THE NEW ZEALAND COMPANY. [From the Herald of February 14.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume I, Issue 40, 12 July 1845, Page 3

THE NEW ZEALAND COMPANY. [From the Herald of February 14.]

- Yesterday, a special meeting of the proprietors of the New- Zealand Company took place at the New Zealand-house, Old Broad-street, to consider the state of their affairs consequent on the course which had been pursued by the Colonial Government. Mr. J. Somes, M.P., the Governor, presided, and the attendance of proprietors was exceeds ingly numerous. Among those present — Mr. R. D. Mangles, M.P. ; Mr. Stewart Marjoribanks, M.P.; Mr. H. A. Aglionby, M.P.; Mr. W. Hutt, M.P.; Sir Ralph Howard, M.P.; Captain Nairne-; Mr. George Lyall, jun. ; Mr. G. F. Young; Mr. ex-Sheriff Pilcher, Mr. Alexander Carrie, Mr. J. R. Gower, Mr.. E. G. Wakefield, &c. Mr. Harrington, the secretary,, read the following report : — " The publication of Itord, Stanley's despatch to Governor Fitzroy, of the 13th August, 1844 (which will now be- jcead to you), leaves, we fear, no hope of obtaining, except from an appeal to the justice of Parliament, redress of the wrongs which you are suffering at the. hands of the Colonial-office. " We, therefore, recommend that you should now authorise us to lay the whole case, if wethink it necessary, before the House of Com^. mons in the form of a petition from the Cork pany.

*' Supposing that you will not fail to approve f of this suggestion, we purposely abstain from alluding on the present occasion to any of the topics which such a petition must embrace. "In the midst of the follies and disasters .proceeding from the local Government, of which | 'every arrival from New Zealand brings some 'fresh account, it has been most gratifying to us j to learn with what fortitude.the colonists of your j settlements have received intelligence of the unhappy position of the Company. " There will be laid before you, in the form of an appendix, copies of all letters of importance which have been received from your local agents since the date of our 14th report." The Chairman said, he deeply regretted the "spirit that had been evinced by the Colonial--office against the New Zealand Company-ever ■ since Lord J. Russell resigned the post of Colonial Minister. Had his Lordship remained at the head of the Colonial-office up to the present time, the Company and the 10,000 British subjects in New Zealand would have been in a very different situation to that in -which he regretted * to say they were nowplaced. The colonial officehad not carried out either the sphit or the letter of " the agreement entered into with the New Zealand Company. When Lord J. Russell granted -a charter of incorporation, it was upon certain * conditions, viz., — that the New Zealand Com--pany should make over to Her Majesty's Government all lands to which the-Company had a * claim. -In< return, the Government were to make over as many acres of- land at ss. per acre as the "Company had laid out money for the benefit of the colony, subject to the award of Mr. Pennington, which sum amounted t0^621 8,148 : 4s. 2d., and entitled the Company to 762,593 acres, 'for which the Government were bound to give -to the Company a clear and bond fide title ; and - he (the chairman) maintained that the Company had nothing to do with the native claims. That was a matter between the Government and the natives, and he therefore 'feared there was no other course left for the Company but to appeal ' to Parliament for justice and for that compensation which was clearly due to them. (Hear.) The Secretary then read the despatch of Lord - Stanley referred to in the Report, and the statements contained therein appeared to be consid1 ered as most unfavourable to the Company. The reading of the dispatch having concluded, A Shareholder inquired the reasons why Lord - J. Russell, when in power, had withheld the grants to the Company. The Chairman said, the principal reason at that period was, that the surveys were not made, but there were several others of a minor character, which rendered such a course on the part of Lord John Russell impossible. Mr. George Robins expressed his confidence in the Directors of the Company, but would eer'tainiyfike'to know -what course the Board would ' recommend in the present emergency. -Companies of various kinds had sprung up in all parts of the country, but there were none of them J where the Directors excelled those of the New Zealand Company in honour and integrity. (Hear, hear.) He considered the proprietors 'had been most unjustly treated by Lord Stanley, and on his shoulders rested the blame. In the present state of affairs something decisive -must be done. It would be their duty to go to ■Parliament, not with any milk-and-water measures, but in the spirit of determination that should be expected from men convinced of the soundness and justice of their sause. hear.) Dr. Perry of Glasgow moved the adoption of the Report, which was seconded by Mr. Watson, and carried unanimously. Major Curphey moved the adoption of a petition to be presented to Parliament, pointing out the wrongs which 'the New Zealand Company had to complain -of. Major Chase seconded the motion, which was also carried nem. con. Mr. Aglionby, M.P.,-said he wasrather taken by surprise by a request that had just been made to him by the chairman and others of his friends present, that he should address to the meeting a few words in reference to the extraordinary dispatch of Lord -Stanley (hear, hear,) He assured them he did not come there prepar- I ed to speak upon the subject ; but, as he had moved for the committee upon the state of New Zealand, and was present at all their deliberations, he would venture to make a few concise remarks upon the proceedings (hear, hear). in the first place, he must tell them that he exjpeiienced deep pain and regret when he saw ■laid on the table of the house a copy of a dispatch such as had been read to them by their ■secretary that day, inasmuch as it contained ■matter which, as it appeared to him, fully and substantially set aside the recommendations in ihe report of the committee (hear, hear) ; and .he could not help, also, expressing his astonashment at the taunt and sneer of the Colonial Secretary, when adverting to what he called the .narrow majorities by which the resolutions of the committee Imd been carried (cheers) . Why, having majorities in their favour at all could ■only be attributed to the justice of their cause. 'The committee was not a packed committee, »or a committee selected from a particular party; on the contrary, he, in requesting honorable .gentlemen to serve upon it, had taken care to select those who were unprejudiced in the matter they would have to fnvestigate, or those

