NEW ZEALAND. RETURN to an Address of the Honourable The House of Commons, "COPY of all CORRESPONDENCE that has passed between Her Majesty's Government and the NEW ZEALAND COMPANY, between the 19th day of June and the 6th day of July; together with the Minutes transmitted in Mr. C. A. Wood's Letter of the 8th day of July." No. SCHEDULE. 1. Copy of a Letter from Viscount Ingestre to the Right hon. Sir Robert Peel, dated New Zealand House, 5 July 1845 P. 3 2. Copy of a Letter from the Right hon. Sir Robert Peel to Viscount Ingestre, dated Whitehall, 9 July 1845 P. 4 3. Minutes of Communications between Lord Stanley and a Deputation from the Directors of the New Zealand Company P. 4 4. Extract of a Despatch from Lord Stanley to Governor Grey, dated Downing-street, 27 June 1845 · P. 7 5. Copy of a Despatch from Lord Stanley to Governor Grey, dated Downing-street, 6 July 1845 P. 8 6. Copy of a Letter from T. C. Harington, Esq., Secretary of the New Zealand Company, to Lord Stanley, dated New Zealand House, 11 July 1845 • p. 13 7. Copy of a Letter from G. W. Hope, Esq., to T. C. Harington, Esq., dated Downing-street, 12 July 1845 p. 13 8. Copy of a Letter from Lord Stanley to Viscount Ingestre, dated Downing-street, 12 July 1845 P. 13 COPY of all CORRESPONDENCE that has passed between Her Majesty's Government and the NEW ZEALAND COMPANY, between the 19th day of June and the 6th day of July; together with the Minutes transmitted in Mr. C. A. Wood's Letter of the 8th day of July. COPY of a LETTER from Viscount Ingestre to Sir Robert Peel. Sir, New Zealand House, 5 July 1845. On behalf of the Directors of the New Zealand Company, I have the honour (in the absence of the deputy-governor, who left town this morning) to acquaint you, that in consequence of your statement in Parliament, of your wish that the Company should be enabled to act in concert and harmony with Her Majesty's Government, as an useful instrument of colonization, we immediately requested a deputation from this court to wait upon Lord Stanley, for the purpose of endeavouring to make some arrangement with his Lordship, whereby the present obstacles to the attainment of that object might be removed. In naming the deputation, we purposely selected members of our body who had not taken an active part in the past controversies with his Lordship. It consisted of our deputy-governor, the Honourable Francis Baring, Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, Mr. George Frederick Young, and myself. The Court of Directors received yesterday from the deputation a report of what passed at their several interviews with Lord Stanley, and with great regret found themselves under the necessity of coming to the conclusion, that, notwithstanding the courtesy with which the deputation were received, no real advance whatever had been made towards a satisfactory termination of the differences between the Colonial Office and the Company. It appeared from the report in question, that Lord Stanley substantially adhered to those opinions concerning the Company's claims, the authoritative assertion of which has been the means of placing our settlements. in the greatest danger, and of putting a stop to the pursuit by us of every object contemplated in our charter of incorporation. And although the deputation understood it to be not altogether impossible that Her Majesty's Government might be induced to afford the Company the assistance of a loan of money, and an interview on that point was contemplated with the members of the Government with whom that branch of the subject more immediately lay, we are decidedly of opinion that the acceptance of such a loan, whilst our just claims continued to be denied as heretofore, and whilst, therefore, we had no prospect of ever being able to cancel the debt, or use the money beneficially for any of the public purposes, for the furtherance of which it could alone be asked or granted, would be scarcely honourable on our part. In fact, the only application which, in our present state of helplessness, we could have made of the money, would have been to afford temporary relief to the proprietors of the Company from pecuniary pressure. Under these circumstances, we have resolved to address ourselves to you, as the head of Her Majesty's Government, in the hope that it may yet be in your power to devise some means by which your own declared object may be accomplished, and we may be enabled to afford the suffering colonists, who have settled in New Zealand through our instrumentality, some definite and specific information as to the measures whereby Her Majesty's Government propose to into effect their favourable intentions towards them and us. carry - No. 2. COPY of a LETTER from Sir Robert Peel to Viscount Ingestre. Whitehall, 9 July 1845. My Lord, I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's letter of 5th July. It is quite true that in the debate which recently took place in the House of Commons with reference to the affairs of the New Zealand Company, I gave expression to a wish, which I sincerely entertained, that the New Zealand Company might thereafter be enabled to act in concert and harmony with Her Majesty's Government, as an useful instrument of colonization. I have read with attention the minutes of the personal communication which has taken place subsequently to the debate above referred to, between Lord Stanley and a deputation from the directors of the New Zealand Company; I consider that the minutes of this communication fully prove that Lord Stanley is influenced by the same wish which I expressed in respect to the re-establishment of a friendly understanding and co-operation between the Government and the New Zealand Company. I regret that the directors are not satisfied by the result of the interview between Lord Stanley and the deputation; but as my own sentiments are in concurrence with those expressed by Lord Stanley, and as I have entire confidence in the desire of Lord Stanley to promote the welfare of the Company, so far as he can do it consistently with his own sense of public duty and with public engagements entered into with the sanction of the Crown, I must decline interference with the discretion of Lord Stanley in matters, the immediate consideration of which properly belongs to the department over which he presides. MINUTES OF COMMUNICATIONS between Lord Stanley and a Deputation from the Directors of the New Zealand Company, consisting of the Honourable Francis Baring, Viscount Ingestrie, Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, Baronet, and George Frederick Young, Esquire. Ar two interviews held with Lord Stanley, at his Lordship's house in St. James's-square, on Friday the 27th of June, and Tuesday the 1st of July 1845, the following subjects were brought under consideration, and discussed; namely, 1. The claim of the Company to an immediate grant of its lands. 