The Sun.
London, England, 1845-05-31 00:00:00

NEW ZEALAND COMPANY.

The annual general Ceurt of the Proprietors of this Com-
pany was held on Thursday, in accordance with the provisions of
the charter, at the New Zealand House, in Broad-street-build-
ings, for the transaction of general business.

Viscount Ingestre, M.P., occupied the chair, and amongst
the Directors present were :—Mr. H. A. Aglionby, M.P. ;
Mr. J. E. Boulcott, Mr. C. Buller, M.P., Sir Isaac Lyon
Goldsmid, Bart., Mr. J. R. Gower, Mr. Mangles, M.P ,
Mr. Marjoribanke, M.P., Mr. A. Nairne, Sir J. Pirie, Bart.,
Alderman, Mr. J. A. mith, M.P., Mr. E. G. Wakefield,
Mr. G. F. Young, and Mr. A. Currie.
Mr. HARRINGTON (the Secretary) then read the 18th re-
port of the Directors, of which the following is the substance :
—lt commenced by stating that, in furtherance of the wish
expressed at their last meeting, that the Directors should pre-
pare at their discretion a petition to the House of Commons,
representing, on the part of the Company, the wrongs it bad
suffered, and praying for redress, and take steps for procuring
its presentation, numerous papers had been moved for and
printed by order of Parliament, each exhibiting more forcibly
than the one preceding the disastrous effects of the policy pur.
sued by the local Government. The petition from the Com-
pany itself was presented to the House by Mr. Somes on the
16th of April, and it was ordered to be printed immediately
afterwards.
Before the petition was presented, one of the Directors, Mr.
C. Buller, gave notice, on the 31st of March, of a motion " to
call the attention of the House to the state of the colony of
New Zealand, and the case of the New Zealand Company."
On the Ist of May a communication was made confidentially
to the Directors by Mr. Buller, upon which they adopted the
following resolution :—" That this Court, retaining a firm de-
termination never to relinquish the assertion of its just claims,
but sensible of the extreme delicacy and importance of the pre-
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appointed a secret committee, with full authority to conduct
and conclude any arrangement which they may deem most
expedient, namely, Mr. Somes, M.P., Governor : Air. Ag-
lionby, M.P. ; Mr. Buller, M.P. ; Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid,
Bart. ; Lord Ingestre, M.P. ; Mr. Lyall, and Mr, Wakefield."
The committee at once met, and, from what there transpired
they requested Mr. Buller to withdraw his motion with-
out delay, and that was accordingly done the same even-
ing. The report of the secret committee (which was
inserted at this point in the report of the Directors) states,
'that in consequence of Sir J. Graham having, in the third
week of March last, suggested to Mr. Buller that the disputes
between the Company an.l the Government had better be
settled amicably, he had been in personal communication with
that Minister on the subject ; had at his suggestion submitted
his views, in writing, to Lord Stanley ; had held an interview
at which those views had been discussed, jointly, by Lord
Stanley, Sir J. Graham, and himself ; had, as then agreed
upon, renewed his proposal in the form of a second letter to
Lord Stanley, with the view of removing the objections which
had at first presented themselves ; and had subsequently been
informed by Sir J. Graham, that Lord Stanley had no in-
superable objection to the plan, but was ready, under two con-
ditions, to entertain it as the basis of a negotiation, and to give
it a full and fair consideration. These conditions were, that

