No. 208.
Sir Edward
Thornton to Mr. Evarts.
Washington, April 18, 1878.
(Received April 19.)
Sir: In compliance with an instruction which I have
received from the Earl of Derby, I have the honor to inform you that the
governor of New Zealand, at the instance of his ministers, has requested
that the thanks of the colony may be conveyed to the Government of the
United States for the very handsome and effective manner in which salmon ova
have been shipped to New Zealand by the Fishery Commission of the United
States, under the direction of the chief commissioner, the Hon. Spencer F.
Baird.
I have the honor to transmit herewith copy of the dispatch and of its
inclosure upon this subject from the governor of New Zealand to the
secretary of state for the colonies.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure.]
The Marquis of Normandy
to the Earl of Carnarvon.
Wellington, February 1,
1878.
My Lord: I have the honor to inclose a
memorandum which I have received from my government, by which you will
see that they are anxious to convey the thanks of this colony to the
Government of the United States for the very handsome and effective
manner in which salmon ova have been shipped to this colony by the
Fishery Commission of the United States, under the direction of the
chief commissioner, the Hon. Spencer F. Baird.
I venture also to express a hope on my own part that your lordship will
see no objection to adopt the course proposed by my government, as I
think that the action of the American Government has evinced such a
feeling of friendship and generosity towards New Zealand in a matter in
which deep interest is taken as to demand a special mark of
acknowledgment and thanks on the part of this colony.
I have, &c.,
[Page 349]
[Inclosure in inclosure.]
Memorandum for his excellency.
Wellington, February 1,
1878.
No. 4.]Ministers desire respectfully to inform his excellency, the governor,
that the half million salmon ova which arrived by the mail steamer from
San Francisco in November last have been successfully hatched and
distributed to the various rivers in the colony, and that by information
which has reached the government from various directions it has been
demonstrated that, owing to the extreme care with which the ova was
packed in America, the very satisfactory result of about 95 per cent. of
live fish has been obtained.
In addition to the half million sent at the request of the government, an
equal quantity has been sent to the various acclimatization societies in
the colony, and this handsome gift of salmon ova has been made to the
colony without charge except cost of packing and transit by the Fish
Commission of the United States under the direction of the Hon. Spencer
F. Baird as Chief Commissioner.
Ministers venture to think that so generous an action on the part of a
foreign nation is worthy of being acknowledged in a special manner.
They would, therefore, respectfully ask his excellency to bring the
matter under the notice of Her Majesty’s Government through the
secretary of state for the colonies, in the hope that Her Majesty’s
Government will permit a communication to be made to the Government of
the United States of the thanks of the colony of New Zealand for the
generous and valuable gift of a million salmon ova to the colony.
G. S. WHITMORE,
In the absence of the
Premier.
