11

A.—sa

No. 2. The Hon. the Minister of Lands to Sir W. Fox. Sic, — General Survey Office, Wellington, 23rd May, 1884. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 13th instant, expressing entire satisfaction with the manner in which Mr. Humphries, the Chief Surveyor of the Taranaki District, has performed his duties in connection with the West Coast Commission since the death of Captain Skeet, and suggesting that some substantial recognition of his services should be made by the Government. It is a matter of gratification to me that this department has been able to meet your requirements, and the Surveyor-General will convey to Mr. Humphries an expression of the sense which you entertain of his services. I have no doubt such a recognition will be grateful to Mr. Humphries. Ido not, however, think that he would expect any further recognition for the performance of work which really falls within the scope of his duties; and I feel that it would be invidious to single out one officer of the department for special reward, without extending the same boon to a number of other officers who have recently been performing an unusual amount of work. I have, &c, Sir William Fox, Westoe, Eangitikei. W. Eolleston.

No. 3. } Sir W. Fox to the Hon. the Minister of Lands. Sik, — West Coast Commission Office, Wellington, 29th May, 1884. I have the honour to acknowledge your letter of the 23rd instant, in reply to mine of the 13th, in which I had requested that some substantial recognition should be made to Mr. Humphries of the valuable services which he had rendered, for a period of nearly two years, during which he had charge of the West Coast Commission surveys, and by which he practically saved to the colony the cost of a special chief surveyor for the Commission, amounting for the period, with contingencies, to not less than £1,500. I am extremely sorry that you should feel yourself unable to give a more liberal response to my request than that the Surveyor-General will be directed to convey to Mr. Humphries an expression of the sense which I entertain of his services. As I have already very cordially given expression to the same effect personally to Mr. Humphries, I can only hope that its repetition by the head of his department, on my behalf, will intensify the gratification which you say you have no doubt Mr. Humphries will feel. Considering, however, the strict economy which I have exercised in reference to the work of the Commission during the whole period of its progress, endeavouring to keep down the expenses to the lowest figure compatible with efficiency, I cannot help regretting that, at the termination of my labours, the modest request which I have made on behalf of an officer whose services, as well as his manner of performing them, seemed to me to entitle him to something more than a mere expression of satisfaction, should have been refused. The more so, as I feel that the position in which Mr. Humphries was placed by the devolution upon him of the work of the Commission was one very different from that to which you allude as having fallen to the lot of other officers of the Survey Department elsewhere, who have recently " been performing an unusual amount of work." He was not a mere departmental officer, but holding a position in connection with the Commission, receiving his instructions from myself, altogether apart from his departmental responsibilities, and involving a distinct relationship to myself his recognition of which, no doubt, contributed very materially to the satisfactory and smooth working of the Commission surveys. I have, &c, William Fox, The Hon. the Minister of Lands. West Coast Commissioner.