24

A.—2

5. Both in the case of full and in that of private permission the matter will be submitted to the King by His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The desire of the head of a foreign State to confer upon a British subject tho insignia of an order, or the fact that he has done so, must be notified to His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs either through the British diplomatic representative accredited to the head of the foreign State or through the diplomatic representative of the latter at the Court of St. James. His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs shall be under no obligation to consider claims that are not brought to his notice through one of these channels. "6. When His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs shall have taken the King's pleasure on any such application, and shall have obtained His Majesty's permission for the person in whose favour it, has been made to wear the insignia of a foreign order, he shall signify the same to His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department, in order that he may cause a Warrant, if it, be a case for the issue of a Warrant as defined in Rule 2, to be prepared for the Royal Sign-manual. When such Warrant shall have been signed by the King a notification thereof shall be inserted in the Gazette, stating the service for which the foreign order has been conferred. _ Persons in whose favour such Warrants are issued will be required to pay to His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department a stamp duty of 10s. 7. The Warrant signifying His Majesty's permission may, at the request and at the expense of the person who has obtained it, be registered in the College of Arms. Every such Warrant as aforesaid shall contain a clause providing that His Majesty's license and permission does not authorize the assumption of any style, appellation, rank, precedence, or privilege appertaining to a Knight Bachelor of His Majesty's Realms. 8. When a British subject has received the Royal permission, full or private, to accept and wear the decoration of a foreign order, he will not be allowed to accept the decoration of a higher class of the same order without His Majesty's approval. His Majesty will in such cases grant permission only if the promotion in the order is conferred for fresh services which come within these regulations. 9. These regulations apply only to orders of chivalry. Decorations conferred by private societies and decorations of a purely academic nature, and all decorations not being orders of chivalry, may be accepted without Hi's Majesty's permission, but must, not be worn. Exception is made in the case of a few foreign orders which, though not in strictness orders of chivalry, yet are of such a high distinction that, for the purpose of these regulations, they are to be considered and treated as orders of chivalry. 10. Ladies are subject to the regulations in all respects in the same manner as men. Medals. 11. Medals which constitute a particular class of a foreign order are subject in all respects to the regulations in the same manner as higher grades of the order, except that permission to wear will be given by letter and not by Royal Warrant. 12. Medals for saving or attempting to save life at sea or on land conferred on behalf of the head or Government of a foreign State may be accepted without. His Majesty's special permission, and may be worn at Court. In the case of medals for Red Cross services, permission will only be granted subject to the ..> fulfilment of the conditions laid down in Rule 3, paragraph 3, above. 13. Medals conferred by private societies or institutions and commemorative medals may be accepted without permission, but none of these medals can be worn. 14. Ihe King's permission must be obtained for any other medal to be worn. No permission is needed to accept a foreign medal if it is not intended to be worn. 15. His Majesty will not grant permission to wear any foreign war medal if the person on whom it is to be or'has been conferred was during the war acting in contravention of the Foreign Enlistment Act. Foreign Office, 12th July, 1915.

No. 51. New Zealand, No. 463. My Lord, - Downing Street, 20th August, 1915. With reference to my predecessor's despatch, No. 90, of the sth February, enclosing copies of regulations and instructions as to applications for naturalization under the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act, 1914, I have the honour to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers, in connection with the instructions marked B, that pledges were given in the course of the debates on the Act in Parliament that the fees for certificates of naturalization granted in this country to a woman who was a British subiect previously to her marriage to an alien, and whose husband has died or whose marriage has been dissolved, should not in such cases exceed 55., and a proviso to this effect was added to section 19 ("0 (j) of the Imperial Act. Yonr Ministers may perhaps be prepared, on the ground of uniformity, to adopt a. similar fee in New Zealand.