Copy of a Despatch from Earl Grey to Governor Grey.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 157, 4 December 1847, Page 2

Copy of a Despatch from Earl Grey to Governor Grey.

(No. 76.) Downing Street, \9thJune, 1847. Sir,— I enclose copies of a corresponded which has lately taken place, relative to the affairs of the New Zealand Company, which will put you in possession of an arrangement which Her Majesty 1 ! Government have thought it advisable to enter into with that Association. I also transmit a copy of a Bill which will be proposed to Parliament for the more effectually carrying this arrangement into execution. This measure, as you will perceive, has been resolved upon by Her Majesty's Government, with a view to the resumption of the Systematic Colonization of New Zealand. It is proposed that the New Zealand Company should for this purpose receive an advance of Public Money, and should be entrusted with the disposal, for three years, of the Crown Demesne in the Southern Government of New Zealand, \\ bile, in order to obtain the fullest assurance that these meaus and trusts shall be faithfully applied to the objects aimed at by Her Majesty's Government, a Commissioner will be appointed to attend, on their behalf, the meetings of the Directors of the Company, and will be invested with ample powers to controul j all the proceedings of that body. The Commissioner will act under the instructions of the Secretary of State, to be given from time to time, as occasion may require. By this arrangement, Her Majesty's Government entertain the hope, that they may obtain in aid of Systematic Colonization, the energy, the ability, and experience, of a body of Gentlemen associated together to promote an enlightened plan of Colonization, and whose private interests are identified with the success of these public objects, and possessing, as they do, the confidence of those classes from which the best description of Settlers are likely to be drawn —men of character, emerprize, and small capital, they have the means, which no Government can possess to the same degree, of promoting and directing towards Colonization that spirit of enterprize for which our population has always beeu remarkable, The success which attended the* early operations of the Company, so far at least as regarded the collection of bodies of Emigrants, admirably fitted by their energy, perseverance and self-reliance, for the arduous undertakings in which they embarked, affords the best ground fof hoping that the same Company may again be enabled to send successive parties of equally efficient Settlers to New Zealand, and that these arriving there under happier auspices, may rapidly form thriving and prosperous communities. Such, is the general design of Her Majesty'i Government, m the arrangement which_ they have en» tered into. I shall now proceed to call your attention to a few points, the due understanding of which in'the Colony, may, in its preseut state, be conducive to public good. In the first place I have to remark that, in order to dispel that jealousy of the Company, of which I am lorry to perceive various symptoms, in the more recent advices from the Colony, it is of great importance that you should use your utmost efforts to make it generally and thoroughly understood, that Her Maesty's Government, in placing for three years all the Crown Demesne of the Southern Province at the dis* posal of the New Zealand Company, have had for their main object the public interest in promoting Colonization, not the private advantage of the Company. - * The Company will indeed (and most justly,) be remunerated, if the plan should prove successful, for its large outlay of capital, but by the provision that no dividends shall be payable, except from a moderate per centage, to be deducted from the gross pro» ceeds of the sales of land which it may effect, this remuneration will be made exactly in proportion to the extent to which Ihe Company, by its activity and good judgment, shall promote Colonization. Moreover, the Company, in the exercise of this trust, will act under the supervision of the Government Commissioner, whose duty will obviously lead him to consider every projected operation of the Company for the disposal of Crown lands, with reference, not alone to the interests of the Company, but to the in. terests of the Public, both here and in New Zealand. The proceeds of the Sales and Leasings of Crown lands, which the Company will effect, will be devoted, after the necessary deductions, to' Colonizing purposes, and the gradual settlement of the island. By these means, it is hoped, that both Capital and Labor, may be again beneficially directed towards these islands. That the capital already to largely invested, and the property already acquired by the actual Settlers, will be enhanced in value, and gain additional security. The interests of the actual Settlers will thus, in the opinion of Her Majesty's Government, be more effectually promoted, than by any other means which could have been adopted, since the effect of resuming Colonization, in augmenting the value of their lands, will be certain and immediate. I am aware, however, that an apprehension exists in the minds of many of the Settlers, that the benefit which may thus accrue to them, will be more than neutralized by the system adopted by the Company, of gelling land in this country, and which will oppose a difficulty in the way of its acquisition by those who have already emigrated, and more especially to its being obtained by them upon terms consistent with its being profitably occupied for pastoral purposes. This apprehension I do not consider to be well founded. The system of permanently alienating land, only by sale, will indeed be strictly adhered to, and I trust, that notwithstanding the prejudice iv favor of cheap land, the Company's Settlers will not forget the views on which they originally emigrated, or fail to perceive that their own welfare and prosperity are vitally interested in maintaining the sound principle of Colonization on which their settlements were formed. Nor is the maintenance of this principle inconsistent with the adoption of a mode of sell ing land,, which shall give every proper facility to the original Settlers to extend their holdings, nor to their being permitted also, under proper regulations, to ob«

tain the temporary occupation of land for pastoral purposes, upon easy terms. On the latter subject I have already addressed you in another Despatch, in which I have transmuted to you the papers lately laid before Parliament, which shew what has been done on the same subject, in New South Wales With respect to the just desire of the present Settlers, to be enabled gradually to extend their holdiugs, this object will be provided for by conducting in the Colony, instead of in this country, the sale of lands which are near existing settlements, and by taking care that all new settlements to be formed by bodies of Emigrants proceeding from this country for that purpose, shall be planted in situations where they cannot Injuriously interfere with those previously established." " i You will continue to retaiu in your own hands- the exclusive management of all negotiations wtfh'the Natives, for the sale of their lands j but when anY* 6 transactions of this sort are concluded in the Southera Province, the New Zealand Company will provide the means of payment, from funds placed at their disposal, and have the disposal of the lands 10 acquired: I have ouly to add that these arrangements are not to interfere with the operation of any laws, which, in accordance with the intention you have -expressed "- you may have thought it advisable that the Local Legislature should pass, for the purpose of enabling the Natives, under certain restrictions, to sell their own lauds. I know that you so well understand the difficulties of this subject, that I am well assured I may safely rely upon your assenting to no laws of this ; description, which are not really required by .the circumstances with which you'have to deal, 'arid which do not contain the best securities that can be provided against abuse. I should also expect that in the Saddle Island, which will be the principal field of the Company's renewed operations, the acquisition by the Crown, of the territory required for the Company will prove a matter of no difficulty, from the extreme paucity of Native inhabitants. I have the honor to be, &c, (signed) GrbY.