COLONIAL OFFICE.

Wellington Independent, Issue 2, 5 April 1845, Page 3

COLONIAL OFFICE.

Below we furnish an abridgment of the material points in a dispatch of Lord Stanley's, under date the 13tb August, 1844. It was read in Council, we believe, on the 16th March, and is termed " extracts," by the Auckland Times, of the 18th March, in whichpaper we found it. It would appear, however, to be a complete document, with one, or the portion of one, paragraph excepted. Why any portion was omitted we know not, but we assume that it must have been not to the purpose —unpleasant to his Excellency —or not creditable to Lord Stanley. We have no doubt when the omission comes to light, it will be found to be referable to one of these heads. Lord Stanley commences by alluding to the fact of the Committee not having been unanimous. In reference to the qualified dominion of savages over a country in which they reside, upon which doctrine Sir George Gipps legislated for this country, Lord Stanley states that were the question one of mere theory, he does not eveu then think he would be prepared to subscribe unhesitatingly to it. He then proceeds to argue that the gradations of uncivilized inhabitants are numerous, and that rights must be regarded to exist, co-extensive • with gradations. Proof of these gradations are then furnished, and the conclusion is that the aborigines of this country are all but entitled to be'regarded as civilized men. His Lordship reminds his Excellency that up to 1839, Great Britain recognized the Chiefs of New Zealand as the heads of an independent community, and that subsequently "Her Majesty had guaranteed the tribes of New Zealand the full exclusiver'and undisturbed possessjon of their lands, forests, fisheries, and other properties, which they may individually or collectively possess, so long as it is their wish to retain the same; but that her Majesty asserted an exclusive right of pre-emption over such lands as the natives may be inclined to alienate at any time, at such prices as may be agreed upon between) the contracting parties. His Lordship iberi proceeds to state it would be idie tc discuss the policy of the preceeding acts and agreements —for neither the Colonial Office oor Captain Fitzroy have the power or rigln to interfere with such national arrangements His Lordship proceeds to state to Captair Fitzroy " what you and I have to do is to administer the affairs of the colony in reference to a state of things which we find, but did no create, and to feelings and expectations foundec not upon what might have been a right theorj of colonization, but upon declarations and coiv cessions made in the name of the sovereign o England. His Lordship then calls attention to the admission of the Committee " that erroneous as they believe the policy hitherto pursued to ' have been they are sensible of the great difficulty which may now be experienced in dischanging it, they do not recommend that the Governor-should be peremptorily ordered to assert the rights of the Crown as they believe them to exist: but that he should be directed to adopt such measures as he may consider bestjialculated to meet the difficulties of the case? and to establish the title of the Crown to aff unoccupied lands as soon as this can be saftf*/ accomplished." This claim his LordsH* proceeds to show is inconsistent with the tn|ity of Waitangi, and equally at variance wsn the directions of the Marquis of Normfnby, to Captain Hobson, and that these a?/ections had been promulgated and acted upon in the Colony, at an early period after the sovereignty had been assumed. His Lordship here declines directing his Excellency forthwith to establish the title of the Crown to all unoccupied lands. Upon this fundamental point, it is stated, depends the wiole of the arrangement with the New Zealand Company, to which he then adverts, and sjates iv reference to the Report of the Committee it does not render it necessary that his Lordship should in any way modify the instructions which he had already furnished Captain Fitzroy. His Lordship declares he retains his fixed opinion that Lord John Russell's agreement with the Company, was based upon the assumption that the Company had obtained by purchase from the natives, a much larger tract of land, of which they consented to receive a portion by grant from the Crown. He then admits that the Committee's opinion asserts the claim of the Company under Mr. Pennington's award ; adding however that Committee state that iue Company in ~ selecting the land to be granted by the Crown

