A.—sa

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should the Government decide upon further operations, you will be ready to serve as Agent under the Consolidated Stock Act, or in raising loans for the colony, without salary or allowance except such as attaches to the office of Agent-General. I have, &c., Sir F Dillon Bell, &e., Dunedin. John Hall.

Enclosure. A. Gordon, Governor. To'the Hon. Sir Francis Dillon Bell, Knight, Greeting: Whereas by the fifty-fifth section of " The Public Revenues Act, 1878/'' it is enacted that the Governor in Council may from time to time appoint, and may in like manner remove and may re-appoint, a fit person to be the Agent-General for New Zealand in the United Kingdom, who -shall have full power to transact all business within the United Kingdom on behalf of the colony -of New Zealand, subject to such instructions as he may from time to time receive from the •Governor in that behalf: And whereas the office of Agent-General is at present held by Sir Julius Vogel, Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint •George, who hath resigned the same, such resignation to take effect upon his successor entering upon the duties of the said office : Now, therefore, I, Arthur Hamilton Gordon, the Governor of the Colony of New Zealand, by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council of the said colony, and in pursuance and exercise of the power and authority conferred upon me by the hereinbefore recited section of the said Act, do hereby appoint you, the said Sir Francis Dillon Bell, to be the A gent-General for New Zealand in the United Kingdom, to have, hold, exercise, and enjoy the said office, subject, however, to the provisions of the said Act and the terms of this present instrument of appointment: And Ido declare that this appointment shall take effect upon your giving notice in writing to the said Sir Julius Vogel that you are prepared to enter upon the duties of the said office, such notice to be so given by you not later than one week after your arrival in London : And I do also require you to enter upon and discharge the duties of the said office in person, oxcept only in case of sickness or other incapacity, and leave of absence first duly granted. Given under the hand of His Excellency the Honorable Arthur Hamilton Gordon, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Her Majesty's High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same; and issued under the Seal of the said Colony, at the Government House, at Wellington, this seventh day of December, one thousand eight hundred and eighty John Hall. Approved in Council. Forster Goring, Clerk of the Executive Council.

No. 4. Sir F. D. Bell to the Prebher. Sib, — Dunedin, 14th December, 1880. I have had the honor to receive to-day your letter of the 9th instant, transmitting the warrant under the hand of His Excellency the Governor in Council, appointing me to the office of Agent-General. I shall duly obey the commands therein contained, as to the notice to be given by me to Sir Julius Vogel, that I am ready to enter upon the duties of the office. I beg to renew the assurance already conveyed to you by telegram, that I entirely agree to the proposals which accompanied the offer you were pleased to make me of the Agent-General-ship, upon the resignation of Sir Julius Vogel. I believe that many advantages will result to the public service by limiting the term for which the office shall be held, and I am perfectly satisfied with the term of four years now appointed. The salary which the Government have fixed and the allowance for removal to England are ample. I thoroughly concur also in the further condition that, whether for transactions under the Consolidated Stock Act, or any operations connected with the loans, or indeed any other functions which the colony may require him to perform, the Agent-General of New Zealand should receive nothing in the shape of special salary or allowances whatever. I have, &c, The Hon. John Hall, &c. F D. Bell.