcliffe) the telephone is being arranged for as quickly as possible. Administration. 11. The general administration of the scheme is organized as follows : — Minister of Lands : The Hon. W. C. Angwin. I J Advisory Committee Under-Secretary Chairman : for Lands : Mr. McLarty. Mr. C. G. Morris. Chairman of Agricultural Bank. I ____ I I . _ ' J Field Supervisor : Assistant Under-Secretary Mr. G. M. Richardson. for Group Settlement: Mr. McCay. 1 I I I I i Peel Estate. Busselton to Bridgetown to Denmark. Selection 1 District Port Augusta. Northcliffe. 1 District Officer: Superintendent. 1 District 1 District Superintendent. Mr. McAdam. Superintendent. Superintendent. 1 ! ! , J ' I Clerks as required. Senior Foreman 1 A • j t-, >As required. Jb oremen J 1 Accountant : Mr. Courtenay. This organization seems to me to be admirably adapted to the needs of the scheme. The work is heavy and onerous, as the settlers are not backward in making representations on matters affecting their interests and comfort, and a heavy correspondence is inevitable. Considerable demands are made on the whole of the field supervisory staff, who must needs frequently be away from home for weeks at an end, supervising points of detail on the spot, and regulating the clearing, and the agricultural and outdoor operations generally. The field staff are mainly recruited from amongst the Inspectors of the Agricultural Bank, and much time is spent by them in an endeavour to economize on the expenditure under the scheme. Foremen. 12. The key man of the whole administration is the foreman. To be successful, he must possess an expert kowledge of the country, the methods of clearing, sinking wells, the preparation and seeding of pastures, vegetable crops, &c., fencing, and the like. He must be a capable organizer, accustomed to handling men tactfully ; and he must be prepared for much book-keeping work, as his time-sheets, stock-books, &c., form the basis of the overhead charges ultimately levied against the settlers. His pay is £6 a week. I was not surprised to learn that many men break down completely on one important task or another and have had to be discharged. In fact, the Department have had more trouble in finding competent foremen, satisfactory alike to themselves and to the settlers, than in any other phase of their administration. The settlers themselves realize this, and many are sometimes vociferous in their

5—A. -2.

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indignation at the action of the Department in making frequent changes in the foremen. The Department have an axiom that a " popular " foreman needs watching, possibly because his expense account for the group may be unduly inflated, or he may not be keeping " slackers up to the mark. It is pretty certain that a good foreman makes a good group, given a fair average batch of settlers, and that good settlers can be completely ruined by an indifferent foreman. The Department places the immediate responsibility for supervising the foremen on the senior foreman, who, in addition to possessing the same qualifications as the foreman himself, is expected to know a good deal about the care and management of a dairy herd. I was struck by the high quality of the senior foremen whom I met. There is no hesitation on the part of the Department in discharging a foreman who fails to live up to his responsibilities ; but such failure is at times difficult to prove, as the settlers are often at fault. Recently a new method has been adopted of placing a working foreman in charge of a group of ten settlers in place of the group of twenty supervised by an ordinary foreman. The working foreman is selected from amongst the best of a previous batch of group settlers. He has his own block of land on the group. He receives £6 a week like the other foremen, but only £3 of this is debited against the cost of his own block, the remaining settlers being debited with the balance of £3. The working foreman on the first Catterick group at Hester is a model of what a working foreman should be. He is an Irishman, and is a first-class leader of men. He is " guide, philosopher, and friend," has fine ideals, and a stern sense of duty. If working foremen of this type can be secured for the future the administration of the scheme will be vastly improved. It is the intention of the Government to appoint such men if in any way possible. My own fear is that they cannot be obtained in any quantity, for the reason that good men will, as a general rule, put in much spare time on their own blocks, and will not be willing to abandon holdings to which they have devoted time and ingenuity to start afresh on a virgin block for an extra £3 a week. Sustenance Payments. 13. The system of paying the men £3 a week for their sustenance whilst clearing has, in my opinion, not proved satisfactory in every respect. This payment puts a premium upon idleness, and many of the men have admittedly regarded the payment as a wage, for which as little work as possible should be done, rather than as a repayable advance for which strenuous endeavour in the interests of a reasonable capitalization of their own property should be exerted by them. The best of the men have recognized the latter point, and some of them have made things so uncomfortable for the slackers that the latter have thrown up their blocks. The foremen have done their best, but at times they have had an impossible task. The Government have now recognized this feature, and they are inaugurating a system of piecework whereby parties of men on a group (mutually selected) are told that on a certain acreage being cleared to their satisfaction a certain payment will be made. The payment is calculated on the basis of enabling a fair average man to earn at least £3 weekly. In fact, however, some men on piecework have already earned as much as £9 a week ; but there is reason to believe that such men have to make some payment to neighbours on the group whom they have called to their assistance. I found good men everywhere were anxious for piecework, as it will enable them to earn more money, defeat the slackers, and at the same time probably reduce the debt on their own properties. To some extent this piecework system, when univeraslly adopted, will destroy the communal idea of the whole scheme. That idea has really not worked out, as a heterogeneous collection of men from all over Great Britain cannot in practice be welded into a team in which all personality is sunk for the common good. A man has hitherto only been willing to put in his best work on his own property. The intention of the Government so far as future groups are concerned is to place a man upon sustenance for about three months whilst he is acquiring experience and subsequently to place him upon piecework. The serious difficulty of piecework is to fix a rate which is fair both to the Government and the settlers. It is clear by the results that already some of the rates have been too generous, but the men will much resent any endeavour to reduce the rate on their next contract. Debt on Property. 14. The most intelligent of the men are much exercised over the ultimate debt on their properties. Under the agreement of the 9th February, 1923, it was provided that no settler should be charged more than £1,000. Some of the settlers consequently see no inducement to economize, at any rate, after the £1,000 mark has been reached, as they know full well that the farms are now costing, with stock and equipment, at least £1,500, and that the earlier farms, which were much more heavily cleared than is now considered necessary, cost £1,800. The Department point out that it was never clearly defined exactly what the £1,000 was to cover, and that they have undoubtedly, for the benefit of the settlers themselves, had to provide facilities far beyond the anticipations of the compilers of the agreement. Another point of difficulty arises on the Peel Estate, which was repurchased at Bs. an acre. A number of British assisted migrant settlers are on this estate, and are claiming that, like their colleagues on Crown lands, they are entitled to a free gift of the land. These points are full of difficulty, and much careful administration and possibly some financial sacrifice on the part of all three Governments will be required. Meantime settlers, to their dismay, are unable to obtain any definite information in regard to their probable final indebtedness, though they receive regular returns, which they are entitled to challenge, of the actual working-costs.