the plan should be proposed officially by the Company ; and
that, as a preliminary step, the motion upon the affairs of New
Zealand, of which Mr. Buller had given notice ir. the House
of Commons, should be withdrawn or disposed of, as the Go-
vernment could not enter into any negotiation under an appear-
ance of pressure, or of a wish to shrink from discussion.
The plan itself was an endeavour, by a change of system, to
render needless any direct decision on the precise points of pre-
vious controversy, and, by means of a large and bold policy,
to reconcile satisfactorily the interests of the natives, the colo-
nists, the missionaries, and the Company, and to put matters
on an entirely new and sound footing, without compromising
the honour of the Government. The mode in which it
proposed to effect this was by erecting a new province, com-
prising the middle and a portion of the northern island, and
conferring the government of it upon a new Company (in
which the present Company should merge), on the model
on which, down to a recent period, all the colonies of England
had been founded, and maintained without expense to the
parent state.
On the sth of the present month that plan was enclosed
in an official communication to Lord Stanley, and on the 23d
it was intimated officially to the Directors that her Alajesty's
Government, having maturely examined the project, found
that the difficulties of proceeding on the basis suggested
were insuperable. At the same time Lord Stanley added,
that if the Company should have any other proposition to
offer, founded upon a wholly different principle, for relieving
themselves, the colony, and the Government from the
embarrassment consequent upon the present state of their
affairs, her Majesty's Government were ready to give their
best attention to such proposition, and to enter upon a discus-
sion with an earnest desire to find a satisfactory solution of the
existing difficulties, by an amicable arrangement with the com-
pany. Through Mr. Buller, they understood that the propo-
sition specifically contemplated by his Lordship was that of
treating en the basis either of attempting to settle the ques-
tions at issue, leaving the powers of the Company and the
Government on their present footing, or of the Government
buying up the interests of the Company, and dissolving that
body.
The former of these suggestions appeared to them at once
to be so thoroughly indefinite as to hold out no hope of any
satisfactory result; the latter obtained their most serious coast-
deration. Upon it the Committee state—
" Had it contained any specific proposal on the part of the
Government, providing for the due fulfilment of the engage-
ments into which the Company has entered, and especially
affording a satisfactory guarantee for the welfare of the Cock's
it ish
colonists
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tantthe:ch Company has been established ; but we should not, under
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existing circumstances, have felt justified in dissuading the
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Court from the acceptance of those terms. But we found, on
the contrary, that the proposal for our dissolution was to be
submitted as emanating from ourselves; that the interests of
the colonists had not been adverted to until called to mind by
Mr. Buller ; and that the natives had not been mentioned at
all. That portion of the Parliamentary session which is most
valuable for the dispatch of business was rapidly passing away; •
much time had already been. required for the consideration of a
plan ,reviously discussed with two Cabinet Ministers, and the
questions still left open were such that the time to he consumed
in their discussion would evidently render impossible (if ulti-

mately found necessary) that appeal to Parliament which the
shareholders had sanctioned, and were entitled to demand."

The Company then deemed it their duty, continued the re-
port of the Secret Committee, not to reject the suggestions of
Lord Stanley, but to represew, as they did on the 26th inst.,
that it did not appear to them that any advantage could re-
sult to them from their originating any fresh proposals ; but
they expressed their readiness to give the most cordial consi-
deration to any plan which his Lordship might do them the
honour to suggest. They also apprised his Lot dship that time
was of such importance to them, that unless assured that they
renewed the negotiation with that fundamental requisite clearly
and satisfactorily before them, they could not consent to any
further delay of the motion which Mr. Buller had undertaken
to bring before the House of Commons. They had therefore
requested that gentleman to take the earliest opportunity of
bringing the motion forward. The general report, speaking
of the injurious effects produced by the measures of the local
Government, observes—. _ _ _

