The Sun.
London, England, 1842-06-03 00:00:00

REPORT.

•
" It now devolves upon your Directors to follow up their
third and fourth Reports,—severally laid before you on the 3d
of May and 16th of November, 1841,—by submitting as full a
statement as this occasion will permit of the progress that has
been made during the year that has elapsed since the first of
those dates, in prosecuting the important objects for which this
Company was originally sssoeiated, and was honoured at a sub-
sequent perio I with a Royal Charter. During the whole of
the term under review, general circumstances have been ex-
tremely unfavourable (as the mercantile communities of this
city and of the Australian colonies are alike too well aware),
for the development of the views of your Directors upon a
scale proportioned to their intrinsic capacity of effecting pub-
lic benefit. But they rejoice to be able to assure you, at the
same time, that notwithstanding these obstuees, your colonial
operations have been emi,lesttly prosperous ; and that the most
sanguine of your body could scarcely have anticipated a larger
measure of success, than that which has crowned the united
energy and perseverance of the adventurers individuals who
have undertaken, under your auspices, the honourable and
useful enterprise of establishing British settlements upon the
fertile shores of New Zealand.

" 2. In their third Report, your Directors announced the
departure from England, on the 27th of April, 1841, of the
preliminary' expedition for the choice and sin vey of the site cf
Nelson. They have now to inform you, that (after some inef-
fectual riegotiation with Governor Hobson, in the hope of ob-
taining his sanction for the establishment of the settlement ie
the neighbourhood of Banks' Peninsula) the site of Nelson has
been selected at the head of Taste an's Gulf, on the northern
coast of the Middle Island. Your Directors have every reason
to feel satisfied that the choice of place has been exercised with
judgment ; and if in some respects—particularly as regards an
immense tract of plain country—the coast to the northward of
Banks' Peninsula appeared to offer a more eligible location, the
site actually selected, ehilst it possesses the recommendation of
open and level country to an extent quite commensurate with
the present wants of the settlement, has advantages of position
which do not belong to the place which seemed, in the first
instance, more inviting. it is nearepto this country and to the
Australian colonies, and is easily accessible to vessels from both
those quarters at all seasons; but its peculiar superiority consists
in its vicinity to Wellington and New Plymouth, and in the facility
with which, consequently, the colonists on their first arrival
there will draw supplies of provisions and other bulky neces-
saries from the Company's older, settlements. And even after
such wants have ceased to be felt, great benefits must result to
ail the settlements from that constant intercourse which their
relative positions will invite. It seems probable, from the
different character of the country on two sides of Cook's Straits,
that the occupation of the colonists of the northern shore will
be chiefly tillage of land, and that advantage will be taken
of the open plains in the vicinity of Nelson, for the
pasturage of sheep and cattle ; that, conseqnently,
flax and corn will be the staples of the former,
whilst the exports of the latter may, perhaps, more
nearly resemble those of Australia. Natural circumstances
will, therefore, tend to impose upon the settlers on each island,
that mutual dependence which must conduce most essentially
to their cennnon benefit.
" 3. Front Captain Wakefield's reports upon Nelson Ha-
ven and the country in its vicinity, and from other sources
of information, your Directors learn that it is an excellent
port, affording easy access and the most complete shelter for
any number of vessels, and having three fathoms at low water
ithin thirty feet of the beach.* lt is described as consist-
ing of a large basin of water, five or six miles in length,
sheltered by a boulder-bank, or spit, the whole length north
and south, and bounded on the other side by undulating hills
or downs, with a wooded valley of some hundred acres and
gradually sloping land from it, covered mostly with flax, grass,
and fern.' Capt. Wakefield states, that there is a very good
site fora town, and an easy horsecommunication
portionof i
tis fitwith ftolriepain-
terior ; where the whole number of suburban land may be taken
in a block, if desirable, and a good
tore.' On the 7th November last, that officer reported that he
had no misgivings as to agricultural success,' and that he was
