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No. 1. New Zealand, No. 174. My Lord — Downing Street, 14th November, 1917. With reference to my despatch, No. 38, of the Bth March last, I have the honour to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers that Sir James Wilson is unable to return to Rome as British Delegate on the Permanent Committee of the International Agricultural Institute. 2. It is proposed, therefore, that the arrangement which was made last February should be renewed as a temporary measure, and that a member of His Majesty's Embassy at Rome should again be appointed as temporary British Delegate on the Permanent Committee of the Institute which is on the point of reassembling. I have, &c, WALTER H. LONG. Governor-General His Excellency the Right Hon. the Earl of Liverpool, P.0.; G.C.M.G., M.V.0., &c.

No. 2. New Zealand, Dominions No. 734. My Lotto,— Downing Street, 15th November, 1917. I have the honour to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers that the proposals and recommendations with regard to Imperial statistics on pages 148 to 151 of the Final Report of the Dominions Royal Commission (Cd. 8462) have been under the consideration of His Majesty's Government. 2. His Majesty's Government would welcome a Conference of Statisticians of the Empire as suggested by the Royal Commission, to be convened at as early a date after the conclusion of the war as may be found convenient. They will be prepared, if the Dominion Governments agree, to make the necessary arrangements for the summoning of such a Conference, and also for the preparation of a programme and for its circulation to those who might be expected to attend. 3. It is suggested that the following might be included in the subjects for discussion :— (i.) The establishment of an Imperial Statistical Office. (ii.) Improvements in comparability of trade statistics throughout the British Empire. (iii.) The preparation of a monthly summary of Empire trade if satisfactory progress can be made under the preceding heading. (iv.) Statistics of production within the Empire of important materials of industry. (v.j Statistics of migration within the Empire. I should be glad to receive your Ministers' observations as to any other matters which may be thought suitable for discussion. 4. I would also invite the attention of your Ministers to the Memorandum on Improvement of Statistics of the Empire furnished to the Dominions Royal Commission by the Board of Trade (Cd. 7351, p. 136), with special reference to the following passage : — " There is, however, a good deal to be said for the establishment of an Imperial bureau for the compilation in a convenient form of annual or other periodical digests and summaries of Imperial statistics. Such a bureau might keep up to date the statistical material collated by the present Royal Commission, and might perhaps take over the compilation of some of the statistical volumes relating to the British Empire now published by the Board of Trade. If located in London I do not think there would be any insuperable difficulty in putting it, if desired, under the immediate management of the Board of Trade, while the general scope of its operations might be regulated and supervised by an Inter-Imperial Committee."