5

A.—l

No. 13

(No. 82.) Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 11th October. 1904. With reference to your despatch (No. 42) of thef|6th July, regarding the payment of death duties on the estate of the late J. W. Smith, of Dunedin, New Zealand, I have brought the letter from the Board of Inland Revenue (enclosed in that despatch) before the notice of my Ministers. 2. I have the honour to enclose you herewith a copy of a memorandum which my Government are sending to their Agent-General, from which it will be seen that this colony has declined to adopt the legislation suggested by the Board of Trade. I have, &c, The Right Hon. A. Lyttelton, M.P., PLUNKET. Secretary of State for the Colonies.

A.-2, 1905. No. 13.

Premier's Office, Wellington, 27th September, 1904. Memoeandum for Agent-General for New Zealand, London. Re J . W. Smith, deceased. Refereing to your letter of the 30th November last and enclosures, and to subsequent correspondence on the subject of the payment of duty in the estate of the above deceased, I have now the honour to forward to you enclosed a copy of a letter received by His Excellency the Governor through the Secretary of State for the Colonies, from which you will perceive that the Board of Inland Revenue are taking steps to recover the duty payable, and state their inability to relinquish the claim. I have further to inform you that the Government of this colony has declined to adoptjthe legisVi<n suggested in the last paragraph of the Board's letter, whereby the difficulty which has arisen might be met. R. J. Seddon, Premier.

No. 14. (No. 86.) Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 21st October, 1904. [| With reference to your despatch (No. 57) of the 16th August last, concerning the marked ability with which Major G. R. Johnstone performed his duties in connection with military compensation claims in the Transvaal, I have the honour to inform you that I transmitted the contents of your despatch to my Ministers, as desired. I have, &c, The Right Hon. A. Lyttelton, M.P., PLUNKET. Secretary of State for the Colonies.

A.-2, 1905, No. 18.

No. 15. (No. 91.) Sir, — Government House, Wellington, 2nd November, 1904. I have the honour to inform you that my Government desire me to transmit copy of a letter they have received from Mr. William Ross, of Auckland, in which the writer complains that the Consul at Vavau (Friendly Islands) states that the treaty between Great Britain and Tonga renders the Consul powerless to intervene in difficulties between New Zealand's shipping and the Tongan Government. 2. My Government state that, as Mr. Ross is a resident of New Zealand, they would be glad if inquiry were made by the Imperial Government into this matter. I have, &c, The Right Hon. A. Lyttelton, M.P., PLUNKET. Secretary of State for the Colonies.

Enclosure. S;s» — Vavau, Friendly Isles, 24th September, 1904. I have the honour to address you in reference to a statement made to me by Mr. Hamilton Hunter, our British Consul here. I am master and owner of the schooner " Ysabel," 150 tons register, of New Zealand, and I am a citizen of Auckland, and trade between New Zealand and the Friendly and other islands.