REPORT OE THE ROYAL AUNT COMMITTEE.

7

H.—No. 6

"And that all such other officers and servants of the Mint as may be necessary, shall be appointed and discharged from time to time by the Deputy Master, on the approval of the Governor or Officer Administering the Government of the Colony. " And the Deputy Master shall faithfully, and without unnecessary delay, after the expiration of each calendar month, transmit to the Master of the Eoyal Mint the following returns: —■ " Weight of rough gold and weight of gold bullion received from the public by the Bullion Office; " Weight melted previous to assay ; " Weight assayed and valued, and value thereof; " Weight refined ; " Weight and value of bullion reissued, and amount charged for melting, assaying, and refining; " Weight of bars delivered for coinage, distinguishing those from scissel and ingot pots ; " Weight of each description of coin produced ; " Weight of each description of coin delivered to the public, and the amount, if any, charged for coining; " Number and average of assay reports on which ingot pots have been passed into work, and the highest and lowest assay reports of such pots ; " The same for scissel pots; " The same for the assay of coin ; " Number and description of dies received or completed during the month, of dies worn out, of dies effectually defaced, and of serviceable dies in hand. " And that the Deputy Master shall faithfully, and without unnecessary delay, forward to the Master of the Eoyal Mint, at the end of every quarter, a return showing the waste during the quarter, distinguishing the waste arising in melting, in refining, in coining, and in assaying. " And he shall forward any other returns which the Master of the Eoyal Mint, with the consent of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, may require. " And that to insure the careful observance of the standard in the coin, the Deputy Master shall only permit coin to be delivered to the public between such hours, on such days, as shall from time to time be ordered by the Governor or Officer Administering the Government of the Colony, during which time an officer appointed by the Governor or Officer Administering the Government of the Colony shall attend and take, without preference in the selection, a number of pieces in proportion to the quantity delivered, not being more than one piece out of every five hundred coins, nor less than one piece in five thousand. That the piece or pieces so taken be sealed up by the officer appointed as aforesaid, and the envelope dated and signed by him, and be forwarded by the Deputy Master to the Master of the Eoyal Mint in London for such examination as the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury may direct. " And that the Governor or Officer Administering the Government of the Colony shall obtain once every month from the general circulation two pieces in good condition of each description of coin issued from the Mint, and shall cause the same to be transmitted to England in such manner as he shall think fit, in order that they may be subjected to the like examination. " And that the Governor or Officer Administering the Government of the Colony shall also direct a Board of Government Officers, not less than three in number, to assemble at the Mint at the expiration of each quarter, for the inspection of the store of bullion and coin in the Mint, and report on the same to him, stating the exact amounts of the balance of each description verified by them, and shall transmit a copy of the report to the Deputy Master, to be transmitted by him to the Master of the Royal Mint. " That the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury and Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, may have authority to issue a*nd give such instructions as to them may respectively appertain for effecting the several matters and things hereby ordered to be carried into effect. " Your Majesty's Commissioners therefore beg leave to lay before your Majesty the beforementioned circumstances, and humbly pray that your Majesty will be graciously pleased to take the premises into your royal consideration, and to make such order in respect thereto as to your Majesty in your royal wisdom shall seem meet." Her Majesty having taken the said representation into consideration, was pleased, by and with the advice of Her Majesty's Privy Council, to approve thereof, and to order, and it is hereby ordered, that the same and every part thereof be acted upon and carried into effect; and the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, and the Duke of Newcastle, one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, and the Master and Worker of Her Majesty's Mint, are to issue and give such rules and directions as to them may respectively appertain for effecting the several matters and things hereby ordered to be carried into effect. (Signed) C. C. Greyille.

Sub-Enclosure 2 in Enclosure No. 1. An Act to make permanent provision for the Sydney Mint. [Assented to 21st April, 1865. Whereas it is expedient to make permanent provision in this Colony for maintaining the establishment of the Sydney Branch of the Eoyal Mint: Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of New South Wales in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows : — 1. There shall be payable to Her Majesty in every year, out of the Consolidated Eevenue Fund of the Colony, a sum or sums not exceeding in the whole in any year the sum of fifteen thousand pounds, for defraying the salaries, contingencies, retiring and other allowances connected with the establishment