ZEALAND TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE.

A.—No. 1a

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to be addressed to the Officer commanding the Troops in New Zealand, requesting him to give to the Commissariat Officer in charge such instructions as may be necessary to recover from the contractors in the Waikato District, the value of upwards of five thousand rations of meat, paid for by the Imperial Government and charged against the Colony, in excess of the amount actually received by the Colonial Troops. I have, &c, His Grace the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. G. GREY.

Enclosure in No. 51. The Pbtvate Seceetaet to the Officee Commanding the Teoops in New Zealand. Private Secretary's Office, Wellington, Sie,— 16th September, 1867. I have the honor, by direction of His Excellency the Governor, to transmit for your information, the copy of a Memorandum which he has received from his Besponsible Advisers. The correspondence enclosed in this Memorandum shews that the contractors in the Waikato District have been paid by the Imperial Government for upwards of five thousand rations of meat, in excess of the amount actually received ; and I am directed to request that you will be good enough to give the necessary instructions for the recovery, by the action of the Imperial Commissariat, of the value of these rations, which have been made a charge against the Colony. I have, &c, The Officer Commanding the Troops in New Zealand. Feed. Thatchee, Private Secretary.

Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure in No. 51. Memoeandum by Mr. Hall. Colonial Defence Office, Wellington, sth September, 1867. Ministers respectfully submit to His Excellency the accompanying copies of correspondence received from the Officer commanding the Waikato Militia, showing that the contractors have been paid for upwards of five thousand rations of meat, by the Imperial Government, in excess of the amount actually received ; and Ministers request that His Excellency will be pleased to transmit this correspondence to the Officer commanding Her Majesty's Forces in New Zealand, with a view to the recovery, by the action of the Commissariat, of the value of these rations, which has been made a charge against the Colony. John Hall, His Excellency the Governor. (for the Defence Minister.)

Coeeespondence enclosed. No. 435-3, Bth August, 1867. —Lieut.-Colonel Lyon to Under Secretary. No. 1059-66, 24th November, 1866. —Captain Tisdall to D. A. Commissary-General Johnston. No. 100, 26th November, 1866.—D. A. Commissary-General Johnston to Captain Tisdall. No. 1065-66, 28th November, 1866. —Captain Tisdall to D. A. Commissary-General Johnston. No. 104, Ist December, 1866. —D. A. Commissary-General Johnston to Officer commanding 2nd Waikato Begiment. No. 1075-66, 3rd December, 1866.—Captain Tisdall to Lieut.-Colonel Moule. No. 92-3, sth December, 1866.—Lieut.-Colonel Moule to Officer commanding 2nd Waikato Eegiment. No. 1089-66, 6th December, 1866.—Captain Tisdall to Lieut.-Colonel Moule. No. 112-3, 15th December, 1866. —Lieut.-Colonel Moule to Officer commanding 2nd Waikato Eegiment. No. 111S-66, 21st December, 1866.—Captain Tisdall to Lieut.-Colonel Moule. No. 173-3, 16th January, 1867. —Lieut.-Colonel Lyon to Officer commanding Waikato Force, Hamilton. (A.) 2nd Waikato Begiment Statement, 2nd January, 1867. (B.) 2nd Waikato Begiment Bcturn of Quantities of Meat, 19th January. No. 193-3, 24th January, 1867. —Lieut.-Colonel Moule to Commanding Officer, Ngaruawahia. No. 290-3, 2nd April, 1867.—Lieut.-Colonel Lyon to Assistant Commissary-General Ibbetson. No. 1014-10, 2nd April, 1867. —Deputy Assistant Commissary-General Marshall to Senior Commissariat Officer, Auckland. No. 405-3, 6th July, 1867. —Lieut.-Colonel Lyon to Mr. McFarlane, contractor. No. 405-3, 27th July, 1867.—Mr. J. S. McFarlane to Lieut.-Colonel Lyon.

No. 55. Copy of a DESEATCH from Governor Sir George Grey, K.C.8., to the Right Hon. the Duke of Buckingham. (No. 98.) Government House, Wellington, My Lord Duke, — 17th September, 1867. I have the honor to transmit for your Grace's information a Memorandum which my Responsible Advisers have requested me to forward, in wliich they request your Grace's attention to certain constitutional questions which they think have been wrongly dealt with as mere personal matters. I have, &c., His Grace the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. G. GREY. 32