E.—2

1875. NEW ZEAL AN D.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH AGENT-GENERAL, LONDON. LETTERS IN REPLY TO MEMORANDA FROM THE HON. THE MINISTER FOR PUBLIC WORKS.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by command of His Excellency.

[Note. —The formal letters advising the execution of the orders for railway material and rolling stock have been omitted ; but the orders forwarded to and shipments advised by the Agent-Ocncral have, for convenience, been scheduled and inserted at the end of Parliamentary Paper E.—l.]

No. 1. The Agent-Geneeal to the Hon. the Colonial Seceetaey. 7, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., Sie,— 9th July, 1874. With reference to the Hon. the Minister for Public Works' Memorandum No. 25-74, of the Bth April, 1874, I regret that any inconvenience should have arisen to the Government from not receiving the invoices and bills of lading of materials shipped so early as they could wish. I may observe that every endeavour is made to forward the invoices and bills of lading by the mail following their receipt, but in some instances this is prevented by the invoices first rendered by the manufacturers having to be re-made, owing to the division and subdivision of the material after it has left the works, to meet the requirements of the emigrant ships ; and on the other hand, from the bills of lading not being received iu time to enable the Engineer to certify the invoices for the outgoing mail. With respect to the duplicate invoices and bills of lading being forwarded in the monthly box to the Government by the mail via Southampton and Suez, this has been done to save the postage upon them, but in future they shall be forwarded as letters by the first outgoing mail. I have, Ac, I. E. Featheeston, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington, N.Z. Agent-General.

No. 2. The Agent-Geneeal to the Hon. the Colonial Seceetaey. 7, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., Sie, — 26th September, 1874. . With reference to the Hon. the Minister for Public Works' Memorandum No. 37-74, of the sth June, 1874, enclosing a report of the Engineer at Napier on a portion of the material landed ex " Queen of the North," I have the honor to enclose a copy of a letter received from Mr. G. B. Bruce, the Consulting Engineer (in which he encloses a copy of a letter received by him from Messrs. Shaw, Johnson, and Eeay), in reply to the communication I made to him respecting the material complained of. I duly note the various claims made for short delivery of railway materials referred to by the Hon. the Minister for Public Works, which I shall uot fail to recover from the contractors, and advise the same, when recovered, as he requests. With reference to tbe claims made upon Messrs. Hopper, Badeliffe, and Co., I may state that that firm suspended payment some time ago, and I fear there may be a difficulty in recovering the claim due from them. I have, Ac, I. E. Featheeston, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington, N.Z. Agent-General. I—E. 2.