A.—No. l.v,

42

DESPATCHES FROM THE GOVERNOR OE NEW

of the service, would have moved such troops first as the Colonial Government deemed most consistent with the public safety; and would have exerted every effort to make his arrangements work in with the movements of the Colonial Troops, and to render them, in as far as possible, conducive to the weHare of Her Majesty's subjects ; and whilst carrying out so difficult a service as that of leaving hitherto protected settlements, containing many British women and children, surrounded by semi-barbarous men, he would have striven so to do this as to soften by words and manner the blow, and by the studied thoughtfulncss of his arrangements, and the consideration with which the most trifling parts of his duties were performed, and the attention with which every request which could not be complied with w rcre received, —to leave behind him, as the Imperial Troops and the Imperial greatness melted by degrees away from a dependency, as little of bitterness as possible in the minds of the Colonists, and as little danger as practicable for their homes and families. Instead of such a system, your orders are peremptorily carried out by a distant General, with no reference to the views of the Colonial Government, as to how effect can be given to them, so as afford the greatest chance of safety to the country and its inhabitants. 9. Your Lordship, will find from the enclosed letter from General Chute to me, as also from my reply to it, that in this instance, as in so many others, whilst your instructions to me are communicated to the General, I only know as much as he pleases to communicate to me of his instructions from the Secretary of State for War, or of the nature and contents of his communications to the Secretary for War, although upon these and upon the proceedings taken by the General, over which I have no control, the safety and future welfare of Her Majesty's subjects in this Colony must in a great measure depend. I have, &c., The Right Hon. the Earl of Carnarvon. G. GREY. P.S. —Since I "have received General Chute's letter of the 7th instant, the enclosed copy of a letter from the Agent of the General Government at Auckland has reached me. General Chute might have transmitted on the 10th instant, a copy of it to the Secretary of State for War. Whether he did so or not I am unaware, as also whether or not Her Majesty's Government have been left in ignorance, that the movements the Major-General was directing should be carried out, were certain to have a very prejudical effect upon the country. I fear the Home Government may, from the terms of the General's letter to me, have been led to believe that the whole movements contemplated could be effected without danger to the country, and that the information Her Majesty's Government ought to have had may not have been sent on to them by the General. 2. At all events the fact of the General having assumed the power, without any consultation with me, of determining what gentlemen in the north of New Zealand he could call on to order the movements of troops there, as also the terms of the reply of the Government Agent at Auckland to the General's letter to him, wiU show your Lordship how much those persons misled you, who represented that the troops in New Zealand might be dealt with as if they had accidentally called at Wellington, whilst passing from one part of the Empire to another.

Enclosure 1 in No. 21. Major-General Chute to Governor Sir George Gret, K.C.B. Sir, — Head Quarters, Auckland, 7th February, 1867. I have the honor to state for your Excellency's information that, by the English Mail which arrived here on the 6th instant, I received from the Secretary of State for War, a copy of the Despatch addressed to your Excellency by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and forwarded by the Panama Mail of the Ist December last, on the subject of the embarkation for England of tho whole of Her Majesty's Troops in New Zealand, with the exception of one regiment, to be detained on conditions specified therein. The Secretary of State for War intimates to me at the same time, that that Despatch has been forwarded to me for my guidance in relation to the withdrawal of Her Majesty's Troops intended