E.—No. 2.

Her Majesty a Government have decided that the Act shall for the present remain in operation Jney are Jed to this conclusion not merely by a desire to sustain the authority of the local Government, but also in no small degreB by observing that no confiscation can lake effect without your personal concurrence, and by the reliance which they so justly place on your (sagacity, firmness, and experience and your longrecord regard as well for the interest, c i the Colonists-4 for the fair rUhaud expectation ot the native race. «g«™ ™ ■ I K?™ thcrefore to conveJ to you the following instructions as embodying the decisions of Her Majesty s Government. It is in their opinion very much to be desired that the proposed appropriation of land should take the torn, of a cession imposed by yourself and General Cameron upon the conquered tribes and made by thorn to the Representative of the Queen, as a condition on which Her Majesty's clemency is extended to them. I he advantages of such a settlement (in which, however, I need hardly say the position of the Maoris as defeated rebels should be unequivocally exhibited), are too manifest to need explanation Bat it this should be found impossible, you are at liberty, subject to the following reservations to give your concurrence in bringing the law into operation. A measure should be at once submitted to the Legislature to limit the duration of the Act to a definite period, not exceeding, I think, two years from its original enactment-a period long enough to allow for the necessary inquiries respecting the extent, situation, and justice of the forfeiture yet short enough to Wlifye the conquered party from any protracted suspense, and to assure those who have adhered to us that there ,s no intention of suspending in their case the ordinary principles of law The aggregate extent of the forfeiture should be at once made known, and (heir exact position as soon as possible. ' ' . - A ™IT issJ,? n shou]^ be constituted for the special purpose of inquiring what lands may properly be forfeited. The members of this commission should not be removable with the Ministry and should be bo chosen as to guarantee a fair and careful consideration of the matters brought before them It should be clearly understood that your own concurrence in any forfeiture is not to be considered as a mere ministerial act, but that it will be withheld unless you are personally satisfied that the confiscation is just and moderate. J And' here I must observe, that if in the settlement of the forfeited districts all the land which is capable of remunerative cultivation should be assigned to Colonists, and the original owner the Maori be driven back to the forest and morass, the sense of injustice, combined with the pressure of want' would convert the native population into a desperate banditti, taking refuge in the solitudes of the inter.orf.-om the pursuit of the police or military, and descending, when opportunity might occur into the cultivated plain to destroy the peaceful fruits of industry, "i rely on your wisdom and jus ice to avert a danger so serious in its bearing on the interests of the European not less than of the Native race. Turning to that part of the law which authorises the dispossession of persons who have not been involved in the recent rebellion, I have to observe, that although Her Majesty's Government admit With regret that the tribal nature of the native tenure will sometimes render it unavoidable that innocent persons should be deprived of their lands, they consider that land should not be appropriated against the will of the owners merely because it is in the same district with rebel property1 °, c ay conveniently be used for purposes ot settlement, but only in eases where loyal or neutral Natives arc unfortunate enough to be joint owners with persons concerned in the rebellion, or because it is absolutely required for some purpose of defence or communication, or on some similar ground of necessity Hut every such case of supposed necessity should be examined with the greatest care, and admitted v, lth the greatest caution and reserve. eu The compensation to be given to persons thus dispossessed is properly by the Act itself made the subject of inquiry in an open court; but the 5th section of the Act ought to be so modified that the powers of the Court may not be limited in any manner which would prevent its oW complete justice to the claims of every innocent person, or extending reasonable consideration to tliosS whose guilt was of a less heinous character, a class which, in the varying temper of the New Zealand tribes is probably large I trust that, in accepting any cession or authorizing confirmation of any forfeiture of land you will retain in your own hands ample power of doing substantial justice to every class of claimant tor restitution or compensation. J "Finally when you have taken all the powers, and received all the cessions which you think necessary for the satisfactory pacification of the Islands, you will do well to accompany these measures of justice and seventy by the announcement of a general amnesty, from which those only should be excepted who have been concerned m the murders of unoffending settlers, or other like offences of a hoi « s rictly exceptional character. In order to mark as much as possible the discriminating character of British justice the exception from the amnesty should not be couched in general terms, but should recite one by one the specific outrages which remain unpardoned Subject to these cautions and conditions, and in full confidence that you will act on the general principles which I have before laid down (and in which I anticipate your cordial concurrence) Her Majesty s Government are prepared to leave in your hands the power with which you have been entrusted by the Legislature of the Colony. In the Despatch in which you have transmitted to ne these measures, you have expressed in terms with which I entirely agree/your own appreciation of a generous policy, and of its beneficial consequences when adopted on former occasions in New Zealand • *?'?i SamC your reasons, the justice of which lam not prepared to dispute for determiu' ing that the circumstances of the present case justly and necessarily call for measures of severity such as have not been adopted at the close of former wars; but you accompany these reasons with the expression of your opinion that this seventy ought not to be carried too far. I recognise also with satisfaction the statement of your Ministers on the occasion of their first submitting to you thefr vI upon forfeiture and military settlement. They said they felt assured, that as this would be the first To it would a so be the last, occasion on which any aboriginal inhabitant of New Zealand would be deprived of land against his wiD. -1

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