A.—2a.

20

No. 25. " An Act to enable tlie Ashburton County Council to construct Works for supplying Water for the use of tlie Ratepayers of that part of the County of Asliburlon which lies between the Ashbburton and Rakaia Rivers ;" No. 26. "An Act to increase tho Powers of the Timaru Harbour Board ;" No. 27. " An Act to enable the Municipal Corporation of Timaru to Raise a Loan of Sixty Thousand Pounds for the purpose of constructing Waterworks for supplying the Borough of Timaru with Water ;" No. 28. " An Act to amend ' The Otago Roads Ordinance, 1871;' " No. 29. "An Act to amend ' The Otago University Site Exchange Act, 1875,' and 'The Otago University Act, 1878;' " No. 30. "An Act to amend ' The Oamaru Harbour Board Ordinance Amendment Act, 1878 ;' " No. 31. "An Act to authorize the Municipal Council of the Incorporated Town of Oamaru to raise Money for the purpose of completing the Waterworks for the Supply of the Town with Water :" No. 32. "An Act to alter and amend the Boundaries of the Alexandra Corporation Reserve;" No. 33. "An Act to constitute a Board of Trustees, and to vest in it certain Public Reserves near Queenstown, in tlie Provincial District of Otago, for the purposes of a Racecourse ;" No. 34. "An Act to vest in Trustees certain Public Reserves at Kaitangata aud Wangaloa, in the Provincial District of Otago, for the purposes of an Athenaeum at the aforesaid places respectively ;" No. 35. "An Act to vest certain Land in the Bluff Harbour Board, in trust for the use and benefit of the Bluff Harbour ;" No. 36. " An Act to vest in the New River Harbour Board a certain Reserve in tlie Campbelltown Hundred;" No. 37. " An Act to vest in the Chairman, Councillors, and

Inhabitants of the Southland County the Oreti Bridge and Tolls, and tho Ferry Reserves ;" No. 38. "An Act to provide for the Management of the Drill-shed Reserve at Riverton, in the Provincial District of Otago ;" No. 39. " An Act to grant certain Special Powers to the Governor to issue Crown Grants, and to enable him to carry out certain Contracts and Promises." Private Acts. No. 1. "An Act to enable the New Plymouth Gas Company (Limited) to supply the Town of New Plymouth and Suburbs with Gas ;" No. 2. "An Act lo regulate the Temporal Affairs of the Religious Society denominated Primitive Methodists ;" No. 3. " An Act to give additional Powers to the Corporation of the Borough of Napier to enable them to recover the Moneys expended in abating tho Swamp Nuisance, and to extend ' The Napier Swamp Nuisance Act, 1875,' and for other purposes ;" No. 4. " An Act for better denning the Trusts and Purposes upon which certain lands are held by tho Church Property Trustees within the Diocese of Christchurch, and for the Conveyance to and vesting in the said Church Property Trustees of certain other Lands, and for the better Regulation and Management of all Lands now or hereafter to ho vested in the said Trustees ;" No. 5. "An Act to give effect in this Colony to the Alteration of the name of ' The Liverpool and London Fire and Life Insurance Company,' and to enable ' The Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company ' to sue and be sued in the Name of the Company, and for other purposes connected therewith ;" No. 6. "An Act to authorize tho Reclamation of Land in the Harbour of Port Nicholson." I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH.

Governor Sir Hercules Eobinson, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 6. Copy of a DESPATCH from tbe Eight Hon. Sir M. E. Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. Sir, — Downing Street, 22nd April, 1880. I have the honor to transmit to you, for publication in the colony under your Government, a copy of an agreement between the Governments of Great Britain and Germany, for the mutual surrender of merchant seamen deserters, together with a copy of the order of the Queen in Council of the 18th of March giving effect to the agreement. I have, &c, M. E. HICKS BEACH. The Officer administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure in No. 6. At the Court at Windsor, the eighteenth day of March, 1880. Present: The Queen's Most Excellbnt Majesty in Council. Wheeeas by " The Foreign Deserters Act, 1852," it is provided that, whenever it is made to appear to Her Majesty that due facilities are or will be given for recovering and apprehending seamen who desert from British merchant ships in the territories of any foreign Power, Her Majesty may, hy Order in Council stating that such facilities are or will be given, declare that seamen, not being slaves, who desert from merchant ships belonging to a subject of such Power when within Her Majesty's dominions, shall be liable to be apprehended and carried on board their respective ships, and may limit the operation of such Order, and may render the operation thereof subject to such conditions and qualifications (if any) as may be deemed expedient: And whereas it hath been made to appear to Her Majesty that due facilities for recovering and apprehending seamen (not being German subjects) who desert from British merchant ships in the territories belonging to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Germany will be given, under an agreement between the Governments of Great Britain and Germany, signed at London on the sth November, 1879 : Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by virtue of the powers vested in her by the said " Foreign Deserters Act, 1852," and by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, is pleased to order and declare, and it is