who, if prejudiced at all, were prejudiced against his (Mr. Aglionby's) views {hear, hear.) He did not seek for friends or gentlemen interested in a pecuniary way in the colony $ he had carefully excluded those to whom a suspicion of having a bias in favour of New Zealand could possibly attach. He did not even include his own name, because feeling he had an interest in the matter, he did Hot wish to give parties an opportunity of saying that he had voted upon it in a judicial capacity. And he would tell Lord Stanley the general impression was that the committee was a judicial body, and that it was expected their decision should be final (cheers) . What was the use of appointing- com ♦ mittees of this nature, if their opinions and suggestions were to be thus lightly sejb aside as idle ? (hear, hear.) But not only had the report of the committee been disregarded, but the -Colonial Office had also set aside the common feeling of humanity and principles of justice — he used the terms advisedly — in their proceedings towards New -Zealand (cheers). As to Lord Stanley's taunts respecting the narrow majorities, he (Mr. Aglionby) could state that those majorities were, for the most part, composed of members to whom he was generally opposed in political matters. The first division to which the noble lord alluded was upon a most important point. It was whether the series of resolutions to form the basis of the report be drawn up and submitted by the chairman, Viscount Howick, or by Mr. CardweU. He (Mr. Aglionby) did not propose a single resolution, but was present in order to afford any information in his power to the committee ; and he was delighted to find that the force and truth of the evidence brought before them prevailed with those members who he expected would vote against him, and that they declared themselves in favour of the .principles which had been suggested and acted upon by this Company with regard to New Zealand (cheers). it was suggested, while the committee was sitting, that he (Mr. Aglionby) and Mr. Secretary Hope should be added to it ; and it was also deemed proper that if Mr. Hope voted, he (Mr. Aglionby) might also vote. Lord Stanley also insisted that Mr. Cardwell should be a member of the committee, and a highly honorable gentleman was ejected to make for the Colonial Secretary's nominee, so that no person could say that the Colonial-Office was not well represented (hear, hear). Well, the motion in favour of the chairman's resolutions was carried as Lord Stanley intimated by a majority only of one, but, in point of fact, it was carried by amajo-' rity of three. Thirteen members voted, seven in the majority, and sisc in the-minority.. There being a minority, the noble lord in *tfee chair did not vote as a matter of course, but hadiie^one^ [ so it was natural to suppose he would have, voted in favour of bis own resolutions (hear,, hear) ; and an hon. gentleman -was unavoidably absent when 'the division took place, who, when he afterwards came 'in, stated that he was in • favour of the proposition that was carried (hear,hear.) Thus it would be seen that the opinions of the committee were nine to six against the views of the government (cheers.) Who were the gentlemen that voted in the majority ? Mr. Monckton Milnes, a gentleman who was well known to be warmly attached to the present 1 administration (hear, hear). Who was the next ? Mr. Roebuck, a man who, it was well' understood, would never vote for that which he| believed to be wrong. Then there was Mr. 1 -Hawes, and Mr. Aglionby, and Mr. diarteris, the gentleman who moved the address at the opening of the session of Parliament (hear, hear.) Certainly Mr. Charteris could not be: considered to have any bias against the Colonial -Office (hear). The next member was Lord; Francis Egerton, a nobleman whose high character, intelligence, and -kind, generous, and hon- ■ orable feelings -were notorious (cheers) ; and ' lastly, there was Lord E'ormgton (hear). Who were the minority.? Mr. Hope, Mr. Clive, Mr. Cardwell, Sir R. H. Inglis, Lord Jocelyn, and Mr. Wilson Patten, the colleague of Lord Stan- , ley. The next division to which the noble Co- ; lonial Secretary referred in alluding to "narrow majorities," was also upon a most important point. The question was " whether the Company had a right to expect from the Oov- , ernment the fulfilment of Lord-John Russell's pledge with respect to the granting of land?" When the resolution was moved, the Colonial : Office again endeavoured to thwart the desire to do justice ; and it was moved that the words " had a right to expect" be left out. Upon a division, the original resolution was carried by a majority of seven to four (hear, hear), and, as in the previous instance, Lord Ho wick did not vote ; and the member who was before absent, and who he believed was favourable to the resolution, was again away (hear, hear). So that, in point of fact, had all the members of the committee voted, the majority would have been nine to four (cheers). Why, then, did the noble lord, in common fairness, talk of narrow majorities, and convert them into reasons for setting aside the report of the committee? (cheers). It showed the animus of the Colonial- office, and told as plain as possible that they had tried, and would continue to try, to injure this Company and the settlers in New Zealand (loud cheers). He was persuaded that that was their object, and he would reiterate the same opinion in another and more public place (hear, hear)- The

