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your Lordship's Despatch No. 30, of the 28th September, 1889, enclosing a despatch from the German Foreign Office, in which attention was called to the fact that Messrs. Donald and Edenborough had not as yet laid any substantiated statement of their claim before the Imperial German Government, I have the honour to forward herewith copies of their claim, dated the 24th of May, 1890, in which the total amount of compensation asked for is set down at .£5,663 6s. 4xl. The protest of the 21st of February, 1889, forwarded by my previous despatch, is incorporated by reference into the claim. I have therefore thought it more convenient to send additional copies of the protest herewith, for transmission to the Imperial German Government, together with the claim. I have, &c, The Right Hon. Lord Knutsford, &o. ONSLOW.

No. 7. (No. 38.) My Lobd,— Wellington, New Zealand, 19th July, 1890. I have the honour to enclose copies of the report on the New Zealand Forces by Colonel Humfrey, the Under-Secretary of Defence, and LieutenantColonel Hume, the Inspector of Volunteers, recently presented to Parliament, together with copies of General Edwards's report on the same subject made in November last, on which it is to a large extent based, and which your Lordship may wish to bring under the notice of the Colonial Defence Committee. I would especially call your Lordship's attention to the following paragraphs in the first-mentioned report, and request that you will observe how they are borne out by the corresponding paragraphs in the report of General Edwards : (1.) Paragraphs 8 and 10 of Colonel Humfrey's report, recommending the adoption of the " partially-paid system," compared with paragraph 14 of General Edwards's report. (2.) Paragraphs 15 and 19 of Colonel Humfrey's report, respecting the inefficiency of the Naval and Garrison Artillery Corps in regard to heavy-gun drill, compared with paragraphs 7 and 8 of General Edwards's report. (3.) Paragraph 23 of Colonel Humfrey's report and paragraph 3 of Colonel Hume's report, pointing out the defects of the present system of election of officers in the Volunteers, compared with paragraph 21 of General Edwards's report. I further desire to call your Lordship's attention to the latter part of paragraph 27 of Colonel Humfrey's report, respecting the laxity of the attendance of the Volunteers at the Easter encampment, and the very insufficient excuses which they gave in many instances for their absence. In paragraph 12 of Colonel Hume's report your Lordship will find an account of the various inspections held by General Edwards during his visit here, of which I have already given your Lordship a sketch in my despatch of the Bth November, 1889; and I would request your Lordship to further note paragraph 13, respecting the number of absentees from these inspections, and their proportion to the strength of the corps. Paragraph 29 of General Edwards's report sums up his propositions for the reorganization of the Forces. My Ministers, as well as myself, are fully alive to the existence of the serious defects dealt with by the above reports in the defence system of this portion of Her Majesty's dominions ; and it is proposed this session to introduce a Bill dealing with the whole question, which it is hoped will, if passed, succeed in reducing the system to an efficient state. Every such measure, however, must necessarily involve a certain amount of expenditure, and the fact that the Government have already assented to the reduction of the first vote in the estimates by a small sum, as an indication that the whole of the expenditure shall, after the estimates have been passed, be reduced by £50,000 in such manner as the Government may deem best, does not augur very favourably for the success of a considerable vote in the supplementary estimates for the increase of the efficiency of the Defence Force. I have, &c, The Right Hon. Lord Knutsford, &o. ONSLOW.

H.-15,1890,

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