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Rate of Interest. 15. Another point of doubt arises in regard to the rate of interest chargeable to the settlers, iam informed that the actual rate is per cent, on the farm costs. No interest is yet being collected, and the debt is piling up at compound interest. It is proposed eventually to charge interest for ten years, and subsequently instalments of both capital and interest. On advances for cows, &c., under a bill of sale interest is being charged at 7 per cent., interest only being payable for the first three years. This question will no doubt receive full consideration. Marketing. 16. I now turn to the highly important question of marketing. At the present time only a few groups have been disbanded. Disbandment does not, however, mean that a settler is thrown entirely upon his own resources. The Government assess the annual income which a man could reasonably be expected to earn from the cows, pigs, &c., on his hands at the date of disbandment, and then arrange a contract price for clearing such an additional acreage of land as will give him, provided the clearing is satisfactorily done, an income of £300 per annum, out of which interest payments are expected. At the present time many of the settlers who are not disbanded are earning useful sums by selling milk, butter, eggs, bacon, &c. Some of the sales are made to local stores, some to less advanced neighbouring settlers, and some to roadmen, sleeper-cutters, &c. As time goes on, and as all the farms come into production, this source of revenue will to a considerable extent disappear. Plans are being developed for the erection of co-operative butter-factories as soon as the production of butterfat warrants that course. The settlers will be given an opportunity of taking up shares by easy instalments. At the present time there are butter-factories at Bunbury and Denmark, and there is a regular milk-collection on the Peel Estate by the Westralian Farmers' Co. Many of the settlers are much agitated about their long distance from markets, and do not realize that the Department is gradually maturing plans for a regular transportation service as soon as the volume of produce justifies that course. Although on technical agricultural matters I express my own views with extreme diffidence, I am inclined to think that within the next two years —i.e., before the transportation service and the butterfactories are completely established—a very difficult situation may arise. The settlers will probably by that time be producing crops for which there is no immediate market owing to the absence of transportation, but which are fairly large in the aggregate, and there may be an outcry that the whole scheme is a failure. The settlers who are far-seeing enough to exercise patience during this period will no doubt reap their reward in due course. Dairy Buildings. 17. The Government are erecting dairy buildings on each holding, consisting of a cool shed for storing cream and a milking-shed, as soon as the number of cows warrants that course. I saw several of these actually in use. They are also providing bulls as necessary. The bull is in the charge of a selected settler, who obtains fees for the use of the bull as required. Crops. 18. The crops at the time of my visit were looking very well. In two-year-old pastures I waded in English grasses (rye-gras and cocksfoot mixed with clover) up to my waist, and in subterranean clover up to my knees. White Dutch clover was up to my ankles. The Department is insisting on each settler having a patch of Kikuyu grass, recently introduced from Africa, for experimental purposes, and much stress is laid on the importance of paspalum-grass and water-couch. Some critics were doubtful whether the grass will be of much milk-producing value in February and March (summer months), and whether maize, which is grown to take its place as green fodder during those months, will be as satisfactory as it is in the eastern States. Time alone will prove how these matters will work out, but the departmental officers are alive to the importance of the subject, and are sparing no pains to combat difficulties in a scientific and up-to-date manner. I happened to run across a large party of old-established farmers from Denmark and Albany, who, after having battled along for many years with but a fraction of the assistance now given to group settlers, had naturally been somewhat hostile critics of the scheme. After, however, spending a day amongst the Denmark group settlers' holdings, they told me they were amazed at the crops, and that their previous opinions in regard to the scheme had been radically altered. There are in all about 32,000 acres under crop on the groups. All the market-garden crops —potatoes, peas, and the like—grow surprisingly well and very rapidly. Potatoes can be sown during every month of the year. The settlers, especially those with previous agricultural experience in the United Kingdom, speak in high terms of the fertlity of the soil. Schools and Hospitals. 19. Ample provision is now being made for the erection of schools and hospitals. There are fifty-nine schools, erected at a cost of £34,800, and maintained at an annua cost of £13,728. There are six hospitals, erected at a cost of £16,400, and maintained at an annual cost of £6,994.

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The costs are not charged to the loan-moneys towards which His Majesty's Government contribute. The teachers in the schools seem to me to be very efficient, and they speak well of the capacity of the migrant children. The children sometimes come as far as three or four miles to school. Sometimes they ride on horseback, and it warms one's heart to see a child from, say, Bermondsey galloping along to school. Others walk or get a ride as best then can. They bring lunch with them, and it is a great pleasure to see them eating it outside amid the sunshine and beauty of the bush. Some hardship was caused before the hospitals were erected, especially for maternity and accident cases. Now the settlers seem adequately provided for, though the great distance from Denmark to some of the groups administered from that towm is still a drawback. I saw two settlers' young wives at NorthcLffe who had very recently been confined, and they were full of delight at the comfort offered by the hospital. Cottages. 20. I now come to some points which seem to me to require rectification. One of the most pressing of these is in regard to the speedy erection of cottages. The Oversea Settlement Delegation of 1923 reported that the cottages were usually erected on the blocks within a year of the formation of a group. This has proved to be by no means the general rule, and at Northcliffe, in particular, there are scores of settlers who came out over two years ago who are not yet in cottages. Many declare that they will not spend another winter in the shacks. A contract has been let which should have resulted in the cottages being completed during the current summer, but the contractor is far behind his contract, and, without exceptional measures on the part of the Government, many of the settlers will still be in shacks when winter comes. The Government are apprehensive of increasing the cost of the cottages, as the contract price is low ; but 1 do not think that reasonable additional expense should stand in the way in this matter, in view of the liberality of the new migration agreement and of the fact that Northcliffe is in swampy country. The cottages are imperative to the comfort of the women, and the difference in the contentment of those in cottages and those in shacks was most marked. Among other inconveniences, it is practically impossible to keep the shacks free from fleas, which harbour in the sandy ground. I naturally impressed upon the settlers that in a big scheme of this descripton they could not have everything all at once, but, all the same, I think that two years in shacks ought to be the absolute maximum, and that the risk of leakages amongst the settlers would be reduced if this period could be further reduced to one year. Up to date about 1,600 cottages have been erected on the groups as a whole for 2,273 settlers. Religious Instruction. 21. Another point to which I attach supreme importance is the necessity for some means of religious instruction for the settlers and their children. Some' of the religious denominations are doing what they can, but their efforts fall far short of the necessities of the case. Some of the settlers are endeavouring to run Sunday-school classes amongst themselves. Further, the settlers badly need some independent person to advise, help, and encourage them. The most intelligent settlers are concerned over many matters of group administration. They complain of " red-tape " and irritating regulations, the absence of information about their liabilities and the plans the Department is developing to assist in their marketing problems. If some good athletic parson (of the Army Chaplain type) could be appointed in each of several suitable centres, I think that he would be of inestimable value altogether apart from his religious ministration. He would be the rallying-point for the feelings of the district; he would enable the settlers to blow ofl steam ; would investigate grievances and bring genuine cases before the officials. The latter are only too ready to listen to complaints and to remedy them if they can ; but in the real stress of day-to-day administration they cannot get into direct contact with the settlers in the way which is not only desirable, but, in my opinion, essential, if the right esprit de corps is to be maintained and leakages in the groups are to be prevented. The parson would also be expected to organize the social life of the settlers. Many groups are already doing this to some extent, and sometimes regular weekly dances are held in the schoolrooms to raise funds for a piano, childrens' Christmas treats, and the'like. At Northcliffe there is a flourishing football club, and one of the senior foremen acts regularly as referee. Settlers have formed " progress associations " amongst themselves to help towards the objects described in this paragraph, but I consider that such associations would be greatly stimulated and strengthened by parsons of the right type. The Press Delegation were so convinced of the necessity of more provision for the religious and social life of the group settlements that Lord Burnham told me that he was prepared to guarantee on their behalf that they would find the cost of one motor-car. Publicity. 22. I have already alluded to the hunger which the more intelligent settlers have for more information. I asked the Department whether they could not issue a monthly group settlers' journal, in which information as to the more important changes of policy, hints on profitable crops, &c., could be given. They are already issuing to settlers free of charge a copy of a useful journal published by the Department of Agriculture, and thought that perhaps the time might come when they could issue a special settlers' journal, but they were somewhat fearful of the expense. I learn that the Western Australian newspaper has decided to start a special weekly column with the object of informing and encouraging the settlers.

