A.—No. la,

28

DESPATCHES FROM THE GOVERNOR OF NEW

To your Excellency, as Her Majesty's representative in the Colony of New Zealand, we offer our warmest congratulations ou this your first visit to Hokitika, a place which, so short a period of time as three years since, was, comparatively speaking, untrodden by the foot of the white man. It must, we are assured, be gratifying to your Excellency to find in so short a space of time that, independent of local institutions having been established for the government of the town, the extinction of fires, &c, the middle and working classes have established a branch of a society for the amelioration of the condition of their fellow men, and the relief and succour of widows and orphans of their society. We, your Excellency, look upon these facts as a proof of the improved and improving condition and habits of the classes we represent, and bringing before you this fact, in Great Britain alone, Mr. Gladstone has asserted that this and similar institutions have relieved the poor rates to the extent of half a million sterling per annum, we trust our exertions to still further relieve them, will not be looked upon as vain and worthless. Whilst again welcoming your Excellency to Hokitika, we trust you may long be spared to enjoy the honor of being the representative of Her Majesty in this part of her dominions. Signed and sealed, on behalf of the Loyal Hokitika and Boss Lodges, branches of the Canterbury district of the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Odd Fellows in New Zealand, the 25th of January, A.D. 1867. P. G. N. G. Sec.

No. 17. Copy of a DESPATCH from Governor Sir George Grey, K.C.8., to the Right Hon. the Earl of Carnarvon. (No. 17.) Christchurch, Canterbury, My Lord, — Ist Eebruary, 1867. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's Despatch No. 27, of the 17th September last, transmitting copies of a correspondence relative to the claim of a contractor, on account of losses said to have been sustained by him in consequence of a prohibition imposed at Taranaki on the importation into that Province of cattle from Australia, and, in compliance with your Lordship's directions, I herewith enclose a Report from my Responsible Advisers on this subject. I have, &c, The Right Hon. the Earl of Carnarvon. G. GREY. Enclosure in No. 17. Memorandum by Mr. Stafford. [The original of this Memorandum was sent to England, but no copy has been kept.] Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure in No. 17. Mr. Charles Brown to the Hon. E. W. Stafford. Sir, — New Plymouth, 18th January, 1867. I have the honor to offer the following statements and remarks on Commissary-General Jones's letter to the Secretary of State for War, copy of which was transmitted in your letter of the 27th December last. 1. The verbal intimations I gave Mr. Johnson, that the importation of cattle from the Australia Colonies was prohibited, and that no relaxation would be made, first on board the s.s. " Otago," on, I think, tho 23rd of May, 1864, and, subsequently in the same year, in the presence of Assistant Commissary-General Moore, and before Mr. Johnson had sent in any tender, dispose of his having entered into the contract as one specially contemplating importation from the Australian Colonies into this Province. 2. It would appear from Commissary-General Jones's letter, that when he entered into the contract with Mr. Johnson, the latter concealed from Commissary-General Jones that the above intimation had been given to him by me, that the ports of this Province were not open, as contemplated by Commissary-General Jones, and that Mr. Johnson raises claims on this want of knowledge of Commissary-General Jones. 3. The enclosed Gazette of this Province of the 17th January, 1862, containing the Proclamation prohibiting the importation of cattle from Australia, and which was never rescinded by me, disposes of the statement that, " when the tenders were invited and opened (1865-6) there was no prohibition against importation, &c." The enclosed copy of a letter from the Honourable Mr. Domett will further show that the Lieutenant-General was aware of the existence of the prohibition in 1863. The Proclamation of January, 1865, referred to by Mr. Jones, was proclaimed under a delegation of authority from His Excellency Governor Sir George Grey, so as to continue and carry on, if necessary, what had been proclaimed in 1862 under the delegated authority of His Excellency Governor Colonel Gore Browne. 4. With reference to the " show of concession made by me when the first cargo arrived from Aus-