A.—2

15

International Congress of Hygiene and Demography, London, 1891.—President, H.E.H. the Prince of Wales, KG. My Lord, — 6th August, 1890. We beg to direct your Lordship's attention to the important arrangement which has recently been concluded for holding the seventh International Congress of Hygiene and Demography in London in 1891, under the presidency of H.E.H. the Prince of Wales. Your Lordship will doubtless be aware that the'former congresses have been held biennially in some of the chief continental cities, the last being held in Vienna under the auspices of his late Imperial Highness Prince Eudolph, the Crown Prince of Austria, who opened the Congress in person. The next Congress will be the.first Congress which has met in Great Britain, and we entertain the confident assurance that it will be your Lordship's desire that that Congress should in all its circumstances be worthy of the great nation which stands foremost in the promotion and practical application of hygienic science and statistical research. The learned and scientific societies of Great Britain and Ireland have already nominated as delegates a number of gentlemen of the highest distinction as hygienists and statisticians. Taking into consideration that the Congress will be attended by the representatives of numerous Councils and Corporations engaged in sanitary administration, and by members of several professions, we are led to anticipate that London will be visited by not fewer persons than at the time of the Medical Congress in 1881. The deliberations of the Congress will be specially directed to the consideration of subjects concerning the public health; and in the section of demography, which will be assisted by a special committee appointed by the Eoyal Statistical Society, the life conditions of civilised communities will be considered in their various industrial, social, and domestic relations, from statistical points of view. It is obvious that such a conference of official and professional authorities and scientists will necessarily be of the highest value in promoting hygiene and cognate sciences, and generally advancing the welfare not only of all classes of our fellow-countrymen, but of humanity at large. We therefore venture to express the hope, should the objects and arrangements of the Congress described have met with your approval, your Lordship will allow us to communicate through the Colonial Office with the Colonial Governments, inviting them to nominate delegates and to take part in the deliberations of the Congress, and thus to insure that the sanitary condition of every one of Her Majesty's colonies shall be adequately represented at the International Congress of Hygiene and Demography which will be held in London in 1891. We have, &c, Douglas Galton, Chairman of Organizing Committee. W. H. Coefield, ) tt o Sherry F. Murphy. [ Hon - Secretaries. The Eight Hon. Lord Knutsford, Secretary of State for the Colonies.

No. 21. (New Zealand—General.) My Lord,- — Downing Street, 12th August, 1890. With reference to your Lordship's Despatch No. 26, of the 24th May, I have the honour to state to your Lordship, for the information of your Government, that the notification of the accession of the colony under your government to the declaration with France respecting the disposal of the proceeds of wrecks, of the 23rd October last, has been formally made to the French Government, and notified in the Journal Officiel, under date Ist August, 1890. I have, &c, KNUTSFOKD. Governor the Eight Hon. the Earl of Onslow, G.C.M.G., &c.

A.-1,1891, No. 1

No. 22. (Circular.) Sib, — Downing Street, 25th August, 1890. I have the honour to transmit herewith, for publication in the colony under your government, a copy of " The Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1890 (53 and 54 Vict., c. 37), to which I think it right to draw your attention, as some of its provisions bear upon colonial matters. For the convenience of your Government, 1 also enclose a copy of an explanatory memorandum by the parliamentary counsel. I have, &c, KNUTSFOKD. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. [For enclosure see New Zealand Gazette, 15th January, 1891.]