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Her Majesty's Government in dealing with the difficulty, I have the honour to observe that the War Office letter refers to desertions to certain ports in Australia. There is no direct communication between Ceylon and New Zealand. I have, &c, W. F. DEUMMOND JEEVOIS. The Eight Hon. Sir Henry Holland, Bart., M.P., G.C.M.G.

No. 37. • (No. 22.) My Lobd, — Government House, Wellington, 22nd March, 1888. With reference to your circular despatch of the 27th December last, transmitting a copy of a letter from the Statute Law Eevision Committee relating to the retention in the statute-book of the Act 3 and 4 William IV., cap. 73, sections (51, 64, and 66, I have the honour to inform jou that there is no objection on the part of my Government to the proposed repeal of the Act in question. I have, &c, W. F. DEUMMOND JEEVOIS. The Eight Hon. Lord Knutsford, G.C.M.G.

A.-a, 1888 No. 65.

No. 38. (No. 23.) My Lord, — Government House, Wellington, 22nd March, 1888. I have the honour to forward herewith a letter on the subject of Chinese immigration by Mr. J. C. Firth, a leading gentleman at Auckland, together with a copy of a communication addressed to me by him explaining the circumstances under which he forwarded the paper direct to your Lordship instead of through the Governor of New Zealand. I have, &c, W. F. DEUMMOND JEKYOIS. The Eight Hon. Lord Knutsford, G.C.M.G. PS. —Pending receipt of circular despatch on the Chinese question, which I learn from public telegram your Lordship has addressed to the Governors of these colonies, I do not enter into the subject.—W. F. I). J.

Enclosure. Sib, — Auckland, Now Zealand, 14th February, 1888. The Chinese question appears to me to be more or less rapidly forcing itself into a position which cannot be safely ignored for any long time by the Australian Colonies. 1. For many years attempts have been made in the Australian Colonies to deal with Chinese immigration, chiefly by imposing a poll-tax on every Chinaman introduced. 2. These attempts have been only partially successful, with the additional disadvantage, as it appears to me, that such attempts are practical evasions of the treaties concluded by Her Majesty with the Emperor of China. 3. The working-classes of the Australasian Colonies have taken a decided stand against any considerable introduction of Chinese into their respective colonies, apparently and chiefly on the ground of their being competitors as wage-earners, and incidentally that they are not, and will not be, colonists in any true sense. Beneath these objections, I venture to think there may beperhaps not yet so apparent or acknowledged—a broader and a vastly more vital reason—namely, the instinct of racial preservation. 4. When it is recognised that the Chinese immigration has, even at this early stage, demonstrated that the Australasian Colonies offer great inducements to the location of Chinamen, notwithstanding the disabilities imposed upon them, we may as well be prepared for a constantly-increasing migration to Australasian shores; and, though we may attempt to check it by the imposition of a still heavier poll-tax, and by disabilities of various kinds, we must be prepared ere long for an inquiry on the part of the Chinese authorities as to whether the treaties are not being evaded. Not that the ruling powers in China are desirous of encouraging the emigration of their people; but it is evident that, with the negotiation of the treaties, European ideas are making more or less impression on even so conservative a people as the Chinese, and that in China, as everywhere, the voice of the common people is more and more making itself heard. 5. When the English Plenipotentiaries secured the right of Englishmen to enter and locate themselves in the five treaty ports, they, of necessity, granted the right to China for her people to enter the British dominions. But when the English Plenipotentiaries conceded this right it is probable that they had no idea that it would be largely taken advantage of. Events are, however,