A.—lA.

1876. NEW ZEALAND.

SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. (FURTHER PAPERS RELATING TO.)

Presented to both Souses of the General Assembly by Command of Sis Excellency. No. 1. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. the Earl of Carnarvon to Governor the Most Hon. the Marquis of Normanby. (Circular.) My Lord, — Downing Street, 9th July, 1875. In the autumn of last year, and in the course of a correspondence with reference to the cession of the Fiji Islands, I suggested in a despatch addressed to the Governor of New South Wales, of which copies were subsequently sent to the Governors of Victoria, New Zealand, and Queensland, that each of these four colonies, being from various reasons specially interested in the establishment of the new colony, should contribute a small annual sum, not to exceed in any case £4,000, towards the probable deficiency in the revenue. 2. Even before the lamentable outbreak of disease which has recently ravaged the islands, sufficient proof had been afforded that the anticipations of revenue were not likely to be realized; and the last return which I have received shows the collections from the 11th of October to the 31st of December, 1874, to fall short by £1,514 135., or considerably less than the moderate expenditure of the same period. The late calamity, it is needless to say, has of course seriously crippled the necessarily slender financial resources of the young colony. 3. Her Majesty's Government has now made such provision as seems necessary for enabling the Colony of Eiji to contend with what I trust may be only a limited period of financial difficulty, and it is not my object to renew in this despatch the suggestion that any of the colonies should co-operate in the way contemplated by me last year. But I think it due to myself, and indeed to the Colonial Governments also (all of whom readily entered upon the consideration of the question, although none of them were satisfied that they could confidently make any recommendation to their Parliaments), that I should take some notice of the replies which have been made, more especially as the principle on which I proceeded would seem not to have been sufficiently explained or understood. 4. The circumstances under which I considered that Her Majesty's Government might be justified in accepting a money contribution from the Australian colonies were these : At their strong and repeated instance, and for reasons on which I need not now dwell, it had been decided to accept the cession of Eiji, and to establish there a British Government, which, though its presence must necessarily affect in many ways the neighbouring colonies, it was not thought desirable to place in special connection with, or under the political influence of, any one of them. 5. It became, therefore, necessary to provide a sufficient civil staff for the proper administration of Eiji as a separate Crown colony; and having been called