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Enclosure 3 in No. 15. The Hon. the Premier to His Excellency the Governor. Memorandum for His Excellency. Sir George Grey presents his respectful compliments to the Marquis of Normanby, and acknowledges the receipt of his memorandum of the 17th instant. 1 The Governor is pleased, in that memorandum, to state as follows :— Ihe Governor is certainly surprised that views such as those now expressed by Sir George Grey should emanate from a person who for many years had the honor of acting as Her Majesty s representative in this and other colonies." . . 2 Sir George Grey does not precisely understand what is the meaning ot tins passage. He feels assured that the views he has expressed are such as would tend to Her Majesty's honor, and the welfare of her subjects both in Great Britain and in her colonial possessions. He is also aware that these views have been held by some of the greatest British statesmen and that they have in no small degree influenced recent legislation in reference to the colonial dependencies ot the Crown. , . .. , .. ~ , 3 The Governor then goes on to state that be is the more surprised at these views, when he remembers that so late' as two years ago, when in opposition, Sir George Grey did not hesitate to invoke, both by letter and by telegraph, the authority of the Secretary ot State, in opposition to the views of the Government of the day, for the purpose of defeating a measure which had been passed by large majorities in both branches of the Legislature, and that alter he was aware that the Secretary of State had officially announced that Her Majesty would not be advised to exercise her power of disallowing the Act for the Abolition of Provinces, avid, therefore, according to the views now expressed by Sir George Grey, after the Secretary of State had no power to interfere." ,-.,-, •,, i crn r< 4 The Governor has forgotten that on the occasion to which be alludes, Sir George Grey did not ask the Secretary of State to interfere within the limits of the Constitution Act. He asked him to interfere with questions which lay outside that Act, and which in one case fell entirely under cognizance of the Imperial Government. He was also, during the period of tune alluded to by the Governor, specially anxious that an opinion should be obtained from the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General of England, whether the British Parliament had or had not conferred upon the General Assembly, by the Constitution Act, the power of abolishing the provinces without their consent. He desired a dry legal opinion as to what the respective powers of the British Parliament and the General Assembly were, in relation to that point. _ 5 According to immemorial usage, the opinion of the Attorney-General and SolicitorGeneral would have been obtained by the Secretary of State, and would have been forwarded to the Governor for the consideration of the authorities in this country ; it would have been taken for what it was worth, and might have proved a very valuable guide. It does not appear, however, to have been procured ; certainly it was not, in conformity with the usual practice in such cases, forwarded to the Governor of this colony for his information. 6 The questions regarding the powers of the Secretary of State now raised by Sir George Grey, relate to his jurisdiction within the Constitution Act, and arc essentially different from those'raised in the telegram or letters alluded to by the Governor. 7. In reference to the argument now raised by the Governor, regarding the Executive Council and the system of Responsible Government, Sir George Grey would remark as follows: — . . . . ~ 8 It is true that the Governor constitutes, under the authority of a commission from the Crown, an Executive Council within the Colony of New Zealand ; but his commission and instructions only authorize him to submit to that Executive Council questions connected with those prerogatives of the Crown—such as the prerogative of pardon—delegated to him by his commission'? They do not authorize the Executive Council in any way to interfere with Acts performed under the laws of the General Assembly of New Zealand. The Crown has not attempted to give powers to the Executive Council which it had no lawful right to bestow upon that body. It was quite justified in saving, as it did in fact say, to the Governor :In intrusting to you, the Governor, certain of our Roval prerogatives which belong to us as of right, we do not choose to intrust them to your sole discretion, but, for the welfare of our people, we provide a Council to advise yon* in reference to every act done in relation to these our Royal prerogatives, and we desire that you do not perform any act in relation thereto until you have taken its advice, whether yon follow it or not. If you do not follow it you will report to us that you have not acted on the advice of your Council, and you will give to us your reasons for following your own will in preference to adopting its advice. 9. Sir George Grey would further remark, on this point, that the General Assembly ot New Zealand need in no" way recognize that Executive Council. It is not necessary, under the Constitution Act, that the Ministers should be members of the Executive Council, nor is it necessary that any single member of cither House of the Legislature should be a member of the Executive Council. Ministers only recognize that Council because the General Assembly has, by its enactments, required them to do so, by passing laws which confer upon that Council various powers vested in the Governor and his Responsible Advisers. 10 The Governor also states that Responsible Government owes its existence to instructions contained in a despatch from the Secretary of State. Sir George Grey ventures to say 4, A.—l.