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Co-operative Stores. 23. The establishment of co-operative stores in centres such as Northcliffe and Denmark is of great importance, and, in my opinion, high prices are charged for all the necessities of life. Further, many of the settlers, now able to obtain credit for the first time in their lives (the storekeepers having a lien on the sustenance payments), are apt to run up bills recklessly. Some are quite unable to order stores a month ahead in reasonable quantities, as they have been accustomed in the United Kingdom to purchase small quantities from hand to mouth, and they find themselves overstocked. A co-opera-tive store, not existing primarily for profit, might help to remedy this. The difficulty is to secure the necessary capital to inaugurate such a store. If this could be found, the settlers would be encouraged to take up shares by instalments, and the people who originally supplied the capital would, given good management, gradually recoup the whole of their outlay. Meantime they would have an investment on the basis, say, of 5 per cent, or 6 per cent, interest, any balance of profit being returnable to the settlers in proportion to their purchases. Minor Grievances. 24. Other minor matters requiring adjustment- are as follows : — (a) Stores for the Northcliffe and Jarnadup groups are frequently pilfered on the railway between Jarnadup and Pemberton, which is an old timber line, and has not yet been taken over by the Western Australian Railway Department, though trains are running. I have asked the Government to provide a temporary lock-up. (b) Notwithstanding our arrangement in regard to free fares for all settlers, the group settlers are not getting free fares from the port of disembarkation to the groups. They have to pay (or. rather, refund) half fares. (c) The settlers, especially those with large families, complain of the high rate of ocean fare charged prior to the Ist May, 1925, and ask that all fares may be adjusted to those now in operation. (d) The water-supply at Northcliffe is susceptible of improvement. The area is swampy, and, as a general rule, the usual 1,000-gallon tanks have not been provided. Some wells have been sunk, but the settlers relv largely on small streams containing water of a brownish unappetizing colour. The doctor has no evidence that the water is injurious, and he has instructed the settlers how to clear it. But many of the settlers consider that the water affects their health, and they will be much happier when they get their cottages and tanks and can collect their own rain-water supplies. (e) The accounts for small disbursements made by the Department on behalf of the settlers, fares to the market, carriage of stores, &c., are not always promptly rendered by the district officers. The settlers complain about this, and say they do not know how much of their sustenance is coming to them on each pay-day. The Accountant of the Department promised to do his best to regularize this matter. (/) Many settlers complain that for prolonged periods the shacks were not equipped with floorboards. This has since been rectified, but I think it very important that, in future, floorboards should always be provided at a very early date. Percentage of Failures. 25. Of the 1,911 assisted settlers to whom blocks have been allotted, 621, or 32-5 per cent., have left or have been dismissed. Of the 175 full-paving British settlers, 71, or 40-6 per cent., have left or been dismissed. Of the 482 British settlers who migrated before the agreement, 210, or 43-6 per cent., have left or been dismissed. Of the 1,105 Australians, 498, or 45 per cent., have left or been dismissed. There has thus been a substantially smaller percentage of failure amongst assisted migrants under the agreement than of any other class, and failure has been the greatest amongst Australians. To some extent this may be due to the fact that Australians may be more easily able to secure alternative employment than migrants, through their friends or relatives or otherwise. 1 consider that a higher percentage of failure is inevitable in the earlier stages than in the later stages of a large settlement scheme. In the earlier stages the privations may be severe, the administration may be inexperienced, schools and hospitals may not be erected, the local residents may be somewhat critical or even hostile. Last, but not least, there are no contented settlers on hand who have made good and can relate their experiences. It is no doubt difficult, if not impossible, to select settlers in England who are in all respects temperamentally suitable for the comparative isolation of bush life. Yet temperament is the most important factor, after good physique and character. Some men and some women cannot settle down without the glamour and facilities of urban life. Others cannot eliminate the wage-earning feeling, and cannot face the world as independent tillers of the soil dependent solely on their own initiative, and these are tempted away by apparently higher wages on the roads (15s. a day), regardless of the fact that out of such wages they must pay for rent, firewood, vegetables, and the like. Some fall ill. and theirs is the worst plight. If injured on duty they receive liberal compensation, but if ill they sometimes get completely stranded, and become a charge on charitable institutions. The Ugly Men's Association and the Women's Immigration Committee do what they can to provide alternative employment, but they do not necessarily hear of every case. But there is less chance of a breakdown in health in the climate of Western Australia than there is in Great Britain, and ill health is one of the risks of life which is present in every part of the world. The only additional disadvantages which migrants have to face is that they are separated from friends in the Old Country who might be able to help them.

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I consider that as the scheme progresses, and as soon as the substantial success of a large body of settlers can be demonstrated, the percentage of failure will decrease considerably. In fact, some of the men who have left the scheme have already applied, and have been accepted, for readmission. Future Recruitment. 26. I think that more attention might perhaps be paid to the psychological side of the medical examination. The woman is the keyjto the success of the whole scheme. Her discontent or herj illness will undermine the whole family and may drive them off the group. I suggest that all the doctors who examine applicants for settlement under this scheme should have a complete detailed description of the work and life of the group settlements, and urged to be specially careful in their examination of prospective group settlers and their families. I warmly commend the present restriction of the scheme to families in which there are at least three children, though this is not always insisted upon for local applicants. I think, however, that families with more than, say, six children get fearfully overcrowded in the shacks, and the fathers of such families ought to be warned that they will be expected to be sufficiently practical to be able to erect additional galvanized-iron bedrooms for the use of their children. One man actually complained to me that he was unable to do this, although he could obtain the material. Further, it ought to be published throughout Great Britain that this scheme is worthy of the best men and women we can send, provided that the limitations of life on dairy farms are realized. Composition of Groups. 27. I came across several cases where men and women of a very superior type were on the same group as rather rough diamonds. The placing officer in Perth, with whom I discussed the question, cannot help this, as he is limited to the applicants on hand at any particular time. Probably Australia House has the same difficulty, but I certainly think it would be well worth while to encourage people of the same social type to travel together, even two at a time if larger numbers are not available, because, they can almost certainly be allocated on adjoining blocks and will be a source of strength to one another. One very intelligent foreman with whom I discussed this question was emphatic that the composition of the groups should be carefully studied beforehand if in any way practicable. He advocated regimental groups, possibly of the Catterick type, but seemed more disposed to consider that a group of, say, nine years' service Artillerymen, another group of, say, twenty-one years' service Artillerymen, would succeed better than heterogeneous groups. The point to be stressed was that the members of a group should have a real common tie of interest, which a county group did not necessarily possess. Women's Immigration Committee at Perth. 28. I was delighted with this. There is a Reception Committee which meets the families and instructs the women in making bread and yeast and gives them valuable advice. There is also an After-care Committee in Perth and in Albany which looks after cases of illness and distress, and distributes parcels of clothing. It takes particular care of maternity cases. I asked them to endeavour to teach the settlers to help themselves rather than to be too prodigal in the way of gifts. There are 100,000 British-born people in Western Australia out of a total population of 370,000. The whole atmosphere is intensely favourable to British migration. The old feeling against " spoonfeeding " the settlers is being gradually exorcized. I desire to express my appreciation of the facilities afforded me, and the kindness shown me by the Premier, the Minister of Lands, and all the officials with whom I had to do during the course of my inquiry. Every opportunity was a thorough one.

