5

A.—3.

The above Proclamation and Message should be received with all the ceremony due to such an occasion. I have, &c, Eanfubly. Captain W. T. H. Browne, the Senior Naval Officer, New Zealand.

Enclosure No. 1. Government House, Wellington, 26th August, 1898. Pboclamation. That Her Majesty has learnt with much displeasure of their refusal to obey her wishes in regard to the enactment of the Federal Court Bill, and of the ingratitude which they have displayed.in their treatment of Mr. Moss, who has laboured so hard in their interests, and has done so much for them. That, while Mr. Moss will not return, Her Majesty expects that the officer who succeeds him will receive more of their confidence and support than they have accorded to Mr. Moss ; and that they will in all matters seek his advice, and not listen to unauthorised persons, who wish only to make mischief for their own ends, and to estrange the people of the Cook Islands from Her Majesty ; and that Her Majesty expects that they will at once enact the Federal Court Bill in the form in which it is laid before them by the Eesident. God save the Queen ! ,

Enclosure No. 2. Government House, Wellington, 26th August, 1898. Message, by Dieection and on Behalf of Heb Most Gbacious Majesty Queen Victobia. I, Uchteb John Mabk, Earl of Eanfurly, flnight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand and ios Dependencies, have appointed Lieut.-Colonel Walter Edward Gudgeon to be British Eesident in the Cook Islands. Lieut.-Colonel Gudgeon is an officer who has had over thirty years' experience, both civil and military, among the Maori inhabitants of New Zealand, and I recommend him with confidence to the inhabitants of the Cook Islands, feeling assured that it will be for their advantage to be guided by one who possesses such qualifications for the duties of his office. Her Majesty has also directed that Lieut.-Colonel Gudgeon shall receive such an appointment from Her Majesty's High Commissioner in the Pacific as will enable him to perform judicial duties, and secure a due observance of the law by those who may be within the terms of the special orders and legislation affecting the Cook Islands, and at the same time afford to all such persons that protection and assistance which those laws afford. I rely on the good-will of the inhabitants of the Cook Islands, both Native and foreign, to assist Lieut.-Colonel Gudgeon in performing the various duties imposed upon him, and I am sure that it will be for the benefit of all that Her Majesty's instructions regarding these islands should be duly carried out. If this be done, material prosperity will result, and the well-being and happiness of all be assured. Banfuely.

No. 12. Mr. F. J. Moss to His Excellency the Govebnob. My Lobd, — Cook Islands : British Eesidency, Earotonga, 31st August, 1898. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt, on the Bth instant, of your Excellency's despatch of the 20th July, informing me that Mr. Hamilton Hunter would go to Earotonga in H.M.S. " Eoyalist " as Judicial Commissioner from Fiji. The " Eoyalist" arrived on the 10th instant, and resumed her voyage to Pitcairn Island on the morning of the 17th. Mr. Hunter was able in the interim to deal with the cases which his powers enabled him to take up, and his visit and that of the " Eoyalist " have been very acceptable. A report of what has been done here by Mr. Hunter will no doubt be sent to your Excellency from Fiji. It will be desirable that a copy of such report should be sent for record in this office. In the matter of the printing, the printer Owen was found guilty of forcible entry and bound over to keep the peace. He was also fined £10 for libelling a European. Enough, it appeared to me, has been done to check effectually his conduct in the printing of his paper with the Government press since February last, and I refrained from taking action against him for the repeated and gross attacks on myself and constant incitement to hostility from the Arikis to myself. Eegarding him merely as the tool of others, who could not be prosecuted with hope of success, and in view of the plain speaking and warning given by Mr. Hunter to him from the bench, no further good public end was to be gained, I considered it would be unbecoming to take action on personal grounds for myself. The question of damages to Mr. Nicholas, and the larger question of public peace and security involved in the action of Ariki Matiu and Government, could not be dealt with under the Order in Council of 1893, by which Mr. Hunter's powers were defined and limited. It therefore became necessary to deal with these questions myself, and I report to your Excellency my proceedings therein in a separate despatch herewith. I have, &c, Frederick J. Moss, His Excellency the Earl of Eanfurly, K.C.M.G., British Besident. Governor of New Zealand, &c.

No. 7.