AGAINST THE COLONY.

G.—No. 40a,

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No. 8. The Hon. W. Gisbohne to His Honor W. Fitzherbert. SJE > — Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 2nd September, 1871. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 21st ultimo, submitting an arrangement by which these road labourers near to the Manawatu Gorge can be located on land in the neighbourhood; and in thanking you for your suggestions, I beg to inform you that Mr. Stewart has been instructed to carry out the necessary arrangements. I have, &c, His Honor the Superintendent, Wellington. W. Gisborne.

No. 9. The Hon. W. Gisborne to His Honor W. Fitzherbert. IE > — Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 13th September, 1871. As your Honor is already aware, certain Scandinavians and others have been located in the neighbourhood of Palmerston, the title to whose allotments is not provided for in the Land Regulations at present in force in the Province of Wellington. In the Bill now before Parliament for selling land on deferred payments, and for setting apart land for special settlement in that Province, provision is made by which your Honor, with the advice of your Executive Council, is empowered to proclaim blocks for settlement on such terms as may be sanctioned by the Governor in Council. I shall be obliged if your Honor will inform me whether, in the event of the Bill becoming law, you will submit for His Excellency's sanction a Proclamation setting apart the lands on which the Scandinavians and others have been located on the terms arranged with them, those terms being described in the following extracts from Mr. Halcombe's letters of the 24th April and 3rd July addressed to the Honorable the Minister for Public Works, and printed in Parliamentary Paper D. No. 3a., 1871:—"Each Norwegian family is located on forty acres of land, which they are to hold on the following terms :—Twenty acres are reserved for two years certain, and they have a right to purchase it any time within that period; but if they purchase within twelve months, the other twenty acres are reserved for two years longer, in order to give them the opportunity of acquiring it at the upset price of £1 per acre. " Next day they (Swedes and Danes) moved on to the land which had been selected for their occupation, and on which they are located on the same terms as the Norwegian immigrants, with this exception, that twenty acres only have been allotted to each single man." With regard to the few road labourers who desire to settle in that neighbourhood, Mr. Stewart has been instructed, in terms of arrangement made with your Honor, to locate them on precisely similar terms to those afforded to the Scandinavians. I have, &c, His Honor the Superintendent, Wellington. W. Gisborne.

No. 10. His Honor W. Fitzherbert to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary. Sik > Superintendent's Office, Wellington, 15th September, 1871. In reply to your letter of the 13th instant, relative to certain provisions in the Bill now before Parliament for selling land on deferred payments, I desire to state as follows, viz.:—That in the event of this Bill becoming law, I shall be prepared to submit for His Excellency's sanction a Proclamation setting apart the lands on which the Scandinavians and others have been located on the terms arranged with them, those terms being described in certain extracts from Mr. Halcombe's letters of the 24th April and 3rd July, addressed to the Hon. the Minister for Public Works, and printed in Parliamentary paper, D. No. 3, 1871. I have, &c, William Fitzherbert, Ihe Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. Superintendent.

No. 11. The Hon. W. Gisborne to His Honor W. Fitzherbert. SlB) — Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 20th September, 1871. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Honor's letter of the 15th instant, relative to the land to be set apart for the special settlement of the Scandinavians and others at Palmerston, Manawatu, and to thank you for the same. I have, &c, His Honor the Superintendent, Wellington. W. Gisborne.

No. 12. The Hon. W. Gisbobne to His Honor W. Fitzherbert. Sie > — , Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 27th February, 1872. By the ship " England," expected to arrive during the next fortnight, there are fifteen families of Scandinavians and a few single men, whom it is proposed to locate in the Manawatu on terms somewhat similar to those which your Honor has undertaken to allow to the immigrants already located there, who are unable to purchase their land within the time originally arranged.