resolutions having been carried in committee, and a report based upon them having been prepared just before the close of the last session, it was fully expected that the recommendations in the report would be adopted. But what did the Colonial Office do ? They sent in a cut and dried report totally at variance with the spirit of the resolutions, but it did not even find a seconder (hear, hear). Such a course of proceeding was not manly (hear, hear). They did not say to the Company " Don't colonise," but they allowed them to colonise, and then sought to ruin them -(cheers) ; at page 90, in the parliamentary report, would be found a copy of a letter, dated the Bth May, 1843, from Mr. Somes to Lord Stanley, in which was suggested on behalf of this Company, in order to relieve the minds of the settlers in the colony, that Governor Fiteroy should make a conditional grant of land to the Company. Those terms were proposed after a protracted negociation, and, it was understand, were agreed to by Lord Stanley. Now, they had dispatches from New Zealand down to the 12th of October, 1844, and the conditional grant which the Government were to make forthwith, had not been made up to that time (hear, hear). He (Mr. Aglionby) had repeatedly met Governor Fitzroy, and discussed with him,' in the presence of Lord Stanley and Mr. Hope, every term and stipulation of the agreement which foraied the basis of this Company's undertakings and, during all those interviews, up to the time when the Governor sailed, he had never been led to believe that a second letter of instructions was issued {hear, hear). The letter was dated the 26th of June, 1843, and set aside all the instructions in the, first letter, which he was, up to the last moment, led to believe would be fully acted upon (hear, hear) . Perhaps Captain Fitzroy*a reason for not mentioning that he received a second letter was because it was headed " Confidential." But was it a fair — was it an honest mode of dealing on the part of the Colonial Office towards .that Company, he would ask, to cancel the first letter of instructions to the Governor without making them aware of it? (hear, hear). He would ask the same questions of the public by and bye^hear, hear). He would state another reason why the proprietors of this Company should adopt the advice of Mr. Robins with respect to activity in defence of their interests. A Mr. Coates had published a pamphlet hostile to the views of the Company. It was brought out under the sanction of the Church Missionary Society, and several individuals of high rank had lent their names as patrons of it, many of whom, he feared, were not thoroughly acquainted -with all the .proceedings carried on by some members of that society. How was Mr. Coates acting with regard to his pamphlet ? He (Mr. .Aglionby) did not think the Church Missionary Society were acquainted with the course he was pursuing. Mr. Coates was constantly sending copies of his pamphlet to the clergymen of every parish throughout the kingdom, with requests that they should -circulate them among their parishioners, and ask the representatives of the district in which they resided to oppose in their places in parliament any measures in favour of the New Zealand Company. The pamphlet had been transmitted to himself (Mr. A.) by a person resident in :the borough he had the honour of representing; and a request similar to that to which he had referred was at the same time made to him (laughter). He mentioned this fact as a reason why they should not relax in their efforts to induce members of the legislature to view what they were asking for as a matter of justice, in which not only the aborigines of New Zealand were deeply interested, but also thousands of British subjects It was with great pride and satisfaction he saw the paragraph in the report stating that the Government approved of the Company's mode of colonising, because if was a complete acquittal of them from all the ! calumnies that were endeavoured to be heaped upon them both at home and abroad (hearj hear). Notwithstanding what already had taken place, he relied with confidence upon the justness of their case, and he was sure that when it was ; properly represented to parliament they would not allow the Company to be swamped. The hon. gentleman concluded by thanking the meeting for the patience with which they had heard him, and resumed his seat amidst loud applause. After some further discussion, a vote of thanks was passed to the chairman, and the meeting separated.