NEW ZEALAND COMPANY. [From the' "Times," July 31.]

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 591, 13 December 1851, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND COMPANY. [From the' " Times," July 31.]

Yesterday afternoon a special general meeting of the shateholdcMS and directors of this company whs hold at New Zealand-house, for the purpose of leceiving tlio rpports upon the fate of tbo bills recently intioduccd into Parliament, and of considering the genoial aspect of the company's nflnirs. Mr. Aoi.idndy, i\l.l'., toolc llio cliair. ITe observed tliat tlio company was nt picsont in a most difficult position, bo much so, that he hardly knew how to commence his address to the shareholders. Ho had hoped (hat after ho many meetings and adjournments he should have hern able to announce some- batisfaclory arrangement of their claims, but (hoy were now more at sen than ever. They were aware that during many months tho directors bad been endeavouring to come to some agreement with tho Colonial -oiJico, mrl a great many interviews hnil taken placo with Earl Grey, at which various objections discussed and removed. Ultimately ft plan was assented to by both parties, and the bill which they discussed on the 28tb wns introduced into Parliament by the Undor-Secrelnry of State for the Colonies. To this bill an objection bad been taken by Mr. Gladstone, upon (ho gi on ml that tlio Legislature of fins country ought not to interfere in this matter without the previous consent of tlio local Legislature. Tho consequence of tin*? objection was the wilhdrawal of those parts of tho measure to which Mr. Gladstone expressed bis objection , and iho company now lemaincd, without any conceHsion fiom the Got eminent, and with an unsettled chum upon the land revenues of tho colony of X'2GB,OO(). Tho shareholders were also nwnro th.it notice was given by Mr. Addei ley, M.I 1 ., that he intended to intioduco a bill on the part of the Canterbury Association, having for its object certain alterations in tho management of their own body, in the mode of disposing of the land of the settlement-, and, finally, with a clause giving them power to borrow money on thesecutity of their land sales. Under tin's bill the association intended to borrow ceitnin sums of money, out of which thi>y would immediately pay to the Now Zealand Company the amount of their debt — viz., ,£20,000, money advanced, and for which ibe shareholders of that company became liable in bdte and debentures. The payment of tbeso ] inabilities bad been kindly postponed by tho creditors- — viz., Ikiion Goldsmidt and the Union Bank of Australia, in ordei to give the company and the association limo to consider the mode in which their aflairs should be arranged ; but the bill for giving the necessary powers to tho Canterbury Ashociation was now at an end, and stops must now be taken by tbo company for meeting the demand, upon them. At tlio time of this advance to the Canterbury Association they were very fl'iHguino that it would bo repaid at tho beginning of April, 1(550, nnil l>o (Mr. Aglionby), for one, had no hesitation in avowing that he believed at the tuno that the company did not risk its capital by (bus employing it. lie was however mistaken. When tho tune came it was deemed advisable not to make public thn Canterbury sales, from which this debt was to be repaid, as tbeio bad not yet boon time for tho full development of tbo plans thoybad laid down, and they wished the Now Zealand Cmpany to wait until tbo last moment, viz., to tbo 4th of July, 10J0. It placed the company in a very great difficulty thus to wait until the last day to give notice of its intention of resigning its functions ; but, so biinguine of ultimate success weio thry, that they deemed it better not to cripple by any act which could bo avoided the work of coJonization. There was, however, an influence at work for tho discontinuance of their colonizing operations. There was »n opinion among some of the shareholders that tho direclors wished to force upon them tlio continuance of the functions of tbo company. A committee of shareholders was appointed to confer with the directors, and at a subsequent general meeting the functions of the company wore abandoned by a resignation of its charter. The Canterbury Association then owed them £26,000, besides the onesixth part of tho produce of the land sales. They bad paid £3,000 off their original debt, and that sum was now in the hands of tho Government as part of tho company's assets. Several members of the Cunloibury Association lelt, when this advance was made, so sanguine as to its repayment, that they gave their personal security for a poition of the money, and those guarantees would become due on tho'lst of January, 1852. The liabilities of the New ZeaJkmd Company for the association were nearly £30,000, and the question now was, how was that to bo met, as the Canterbury project for borrowing the money was withdrawn 1 Whnt was to be done under these distressing circumstances'! Jle did not l»now what to propobe. He had worked hard in this cause, and it was very disheartening to find so many months' labour thrown away without any safiaf.iclory re&ult. A suggestion had been made, that morning, which tho directors bad not yet had time to con aider, and therefore lie could not do more than allude to it, but by that suggestion it was hoped to remove the Government objection to the borrowing scliemo of tho Canteibury Association, by an act of sacrifice on tho paitof the company, for, if thoy got tbo hon owing clauso agreed to, they would have nliei wards ample leisure to consider the general state of the company's affairs. Tiio directors, however, had pledged themselves to the shareholders to consent to nothing without their concunence, and they could not at present I enter into the suggestion made. ' Mr. .T. A. Sum h, M. V. (a director). — I think that c verything should to bo mentioned. Mr. Aomonry (after some conversation with Mr. Smith) proceeded. He had no wish to keep the shareholders in the daiJc, but ho doubted how far he might have been justified in mentioning a propo.sal which had not yet been considered. 'Flip ohjootion of Lord Groy to the borrowing clause of the Canterbury Association Bill was hi.s repugnance to burden the genoral land revenue of the colony with another dnbt. The Cantprbury measure would leave tho existing charge of £208,000 upon tho land sales — removing, however, f i o/n such charge (be Canterbuiy fccUlement itself, which would be exonerated fiom the payment of principal or mtprt'sl of the New Zealand Company's debt until it had lopaid the sum rained by usolf. In Loul (Jipy'e idea this course would prejudice tho inteicst of (he colony and would in various ways be a veiy inexpedient step. The suggestion made foi the purpo.se ot removing iliia wan, ihnt it would ho for thp benefit of all parlies and particuhnly of the company — inasmuch as it would lecoivoila money fiom tho Canterbury Association sooner than it would otheiwise, if they ieIniquished a p.itt of (heir claim of ,£'2011,0(10 } reducing their «loht neatly, if not quite, as low as £200,000 ; and reluming only for picsent security iho land salos of the colony, minus tlio land salcH oi the Canterbuiy Asflocintion. lie was not at all FaiifMiino, i-ven if ihoshaioholdeis made this Micnfice, thiit the Government would amenl. to this proposal; but it was, however, for ihomwhes to coNMder, fust, whether they should oiler mich a wicrificc. ft wns, as they all knew, extremely desicnablo ih'iJ a call upon th<> shareholders should ho dimui'd, jind the receipt ol the money fiom the Conferluiy Association would autoinplmh thia by tho

