Letter from Sir John Pakington.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 787, 16 February 1853, Page 4

Letter from Sir John Pakington.

•'Downing- street, October 4, 1852. " SIR, — I am directed bj Secret»ry Sit John Pakington to acknowledge your two letters of the 31st August, one providing certain correspond1 ence with the Now Zealand Company, the other stating that the association had resolved on discontinuing operations in this country on and from the 30th ult., and on transferring, with the least possible delay, their powers and authorities to the colonists. " 2. And that with reference to this intended step the committee of management suggest that instructions should be sent to the Governor tof New Ztaland, enabling him to stipulate on sbehalf of the New Zealand Company for safch terms to secure their interests as Her Majesty's Government may think just and fair. "3. Sir John Ptkington will not here enter on the question wbetberor not the contemplated cessation of proceedings by the association, before any bodytit in- existence to which the transfer of its functions can be made is iti legal accordance with the ternta of the agreement and Acts of Parliament under which they subsist. He aisomefs tbat the committee of management have satisfied 'themselves and the association on that point. Bat be is bound, on the part of Her Majesty's Government, to state that, if legal, such a -course of proceeding is by no

ißnrale^iHnel^TJßrnn^fl^ecineauaDnuie^are' fir»t discharged by the Association. Without prejudging the questions at issue between the Association and the Company, it appears to Sir J. Pakington that it would not be just on the part of Her Majesty's Government ' to make themselves parties to a transfer which the latter regard as prejudicial to their interests as actual litigants. j "6. Being therefore obliged to decline the j proposal of the committee, it becomes necessary for Sir John Pakington to state the course i» bicb Her Majesty's Government have to pursue. , " 7. That course was already indicated in Mr. Elliott's letter of the 11th ult., as correctly quoted in your present communications. " 8. I am, therefore, to Tequest that yon will inform the committee tbaj Sir John Pakington feels it necessary to call upon them for payment of the anionnt dne to the Crown id respfect of the Is. £d. received by the Association on land sales. A formal notice to pay this turn by a specified time will be duly addressed to the committee, and on failure to make such payment Sir John Pakington will feel it his duty to exercise the power placed in bit hands, of putting a stop to the land-Belling functions of the Association, or of its delegates in the colony, while it will be necessary, at the same time, for Her Majesty's Government to take such steps as they may be advised for the recovery of the debt. "9, I,am to remind you that this is a determination which Sir John Pakington is compelled to adopt in consequence of the refusal of the Association to fulfil a condition of their constitution. Not being able to accede- to the terms on which you propose to make the payment he has no resource but to require it unconditionally. He has been advised by the present law officers of the Crown — fully coinciding with their predecessors — that while the right of the Crown to this sum is undoubted, the Crown is equally bound to pay it over to the New Zealand Company as soon as received, in reduction of the debt created by the 10th and 11th of Victoria, chap. 112. " 10. And this being the case, he must distinctly warn the committee that if the result of these proceedings is the termination of their functions, this consequence is wholly attributable to themselves, and is not voluntarily brought on by' Her Majesty's Government. To avert it the Association having nothing to do but to make payment of a debt which they have repeatedly acknowledged to be due. They do not contest the right of the Crown to the sum in question ; they object only to the manner in which the Crown (acting under legal advice) feels itself bound to apply it. ' •' 11. If, on the other hand, the committee of; management make ihe payment in question, then,

while they in no degree prejudice the alleged right of the Association in its present litigation with the New Zealand Company, the committee will place it out of the power of Her Majesty's Government, as it is certainly against their inclination to interfere with the Association's lawful proceedings. Sir Johu Pakington has already expressed bis own opinion as to the time and circumstances under which the committee of management propose to make their intended transfer; it was necessary for the purpose of this letter that he should do so, but his disapproval could in no degree arrext the Association in taking the course which they consider right and expedient. It rests with themselves to say whether, by paying their admitted debt to the Crown, they will place themselves in a position to go on with a scheme which they appear to regard as so essential to the prosperity of the settlement under their chaTge. " 1 2. If they should persist in their refusal to do so, it only remains for Sir John Pakington to state that altbongh, nnder other circumstances, he could not but have greatly regretted the termination of a scheme in which so great an interest has been taken by eminent friends of New Zealand and promoters of British colonization, yet he will be better reconciled to it at present from bis conviction of the great improbability of its long continuance, in combination with the powers intrusted to the General Legislature of New Zealand over the public land of the colony at large. "13. Every attention will be paid, in the event of thi» termination, both to the interests and the convenience .of. parties engaged in laod pur* chasing negotiations • with the Association, and Sir John Pakingtmr will be- obliged by any suggestion! which may be made on this behalf, in addition to those alteady oonvtyed by yonr totter of the 2nd alt. W I have, &c, 11 H. MERIVALE."