D.—B.

Enclosure in No. 3. Resolution of the Waste Lands Board, Auckland. Resolved, That the blocks of land in the Upper Thames District known as Te Aroha, North-Western Te Aroha, Autonga, South-Eastern Te Aroha, and Te Ourongomaero, and containing 45,700 acres, more or less, be sold to John Broomhall, Esq., for the purpose of establishing a special settlement, as described in his letter dated Auckland, 23rd November, 1876, at 10s. per acre, the amount (£22,850) to be paid by Mr. Broomhall to the Receiver of Land Revenue in Auckland, on or before the Ist day of February, 1877. That the conditions of this sale are, further, that Mr. Broomhall shall bring 610 adult immigrants of eighteen years of age or upwards (two persons under eighteen years of age to reckon as one adult immigrant) from the United Kingdom, subject to the approval of the AgentGeneral of New Zealand, or his Agent at port of embarkation, and to place all the said immigrants on the land above described, or on such part thereof as may be most convenient; and that Mr. Broomhall shall erect not less than 150 houses of weatherboards or other more permanent materials, each house to contain not less than three rooms, inclusive of any buildings erected to be used as churches, chapels, schools, mechanics' institutes, or stores, which shall each count as one house; that sufficient land be set apart to provide a common-school education for the population introduced; that tho one-fifth of such total area of 45,700 acres shall be put under cultivation. That all these conditions shall be fulfilled on or before the Ist day of January, 1883 ; that, as a guarantee for the due fulfilment of these conditions, Mr. Broomhall shall deposit with the Colonial Treasurer, in New Zealand, the sum of £11,425 in cash, being at the rate of ss. per acre, not bearing interest; but that, on the due fulfilment of the aforesaid conditions, the said sum of £11,425 shall be refunded to the said Mr. Broomhall or his assigns, at any period before the Ist January, 1883, when all the conditions shall have been fulfilled. If all the conditions be not fulfilled before the Ist January, 1883, the said sum of £11,425 shall be absolutely forfeited, and be treated as a portion of the land revenue of the Colony of New Zealand. That when the said purchase-money of £22,850 shall have been paid, and the said deposit of £11,425 shall have been made, a Crown grant, reserving all precious metals, and containing the usual covenants to lay out roads, shall be delivered to the said John Broomhall.

No. 4 Mr. Broomhall to the Hon. Major Atkinson. Sir, — Wellington, 2nd January, 1877. I beg to state, for the information of His Excellency the Governor, that I have applied to the Auckland Waste Lands Board for the purchase of 45,700 acres of land, part of the 100,000 acres of waste lands of the Crown, on which to form a special settlement, such as is provided for in the Waste Lands Act of the last session of Parliament. I received the resolution of the Board, on my application, in a letter dated the 13th December, but which, owing to my travelling in the interior of the North Island, did not reach me until the night of Friday, the 29th December. I accept the resolution, except as to some minor details of explanation, definition, and modification ; and, as the resolution is subject to the approval of His Excellency, I beg to submit them in the hope, should he think them reasonable, that he will submit them to the Board, believing they are only calculated to insure a successful formation and working of the settlement. 1. The obligation to provide " sufficient land " for a common-school education is an undefined liability. I readily consent to provide any quantity of land on which to erect school buildings, which I believe is all that is intended; but the words cover an endowment, and I shall be glad to know whether or not an endowment is contemplated. If such be the intention, I submit there is no reason why the education of the children of the inhabitants of the block should be placed on any other basis than that on which education is provided elsewhere under the existing law of the colony. It is evident that it might involve the appropriation of a very considerable portion of the lands to be purchased by me from the Government, and I am not aware that such provision has been required in the case of other special settlements, either in that of Colonel Feilding or that of Mr. Vesey Stewart. 2. The obligation to erect 150 houses, no cost being specified, is vague ; and, as it is my intention to erect houses of a superior style, I propose to define the minimum cost at £60 each. 3. As I am advised the block contains 12,000 acres of swamp, I beg to submit that the term " cultivation " be construed to include drainage of swamp land, and that one acre of drained swamp be estimated as equal to two acres of cultivated land. 4. I am advised that all emigrants on board ship are charged as adults if above twelve years of age, and that this rule obtains in Colonel Feilding's contract with the Government, in which children under one year are not counted, but that any two children under twelve years of age are counted as one adult; and I beg to submit that the same rule obtain in my contract with respect to the age of an adult. 5. That the deposit of £11,425 appearing an anticipatory penalty (no interest being allowed for it), I beg to propose that, in lieu of depositing cash, I deposit with the Agent-General, in London, £11,425 in New Zealand 4_- per cent, bonds, minus the coupons up to the Ist January, 1883, but that all coupons from the same date be continued on the bonds. 6. That the purchase-money of £22,850 be paid to the Agent-General in London, on or before the 30th June, 1877, in lieu of the Eeceiver of Land Revenue in Aucklaud, on or before the Ist February, 1877, as it is impossible for me to make arrangements for the payment in the limited period specified ; and I propose to return Home for this purpose by mail of 14th January. 7. That, on receipt by the Agent-General in London of £22,850 in cash, and £11,425 in New Zealand 4| per cent. Bonds, he telegraph the Government of the receipt when the Crown grant shall be prepared and delivered to the Manager of the Bank of New Zealand in Auckland, on my account.

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