flflci)/ice of .CIiH.OOO vn'tli. its inteiest of 3J percent, and ilio loss of all piwent him upon tho lnml sales of the Canteibuiy Association. It would he his duty, if the shareholders should consent to tins scheme, to make tho pjoposa} to tho Government ; hut ho owned that ho should Imvo very gicat hesitation in doing so. 'Ihe money for tin* bonds niul debentures must bo ibmid. Tlic piesent ns^cts of tho company to moot cho demand vroie utterly insufficient; and, having now " made a cU'un breast of it," and infoimcd tho shareholder of tlio condition of tho company's aflniis, he was cjiuto loaily to .answer any questions which they might deem it lequisite to put to him. fllr. HintNANo uicjuiied whether it would bo requisite under pioscnt ciicumstances, to make n call l Mr. AnuoNiiY said not, if they got tH{> £'10,000 which tlioy expected, if tho Cantoihury Association succeeded in obtaining powers to bonow money ; but thushaieholdeis of tboromp.iny, if that loan was rniscd, would linvo no otlier security than tho land sales of New Zealand, minus those of tho Cnntoibury Associntion, which would have to pay off the sum it raiaod itself. Mr. F. Youno naid that tho liabilities of the company wove nbout ,fJ3(),000 iitid they had assets to the amount of ;£ J '2,000 which the Government acknowledged to be duo to them, and they had £7,000 due to them fiom the ('nntorlnny Association, leaving X 21,000 to bo piovided tor in so/no way. Thoy had, in addition to this, tho guarantees of ceittvin gentlemen of tho Cunterhuvy Association which woie worth about £10,000, solliat. tho debt would be reduced to £11,000 which they bad no means of meeting except by the Canterbury bales of land. Tlip question lor them to decide w.is whether (hey would adopt tho suggestion, and for the sake of meeting that £11,000 give up £08,000 of the charge which thoy had upon tho revenues of New Zealand. Jf the Ctiutoibury Association got the required powers they would h.iwl to the New Zealand Company M O,OOO which, after payment of their liabilities* wouid leavo a surplus of £3,000 or £4,000. As to tho alternative of a call, the only dillicully was the annoyance it would inflict upon tho new shareholders, upon whom it would fall exclusively. The wholo money so paid would become tho stock of the company, and those who advanced this money would be in no better position than the rest of the shareholders at the division of any assets. Mr. J. A. Sain n was anxious to say a few words on this subject. He had taken a warm interest in the matters of this compnny ; nnd, certainly, lie had not been spat ing of his time or exertions in endeavouring to bung the negotiations with the Government to a favourable conclusion, lie thought it but right and manly to acknowledge that tho conduct of the Government in this matter had been maiked with perfect good faith from the beginning to the end. It was not the fault of the Government that tho measure pioposetl had not become law, for every member of the Governmont assented to if, and wished to pass i(, if it weie possible to do so. (Hear.) lie was anxious to guaid himself against proposing anything of an unconstitutional nsttuio to the sottleis of Now Zealand, but be owned that hedid not feel theforceof the objection urged by Mr. Gladstone, and he did in his conscience believe, that j not only was tho objection uigctl by him capablo of j refutation, but, further that tho proposal made, to the J Government for the settlement of the ftft'iiira of the j Now Zealand Company was, upon tho whole, quite as | advantageous to (ho settlers as it was to the company ilsulf. (Iloav, hear.) lie believed that tbo ombarrasjnc/its and trouble felt in the colony were in consequence of the lieu of that company upon it, and he believed that this monoy charge upon tho land was so «enou<?, and holdout sucha prospect of quanchngnnd bickering, that the annual charge of was sv cheap coropjomise to give tbo colony the i'reo and undisputed control over tho vast tiactd of land which tho colony contained. Ifc did not mean to say that this opinion Was infallible, but bo honestly and sincerely maintained it. .Having s,nd tin's much, ho would turn to the picsent position of the company. Certain balances, in the shape of bonds and debentures, remained against them, which they weie legally bound, as well as by honour and good faith, to provide for. While, however, he admitted (hit,, ho would exert himself to the last moment; ho | would " never suy die," in tiding to avoid by some means tho necessity of a