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1882. NEW ZEALAND.

COST OF COLONIAL GOVERNMENT OFFICES IN LONDON.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

Sir, — 7, Westminster Chambers, June 1, 1882. It will be in your recollection that, in July last year, I communicated to you confidentially a number of particulars, with which I had been favored by the High Commissioner of Canada and the Agents-General for Australia, showing the cost of the several Colonial Government Offices in England. I have now been permitted to send you these officially, and to say that you are at liberty to lay them before the New Zealand Parliament. For convenience of reference, I also give here the cost of tie New Zealand Office. I. — Dominion of Canada. The salary of the High Commissioner, Sir Alexander Gait, G.C.M.G., is £2,000 per annum, with a personal allowance of £800 for contingent expenses. The annual rent of the Dominion offices is £475. The regular staff consists of a Secretary (Mr. J. G. Colmer), an accountant, a shorthand writer, a librarian, and a messenger. The total expenses of the staff, including housekeeper's expenses, amount to about £1,300 per annum. The expenditure for extra clerks and contingencies, including piinting, advertising, postage, &c, cannot be put down at any fixed sum, the amount varying constantly and considerably, For the present year, however, the cost of these services is estimated at about £2,000. It may be added, that a large amount of pamphlets and other printed matter is prepared in this country, the cost of which is debited to contingency account. In addition to the London Offices, the Dominion has country agencies in Great Britain : two in England, one in Scotland, and two in Ireland, under the High Commissioner's control. The expenses of these offices amount to about £3,000 per annum. The High Commissioner's salary and allowances are voted by the Dominion House of Commons in Supply ; the appropriations for the London staff and country agencies are included in the annual vote for the Department of Agriculture. The Dominion does not pay the English income-tax on its London office salaries. As regards the management of the Public Debt, the Dominion has hitherto paid \ per cent, to its financial agents in England, which includes the management of the Inscribed Stock, and all other matters connected with the Public Debt, investment and management of Sinking Funds, <fee. The arrangements of the Canadian Government in this respect appear to differ from those of most of the other Colonial Governments, as they do not in any way pass through the London Office at the present time, but are carried on directly by the Finance Department in Ottawa. The audit of the London payments of the Dominion Office is done in Canada. The Dominion does not at present employ any Consulting Engineers for the inspection of railway material in this country. ll. — New South Wales. The salary of the Agent-General, Sir Saul Samuel, K.C.M.G., is £2,250, including a porsonal allowance of £250 for contingent expenses. The rent of the offices is £470. The regular staff consists of a secretary (Mr. Yardley') at £600 a year ; an accountant at £250; three clerks (together), £294 ; and a housekeeper at £36. The ordinary office contingencies, including firing, stationery, printing, postage, &c, come to about £350; but this amount is subject to variation according to the requirements of the service. The sum ordinarily voted for office expenses being inadequate to meet the outlay necessarily incurred, the Agent-General charges against the various departments such sums as are respectively paid by him on their account, as nearly as these can be divided. In addition to the regular staff, there is also an emigration staff, consisting of a despatching officer, four clerks, and a messenger, the cost of this staff, and of incidental expenses, being charged against the rote for emigration purposes.