A.—2

14

Lords have caused to be addressed to the War Office on the subject of the conditions of employment of military officers by the colonial Governments. lam to state that my Lords consent to the application of like rules to naval officers. I have, &c, The Secretary, Admiralty. E. E. Welby.

Sub-Enclosure 2. Sic, — . Treasury Chambers, 19th November, 1886. The Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury have had before them Mr. Knox's letter of the 11th ultimo respecting the employment of naval and military officers by colonial Governments, and direct me to state that, on the recommendation of Mr. Secretary Smith, they agree to the following rules, which, it will be observed, involve a further and very important concession to the colonies at the cost of the British taxpayer:— 1. If the officer be on the active list of the army he will draw no pay from Imperial funds during his employment by the colonial Government; but, if the Secretary of State see fit, his service under that Government may count towards promotion and retirement as though it were service in the Imperial army, and the retired pay earned by his colonial service, so long as he remains on the active list, will be chargeable upon Imperial funds. 2. If the officer retire from the army whilst serving under the colonial Government he may at once draw so much of his retired pay as was earned by army service prior to his entering the colonial service ; and on retiring from the colonial service he may also draw the retired pay earned by so much of his colonial service as preceded his retirement from the army. Article 991 of the pay-warrant must be amended accordingly. 3. If the officer be on the retired list when he accepts colonial employment his retired pay need not be suspended in whole or part by reason of such employment, unless the Secretary of State deems fit, even though the retired pay may have been earned by mixed army and civil service. 4. No service under a colonial Government subsequent to retirement from the army shall increase the charge for an officer's retired pay upon Imperial funds. 5. These rules may be .applied to officers now in colonial employment. I am to add that my Lords will not press further for the restriction of the colonial employment of any officer on the active list to five years. I have, &c, The Financial Secretary, War Office. E. E. Welby. P.S.- —This letter has been communicated to the Board of Admiralty, with an intimation that my Lords assent to the application of like rules to naval officers..

No. 21. (Circular.) Sir, — Downing Street, 10th February, 1887. I have the honour to transmit to you the accompanying copy of papers presented to Parliament relative to the Conference at Eome in 1886 on the subject of industrial property and to the fraudulent use of trade-marks. In consequence of representations made to Her Majesty's Government by the Cutlers' Company, of Sheffield, as to the fraudulent practice in certain foreign countries of stamping the word " Sheffield" upon cutlery not made in that district, the British delegates at the Conference were instructed to propose an addition to Article 10 of the Industrial Property Convention of 1883 (enclosed in the Earl of Derby's circular despatch of the 9th July, 1884), designed, when supplemented by internal legislation of the contracting States, to prevent the fraudulent marking of goods bearing a false indication of origin. This proposal was accepted by the Conference—eight delegates having voted for and one against it, three abstaining from voting; and it remains for the countries that are parties to the Convention to consider the legislation necessary for giving effect to the additional Article, in the event of its ratification. Her Majesty's Government are about to introduce a Bill for more effectually checking the fraudulent marking of merchandise, with especial regard to the proposed addition to Article 10 of the Convention; and, apart from the question of the colony under your Government becoming a party to the Convention, I have the honour to suggest, for the consideration of your Government, the expediency, with a view to the protection of trade interests, and of the consumers in the colony of goods bought on the faith of trade-marks, and to the promotion of commercial morality, of legislating for the same purpose, but not before the passing of the Imperial Act, as it would seem desirable that legislation on this subject should be, as nearly as may be, uniform throughout Her Majesty's dominions. I have, &c, H. T. HOLLAND. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.