A.—No. la.

DESPATCHES EROM THE SECRETARY OE STATE

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I have to request that you will inform the petitioner that his Memorial has been laid before the Queen, but that I have been unable to advise Her Majesty to take any steps in relation to it. I observe, however, that the Bill to which he refers, and which appears to have been intended to legalize the provisional use by the Otago Government of a certain sum of £6,000 is alleged to have been withdrawn. I have, &c\, BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS. Governor Sir George Grey, K.C.B.

No. 20.' Copy of a DESPATCH from His Grace the Duke of Buckingham to Governor Sir George Grey, K.C.B. (No. 85.) Sir, —■ Downing Street, 28th December, 1867. With further reference to your Despatch No. 34, of the sth April, I have the honor to acquaint you that Her Majesty's Minister to the Argentine Republic at Buenos Ayres has reported to the Foreign Office that no Courts of Arbitration exist in that country. I have, &c, BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS. Governor Sir George Grev, K.C.B.

No. 21. Copy of a DESPATCH from His Grace the Duke of Buckingham to Governor Sir George Grey, K.C.B. (No. 87.) Sir, — Downing Street, 28th December, 1867. I have to acknowledge your Despatch No. 98, of the 17th September, enclosing a Memorandum from your Responsible Advisers respecting certain points connected with your own constitutional authority ; the withdrawal of Her Majesty's troops from New Zealand; the charges brought against the Colonial Government by Colonel "Weare.; the execution of a Native prisoner; and the termination of your own administration of the Colony. When your Despatch was written, you had not received my Despatch No. 49, of the Ist of August. It does not appear to me necessary or desirable that I should add anything to that Despatch beyond the request that you will inform your Responsible Advisers that I have carefully considered their Memorandum now received. I may observe, however, that the intimation given for your convenience at the end of your term of office, that your successor would very shortly be appointed, seems to have been mistaken for a premature recall. I have, &c, BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS.. Governor Sir George Grey, K.C.B.

No. 22. Copy of a DESPATCH from His Grace tlie Duke of Buckingham to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (No. 1.) Sir, — Downing Street, sth January, 1868. I haArc to acknowledge the receipt of Sir George Grey's Despatch No. 118, of 4th November, forwarding a Memorandum from his Ministers in which they report their intention to submit for his approval the necessary document for referring to the Native Lands Court all claims of Natives who have