A.—No. 1b

" prisoners were sent to the Chatham Islands for two years. They behaved ad- " mirably while there, but finding that they were not released when the time " expired, they made their escape ; and it must always be remembered that, Avith " the exception of one person who lost his life in the scuffle, they inflicted no "injury upon anybody. When they landed, hoAvever, the Governor, though he " made no military preparations, insisted on endeavouring to recapture the "prisoners; and, as the House knew, the result of that attempt was lamentable. " At the other side of the Island, in the course of the campaign under General " Chute, some horses had been taken away from the Maoris. They were retaken "by the Natives, tAvo of whom Avere seized as hostages for their return. The " result was an encounter, in which tAvo or three people lost their lives ; and he " believed that the rising upon the East Coast was mainly owing to that circum- " stance." 2. The Times expressly states that Mr. Monsell Avas "indistinctly heard" on this occasion; and I feel assured (as I have stated to all the persons here who have drawn my attention to his speech) that the Right Honorable gentleman was very incorrectly reported. lam fully aware, moreover (with reference to the personal reflections cast on me in the report), that it must be often the fate of Constitutional rulers everywhere, and especially of the Representatives of the Queen in Colonies possessing Parliamentary Government, to see many things done which they would have preferred, in the interest of the public service, to see done otherwise, and to be blamed for the actions of their Responsible AdAdsers, or of other men, over which actions they had no practical control, and of Avhich, indeed, they frequently had no knowledge. Still, as attacks on the Governor and on the Ministers of NeAV Zealand may very probably be founded hereafter on the published report of a speech delivered by so high a functionary as the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, I have consented, from a desire to do justice to others rather than to myself, to place the following observations on official record, by respectfully submitting them to your Lordship : —■ (A.) The report makes Mr. Monsell say that his " information Avas not official." It aaIH be seen that it is inconsistent, in many points, Avith the information contained in the official documents forwarded Avith my Despatches on the subjects in question, especially with my Despatches Nos. 69, 82, and 83 of 1869, Avritten in reply to your Lordship's Despatch No. 30, of the 26th Eebruary ultimo. (B.) With regard to the statement in the report that " the Governor, though " he had made no military preparations, insisted on endeavouring to recapture the prisoners" I need scarely remind your Lordship that, during the last seven years, the Governor of Ncav Zealand could neither take personal action nor incur personal responsibility in such matters, seeing that the management of Native affairs, and consequently of the Colonial forces, Avas transferred, so far back as in 1862, and Avith the express sanction and approval of the Imperial GoA rernment, from the Governor to the Colonial Ministers for the time being. It will be remembered, moreover, that when the Hauhaus made their escape from the Chatham Islands, I had been for a very short period in this Colony, so that, even if I had possessed the Constitutional power or the necessary funds, I had not had the time to "make military preparations;" further, that the supporters of the so-called " self-reliance policy" never made any provision for the maintenance of any sufficient or effective local force to take the place of the Queen's troops ; indeed that, in the Avords of the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Sir David Monro), " Nothing, in fact, has been done by the Parliament in the direction of " self-reliance, beyond the very inexpensive proceeding of passing the resolutions "in its favour." Consequently the only permanent or moveable force which I found maintained by this Colony on my assumption of office, consisted of about five hundred (500) ill-organized " armed constables." Again, it need hardly be repeated that neither my predecessor Sir George Grey (so far as can be ascertained from official records), nor I was ever consulted about the treatment or disposal of the Hauhaus sent to the Chatham Islands three years ago, though I considered it to be my duty, very soon after my arrival here, to institute inquiries and to report officially on the subject to the Secretary of State. Einally, it seems an act

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DESPATCHES EROM THE SECRETARY OE STATE