Nos. 11 and 20, Also A.-l, Noa. 15, 16, and 17.

A.—2',

No. 43. The Secretary of State for the Colonies to His Excellency the Governor. (New Zealand, No. 23.) Sir, — Downing Street, 4th April, 1883. With reference to previous correspondence on the subject of the postal arrangements between France and the Australasian Colonies, I have the honour to transmit to you, for your information and for that of your Government, a copy of a letter which has been addressed by the Treasury to the Postmaster-General, conveying authority for signing the contract for regulating the postal relations in question. I have, &c, The Officer Administering the Government . . DEEBY. of New Zealand.

Enclosure. (No. 3451.) The Treasury to the Bost Office. Sir, — Treasury Chambers, 29th March, 1883. The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury have had before them Mr. Shaw Lefevre's letter of the 19th February, 1883, enclosing copy of the draft agreement for regulating the postal relations between (1) France and her Colonies, and (2) Australia, New Zealand, and. Tasmania, by means of English and French packets; and they desire me to convey to you their authority for signing the contract on behalf of your department. My Lords make no observation as to the contract having been provisionally carried out since November last. I have, &c, The Postmaster-General. J. H. Cole.

No. 44. The Secretary of State for the Colonies to His Excellency the Governor. (New Zealand, No. 24.) Sir, — Downing Street, 9th April, 1883. With reference to that portion of my predecessor's Despatch of the. 24th August, 1880, which relates to a proposal that preliminary examinations for the Eoyal Military College, Sandhurst, should be conducted by means of papers sent out to the Colonies by the Civil Service Commissioners, I have the honour to transmit to you, to be laid before your Government, an extract of a letter from the War Office, stating that the Civil Service Commissioners will be prepared, upon being informed that a person residing in any of the more important distant Colonies is desirous of passing the preliminary examination for admission, to forward to the Governor of the Colony in question a sealed packet of examination papers, with explanations as to the mode of conducting the examination, or, should the demand for examination be recurrent, they would be willing to supply papers beforehand, to be used by the Governor as occasion might require. It will be noticed that this arrangement supersedes that which was previously announced in Lord Nimberley's Despatch of the 30th of June, 1881,-under which preliminary examinations for Sandhurst would have been conducted in accordance with the prescribed regulations by the authorities of any Universities or Colleges possessing Eoyal Charters, but that it does not affect the annual grant of a cadetship to such Universities. Your Government will also observe that, in consequence of the increased * facilities afforded by the present arrangement, it will now be unnecessary to take any steps in the direction indicated in the earlier of the two Despatches referred to, with the view of choosing a common centre of examination in Australia. The Officer Administering the Government I have, &c, of New Zealand. DEEBY.

Enclosure. Extract from a Letter from the War Office to the Colonial Office, dated 9th March, 1883. (No. 092/400.) " I am to observe that a communication has been received from the Civil Service Commissioners, from which it appears that, upon its being notified .to them that. a person residing in any of the more important distant Colonies is desirous of passing in the Colony the " preliminary " examination for

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