A.—4.

for whatever. I have never heard of any dispute of the title, which, I suppose, the evidence taken by the Commissioner will prove. Your answer to this, will oblige. Your most obedient servant, Commissioner FitzGerald, &c. Wm. Webster.

Minute thebeon by the Goveenoe. Veey large grants having been made to Mr. Webster no further grant can be made until the opinion of the Secretary of State as to the former grants is made known. E.F., 10th March, 1845.

Me. FitzGeeald, — Direct Mr. Chipchase to communicate this reply to Mr. Webster, who is now in Auckland, but about to leave immediately. 8.F., 10th March, 1845.

The Peivate Seceetaey to Mr. Webstee. S IEj Government House, 10th March, 1845. I am desired by the Governor to acquaint you that His Excellency has examined, and taken advice respecting, your land claims marked 305h and 305j, and is sorry to find himself precluded from authorising any further grant to be made to you at present, on account of the largeness of those grants already made in your name. I have, &c, J. W. Hamilton, Private Secretary. P.S.—The Governor directs me to say that the land which you now hold in undisputed possession will probably be granted to you eventually. It will be seen that the Governor's minute does not convey any direct reply to Mr. Webster's letter; it does not inform him of the substance of the Commissioner's reports on claims 305h or 305j, nor hint that such reports were still under consideration; and Mr. Hamilton's letter does not convey the substance of the Governor's minute, but rather leads to the inference that the claims had not been considered. This letter is unfortunate in its expression also, for the land in Mr. Webster's undisputed possession, mentioned in the postscript, refers to the small pieces of land which he was proved to have bought in the Mercury Island, but it has been assumed, wrongfully no doubt, to apply to the whole of Mr. Webster's claims. A great deal has been said about this letter in the report of the Committee, and an attempt has been made to prove that Mr. Webster had been unjustly treated; but this idea will be dispelled when Mr. Hamilton's letter is read together with the correspondence and minutes here given in relation to its origin. Referring again to the minute of Governor Fitzroy of the 10th March, 1845, it cannot be a matter of surprise that he should hesitate about making any more grants to Webster until the opinion of the Secretary of State as to the former grants is made known : the truth is more likely to be that the Governor, in making such large grants, was frightened at his own act in the face of the despatch addressed to his predecessor by Lord Stanley when notifying the disallowance by Her Majesty the Queen of the ordinance of 1842 above mentioned. That despatch was as follows : — Exteact from a Despatch from Lord Stanley to Governor Hobson. g IB Downing Street, 19th December, 1842. In my Despatch No. 76, of the Ist ultimo, I informed you that Her Majesty's decision had been suspended on the Act of your Government, passed on the 25th February, 1842, No. 14, " to amend an Ordinance enacted by the Governor of New Zealand, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof, Session 1., No. 2, for the Settlement of Land Claims within the Colony." I have now to intimate to you Her Majesty's decision with regard to that Act; and, in doing so, I think it right to acquaint you generally as to the grounds of her decision. When the British Government undertook to colonise New Zealand it was with the distinct intention not to admit that any titles to land could be valid which were not derived from or expressly confirmed by the authority of Her Majesty. This principle was laid down in Lord Normanby's instructions to you, on your first appointment to proceed from England to New Zealand ; and it was publicly announced in the earliest Proclamations issued, both at Sydney and in New Zealand, on assuming the sovereignty of those islands. . . . • . -, • , • -n-n In Sir G. Gipps's address to his Council, in explaining the principles involved m his Bill on land claims, he accumulated proofs that no British subject was entitled to acquire lands m countries under the circumstances of New Zealand otherwise than with the sanction of the Government. He showed that the same principle of public law was confirmed up to the present time by the highest legal authorities in England, and it was also enforced m the extensive

19