D.—7

1889. NEW ZEALAND.

APPOINTMENT OF MR. BLACKETT AS CONSULTING ENGINEER IN LONDON (RETURN SHOWING TERMS OF).

Return to an Order of the House of Representatives dated 3rd July, 1889. Ordered, "That there be laid before this House a return showing the terms on which the late Engineer-in-Chief, Mr. John Blackett, has been appointed Consulting Engineer for the Colony in London."—(Mr. Taylor.)

No. 1. The Hon. the Minister for Public Works to John ±$lackett, Esq., M.lust.C.E. Bib,— Public Works Office, Wellington, 29th September, 1888. The work of inspection of materials for the colony in England, and of advising the AgentGeneral on engineering matters generally by private firms of engineers having been very unsatisfactory, especially in connection with stores and materials required for the working railways, and the Agent-General, as well as the heads of departments in the colony, having several times recently represented the necessity for some more satisfactory arrangement, it has been decided that the Government should appoint an officer of its own to attend exclusively to these duties. This being so, and the intention of the Government at same time being to bring the construction of public works in the colony to a close in a very short time, it is considered that your long and valuable services to the colony entitle you to the first offer of this English appointment, which has apparently greater prospects of permanence than the office which you at present hold, and I am therefore now empowered to offer you the appointment of Consulting Engineer to the Government in England, at a salary of £800 per annum. Should you accept this offer the Government would also be willing to pay the passages of yourself and your family to England. Your duties, in addition to advising the Agent-General on all engineering questions, and doing all the work hitherto done by the Consulting Engineer, would include the supervision of the purchase of stores and materials of all classes for all departments of the Government service. As it is desirable that no time should bo lost in making this appointment, will you kindly let me have a reply at your earliest convenience. I have, &c, Edwin Mitchelson, John Blackett, Esq... M.lnst. C.E. Minister for Public Works.

No. 2. John Blackett, Esq., to the Hon. the Minister for Public Woeks. Public Works Department, Engineer-in-Chief's Office, R lB> _ Wellington, Bth October, 1888. I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 29th ultimo informing me of the determination of the Government to appoint a Consulting Engineer, who shall be resident in London, at a salary of £800 per year, and offering me the first chance of accepting the appointment. I beg to tender my best thanks for the offer, and to say that, after having given it serious consideration, I have much pleasure in accepting it, and will do my best to carry out the duties of the office in a satisfactory manner. I beg to submit that some guarantee should be given as to its permanence, and would suggest that the engagement be terminable by six months' notice on either side; but if determined by the Government before two years the passages of myself and family back to New Zealand, if so desired by me, should be paid by the Government. In reference to travelling-expenses in England, I suppose these will be met by a commuted fixed daily allowance, and that the incidental expenses connected with the voyage, and those incurred in getting a settled home, will be defrayed by the Government--—either the net charges or a lump sum sufficient to cover them.