N0.|35. New Zealand, No. 159. Sir,— Downing Street, 19th July, 1926. With reference to my despatch,[.No. 96, of the 12th May, I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copy of a note addressed to the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs by His Majesty's Embassy at Paris regarding the establishment of a meteorological station in the Marquesas Group, together with a copy of an interim reply received. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

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Enclosure. His Majesty's Embassy presents its compliments to the Ministry for Eoreign Affairs, and has the honour, under instructions from His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to state that the Government of New Zealand is anxious to secure the co-operation of the Government of the Republic in the meteorological work which is being carried out in the Southern Pacific area by the Apia Observatory in Western Samoa. In this respect they would welcome particularly the establishment of a reliable meteorological station in the Marquesas Group by the French colonial authorities. At the present time information about the Western Pacific is given by Australia and New Zealand and by the Geophysical Observatory at Apia. Information with respect to' the Central Pacific is furnished by the French authorities, who are now publishing valuable data at Papeete, in the Society Group. The Government of New Zealand are of- opinion that observations from the Marquesas Group would be of especial value in affording data about a region concerning which little is known, the nearest stations being Easter Island, about 3,500 kilometres distant, and Tahiti, about 1,700 kilometres distant. These observations are likely to be of great assistance in forecasting seasonal changes, and, when wireless stations are provided, for forecasting cyclones. It is understood that Monsieur Clavel, of the Hydrographic Office at Nukahiwa, Marquesas Group, is willing to undertake the observations and is capable of carrying out the work, and the Director and staff of the Apia Observatory will be pleased at all times to afford him any assistance within their power. His Majesty's Embassy ventures to request the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to be so good as to inform it of the view of the Government of the Republic in this matter, and trusts that this suggestion may meet with the latter's favourable consideration. British Embassy, Paris, 4th May, 1926. Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres, Republique Fran§aise, Paris, le 30 juin, 1926. Par note du 4 mai dernier, l'Ambassade de Grande-Bretagne a bien voulu signaler au Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres l'interet qu'attacherait le Gouvernement de Sa Majeste a l'installation, par les Autorites coloniales fran9aises, d'une station meteorologique aux lies Marquises, station dont les travaux s'harmoniseraient, en les completant, avec ceux des autres stations situees dans les lies Samoa, en Australie, en Nouvelle-Zelands, et a Papeete. Le Ministere des Affaires Ktrangeres a l'honneur de faire savoir a l'Ambassade de Grande-Bretagne que le Ministre des Colonies, a qui cette suggestion avait ete aussitot soumise en a saisi les Autorites coloniales locales et les a invitees a lui faire A connaitre leur sentiment sur ses possibilities de realisation. Ambassade de Grand-Bretagne, a|Paris.

No. ye. New Zealand, No. 166. Sir, — Downing Street, 21st July, 1926. With reference to my despatch, No. 230, of the 22nd December, 1925, I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copjf of the Newfoundland Act respecting the Taxation and Immunity from Taxation of State Enterprises, 1926. 2. A copy of the Act is also being sent to tlie Governors-General of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Union of South Africa, and the Irish Free State, and to the officers administering the Governments of Southern Rhodesia and of the Australian States. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. An Act respecting the Taxation and Immunity from Taxation of State Enterprises. [Passed 24th April, 1926. Whereas the Imperial Economic Conference in 1923 passed certain resolutions respecting the immunity from taxation of State property within the British Empire, except so far as the property may be owned or held in a trading capacity, and recommended their adoption, which has been done by the Imperial Government and other British Dominions : And whereas it is desirable to give effect to said resolutions in this colony :

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Be it enacted by the Governor, the Legislative Council, and House of Assembly, in legislative session convened, as follows : — 1. (1) Where a trade or business of any kind is carried on by or on behalf of the Imperial Government or the Government of any part of His Majesty's Dominions the Imperial or other Government shall, in respect of the trade or business and of all operations in connection therewith, all property occupied in this colony and all goods owned in this colony for the purposes thereof, and all income arising in connection therewith, be liable, in the same manner as in the like case any other person would be, to all taxation for the time being in force in this colony. (2) In this section the expression " His Majesty's Dominions " includes any territory which is under His Majesty's protection or in respect of which a mandate is being exercised by the Government of any part of His Majesty's Dominions. (3) Nothing in this section shall — (a) Affect the immunity of the Imperial Government or other such Government or the Governments of other States from taxation in respect of any income or property to which subsection one of this section does not apply ; or (b) Be taken to prejudice the question of any liability on the part of the Imperial Government or other such Government in respect of any period before the commencement of this Act to taxation in respect of the matters mentioned in subsection one.

No. 37. New Zealand, Dominions No. 335. Sir, — Downing Street, 23rd July, 1926. With reference to the late Viscount Milner's despatch, Dominions No. 220, of the 28th May, 1920, I have the honour to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers that the Board of Trade have in course of preparation a memorandum dealing with the coasting trade of the world, and propose to include a statement of any restrictions which may exist on the operation of vessels, whether foreign or British, in the coasting trade of the several parts of the Empire. 2. In the circumstances I should be glad to receive for transmission to the Board of Trade a statement of the general position as regards New Zealand, for inclusion in the memorandum. It would be convenient if such a statement could be communicated in duplicate, if possible. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Eergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

No. 38. New Zealand, Dominions No. 341. Sir, — Downing Street, 28th July, 1926. I have the honour to refer to my despatch, Dominions No. 360, of the 18th August, 1925, and in accordance with Resolution No. 15 of the Second Imperial Entomological Conference, 1925, to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copies of the report of the Director of the Imperial Bureau of Entomology for the financial year ended the 31st March, 1926. 2. It will be remembered that in Resolution No. 7 the Conference expressed the hope that India as a whole would see its way to contribute to the Bureau at the rate of £1,000 per annum from 1926 inclusive. I have now received the observations of the Government of India on the report of the Conference, but I regret that that Government, after the fullest consideration, does not see its way to make a contribution, as had been hoped. The Indian Research Eund Association has, however, consented to make a grant to the Bureau of £500 for the year 1926-27, this being an increase of £200 over the grant made by that body in 1925-26. 3. The question whether, having regard to the fact that the contribution from India will be £500 only, the Bureau would be in a position to undertake the export to oversea Governments of beneficial parasites, in accordance with Resolution No. 10 of the Conference, was considered at a meeting of the managing committee of

