A.—4

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Burgoyne and Co.'s letter. Wβ venture to hope, therefore, that they will have the favourable consideration of Her Majesty's Government. We are, &c, Stbathcona, High Commissioner for Canada. Julian Salomons, Agent-General for New South Wales. D. Tbnnant, Agent-General for the Cape of Good Hope. Andrew Clabke, Agent-General for Victoria. W. P. Reeves, Agent-General for New Zealand. John A. Cookbuen, Agent-General for South Australia. Walteb Peace, Agent-General for Natal. E. H. Wittenoom, Agent-General for Western Australia. Hobace Tozee, Agent-General for Queensland. P. 0. Fysh, Agent-General for Tasmania. The Eight Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, M.P., Secretary of State for the Colonies.

Enclosure in No. 6. Memorandum. — Messrs. P. B. Burgoyne and Co. and the Wine Duties. 35, Walbrook, E.C., 9th May, 1899. With reference to Messrs. Burgoyne and Co.'s letter to the public Press on the question of the new duties as affecting Australian wines, I may say at once that the views expressed by these gentlemen are diametrically opposite to those held by all the other firms interested in the Australian wine trade in London, as well as those of the vine-growers in South Australia, as evidenced by the following cable published in the Times and other papers to-day as a result of a meeting held in Adelaide yesterday (the Bth instant) to consider the question of the increased duties : " Vinegrowers unite in representing injury to trade if increase of duty enforced." It is difficult to understand the attitude assumed by Messrs. Burgoyne in view of the following facts : — (1.) At a meeting of those chiefly interested in the Australian wine trade held on the 14th April to consider the new duties, Messrs. Burgoyne and Co. were represented, and the following resolution was unanimously passed : " That the Chancellor of the Exchequer be requested to receive at his earliest convenience a deputation of those interested in the production and distribution of colonial wine, that they may have the opportunity of laying before him the grounds upon which they would respectfully ask Her Majesty's Government to refrain from levying the proposed increased duty upon wines produced within the British Empire, which would, in their opinion, be calculated to do great injury to a growing inter-British trade." Mr. Gambier, manager to Messrs. Burgoyne and Co., was appointed honorary secretary to the committee formed to further the objects in view. (2.) On the 17th another meeting of the Australian wine trade was held at Messrs. P. B. Burgoyne and Co.'s offices, Mr. Burgoyne himself presiding (vide report of meeting in the Times of the 18th April), when the following resolution was passed, stamped " P. B. Burgoyne and C 0.," and forwarded to the Agents-General: "At a meeting of the representatives of the Australian wine trade held on the 17th instant at 5, Dowgate Hill, it was unanimously resolved to invite the Agents-General for the Colonies to represent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the proposed increase of duties on wines would be prejudicial to the wine industry of the colonies, and that a copy of this resolution be sent to them with copies of letters from Sir Howard Vincent and Mr. Chamberlain.—P. B. Buegoyne and Co., 5, Dowgate Hill, E.C." (3.) A third meeting was held the next day (the 18th April), Mr. Burgoyne again presiding, in which he assisted in framing the views of the trade which were submitted in the form of a memorandum to the Agents-General for the Colonies for the express purpose of the interview arranged for them with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to set before him the reasons for the desired exemptions of colonial wines from the new duties. The memorandum was signed "J. Gambier, Hon. Sec. to the Committee of the Representatives of the Australian Wine Trade." Mr. Gambier is the manager of the firm of P. B. Burgoyne and Co. In view of the foregoing, it is but right to attach the following advertisements issued by P. B. Burgoyne and Co., which are specimens of a number which have appeared in the public Press: — (a.) An advertisement in " Ridley's Wine and Spirit Trade Circular " of the 12th April, 1899, stating that Messrs. Burgoyne's duty-paid stock of Australian wine consisted on that date of over 5,000 hhds. (i.e., over 300,000 gallons, as Australian hogsheads contain 60 gallons each). (b.) An advertisement from the " Wine Trade Review" of the 15th April of a similar tenor. (c.) An advertisement in the Daily Graphic of the 3rd May (dated 17th April) notifying that the following additions are made to the retail prices of their wines : 3s. per dozen on Imperial quarts, 2s. per dozen on bottles, and Is. per dozen on half-bottles. E. Bueney Young, Commercial Representative, South Australian Government. Approximate Cost of Paper.— Preparation, not given; printing (1,375 copies), £3 12s.

By Authority: John Mackay, Government Printer, Wellington.—l9oo. Price 6d.]