The New-Zealander. WEDNESDAY, OCT. 6, 1847.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 141, 6 October 1847, Page 2

The New-Zealander. WEDNESDAY, OCT. 6, 1847.

Be just and fear not : Let all the ends thou aiins't at, be tliy Country's, Thy God's, and Truth's.

The Debentures are to be squared up at last ; to be placed upon a more creditable footing than that upon which they have hitherto been allowed to stand ; some of the various claise s —disjecta membra— are about to be paid off at once, and the rest reduced to one denomination bearing interest at eight per cent. Captain Grey has certainly worked out his plan for bringing the debt of the colony to a definitive arrangement with considerable ability ; so much so indeed that the laurels lost as a general may be said to have been fairly retrieved in finance. Finance is dearly his forte, as has already been proved elsewhere; for this pecu'iar talent was the secret of hi* iuccssio £outh Australia; where, on assuming the reins of Government, he found the njonetary affairs of the colony in a state of complete derangement, yet finally succeeded in bringing round to a healthy and flourishing condition. Notwithstanding some inclination to " clap on the screw" in taxation, and some occasional waste of money upon crotchets, we may fairly say, that we could wish all mat ters here as well managed as the revenue. The arrangement is this : The s*, and 10*. debentures, amounting in all to £237, the debenture certificates amounting to 4>lS#3, 7*. If?, and those small debentures which had not been funded, in compliance with the pro* posal made by Cypt. Grey to the holders when he first arrived in this colony, amounting to £2,929, art to be paid off, forth* with. The special debentures, £2000 to Messrs. Boyd and Robinson, and £753 14* 4,d. to Mrs. Hobson ; with two others for wwller sums, are to be funded, the interest upon these raised to eight per cent., and to rtand firat in order for payment whenever the co» lony shall find i tie It in a condition to clear off liabilities. Such a day may possibly arrive at last 2 but we must allow, that for the present, our wishes exceed our expectations^ There .wai some, debate in Council with regard to the propriety of paying off the special debentures, in preference to the debenturecfrfifiqateii as being entitled to preference from priority of date. The Governor was for some time inclined to give them precedence, but conceded the point at last. And he was certainly right in ao, doing, for the case of the holders of these certificates— mostly given to poor persons for work and labour done, and that by Captain Grey himself, who did not choose to expend the ready money be brought with him, upon expenses incurred before hit arrival— was peculiarly hard. With respect to the outstanding debentures which still remain unfunded, and which are likewise to be paid off, it must be observed that the holders of them are now placed in a better position than those persons who complied with the Governor's original proposal. However, it is unwise to look a giMiorse in the mouth, or to strain at niceties of distribution where the scheme, upou the; whole, is liberally conceived. We are glad that it is possible to take them up, in any way ; for the discreditable hawking about of these documents was an abiding blot upon the place. The Colonial Secretary, in the course of the debate, hazarded a proposal, which was rather tartly answered by the. Governor, and, as appears to u», unfairly. He proposed thi.t debentures should be taken by the. Government at par, in payment for la.nd» which would, in fact, be only returning to the pockets of the colonists that difference of ralue which had been already abstracted by Government in spite of themselves.. His Excellency was instantly seized with indignation at the violation of the kand Sales Act, which enacts that payment for hnd must be made in cash. Assuming, to borrow the cautious expression of the learned AttorneyGeneral,- that the Australian Land Sale* Act is still in torce in, thia Colony— we believe, because proclamation has nol yet heen made of its repeal— such payment would be certainly against law ; but the observation, as it wa§ understood by all present, except the Governor himself, who laboured under a moat convenient fit of misapprehension for the nonce, was intended to apply to that future time, now not far distant, when certain Crown grants are to be issued, not on payment of a pound, but of five shillings an acre. We wind up by proposing; a question for solution. If the Act be still in force, why are the Quarterly Land Sales by auction discontinued ? Are they not expressly enjoined by that Act? There is probably reason for it good enough ; but what it can be, we are unable even to guest.

We copy from the Spectator, of the 29th May, the particulars of the final settlement hetweeft the Colonial Office and the New Zealand Corqpapy.

It appears that the Company are once more upon their leg** and that they are lafe for a three years tenure of existence, and a pillowed euthanasia at the end of that term— a sort of dying made easy to the tune of three and a half per cent, should they feel inclined for dissolution. It required no special gift of prophecy to foresee that their star would shortly culminate, when Lord Grey, once chairman to the famous committee, Buller, and Bawei came into office. However, we do not grudge them their luck ; we certainly would ralher be without them, but, if we must have (hem, we heartily wish that they may prosper, for the sake of the general good of the colony. One thing they are bound to, bear in mmd — that through their own headstrong obstinacy and mismanagement, jbey hare been the xnin of ' multitudes,' who still rue \he day that they set fool upon the deck of a Company's ship ; and that now is the time, while prosperity in again «hining on their undertaking, to volunteer restitution and amends, with as little niggardise as the Home Government has shewn towards themselves.

