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Enclosure 3 in No. 1. Mr. Hamilton to Dr. Featherston. Dear Sir,— 30th, April 1874. I am desired by Mr. Lowther to forward to you a note from Mr. Horsman, M.P., with a letter from a Mr. LFRen, relative to some persons who are desirous of obtaining the benefit of a recent New Zealand Act respecting grants of land. I also enclose a minute by Mr. Lowther on the case, as stated to him in conversation by Mr. Horsman. Mr. Lowther would be glad if it should be in your power to assist these persons, who seem to be thoroughly respectable, to the accomplishment of the object which they have in view. I have, &c., I. E. Featherston, Esq., M.D. W. B. B. Hamilton.

Enclosure 4 in No 1. Minutk by Mr. Lowther. The case, as stated to me by Mr. Horsman, is, that the family referred to left England two days after the passing of the New Zealand Act referred to, in October, 1873. They were of course unaware of the change in the law, which was just commencing to take effect. They now want to have the benefit of the new Act, which confers the advantage of a grant of land to emigrants who have before leaving England obtained a certificate of respectability from the Agent-General of New Zealand. How should their friends be advised to proceed? 30th April. J. Lowther.

No. 2. The Agent-General to the Hon. J. Vogel. (No. 1222.) 7, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., Sir,— sth May, 1874. I have the honor to forward herewith copy of a letter which I have received from Messrs. John Brogden and Sons, urging their claims on the Government in respect of the heavy liabilities they have incurred in connection with New Zealand emigration, and recapitulating the facts of the case. In forwarding this letter, I can only refer the Government to my despatch of 10th July, 1873, No. 502, in which I forwarded the proposal then made by the firm for an amicable settlement of their claims, and recommended it to the favourable consideration of the Government. In my letter of 16th May, 1873, in which I referred to the proposed abolition of the promissory-note system, I pointed out that the position of the Messrs. Brogden would be seriously affected by such a change; and seeing that free emigration has since been adopted by the Government, it does appear to me that the difficulty of collecting the promissory notes has been considerably increased, while the value of the securities in the hands of the Messrs. Brogden has been correspondingly lessened. I have, &c., I. E. Featherston, The Hon. Julius Vogel, C.M.G., Wellington. Agent-General.

Enclosure in No. 2. Messrs. J. Brogden and Sons to the Agent-General. Sir, — 5, Queen Square, Westminster, 25th March, 1874. Referring again to our emigration agreement, you will remember that in our interview with you and the Hon. John Hall in June last, certain proposals for an amicable settlement were discussed, which were afterwards embodied in our letters of 12th June and 10th July, and it was agreed that you would recommend the Government to accept our offer. Not having received any reply to our communications, our Mr. James Brogden waited upon you on the 18th March, to ascertain if you had received despatches from the Government enabling you to give a favourable answer, and we regret to find that you are still without any instructions. It appears that our representatives in New Zealand were advised last Session to petition the Parliament praying the recoupment of our losses under the emigration agreement, but without success. Since, however, our proposal to apply the amount recovered from the men pro rata, in. reduction of your passage charges, and our own advances has been before the Government, you have adopted the system of free passages, which was doubtless an urgent necessity in consequence of the greatly increased demand for labour; but you will not fail to see that our position is thus materially altered since our offer of June and July last, and that it will now be impossible for us to enforce further recoveries from our workmen. You will admit that the Government are in a similar position as regards the promissory notes taken from ordinary emigrants; and that a heavy loss to the Government, as well as ourselves, must inevitably follow the adoption of free emigration.