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No. 24. The Hon. J. Vogel to the Agent-General. (No. 2GG.) Sic, — General Government Offices, Christchurch, Ist December, 1873. I have the honor to forward to you the attached copy of a memorandum by the Commissioners of Audit. I have to request that you will inform me whether you advise the retention of part of tho passage money of emigrants, as suggested by the Commissioners. I have, &c, Julius Vogel. The Agent-General for New Zealand, London.

Enclosure in No. 2i<. Memorandum for the Hon. the Minister for Immigration. (No. 112.) The Commissioners of Audit feel it their duty to call the attention of the Government to the nature of the contracts mado by the Agent-General with shipping firms in England, by which the whole of the passage money of immigrants is paid on the sailing of the vessel. It has been the usual custom, both in this Colony and by Her Majesty's Commissioners, to retain the half of the passage money until certificates have been received of the completion of the charterparty ; and it is obvious that, by the payment of the whole money, when the contract is then hardly commenced by the contractors, the principal means for enforcing a strict compliance with the terms of the contract are abandoned. James E. PitzGerald, 28th November, 1873. Commissioner of Audit.

No. 25. The Hon. J. Vogel to the Agent-General. (No. 289.) Sis, —■ General Government Offices, Dunedin, 22nd December, 1873. My attention has been called to certain difficulties which arise in connection with the transmission of emigrants from Glasgow to Otago, on account of payments being made under a contract between the Agent of the Provincial Government of Otago and Messrs. Patrick Henderson and Co. I am very glad to learn from a letter recently written by Mr. Auld to the Superintendent of Otago, that you and Mr. Auld are working in thorough harmony ; and I would suggest whether you could not arrange that the contract with Messrs. Patrick Henderson and Co. should be taken up by yourself, so that the payments could be properly authorized by you. I have not studied the contract, and therefore I do not commit myself to an expression of opinion concerning it beyond this, that it seems to be considered by the Provincial Government to be satisfactory. If the contract meets with your approval, I would suggest to you to adopt it; or, if you think its terms should bo altered, that you should enter into negotiations for the purpose. If you are of opinion that it should continue to be worked in the same way as at present, I would ask you to adopt some plan by which the payments which are made, or your approval of payments to be made, may be conveyed to the Colony in a manner which will satisfy the Commissioners of Audit that the expenditure is for a public service properly approved of. I have also to ask you to take care that the fullest information with respect to these shipments is sent direct to the Immigration Department in Wellington, as is done in other cases. Thus we should know the names of the emigrants despatched, the terms of their despatch, the date of sailing, the conditions as to gratuities, and all other particulars, precisely as though Messrs. Henderson's ships were sailing from London under engagements made with you. I have, &c, The Agent-General for New Zealand, London. Julitjs Vogel.

No. 2G. The Hon. J. Yooel to the Agent- General. (No. 291.) Srit, —■ General Government Offices, Duncdin, 24th December, 1873. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of October 31st, enclosing copy of a telegram from me, which reached you on 22nd October. I am disappointed in finding that, although nine days elapsed between the receipt of the telegram and the date of your letter, you do not make any remarks respecting any one of the important matters to which the telegram referred. It is true that I have received telegrams from you as to one or two of the matters in question. Por instance, I am aware that an arrangement has been made to send emigrants by one of the steamers for the Californian service; but by my telegram you were instructed to endeavour to charter two steamers for emigrants, and I am up to this time totally uninformed as to whether you have taken any steps towards sending a steamer to Lyttelton, in addition to the one engaged for Port Chalmers.