Final Settlement between the Colonial Office, and the New Zealand Company. In our number for the 15 th imt,we Hated the tuhitnnce of the arrangement concluded between Lord Grey and the New Zealand Company ; the pub licaiion of the documents enable us to supply the details of the arrangement. In a letter dated on the 23rd April, the Directors of the Company announced to Lord Grey tbat the time had arrived when they must come to some determination as to the proceedings and existence of their own body ; and they state the grounds on which they claim the assistance of the government— " They think that the circumstances of the cue justify them in asking, on public grounds, for such aid as may be required to enable them to continue operations acknowledged to be advantageous to the community at large, Au<l they also think themselves entitled to prefer a claim for compensation, on the ground of justice to the company* " That claim they base upon the injury which has been done to the company, by the acts of the Government at home, and of the local government of New Zealand. " The principal acts of the Home Government for which the Directors consider that compensation ought in justice to be given, are, that it has entered into four distinct agreements with the Company, that in each of these the Company has fulfilled its part ; but that to this day not one of these agreements has been fulfilled uy the Government. " In the first, (in Noventber, 1840), relying on the pledge of Lord John Russell, that a crown grant of its lauds should be made forthwith, the Company waived its claim to all purchases from the. natives, increased its capital, spent further large sums of money, and incurred heavy liabilities iv colonising according to its charter. No grant under that agreement has ever been made. ■ • " Iv the second and third, (in June, 1841, and Auguat> 1942,) the Company purchased lands from the Government with the full understanding that it should have the proper deeds of grant without delay, and on the strength of this they proceeded to colo niie, and again spent money and incurred liabilities. No deed* under those agreements have ever been made. •Mnthe tooiith, (in May, 1843), relying on the distinct promise of Lord Stanley, that conditional grants should be made immediately on Capt. Fitz roys arrival in the colony, the company resumed its operations, which had been suspended in the preceding January in consequence of the non-fulfilment of their former agreements and the hostility of the government, spent further sums, aud incurred fur* ther liabilities. No grants, were made in accordance with that promise. Partial grants were tendered but long after the time promised ; aud even they were rendered useless by the interpolation of unauthorised find vague clauses, and were consequently refused by (he Company." The Directors state, the actual condition of the Company, and make a proposal— " The total of th« company's liabilities may be estimated at £394,000. [Nelson,— unsatisfied pledges \o purchasers of land, jtf2s,QoO j -other parties- borrowed, £134,000 } shareholders, #235,000.] "The present assets of the Company, exclusive of the investments. &nd. securities for which allowance has been made, above, court. I of 1,04»,000 acres of laud, (or a right theieto,) which it has not yet disposed of, out of the 1,300,000 acres to which its Claim has beau admitted ; and a further quantity of 94,000 acres, for which it has paid the same price that it charged to its earlier settlers, namely twenty and thirty shillings an acre ; in all, 1,073,000 acres. "This, then is the alternative which the Directors "consider themselves entitled to submit for the election of Her Majesty's Government,— Either the payment of a sum of £225,000, together with the addition which may be decided op as the amount of (he loss alluded to above, as not yet estimated ; leaving the Company* engagements 10 be satisfied out of these sums, and the proceeds of Us land ; Or, the transfer to the Government of the 1,073,000 acres of land to which the company has at p ret ant a right, together with an obligation to satisfy the engagements of the Company as above stated, in this country, and in New Zealand.*' Replying on the 10th May, in the name of Lord Grey, Mr. Under Secretary Uawes acknowledge! that the Company have a claim, aud proposes to make a satisfactory arrangement— " Lord Grey is ready at once to admit that the Company has established a claim against her Majesty's government. <> He is however, very averse to disoussing how far the claim in question gives the Company a right to pecuniary indemnification, or attempting to calcu* late its amount. He could not do so without disputing many of the arguments, and much of the claim urged by the Company j and he- thinks that he qan best consult his own sense of the public interest and what he understands to be the wishes of the Company, without entering into discussions and investigations which would needlessly prolong a prejudicial controversy. • For higher objects even than that of justice to the New Zealand Company are involved in the consideration of tys claim. The proceedings out of which tbat claim has grown, together With the serious errors committed in the general ad* ministration of the colony, havt iqlieted on. the great body of enterprising settlers injuries more to |>c deplored even than those to which the Company had been subjected.

