A.—2.

Enclosure. Sir, — Governor-General's Office, Pretoria, Ist September, 1916. I have the honour to transmit to you herewith, with reference to your despatch, No. 329, of the 29th March. 1916, the document mentioned below, on the subject of the scheme for the organization and development of scientific and industrial research. I have, &c, Buxton, Governor-General. The Right lion. A. Bonar Law, M.P., etc. Colonial Office, London. Date: 31st August. Description of document: Minute No. 1264, from Ministers. Prime Minister's Office, Pretoria, 31st August, 1916. With reference to His Excellency the Governor-General's minute No. 9/174/2, of the 27th April last, and to despatch No. 329, from the Secretary of State for the Colonies, forwarding copies of a memorandum respecting a scheme for the organization and development of scientific and industrial research, Ministers have the honour to state that they fully recognize the importance of the proposals set out. in the memorandum, and have taken steps to obtain the views of the various scientific and technical bodies of the Union, who for some time past have been working upon lines which coincide to a remarkable degree with the views expressed in the memorandum. Additional copies of the memorandum have been printed, and their distribution has been undertaken by the Research Committee of the scientific bodies above referred to. N. J. De Wet.

No. 63. • New Zealand, No. 855. My Lord, — Downing Street, 28th October, 1916. With reference to my despatch, No. 581, of the 26th October, 1915, I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, copies of a notice issued by the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament, regarding nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize for 1917. 2. I should be glad if your Ministers would cause the conditions of the prize to be made known to those bodies and persons who are qualified to nominate candidates. I have, &c, A. BONAR LAW. Governor His Excellency the Right Hon. the Earl of Liverpool, G.C.M.G,, M.V.O, &c.

Enclosure. Nobel Committee ok the Norwegian Parliament.—Nobel Peace Prize. All proposals of candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is to be distributed the 10th December, 1917, must, in order to be taken into consideration, be laid before the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament by a duly qualified person before the Ist February of the. same year. Any one of the following persons is held to be duly qualified : (a) Members and late members of the Nobel. Committee of the Norwegian Parliament, as well as the advisers appointed at the Norwegian Nobel Institute; (b) members of Parliament and members of Government of the different States, as well as members of the Interparliamentary Union; (c) members of the International Arbitration Court at the Hague; (d) members of the Commission of the Permanent International Peace Bureau; (c) members and associates of the Institute of International Law; (/) university professors of political science and of law, of history and of philosophy; and (g) persons who have received the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Peace Prize may also be accorded to institutions or associations. According to the Code of Statutes, § 8, the grounds upon which any proposal is made must be stated, and handed in along with such papers and other documents as may therein be referred to. According to J; 3, every written work to qualify for a prize must have appeared in print. For particulars qualified persons are requested to apply to the office of the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament, Drammensvei 19, Kristiania.

No. 64. New Zealand. —Honours. My Lord, — Downing Street, 30th October, 1916. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of Your Excellency's despatch, No. 228, of the 13th September, reporting the death, on the 25th August last, of the Honourable Sir George Maurice O'Rorke, Knight Bachelor. 2. I am well aware of the long and valuable services which Sir Maurice O'Rorke rendered to the Dominion of New Zealand, and I have received the intelligence of his death with, much regret, I have, &c, A. BONAR LAW. Governor His Excellency the Right Hon. the Earl of Liverpool, G.C.M.G, M.V.O, &c.

A.-1, 1917 No. 46.

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