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No. 22. (New Zealand, General.) My Lokd, — Downing Street, 17th August, 1893. With reference to your Lordship's Despatch No. 4, of the 7th March last, 1 have the honour to inform you that the accession of New Zealand to the Trade-marks Convention between Great Britain and Ecuador, of the 26th August, 1892, has been duly notified to the Government of Ecuador, in conformity with the stipulation in Article 11. of the Convention. I enclose translation of the decree which has been issued by the Minister of Foreign Affairs at Quito. I have, &c, EIPON. Governor the Eight Hon. the Earl of Glasgow, G.C.M.G., &c. [For enclosure see New Zealand Gazette, lOfch November, 1893, p. 1619.]

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No. 23. (New Zealand, No. 42.) My Lord, — Downing Street, 30th August, 1893. I have the honour to acquaint you, for the information of your Government, that my attention has been given to the debates which took place at the Postal Conference recently held at Brisbane with special reference to the proposed Pacific cable route. 2. While regarding with satisfaction on general grounds the approaching telegraphic connection of Australia with New Caledonia, Her Majesty's Government cannot but view with regret the action taken by the Governments of Queensland and New South Wales, as it implies a departure from the principles with regard to colonial cohesion and the consideration of Imperial interests to which prominence was given in the discussions of the Colonial Conference of 1887 ; and, as it appears to diminish the chance of their assistance in laying any future Pacific cable passing through British possessions or protected territory, and avoiding the possessions of European Powers, Her Majesty's Government share the views expressed by the Victorian Government, that inconvenience, loss, and, indeed, danger to both colonial and Imperial interests might arise in time of war if the Pacific cable passed through New Caledonia, and they cannot, from an Imperial point of view, regard with approval an arrangement under which such cable would touch foreign territory. 3. In connection with the question of the neutrality of cables in time of war, I observe from the account of the third sitting of the Brisbane Conference that reference was made to the possibility of negotiating an international treaty for the protection of existing cables in time of war. 4. The present position of the case is, as your Ministers are no doubt aware, defined by the International Convention relating to the protection of submarine cables, signed at Paris on the 14th of March, 1884, a copy of which is enclosed for convenience of reference; and I would draw attention to the 15th article, and to the declaration in respect of the interpretation of that article made by the late Viscount Lyons on behalf of Her Majesty's Government on the occasion of the signing of the Convention. I have, &c, EIPON. Governor the Eight Hon. the Earl of Glasgow, G.C.M.G., &c.

No. 24. (Circular.) Sic, — Downing Street, 16th September, 1893. I have the honour to inform you that addresses have been presented by the House of Commons to Her Majesty, on the motion of Mr. Henniker Heaton, for a " Eeturn giving an outline of the marriage-laws prevailing in the most important foreign countries and colonies, especially the ages at which marriage can be contracted, the laws of prohibition, the hours in which the 3—A. 2.