A.—No. 1a

4

DESPATCHES EROM THE SECRETARY OE STATE

tions, without any reference to myself, and an expenditure of Imperial funds incurred before I could have power to control it; for this reason it is, in my opinion, absolutely necessary that the command of all detachments of Her Majesty's Troops in these Colonies should be held by officers who are directly responsible to the General Officer Commanding. In explanation of the circumstances under which temporary rank has been given, I beg to observe, as regards the first case, that, in December, 1866, there was stationed at Tauranga a force composed of 508 men l-12th Regiment, and 162 Militiamen, the latter under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Philip Harington, a half-pay Captain of Marines, from which corps he retired on half-pay in 1863, about twelve months after obtaining the rank of Captain ; he is now in receipt of half-pay of the Royal Marines, and also of pay as Lieutenant-Colonel in the Local Militia. Colonel Hamilton, l-12th Regiment, having obtained leave to Auckland, on urgent private affairs, I appointed the next senior officer of the regiment (Captain Sillery), to the temporary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, for the purposes of command. Captain Sillery is an officer who has served nearly twelve years on full pay as a Captain, in which rank he is senior to Lieutenant-Colonel Harington, by more than seven years, therefore, in the appointment of Captain Sillery to the command of the Tauranga District, there could have been nothing humiliating to Lieutenant-Colonel Harington. The second case refers to Major Rocke, to whom I gave temporary rank to prevent his being subordinate to Lieutenant-Colonel Gorton (an Officer of Militia), in the Whanganui District. This gentleman was an officer in Her Majesty's Service, and retired by the sale of his commission in 1863, his total service did not amount to eight years, and of that barely three years as a Captain. I cannot imagine that he could have any reason to feel humiliated in serving under Major Eoeke —an experienced officer, who has been in command of the 2-18th Regiment for the last two years. The third case, when I appointed Captain Noblett, 2-18th Regiment, local Major, was on sending a detachment of seventy men of his own Corps, at the request of the Governor, to Turu-Turu-Mokai, to protect Surveyors. This officer has served on full pay for twelve years. Major McDonnell, of the Local Forces, is an officer I certainly found most useful in command of Natives, with whose manners, customs, and language he appears to be well acquainted ; he has, however, never been in Her Majesty's Service, and, I believe, in that of the Colony only four years, during which time he has been chiefly employed with Natives, so that, in my opinion, there was nothing humiliating in his being under the command of an officer of Captain Noblett's standing. These facts will, I trust, show that the use I have made of the power of giving temporary local rank has not been indiscriminate —that the appointments I have temporarily made have been necessary, and that from the rank and length of service of the officers who have been selected for temporary rank the Colonial Officers to whom they were made senior had no grounds whatever to feel humiliated. 1 have, &c, T. Chute, The Under Secretary of State, War Office, London. Mai or-General.

No. 8. Copy of a DESPATCH from His Grace the Duke of Buckingham to Governor Sir George Grey, K.C.B. (No. 67.) Sir,— Downing Street, 26th October, 1867. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 77, of the 7th of August last, forwarding a copy of a correspondence which had taken place between the Officer commanding the Troops in New Zealand and yourself relative to the distribution of the 18th Regiment in the Colony. I have informed the Secretary of State for War that, notwithstanding the previous correspondence which had passed between General Chute and yourself it appears to me that it was due to you as Governor, and only just and fair to the Administration, that you should have been advised of the intended distribution of the regiment, at least simultaneously with the orders issued on the subject to the transport officer. I have &c. BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS. Governor Sir George Grey, K.C.B.

No. 9. Copt of a DESPATCH from His Grace the Duke of Buckingham to Governor Sir George Grey, K.C.B. No. 68. Sir, — Downing Street, 6th November, 1867. I have to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 31, of 4th April, enclosing a Memorandum from your Responsible Advisers on the subject of