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colonies have elected to take up and furnish the space allotted to them, the Colony of New Zealand can hardly afford to hold aloof. A great effort is being made to make the Institute a practical and useful institution, and I have no doubt but that eventually it will be a great success and a valuable public educator. It is understood that the Queen will open the Institute in person in May next, so that no time is to be lost if it is intended to have the New Zealand Court furnished by the opening date. The space in the court is so limited that specimen exhibits will be probably exhibited there, 'and the bulky exhibits in other parts of the building. Canada and the Cape are making a great effort to make their courts a great success, and the Tasmanian Court is well advanced; and I can only express the hope that I shall be placed in a position to do the same for New Zealand. The authorities of the Institute, as well as myself, have furnished you with full information regarding the objects and scope of the Institute, so that it is not necessary for me to enlarge upon them. In conclusion, I would state that the Government having appointed me in conjunction with Sir Walter Buller as the New Zealand representatives on the Governing Body, will place that gentleman and myself in a somewhat invidious position if we are not furnished with the necessary means to carry out our functions. I have, &c, The Hon. the Premier, Wellington. W. B. Peeceval.

No. 18. The Agent-Geneeal to the Hon. the Peemiee. (No. 1769.) Westminster Chambers, 13, Victoria Street, London, S.W., Sib,— 22nd December, 1892. I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your cablegram of the 6th instant, stating that it was desirable to keep open the space allocated to the colony at the Imperial Institute. lam accordingly taking part, so far as I possibly can, in the various matters which have to be dealt with in preparing for the opening of the Institute in May. I have sent to the Institute the specimens of timber which came from the Exhibition at Paris, and which I found stored in London awaiting instructions as to their disposal. These, with some other specimens of timber, coal, and building stones, which were already in the hands of the Institute authorities, and to which some exhibits of the produce of the colony could be added, will help at a small expense to make a fairly good show at the time of the opening in May next. At a meeting of the Australasian delegates it was decided that it was necessary to fit up and furnish the Australasian Conference-room at the Institute. The cost of doing this was estimated at £500, and I deemed it right to join with the other Agents-General in agreeing, on behalf of the colonies we represented, to share the expense to be thus incurred. This liability, as regards New Zealand, will not amount to more than £90. I have, &c, The Hon. the Premier, Wellington. W. B. Peeceval. P.S. —Since writing the above I have received a copy of the minutes of the meeting to which I have referred, and which I herewith enclose.

Enclosure in No. 18. Impeeial Institute of the United Kingdom, the Colonies, and India. Minutes of a Meeting of Australasian Governors, Tuesday, 13th December, 1892. A meeting of Australasian Governors holden in the Australian Conference-room of the Imperial Institute, on Tuesday, 13th December, 1892. There were present: Sir Edward Braddon, AgentGeneral for Tasmania; Sir John Cox Bray, Agent-General for South Australia; Sir Andrew Clarke, Acting Agent-General for Victoria (representing that colony pro tern.) ; Sir James Garrick, AgentGeneral for Queensland; W. B. Perceval, Esq., Agent-General for New Zealand; Sir Saul Samuel, Agent-General for New South Wales. In attendance: Sir Frederick Abel (Secretary); Sir Somers Vine (Assistant Secretary). Sir Saul Samuel was voted to the chair. The Governors present discussed the subject of the decoration and furnishing of the Conferenceroom, and, after full consideration, It was unanimously resolved, " That the Executive Council of the Colonial Institute be empowered to proceed at once with the furnishing of the room at a cost not exceeding £500, such sum to include the electric light fittings. The said sum of £500 to be approximately apportioned as follows: New South Wales, £100; Victoria, £100; New Zealand, £90; Queensland, £65; South Australia, £65 ; West Australia, £40; Tasmania, £40." It was further unanimously resolved, "That the question of the decoration of the upper panelling and ceiling be postponed, but that in the meantime the specimen decoration now on the upper part of the walls and ceilings be removed, and that the same be judiciously coloured in distemper." It was unanimously agreed that the Secretary should be at full liberty to obtain designs and prices for the furniture, the same to be submitted at a future meeting, and that the Eepresentative Governors present should inform their respective Governments of the charge to which they had committed them in respect of the furnishing of the room. The Conference then terminated, and an inspection was made of the galleries for the display of collections.