call, which must be most unjust in its operation. He, for one, was not prepared to despair, but bo deemed it lequisite to say that it" the dueclora could not obtain the money to meet these de- ! miinds the shaieholders wore bound in honour to find it for them, and to aid in liquidating the claims of their 1 creditors, who had behaved with singular foiboarunce. Thus much for the gloomy portion ot their story. On tho other band, bo believed lfi.it, while the airangemcnt proposed by the Government, nnd assented to by the shaieholders, was the best for all parties, yet tbo shareholders, would pro/it by the present delay. lie believed that it was an utter impossibility to manage the land of New Zealand without getting rid of tho lien of this company. It was an insurmountable obstacle nnd either tlio local Government or tho Government of this country must at last come to them, and say, " Gentlemen, we must got rid of you — hero l* your money." Ho felt theioforc, that the breaking off of the recent negotiation ought not to be viewed as a total loss of their money. On. tho contrary, ho believed thnt it would ultimately obtain (or (bom j»oie money tbnn they would otherwise have leccived, nnd be m the end most beneficial to the interests of the shareholders. Mr. Uuknand .said, that tho only course bo Baw open to them was for the directors to make a call when it was icquired. Could not some negotiation becnteied into with tho company's creditors for the puiposo of postponing the payment of their claims'? Tho CiiAinniAN said, that nothing would be loft untried to accomplish Unit object. JJpforo tho mooting separated he wished to say a woid in reference to a letter winch had appeared in 'Ihe Tinm, nnd which was I written by an old servant of tho company, 'ihe third parnginph of that letter said, that in the northern pro- ] vince of the colony tho Government hart granted 300,000 acres of land to land sharks, &c, to the great prejudice of the colony. These giants were made by (be late i Governor, Captain Fitzroy, io whom ho meant no personal disrespect in saying that he had done more harm in the colony than any other governor it bad ever had. Tbo sumo paragraph said that in the southern province of the colony the company bad disposed of 400,000 acres of land — tbiee-fourths to absentees, and one-fourth without consideration. ]Io begged to say that these grants were made in liquidation of tbo claims ofßome landed proprietors, some of whom wore lesident in this couuiiy when compensation was awarded to them. In Nelson and Wellington applications had been made for similar compensation, which however, bad been refused. Mr. CuimiL urged the directors not to put the company in tho position of fjoing begging about. Let them make a bold stand nnd bo hoJieved that they would get the whole of the £200,000 allowed by the Government. After some fuither conversation, it was determined i to convene another mpeting, at which the diiectors should report what progress they hud made towards making an arrangement for the shareholders, anil tbo meeting then separated.

Wj? have received by tho Overland Mail the Wellington Independent to the 12th of November, No number of tho {Spectator Ims reached us by this arrival. There wag no local news of any importance. The report of Sir George Grey's probable removal was repeated con amove, by the Independent. Our contemporary thus refers also to his rumoured successor : — " We learn that Sir Gasparp lo Marckant (now Governor, we boliovc of one of the North American colonies) has had the oiler of the Government of this colony, but that it was not known when tho Canterbury sailed, whether lie would accept it." Wo apprehend that very little indeed was " knoAvn" on the subject. News from Nelson to the 25th of October had been received. The only item worth repeating is that a Public Meeting- had been held on the 15th of October, at which steps were taken towards the establishment of a " New Zealand >Stoam Navigation Company," to facilitate intercourse between tho different settlements. I'Vom the .Prospectus wo hear that it is proposed that the capita) of the Company shall bo XI O,OOO, in KO shares; and that, in tho first instance, it is intended to employ one iron steamer, not exceeding 2«W tons burden, on the screw propeller principle, together with a smaller vessel not exceeding GO tons, to be used as a trador or otherwise as occasion may require. SJioukJ the feclicme meet with the necessary support;

application for a Charter \a to bo made to the (jovcrnoi'-iu-Ohicf.