8.-No. 3.

£ On account of these expenses for purely military defence, Her Majesty's Government has advanced to the New Zealand Government since July Ist, 1803, the sum of . . . . . . 186,000 The New Zealand Government owes for stores, arms, &c, supplied from the military stores in, England, an amount estimated at . . 80,000 £206,000 The amount borne on the annual Estimates of the Colony, for purposes of military defence, is as follows:,— £ Contribution to troops ....... 40,000 Department of Minister for Defence ..... 1.700 Militia, £25,000 for half-a-year, equivalent to £50,000 per annum . 50,000 Interest on old War Loan of £150,000, ..... 12,000 Interest on new Loan ....... 40,000 £143,700 Reader Woon. London, April 29th, 1864. No. 14. THE HON. THE COLONIAL TREASURER TO THE HON. TIIE COLONIAL SECRETART. Sir,— Westminster Palace Hotel, London, May 26th, 1864. I have the honor to state that at an interview wild Mr. Secretary Cardwell on the 21th instant, he agreed to propose a Bill to the House of Commons, giving the Imperial Guarantee to one million of the New Zealand three million loan, on my acceptance of the following proposals : — 1. That after December 31st, 1864, Her Majesty's Government should make no charge for 1000 men, to be stationed in New Zealand as a peace establishment, so long as the Colonial Legislature continued to devote the sum of £50,000 1o Natixe purposes. 2. That no further charges should be made upon the Colony for the cost of the present war, to December Blst, 1804, than are already urdeislood, ntn.cly, £5 jer Lead for the troops, and the expensi a connected with the Colonial forces. L>. That from January Ist, 1865, to December 31st, 1865, the Colony should contribute at the rate of £20 per head for all troops stationed in New Zealand beyond the peace establish! ->ent of 1000 men. 4. That from January Ist, 1866, New Zealand should be placed on the same footing with regard to troops as the Australian Colonies, and pay £40 per head for all soldiers stationed there beyond the peace establishment of 1,000 men. Ou behalf of myself and my colleagues, I assented to the two first of these propositions. With reference to the two last, I have pledged rmself personally to support them in the House of Representatives, b it I have distinctly stated, that in the matters to which they refer I have no power to bind the Colony or my colleagues. With my assent, thus limited, Mr. Cardwell seemed satisfied, but I have not yet received from him any intimation in writing that he will consider it sufficient to justify his proposing to Parliament to guarantee one third of the amount of the Loan. I have, &c, The Honorable the Colonial Secretary, Reader Wood. Auckland, New Zealand. No. 15. THE HON. TIIE COLONIAL TREASURER TO THE nON. THE COLONIAL SECRETART. Sib, — Westminster Palace Hotel, London, June 9th, 1864. With reference to the paragraph in Mr. Secretary Cardwell's Despatch to Governor Sir George Grey, dated April 26th, 1^64, in which it is stated : " A measure should be at once submitted to the Legislaiure, limiting the operation of the [New Zealand Settlements] Act." I have the honor to state that I have heard a construction put on those words here which I thought was not intended by the Secretary of State, namely, that immediately on the receipt of the Despatch iv question, the New Zealand Parliament should be assembled. Had such been the wish of Her Majesty's Government 1 telt sure that on some one or either of the occasions on which these matters have been discussed with me, I should have been distinctly told so ; no such intimation was however made to me. To satisfy mystif on this point I to-day asked Mr. Secretary Cardwell what his meaning was—whether he wished the Parliament to be at once assembled, or that upon the meeting of Parliament in the usual way the measure shoud be at onc<i submitted. His reply was as follows : " Two years are given, duiing which time the Crown has the power of dis Rowing any Act passed by the New Zealand Legislatuie; if within that time I find that the Parliament will agree to carry out the Act in the manner 1 have suggested, aud to limit its duration to a definite period, the power of disallowance will not be exercised ; out if not, it will." 1 have, &.., The Honorable the Colonial Secretary, Reader Wood. Auckland, .Now Zealand.

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A LOAN OF £3,000,000 STERLING.