His Honor
The Superintendent of the
Province of New Plymouth.

Superintendent’s Office,
New Plymouth, 12th Oct., 1860.

Sir,—I have the honor to acknowledge
the receipt of your letter of the 10th ult.,
referring to the Public Meeting held in
your City for the relief of the inhabitants
of this Province in consequence of losses
sustained in the native war, and requesting
information upon the subject for the guidance of the Committee.

At the breaking out of the war the whole
of the population were compelled to seek
the shelter of the Town. The Colonial
Government at once took upon themselves
the charge of these unfortunate people, and
upwards of 1000 women and children have
been removed to Nelson with this object;
the husbands and male relatives of families
remaining between 18 and 60 years of age
behind for military duty, and receiving
militia pay, rations, and clothing. The
Provincial Government are not aware of a
single case of destitution amongst these
families, although, in many instances,
nearly all they possessed was abandoned
to the rebels, who pillaged and burnt in
every direction. Aid proffered by, other
communities will be most needed at the
conclusion of the war, or earlier should the
Colonial Government allowance be discontinued. The Provincial Government have
accordingly suggested in all cases where
their opinion has been sought that such
aid should be in money, on the understanding that it shall be applied, unless specially
required otherwise, in enabling the sufferers
by the war to start again in life at its close.

I beg to express to you my deep sense
of the generous sympathy evinced towards
our community by the citizens of Melbourne.

I have, &c.,
(Signed) J. Williamson,
Superintendent.

To His Honor
The Superintendent of
Taranaki.

Enclosure.
Melbourne Exchange,
September 10, 1860.

Sir,—I have the honor to enclose for
your information newspaper report of a
Public Meeting in this city on Friday last,
to take into consideration the condition of
the sufferers by the rebellion in New Zealand,
and to take steps for their relief by
an appeal to the sympathy of the inhabitants
of this Colony, and I am requested
by the Committee to state that they will
be glad to receive from you any information
which may aid them in the promotion
of their object.

I have, &c.,
(Signed) John Russell,
Hon. Sec.

His Honor
The Superintendent
of the Province of Auckland,
New Zealand.

Auckland, 1st Oct., 1860.

Sir,—I have the honor to acknowledge
your letter of the 26th ult., covering a
letter from Mr John Russell of Melbourne
on the subject of the Taranaki losses.

In reply to your request that I will
supply you with information to enable you
to reply to Mr Russell, I beg to say that
the immediate wants of the sufferers are
provided for by the General Government
of New Zealand, whose expenditure in this
behalf will, in all probability, receive the
sanction of the Legislature.

There have, however, arisen losses of a
very serious character during the war from
the destruction of houses, furniture, and
the driving off and wantonly slaughtering
of stock. The actual known value of the
property lost I cannot estimate, except in
a very rough way, but I conjecture it to
be little short of £150,000. This amount
is one which I can hardly hope that the
Colony at large will be able to make good,
and the desire of the Provincial Government
is that any voluntary contributions
made in the Provinces or in the neighbouring
Colonies should go towards meeting
those losses as soon as the close of the war
enables them to be ascertained. Already
several sums have been received for the
purpose, and are standing in my name on
account of the “Taranaki Relief Fund” in
the Union Bank of Australia, Auckland.

I think that the help of our fellow-countrymen in Melbourne will be best afforded
in Melbourne.

I have, &c.,
(Signed) E. L. Humphries,
Deputy-Superintendent.

John Russell, Esq.,
Exchange,
Melbourne.

Superintendent’s Office,
Auckland, 25th September, 1860.

Sir,—I have the honor to forward enclosed copy of a letter addressed to me by
the Honorary Secretary to a Public Meeting
held at Melbourne for the purpose of
taking measures for relieving the sufferers
by the insurrection at Taranaki, and to
request that you will have the goodness to
furnish such information as you can to
enable me to reply to Mr. Russell.

I have, &c.,