' inclined to think, that the mass of country sections will be more
valuable than the town, although there will be some of the
town sections very valuable.' Ten days afterwards be wrote :
I have no reason, to change my opinion with respect to the
harbour or the district ; but, on the contrary, I feel daily more
satisfied with the choice, and convinced that it will turn out a
valuable acquisition to the Company, and to all those interested
in the settlement.' From another letter from the same officer,
your Directors learn that ' there are certainly 70,000 acres, in
a block contiguous to the site of the town, of excellent land of
all descriptions; the valleys full of tine timber, and the rising
grounds excellent pasture.' The same letter adds—' I should
not like to mislead any body, but I think that you may safely
recommend your friends to come out here : they must do well
between agriculture and stock.' There is an abundance of
water. Besides two rivers, the ' Motuaka' and the Waimea,'
—the latter of which must be of considerable size, as it is
stated that vessels of 200 tons can enter it—the country is in-
tersected by numerous streams, running from a mountain
range, stretching thirty miles into the interior. The nature
of the country will greatly facilitate the rapid progress of the
surveys; the surveying staff is very efficient, and there seems to
be good reason to expect that a very considerable proportion of
the suburban land, and perhaps some of the rural land, will be laid
out ready for selection in anticipation of the arrival of the first
colonists. There is this additional advantage in Capt. Wakefield's
words, that ' they can commence with stock at once.' The
native inhabitants of the rteghbouring country, who appear to
he few in number, are so anxious that the English should settle
amongst them, that at one place, in order to induce the party
to settle there, they had built houses ready for their reception.
"4. Since the date of the last Annual Report,
.12 vessels,
conveying hit cabin passengers and 1,942 free emigrants, have
been despatched to Nelson.t Four of these, the Lloyds, Mary
Ann, Fifeshire, and Lord Auckland, sailed in September last,
after Your Directors and the principal friends of the enterprise
had taken leave of the settlers at a public breakfast at Black-
wall, in sight of the vessels in which they were about to em-
bark ; which his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex and
other distinguished guests honoured by their presence, and
where the strongest feeling was manifested, both as to the great
public value of the objects contemplated by the Company,
and to the manner in which they were pursued. The pre-
sent season has been opened by the despatch of two vessels,
on the Ist and 25th instant respectively; a third follows
on the 15th of next month, and a fourth has been taken up to
sail frcm the Clyde on the Ist of July. It has been deter-
mined. to despatch others consecutively on the Ist of each
month, beginning with August. This does not, of course, in-
clude the emigration to Wellington and New Plymouth, which
will be noticed distinctly. Your Directors trust you will
think that, in this respect, the plans of the Company have been
vigorously carried out.
"5. \ou were informed in the Third Report, that less than
400 of the allotments into which the preliminary lands of ..1% el-
son had been divided, remained to be disposed of in this coun-
try. The following statement shows the present position of
your affairs in this particular : Nelson allotments.
Purchased by the Company lOO
Sent out for sale in the Colonies
Set aside as Native Reserves
Sold to the public in this country
Remain for sale

1,100
"6. Your Directors are not yet in possession of any in-
formation relating to the disposal of the allotments assigned
for sala in the Australian Colonies; and in this respect they
apprehend that the Company cannot expect that its interests
should be unaffected by those mercantile and monetary' calami-
ties, under which every ether party connected with those Set-
tlements is suffering so severely. But in one of his latest
despatches, Colonel Wakefield stated that it was probable seve-
ral allotments would be disposed of at Wellington, as soon as it
was known thcie that the site of Nelson had been definitively
fixed. In relation to this subject your Directors may add, that
they are endeavouring toestablish a connection with our Eastern
empire, in the persuasion that many of the officers who annu-
ally retire from the Indian services, without those very large
means which are necessary tci a comfortable settlement with a
large family in -this country, would, from their character,
habits, and resources, become most valuable and successful
colonists in New Zealand.

