ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 630, 28 April 1852, Page 3

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Ship Insurance.

To the Editor of the New-Zealander. Sir, — Can you give me any good reason why we cannot insure our ships and merchandize going from Auckland, as well as they do at other ports I Surely we are now populous enough and our mercantile traffic of sufficient importance to make it desirable. Can anything be more simple than fifteen or twenty shipowners, merchants, and capitalists, putting down their names — not their money — as guarantee for £100 each in case of its being required, and then forming a Committee or Board of Directors of five or seven from the number and carrying out a systematic plan of Ship Insurance ; and when any loss occurred, if such should be the case, before there was a sufficient fund in hand from the profits, to meet it, the parties who had subscribed should each be called upon for the amount due fiom them to pay the loss. There are few parties shipping goods — such as potatoes, grain, onions, &c, to Sydney, California, or elsewhere, who would grudge paying their 205., 305., or 405., for the £100 insurance as the case might be, and it would render the risk of shipping our commodities much less than at present, and the Insurance Company itself become a very profitable matter. Being thoroughly convinced of the practicability as well as utility of such a Society or Company for our Colony, I have ventured to give these few suggestions, and beg to remain, sir, your obedient servant, " Old Practical." Auckland, 23rd April, 1852.

Pastoral Letter of the Bishop op New Zealand TO TUB MeMBEBS OP TUB CIIUBCH OP ENGLAND in the Diocese op New Zealand. St. John's College, April 19th, 1852. My dear Friends and Brethren, The reports which T have received from England, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Tasmania have convinced me that the time has come, when it is my duty to pi*css upon you the necessity of applying to the heads of the State and of the Church in England for authority to frame, under their sanction, stiph a form of Constitution for our branch of the English Church, as may define the pri\ ile»cs and duties of all the Members, whether Clerical or Lay, and secure to them ii due participation in the management of its aiVairs. The necessity of this measure arises mainly from two causes :—: — First, that the Church in this Colony is not c<3tabiibhed by law : and consequently, ili.it a large portion of tho Ecclesiastical law of England ib in{ipplicuble to us.

Secondly, that the Church in tin's Colony is dependent niaiuly upon the voluntary contributions of its members. It would be impossible, within any reasonable compass, to trace out the necessary differences of system, resulting from these causes, which must exist between our Colonial Branch, and the mother Church, as it is in England, established by law, and supported by permanent endowments. We can scarcely expect that such a revision of the Ecclesiastical Law as would meet our wants, will be undertaken in England ; because the Convocation of the Clergy is no longer allowed to meet for deliberation, and the British Parliament is no longer composed only of members of the Church. Our own Colonial Legislature, for the same reason, cannot be considered competent to enact laws for the government of the Church. It follows therefore, that we must either be content to have no laws to guide us, or that we must apply for the usual power granted to all Incorporated Bodies, — to frame by-laws for ourselves in all such matters as relate to our own peculiar position ; icserving to Her Majesty and to the Heads of the Church in England, such rights and powers as may be necessary to maintain the Queen's supremacy, and the unity and integrity of our Church. I therefore submit to you the following statement of a few fundamental principles which, with your approbation, might be made the basis of an application for a charter of Incorporation, to be granted to our Branch of the English Church. It would be reserved for the Convention itself to decide upon all the minor details of our Church Constitution, so far as we may be left free to legislate for ourselves. Commending you to the guidance of Him who is able to give you a right judgment in all things.— l remain your affectionate Friend and Pastor. Gr. A. New Zealand. General Principles Proposed as the basis of a Constitution for the Church in New Zeal vnd. 1. That the Bishops, Clergy, and Laity, shall be three distinct orders, the consent of all of which shall be necessary to all acts binding upon the Church at large. 2. Subject to the foregoing principle, that each order be at liberty to conduct its deliberations separately, or to unite with the others, at its own discretion. 3. That provisionally, till a definition of Church Membership shall have been agreed upon by a general Convention, every person shall be deemed a Member of the Church of England, who shall make a written declaration to that effect lo the Clergyman of his Parish or District. 4. That every adult Church Member, who shall have been duly registered, be entitled to vote at the election of lay representatives to the first General Convention. 5. That it shall rest with the General Convention to decide how and by whom all Patronage shall be exercised ; and in what manner all persons holding Church Offices shall be removable from the same ; and also to fix the amount of all Salaries, Fees, and other allowances. 6. That it is necessary that the Church Body, constituted as above, should be legally incorporated ; and that all Sites of Churches, Burial Grounds, Schools, and lands for Endowment of the Church, &c., should be vested in the General Incorporation. 7. That in order to maintain the Queen's supremacy, and union with the mother Church, a draft of the Constitution proposed for the Church in New Zealand be submitted to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies, and to the Archbishop of Canterbui'y, through the Metropolitan Bishop of Sydney 5 with a petition that Her Majesty would be graciously pleased to direct the necessary steps to be taken, whether by Act of Parliament, or by lloyal Charter, to secure to our branch of the English Church, the Liberty, within certain limits, of framing laws for its own government. 8. That neither the Doctrines nor the Ritual of the Church of England, nor the authorized version of the Bible, shall in any way be subject to the decision of the General Convention. 9. That the Bishop of New Zealand be requested to embody the above Resolutions in the form of a Petition, and to take such steps as may be necessary for cai rying into efiect the wishes of the Memorialists.