3

A.—3b

3. I now forward to you— (L) Copy of a telegram sent on July 31st, stating the results of the discussion in the House; (2) the report of the Committee; and (3) Hansard report of the discussion. 4. You will see that the Committee's report was, after its presentation, altered in form, so as to allow of decision upon each of its recommendations; and that some of these were amended by the House, the most important modification being that proposed by Mr. Wynn-Williams, by which the House declined to pledge itself to any money-contribution, until " a statement of the amount to be provided by the colony " had been supplied by the Imperial Government and considered by Parliament. . 5. A copy of the Confederation and Annexation Bill, as passed by the House of Eepresentatives and the Legislative Conncil, is enclosed, for your information. 6. The papers referred to in the Committee's report are a selection from those contained in the Appendix to the Journals. Their reproduction will not be undertaken until after the close of the Session. I have, &c. Sir F. Dillon Bell, K.C.M.G. Agent-General. Feed. Whitaker. „

No, 5,

No. 7. The Agent-Geneeal to the Peemiee. Sie,— 7, Westminster Chambers, London, S.W. July 26, 1883. I have the honour to transmit to you herewith copy of the letter on the Western Pacific question, which I prepared at the request of the Agents-General for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia, and which has just been sent in to Lo*d Derby. You are no doubt aware, from communications which you will have received from the Victorian Government, that the Agent-General for South Australia has withdrawn from our concert here, and did not feel justified in affixing his signature to the letter. It therefore bears only the signatures of Sir Saul Samuel, Mr. Archer, Mr. Murray Smith, and myself. I hope that the letter, containing, as it does, statements of importance, all verified by official record, may be approved by the New Zealand Government. Its preparation necessarily required a great amount of labour in a short time; and it was my desire, out of a vast amount of material, to select what would probably have most effect, not only on the Colonial Office, but on the English Press and public opinion. I can only regret that the task which my colleagues imposed upon me haa been so imperfectly fulfilled. I have, &c. The Hon, the Premier, Wellington. F. D. Bell.

See A.-3, p. 128.

No. 8. The Agent-Geneeal to the Pbemiee. [Extract from, a Memorandum, dated July 27.~] I notice that a cablegram I sent to the Hon. the Premier, on the Pacific Islands question, was received with a very material error. The Premier's memorandum tells me that the message was made to begin, " Pacific Islands perfectly safe : turning point," &c.; whereas it was, " Pacific Islands: perfectly sure [that the] turning point," &c. Thus, until you got the text of the message from myself by the mail, the Government will have been under a complete misapprehension of its intent, F. D. Bell.

No. 9. The Secbetaby to the Pebmiee to the Agent-Geneeal. Sie, — Premier's Office, Wellington, October 6, 1883. On the receipt of your Memorandum No. 202, of 27th July, the Hon. Mr. Whitaker instructed me to thank you for calling attention to an error in the transmission of one of your telegrams relating to the Pacific Islands ; and he desired me to add that, as some error in the telegram referred to was suspected, the Government were not misled by the form in which the message reached Wellington. I have, &c. Sir F. D. Bell, K.C.M.G. E. Fox.

No. 10. The Agent-Geneeal to the Pebmieh. Sib, — 7, Westminster Chambers, London, S.W. September 3, 1883. On receiving your telegram of the 31st August, desiring me to ascertain the amount of contribution which would be required by the Imperial Government, for the purpose of carrying out any new policy in relation to the Pacific Islands, I communicated the same to the Colonial Office, and I now transmit copy of their reply. Lord Derby thinks your telegram originated in a misapprehension of the intentions of Her Majesty's Government, and ejmeludes that I had already explained to you that they are not "now" prepared to receive contributions from the colonies towards the cost of annexing any of the Pacific Islands. I assume that his Lordship here alludes to the error in transmission of my telegram of the 11th June, which I have already pointed out, and which was doubtless the cause of the