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No. 9. His Honor the Supeeuttendent, Nelson, to the Hon. the Colonial Seceetaet. Sic, — Superintendent's Office, Nelson, 9th February, 1875. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your circular letter of the sth ultimo, relative to the proposed united action of the Australasian colonies in order to secure their proper representation at the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876. In answer to your inquiry for my opinion as to the probability of such a collection of exhibits being obtained from this province as will, should the co-operation of the other provinces be secured, insure a worthy representation of the colony at the forthcoming Exhibition, I have to reply in affirmative, and to assure you of all the assistance it is in my power to give to secure that result. I have, &c., Oswald Ctjetis, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. Superintendent.

No. 10. His Honor the SrraEiNTEirDENT, Otago, to the Hon. the Colonial Seceetaey. Sic, — Superintendent's Office, Dunedin, 31st March, 1875. Referring to your circular of sth January, 1875, in which you request my opinion as to the probability of such a collection of exhibits being obtained from this province as will, should the cooperation of the other provinces be secured, insure a worthy representation of the colony at the forthcoming Exhibition at Philadelphia, I regret to say that, in as far as Otago is concerned, I am not of opinion that a satisfactory collection of exhibits is likely to be obtained at the present time. I may observe that I am confirmed in this conclusion after having communicated with several public bodies, —to wit, the Corporation of Dunedin, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Philosophic Institute of Otago. I need not say that to be successful in a matter of this kind involves a considerable amount of time and money as well as individual enthusiasm, and unless all three can be brought to bear, it seems to me the matter had better bo left alone. I may add that in the event of your deciding that the colony shall be represented at the Exhibition, and if the necessary funds be contributed by the Colonial Government, the gratuitous services of Provincial Government officers throughout the province will be available for collecting and forwarding specimens of our mineral and other resources to the extent of whatever amount may be allocated to this province. I have, &c, J. Macandeew, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. Superintendent.

No. 11. Memorandum by the Hon. J. Vooel, C.M.G. I think that arrangements should be made for having New Zealand represented at the Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876. 2. The trade between New Zealand and America will no doubt grow to large dimensions; and it is, therefore, very much to our interest to be well represented at the Exhibition. 3. The matter requires immediate consideration, because, if it is decided that the colony shall be represented, no time should be lost in obtaining samples of wool, for I believe that samples from the clip of 1875 would be too late for the Exhibition. 4. I would suggest that arrangements should be made to secure that only a few exhibits should be sent from New Zealand, and that they should be confined to products in which New Zealand is specially interested, and which the colony can advantageously produce. Indeed I think that uninteresting miscellaneous exhibits should be discouraged. 5. If the Government decide to take action in the matter, I would recommend that a notice, addressed to flock owners, should bo published at once, requesting them to prepare and preserve samples of wool from the next clip. I would further suggest that a commission should be appointed to examine all samples of wool sent in, and that none should be forwarded to Philadelphia without the approval of the Commissioners. We should thus secure that, as to wool, nothing was exhibited which was not first-class, and calculated Specially to interest American consumers. A similar course might be adopted as to other exhibits ; but those of wool certainly demand immediate action. 6. As to other exhibits, the following suggest themselves to my mind, namely : — Gold. Coal. Timber. Flax (including rope and other manufactured articles). Kauri gum (a good collection,, as the gum is very much used in the United States). Great pains should be taken with this collection. Tanning barks and leather might be added ; Also preserved meats. It might be worth while to include also samples of tobacco leaf. I believe New Zealand is likely to become a tobacco growing country; and if it could produce a good leaf, the Americans would take great interest in promotiag the cultivation.