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in right of Our Crown, in New Zealand
by way of lease or licence for any term
of years, or for any shorter time, but that
such occupation, leases and licences
should be regulated by such further instructions as We should thereafter issue
in pursuance of the Act made and enacted
in the Parliament holden in the ninth
and tenth years of Our Reign, intituled
"An Act to make further provision for
the Government of the New Zealand
Islands."

And it was further provided by our
said Instructions that nothing therein
contained should extend or be considered
as extending to the temporary occupation
of any lands forming part of the demesne
of Us, in right of Our Crown, in New
Zealand by any person or persons so
occupying the same for the purpose of
depasturing Sheep or any other description of Cattle thereon, under any leases
or licences to be to any such person for
that purpose granted; but that whatever
relates to any such occupation of any
such lands for any such purposes as
aforesaid should be regulated by such
further instructions as We should for
that purpose issue, and in the meantime
by such orders as should in that behalf
be made by the Governor-in-Chief of
New Zealand.

Now therefore by these Our Additional
Instructions under our Sign Manual and
Signet We are pleased to declare and
ordain that nothing in Our said recited
Instructions shall extend or be considered as extending to the temporary
occupation of any lands forming part of
the demesne of Us, in right of Our
Crown, in New Zealand by any person
or persons so occupying the same for the
purpose of cutting timber thereon, under
any licence to be to any such person for
that purpose granted, but that whatever
relates to any such occupation of any
such lands for any such purposes as
aforesaid shall be regulated by such further instructions as We shall for that
purpose issue, and in the meantime by
such orders as shall in that behalf be
made by the Governor-in-Chief of New
Zealand. Provided nevertheless that
no person or persons so licensed as aforesaid, shall be allowed to cut or remove
timber on or from such of the lands
forming part of the demesne of Us, in
right of Our Crown in New Zealand, as
may have been or shall be reserved for
the public use.

V. R.

(No. 27.)

Downing Street,
24th February, 1855

SIR,—I have received your despatch
No. 107, of the 21st of August, 1851,
enclosing an Ordinance passed by the
Legislature of New Zealand in the
month of July last entitled "An Ordinance to amend the Crown Land Ordinance No. 1 of Session 10; and to extend
the operation thereof to the Islands of
New Zealand."

The object of this Ordinance is to
extend to the whole of New Zealand,
with certain amendments, the Pasturage
Ordinance of 1849, which, at the time,
was necessarily limited in its operation
in consequence of the Lands in New
Munster being under the management
of the New Zealand Company.

Having laid this Ordinance before the
Queen, I have received Her Majesty’s
Commands to acquaint you that Her
Majesty has been pleased to confirm and
allow the same.

I have however to observe that this
Ordinance would appear to be quite inoperative within the New Zealand Company’s Settlements, wherever there may
be existing "Terms of Pasturage:" those
terms being generally speaking (as you
have been already apprized) regarded by
the Law Advisers of the Crown as existing contracts binding on Her Majesty’s
Government. But as you state that it
is your intention to bring it gradually
into operation by Proclamation, I think it
sufficient to remind you of that circumstance.

I would also remark that the 5th clause
is not very clear in its meaning. By the
Ordinance of 1849, the rights of pasturage within a Hundred were in the first
instance restricted to certain classes of
persons holding depasturing licences.
But the Wardens were authorized to allow to unlicensed owners of land within
the Hundred, a proportionate right of
depasturing cattle. The Wardens were
likewise empowered to make Bye-Laws
to provide for the safety of the cattle to
be depastured within any hundred, to
improve the run, to prevent the intrusion
of cattle, and the depasturing of a greater
number than should be legally apportioned.

By the 5th clause of the Ordinance of
July last, the authority of such Bye-laws
is made to extend "not only to such persons to whom such licences as aforesaid
may have been issued, but to persons to