PROPOSED COLONISATION OF NEW GUINEA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5409, 29 July 1878, Page 3

PROPOSED COLONISATION OF NEW GUINEA.

(From the Melbourne Argus, July 17.) An interview took place yesterday at Government House between Sir Arthur Gordon, the Governor of Fiji, and representatives of tho company which lias lately been started in Melbourne for tho colonisation of New Guinea. The projectors of the company had been invited by his Excellency to explain to him tho nature of tho proposed scheme. The company was represented by Mr. B. H. Dods, Mr. Hissane, Mr. It. Manuel, and Mr. W. F. Dixon.

Mr. Dods submitted the prospectus of the company, and the petition it was proposed to present to the Queen, praying her Majesty to take possession of tho eastern halt of Now Guinea (the portion not occupied by the Dutch), and place it under the jurisdiction of the colony of Victoria. Ho said that as soon as the company was in operation, 50 persons would be sent to the north-east coast of New Guinea to lay out a town, and -the laud would be paid for when a Government was established.

Sir Arthur Gordon : How do you intend to get possession in the first pla.ee ? Sir. Dods ; We should enter into partnership with native chiefs, and settle down with the consent of the natives. We would stay there at auy rate until turned off. In the petition wo will ask the Queen to take possession of the whole of the unappropriated part of Australasia and pUco it under the Government of Victoria. Of course, wo have no intention to interfere with arrangements already made .by the British Government relative to the Pacific islands. The thing we want is to obtain the establishment of a Government strong enough to maintain the law in the new settlement.

Sic Author Gordon said that inhabitants of. this colony, wherever they went, would be British subjects, and an order in council dated 13th August, 1867, placed all Bx-itish subjects in the Western Pacific under a strictly defined jurisdiction. Everyone who went there would be under restrictions. The order in council, was gazetted in Victoria" about March last. Should any of the islands be entered upon in; an irregular manner there were likely to be; collisions with the natives, which would be extremely detrimental to British interests. It : was not in the power, of any private parties to take possession of territory. He saw it stated in the prospectus that “on a favorable site being discovered in a healthy locality, the laud shall be taken possession of, after formal annexation to Great Britain, by planting the Victorian ensign, and fulfilling such instructions as her Majesty’s Government in Victoria shall have; previously advised to be done.” The Victorian ensign could not be used outside of the limits of the colony. No ensign but the British ensign would be recognised amongst the Pacific islands; the flags of the several colonies were only for local purposes. Persons who went from here to New Guinea would be British and not Victorian subjects. There could'be no such thing as a subject of the colony of Victoria iu New Guinea. . An act of the kind spoken of in .the prospectus would be illegal, and he should feel bound to . offer every obstruction to any attempt to take possession of territory and plant a flag which had not been authorised by the Crown. No colony could be formed anywhere except by the authority of the Crown; ~ Victorian colonists might go to New Guinea as ad venturers, as they might go to the centre of Afx'ica, but they could not form a British settlement there. He had ample means to carry out the powers with which ho was entrusted by the British Government, and at the present time the captains of men-of-war acted as his deputies at distant places. Mr. Dods stated that the company had no wish to fly in the face of the British Government, or to act otherwise than as British subjects. The proposal about the flag had been suggested by a member of the Government here, who said it would be the correct thing to do. They would like to know if they went to New Guinea whether the Home Government would support the enterprise. Sir Author Gordon.—That would depend on the nature of the expedition. Mr. Dods said that the company meant to ask for. a charter similar to the one granted for the colonisation of New Zealand. They would not proceed until they hod obtained it. Sir Arthur Gordon.—lf the company obtained a charter, the case would be entirely altered. , Mr. Dods wished to know what would bo the best way to get it. Sir Arthur Gordon replied that he could not'give any, advice in the matter, but no doubt they had rightly commenced with a petition to the Queen, la the course of some further conversation,

Sir Arthur Gordon said he had princicipally 1 invited the rexiresentativ.es of tho company to appear in order to warn them that any person who wont to Now Guinea without the sanction of the British Government would do so at, their own risk. They must not expect to he protected in any way. On the other hand they would not bo allowed to do anything prejudicial to British interests ia the Pacific, and he had the power both to xirohibit persons from going'to the islands and to rer move them. The power would bo exercised if British interests were endangered, by the acts of any British subjects. Tho,proposed expedition from Queensland would bo just as unauthorised as one that started from Victoria. Queensland would have no more jurisdiction there than Victoria. What would happen if tho two expeditions wanted the same ground ? Ho saw that this company' proposed to send an armed vessel and a circular fort constructed of boiler plate. Might there not bo collisions between tho two parties ? Apparently there was an intention to uso force. .

Mr. LoM said that if they‘found gold they

would require a eafe place lor it, and that was the'use. the fort would be put to. On the goldfields here, in the ear’y times, he move than once beard of plans for seizing the gold in the camp. Gold was one of the things the company intended to look for, and they would need to store it somewhere until It could bo shipped. ■ Inquiries were then made as to wliat position the pioneers would be in if they wanted to settle in the Dutch portion of New Guinea:— the J portion west of the 141st meridian. Sir Arthur .Gordon said they would be in the same position as persons who went to Java.

Mr. Dods.—Could we get a consul appointed ? , . Sir Arthur Gordon.—That would be for the British Government to’determine.

Mr. Dods and Mr. Dixon pointed put on the map the part of New Guinea they wished to settle on—viz., the north coast, where the climate was cool on account of the elevated nature of the ; laud, and where they expected to find gold. ' They stated that the expedition would be fitted out ‘purely for commercial purposes. They wanted to make money — nothing else. They would not 'proceed certainly until they obtained a charter.. 5 The Queensland expedition intended to settle on the south coast. . Sir Arthur Gordon hoped that they would inform all the shareholders of the nature of the interview that had taken place. It was then agreed, at the suggestion of Sir Arthur Gordon, that a formal letter should be addressed to him by the conqmny, in order that he might have the opportunity to state clearly, and in well-considered language, the exact position which the proposed expedition would occupy with reference to the British Government.