2. The application of the Company for a loan from Her Majesty's Govern ment. 3. The objections of the Company to the Crown's right of pre-emption to the land in New Zealand being waived, and purchases being permitted to be made directly from the natives. 4. The situation of the future seat of government. 5. The introduction of the principle of representation into the future government of the Colony. 1.-As to the Company's Lands. In order to an immediate and effectual settlement of the Company's claims, so far as they relate to lands of which the Court of Claims in New Zealand has examined the titles, and on which it has pronounced its awards, the deputation first submitted that a grant of such lands should be forthwith issued, under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom. In reply to this, Lord Stanley expressed his doubts whether such a grant could legally be issued by the Home Government, but considered that it would at all events be impracticable, from the absence of any plans or other information by which the boundaries of the particular tracts to be granted could be ascertained. For these reasons, his Lordship considered the proposal inadmissible. Waiving further discussion of these objections, the deputation then asked that positive instructions should be sent to Captain Grey, or the acting Governor for the time being, to issue forthwith an unconditional grant, under the colonial seal, of the lands adjudicated on by the Court of Claims as above mentioned. Lord Stanley replied, that as the varying circumstances of the settlements might require in the several cases a different course of proceeding, he must consider, and decide on each case separately. That with respect to the lands at Wellington, comprising about 60,000 acres, he saw no objection to giving instructions for an immediate grant (if it should not have been already issued), on the assumption that the award had been made, and the money awarded accepted by the natives. That at Nelson also, with the exception of the lands at Wairoa, he thought similar instructions might be issued. That at Otago, as soon as Colonel Wakefield should have selected the 150,000 acres, in accordance with his agreement, dated 31st July 1844, a grant might also be issued. With regard to the above settlements, and also to Taranaka, Manawatu, and Wanganui, Lord Stanley communicated to the deputation the precise instructions he proposed to send to Governor Grey by the next mail of the 7th of July. Reference having been made in these discussions to the additional payments required from the Company, either by the awards of the Commissioner of the Court of Claims, or by directions of the Governor, the deputation incidentally remarked, that as a matter of course the Company would, in consideration of all such payments, be entitled to land at the rate mentioned in the agreement of November 1840, namely, four acres for every pound sterling, and that a similar claim would arise in respect to all payments for purchases of land required to be made for the fulfilment of that agreement. Lord Stanley expressed some surprise at this claim, and intimated that he was not then prepared to admit its validity. After some discussion, the deputation, conceding to Lord Stanley full credit for sincerity in his expressed desire to do justice to the Company, and claiming for the directors equal credit for not desiring to advance any claim unsupported in their opinion by the strictest equity, suggested that, instead of being made the subject of renewed controversy, this, and any similar question on which a difference of opinion might arise, should be at once referred, in an amicable spirit, to the decision of two individuals of high character and station, one to be chosen by Lord Stanley, and the other by the directors, and that the determination of such arbitrators should be conclusively binding on all parties. The further consideration of these questions was then deferred. 2.-The Application of the Company for a Loan. On the subject of an advance of money on loan to the Company, the deputation submitted the strong grounds furnished for the liberal consideration of Her Majesty's Government, by the indisputable fact, that the pecuniary difficulties of the Company had solely arisen from the delay in granting titles to their lands, by which, on the one hand, land sales, their only source of revenue, had been entirely suspended, while on the other, the same cause having produced a perfect stagnation in the colony, and consequent cessation of demand for labour, a serious burden had been thrown on the Company for the maintenance of unemployed emigrant labourers, and for other objects from which no immediate return could be derived. They further pressed strongly on his Lordship's consideration the importance of any advance that might be made, being on the security of the Company's lands alone, as the most effectual means of restoring public confidence in the value of the Company's possessions. Lord Stanley replied, that he could not admit the validity of the grounds on which the claims for aid from the Government was put forward; but that this was a point specially requiring communication with the First Lord of the Treasury and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the latter of whom was out of town. The consideration of the question was therefore postponed. " |