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It will be seen from the Foreign Office letter that steps have been taken for the passing of an Order of the Queen in Council for bringing the Convention into effect. I have, &c, H. T. HOLLAND. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

Enclosure. Sir,— Foreign Office, 31st October, 1887. I am directed by the Marquis of Salisbury to transmit to you, to be laid before Sir Henry Holland, and for communication to the colonies, copies of a parliamentary paper containing the text of the Convention concerning the creation of an International Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, signed at Berne, 9th September, 1886. The following States, viz.: Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Haiti, Italy, Switzerland, and Tunis, have ratified the Convention, and the ratifications of those States were deposited at Berne on the sth of September last. I am to add that steps have been taken for the passing of an Order in Council for bringing the Convention into effect three months after the date of the deposit of the ratifications, in conformity with the stipulations of Article XX. I have, &c, The Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. T. V. Lister. [For Convention, see New Zealand Gazette, 15th March, 1888. p. 345.]

No. 53. (New Zealand, No. 67.) Sir, — Downing Street, 18th November, 1887. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 84, of the 7th of October, reporting upon the present political situation in the colony under your Government. I have, &c, H. T. HOLLAND. Governor Sir W. F. D. Jervois, G.C.M.G., C.8., &c.

A.-l, 1888, No. 9.

No. 54. (Circular.) Sib, — Downing Street, 22nd November, 1887. With reference to my circular despatch of the 27th September last, I have the honour to transmit to you, for communication to your Government, a copy of a letter from the Admiralty, setting forth the terms which should be offered to lieutenants of the Eoyal Navy to induce them to volunteer as Instructors of colonial naval forces. I have, &c, H. T. HOLLAND. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.

No. 44

Enclosure. Sir,— Admiralty, 16th November, 1887. With reference to previous correspondence, and to your letter of the 15th ultimo and its enclosure from the Agent-General of Victoria, asking on what terms a qualified lieutenant of the Royal Navy can, be obtained to assist in the instruction of the Victorian naval forces, I am commanded by my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to acquaint you, for the information of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, that they consider £450 a year, with free quarters, rations, and a servant, would be the fair amount to be given as a maximum to any lieutenant, Royal Navy, who volunteers for such an appointment in the colonies. 2. As, however, it would be undesirable and, indeed, impossible in all cases to appoint an officer entitled to the maximum pay and allowances of a lieutenant in the Eoyal Navy, which are as follows : If a first-class torpedo or gunnery lieutenant of ten years' standing—Pay, 12s. a day ; allowance, 3s. 6d. a day = £282 9s. 6d. per annum; if first lieutenant of a ship he would receive Is. 6d. or 2s. 6d. a day, say 2s. 6d.=£45 12s. 6d. : total, £328 Is. per annum—my Lords consider that it would be preferable to give the officer the full pay and allowances he is, or would be, entitled to in a sea-going ship, and to add to it 10s. a day colonial allowance —free quarters, rations, and a servant being given in addition, as in Her Majesty's ships. 3. Although it is somewhat difficult to call for a volunteer to undertake the duty until the scale of pay can be announced, my Lords have, with a view to saving time, furnished the Con-mander-in-Chief at Portsmouth with a copy of this letter, and directed him, in the meantime, to report what officers in every way suitable would be willing to come forward, subject to the pay being considered sufficient, observing that gunnery and torpedo officers would be preferred. I have, &c, The Under-Secretary of State, Colonial Office. Evan Macgregor.