Committee on New Zealand.

New Zealander, Volume 1, Issue 8, 26 July 1845, Page 4

Committee on New Zealand.

We extract from the proceedings of the Committee on New Zealand, the following resolutions proposed by Mr. Card well. They were superseded by those which were annexed to the Report ; but we consider they contain more sensible views of the Colony than that document, and are worthy of attentive perusal. I{esolutjo\'s piopnsed for the consideration of ihe Committee, by Mi. Cardwell, read, as follows: — " That from the lime of the discovery by Capt. Cook to (he beginning of the year 1840, the independence of New Zealand had never been questioned by this country, and in 1832 was recognized by the Biitish Government in a very peculiar and formal manner. " That the urgent applications made by private individuals from time to time to the Colonial Office, for the adoption of these Islands as a British Colony, weie reluctantly acceded to by the 'Government in 1839, with a view of preventing the evils aiisingand apprehended from frregnlar and unauthorized settlement. "• That this adoption was effected in the eaily part of 1840, by an agreement called the • Treat) of Waitangi,' made In Captain Hobson with upA\ards of 500 Chiefs and other natives, claiming, and admitted on the part ol this country, to repiesent the whole population, so far as regarded Ihe Norti crn Islam!; while the other Islands, containing no population capable of enter ing into .in) thing resembling a civil contiact, weieasMimed to the British Ciown on the right and title of discuvery. " That this Treaty was made by Captain Hobson in puiMiance of instiuctions previously received Irom home, and that his proceedings obtained the subsequent approbation of Government. " That the nations ceded to the Queen the Soveieignty of the Northern Island, and the Crown secured, in return, 'to the Chiefs and 'lubes of New Zealand, and to the respective families and individuals thereof, the full, ex••lu&ive, and undisturbed possession of their lands and estates, forests, fishenes, and oilier properln's, which they may collective^ and individually possess, so long as it is their wish to letdin the same in their possession.' . " That this tieaty i« binding, in conscience and in policy, on the British Government, and is highly valued by the native tribes. " That although the laws and usages of the natives, with regard to the possession of and title to land, are very obscure and complicated, yet evidence has been adduced to the Committee, showing that these laws and usages aieinsome s^'iise lecognised by the natives, as well among themselves as in reference to, European purehaseisj and main instances have been pioved in which tliey have voluntarily rind fully lecogmzed the validity of European titles. t "That while it appears highly piobable that much of the soil of New Zealand will ultimately vest in the British Crown, as land to which no piopiietaiy title of any kind can be established b) an individual, or by any tribe, yet it is impossible, by any fair constiuctiou of the Treaty, to limit the native claims either to the pahs, or to giounds in actual cultivation by the natives at any particular time. " That any attempt to carry out in practice any Mich construction, must alienate the natives fiom every feeling eilhei of confidence or affection towards the British Guveriuiieni, and would probably lead to conflicts of a sanguinary character, or even to an exterminating war between the races, fur which the British power iv these Islands, is at present wholly inadequate and unprepai cd. '• That it is not expedient to increase the military force in the colony, at great expense, for a] puipose unjust in itself, and tending to retard the peaceful settlement of the colony, and the civih/fnion of the native ra i e. " That ny attempt to levy a land tax upon a teisitory of vast extent, consisting m great pa<t of dei^e and impervious ioiebts, at pres-nt inca-j pable of suive), would be found impracticable. ! " That the claims of the New Zealand Com-

pany to Land arise, out of an arrangement entered into with them, by the Colonial Ottice in November, S4O. " That this arrangement was based upon the assumption to itself by the Crown of all lands, jto which, as against the natives, and in confor,mity with the treaty of Waitangi, a good title had been acquired, by purchase, and constituted an undertaking on the part of Government to assign to the Company a number of acres, to be computed in the manner therein prescribed, out of a much larger territory to which the Company claimed, and even assumed to have obtained such title by purchase against the natives. "That I his construction appears to the Committee to be the true meaning of the arrangement as it stands, and is proved by papers produced in evidence before them, to have been the sense in which it was undeistood at the time, both by the Agent of the Company in New Zealand, and by the Directors themselves at home. " That the Company in the first instance acted tipon this constiuction, and submitted the investigation of their claims to the Commissioners appointed foi that purpose. " That the investigation was interruptad by the Company themselves, who then, for the first time, asserted a claim, under the anangement of lt>4o, to an absolute grant from the Crown, irrespective of any title by put chase against the natives. "That this construction of the arrangement appears to have been an after thought on the part of the Company, claiming from the Government a system of conduct to which the faith of the Government has at no time been committed, and which it has neither the power nor the right to carry into execution. "That the Crou n has directed that the Company should be put in possession of such land as they may select, to the extent and within the limits prescribed by the arrangement, so far as the titles against the natives may have been established; and^has instructed the Governor to co-operate with the seivants of the Company, for lhe purpose of securing and confirming in their possessions, by amicable arrangement, those settleis holding under the Company, whose titles to the land they occupy, the Company may not have been able to establish. " That the Crown has, in the exercise of a reasonable liberality, been disposed to afford, and lias in fact afforded, other facilities and advantages to the Company, for the purpose of obtaining land in other districts of New Zealand. I " That although some unfortunate delays occurted in the first establishment of the Couit of Claims, it appears in evidence that up to the 30th May, 1843, more than half of the whole number had been reported on, and that the Governor had been instructed to lake any measures he might find practicable for accelerating the proceedings of the Court. It appears, tliei efore, highly probable, that before any instructions founded upon suggestions of the Committee could reach the Colon), the investigation of European titles would have closed. " That a general registration of all titles, native as well as European, should be introduced as early as possible, with a view of vesting in the Cro« n all unregistered land. " That this registration would, in all probability, exercise an important influence in leading the native lace to habits of civilization, and to a clearer and more definite recognition of the use and rights of property, and would tend to extinguish slavery and other evils $ that it must, therefore, be effected peaceably and equitably, by gradual means, and by negotiations with the natives, conducted by the local authorities with moderation and fairness, in the exercise of a large disci etioiidiy power. "That the right of pre-emption ceded to the Ciown by the Tieaty of Waitangi fchould be retained and enforced under the present circumstances of the Colony ; and that the prospect of its abandonment at a future period, in regard to lands defined and registered, might be expected to form an inducement to the natives to come in and register, while a moderate impost might be levied upon the conveyance of land byprivate persons, native and European, by which means facilities for settlement and funds for colonization would be obtained. "That it would be expedient to admit native Chiefs and others into the ' Military and Civil Seiviceof the Colony, but that s>uch admibsions must be regulated b) circumstances, to be judged of on the spot, " That, considering the distance of the Colony from England, and the peculiar and intricate relations between the different classes of its inhabitants, both native and European, the Committee are strongly impressed with the necessity of reposing in the Local Government large powers, and a liberal degree of confidence, and have abstained Horn recommending detailed measures, confining their report to a statement of those general principles, which the evidence adduced before them, oral and documentary, appears to have sufficiently established."