21

A.—2a.

hereby ordered and declared, that, from and after the publication hereof in the London Gazette, seamen, not being slaves (and not being British subjects), who desert from merchants ships belonging to subjects of the Emperor of Germany within Her Majesty's dominions, shall be liable to be apprehended and carried on board their respective ships ; provided always that, if any such deserter has committed any crime in Her Majesty's dominions, he may be detained until he has been tried by a competent Court, and until his sentence (if any) has been fully carried into effect. And 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 further pleased to order and declare that, upon and after the publication hereof in the London Gazette, the Order in Council made by virtue of the said Act on the 16th day of October, 1852, and published in the London Gazette on the 26th day of October, 1852, so far as it relates to seamen who desert from merchant ships belonging to citizens of the Free Hanseatic Cities of Lubeek, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the Order in Council relating to seamen who desert from the merchant ships belonging to subjects of the King of Prussia, made by virtue of the said Act on the 16th day of October, 1852, and published in the London Gazette on the 26th day of October, 1852, and the Order in Council relating to seamen who desert from the merchant ships belonging to subjects of the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, made by virtue of the said Act on the 13th day of June, 1853, and published in the London Gazette on the 14th day of June, 1853, and the Order in Council relating to seamen who desert from the merchant ships belonging to subjects of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, made by virtue of the said Act on the 9th day of March, 1854, and published in the London Gazette on the 10th day of March, 1854, and the Order in Council relating to seamen who desert from the merchant ships belonging to subjects of the King of Hanover, made by virtue of the said Act on the Bth day of June, 1854, and published in the London Gazette on the 13th day of June, 1854, shall be revoked, and the same are hereby revoked accordingly. And the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and the Secretary of State for India in Council, are to give the necessary directions herein accordingly. C. L. Peel.

Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure in No. 6. Agreement between the Governments of Great Britain and Germany relative to Merchant Seamen Deserters. —Signed at London, sth November, 1879. The Government of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, aud the Government of His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, being desirous, for the benefit of the commerce of the two countries, to facilitate the discovery, apprehension, and surrender of seamen who may desert from merchant vessels of either country, on the basis of a full and entire reciprocity, have agreed as follows :— It is mutually agreed that if any seamen or apprentices, not being slaves, should desert from any ship belonging to a subject of either of the contracting parties, within any port in the territories or in the possessions or colonies of the other contracting party, the authorities of such port and territory, possession, or colony, shall be bound to give every assistance in their power for the apprehension and sending on board of such deserters, on application to that effect being made to them by the consul of the country to which the ship of the deserter may belong, or by the deputy or representative of the consul. It is understood that the preceding stipulations shall not apply to subjects of the country where the desertion shall take place. Each of the two high contracting parties reserves to itself the right of terminating this agreement at any time, on giving to the other a year's notice of its wish to that effect. In witness whereof the undersigned have signed the present agreement, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms. Done at London, in duplicate, the fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine. (1.5.) Salisbury. (L.S.) MrNSTER.

No. 7. Copy of a DESPATCH from the Eight Hon. Sir M. E. Hicks Beach to the Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. (Circular.) Sir,— Downing Street, 27th April, 1880. I have been in communication with the Eegistrar-General respecting the decennial census which it is proposed to take in this country in the year 1881, and I am of opinion that it is most important that, as in 1871, an enumeration of the people throughout the colonies should be made simultaneously with that of the United Kingdom, so as to show the numbers present in each place at midnight on the 3rd of April, 1881, the schedules being collected by the enumerators on Monday, the 4th of April, and that uniformity as regards the particulars required should, as far as practicable, be observed in this great undertaking. If the necessary arrangements are made, it will be practicable for the Eegistrar-General to include