A.—3

Total Funds to Credit of Niub Island Administration on the 31st December, 1905. £ s. d. On fixed deposit, Bank of New Zealand ... ... ... 500 0 0 Post-Office Savings-Bank ... ... .... 200 0 0 Cash balance on hand at Niue ... ... ... •■■ 546 1 9 September, 5— Balance as per bank pass-book ... ... 412 17 0 Add stamp-sales at Auckland (six months) ... 22 14 7

435 11 7 Deduct cheques outstanding(£ls Is., £150, £1, £5 18s. 9d., £35) ... ... ... 206 19 9 — — 228 11 10 £1,474 13 7 C. F. Maxwell, Bth January, 1906. Resident Commissioner, Niue.

No. 114. Sir, Cook and other Islands Administration, Wellington, 10th January, 1906. I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 7th November, reporting the steps you had taken at Penrhyn and Palmerston in pursuance of sections 5 and 6of The Cook and other Islands Government Act Amendment Act, 1904." I have, &c, The Resident Commissioner, Rarotonga. C. H. Mills.

No. 93.

No. 115. Sir, — Cook and other Islands Administration, Wellington, 10th January, 1906. I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 7th November, relative to Ordinance No. 3 of the Aitutaki Island Council, and note that you have made the amendment suggested by the Hon. the Attorney-General. I have, &c, The Resident Commissioner, Rarotonga. C. H. Mills.

No. 92.

No. 116. g IR; Niue Island Administration, Niue, 10th January, 1906. I have the honour to enclose to you herewith a Return of Imports into Niue for the Quarter ended the 31st December, 1905. The total value of imports for the period amounts to the small sum of £299, and the Customs duty collected thereon amounts to £104 4s. 9d. Compared with the return for the quarter ending the 31st December, 1904, there is a decrease of £1,649. This is attributable to the following reasons: — 1. The withdrawal of Messrs. Levers and Co. from Niue. 2. The collapse of the hat trade, which has seriously impaired the purchasing-power of the Natives. 3. The scarcity of shipping. Only two vessels visited Niue during the period—viz., the " Countess of Ranfurly " from Rarotonga, and the s.s. " Maori " from Samoa. Neither of these vessels was convenient to obtain goods by; consequently very little arrived by them. The regular trading schooner " Tsabel," which usually comes during the quarter, did not arrive until the 2nd instant. Imports by her do not therefore appear in this return. The conditions that have prevailed on this island for the past year are normal, and there is nothing beyond what I have stated to explain the shrinkage in trade. I have, &c, C. F. Maxwell, The Hon. C. H. Mills, Wellington. Resident Commissioner.

No. 117. g IK . 'Niue Island Administration, Niue, 12th January, 1906. I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter No. 335, dated the 25th October, 1905, covering , a copy of a letter from the Secretary of the Diocesan Trust Board, Auckland, with reference to the cost of maintaining Niue boys at St. Stephen's School.

No. 80,

48