D.-No. 1

44

PAPERS RELATIVE TO THE

April, 20, 1867 (738G-4).

Enclosure 1 in No. 23. Copy of a Letter from the Superintendent, Otago, to Mr. J. B. Bradshaw. Dear Sir, — Superintendent's Office, Dunedin, 20th April, 1867. As the subject of our personal interview this morning is one which vitally affects the peace, order, and good government of this Province, I think it would perhaps be well that any communication which may pass between us should be strictly official and in writing. May I therefore request that you will be good enough to consider the personal interview referred to as not having been, and that you will communicate with me in writing whatever you may desire to say. I have, &c, J. B. Bradshaw, Esq., M.H.E., Dunedin. James Macandeew.

Enclosure 2 in No. 23. Copy of a Letter from Mr. J. B. Bradshaw to the Superintendent, Otago. Sib, — Office of the General Government Agent, Dunedin, 22nd April, 1867. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Honor's letter, dated 20th instant, in which you request me to consider the personal interview which I had with you on Saturday " as not having been." As the object of that interview was simply to obtain an answer to the letter of the Hon. the Colonial Secretary, dated 16th instant, in which your Honor was requested to cause the transference to myself of all official documents, maps, &c, connected with the administration of the Gold Fields, I must decline to regard it as other than official. Tour Honor may remember that, during the interview referred to, you were pleased to express your pleasure at being relieved from the responsibility attaching to the Gold Fields Department, and I have now only to repeat that I desire an early answer to Mr. Stafford's request. I have, &c, His Honor the Superintendent of the Province of Otago, Dunedin. j. B. Bradshaw.

No. 24. Copy of Telegram from the Superintendent of Otago to His Excellency Sir George Geet. Dunedin, 6.20 p.m., 27th April, 1867. The Imperial Legislature recognizes the Provinces and Superintendents as distinct entities, and I feel in a case of emergency that it is my duty to address your Excellency direct, and to ask you to exercise the powers you possess of acting independently of your Advisers in case of need. I convey to you my conviction that serious disturbances and much mischief will issue if the Colonial Government persist in forcing Mr. Bradshaw on the miners. I have to advise that Mr. Bradshaw be immediately recalled, and that Proclamations intimated to me to-day be rescinded, and matters be allowed to continue precisely as they were before Mr. Bradshaw's appointment and since my election, pending the meeting of the General Assembly. No inconvenience was occasioned. If you are not willing to insist on this I respectfully beg your Excellency to exercise the undoubted power you possess in a case of emergency, of calling the Assembly together immediately. I know the temper of the people well, and can assure your Excellency that this a serious emergency, and should not be trifled with. May I request your Excellency to confer with Dr. Featherston, who is a Superintendent, and who will, I think, advise your Excellency that in a case of serious emergency, the Superintendents have a right to look to you for aid. I have felt it necessary to communicate with the General, a copy of which will be sent you next mail. The present action of your Advisers must, if persisted in, sever the tie which binds the Province to the Colony. I have, &c, J. Macandeew, Superintendent.

Keceived on Saturday evening, 27th April, 1867, at twenty minutes after 8 o'clock, and sent on to Mr. Stafford by Major Gray. G. Geet. Bead—E. ~W. Stafford. 27-4-67.

No. 25. Copy of a Letter from the Superintendent, Otago, to the Hon. the Colonial Seceetabt. (No. 7386-5.) Province of Otago, New Zealand, Sib, — Superintendent's Office, Dunedin, 27th April, 1867. Referring to my letter addressed to you under date as per margin, I have now the honor to state that before being called upon to relinquish the material of a department which has been created by the Province at considerable expense to itself, it seems reasonable that before giving up possession of its property, some arrangement should be made by which the Province should be reimbursed for its outlay. You will no doubt readily perceive that the Executive Government would not bo warranted in disposing of the property of the Province without the sanction of the Provincial Council; the more