EXTRACTS FROM THE INSTRUCTIONS TO J. R. GODLEY, ESQ., AGENT OF THE CANTERBURY ASSOCIATION. [From the Canterbury Papers.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 522, 3 August 1850, Page 2

EXTRACTS FROM THE INSTRUCTIONS TO J. R. GODLEY, ESQ., AGENT OF THE CANTERBURY ASSOCIATION. [From the Canterbury Papers.]

The following document is now, fox the first time, printed, with the permission of the Association. Tbe omitted portions refer, without exception, to arrangements having no interest for the public generally :—: — In giving you written instructions for the performance of your duties as the Principal Agent of the Canterbury Association, the Committee of Management are conscious that such instructions must necessarily fall short, in a great measure, of the object for which they are intended. So extensive is the character of the enterprise which it will be your business to conduct, so peculiar its circumstances, so numerous and varied its details, and so inadequate the information possessed^ by the Committee upon many of the most important points connected with it, that they are convinced its success will be best promoted by leaving to you a very wide discretion. You are thoroughly acquainted with the views and objects of the Association which you are to represent ; with the difficulties against which it has to contend ; and with the means to which it trusts fo| overcoming them. . __< Again, you cannot be insensible to the. detp responsibility devolving upon yourself*.,,.*! upon all who have undertaken to carryjratso great an experiment ; nor is it necessary ior us to. impress upon you the important influence which its success or failure will havt upon the interests of colonisation generally, and of colonisation as connected with th« Church of England in particular. We believe that your mind is already sufficiently imbued with these high moral considerations; indeed, it is in a great measure on account- of that belief, that we consider yon qualified for the task which has been assigned to you. We shall therefore confine qursJ4*es, for the most part, in the following instructions, to, a general definition of your principal duties, and a few leading suggestions for your guidance and direction. I. Your powers, except so far as they are limited by these or subsequent instructions, will be best defined by informing you that whatever the Association is competent to do in England, you are authorized and empowered to do, on their behalf, in New Zealand. The servants of the Association in the colony are placed under your unqualified control, and you are empowered to suspend or dismiss any of them, as you may see fit. They will be in-

formed that they are to receive yout instructions as though they proceeded from the Association itself, and that they are to perform no act, in relation to the affairs of the Association, except with your concurrence and under your direction. In case yon shall be obliged to exercise this power of suspension or dismissal, or in case any of the Association's servants should voluntarily resign, you will supply the vacancy as you may be best able. You will also, from time to time, make all such apr pointmeut6 as may. be necessary for carrying oat the qbjects of the Association, and consistent with the means" at your command. Th* disposal of the land within the Canterbury settlement; the regulation of pattur•ge; the selection of sites for towns and public buildings; in short, the affairs and property of the Association generally, will be under your exclusive management and control, subject, of course, to such regulatidns as the Association has already made, and to such instructions' as may be from time to time" forwarded to you by the Association 11. Your duties may be classed under two Heads:- Ist, That of preparing for the reOption of colonists ; and 2nd, That of superintending and promoting the establishment and progress of the settlement. The Committee trust that much will have been done before you can arrive in the colony, towards effectiug the former object, by their chief Surveyor, Capt. Thomas. As soon as the Association shall have effected a sufficient amount of sales, it will place at your disposal the means which it may consider to be required for completely establishiug its settlement, and fully providing for the public objects at which it aims. You will, as soon as possible after your arrival, communicate with the Bishop of New Zealand. You will express to his lordship the anxious desire of the Association that their design may be conducted under his superintendence and sanction ; you will entreat nim to favour you, so far as may be in his power, with his advice and assistance ; and you will invariably pay the utmost attention and deference to his opinions rdc! wishes. The surveys, the allocation of the land to purchasers, aud the measurement of the sections after allocation, belong more particularly to the province of the chief Surveyor, aud detailed instructions have been already furnished to Mr. Thomas on those heads. Over j this, however, as over all other departments of the Association's service, you will exercise a general superintendence and control ; and the chief officer engaged in it will make his report to you. But there will, in all probability, be one very important function connected with this branch of the Association's business, which must be exercised more immediately and directly by yourself. The Association intends, after the first body of colonists shall have gone out, to convey the right of selection to its purchasers, according to the priority of their applications at the Land Office in the colony. It also intends that, from the same time forward, land shall be sold in the colony as well as in this country. You will be prepared, therefore, to offer land for sale in the colony, as soon as you shall receive intelligence that the period above referred to has arrived, on the terms and subject to the conditions detailed in the plan of sale published by the Association, or such other terms and conditions of sale as may be in force at the time being in England, except so far as regards the disposal of that part of the price .which goes to the emigration or passage fund.* It is almost unnecessary to say, that no part of your duties will involve you in heavier responsibilities than this, or to urge upon you the paramount importance of exercising, in such events the utmost care and discrimination in the admission of new settlers ; inasmuch as ■ the main object of the Assoc'ution is, and will - «ontinu& to be, the creation of a colony dis- < tidgoished from others, not only by unity of religious belief, but, so far as possible, by the good conduct, good character, and respectability of its members. * - :The pasturage regulations with which you are furnished, sufficiently indicate to you the nature of the functions which you will be called upon to discharge with refereuce to that branch of the Association's colonising operations. In these, 'indeed in all, your dealings with the settlers, 'especially during .die period- hnraeJialely succeding the- first arrival, you must not only be careful to acquire their confidence by exercising the strictest justice and impartiality, but you must remember to make all due allowance even for unreasonable demands and pretensions. In tbis, as in every new colony, there will almost certainly be found persons who will have formed very erroneous ideas of their prospects and of their rights in the country of their' adoption, and who will be sure, in the first instance, to lay the blame of their disappointment on the Association. Experience

