wished. But inasmuch as the terms of
Purchase were held by the Law Advisers
of the Crown to be binding on Her Ma-
jesty as contracts of the New Zealand
Company, her Majesty\'s Government
did not consider it to be competent to
them to get rid, as fully as might, per-
haps, have been desirable for all parties,
of the impediments to uniformity of
management of the Crown Lands of the
Colony which those contracts create,
without the assent of the other parties to
the contract, namely, the Land Pur-
chasers, which at this distance it was im-
possible to secure.

3. The Act, however, leaves it in the
   power of Her Majesty\'s Government to
   make Terms and Regulations for the
   management of the lands comprised
   within the Settlements of Wellington,
   New Plymouth, and Nelson : but not so
   as to alter the price at which they may
   be offered to purchasers. This must re-
   main fixed by the terms now in force in
   each Settlement respectively.

4. Considering the great amount of
   land in and near the Settlements, which
   is now in private hands and can conse-
   quently be disposed of at any price, I
   cannot but feel that there is little or no
   prospect of completing the Settlements
   on the original Terms. And if the Set-
   tlers are of the same opinion, and are
   willing to have the price so reduced, I can-
   not doubt that an unanimous or general
   expression of this sentiment on their be-
   half, will be sufficient to enable Her Ma-
   jesty\'s Government to obtain from Parlia-
   ment on another occasion a relaxation of
   this still existing restriction.

5. In other respects the modification
   of the existing Terms will be in your
   power: and you are authorized by Her
   Majesty (by yourself or through
   the intervention of the Lieutenant-Go-
   vernor) any such modifications in your
   discretion, subject to the ultimate ap-
   proval of Her Majesty\'s Government.
   But this is a power which you are not to
   exercise except with the general assent,
   ascertained in such manner as you may
   think most advisable of the Settlers
   themselves. You will remember that
   they established themselves in the settle-
   ments under the inducements afforded
   them by the terms in question : and that
   although, from the difficulty of giving
   them in their unincorporated state any
   powers by Act of Parliament, it has been
   found more convenient to take those
   powers for Her Majesty\'s Government
   alone, it is not the less necessary that
   their interests should not only be fully

considered, but their opinions also con-
sulted and acted on. And if any scheme
can be devised by which the management
of the internal affairs of the settlements
and distribution of the funds can be
placed in their own hands, I shall have
great satisfaction in entertaining it.

6 Power is also given you to deter-
mine the Local Boundaries of the Set-
tlements : a power which in my opinion
you already possessed, and as to the
exercise of which I have addressed you
before, but which it was desirable to con-
firm by Act of Parliament.

7. You are also authorized to "close
   and determine the affairs of the Settle-
   ments. This is a power only to be exer-
   cised in concurrence with the Settlers
   themselves. If they shall in any Settle-
   ment determine in such a manner as to
   leave no doubt of the general sentiments
   prevailing among them, that the original
   scheme as devised by the New Zealand
   Company ought no farther to be carried
   into execution, but that the settlement
   should cease and become included under
   one common administration, with the other
   Crown Lands of the Colony, you are em-
   powered to accede to their wishes. But
   this is a power on no account to be exer-
   cised except with their full concurrence,
   nor without prior consultation with the
   Secretary of State.

8. The remaining clauses of the Act
   relate to the management of the Nelson
   Trust Fund. The circumstances under
   which that Fund arose are described in
   the recitals, and you will observe that its
   amount is as yet unascertained. It is to
   be administered by a Board of Trustees.
   But it was not thought advisable, in the
   absence of particular local knowledge, to
   insert in the Act particular provisions of
   the nature of those described in Sec. 5, as to
   the conduct of the Trust. Power to enact
   these necessary provisions is left instead
   to the Local Legislature : and it will be
   necessary they should be speedily exer-
   cised : but for this purpose you or the
   Lieutenant-Governor will consult with
   the nominated Trustees themselves, to
   whom it will be necessary that a copy of
   the Act should be transmitted, and their
   attention immediately invited to its pro-
   visions.

9. Unless it is the strong wish of the
   Trustees themselves, or the Nelson Set-
   tlers generally, that any control or super-
   vision over the accounts, or over the ap-
   propriation of the Trust Fund should be
   reserved to the Local Government, it is
   certainly not advisable that any provision
   giving it such control should be inserted