inform me. A week would elapse in the process. Meanwhile I might have some important matter to refer to the Registrar.

I have to consult with him about, and should know nothing as to his whereabouts. The fact is that directly the position which, till Your Excellency's recent conversion to my views, has prevailed in the Colony is put to the touch of settling any question practically, it breaks down, and proves itself unworkable.

12. With reference to paragraph 2 of Your Excellency's letter under reply I must, with regret, demur entirely to the procedure which Your Excellency has adopted before submitting the question to the Secretary of State; nor can I admit that the Secretary of State "was in possession of the fullest information it was possible to submit to him". Your Excellency has omitted to give me the opportunity of replying to the memorandum which Mr. Seth supplied to Your Excellency. Even in ordinary matters of every-day life the right of reply is recognised, because it is common knowledge that until the reply is made the information on which a decision has to be given is incomplete. In the present case Your Excellency has expressed an opinion on a question which lies outside Your Excellency's experience; as I have pointed out in my previous letter, Your Excellency has adopted the views put forward.

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