NEW ZEALAND AND POLYNESIA.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 58, 6 August 1874, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND AND POLYNESIA.

We have already published memoranda on the Polynesian scheme written by the Premier The following is one of the despatches on the same subject written by his Excellency s , Government House, Wellington t New Zealand, 11th March, 1814.

My Lord.—l have the honor to inform you that a Joint Stock Company is in course of formation in New Zealand, for the purpose of engaging largely in trade with the islanders. of ;the Pacific Ocean, which my adviser’s propose to assist by a guarantee, by the Government of New Zealand, of interest at the rate of 5 per cent upon its share capital, retaining certain power of control over its operations. 2. The scheme was at first devised by a private individual, who contemplated an attempt to form a company in England and Germany. He communicated it to the Premier, the Hon Mr Vogel, C.M.G., who deemed it to beone which New Zealand should not only encourage, but adopt and control, in consideration of the advantages which would accrue to her through a reciprocal trade with the islands, and possibly by becoming, at a future time, the centre of their government. 3. Your Lordship is already aware that Mr Vogel is very anxious that any opportunity of promoting these objects should not be lost, and I have some reason to believe that in such a course he would be supported by the opinion of the colony. 4. In several conversations on the subject, I haye pointed out to hjra that any project with respect to the Pacific which the Government of the colony might adopt, must be kept free from political elements to have the sanction of Her Majesty’s Government. Your Lordship’s recent despatches with respect to arrangements with the chiefs of the Navigator Mauds, show that no project involving interference with the Government of those or other islands would be in accordance with their views.

5. Mr Yogel has now placed in my hands a paper, in which the views are set forth, of which I enclose a copy, together with a memorandum therein, referred to, which he had previously hddt'essed confidentially to myself, a supplement to the former, in which is stated the result. of conferences between ! himself and Mr Whitaker, a barrister of old standing in the colony, as the representative' of the promoters of the Company, and the heads of agreement contemplated to be entered into between the Govefninerit and the promoters, and intended to be laid before the General Assembly, along with the Bill by which the Company will be incorporated and the Government empowered to support it. 6. Your Lordship will perceive that important and extensive as is the scheme embodied in these papers, it does not include any political features, or involve any direct or indirect Imperial responsibilities. Any footing which the Company might gain in the islands would be as private individuals resident in foreign countries, and deriving their position and privileges solely from the existing 1 rulers whdevet they might be. 7. At the same time, Mr Vogel does not disguise his hopes that the establishment and operations of such a company would tend to the strengthening of British influence in the numerous: communities of the Pacific Ocean, to the acquisition by New Zealand of a leading position, as representing the mother country; and ultimately to her becoming the head of a new “ Dominion.”

8. The.scheme, as indicated j?y Mr Vogel's memorandum almost directly contemplated, political engagements, and certainly the establishment of the company upon exclusive terms for the benefit of New Zealand. It remained ,to be seen here how far these views would be embodied in ; a' Bill, but in the form which it has now assumed, and especially in the proposed head of, agreement, which will, I assume, constitute the real substance of the measure, the Bill merely enabling tho Government to enter into such an agreement, such features are eliminated, and I do not perceive any provisions which would necessarily require the reservation of the measure for the signification of Her Majesty’s pleasure thereon., ... N ... , , ... 9, I had pointed out to Mr Vogel- that there were features in the scheme, as at first devised, which might possibly render such reservation necessary, and I have no doubt that the Government and the company will be very desirous of avoiding any proposals Vphifch l would involve consequent-delay and uncertainty which might very injuriously affect the success of their project. They have rivals, not Only in other rising commercial communities, but in foreign Governments, who are not; jngcnsible to the value of the field for commercial enterprise on the one hand, and of the strategic positions on the other, which •is ‘presented by the scattered, but collectively populous, islands of the Pacific. . .. , . ~ ~ ‘ 10. In my despatch' No 82, of the 23nd October, 1873, covering a Ministerial memorandum with reference to the Navigator Islands, I endeavoied to present to your lordship’s consideration the aspirations and sentiments entertained in New Zealand on this subject, and the anxiety felt lest the opportunities which have been, and may be still, open to the extension of British influence over the groups nearest to this colony, should be lost, and lest, through the disinclination of her Majesty’s Government to extend its responsibilities, and so not only that the probable commercial advantages accruing from political influence might be forfeited, but that foreign powers might establish naval stations in positions which in the future might be disquieting if not hazardous to the - colonial communities, whose future is estimated at a high rate by themselves.

11. It is now considered certain that the Government of the United States have accepted, the tender of the protectorate of the Navigator- (Samoan) group, and especially the concession of the excellent harbor of Pango-Pango as a naval station, which the chiefs had previously offered to her Majesty’s Government, an , event which can hardly be regarded'otherwise than as a misfortune by this community. 12. In the scheme with which I am desirous of fully acquainting your Lordship, there is undoubtedly concerned the same motives which have constantly actuated the people and Government of this colony, and which perhaps are characteristic of the nation to which they belong. It is not surprising that the spirit which has_ so widely extended the British colonies, which has led our fellow countrymen to settle upon many

shores, and now, as in North America, to bind distant settlements together in a strong and united dominion, should bo displayed by those who have planted so deeply in this hemisphere the roots of British power. 13. In the great British Colonics of North America, commercial undertakings have not been free from political features ; and in the material assistance which the mother country has afforded, by means of the Imperial guarantee, to the intercolonial railways, their political and strategic importance have been expressly recognised in Parliament. If, in the scheme now in question, similar considerations are contingent, it may not be improper to remark that any Imperial liabilities which may be anticipated are only such as are involved by the extension of British commerce, which ever entails possible claims upon the protection of the Imperial forces ; but that to discourage such extension upon that account, would imply disapproval of those national tendencies which have contributed so largely to the national power. 14. I would beg leave to remark, also, that for the development of these colonies spontaneous growth cannot be relied upon. Such colonies, at least in their early stages, as leave their supply of labor, their public works, their commercial undertakings to follow naturally the demand, are stagnant or slow in their rise ; while those which stimulate their own progress by energetic if well-devised measures, advance by rapid strides. In one sense, much of the present prosperity of New Zealand is artificial. It has been found, for example, that active agencies and liberal inducements are required to divert the stream of immigration from seeking the nearer shores of America ; the means of internal communications are only constructed by the direct agency of Government, or by its guarantee of profit to contractors. Shipping companies must often be promoted, and submarine telegraphic companies subsidised. The assistance or encouragement of a trading and shipping company in the Pacific by the Colonial Government, is only thus a fresh extension of a system under which the progress of the colony is already rapid. In. In the hope that in the measure in which the present scheme will be embodied, notwithstanding the avowed aspirations with which it is supported, there may be no provisions which will render it my duty to reserve it, I nevertheless desire to make your Lordship fully acquainted with its history and scope, having regard to its possible bearing upon the policy of her Majesty's Government with reference to other kindred and pending questions, at such an early period that I may receive any directions which you may desire to give before the Bill has arrived at the stage at which my decision will be required.—l have, &c, James Fekgusson, Governor. The Eight Hon. the Earl of Kimberley.