Melbourne botan. Gardens
11/4/671
Sir
I have honor to solicit, that you will be pleased to sanction the renewed publication in the Government Gazette of the regulations by which the distribution of plants and seeds &c is ruled. I am prompted to ask this favor as the period for the annual sending out of plants has again arrived and great inconvenience and loss of time has every autumn been experienced by the incessant calls and demands on the Government Gardens for supplies, by parties, who in no way whatever were entitled to the receipt of public property.
I have the honor to be
Sir
Your most obedient servant
Ferd. Mueller
The honorable the Chief Secretary2
Letter written in another hand and signed by M.
MS annotation: 'These Regulations have already been authoritatively Gazetted. Re-gazetting them cannot impart to them greater efficacy. The practice of re-gazetting is impolitic as it is calculated to lead the public to suppose that mere lapse of time lessens the force or destroys the vitality of unrescinded regulations. Dr Mueller has it in his own power to resist undue pressure or importunity by referring applicants to the printed Regulations, copies of which he possesses. As a medium of mere publicity the Gazette is not to be compared with a newspaper. — J.L. 18.4.67'.
The Undersecretary, John Moore, added to the file: 'Inform Dr Mueller it is contrary to practise to republish regulations which have been already published in the Govt Gazette JM 26.4.67'. See J. Moore to M, 30 April 1867 (in this edition as 67-04-30a).
A copy of the regulations, above the name John O'Shanassy and dated 29 September 1862, is appended to this file. See Victoria government gazette, no. 121, 10 October 1862, p. 1948.
Please cite as “FVM-67-04-11,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on