Curtis had sent his pleins pouvoirs home to Morrison in proper order, there would have been little difficulty. But the slovenly and incomplete state in which the necessary documents were sent from Nelson awakened the suspicion of the keen lawyers employed by Brogden, who could not understand how in a matter of such importance the Superin. had not taken the trouble to do his work properly. It is too much that he should throw the blame on us, who have helped him in the most cordial manner in a troublesome job. But independently of this, what Curtis ought to have done was to obtain from you express & sufficient authority to to make the contract under the Act. If could have executed that contract, there is no manner of doubt it would have been signed: for we could have bound the general government to certain things instead of only being able to give assurances. Here again the lawyers could not see why we had not been actually instructed to sign the contract proposed, seeing that the Act was not a Provincial but a general one, and had been passed by the Assembly. Then again as respects the Telegraph Cable from N.Z. to Australia, Vogel says we ought not to leave without making some agreement. It is however only possible to repeat what we have said so many times, namely that 1st if we had had authority when we first came home there is not the slightest doubt we could have got the cable done and sent by this time, and 2nd it is impossible to get folk here to listen for a moment to merely provisional proposals, and without authority & specific power to sign we are now at this date just as powerless as we were then, to make