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the Bureau on the 19th May, 1926. The Director was of opinion that in spite of the reduced funds available it would be possible to make a start with this work on a smaller scale than had been proposed, and the committee accordingly empowered him to make arrangements to begin the work, on the understanding that the average annual expenditure would be £1,000, and not £1,440, as stated in the estimate on page 22 of the report of the Conference, and that for the present this expenditure would be met as regards £500 per annum from the annual income of the Bureau, and as regards the remainder from the accumulated balance of the Bureau. In this connection it may be recalled that the Conference recommended that, should the Bureau be requested to undertake the supply of a parasite which involves investigations of a costly nature, it should be open to the Director to represent to the Government concerned that the work cannot be undertaken without an additional grant for the purpose. 4. As regards the finances of the Bureau during the period of five years from 1926-27 to 1930-31, inclusive, I may say that the Governments of the Irish Free State, the Bahamas, and Basutoland have now intimated their willingness to make an annual contribution to the Bureau, in addition to the Governments which have previously given financial support to this institution. I enclose a list of the annual contributions which the managing committee of the Bureau hope to receive during the period in question. 5. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 15, of the 21st January, 1926, from which I note that your Ministers proposed to consider at the earliest opportunity the question of the annual revenue of the Bureau. I hope to learn from you in due course that they will be prepared to continue the grant from New Zealand funds as in previous years. I have, &c.. L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosures. No. 1. Report of the Director of the Imperial Bureau of Entomology for the Year ended 31st March, 1926. At the Imperial Entomological Conference held last summer it was intimated that the Secretary of State for the Colonies would suggest to various contributing Governments certain alterations in the amounts of their grants for the upkeep of the Bureau, and these have now been agreed upon. In the great majority of cases the contributions remain the same as before, and the following statement shows the changes that have been made, last year's grant being given in brackets : — New contributions —Irish Free State, £50 ; Bahamas, £50 ; Basutoland, £25. Increased contributions —India, £500 (£300) ; Mauritius, £300 (£250) ; Straits Settlements, £250 (£200) ; Northern Rhodesia, £150 (£100) ; Palestine, £75 (£25). Reduced contributions—Hong Kong, £200 (£300) ; Zanzibar, £150 (£250) ; British North Borneo, £50 (£100) ; Leeward Islands, £40 (50). The result is a net increase of £265, giving a total income of £12,162, or, with the return from our investments and interest on deposits, approximately £12,500. We are thus still £500 short of the £13,000 which it was hoped to obtain, and this is due to the fact that India has not seen its way to raise its contribution to £1,000, as suggested, but is contributing only £500 for the current year. A statement showing the sums received and expended during the past year will be found in Appendix I. Nearly all the items are much the same as usual, and accord fairly closely with the estimates, except the expenditure on office furniture, which was much higher than was anticipated ; three old typewriters had to be replaced by new machines, and a large bookcase and two filingcabinets had to be purchased. The £200 in the Suspense Account is the amount paid in advance to the Stationery Office for printing charges in accordance with our arrangement with them. Interest on deposits was £83 higher than in the previous year, and the credit item under the Tropical African Fund mainly represents sales of our Tsetse book. Appendix II shows our present cash resources and outstanding liabilities, the unexpended balance being £7,379. With regard to the Carnegie Fund, it may be recalled that a sum of £200 was granted to a South African student, Mr. Schlupp, who subsequently abandoned entomology and settled in the United States. Upon representations from Mr. C. P. Lounsbury, Mr. Schlupp agreed to repay our grant, and a first instalment of £70 has recently been received from him. An estimate of the revenue and expenditure for the current financial year will be found in Appendix 111, the probable surplus being £887.

6 —A. 2.

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Parasite Laboratory. —It was obviously inadvisable to take any definite steps towards the establishment of a Parasite Laboratory on the line approved by the Entomological Conference until we were quite certain as to what our income was going to be. The scheme adopted was based on the assumption that our receipts would amount to not less than £13,000, the estimated cost of the parasite work being £1,440 annually. Information has only just been received regarding the contribution from the Government of India, and, as they are not prepared to give us more than half the sum for which we had hoped, our income will be £500 short of the amount that was considered necessary for the proper carrying-out of the scheme. In the circumstances it is suggested that the committee might consider carefully whether, in spite of this disappointment, it might not still be desirable to restart the parasite work on a somewhat smaller scale than had been contemplated, utilizing a certain proportion of our accumulated surplus for the purpose. There can be no question that there is a definite demand from various Dominions and colonies for assistance in procuring beneficial parasites, and it seems desirable that we should make some attempt to meet this if it can possibly be arranged. Owing to our lack of knowledge, any work of this nature must at present be largely speculative, but if we can only effect one or two successful introductions we should probably find little difficulty in securing further funds for the extension of our activities in this direction. Collection of Insects. —The number of insects received shows some reduction as compared with the previous year, and this may partly be accounted for by the fact that a number of entomologists were away on leave attending our Conference. In the following details the corresponding figures for the preceding year are given in brackets for comparison : — The collections received totalled 314 (347), and these were sent in by 133 (134) correspondents, distributed as follows : Africa, 46 ; Asia, 33 ; Europe, 19 ; Tropical America, 18 ; Australasia, 17. The collections contained 54,200 (63,700) specimens, of which 4,800 (8,600) were blood-suckers. During the year, 218' (275) lists of identifications were issued, comprising 6,155 (8,171) specific names. Several collections of named blood-sucking insects and agricultural pests were distributed, 3,600 (10,600) specimens being presented to the following institutions : Chelsea Polytechnic Institute ; Glasgow University ; Imperial College of Science, London ; Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture, Trinidad ; Medical Research Institute, Accra, Gold Coast; Moscow Tropical Institute ; Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine ; Ohio State Museum ; United States National Museum. The insects presented to the British Museum numbered 14,900 (10,100), of which 318 (247) were types of species new to science, and among the remainder were 553 (398) named species not previously represented in the national collection. Review of Applied Entomology. —The number of abstracts published exceeded that for 1924, being 2,514 (2,471), and occupied 842 (792) pages exclusive of the indices. This is the largest number of abstracts yet published in any one year. There has been a satisfactory increase in the number of subscribers, especially to Series A, the number of complete volumes sold being, Series A 352 (327), and Series B 323 (318). There has again been a great demand for the previous volumes, the gross sales of which amounted to £221 17s. 6d. (£lBl 9s. Bd.). The amount received for advertisements is still small, being practically the same as in the previous year, £42 lis. 3d. There has been a fairly good demand for the ten-year index to Series B, and seventy-two copies have been sold, bringing in £28 17s. 6d. The total net sales, excluding advertisements, came to £541 4s. od., as compared with £431 10s. Id. in 1924, and £341 4s. 4d. in 1923, and these figures sufficiently indicate the steadily increasing demand for the publication. Bulletin of Entomological Research. —Another volume (No. xvi) was completed within the financial year, except for the index, which will be issued with the first part of the next volume. The volume contains 408 (400) pages and 21 (16) plates. The following is a statement of the cost of production and the receipts from sales, &c. : — £ s. d. ] £ s. d. Printing and Paper .. .. .. 432 10 6 -Subscriptions and sales .. .. .. 385 10 5 Illustrations .. .. .. 119 1 0 Advertisements.. .. .. .. 16 5 0 Postages .. .. .. .. 45 18 0 Deficit .. .. .. 215 14 1 £597 9 6 £597 9 6 The deficit is much the smallest we have had since the war, being £107 less than that on the preceding volume, compared with which the cost of printing is £9 more and the illustrations £50 less ; whereas on the credit side the sales have increased by £55 and the advertisements by £10. The number of subscribers was 277, as compared with 253, 252, and 241 in the three preceding years —a very satisfactory increase. Zoological Record.—The volume of the " Insecta " part for 1924 was published on October, 1925, and it had therefore only been on sale for less than three months before the statement of the financial position respecting it had to be rendered to the Zoological Society, at the end of the calendar year. This statement showed that after payment of all the amounts due to the society, discounts to booksellers and postages, there was a balance of £31 lis. Id. in favour of the Bureau. The number of complete parts sold to that date was eighty-two and, in addition, forty-three of the separate sections. Since then nine complete parts and seventeen sections have been sold up to the 31st March. Over ' and above this, fourteen copies of back volumes were sold to the 31st December, and a further eight up to the 31st March. There can be little doubt that on a whole year's working the profit to the Bureau will be considerably greater in view of the fact that, by the terms of our agreement with the Zoological Society, we are able to get a much larger profit on all the copies of each volume sold after the first sixty-seven, which was the average number sold annually during the three years before the Bureau took over the distribution. In less than six months we have already raised the sales more than 50 per cent, above that average.

