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Sandhurst. I have also received your despatch of the 18th May, enclosing a memorandum addressed to you by the Premier, respecting the medical examination in New Zealand of candidates for cadetships. Copies of these despatches were forwarded for the consideration of the Secretary of State for War in a letter of which a copy is enclosed; and I have the honour to transmit to you, for the information of your Government, and for that of the Senate of the University, a copy of the reply which has been received from the War Office, conveying the decision of Mr. Secretary Childers in respect of the various points which have been submitted.—l have, &c., Kimbebley.—Governor the Hon. Sir A. H. Gordon, G.C.M.G., &c. Enclosure 1. Downing Street, 25th July, 1882.—Sir,—With reference to your letter of the 20th of October last, and to previous correspondence respecting the rules which govern the grant of cadetships at the Eoyal Military College to successful candidates of the chartered Universities of Australia and New Zealand, I am directed by the Earl of Kimberley to transmit to you, to be laid before Mr. Secretary Childers, a copy of a despatch from the Governor of New Zealand, of the 15th May, forwarding resolutions of the Senate of the University of that colony on the subject of the examination for the nomination of military cadets. 2. I am at the same time to transmit to you a copy of a further despatch from Sir A. Gordon, of the 15th of May, with a resolution of the Senate of the University of New Zealand, requesting that the Government should be moved to take further steps to obtain the recognition of the first section of the examination for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, as equivalent to the further examination of candidates for admission by competition. 3. Lord Kimberley understands that candidates nominated by the colonial Universities to the cadetships allocated to the students of these Universities will be admitted to the Boyal Military College without further examination, and will not undergo any competitive examination, though they will, of course, be required to pass those examinations which are necessary qualifications for a, commission. He presumes, therefore, that the information desired by the Senate of the University of New Zealand relates, not to the cadets nominated by the University, but to other students of the University who may be desirous of entering the Eoyal Military College. 4. lam also desired, with reference to your letter of the 28th of February, to enclose a copy of a despatch from Sir A. Gordon, of the 18th of May, with its enclosure, respecting the medical examination in New Zealand of candidates for cadetships; and I am to request that you will move Mr. Childers to inform Lord Kimberley of the answers which should be returned to the various questions raised in Sir A. Gordon's despatches.—l have, &c, John Beamston.—The Under-Secretary of State, War Office. Enclosure 2. War Office, 29th July, 1882. —Sir,—l am directed by the Secretary of State for War to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 25th instant, forwarding copies of despatches from the Governor of New Zealand, together with resolutions of the Senate of the University of that colony, relative to the examination required of members of the University previous to their nomination as cadets at the Eoyal Military College, Sandhurst. With regard to the resolution dated 15th March, 1882, Mr. Secretary Childers desires me to acquaint you, for the information of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, that, the ordinary entrance examination for the Eoyal Military College being strictly competitive, it would be impossible to recognize the first section of the examination for the degree of B.A. at the New Zealand University as equivalent to the further examination specified in paragraph 18 of the accompanying regulations, except so far as relates to the students whom the University authorities are entitled, under certain conditions, to nominate at the rate of one per annum. lam further to remark that the rules approved by the Secretary of State, and notified to you in my letter of the Bth June, 1881, came into operation from that date; and that the certificate of a medical officer of the Armed Constabulary in New Zealand will, under the circumstances mentioned, be accepted as sufficient evidence of the physical fitness for the army of University candidates for admission to the Eoyal Military College. —I have, &c, Ealph Thomson.—The Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. No. 2. Downing Street, 9th April, 1883.—Sir, —With reference to that portion of my predecessor's despatch of the 24th August, 1880, which relates to a proposal that prelhninary examinations for the Eoyal Military College, Sandhurst, should be conducted by means of papers sent out to the colonies by the Civil Service Commissioners, I have the honour to transmit to you, to be laid before your Government, an extract of a letter from the War Office, stating that the Civil Service Commissioners will be prepared, upon being informed that a person residing in any of the more important distant colonies is desirous of passing the preliminary examination for admission, to forward to the Governor of the colony in question a sealed packet of examination-papers, with explanations as to the mode of conducting the examination; or, should the demand for examination be recurrent, they would be willing to supply papers beforehand, to be used by the Governor as occasion might require. It will be noticed that this arrangement supersedes that which was previously announced in Lord Kimberley's despatch of the 30th June, 1881, under which preliminary examinations for Sandhurst would have been conducted in accordance with the prescribed regulations by the authorities of any Universities or Colleges pos3e_ssing Eoyal Charters, but that it does not affect the annual grant of a cadetship to such Universities. Your Government will also observe that, in consequence of the increased facilities afforded by the present arrangement, it will now be unnecessary to take any steps in the direction indicated in the earlier of the two despatches referred to, with the view of choosing a common centre of examination in Australia.—l have, &c., Debby,—The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

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