D.—2,

8

Enclosure 2 in No. 9. Mr. Kiechnee to the Agent-Geneeal. Sib,— Wiesbaden, 17th July, 1876. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 12th instant, and regret to hear that the emigrants by the " Fritz Reuter " have not yet been accepted as Government emigrants, an action of law still pending at the suit of Messrs. Sloman and Co. I suppose, therefore, that the repayment of my disbursements of £378 4s. will depend upon the issue of this action. With regard to my account for salary and expenses for last month amounting to £47 Os. 3d., I may mention that the business connected with Continental emigration has not ceased altogether. I have received and answered a good many inquiries about New Zealand, and have had considerable correspondence with parties in Germany, Scandinavia, and Italy, who state that their relatives in New Zealand had arranged with your Government for their free passages to the colony, &c, &c. I never received notice from you to close this agency; on the contrary, the late Dr. Featherston wrote me, in a letter dated Brighton, 17th April, 1876, " It may be necessary that you should continue to act for the purpose of winding-up the agency." I, therefore, kept on the establishment until further instructed. As you have expressed your wish to close the agency entirely, I intend to give up my office and discharge my people at the end of this month. As they are entitled to a month's notice, I shall have to pay for this and next month. I trust, therefore, that you will acknowledge the fairness of my receiving (besides my account of £47 Os. 3d )my salary and expenses for this month as well as August. Respecting the non-fulfilment of the contract for the selection and shipment of 4,000 adults, for which I was to have been paid a commission of £1 per head, the late Dr. Featherston had already communicated to me Sir Julius Vogel's promises of a fair compensation to be made to me. On the faith of the above contract, and the assurance that the Continental emigration to New Zealand would assume a permanent character, I left the service of Queenslaud, in which I had been employed for upwards of eight years. I have the honor now to submit my claim for compensation at two thousand six hundred and forty pounds, viz., — For compensation to sub-agents, with whom I have already entered into agreement to supply the 4,000 emigrants and for expenses of printing and advertising already incurred ... ... ... ... £640 One-half the commission I would have been entitled to upon the fulfilment of my agreement ... ... ... ... ... ... 2,000 In all ... £2,640 I have, &c, The Agent-General for New Zealand, London. W. Kiechnee.

Enclosure 3 in No. 9. The Agent-General to Mr. Kirchner. 7, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., Sir _ 27th July, 1876. lam in receipt of your letter of the 17th instant. Deferring for the present my reply on the other topics to which it refers, I wish to kuow what proof you are in a condition to give of your having incurred a liability on account of advertising and agencies amounting to £640, in anticipation of the conclusion of the contract for 4,000, referred to in my predecessor's letter of 12th March, 1874. I should wish to be able to forward such satisfactory proof as you can give me of this somewhat large expenditure, for the consideration of the Government. I have, &c, W. Tyrone Power, W. Kirchner, Esq., Wiesbaden. Agent-General.

Enclosure 4 in No. 9. Mr. Kirchneb to the Agent-Geneeal. g IB _ Wiesbaden, 30th July, 1876. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 27th instant, and have to state, in explanation to the amount claimed as compensation to my sub-agents that, on the strength of Dr. Featherston's contract with me for 4,000 adults, I entered into arrangements with sub-agents on the Continent to procure applications from suitable emigrants at a certain commission. About 1,500 adults had already applied last year to be shipped to New Zealand in the spring of this year, and of whom 558 adults had already been accepted before the telegram stopping Continental emigration had come to hand. Of this number, 416 adults I was compelled to ship by the " Fritz Reuter," and to pay my a^ent the full commission of 6,240 marks, which amount is included in my account of disbursements still owing by you. I succeeded in getting rid of the other emigrants, but consider that my agents are entitled to compensation for not only work actually performed, but for expenses in advertising and printing in anticipation of the 4,000 emigrants to be procured. In estimating the amount of such compensation at £640, I considered it a fair and reasonable charge. I have not been in a position yet to come to a settlement with my sub-agents, and asked for time until I could communicate with the Colonial Government. You will, of course, receive the proper vouchers for all payments I shall have eventually to make in this matter. I have still the honor to bring again under your notice the many applications which I receive from emigrants who have been ordered by their friends in New Zealand. Although you have written direct to some of the people stating the time they have to be in London, they are so inexperienced that they do not know how to proceed ; others not having heard from you at