H.—s

5

I have therefore to request your Lordship to have the kindness to communicate the proposed allotments of space, which, after mature consideration, it has been found possible to make to the several Colonial Governments, viz. : Canada, Jamaica, British Honduras, British Guiana, Trinidad, Lagos, Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Ceylon, Mauritius, Straits Settlements, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and New Zealand. I now furnish your Lordship with plans and spaces allotted to each Government; and I may add that generally throughout the Empire the demands for space have been five times more than the total amount granted by the French authorities. The space allotted to Great Britain and the colonies adjoins a vestibule and tower, which had been reserved for international trophies, of which only a small share would have been allotted to the British Empire. The French authorities, however, on my personal application, gave me permission for the exclusive use of this tower for exhibiting a series of trophies representing the produce and the manufactm-es of the various colonies of the British Empire. The tower forms the main entrance to the Foreign Machinery Department, and is 115 feet by 115 feet, by 142 feet high. I have placed the various trophies from the colonies in close proximity to the space I secured for India, wishing that the Colonial Governments should have this prominent situation in addition to the space which is now granted in the main building, of which the tower and vestibule form the entrance. I am anxious to submit at an early period to the French Commission my proposals for dealing with the important space above alluded to, and shall be glad if your Lordship will be good enough to invite the Colonial Governments, named previously, to inform you whether they see their way to the erection of suitable grand trophies, in the spaces marked on the annexed plan. The height available for this purpose is 35 feet, the dimensions of spaces available are marked on the plan. The centre space will be occupied by the Dominion of Canada, which, as your Lordship has informed me, has, through the Governor-General, gratefully availed themselves of the offer made to them. The French Commission have only granted this tower, which is in a most important position, abutting on the Seine, and the principal entrance to the Exhibition, on the condition that the manner in which I propose to deal with it is submitted for their final approval. I shall, therefore, be glad to learn at the earliest possible date whether the colonies named above will be prepared to do justice to this important part of the Exhibition, if I allot it to them as part of the portion of the available space placed at their disposal. 1 may take this opportunity to state that the demands from Great Britain and the Continental States have been so largely in excess of what they were in 1867, that it has been found impossible to assign to the colonies a larger aggregate space than was assigned to them in the Philadelphia main building alone. I have, &c, Albert Edward, President of the Royal Commission for the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878. The Right Hon. the Earl of Carnarvon.

No. 7. His Excellency the Governor to the Right Hon. the Earl of Carnarvon. (No. 65.) Government House, Wellington, My Lord, — 15th December, 1877. It is with extreme regret that I have this day received the enclosed memorandum from my Government, by which your Lordship will see that they have intimated to me that, in consequence of the late change of Government and the subsequent pressure of parliamentary business, such delay has occurred in the arrangements necessary for the proper representation of this colony at the Paris Exhibition, that it will now be impossible for New Zealand to avail herself of the. space which has been so kindly allotted to her by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. 2. It was only yesterday that I for the first time became aware that any difficulty of the kind had occurred, and I at once urged upon Ministers the necessity of, if possible, expediting the despatch of exhibits from here, in order that they might still be in time. I regret, however, to say that, after careful consideration, it has been found quite impossible to do so. 3. I can only express my deep regret that this most unfortunate occurrence should have taken place after all the kindness and consideration which has been evinced by His Royal Highness towards this colony in allotting the space required, notwithstanding the great and urgent demand for room which has been made by other portions of Her Majesty's dominions. 4. Although it is now impossible for New Zealand to be properly represented as a colony, my Government informs me that certain exhibits are now in London, and that there are others which will be sent, and your Lordship will observe that they are anxious, if possible, that a portion at any rate of the space reserved for New Zealand should be given to New South Wales,