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The papers enclosed are, — (1.) Petition to Parliament against the Bill. (2.) Petition to me in favour of the Bill, and my reply. (3.) My letter to Parliament thereon. (4.) Letter from me asking Parliament to give their reasons for rejecting the Bill. (5.) Their letter in reply. (6.) My reply thereto. I may be permitted to add that the "reasons" sent to me (Enclosure No. 5) were, I am assured, drawn up by an unaided committee of three Maori members, who compiled them from papers submitted by each of the other members. Whatever opinion there may be as to the force of these reasons, they mark a new advance in the transition from the old Maori system to a new. In the past five years the abandonment of their wasteful and obstructive opening Council feasts, the establishment of records of proceedings, of a separation between the legislative and executive power, the decision by a majority of votes, and the adoption of a systematic finance, as well as the building of a Parliament House belonging to the islands, and a common meetingplace for all the tribes, have been marked changes. The present new departure with reference to the Federal Court Bill is in the same direction, and may, in that sense, be regarded as an additional hopeful sign of development, necessarily slow, of the free institutions planted among them. I have, &c, Fbedeeick J. Moss, British Eesident. His Excellency the Administrator of the Government, &c, New Zealand.

Enclosure No. 1. Petition against the Fedeeal Covet Bill. To the Cook Islands Parliament now assembled. We, the undersigned residents of Earotonga, petition the Cook Islands Parliament to reject the Federal Court Bill, now before the House, on the following grounds :— 1. The passing of such a Bill will effect a fundamental and undesirable change in the administration of the Cook Islands, as it will confer very important powers upon the President of the Court, without holding him responsible to the Parliament from which he derives these powers. (Vide Clause VIII.) 2. That the Bill gives to the President of the Court the power of appointing officers paid with Government money, these officers not being responsible to the Cook Islands Parliament. (Vide Clauses X., XII., XIV., XV.) 3. That if the Bill become law the Government will become involved in increased expenditure, which, in view of the recent statement of public finances, is not justifiable. (Vide Clauses XIV. and XV.) 4. That the appointment of solicitors can serve no good purpose in a Court where it is desirable that the procedure should be as simple as possible. 5. That the passing of the Act may involve increased expense to litigants, as it gives the President of the Court the power to compel litigants to employ counsel. (Vide Clause XX.) 6. That the decision of the President of the Court is not affected by the dissent of any Judges who may sit on the bench with him. (Vide Clause XL) 7. That the Bill aims at extorting from the Cook Islands Government the absolute power of administering its laws, and at handing it over to the proposed President of the Federal Court, who, in terms of his office, is not responsible to Parliament. William Taylor. W. B. Craig. John Wilson. W. M. Fitzgerald. William Brown. Steve Savage Saville. Cook Islands Trading Company, per C Kohn. W. H. Oliver. George Craig. H. Ellis. C Mouteiro. A. C. Avenell. E. J. Jessop. Emil Piltz. Frederick Goodwin. H. S. Neumergen.

Enclosure No. 2. Petition feom Meechants and Othees in favoue of the Fedeeal Covet Bill. Sic,— Earotonga, 29th July, 1897. The undersigned merchants and others, resident in Earotonga, view with great regret the rejection by the Cook Islands Parliament of the Federal Court Bill, and the Juries Bill, by which it was supplemented. We desire to state that we have no sympathy whatever with the petition signed by a few persons against it, but regarded the Bill with hope, as likely to lead to the establishment of a Court whose proceedings would be public and intelligible, whose records would be properly kept, and whose judgments would be prompt and in accordance with the principles which prevail under the British flag.