7. Your Directors now proceed to lay before you the
substance of the important and interesting information which
they have lately received, in regard to the state and prospect
of affairs at Wellingnut. They are happy to have it in their
power to assure you, that that settlement has advanced with
extraordinary rapidity ; that every anticipation entertained of
the excellence of the harbour, of the salubrity of the climate,
and of the fertility of the soil, has been fully realised ; and
that Colonel Wakefield's last despatches contained his assur-
ance, that the community was in a more prosperous and
healthy condition than at any previous period of its brief ex-
istence.

F.Your Directors are happy to find that the reports of your
principal agent are in entire accordance wi:h- the accounts re-
ceived from other sources. They do not attach any undue
importance to the high prices for which seetions of Town Land
may have been sold ; since that. circumstance may be rather an
evidence of unwholesome speculation, than of. the stable well-
being of the community. But it appears from a body of con-
current testimony, that the recently attained security of their
titles, and a practical conviction that the expense of clearing
the land has been greatly overrated, and would be abun-
dantly compensated by the immediate returns from its extreme
fertility, bad induced many of the settlers to betake themselves
vigorously to the cultivation of tiicir country sections.
"9. Colonel Wakefield reported in a letter, dated the 7th
November last,—' The produce of the valley of the Hutt will
this year be nearly all exported or consumed by ships visiting
us, whilst the cultivation of the town land and vicinity will
supply the wants of the residents. Numerous arrivals are
taking country land; with a certainty of doing well with it.'
This statement is corroborated by the appearance of several ad..
vertisements in the isi'erit Zealand Ga2etteand Wellington Spec-
tator, offering ready money for eligible sections of country land.
Your Directors are informed by Mr. Heaphy, late their draftsman
in the colony,§ (several of whose interesting views have
aready been published,) that when he left Wellington in No-
vember last, thirty-one individual capitalists were actually
engaged in clearing and cultivating land in the valley
of the Hutt, in the Porirua and Ghiro districts, in
the Karori valley, round the harbour, and at Lyall
Bay. It may be confidently expected, as the first fruits of this
eriegetic attention to the great source of all real and enduring
wealth, that effectual progress veill soon be made in the syste-
matic growth and prepaation for shipment to this country of
the flax, which appears destined by nature to be the staple ex-
port of the agricultural districts:of New Zealand ; and which,
it. is understood, is already supplied in considerable quantities
to the Sydney market. In connection with this branch of their
subject, your Directors have sincere pleasure in in-
forming you that two associations of working men have
been formed at Wellington, for the purpose of applying •
their combined savings to the purchase of land, to be even-
tually divided amongst the subscribers.
"9. Roads, connecting the agricultural districts with the
market and shipping, are much needed ; but this want will
doubtless be soon provided for, as a general tax on un-
cultivated laud is contemplated by tire Government, fur
the suhp'y of means to this end ; and your Directors have
offered to advance funds, on loan, in aid of this most im-
portant object. as soon as the settlers shall be quali-
i tied, by the grant of a Municipal Charter from the Crown,
to give corporate security for the same. In the mean
while, the labourers fur whom, during the stagnation
of enterprise arising from the insecurity of titles, the
Company's agent was obliged to provide, were employed
in constructing a road from Wellington along the western side
f the harbour to the valley of the Hutt, and another from the
village of Kaiwarra-warra, on the former line, to the harbour
of Porirua. l
" 10. Mr. Heaphy describes the first-mentioned road as an
ornament to the colony, It is nearly Six miles in length, with

4: 3, 1842.

a sufficient width the whole way for two carriages to pass. The
distance may appear Srnall, bat the difficulties to be contended
with were considerable. The road, which follows the beach line,
is, throughout its whole extent, built far above the influence of
the tide, and, consequently, walls of rough masonry were ne':
sary on the side nearest to the sea; while on the other side it has
had to be cut out of the hills. Several protruding rocky
points had also to be blasted ; but the stability of the road,
now once made, is a recompense for the trouble that was taken
upon it.

