B-No.3

No. 6.

MR. FOX TO THE SUPERINTENDENT OF HAWKE'S BAY.

Colonial Secretary's Office, Auckland, 27th November, 1861.

Sir,—

I have to acknowledge the receipt of your Honor's letter dated the Bth instant, requesting further information on the subject of the payment requested in my letter 20th August last, on account of interest and sinking fuud due, as between the Provinces of Hawke's Bay and Wellington. In reply I enclose for your Honor's information a copy of a Memorandum dated the 22nd instant, from the Assistant Treasurer on the points adverted to in your letter. As it does not appear probable that either of those two Provinces is inclined to adopt the account as prepared by the Assistant Treasurer, the Government considers it advisable that the whole question should remain in suspense until the next Session of the General Assembly. 1 have &c, His Honor the Superintendent, William Fox. Hawke's Bay.

Enclosure in No. 6.

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM BY THE ASSISTANT TREASURER.

In answer to the Ist question, £11,000 is a clerical error in copying the statement, the correct amount is £10,000, as will be seen in reference to the debtor side of the account.

2nd. In the Return C No. 1, of the Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, for 1860, ,£46,383, 2s. lid. is shown as the amount approximately, of the expenditure for Land Purchases in the Provinces of Wellington and Hawke's Bay to the 31st June, 1860. The total expenditure charged to the loan in this account when the public accounts were closed on the 30th September, 1800, was £46,914 19s. 3d. The two Provinces were therefore charged with interest on £49,000, the difference £2,085 being considered a very low estimate of the amounts held by the Sub-Treasurer to meet any demands which might be made upon them by the District Commissioners for Land Purchases, as also for the current Departmental expenditure, aud to cover advances not yet accounted for by Officers, which would be chargeable on the loan. It is also to be rememberd, that the Bank by agreement, charged interest for three months antecedent to the date at which payments were made on account of the loan by the Union Bank, Auckland, as an equivalent for the expense of remitting the money to the Colony. I have, &c, Treasury, 22nd November, 1861. R. F. Porter, Assistant Treasurer.

No. 7.

MR. FOX TO THE SUPERINTENDENT OF HAWKe's BAY.

Colonial Secretary's Office, Auckland, 7th January, 1862.

Sir,—

I have the honor to transmit for your information, the enclosed accounts between the General Govenment and the Province of Hawke's Bay and to request that your Honor will be good enough to cause the amount shown to be clue from the Province on separate account to 30th September last, namely, Five hundred and twenty six pounds six shillings and sixpence to be paid to the Sub-Treasurer, together with a sum of Two thousand five hundred pounds on account of the Interest and Sinking Fund on monies raised for Land Purchases in the Province of Hawke's Bay pending settlement of the account.

The balance due to the Province on surplus revenue account, viz., Four hundred and fifty pounds nineteen shillings and ninepence will, for the present, be retained on the same account. 1 have, &c, His Hon. the Superintendent of Hawke's Bay, William Fox. Napier.

No. 8.

THE SUPERINTENDENT OF HAWKE'S BAY, TO THE COLONIAL SECRETARY,

Superintendent's Office. Napier, January 18th, 1862.

Sir,— I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 7th instant transmitting accounts as per margin (in a different form to those previously furnished) between the General Government and

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THE PROVINCES OF WELLINGTON AND HAWKE'S BAY.