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2. I also enclose, for your Ministers' information, a copy of a circular despatch which I have addressed to the Governors of the Crown colonies on the subject of the report, as it may be of interest to your Government to know the action which I have taken upon it in the case of the colonies not possessing Responsible Government. I have, &c, 1,. HARCOURT. Governor the Right Hon. Lord Islington, K.C.M.G., D.5.0., &c.

Enclosure. Circular. Sir, — Downing Street, 22nd March, 1912. I have the honour to transmit to you a copy of the report of the departmental committee which was appointed in September, 1908, to inquire into the dangers attendant on the use of lead in the manufacture of earthenware and china, and in the processes incidental thereto. 2. You will observe that it is established by this report that the use of lead glaze in the manufacture of pottery constitutes a very real danger to the health of the operatives employed upon such work, and that its use in the manufacture of many classes of pottery is unnecessary. 3. I have therefore felt it my duty to instruct the Grown Agents for the Colonies, when complying with indents for earthenware, china, &c, to require that the articles supplied should be prepared with leadless glaze wherever the use of lead in their manfucture can be safely dispensed with. 4. In some instances it may be necessary to permit the use of low solubility (5 per cent.) glazes, and in the case of a few special articles, such as electrical insulators and electrical conduits, a full lead glaze may prove essential. The Crown Agents will exercise their discretion as to the cases in which the use of any form of lead glaze may be allowed, but it is my intention that the use of lead glaze in goods supplied for the use of the Crown colonies and protectorates should be restricted so far as is reasonably possible. I have, &c, The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand. L. Harcourt.

No. 27. New Zealand, No. 107. My Lord,— Downing Street, 11th April, 1912. I have the honour to transmit to you, to Dβ laid before your Ministers, the accompanying crpiei of papers on the subject of the sixteenth annuil congress of the International Association for the Protection of Industrial Piopeity, which is to be held in London on the 3rd to the 7th June next. 2. These papers are forwarded to your Government at the request of the International Association, who have expressed the hope that your Government will see their way to be represented on this occasion. 3. I have to add that similar invitations are being communicated through His Majesty's Ambassadors abroad to those foreign Governments which have actually adhered to the International Convention, or which take an interest in the subject, and that the Board of Trade propose to send an official representative to be present at the meetings of the congress. I have, &c, L. HARCOURT. Governor the Right Hon. Lord Islington, K.C.M.G., D.5.0., &c.

No. 28. New Zealand, No. 109. My Lord,— Downing Street, 12th April, 1912. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 27, of the 23rd February, on the subject of the eleventh resolution of the Imperial Conference, 1911, in favour of uniformity in the laws affecting workmen's compensation. A copy of your despatch, together with a copy of the New Zealand Act referred to, is being communicated to the Governments of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Union of South Africa, Newfoundland, and the Australian States. I have, &c, L. HARCOURT. Governor the Right Hon. Lord Islington, K.C.M.G., D.5.0., &c