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appearing: And whereas by Article 19 of the said Declaration it is provided that whatever may be the ulterior destination of a vessel or of her cargo, she cannot be captured for breach of blockade if, at the moment, she is on her way to a non-blockaded port: And whereas it is no longer expedient to adopt Article 19 of the said Declaration: Xciw, therefore, His Majesty, by and with the advice of his Privy Council, is pleased to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows: — 1. The provisions of the Declaration of London Order in Council No. 2, 1914, shall not be deemed to limit or to have limited in any way the right of His Majesty, in accordance with the law of nations, to capture goods upon the ground that they are conditional contraband, nor to affect or to have affected the liability of conditional contraband lo capture, whether the carriage of the goods to their destination be direct or entail transhipment or a subsequent transport by land. 2. The provisions of Article 1 (ii) and (iii) of the said Order in Council shall apply to absolute contraband as well as to conditional contraband. 3. The destinations referred to in Article 30 and in Article 33 of the said Declaration shall (in addition to any presumptions laid down in the said Order in Council) be presumed to exist if the goods are consigned to or for a person who during the present hostilities has forwarded imported contraband goods to territory belonging to or occupied by the enemy. 4. In the cases covered by Articles 2 and 3 of this Order, it shall lie upon the owner of the goods to prove that their destination was innocent. 5. From and after the date of this Order, Article 19 of the Declaration of London shall cease to be adopted and put in force. Neither a vessel nor her cargo shall be immune from capture for breach of blockade upon the sole ground that she is at the moment on her way to a non-blockaded port. 6. This Order may be cited as " The Declaration of London Order in Council, 1916." And the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and each of His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, the President of the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice, all other Judges of His Majesty's Prize Courts, and all Governors, officers, and authorities whom it may concern, are to give the necessary directions herein as to them may respectively appertain. Almeric Fitzßot.

No. 30. New Zealand, No. 240. My Lord,— Downing Street, 31st March, 1916. With reference to my predecessor's despatch, No. 181, of the 30th April, 1914, I have the honour to transmit to Your Excellency, for the information of your Ministers, copies of the report of the committee appointed by the Board of Trade to advise on the load-lines of merchant ships and the carriage of deck cargoes of wood goods. I have, &c, A. BONAR LAW Governor His Excellency the Right Hon. the Earl of Liverpool, G.C.M.G, M.V.O, &c.

No. 31. New Zealand, No. 244. My Lord, — Downing Street, sth April, 1916. With reference to my telegram of the 2nd January, 1915, I have the honour to request Your Excellency to inform your Ministers that the Board of Trade have announced that as from the 3rd instant the Government office for the insurance of ships' cargoes against war risks will adopt a new method of dealing with these insurances, which will effect a considerable saving of clerical work and at the same time be of advantage to merchants and brokers in the expedition of their business. At present a policy covering war risks is issued for each insurance. Under the new system separate policies will no longer be issued, but a "floating policy" for a very large amount will be effected and kept at the Government office, and the " slips " — i.e., the detailed applications for insurance—will be themselves validated as certificates entitling the holders to the benefit of the floating policy. Printed explanations may be obtained at the War Risks Insurance Office, 33-36 King William Street, E.C. I have, &c, A. BONAR LAW. Governor His Excellency the Right Hon. the Earl of Liverpool, G.C.M.G, M.V.O, &c.