witnin the defined limit, cannot claim the grant of any land not vested ia the Crown." His Lordship then adverts to the steps he had taken to make the Company a grant, however of a conditional nature, His Ivordship then remarks that while the Committee assert the right of the Company as against the estate of the Crown, they distinctly negative the right to select any land not vested in the Crown ; he then proceeds to state that the question resolves itself into the enquiring whether any particular lands be so vested and that he sees no mode of settling thequestion, but by the conditional grant, which the Governor had already been instructed to make, giving the Company the benefit of 3 prina facie title, but not debarring other parties from substantiating by law a prior title. His Lordship then declares that he is not without hope that before the Report of the Committee reaches Captain Fitzroy, he will have been able to put the land titles question on a satisfactory footing. Attention is then called to the suggestion contained in the 7th resolution for raising a revenue, and at the same time checking an inordinate accumulation of waste lands on the part of individuals, by imposing a tax on land; from which, however, in the Bth and 9th resolutions, the land of the Company is to be exempt, so long as they annually sell one twenty-fifth of their land, and expend a fixed proportion of the proceeds on emigration ; and lands occupied by natives and set aside as res:rves for their benefit, are also exempt unconditionally. His lordship adopts the suggestion of the Committee upon the propriety of encouraging the natives to settle upon lands interspersed with the lands of European settlers. The Committee urge the propriety of granting titles with the least possible delay to the actual occupants of land, except under special circumstances of abuse. This Lord Stanley supposes has reference to cases of occupation by parties without legal claims. His lordship declares his desire that all land claims should be settled as speedily as possible, and adds he can only state generally that persons without legal claims should be dealt within the spirit of the Committee, in so far as it is practicable to do so legally. Attention is called to an opinion strongly expressed by the Committee,, that all private persons should be strictly prohibited from purchasing land from the natives. Lord Stanley then asserts the necessity of imposing such restrictions on the sale of land, as should preclude the possibility of the Government being outbid in its negociations with the natives, by private settlers ; but that he believed his Excellency had a plan whereby settlers might be allowed to purchase lands from the natives, having due regard to the intentions of the Waste Lands Act; though with n his lordship states he had not at the date of writing his despatch become acquainted. In concluding the land question subject, his lordship admits, with every wish to maintain' for the natives all their just rights, he cannot but think that some of these by whom they have been advised, have formed, and have encouraged the natives to form, exaggerated notions of the value of land, and have sanctioned claims for compensation which certainly appear extravagant. He then expresses his conviction that the Governor will discourage any exorbitant or unreasonable demands upon the settlers, by whose presence the present high value has been given to iand ; and he closes this subject by observing it would not be difficult to prove that to encourage such expectations in the natives, would be to act to their disadvantage. In reference to the 13th resolution of the Committee, suggesting the propriety of providing this colony with suitable naval and military protection, his lordship holds out nc hope, and adds that if it must be furnished, it cannot be till after Parliament shall havt first sanctioned an express vote for the purpose. His lordship however, adds, that hat it been his duty to instruct Captain Fitzroj to act upon the principle laid down by th« Committee, of considering all unoccupiec lands as vested in the Crown, and of confining the native tribes to such portions as they an actually enjoying and occupying, then h< would have felt that a very large increase 0 both military aid naval force was requisite ,as he would have anticipated with apprehen. sion the alienation and hostility which such : measure would have engendered between thi two races. And he rejoices to see that thi Comramittee abstain from recommending tha Captain Fitzroy should act on the principl which they lay down, and for his part he can not take on himself the responsibility of pros 1 cribing to the Governor a course which h ! considers would neither be consistent wit! justice, good faith, humanity, of policy, [At this stage, a part of a paragraph, 0 paragraphs, is or are omitted. The omissio may be a continuation of the paragraph fror which the above is extracted—or may hay referred to resolution 14, to which no refer , ence is made."]

His lordship concurs with supporting the wish expressed by the Committee in their 16th resolution, that the natives should be employed, as far as possible, in the Civil Service ; and he intimates that he knows he cannot surpass Captain Fitzroy in the eagerness of desire to promote the physical, and to advance the intellectual, character, of the native population. His lordship hesitates to express an opinion on the propriety of embodying natives as a military force, either mixed with the setllers, or as a native corps officered by Europeans, as suggested by the Committee in their 15th resolution.

Upon the last, or the 17th Resolution, of the Committee, which recommends that efforts should be made to wean the natives from their ancient customs, and to induce them to adopt those of civilised life, upon the principle recommended by Captain Grey, in his report upon the mode of introducing civilisation amongst the natives of Australia, his Lordship states, that he is fully aware df the interest that Captain Fitzroy's takes in all that relates to the welfare of the natives of New Zealand, and he admits the principle which Captain Grey has asserted—but. calls attention to the fact, that the natives of South Australia and of this colony are very different people ; and expresses his conviction that Captain Fitzroy's efforts in behalf of the native population will be unremitting.