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" With regard to the application of Messrs. Morris and Watson and party for the land referred to in your letter of the 4th ultimo, I regret to have to state that, as the land in question is partially auriferous, and, in the opinion of the Governor, is likely to be required for bona fide mining purposes and the several purposes connected therewith or incidental or conducive thereto, it comes within the exceptions specified in clause 16 of the contract, and I have, therefore, to object to its being dealt with as desired. " I may add that steps will be taken to set apart and define such lands by Proclamation as required by the contract. " I have, &c, "T. Fergus, " B. Wilson, Esq., Minister for Public Works. "General Manager, New Zealand Midland Bailway Company, Christchurch." It will be seen that at this date a question had arisen as to whether these applications under clause 33 should be made, subject to the two months' notice, under clause 29, which is a preceding clause in the contract, and which, we submit, does not in any sense govern clause 33, either in the literal interpretation or by reasonable application, inasmuch as the whole object of clause 33 was to provide for speedy settlement in small areas, while clause 29 appropriately applied to the selection of entire blocks of considerable area. It may be remarked incidentally that the Minister at this date ventures to block applications under clause 33, not only on the ground that such applications required two months' notice in addition to being advertised, but that the lands were " likely to be required for mining purposes. Sir C. Lilley : They were auriferous. Mr. Hutchison : The Minister applies to mining reserves the words " likely to be " which only apply to timber reserves. The Minister may have made a slip in that, and probably intended to mean that it was proposed to proclaim them in the words of subclause (o). " Likely to be " are the words used in clause 18 referring to timber, and " are or may be " are the words used in clause -16 as referring to mining. Our contention as to clause (c) is that it should be read contemporaneously with the discovery of gold— not a prospective discovery, but an actual ascertained fact of mining. Sir C. Lilley : That is in the " opinion of the Governor" ? Mr. Hutchison: I submit that means a judicial opinion, not an arbitrary one. The Governor should be able to show cause if necessary. That is my contention. But lam being led off from my argument as to clause 33 by this phrase, "likely to be," in the letter of the Minister. The reply of the manager to that letter is dated 9th September, 1890. Sir B. Burnside : You say that there is a different use of the word in clause 16 and in clause 18 ? Mr. Hutchison: Yes; and I say that the difference is most significant. Sir B. Buenside : I think you said the Minister might have used one term intending to use the other? Mr. Hutchison: Yes; it is probable he did so carelessly; but he was not warranted in applying them as of the same meaning; they are distinctly different in meaning. The reply of the general manager, of the 9th September, 1890, is as follows: — " Sic, —In reply to your letter of the 29th ultimo, while not concurring in the opinion that a reference to the Minister under clause 29 of the contract is necessary in cases of dealing with lands under clause 33,1 have the honour to point out that my suggestion was not that the Minister should delegate his functions under the contract to any officer, but merely that he should instruct the Commissioners of Crown Lands (whose duty it is, as already arranged, to assess the value of all lands to be dealt with under clause 33) to advise the Minister at the same time whether there is any cause for his objecting to the particular land applied for being dealt with, and that the request of the company for an assessment of the land shall be sufficient notification to the Minister under clause 29, assuming that he be entitled to such notice. " By this means much loss of time and inconvenience to applicants would be avoided, as, if necessary, the whole two months would have to elapse should the Minister, or the Commissioner of Crown Lands on his behalf, not earlier notify his agreeing to the company's dealing with the particular land but if the notification thus came to the Minister through the Commissioner of Crown Lands, whom I presume to be the official land officer, and who is consulted on all land matters in connection with his district, I imagine that the Minister could consent or otherwise to particular pieces of land being dealt with in much less time than two months. Already applications have to be advertised for a month, and it would seem possible, immediately that time expired, to ascertain in the majority of cases whether there is any need for delay. Should it be necessary to make further inquiries in particular cases, further time could of course be taken, up to the two months or longer, if necessary, by arrangement with the company. " Shortly after the signing of the Midland Bailway contract, 1888, an arrangement was come to with Ministers that the company should communicate direct with the Commissioners of Crown Lands on these subjects, expressly to save the delays which the exigencies of the post and other causes would create if a reference to the Minister was necessary in all cases. " In the past, owing to the peculiar difficulties of the situation, there has been among the inhabitants of the district concerned considerable dissatisfaction with the delay in dealing with the lands, and for this they have blamed the company; but it is becoming known that now and for the future the delays do not rest with the company. " In making such a suggestion the company is not asking the Minister to delegate his functions, but merely to execute those functions through some officer with whom the company, to save time, can be in direct communication, the Minister obviously being unable to attend to all detail matters personally. " The company's chief wish and interest is to assist in every possible way the spread of settlement within its area by giving every facility, within the rights of the Government and the com-