>' Wbtn Lord Grey considers of what great importance to Imperial interest! it is that the colonization of New Zealand should go on s teadily and rapidly, and that the ancient disposition to plant settlement* of Englishmen in her Majesty's distant possession! should be revived and established, he is not disposed to allow suoh great objtoU to be frustrated by difficulties which it is in the power of the Government to mrmount. At the preseut moment, he sees no meant whereby the settlement of New Zealand is likely to be so vigorously and securely effected, as by the operations of the New Zealaud Company. He feels convinced that the extinction or failure of a company, whose first efforts were so successful* would operate most fatally in deterring others from embarking in similar associations. It appears to him, therefore, that it is a matter Of the create* public concern, to enable the New Zealand Company to rtne'w its operations." The arrangement proposed by Lord Grey, and accepted by the Company, is set forth in the following enclosure in Mr. Hawes's letter.

"Memorandum. " I. (1.) It i* proposed that a Commissioner be appointed by Her Majesty to be a Commissioner for the New Zealand Company. " (£) That the name of the person selected by her Majesty be submitted to the Directors of the New Zealaud Company, and the appointment take place on their signifying their approval. " (3.) That this Commissioner attend all meeting* of the Director*, and have access to all book*, paper i, and accounts of the Company; and that the Company shall agree that no resolution shall ever be adopted at any meeting of tne Directors without the assent of the Commissioner. " (4.) That the Commissioner be paid a salary of jg!5UO per year out of the funds of the Company. " 11. That during the period for which the present arrangement thall last, the Government shall give up to the Company the entire and exclusive disposal of all Crown lands, and the exercise of the Crown's right of pre-emptiou of lands belonging to the natives in the southern government of New Zealand, and undertake during such period to execute any grants, leases, or mortgages, for which the Court of Directors and Commissioner shall engage. "111. That during three years, commencing the 6th April ultimo, the Government shall engage to place at the disposal of «he Company, during the first year, such sum of not more than *28,000, over and above any sum now payable to thf Company under any former loan, during the second year »ucb sum not exceeding J872,C00, and during the third year such sum not exceeding £36,000, as hhall be required by the Company and the Commissioner from time t6 time, for the purpose of discharging the existing liabilities of the company to an extent not exceeding £79,000, and of conducting its colouising operations, " That all sums accruing to the Company in each year, beyond those which it is bound to expend for the benefit of the purchasers of its lands, hhall be expended in furtherance of the general objects of the Company, with the view of diminishing the amount of advances which may be required from Her Majesty's government. .... „ „ "That during that period no interest shall accrue from any debt to the Government, nor for any claim to compensation on the part of the company. •« That during the first year no dividend shall be paid to the proprietors of the Company's stock, nor any in either of the two following years, without the express sanction of Her Majesty's Government.. " That the Company shall at once give up all claim to lands in the neighbourhood of Auckland, and take the whole amount awarded to it elsewhere. " IV. That if the Company shall be in a condition at the end of three years to continue its operations, the present arrangement with regard to heads I. and 11. shall continue, and be made permanent either by a new charter or by Act of Parliament, upon the Company agreeing to such restriction on its disposal of land, dividends, and application of funds as shall then be agreed upon between the Company and her Majesty's Government. > " That the Company shall in that case abandon all claim to compensation from the Government. ' " That all advances already made, or within the period of three years to be made to the Company by the Government, snail in that case be constituted aa the Company's debt; the principal of which, the Company shall be bound to repay by an annual payment of not less that one fourth of its clear profits after payment of all expenses. , " Y. That if at the end of the three years the company shall be unable to continue its operations, her Majesty's Government shall take the Company's assets, together with the liabilities contracted by it to third parties dur* in* that period with the assent of the Commissioner, and any debt which may still be due from it to the Nelson settlers. • 11 That all debts due from the Company to the Government shall be remitted, in consideration of the company's admitted clriro on the government. «• That lhe lands now belonging to the Company, con sistingof 1,048,991 acres awarded to it, and as yet unsold, together with 24,491 acres held by it ra virtue of purchase within its settlements, shall be taken by the Government at the rate of five shillings an acre. «' That the Compaay shall be entitled to payment of the sum so due to it. together with interest at the rate ofth.ee and a half per cent thereon, out of the proceeds of all returns over and above the outlay for surveys and emigration accruing from the sale of crown lands in New Zealand, but not from any other source. "That the New Zealand Company shall thereupon be forthwith dissolved, except for the purposes ot receiving such payment* « VI That neither the Crown, nor the New Zealand Company shall in any part ©f New Zewland, sell any lands, not previously sold by them, for any sum less than twenty sbißtogl au acrt, nor expend, Jess than ten shillings an acre of the proceeds ot such sale in carrying out emigrants,"