102 Auckland Provincial Government Gazette.

money from time to time as funds are required.
I have, &c.,
Reader Wood,
For the Superintendent.

The Hon. the Colonial Secretary,
Auckland.

(38.) Provincial Government Offices,
Grahamstown, February 24th, 1876.

Sir,—

I have the honour to enclose an application purporting to be signed by 96 of the inhabitants of the Thames District, stating they are some of the unemployed in the Thames District, and applying for a free passage to any of the Southern ports in this Colony.

I have, &c.,
G. Grey.

The Hon. the Colonial Secretary.

[ENCLOSURE.]

Grahamstown, 23rd February, 1876.

To His Honor the Superintendent.

Upon your own words, We, the undersigned, apply for a free passage to any of the Southern Ports, being the unemployed of the Thames.

(Here follow 96 signatures.)

(39.) General Government Offices,
Auckland, 26th February, 1876.

Sir,—

I have received your Honor’s letter of date 24th inst., with its enclosure, copy of a letter from 96 men, being some of the unemployed of the Thames, who as they say, “upon your own words,” apply to you for passages to any of the Southern ports.

I note that your Honor does not express any opinion or make any recommendation in regard to this application.

I have, &c.,
Daniel Pollen.

His Honor the Superintendent,
Auckland.

(40.) Superintendent’s Office,
Auckland, 28th February, 1876.

Sir,—

I have had the honour of receiving your letter of the 26th instant on the subject of the unemployed labourers at the Thames. I venture to remind you that Sir Julius Vogel, in his telegram to Mr. Rowe of the 18th instant, made a promise to the unemployed people of the Thames district to the following effect:—“Plenty of labour is required in other parts of the Colony, and if necessary the Government would aid the unemployed to go to parts where employment offers.” The promise was made to these people without my having been in any way consulted on the subject.

Some of these people, who are greatly to be pitied, and who are in much distress, applied to me for fulfilment of this promise. I pointed out that it had been made by the General Government, and that it would be necessary to address a memorial on the subject to that Government, which I would forward at once to you.

I submit that these people, some of whom are in great distress, should have an immediate answer returned to them as to whether you will or will not carry out the terms of Sir Julius Vogel’s telegram of the 18th instant, in order that their minds may be set at rest upon the subject.

I have, &c.,
G. Grey.

The Hon. the Colonial Secretary.

(41.) General Government Offices,
Auckland, 28th February, 1876.

Sir,—

I have received your Honor’s letter of date February 22nd instant, covering copy of a letter to you from Mr. Reader Wood, giving report of a conversation had with me on the subject of providing means of giving temporary employment to those persons at the Thames who have been thrown out of work by the stoppage of certain mines there, in which you state that you agree to the proposal made to Mr. Wood, and request that arrangements may be made for the payment of the money from time to time as funds are required.

The report furnished by Mr. Wood to your Honor of his conversation with me is substantially correct, but there is an inaccuracy, by inadvertence, no doubt, which I desire to set right. I did not say that I would “order immediate payment of the sum of £4,000 to your Honor,” because that would be an unconstitutional act, and because I think your Honor would not accept the money under such circumstances. What I did say was, that I believed the sum above mentioned was available, and that the Governor would be advised to assent to its appropriation in such way as your Honor might recommend. I have not yet received any such recommendation.

In your Honor’s letter of date February 7th instant, request was made that the authority of His Excellency the Governor might be given for the expenditure of a sum of £800 on the construction of a wharf at Mangapai, and of the sum of £400 in the construction of a wharf at Matakana; and I have now to beg your Honor to be good enough to say whether you adhere to your purpose of presenting these works, and, if authorised, of charging the payment for them upon the £4,000 unexpended balance of the £40,000 provided for Auckland under “The Provincial Public Works Advances Act, 1874”.

I have, &c.,
Daniel Pollen.

His Honor the Superintendent,
Auckland.

(Letter referred to in No. 41 above.)

(42.) Superintendent’s Office,
Auckland, 7th February, 1876.

Sir,—

I have the honour to request that you will be good enough to move His Excellency the Governor to sanction the expenditure of the sum of about £1,200 for two most necessary public works, to the north of Auckland.

The first is the construction of a wharf at Mangawhai. The Provincial Council of Auckland, in December 1873, requested the Superintendent to place upon the Estimates for 1874 a sufficient sum for the erection of this wharf; nothing has, however, yet been done in that direction. Since that time a good deal of correspondence has taken place upon the subject, and the necessity of this work has been urged upon me by the settlers of that and the surrounding district.

By your letter of the 18th January I am placed in a position to put the roads and bridges of this district in repair, and I also understand it is the intention of the General Government to spend a portion of the residue of the sum of £60,000 formerly set apart for roads north of Auckland on the road from Mahurangi to Waipu, via Albertland. The practical utility of these works will be greatly increased by giving the settlers easy access to the seas, and it is this object that I am desirous of.