."
11. The Porirua road is fit, at present, only for the passage
of cattle and pack-horses ; but is of much importance as
throwing open the route to Wanganui and Taranaki. Both
these roads have been made at the exclusive expense of the
Company, whose pecuniary interests however, though not
consulted in the first. instance, will doubtless be eventually
promoted by every facility given to intercourse between the
town and the country, and by the opening out of fresh agricul-
tural tracts to the enterprise of the settlers.

" 12. It is scarcely necessary to dilate, at this day, on the
easy accost of Port Nicholson, and the security of Lambton
Harbour; but as both the one and the other have been ques-
tioned by parties seeking to disparage the settlement, it may be
satisfactory to you and to the public, to hear Mr. Heaphy's tes-
timony on the subject. •As the accessibility of Port Nichol-
son (he observes), during the heavy contrary gales which
sometimes prevail, has been questioned, I may here mention
that the number of vessels that have beat in against strong
gales, is 14, and o 3 with slight. winds. Out of this
number, 47 were strangers, and 18 entered by night. Each
time that I have entered Port Nicholson has been against con-
trary winds, and three out of the live times have been by.
night. It is fortunate to be able to add, that since the forma-
tion of the Colony, no vessel has met with any serious acci-
dent, either while in the harbour, or when entering.' Of
Larobton harbour he states The anchorage is not only per-
fectl• land-locked, but in the direction of the prevalent winds,
its distance from the beach is so small, as to prevent any swell
arising, in a gale which would affect the shipping.' Four piers
or jetties have been run out into the harbour to facilitate the
landing of cargoes, alongside of one of which, vessels of 150
tons burden can discharge.
" 13. The following table exhibits the number and tonnage
of the vessels which have entered between the date of the
Tory's arrival with the Company's first expedition, and the
7th of December last:— Number. Tonnage.

Vessels fom the Australian Colonies ....... 37
New Zealand coasters, and vessels from

1+,611

whaling grounds.. ..
Vessels from South America
Vessels sent out by the Company with
emigrants and stores 4l 13,002
Private vessels from India
Ships of war ....

Total .. .
Your Directors doubt. whether an equal number of ships and
amount of tonnage, ever entered the port of an infant settle-
ment in the first two years cf its existence.
" 14. The English population of Wellington and the neigh-
bouring villages is estimated as amounting to about 3,700 in
November last. Of these, 3,469 had emigrated from England
in the Company's vessels, and the remainder had come out in
private vessels, or had arrived from the Australian colonies.
Mr. Heaphy states, that the number of those who have left the
settlement is very trifling ; and that the births have greatly
exceeded the deaths. He calculates the number of the white
population at this moment at about 4,600. As many as 200
of the natives are said to live so as to be completely
domesticated in the families of the English, to work
for them, and to deserve to be reckoned among the civilized
inhabitants of the place. The number of houses in Wellington
alone—besides the adjacent villages—was estimated in Nov.
last at 445, of which 195 were substantially built of brick or
wood, at an aggregate cost of about 23,6001. Many of the
dwellings and warehouses are stated to be excellent, and some
of the former to possess much architectural beauty. Land
suitable for building near the beach was letting at the close of
last year, for short terms of years, for 10s. per lineal foot of
street frontage, and that on the beach for I/. per foot wat.r
frontage. Commerce and trade were flourishing, as is, indeed,
proved by the great number of vessels which have visited the
port during the short. period of its settlement, from the Austra-
lian Colonies and the whaling grounds, those of the latter
description being, of course, excellent customers for provisions.
The pecuniary difficulties of New South Wales had been the
means of furnishing Wellington with a large supply of live stock
at very low prices. Coal has been found at several points near
the settlement. When Mr. Heaphy left Wellington there
were twenty vessels in the harbour, several of which were owned
by merchants of the place ; and one vessel of sixty tons
burthen was on the stocks, and nearly ready for launching. From
another authentic source, your Directors have learned that the
receipts of the Customhouse in the first month after it was
opened, avaounted to 1,0001. Mr. Heaphy mentions that
up to the time of his quitting the settlement, only one tailure
in business had taken place, and he believes that in that in-
instance the insolvent party paid 15s. in the pound. Several
scientific men had taken up their residence at. Wellington, and
the formation of a Horticultural Society shows the existence of
a di.po-ition to pursue objects of science as well as those of
profit.. There iS no want of other indications that our country-
men, in undertaking the war upon the wilderness, have not
fo gotten, and are not inclined to neglect, the tastes and pur-
suits of civilized life.