* The appropriation of this sum being governed by an Act of Parliament cannot be interfered with.

shows that while such persons often become, after their first angry feeling subsides, valuable and useful settlers, they also frequently fail to do so, only for the want of timely and sympathizing advice. It must be your business, therefore, to do all that in you lies to allay such disappointments, should they exist ; to meet, whenever you can, the wishes of the colonists ; where it is out of your power to do so, to explain why ; to be always ready, in short, to hear their complaints, and to render counsel and aid to all who want them. The Association understands that, out of the million acrerf- which have been allotted to the Canterbury settlement, about 1450 acres have been disposed of to different individuals, whose names and holdings are given iv a schedule hereto annexed. You will assure those individuals that every right and privilege to which they are entitled will be scrupulously respected, and they will be regarded, in all respects, in the same light as though they had been purchasers from the Association. It is prdbable, indeed nearly certain, that before the first body of colonists arrive at Fort Cooper, many stock-owuers, with large quantities of cattle and sheep, will have found their way to the Canterbury plains. To such persons you will uniformly hold the language of welcome and friendship ; recognising the mutual advantages which the colonists and themselves will derive from their neighbourhood, and pointing oat to them the means by which, if it should suit them, they may, generally speaking, at an early period, and on easy terms, exchange their temporary occupancy, for an assured right of pasturage. The same principle will be kept in view by you in your intercourse with all persons who may be attracted to Port Cooper from other parts of the colony, or from Australia, by the prospect of gain which a new settlement will open to them. We allude not so much to labourers and artisans, as to storekeepers, millers, timber merchants, and other capitalists, who may make it their business to provide, in advance, for the early wants of the first colonists. It is almost superfluous to say, that every encouragement should be given to this valuable class of men ; but at the same time they must be made fully aware, that their liberty of occupation is of a temporary character only ; that, until the first body of purchasers shall have made their selections, no land can be conveyed in the colony to any one ; and that if they invest capital in buildings or improvements in any shape under such circumstances, they must do so at their own risk, and with a full knowledge of their precarious tenure. The Association is informed that reserves have been formed by the Government officers, for the few natives who inhabit the district in which the Canterbury settlement will be established. If such is not the case, you will take care to have such reserves as may liave been agreed upon defined as soon as possible, and respected in the same way as the property of Europeans. The Committee have only to add, in conclusion, that a very material part of your duties will consist in sending home, by every opportunity, the most ample information upon everything connected with the country in which their colonising operations are to be carried on. In doing so, you cannot be too minute or too particular. They wish to receive not only written descriptions of the climate, soil, scenery, natural productions, &c, but also, if possible, drawings and specimens of all kinds. Much of the attractiveness of a colony depends upon the extent to which intending settlers are enabled fully to comprehend and realize its character, condition, and circumstances; too much pains, therefore, cannot be taken by those who are on the spot, to satisfy the curiosity which is so naturally and so uniformly felt. If you should be compelled by illness, or any other cause, to resign the post which ycu, are •bout to fill, you will appoint, provisionally, your own successor; such appointment to be,> | of course, subject to the confirmation of the i Association. In conclusion, in all arrangements which you may find it necessary to make, as well as iv all your communications with the colonists, you will remember that the Association is pledged to use its utmost endeavours towards the conversion of the Canterbury settlement into a separate Province, according to the assurances which they have received from the home and local governments, as well as to procure for the settlement the establishment, within its limits, of local self-government ; an object which they conceive most desirable for securing the prosperity of the colony, and which they have good hopes of ultimately obtaining. In the meantime, we need hardly express our confident belief that yourself and the colonists generally will cultivate the most cordial relations with the existing government.

+ Since these instructions have been, drawn up, the land at the Association's disposal, as previously stated, has increased to 2,400,000 acres, or thereabouts.