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The general organization for compiling the Record is now working much more smoothly, and the accumulation of arrears due to the war has at last been practically cleared off. The whole of the manuscript for the 1925 volume was in the printers' hands before the middle of April, 1926, and there seems no reason why it should not be published in July, which will be much the earliest date that has ever been achieved. Such prompt publication will greatly enhance the value of the work to entomologists. Sundry Publications.—A further sum of £9 17s. 9d. has been received during the year from the sale of thirty-five copies of the book on tsetse-flies by Major E. E. Austen and Mr. E. Hegh. The total number of copies sold is now 440, and these have brought in a net return of £216 17s. 9d., as against an expenditure of £285. Eight papers dealing with material sent in to the Bureau for identification have been published during the year under the arrangement by which we contribute towards the cost of publication. In the Annals and Magazine of Natural History : One by Professor M. Bezzi (Tachinid Flies), one by Mr. E. Brunetti (Conopid Flies), one by Mr. G. E. Bryant (Phytophagous Beetles), one by Professor T. D. A. Cockerell (Bees), two by Mr. J. R. Malloch (Muscid Flies), and one by Mr. A. Zimmermann (Water-beetles). In the Annals of the Natal Museum : One by Mr. B. P. Uvarov (Grasshoppers). Our payments for these amounted to £36 Bs. Bd. Library. —Accessions during the year included 555 bound volumes and over 1,180 pamphlets, bringing the respective totals up to 4,805 and 8,930. The number of serial publications (including annual reports) currently received is now over 920. The card catalogue of the contents of the library under authors' names is growing steadily ; the index to the pamphlet collection and monographs is kept up to date, while some seven hundred volumes of the serials were thus catalogued during the year. The number of books and pamphlets issued on loan during the year was 408. The Imperial Bureau of Mycology, the Tropical Diseases Bureau, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, the Empire Cotton-growing Corporation, and the University of Birmingham were among the institutions availing themselves of the Bureau's library loan service. The appended table indicates the expansion of the library during the past five years : —■

Staff. —In accordance with the resolutions of the Entomological Conference, the vacant post of senior assistant has been filled by the appointment of Mr. D. S. Wilkinson, Government Entomologist in Cyprus. Mr. Wilkinson will give half his time to assisting in the general executive work in the ' head office, and the remainder will be devoted to a special study of the parasitic wasps of the families Ichneumonidsß and Braconidse. Appendix I.—Statement of Receipts and Payments for the Year ended 31st March. 1926. Received. Expended. £ 8. d. £ s. d. Government grants .. .. .. .. 9,815 12 9 Interest on deposits .. .. .. .. 392 9 4 Review of Applied Entomology .. .. . . 549 1 6 1,272 6 0 Bulletin of Entomological Research .. .. 390 4 6 ' 698 1 10 Salaries .. .. .. •• •• •• 7,841 15 5 Queen's Gate office .. .. .. .. .. 640 9 2 Library .. .. •• • ■ ■• • • 233 111 Office and library furniture .. .. .. .: 123 5 6 Scientific equipment .. .. .. .. .. 1800 Travelling-expenses .. .. .. .. ■ • 26 3 6 Translations.. .. . .. .. • • 5 5 7 Specialists' fees .. .. .. .. • • 125 15 9 General expenses .. .. .. .. . • 145 6 7 Sundry publications .. .. .. .. .. 30 3 8 Zoological Record (" Insecta ") .. .. 67 10 6 41 13 3 Tropical African Fund .. .. .. 10 3 9 Conference .. .. . • .. • • • • 57 5 7 Provident Fund .. .. .. .. • • 372 7 9 Suspense .. .. .. .. •• •• 200 0 0 £11,225 2 4 £11,831 1 6

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Bound Volumes. j Pamphlets. , I 1 Total Volumes Year ended 31st March, - - —j — i catalogue d. rn , . Annual i m , . Annual , 6 TotaL Increase. , TotaL j Increase. 1922 .. .. .. 2,752 505 4,200 700 550 1923 .. .. .. 3,220 468 ! 5,000 750 1,000 1924 .. .. .. 3.674 454 6,500 1,500 1,800 1925 .. .. .. 4,250 576 1 7,750 1,250 2,800 1926 .. .. .. 4,805 555 8,930 1,180 3,500

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Appendix II. —General Financial Position as at 31st March, 1926. Received. Expended. £ s. d. £ s. d. Cash with Crown agents .. .. .. .. 551 0 5 Cash on deposit .. .. .. .. .. 5,000 0 0 Invested in 4-per-cent. funding stock .. .. .. 2,500 0 0 Stationery Office, paid in advance .. .. .. 200 0 0 Government grants outstanding —Australia (six States), £600 ; Canada, £1,000 ; Iraq, £70 ; South Africa, £350 .. .. .. .. 2,020 0 0 Outstanding liabilities — Salaries for March .. .. .. 713 10 0 Government grants paid in advance . . 300 0 0 Review of Applied Entomology (six parts and two indices) .. .. .. .. 580 0 0 Bulletin of Entomological Research (three parts and index) .. .. .. .. .. 347 0 0 Balance of Carnegie Fund .. .. .. 131 11 0 Publication Office : Rent, lighting, &c. .. .. 150 0 0 Stationery Office .. .. .. .. 12 0 0 Library .. .. .. .. .. 20 0 0 Sundry publications .. .. .. .. 650 2,260 6 0 10,271 0 5 Balance of Tropical African Fund .. 630 18 5 Balance of Bureau Fund .. .. 7,379 16 0 £10,271 0 5 £10,271 0 5 Appendix 111. —Estimate of Revenue and Expenditure for the Year 1926-27. Received. Expended. £ s. d. £ s. d. Government grants .. .. .. .. .. 12,162 0 0 Interest and dividends .. .. .. .. 350 0 0 Zoological Record (net sales) .. .. .. .. 40 0 0 Salaries .. .. .. .. .. 8,900 0 0 Provident Fund . . .. .. .. 445 0 0 Review of Applied Entomology (deficit) .. .. 500 0 0 Bulletin of Entomological Research (deficit) .. 350 0 0 Sundry publications .. * .. .. .. 100 0 0 Queen's Gate office .. .. .. .. 650 0 0 Library .. .. .. .. .. 250 0 0 Translations.. .. .. .. .. 30 0 0 Travelling-expenses .. .. .. .. 20 0 0 General expenses .. .. .. .. 180 0 0 Specialists' fees .. .. .. .. 140 0 0 Office and library furniture .. .. .. 50 0 0 Scientific equipment .. .. .. .. 50 0 0 11,665 0 0 12,552 0 0 Balance .. .. .. .. 887 0 0 £12,552 0 0 £12,552 0 0

