THE FRENCH IN NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 73, 11 April 1843, Page 2

THE FRENCH IN NEW ZEALAND.

(From the Sydney Morning Herald). The formation of a French settlement at Akaroa, on the southern or middle island of New Zealand, about the time that these islands were declared to be dependencies of the British Crown, was looked upon by many persons as calculated to cause a very awkward quarrel between the ’British and French governments, and the land sharks were particularly delighted, thinking , the French Government would extort grants for their subjects which the said sharks would have been able to take advantage of. We are now enabled to state that the French Government never interfered in the matter at all. In a letter to the Secretary of State, dated November 5, 1841,'Governor Hobson said, “I have the honour to report that in my recent visit to the southern districts, I called at the port of Akaroa, where I fqund the, French very peaceably.established under thei agent who accompanied them from Europe, Mons. Belligny, with the French coryette J [/Aube, Captain Lavaud, lying at anchor in the harbour. Ir the course of my communications with. that officer,- he. constantly and. invariably" disclaimed any national intrusion on the-part of big Government, but he-supported the claims of the company as private individuals, asserting theirs to he the only bona fide purchase of that district

which had been made from the natives.” Ilis Excellency then described the formation of the “ Nanto Bordelaise Company,” which purchased from the captain of a French whaler “ the whole of Banks’ Peninsula, to a considerable distance along 1 the coast, both north and south, and to an indefinite limit into the interior. The number of persons at. the settlement was thirty, but five hundred were about embaiking when New’ Zealand was proclaimed a Biitish Colony, which caused them to remain in France. The Governor proposed that the Company should be dealt with upon the same conditions as the New Zealand Company, and that a block of land in the northern island should be measured to them, proportioned to their actual extent of capital. Governor Hobson’s letter was referred to the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, who approved of the principle, and after a number of letters bed passed between the different departments of Government, on the 28th July, 1542, Lord Aberdeen • wrote to -Lord Cowley, the British- Ambassador at Paris, with a copy of the correspondence, as follows:—“Your Excellency will communicate this correspondence to the French Minister for foreign Affairs, and you will state to him that her Majesty’s Government proposes to.deal with the Company connected with the French settlers in New Zealand on the same principle as if they had been a British company, and to invite them, as a preliminary step, to prove the extent of theii claims, with an intimation that their claims, w r hen proved to be just, will be allowed in the Northern Island, and that no difficulties will be thrown in the way of their naturalization.” As the parliamentary document whence these particulars were obtained was ordered to be printed early in August, there had not been time to receive any reply, but the exact position of the French settlers in regard to England is now put beyond any doubt. As a proof that the French contemplate having extensive commercial transactions with New Zealand, we publish the following letter:— Copy of a letter from Monsieur Durant St. Andre, Consul General of His Majesty the King of the French, To J. Stephen. Esq. (Translation.) Consulate General of France in England, London, 28th January, 1842. Sir—Some French merchants who are desirous of establishing commercial intercourse with the new establishment of Her Britannic Majesty at New Zealand, have applied to the Foreign Office at Paris for information as to the tariffs and the regulations of the Customs department in the colony, and I have been instructed by M. Guizot to procure him copies of the various documents relating thereto. 1 have not seen them published in any of the public papers, but I believe I may rely on your kindness for copies of them. It is of importance above all, for us to know if the produce and manufactures of France, wines, brandy, &e., can be introduced into the Colony in French bottoms, and, if so, what are the amounts of the duties. 1 suppose that the produce of New Zealand would be allowed to be exported iu these same French vessels; but if there would in such case be export duties, I should be glad to be informed what those duties would be. As the questions which I have now the honour to ask you have for their object the facilitating of the establishment of regular commercial relations as advantageous to the one country as to the other; I trust you will not consider them indiscreet, and that you will be kind enough to place me in a position to furnish my Government with the information they have asked from me. I have the honour to be, Your very obedient Servant, (Signed) DURANT ST. ANDRE.