B.—No. 7.

6

REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OE

4. My objection, therefore, to section 10 of the Public Debts Sinking Funds Act, as stated in January last, remains at present not only undiminished, but it is confirmed by what has since occurred. That section, as Earl Granville will see, was expressly directed against Canterbury and its Agents here, and against them only ; for it now appears that there are no other persons than ourselves holding any Provincial sinking funds who are not beyond " the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of New Zealand;" and if this be not sufficient proof of its object, I may add that I know a leading member of the then New Zealand Ministry has stated that that section was inserted to induce the Provincial Government of Canterbury to put a pressure on its Agents here in this matter. I am happy to state that no such pressure has been attempted, nor would it have been successful had the attempt been made. The Provincial Council of Canterbury, though naturally unwilling to place itself in the meantime in opposition to the General Government by formally requesting the disallowance of the Act, was, with the single exception of Mr. Hall, the author of the Act, unanimous, as Mr. Stafford knows, in deprecating its injustice, and on the same grounds which I have already had the honor of submitting to Earl Granville. 5. There are many points in Mr. Stafford's Memorandum on which I might be tempted to comment, and various assertions which I think erroneous, though I will not imitate his curt incivility by denouncing them as " untrue." I wish, however, to disclaim any imputation on the motives of the Colonial Government, though I wrote strongly as to their conduct, unless it be considered an imputation to state that the " New Zealand Government was in want of money," and that it was " desirable they should obtain as much money as they could get." If Mr. Stafford says this was not so, lam glad to acknowledge I was mistaken. 6. I never desired or expected that the opinion of any " gentleman in London " should override the deliberate legislation of the New Zealand Parliament in matters affecting the Colony only. By all means let all " questions connected (merely) with the financial relations of the General and Provincial Governments "be finally determined by those in whose hands the Constitution has placed them. In these, as in other larger matters, I should, if I may be permitted to express an opinion, deprecate Imperial interference. My protest against the Sinking Funds Act of 1868, on behalf of the bondholders and the trustees in England, remains unaltered and unshaken. As regards the Province of Canterbury, the only Province on whose behalf I had any right to interfere, and to which Province alone I confined my observations, I would say only that my letter to Earl Granville was in this respect intended mainly to give the Province time to speak for itself. I have little doubt that the General Assembly, prorogued on tho 20th October (the day the Act passed) till the Ist of June, has by this time had the question again under consideration, and it may be the result of their deliberations may render unnecessary the disallowance of the Act. If not, I respectfully pray that the assent of the Crown to sections 10, 16, and 18 may be withheld. I have, &c, Sir Francis E. Sandford, Colonial Office. H. S. Selfe.

No. 5. The Hon. the Colonial Teeasueee to Mr. J. E. FitzGeeald. Sic,— Treasury, Wellington, 25th March, 1870. I have the honor to inform you that, in accordance with the recommendation of His Honor the Superintendent of Canterbury, the Government will at once take steps to exempt, under the second section of " The Public Debts Sinking Funds Act Amendment Act, 1869," the loans of that Province from the management of the Commissioners of the Public Debts Sinking Funds. I have, &c, The Chairman of the Commissioners of the Julius Vogel. Public Debts Sinking Funds.

No. 6. Mr. J. E. FitzGeeald to Mr. H. S. Selee. Sic,— Government Buildings, Wellington, 29th March, 1870. Eeferring to former correspondence with you on the subject of handing over to the Commissioners appointed by " The Public Debts Sinking Funds Act, 1868," the whole of the cash securities held by you and your co-trustees on account of the sinking funds of the Canterbury Loans, I have now r the honor to inform you that on the 25th instant the Commissioners received intimation from the Government that steps would at once be taken, under the second section of " The Public Debts Sinking Funds Act Amendment Act, 1869," to exempt from the management of the Commissioners the sinking funds of the loans of the Province of Canterbury. I have, &c, H. Selfe Selfe, Esq., James Edwaed FitzGeeald. 15, St. George's Square, London.

No. 7. Copy of Oedee in Council published in New Zealand Gazette, No. 19, 12th April, 1870. G. F. Bowen, Governor. OEDEE IN COUNCIL. At Wellington, this twenty-eighth day of March, 1870. Present: The Honorable William Fox, the Premier, Presiding, and Members of the Executive Council. Whebeas by the second section of " The Public Debts Sinking Funds Act Amendment Act, 1869," it is enacted that if it shall appear to the Governor expedient that the sinking fund created for the pay-