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No. 2. Annual Contributions from Imperial, Dominion, and Colonial Governments to the Imperial Bureau op Entomology as at Ist April, 1926. £ £ Imperial Government .. .. .. 1,000 Nyasaland .. .. .. .. 250 Canada .. .. .. .. 1,000 Northern Rhodesia .. .. .. 150 Commonwealth of Australia .. .. 400 Mauritius .. .. .. .. 300 Australian States .. .. .. 600 Seychelles .. .. .. 50 New Zealand .. .. .. 400 Ceylon .. .. .. .. 500 Union of South Africa .. .. 700 Federated Malay States .. .. 750 Irish Free State .. .. .. 50 Hong Kong .. .. .. .. 200 Newfoundland .. .. .. 50 Straits Settlement .. .. .. 250 India .. .. .. .. 500 British North Borneo Company .. 50 Southern Rhodesia .. .. .. 300 Jamaica .. .. .. .. 100 Malta .. .. .. .. 50 British Guiana .. .. .. 150 Basutoland .. .. .. .. 25 Trinidad .. .. .. .. 150 Nigeria .. .. .. .. 1,000 Windward Islands .. .. ..60 Gold Coast .. .. .. .. 700 Leeward Islands .. .. 40 Sierra Leone .. .. .. .. 200 Barbados .. .. .. 50 Gambia .. .. .. .. 100 British Honduras .. .. 40 Sudan .. .. .. .. 300 Fiji .. .. .. .. 200 Uganda .. .. .. .. 300 Cyprus .. .. .. .. 200 Kenya .. .. .. .. 300 Palestine .. .. .. 75 Tanganyika Territory .. .. .. 300 Bermuda .. .. .. 50 Zanzibar .. .. .. .. 150 Bahamas .. .. .. 50 In addition to these contributions, the Government of Iraq pays to the Bureau for services rendered, more particularly in connection with identification-work, the sum of Rs. 1,000 annually.

No. 39. New Zealand, No. 192. Sir, — Downing Street, 4th September, 1926. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency's despatch No. 125, of the 25th June, and to request you to inform your Ministers that the United States Embassy in London have been informed that while the Government of New Zealand appreciate the invitation extended to them by the president of the National Tuberculosis Association of the United States to participate in bhe meeting of the International Union against Tuberculosis, to be held in Washington in September and October next, they regret that it will not be possible to send a delegate from the Dominion. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

No. 40. New Zealand, Dominions No. 469. Sir, — Downing Street, 13th October, 1926. With reference to the late Viscount Milner's telegram of the 3rd August, 1920, and previous correspondence on the subject of the grant of postal concessions to members of His Majesty's Forces on active service during the Great War, I have the honour to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers that His Majesty's Government have had under consideration the question of the carriage of correspondence and parcels emanating from British troops on active service, and have decided that a paragraph to the following effect should be included in that section of the new edition of Field Service Regulations, Volume 1, which deals with the postal service " Letters, not exceeding 4 oz. in weight, and postcards emanating from the troops, from foreign attaches, and from civilians employed by or accompanying

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the army in the field, if addressed to places in Great Britain (including the Isle of Man and Channel Islands) and Northern Ireland, will be carried free. Parcels will be prepaid, and a fee will be charged for the registration of postal matter. All such matter, except registered correspondence, will be carried at the sender's risk. 2. His Majesty's Government are also prepared to give instructions that, if any Dominion or colonial troops are serving with the British troops, correspondence posted by such troops, if posted at British Army post-offices, should be accepted under the same conditions as correspondence posted by British troops. The effect of this will be that, unless a Dominion or Colonial Government decides not to grant free postage to its troops on active service with the British Army, no charge will be made on the delivery of their correspondence. It will be remembered that the above procedure was followed during the Great War. 3. His Majesty's Government would accordingly be glad to learn whether your Ministers concur in the amendment of the section of Field Service Regulations referred to above to read as follows : — " Letters, not exceeding 4 oz. in weight, and post-cards emanating from British, Dominion, or colonial troops, from foreign attaches, and from civilians employed by or accompanying the army in the field, will be carried free. Parcels will be prepaid, and a fee will be charged for the registration of postal matter. All such matter, except registered correspondence, will be carried at the sender's risk." I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.Y.0., &c.

No. 41. New Zealand, Dominions No. 484. Sill, — Downing Street, 29tli October, 1926. With reference to my despatch, Dominions No. 210, of the 7th May, 1 have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, the accompanying copies of a statement issued by the Colonial Office on the 25th October regarding the restriction of rubber exports from Ceylon and Malaya. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.Y.0., &c.

Enclosure. Rubber-exports Restriction. As from the Ist November, 1926, the export of rubber from Ceylon and Malaya will be subject to the following regulations. It is not contemplated that any change shall be made in these regulations for a period of twelve months at least, but if it is decided at the end of that time to continue the temporary policy of restriction for a further period, any changes in the regulations which may then be considered desirable may be made. Regulations. 1. If the average price of rubber in London is less than Is. 9d. a pound but not less than Is. 3d. a pound during any quarter, the percentage of standard production which may be exported at the minimum rate of duty for the ensuing quarter will be reduced by 10. If, however, the reduction to be effected under this regulation is a reduction from a figure of 100 per cent, the reduced percentage for the e,nsuing quarter will be 80. 2. If such average price for any quarter is not less than Is. 9d. a pound but less than 2s. a pound there will be no change in the percentage for the ensuing quarter. If, however, in each of three consecutive quarters such average price is not less than Is. 9d. a pound the percentage for the ensuing quarter will be increased by 10.

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3. If such average price for any quarter is 2s. a pound or over, the percentage will be increased by 10 for the ensuing quarter. If, however, the increase to be effected under this regulation is an increase from a figure of 80 per cent, the increased percentage for the ensuing quarter will be 100. 4. If such average price is below Is. 3d. a pound in any quarter, the percentage will be reduced to 60 for the ensuing quarter. 5. If such average price is over 3s. a pound in any quarter, the percentage will be increased to 100 for the ensuing quarter. 6. In no case will the percentage be increased above a figure of 100 or decreased below a figure of 60, Colonial Office, 25th October, 1926.

No. 42. New Zealand, No. 231. Sir, — Downing Street, 30tlx October, 1926. With reference to the Duke of Devonshire's despatch, No. 225, of the 30th Octobe l :, 1923, and Lord Jellicoe's despatch, No. 13, of the Ist February, 1924, on the position of officers of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers resident in the Dominions, I have the honour to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers that the Army Council have given this matter further careful consideration and now propose that the following principles shall be adopted in respect of all officers of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers, or the Territorial Army Reserve, resident in a Dominion :— (а) All officers of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers or Territorial Army Reserve, temporarily resident in or domiciled in a Dominion are to be permitted to retain their commissions in the Regular Army Reserve of Officers or -the Territorial Army Reserve (except as provided for below). (б) In the case of a Dominion mobilizing its forces, or any part of them, and requiring the services of officers of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers or of the Territorial Army Reserve, the Council agree not to recall such officers as maybe required by the Dominion concerned, on the understanding that no officer is to be compelled to serve in a lower rank than he holds in the Regular Army Reserve of Officers or in the Territorial Army Reserve. (c) In return for (6) it is proposed that Dominion Governments should agree to release, when mobilizing, any particular officers of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers or Territorial Army Reserve whose services are specially required by the Council, and whose names have previously been communicated to them. (d) In the event of mobilization taking place in this country, but not in all the Dominions, the Council are to be empowered to exercise their right to recall all or any of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers or the Territorial Army Reserve in any Dominion which is not mobilizing its forces. (e) Officers of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers or the Territorial Army Reserve are to be permitted to hold commissions in the forces of the Dominion concurrently with their British Army commissions. (/) An officer of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers or the Territorial Army Reserve is to be permitted to enlist voluntarily in the ranks of the forces of a Dominion, the Army Council agreeing not to recall him for service with the Regular or Territorial Army if the forces of the Dominion concerned are mobilized, unless he is specially required and the Dominion has been previously notified that he will be required by the Council in the event of mobilization. During the services in the ranks of the forces of a Dominion of officers of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers and the Territorial Army Reserve of Officers their commissions are to be relinquished, but to be restored to them on termination of their period of enlistment, when they would also be reinstated in the Regular Army Reserve of Officers and the Territorial Army Reserve of Officers if still eligible. The issue of retired pay. to retired officers who, under Article 691, Pay Warrant, 1926, are officers of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers would be continued whilst they are so employed, except as provided in (g) below. (g) Any deduction of retired pay of officers who may be employed with the forces of a Dominion in the event of mobilization should conform to the Regulations

