H.—27.

I am now directed by the Colonial Secretary to state that, before taking any steps in the direction indicated by the City Council, Government would be glad to have an opportunity of considering the views of the Board of Governors of the above-named reserve in relation to the project. I have, &c, The Chairman, Wellington Botanic Garden Board. G. S. Cooper.

Sir J. Hector to the Under-Secretary. Sir, — Botanic Garden Board, sth April, 1889. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the Ist in,stant, informing me that a deputation from the City Council had urged that the Botanic Garden Reserve should be vested in the City Corporation. A meeting of the Botanic Garden Board will be called at an early date to consider this letter, but, in order to bring the question before the Board, it occurs to me that it would be advisable that you should furnish a statement of the reasons which were brought forward in support of the project, and which, I presume, led the Premier to state that Government would endeavour to give effect to the wishes of the City Council. I have, &c, The Under-Secretary. James Hector.

Mr. G. S. Cooper to Sir J. Hector. Sir, — Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 9th April, 1889. I have the honour to ackowledge the receipt of your letter of the sth April, acknowledging the receipt of my letter of the Ist instant, and asking that you might be furnished with a statement, for the information of the Botanic Garden Board, of the reasons which induced the Premier to state that Government would endeavour td give effect to the application of the Wellington City Council for the transfer of the Wellington Botanic Garden to the citizens of Wellington. In reply, I am directed by the Colonial Secretary to inform you that the arguments relied upon by the deputation from the Wellington City Council which waited upon the Premier on the 16th March were mainly the following : (1.) That, as nearly the whole of the funds at the disposal of the Botanic Garden Board are supplied by the city, the City Council should have the control of the expenditure. (2.) That in the opinion of the deputation the garden was falling into decay from neglect of the works necessary to keep it in proper order. (3.) That, in the event of the transfer being made, the Borough Council would be prepared to increase the present grant to an amount sufficient to keep the garden in good order. ■ I have, &c, Sir James Hector, K.C.M.G. G. S. Cooper.

Sir J. Hectob to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary. Sib, — Botanic Garden Board, Wellington, 28th May, 1889. In reply to your letters of the Ist and 9th April last, regarding the proposal made by a deputation from the City Council of Wellington that the Botanic Garden Reserve should be placed under the control of and vested in the City Corporation, I am directed by the Board of Governors to explain that the delay in considering the suggestion has arisen from the difficulty in obtaining a quorum of the Board, owing to the absence of some of the members. I am now instructed to forward the following resolution and the enclosed memorandum to which it refers : " Resolved, that this Board dissents from the reasons given by the deputation as being in some respects incorrect and not affording sufficient grounds for making the proposed transfer, and directs that the Manager should reply to this effect, at the same time narrating the position that the Board occupies in relation to the reserves under its control." I have, &c, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. James Hector.

The following is a brief abstract of the circumstances under which the various reserves now comprised in the Wellington Botanic Garden have become vested in the Board: — In 1866, or soon after the establishment of the seat of Government in Wellington, it was represented to the Government that important results for the benefit of the colony might follow the establishment of a garden that would form the basis of operations for a system of forest propagation throughout New Zealand. These views were urged in Parliament, especially by Messrs. Mantell and Travers, and the late Messrs. Ludlam and Potts, and were cordially supported by the Premier, Sir Edward Stafford. The result was that a small strip of land, thirteen acres in extent, which had been set apart in the original survey of the Wellington Settlement as a Botanic Garden, but which had never been used for that purpose, nor conveyed to any managing body, was brought under the provisions of the Public Domains Act, as amended in 1863, and the Governor's powers respecting the same were delegated by Order in Council to the Director of the Geological Survey {Gazette, 1868, p. 506). Persons illegally occupying the reserve were warned off it, and a portion of the area was enclosed as a nursery-ground, in which the trees and shrubs were reared which are now growing round Government House, Parliament Buildings, and the official residences, the expense being defrayed by the Colonial Government without jmy special vote or grant. In 1869 the Botanic Garden Board was established by Act, and the reserve referred to was conveyed to it by Crown grant, dated 22nd November, 1869. In 1871 an Act was passed providing, amongst other things, for extending the area of the Botanic Gardens; and, by the exercise of the powers conferred by this Act, a portion of the land

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