A.— 9.

40

That on the other hand Canada imports annually from the United States from 35,000 to 50,000 sheep to fill the demand in British Columbia and occasionally in Alberta, in which provinces the local supply is insufficient. That Canada has also of late years imported a good deal of Australian and New Zealand mutton, which has hitherto been landed at Pacific ports only, although it is rumoured that in the near future shipments will also be received at Montreal. That Canada also ships annually from 40,000 to 50,000 head of sheep to Great Britain, although this trade has fallen off to some extent, owing to the increased home demand. That it will thus appear that the actual state of affairs is somewhat different from that described by Mr. Bennett. The Committee, on the recommendation of the Secretary of State for External Affairs, advise that Your Excellency may be pleased to transmit a. copy hereof to the Eight Hon. the Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, for the information of His Majesty's Government. All which is respectively submitted for approval. RODOLPHE BOUDBEAU, Clerk of the Privy Council.

No. 67. New Zealand, No. 203. My Lord, — Downing Street, Bth September, 1910. I have the honour to request your Lordship to inform your Ministers that, having regard to the frequent inquiries made by the representatives of foreign Governments as to the legality and validity of consular marriages in the British Empire, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has requested that the information which has been supplied to him from time to time respecting the state of the law of the various parts of the Empire on this matter may be verified, and, where necessary, supplemented, so as to make it complete. 2. I enclose a table, which has been prepared by the Foreign Office, embodying the required information, and shall be glad if your Ministers will be good enough to advise as to its correctness with regard to New Zealand, and state whether the information now furnished requires any qualifications. For example, lam advised that there may in certain cases be insufficient grounds for determining whether consular marriages are or are not recognized by the local law, and in those cases the reasons for any doubts which may exist should be explained. I have, &c, CREW PI Governor the Right Hon. Lord Islington, D.S ().. &c. Enclosure. Table giving Information respecting Consular Marriages in the British Empire. Note. —1. The statements contained in this table are founded either on enactments in force in the different British possessions, &c, or, where this source of information fails, on the best legal opinion obtainable. In the latter case, they must not be taken as necessarily representing the view which would be held by a local Court of law having to consider the validity of a particiilar marriage or the liability to penalty of the person who solemnized it. 2. The expression " consular marriage " is used to connote a marriage solemnized, in the form prescribed by the foreign law, by a foreign consular officer who is duly authorized thereto by his Government, but who is not, in addition, a minister in holy orders or a person expressly empowered by the law of the country in which he resides to solemnize marriages. It is assumed that at some part of the ceremony the parties declare, by words in the present tense, that they take one another as husband and wife, and that the ceremony does not take place in the presence of a person, other than the consular officer, whose presence is sufficient by the local law to give validity to the ceremony. 3. The information here given does not refer to marriages between persons belonging to the native races of the British colonies or other dependencies, or between members of the Mahommedan or other non-Christian faiths. 4. Column 2 only refers to the form of the marriage. 5. As regards column 3, it is to be observed that in no part of the British dominions are marriages by foreign consular officers expressly authorized by the local law.