It is distressing to see colonists returning to England, day
by day, compelled to abandon the country of their adoption,
with their property lost and their hopes blasted. And it is mor-
tifying beyond measure to recollect that by the exertions of
such men, if simply unobstructed, large portions of that coun-
try might ere now have been reclaimed from virtual desolation ;
that the capital which has been sunk, and the energies which
have been wasted, through the aimless animosity of others,
might have opened fresh outlets of industry to our countrymen,
have afforded employment to thousands of our labouring poor,
and have diffused happiness and prosperity where all is now
despondency and ruin."
The CompanyT still remained in ignorance of the name of
Captain Fitzroy 's successor, of the probable time of his depar-
ture, the nature of the instructions under which he was to act,
or of the principles and policy which he was to uphold. They
were apprised only that, in announcing the fact of the recal of
the present Governor, the Under-Secretary of State took
pains to declare, in a marked manner, that it had not been oc-
casioned by any complaintw-any representation of this Com-
pany. They knew not, therefore, what to anticipate. It was
impossible entirely to exclude apprehension. But as their re-
liance had not been heretofore on the Government, so neither
by the Government could that reliance now be destroyed.
The financial statement, which extended from the 6th of
April, 1844, to the sth of April, 1845, showed total receipts,
including the balance in hand in 1844, of 60,4901. 9s. I Id.,
and total expenditure of 50,719/. 193. 7d., leaving a present
balance of 9,7701. 10s. 4d. The present assets of the Company
were calculated at 398,880/. 17s. 3d., and the liabilities at
138,0631. 6s. 9d., showing a balance of assets to meetithe paid-
up capital of 260,817/. 10s. 6d.
Since the date to which these accounts were made up the
Company has effected a further arrangement with the Unien
Bank of Australia, by means of which the whole of the bills
drawn by their principal agent, and remaining in the possession
of that institution, had been met by debentures issued to the
additional extent of 23,000/.

The report, of which the above forms but an abstract, hav-
ing been read,
The CHAIRMAN observed, that the minutes of the proceed-
ings of the Committee and other documents were in the course
of preparation, and would shortly be laid before the share-
holders. The Secret Committee had had a heavy responsibility
imposed upon them ; on the one hand, they had to take care
not to reject any mode of accommodation which might benefit
the colony, and which the Government might offer ; and, on
the other hand, not to compromise the interests of the Com-
pany, or lose the opportunity of bringing the subj-et before
Parliament. He trusted that the shareholders would give
them an expression of opinion that they had acted to the best
of their ability for the interest of the shareholders.—( Cheers. )
An able and comprehensive plan had been under the notice of
the Government for some time, and there bad been a very full
admission of their claims.
After some remarks from General BRIGGS and others the
report was adopted.
Dr. EVANS then addressed the Court. He had come to this
country in order to represent to the Colonial-office the wishes
of the settlers in reference to some of the late proceedings
of Captain Fitzroy, and also for the purpose of submitting to
Lord Stanley the copy of a memorial addressed to him
by the colonists —the original of whisk was transmittied
through the regular official channel, the governor of the
settlement—and which was adopted in consequence of
certain proclamations of Captain Fitzroy's relative to the
sale of waste lands. It appeared that upon the 26th of
March, 1844, it was notified by a proclamation that the co-
lonial Government would consent to waive its right of pre-
emption of land, on condition of the purchasers submitting
to a certain condition—namely, the payment of a registra-
tion fee to the local Government of 10s. per acre, in addition
to the small sum payable to the natives. This pro.
ceeding, however, of Captain Fitzroy's did not please the
latter, and a body of 200 of them armed with muskets and to-
mahawks, proceeded to the Government-house, and demanded
that the proclamation should be rescinded, and the regulation
abolished. The demand was successful ; the Governor yielded,
and on the 10th of October last another proclamation was is-
sued, in which it was stated that " I, the Governor, acting
on behalf of her Majesty the Queen, do hereby proclaim and
declare that from this day no fees will be demanded on consent-
ing to waive the right of pre-emption :—that the fees payable
on the issue of Crown grants will be at the,rate" of, one penny
per acre." These proceedings of the Governel.'weTe, he con-
tended, neither more nor less than attempted infractions of an
Act of the Imperial Legislature, and virtual reductions of the
value of the land, which it was provided should be sold at a
minimum price of a pound sterling, to a penny per acre. In
consequence of th s step, and others of a similar character, a
memorial to Lord Stanley had been drawn up. He then read
a long letter addressed to Lord Stanley, giving an account of
the state of the colony and Captain Fitzroy's condact, which
he strongly blamed.
After thanks were voted to Dr. Evans and the Noble Chair-
man, the Court adjourned.