A.—No. 15a.

10

INSTRUCTIONS AND AUTHORITIES UNDER WHICH

No. 15. Copy of a Letter from Captain Holt to Captain Thomas. (No. 98-5.) Colonial Defence Office, Sic,— Wellington, 4th April, 1868. Eeferring to your letter noted in the margin, and to previous correspondence on th& subject of provisioning the Maori, prisoners, and of their contributing, by their labour, to supply themselves with food, I have the honor, by direction of the Defence Minister to inform you that by this opportunity you will receive 100 bushels of seed wheat; and lam to request that you will notify to the prisoners that they must sow and plant sufficient ground with wheat and potatoes to supply themselves entirely with those articles after next harvest; and then, if they have surplus stock, they may dispose of it. You, the Defence Minster instructs me to say, will be held responsible that the prisoners engage in no private work whatever, until a sufficient breadth of land has been prepared and planted or sown. You are authorized to incur, if necessary, an expense of not more than £50 for ploughing and harrowing this land ; but all manual labour, such as clearing, sowing, weeding, reaping, threshing, &c., &c, is to be performed by the prisoners themselves. From another letter, you will learn that a large sized flour mill is being sent by this steamer, to enable the prisoners to grind their own wheat. I have, &c, Captain Thomas, E.M., Chatham Islands. J. Holt, Under Secretary.

No. 4, •Jan, 20, 1868,

No. 16. Copy of a Letter from Captain Holt to Captain Thomas. (No. 99-5. Colonial Defence Office, Sic,— Wellington, 4th April, 18G8. I am directed by the Defence Minister to forward herewith twenty copies of "The Armed Constabulary Act, 1867," and I am to request that you will, under its provisions, enrol and attest for service in the Chatham Islands, or any part of .New Zealand, one senior sergeant, one corporal, and nine constables. I enclose form of oath, which you will be good enough to have duly signed by each man, and returned to this office for record ; you will of course retain a duplicate. Each man, upon his being sworn in, must receive a copy of the Armed Constabulary Act, and a sufficient number are sent for that purpose. These constables are to supersede the present guard. Any men, therefore, belonging to the latter who may have been sent by the Government to the Chatham Islands, and who do not wish, or are not required to remain as constables, must be provided with passages to New Zealand in the " Storm Bird." The detachment of Armed Constabulary is to bo under your immediate control and disposal, and will be available for general police purposes, and for any services in connection with the rationing of and maintenance of order amongst the Maori prisoners. In your capacity as captain of Militia, you will have command of the Constabulary, and in that of [Resident Magistrate, you will, under the provisions of the twentieth section of the Act, have full power to enforce proper discipline. If any man should grossly misconduct himself, the Defence Minister authorizes you at once to discharge him, and such discharge will be confirmed upon your report. The Government do not consider it any longer necessary to retain any other commissioned officer on the island but yourself; you will, therefore, at his choice, either at once strike Ensign Danvers off pay, or direct him to return to New Zealand in the " Storm Bird." You will be good enough to forward explicit information as to the dates up to which Mr. Danvers and the men of the old guard, who return to New Zealand, have been paid by you before leaving; this you failed to do on the last occasion when you sent back a number of men in the " St. Kilda." The pay of the Constabulary, while stationed at the Chatham Islands, will be as follows, but will be reduced when, they serve inNNc r Zealand: Senior sergeant, 7s. 6d. a day; corporal, ss. Cd. a day ; constables, ss. a day. Each non-commissioned officer and constable is to receive, upon enrolment, 1 forage cap, 1 blue serge shirt, 1 pair cloth trousers, 1 pair boots, 2 blankets, 1 waterproof sheet, 1 great coat, 1 waterproof havresack; and at the expiration of six months from date of enrolment, he will, if still in the force, be allowed 6s. a month to keep up this equipment. Any man who is discharged for misconduct before the expiration of the first six months, is to be charged at the rates noted in the margin* for the above-mentioned articles. The Constabulary will have to supply themselves with rations, and no allowance will be made for women and children. Should there be any Military Settlers who (if residing on the land allotted to them as such) would be entitled, under their conditions of service, to twelve months' free issue of rations, they must, if they wish to be enrolled in the Armed Constabulary, give up all claim to such rations. You will be careful to see that, before being attested, each man thoroughly understands the above conditions, and has had the opportunity of making himself acquainted with the provisions of the Armed Constabulary Act. In conclusion, I am to instruct you to return to the stores at Wellington any spare arms and accoutrements which are not required for the Europeans on the island. I have, &c., Captain Thomas, E.M., Chatham Islands. J. Holt, Under Secretary. P.S.— Should you encounter any difficulty in obtaining really good steady men for the Constabulary, you must at once report to this office, as any number can be enrolled here, although it will be better if you can get them on the spot. J. Holt. * Forage cap, 35.; blue serge shirt, 75.; trousers, 9s. 3d.; boots, 10s.; blanket, Bs. 6d.; waterproof sheet, 7s. 6d.; great coat, £1 7a. 6d.; waterproof havresack, 2s. 9d.