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in force for officers recalled for service with the British Army, and in no case should any service with any of the above forces count towards increase of pension, gratuity, or any other pecuniary advantages that might be given from British funds for service with the British Army. An officer of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers resident in a Dominion should be subject to deduction of his retired pay in a similar manner to an officer of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers resident in this country, in the event of a general mobilization of the Regular Army. If, however, his services are utilized by the Dominion Government for operations (including civil disturbances) within the territories of the Dominion, not involving mobilization of the Regular Army, no such deduction would be made. In the event of a retired officer who, under Article 691, Pay Warrant, 1926, is an officer of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers, and who may be, or has been, appointed to a commission in the forces of one of the Dominions, no deduction of his retired pay would operate by reason of his employment in peace time training with these forces. 2. I shall be glad to be informed whether your Ministers concur in the above proposals of the Army Council. 3. A similar despatch is being sent to the Governors-General of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Union of South Africa, and the Governor of Newfoundland. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Eergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

No. 43. New Zealand, Dominions No. 507. Sir,-- Downing Street, Bth November, 1926. I have the honour to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers that it has been suggested that a course of study for those concerned in the administration of prisons in the Dominions, colonies, &c., should be arranged every summer at the office of the Prison Commission. 2. It is understood from the Prison Commissioners that it is now the common practice for those concerned with the administration of prisons overseas to spend a part of leave taken in this coimtry in visiting prisons and institutions here. The majority of these officers come in the summer, but they arrive at the Prison Commission singly, and usually at short notice. It has been for some time the policy of the Commissioners to accord to each officer a personal interview of some length on his first arrival, to furnish him with official reports, to recommend other literature, and to arrange for him to be shown the working of several different establishments. These visitors are so frequent that the Governor cannot always accompany them through the prison or institution, and the task is delegated to a senior prison officer. Frequently, the officer returns for a second interview at the end of his tour. In this way a great deal of time is spent, but each officer coming singly does not receive in any systematic way the information which he requires from those best qualified to give it. 3. There is evident throughout the Empire an increased desire to understand the developments of prison treatment in this country, and to grasp the principles that underlie them, and the Commissioners anticipate an increase in the number of accredited visitors as time goes on. They are convinced that the needs of these officers can be more fitly met, with a less expenditure of time, if a course of study is provided analogous to that organized by the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police (see my despatch, Dominions No. 493, of the 18th November, 1925).

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4. The Commissioners have accordingly asked that the following arrangements which they propose to make may be brought to the notice of your Government (i) A course of study in problems of prison administration will be held during the first fortnight of July, 1927. A provisional programme is enclosed. (ii) Accredited representatives of the Governments of the different countries of the Empire will be eligible to attend the course. (iii) The cost for each representative will be £20, to be paid at the opening of the course. This amount will cover all rail and motor fares throughout the period, and all hotel expenses during the time spent on tour. The sum is considerably less than would be expended if the officers travelled to the establishments named in the programme. 5. The Commissioners ask that the names of officers who it is desired should attend the course may be furnished by the middle of April. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

Enclosure. Programme. Monday. —10.30, welcome by the Chairman; Business notices. 11.0, lecture by the Chairman of the Prison Commission, " The Development of the Prison System." 12.0, lecture by Dr. Norris, " The Young Offender." 2.30, meet at Wandsworth Prison; lectures by Sir W. Grant-Wilson and one of the women visitors. Tuesday. —10.30, lecture by Mr. Paterson, " The Borstal System." 11.45, lecture by Colonel Knox, " A Good Staff." 2.30, meet at Pentonville ; lecture by Major Benke on " The Troublesome Prisoner." Wednesday. —10.30, lecture by Mr. Lamb, " Classification of Prisoners." 11.45, lecture by Mr. Turner, " The First Offender." 2.30, meet at Wormwood Scrubs ; lecture by Colonel Bevis on P.A.S. work. Thursday. —10.30, lecture by Miss Barker, " The Girl Offender." 11.45, lecture by Mr. Clarke Hall, "On Remand and on Probation." 2.30, meet at Holloway; lecture by Dr. Morton on " A Woman's Prison." Friday. —10.30, lecture by Dr. Griffiths, " The Medical Care of Prisoners." 11.45, lecture by Dr. East, " Mental Questions." 2.0, visit to Feltham ; cricket match against the lads. Monday. —To Isle of Wight; visit to Parkhurst Prison Tuesday. —Visit to Camp Hill Prison ; depart for Portland. Wednesday. —Visit to Portland Borstal Institution and Dorchester Prison ; on to Birmingham. Thursday. —Visit to Birmingham Prison ; on to Leeds. Friday.—Visit to Leeds Prison and Wakefield Training Centre; return to London.

No. 44. New Zealand, Dominions No. 508. Sir, — Downing Street, Bth November, 1926. With reference to my despatch, Dominions No. 493, of the 18th November, 1925, regarding the holding of courses of instruction at New Scotland Yard for senior police officers of the Police Forces of the Dominions, India, and the Colonies I have the honour to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers that the Commissioner of Police proposes to continue these courses in 1927 on similar lines to those previously held, but, owing to representations that have been made, a winter course will be held in November, 1927, to suit the convenience of those officers who take winter leave. 2. The courses for 1927 will, therefore, be two summer courses of three weeks' duration each, to take place from about the middle of May to the middle of July, and a winter course of three weeks, commencing about the middle of November.

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3. The Commissioner of Police would be glad if the names of officers for any of these three courses could be submitted as early as possible, a note being made of those officers who should receive priority in selection, in view of the fact that generally more names are submitted than can be arranged. It should also be shown at which of the two summer courses it is desired that an officer should attend and whether, in the event of that course being already filled, he can attend the other. The Commissioner has asked that attention may be drawn to the fact that these classes are intended only for officers of senior rank. 4. As in previous years, the maximum number for each class will be twelve officers, and no course can be arranged unless seven names are received. The usual fee of ten guineas will be charged for each candidate, and the Commissioner asks that arrangements may be made for payment in advance, through the High Commissioner, when claimed by the Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.V.0., &c.

No. 45. New Zealand, No. 234. Sir, — Downing Street, Bth November, 1926. With reference to paragraph 3 of my despatch, No. 17, of the 22nd January, I have the honour to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers that for the year 1927 the number of reservists under Article 126, clause 1 (b), of the King's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions who must form part of the crew in order that a ship may be eligible to flv the Blue Ensign of His Majesty's Fleet will be eight. I have, &c., L. S. AMERY. Governor-General His Excellency General Sir C. FergUsson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D.5.0., M.Y.0., &c.

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