D.—3

28

Enclosure 8 in No. 31. The Secretary. Agent-General's Department, to Mr. G. V. Stewart. Sir, — 7, Westminster Chambers, London, S.W., 25th March, 1878. I have received directions from the Agent-General to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 20th instant. I have, &c, j Walter Kennaway, Geo. Vesey Stewart, Esq. Secretary to the Department.

No. 32. The Hon. the Minister for Immigration to the Agent-General. Sic, — Immigration Office, Wellington, New Zealand, 16th May, 1878. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 27th March, No. 271, transmitting copies of further correspondence which has taken place respecting the Katikati Special Settlement, and to thank you for the same. I have, &c, The Agent-General for New Zealand, London. J. Macandrew.

No. 33. The Commissioner of Crown Lands, Auckland, to the Under Secretary for Immigration, Wellington. Sir,— Crown Lands Office, Auckland, 10th July, 1878. I have the honor to forward, for the information of the Hon. the Minister for Lands, the enclosed copy of further correspondence that has passed between the A.gent-General, London, and Mr. George Vesey Stew:art, in reference to the special settlement lately organized by the latter gentleman in Ireland. I have, &c, The Hnder Secretary for Crown Lands, D. A. Tole, Wellington. Commissioner of Crown Lands.

Enclosure in No. 33. Mr. G. V. Stewart to the Chairman of the Waste Lands Board, Auckland. Sir,— Martray House, Ballygawley, 21st March, 1878. I have the honor to enclose you copies of further and, I trust, final correspondence with the Agent-General for New Zealand.* The correspondence commenced in the end of September last, and we are now at the same point where we started, viz., that the Agent-General has refused to give me certificates for three gentlemen who have already left for Katikati, and has further refused even to supply me with a list of the Local Agents for the Government of New Zealand in this country, and which, if given, would considerably expedite my movements in filling up my special ship from Belfast with desirable emigrants outside my party. I have, in consequence, been obliged to appoint my own agents, to create a fresh current of emigration to contend with the counter current working against me, as T find that the Government offices at Hope Street, Edinburgh, and other places under the influence of 7, Westminster Chambers, decline the slightest assistance or even information. I appeal to your Board, as gentlemen of business habits, if I w ras not justified in declining to sign an agreement in the absence of any map or even tracing. I have received no letter from my surveyor, Mr. Patrick, in the matter, and had no means of ascertaining if tile back boundary line of No. 2 settlement was made as marked out by myself. lam awrare that the original back boundary, as laid out by Government, contains about 1,500 acres of useless bust au(i precipitous land. Mr. Patrick and I made considerable alterations in this boundary, and, as my people are buying this land upon the faith of my honor, I do feel reluctant to run the risk of being bound to take land that I had previously rejected. Ido not and will not ask or desire anything but what is right, reasonable, and honorable: I have equal confidence in the honor and integrity of your Board, and will sign the agreement upom my arrival in Auckland, on receiving the report of my surveyor that the boundaries are correct and in accordance with your letters of April, 1877. However, you will be pleased to hear that I have chartered the magnificent clipper " Lady Jocelyn " from Messrs. Shaw, Savill, and Co., for the conveyance of my party. W Te leave Belfast on 17th May, and hope to reach Auckland by the first week in August. I have, &c, D. A. Tole, Esq., Chairmau, Waste Lands Board, Geo. Vesey Stewart. Auckland. * Correspondence forwarded the same as Enclosure 6 in No. 28, and Enclosures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 in Wo. 31.