B.—No, 5,
Enclosure in No. 7. Memorandum by Mr. Stafford. Wellington, 29th April, 1867. Referring to their Memorandum of the 27th instant, on the subject of the adjustment of the accounts between the Imperial and Colonial Governments, Ministers have to transmit a further explanatory Memorandum from Major Richardson relative to Mr. Commissary-General Jones' letter to His Excellency's Private Secretary of the Bth instant. For His Excellency the Governor. E. W. Stafford.
Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure in No. 7. Memorandum by Major Richardson. * Wellington, April 29, 1867. For the Honorable the Colonial Secretary. With reference to Mr. Commissary-General Jones' letter to the Private Secretary of His Excellency, of the Bth of April, the day of that officer's embarkation for England, Mr. Jones observes : — " The cause for our failure to work together satisfactorily I attribute to the circumstance that Major Richardson's Commission evidently points to an enquiry into subjects beyond mere accounts, and into which I have no authority to enter. Our objects and intentions thus diverge from each other, and consequently unity of proceeding and satisfactory results are all but impossible. I therefore feel that it is my duty to return to England at once, and am embarking to-day in the Rakaia." It appears to have escaped Mr. Jones' memory, at the time of penning this remark, that the assumed cause of failure was considered and disposed of by us so tar back as October last, when he wrote as follows:— " But as it appears by the copy of your Commission that you are required to go into such other accounts as may by you be considered to arise between these Governments out of the Native disturbances, and as portions of the correspondence to which you are specially referred relate to matters beyond mere accounts, and virtually calling in question the Military proceedings and policy of the General Officer Commanding Her Majesty's Troops during the period of active service in the field, you will, I trust, concur with me that it is neither expedient nor possible for me to discuss them with you. Before proceeding further, it would be well that this point be clearly understood, and I hope it may prove that there exists no reason for supposing that it is intended to impart into our proceedings any such extraneous subjects as those I have referred to." In my reply of the same date, I observe with reference to this point that " I have no objection to confine my examination in concert with yourself simply to the question of account, reserving to myself the right, in my report to His Excellency, to make such remarks on the subjects remitted to me as, after examination of the claims preferred by the Imperial Government, I may deem expedient and called for." If reference L- made to Mr. Jones' Memorandum, No. 20, in reply to mine of the 4th, it will be found that Mr. Jones adopts the course I proposed. His words are as follows:— "The only other points touched upon in your Memorandum requiring reference are—l. Your reserving the right to report to His Excellency upon other subjects after the examination of these claims. I can have no possible objection to such a right, but your reasons for objecting to any of the various items should of course be made to me, as otherwise I shall not be in a position to fulfil the Treasury instructions and report fully to their Lordships." There were further remarks on the same subject in my reply to Mr. Jones' Memorandum of the 6th, and my final explanatory Memorandum of the same date. The subject was not again referred to by us, and I would suggest that it is too late on the day of embarkation for Mr. Jones to refer again to it, as the cause of failure to our working satisfactorily together. I would again repeat what I have constantly urged in my correspondence with Mr. Jones, that it is also too late for that officer to object, in April, so strongly as he does to a plan of proceeding which he agreed to adopt in October last. I adhere to my opinion that the plan in question is the most judicious as regards principle, practice, and finality, and repeat my conviction that, had Mr. Jones remained, we might have drawn up our reports to our respective Governments, after conferences with each other, in less than six weeks from this date. J. Richardson.
No. 8. Copy of a Memorandum by Major Richardson. For the Honorable the Colonial Secretary. Wellington, 2nd May, 1867. It appeal's from an examination, of the correspondence between Mr. Commissary-General Jones and myself that the copy of a letter from that officer, of the 30th of March last, to me is missing; may I request that you will move His Excellency to procure a copy of the same from the Secretary for the Colonies, to whom, it is believed, the original was sent; or, in case of it not having been sent, that Mr. Jones may be requested to furnish two copies of the same; one to be placed in the correspondence sent to the Colonial Office, and the other to be forwarded to me at Wellington. I understand that Mr. Jones took home the whole correspondence with him. J. Richardson, Colonial Commissioner.
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OF THE IMPERIAL AND COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS.
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