A.—sb

8

my department. The letter does not deal with your case beyond instructing me to make the reduction, because of Parliament having reduced the aggregate vote. Under these circumstances lam left no option but to make the reduction indicated, and I beg, with great regret, to inform you that it must commence after the end of the year, say from Ist January, 1881. Yours, &c, W Kennaway, Esq. Julius Vogel.

Enclosure 2 in No. 12. Mr. Kennawat to the Agent-Geneeal. Sie, — 7, Westminster Chambers, London, S.W., 20th November, 1880. Eeferring to your letter in which you inform me that the letter concerning the reductions which the Government have directed shall be made in this department does not deal with my case, beyond instructing you to make reductions because of Parliament having reduced the aggregate vote, and that therefore you have no option but to commence the reduction in my salary—namely, from £800 to £600 per annum after the end of this year —I ask permission to lay before you a few remarks which, in justness to myself and to the office I hold, I feel called upon to make, and which I beg you will lay before the Government with such recommendation as you may think fit to make, with a view to their reconsidering the matter. It is not for me, as an officer of the Government, to comment on the proceedings in Parliament, and I do not therefore make any observation with respect to the sole reason given for the exceptional manner in which the question of my salary has been dealt with, and I use the word " exceptional" inasmuch as, while the general reduction in the salaries of those holding appointment under the Government has been fixed at 10 per cent., the rate of reduction as regards my salary is no less than 25 per cent. As is well known to you, the appointment of Secretary to this department was spontaneously offered to me, when at the same time I declined to accept what appeared to me the less permanent one of Emigration Officer in this country I should not have accepted the appointment at a less salary than £800 per annum, and any reduction such as I now have notice of will, I need hardly say, bear with exceptional harshness on one who has, on the strength of receiving the larger amount, transferred his household from New Zealand to this country (involving a large amount of special expenditure out of his own private means), and where his time is entirely occupied in the duties of the office to which he has been appointed. I have every reason to believe that the manner in which I have performed the duties of my office has met with approval. I have no written testimonial to show from the late Dr. Peatherston, the Agent-General, under whose directions I first had the general supervision of this department; but I have in my possession an unofficial letter, written by that gentleman at the time of his last illness, in which, referring to an important matter, he desires me " not to trouble myself with consulting him ; that whatever arrangements I may make he would approve and confirm." Sir William Tyrone Power, who held the office of Agent-General after Dr. Eeatherston, ou his retiring, wrote to me that " he wished to return me his best thanks for the cordial and able support which he had received from me in discharging the duties of Agent-General." I would also venture to remind you, further, that on several occasions you have been so good, in letters some of which have been printed, as to express your satisfaction at the manner in which I have performed the duties of my office, both generally and on special occasions. Speaking generally, I feel that I can safely assert that the officers of the New Zealand Government in this country, far from having any advantages over officers in the same service in the colony, are subjected to many disadvantages. (1.) They have Imperial taxation to meet, and this has of late years been materially increased. Eor instance, since I have been in England, the income-tax has been increased from twopence in the pound to sixpence, and the Queen's taxes have been proportionately increased. In the case of the officers attached to the Australian Agent-General's Departments, the Imperial income-tax is paid by the Government which employs them; but the officers of this department have not been granted a similar advantage. (2.) The officers of this department have to live at a distance from the office, involving the cost of travelling to and fro by rail, &c., and the leaving their homes at early, and consequent return at late, hours. (3.) The cost of living near London is more expensive than it is in the colony, and this fact I can testify to, as having personal experience of the cost of living in both countries. (4.) They have not the opportunities of so advantageously investing their savings as those resident in the colony (5.) They belong to an isolated department, they have little or no opportunity offered to them for promotion, or for transfer to any other department in case their services are no longer required at this office; and their not being immediately under the eye of those with whom it lies to fix the amount of their remuneration is naturally a disadvantage to them, inasmuch as many a special service may be done by them and yet be unknown, and therefore not taken into account by those who have the power to reduce or increase the amount of their salaries. In the case of anyone holding my office, as Secretary to the department, all these disadvantages bear with great force. It is, I think, admitted to be desirable that anyone holding the appointment should have a personal knowledge of the colony, and experience of its resources and requirements. When, however, he comes to this country such knowledge and experience is no longer of any personal utility to himself, as it; might be in many legitimate ways in the case of his remaining in the colony as a Civil servant there and I cannot help thinking that this is an important point which should have due consideration when the question of the amount of his salary is determined. It may be advanced that the duties of my office have diminished in number; but I would submit, in reference to this, that the number of responsible officers working with and under me has also been