D.—3

16

With regard to the certificates already sent you, I do not wish to ask. any favour or compliments at your bands, and I am quite willing to give you the fullest information you may ask or require. I have already replied fully to all the queries you sent me as to Messrs. X , C , and G- ; but from past experience I object to the shifting of the responsibility to the Government as proposed by you. I would ask you to approve of my certificates when all your necessary inquiries have been fully satisfied, or else, if you so feel disposed, to disapprove of them. lam even anxious to give any further information you may choose to demand; and, if you should then disapprove of these gentlemen without any just or reasonable grounds, I feel quite confident that the Government of New Zealand will deal rightly and act honorably in the matter. I sent yon two months ago Mr. D. A. Tole's original letter, stating such draft agreement had been approved of by His Excellency, and I cannot but think that if there was any disposition on your part to further an important emigration movement, such as the one in which I am now engaged, that it would be considered sufficient to warrant you in not interposing such difficulties in my way. Tour remarks relative to the £5,000 might justly apply to me if I was some penniless or political adventurer; but the gentlemen who have paid me their money, and on whose behalf I now ask for your certificates, have the fullest confidence in my honor, integrity, and bona fides. Will you therefore be good enough to inform me if you require any further information that I can possibly afford relating to the gentlemen already referred to, and let me know your final decision in this matter ? I have, &c., The Agent-General for New Zealand. Geo. Vesey Stewart.

Enclosure 6 in No. 20. Mr. G. V. Stewart to the Agent-Geneeal. Sir,— Martray House, Ballygawley, 29th December, 1877. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 27th instant, and am glad to find that you have at last received instructions from the Government of New Zealand. Would you have any objection to send me the names and addresses of the parties making the inquiries relative to my settlement to which you refer ? I should also be glad to know, at your earliest convenience, if you have been instructed to assist me in filling up my ship with a limited number of approved single females, as distinctly promised by the Hon. Donald Reid, the late Minister for Immigration. I am now making my arrangements for chartering such ship from Belfast to Auckland for my special settlers. I should, therefore, feel obliged to you to give me the earliest possible information as to any instructions you may receive in the matter, so as to enable me to conclude such arrangements under your sanction and directions. I have, &c., The Agent-General for New Zealand. Geo. Vesey Stewaet.

Enclosure 7 in .No. 20. The Agent-General to Mr. G. V. Stewart. Sir, — 7, Westminster Chambers, London, S.W., 31st December,! 877. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letters of the 28th and 29th instant I am sorry to find that you misunderstand my letter of the 27th, to which yours of the 29th is a reply. I have received no instructions whatever from the Government on the subject of your agreement. To my request for instructions, the only reply I received was, " Vesey Stewart agreement per mail." I have therefore no instructions with respect to sending female emigrants from Belfast. In reply to your request for the names and addresses of those who have made inquiries of me, I have to say that some of the inquiries made concerning your settlement were verbal and were not recorded. One was made personally on behalf of an officer in the India Office, whose name I forget. One was in writing from Mr. Latimer, Leeson Park, Dublin. Tou are in error in writing that the letter you sent me from Mr. Tole stated that the " draft agreement had been approved of by His Excellency." Mr. Tole wrote that the Waste Lands Board recommended it for approval—not that it was approved. Subsequently the matter, according to a report in the newspapers, was considered de novo. Since you press me for a definite answer concerning the certificates, I have to say that I decline committing myself to any certificates until after I receive the copy of agreement from the Government. Should it be accompanied by instructions, I will of course be guided by them. In the absence of instructions, I shall ask for particulars, signed by the intending emigrants themselves, on a form similar to the one enclosed,* together with a certificate of yourself or a representative appointed by you stating that you are satisfied as to the truth of the particulars stated. On the facts supplied by those particulars I will come to a conclusion as to whether or not I approve the emigrants. I have, &c, Julius Vogel, G. Vesey Stewart, Esq. Agent-General. * For form alluded to vide Enclosure 2 in No. 27.