Sir,

—Mr. E. W. Lamb, of Sydney, at one time Minister of Lands in the Government of Queensland, has communicated to this Government a proposition for establishing what may be termed an Australian Federal Fund for defence and other objects, by means of the setting apart for that purpose by the Imperial Government of a portion, say 50,000,000 acres of the waste lands of Western Australia, the lands so reserved to be administered by and for the joint benefit of the several colonies concerned. Mr. Lamb expresses the opinion that the proposition which he advances would probably not be distasteful to Western Australia, having regard to the enormous extent of her territory, also to the comparatively small value at present of the lands proposed to be set apart, and to the fact that she would largely participate in the advantages to be derived from their appropriation for defence and other purposes. I deem it to be necessary, preliminary to any consideration of the matter, to bring the project under your notice in order that the views of the Government of Western Australia in relation thereto may be ascertained. I enclose copies of letters by Mr. Lamb on the subject, also an excerpt from the Sydney Morning Herald of 22nd November, 1884, referred to in these communications.