Wallingford May 2nd. 1866 My dear McLean, I am in receipt of yours by the mail and see all you say in it. First about Prov. Council I suppose we must have a meeting before we go to Wellington. I should recommend that it beheld as late as possible before we leave. By so doing we should effectually preclude the possibility of any lengthened Session which I suppose we neither of us very much desire. If we can determine only to have a short-sitting to legalize the expenditure until the close of the Gen. Assembly session a very few days will suffice. For my own part I dont see how the Council cd. proceed to any work until its members know what the future financial arrangements of the colony are to be. If as I understand the Assembly is to meet about the 25th. or 26th. June I should say the 15th. or 18th. wd. be a very good time to call the Council for. I shant be down until the end of the first week. in June at the earliest and the time I suggest wd. give us a week together to get things ready before the Council met. I note all you say re East Coast and as usual after fair consideration of all sides of the question we agree as to the best course (I mean best in a purely comparative sense) to pursue - I cant tell you why but I have had misgivings from the first that we had very little to expect from Stafford's Govt. Whittaker has a great hold upon him and always had. Depend upon it what we get we shall have to fight for and I flatter myself that together we can make the interests of our little Province heard even tho' we have only our own 2 votes to play with. I dont fear confiscation of our East Coast land before the Assembly meets. Stafford is a cautious man - he will do nothing of that kind without pressure - to assist in making sure. I have written to-night to Grey about other matters and have asked him not to encourgge any proposition of the kind shld. it be made prior to the Assembly's meeting. I have given him fair reasons and believe he will help us if necessary. I wd. advise you to stir up the question as little as possible, let it remain in abeyance and probably Stafford in the multitude of his engagements will forget it. One thing I am glad of, we owe nothing to Stafford's Govt. on the contrary you have laid him under very great obligations. Let us keep him at that - and in the House we will teach him that if we have a price it must be "all we want". You never tell me if you have started the Petition to the House from the East Coast people. Pray dont forget it - I wouldn't urge it so strongly if I did not know what a trump card we can make of it. I dont repeat all my previous warning as to the details to be observed because I have done no more than once before. But do please take action in it. Remember you will have to take the lead in bringing the case before the House and if you hold that in mind I feel satisfied that your draft memorial will be effective. Put it to yourself in the light that you will have to speak to the Petition and if you dont write an effective Petition from our allies to send to the House something to base a good speech upon I shall be disappointed. Time presses on and if this matter is not already proceeded with don't delay it. Such a paper headed by the names of Ropa, Ihaka, Morgan and your other East Coast Natives of distinction wd. be a more than fair opportunity for you to make your debut in the House upon. All the other points in you letter are what we both agreed upon and I need not at this late hour say more. Thanks for the Times (Jamaica) which I shall read with pleasure. I heard from Fox by the mail chiefly re Steam Company. He tells me that Eyre will pull through. His letter is chiefly to urge me to get the Hawkes Bay shareholders in the N.Z.S.N.Co. to agree to sell to the Panama Co. I dndividually need no urging. Fox writes that the English Company is strong and well supported - firmly determined to carry out the Panama scheme and also determined to get possession of the inter Colonial and Provincial services. He says that if the Colonial Co. fights that the new agent is ordered to run them off the lines and adds that of course one year wd. settle the Col. Company and be very little to the strong English Company. I shall go in for amalgamation. It is late and I am very tired Always very truly yours, J.D. Ormond.