CORRESPONDENCE

BETWEEN THE

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE PRINCIPAL AGENT OF

THE NEW ZEALAND COMPANY,

In reference to providing Funds to meet the necessary Expenses of acquiring Tracts of Country from the Natives to enable that Body to carry on its Colonizing operations; referred to in the opening Address of his Excellency the LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR on the 1st May; ordered to be printed by the Legislative Council on the 1st of May, 1849.

No. 16.

Government House, Auckland,
26th March, 1849.

Sir,—

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 20, of the 10th instant, reporting that the New Zealand Company, through their Principal Agent, refuse to pay the instalment falling due on the 1st of April next, for the Porirua and Wairau purchases.

2. In reference to the correspondence which you have enclosed to me upon this subject, I have to remark upon the letter to the Agent of the New Zealand Company to you of the 8th March, in which he states "the New Zealand Company, or its Agents, not having been consulted (as I understand was the case) respecting the amount to be paid in these cases," &c., that the late Principal Agent of the New Zealand Company was consulted upon this subject before Lieut.-Col. M’Cleverty and myself had concluded the arrangement.

3. In reference to your letter to the Agent of the Company of March 9, I ought also to acquaint you, as there seems to be some doubt on your mind upon this subject, that I have not up to the present time received any instructions from the Government that lead me to think that any understanding or arrangement has been entered into in England between the Government and the New Zealand Company upon the subject of the Wairau and Porirua purchases, of which you are not aware.

4. In reference to the general question which is raised in your despatch to which I am replying, the circumstances of the case appear to be simply these:—Had the Executive Government in the Province of New Munster been, as in all other British colonies, entrusted with the administration of the waste lands of the Crown, they could, either from the rents or from the proceeds of the sales of the lands acquired by the Crown, have liquidated the expenses incurred in the purchase of such lands from the natives.

But in the Province of New Munster all the estate and right of Her Majesty in such lands, and power and authority over the same, or any part thereof, are vested in the New Zealand Company, and the powers so vested in the New Zealand Company are administered by their agents in the colony. Your Excellency has applied to the Principal Agent, requesting him to defray from the land fund certain expenses which appear legitimately to fall upon that source of revenue, and he has declined to do so.

5. Upon examining the respective powers of the Government and the New Zealand Company, I find that neither yourself nor the legislature have any control whatever over the manner in which the New Zealand Company, through its agents, may expend the proceeds of the land fund, or administer the lands of the Crown. I think, therefore, that to prolong a correspondence with the Agent of the Company would simply lead to increased difficulties, and would further embarrass the public service. I shall, therefore, at once transmit the correspondence which has taken place to England for further instructions; and until these are received your Excellency can take no further steps in the matter than to lay the papers connected with it before the Legislative Council of New Munster.

6. The only other question which remains to be considered, is from what source the funds requisite for the payment of the natives are to be procured, as it is quite clear the Government cannot break through the engagements it has made with these people, or forfeit its word to them, as such an act would shake the confidence of the whole native population in the British Government. But as I am not at present able to determine from what source the necessary funds for the purpose should be procured, I will, in a few days, address to your Excellency another despatch on this subject.

I have the honor to be,

Sir,
Your Excellency's most obedient,
Humble servant,
(Signed) G. Grey.

His Excellency
The Lieut.-Governor of New Munster,
&c., &c., &c.