J. The facts recited (which have been selected
from a mass of information) arc enough to show
that neither the elements of wealth and social comforts,
nor the energy and patient industry which qualify men to at-
tain them, are wanting at Wellington. The success of the great
experiment which it has keen your honourable fortune to try,
and the high merit of the colonists to carry out, on the beautiful
but till now unreclaimed and unprofitable shores of New Zea-
land, is secure: the settlement has beyond all question, taken
permanent root. Nevertheless, the quickness and extent of
the further growth of the community which you have founded,
is dependent, in a great measure, upon aid from without. The
colonists and your Directors equally feel that it would conduce
most essentially to the enhanced prosperity of the settlement,
if means could be devised by which parties possessed of
land,—to the improvement of which, in proportion to
its extent, they have already devoted considerable capital,—
might be able to obtain loans upon the security of such pro-
perty at reasonable interest, and for longer periods than con-
sist with the rules and practice of ordinary banks. Land in a
new colony, rapidly increasing in value, must afford the best
security for such advances, if made in the first instance with
a prudent regard to the fair market value of the pro-
perty charged. And where, as in such communities, profits
are extremely high, and capable, for a considerable time at
least, of being acquired without diminution of rate, from
an extended capital, it must manifestly be the interest of the
►andowner to increase his means of production. Your Direc-
tors were assured of this, and of the great anxiety of the
colonists that loans of the nature in question should be avail-
able to parties of undoubted substance and character, disposed
to engage, bona fide, in agricultural or other useful operations ;
but yet they were unwilling that the Company should at once
take upon itself the direct instrumentality of a system of ad-
vance for considerable periods upon landed security. , They
preferred that the actual management of such a system should
be in the hands of parties making it their primary business , '
and they have, therefore, endeavoured to arrange the matter,
through the instrumentality of a Company whoso general objects
are well calculated to advance the prosperity of the colonies in
which they are brought into action. A negotiation with that.
Company has been opened ; and your Directors regard the ob-
ject in view as one of so much importance, as to demand that
the means of effecting it should be anxiously and unceasingly
sought. for.
" 16. One other subject connected with Wellington requires
notice in this place. Your Directors allude to the founding of
a town at Wanganui, where the sections of the holders of the
secondary series have been selected. The landowners in that
d,strict were anxious that the most eligible site in the block
from which they had to make choice of their respective allot-
ments, should be set apart by the Company for a town ; and
they solicited that, in consideration of the inferiority of the
situation held by parties possessed of sections in Wellington,
half an acre in the new town should be granted gratuitously to
each proprietor of a country section, with a consecutive right
of choice, following the order in which they had taken tip those
allotments. But your Directors did not think it reasonable,
nor even for the interests of the parties making this request, to
accede to it specifically. They accordingly instructed your
principal agent to lay out a town of 500 acres into quarter-
acre allotments ; and then to permit the holders of the seem-
dart' sections to draw for the choice of these town lots, alter-
nately with an officer acting on behalf of the Company ; di-
recting further, that the lots so acquired for the Company
should be sold by public auction, after reasonable notice in
Wellington and the adjacent settlements. If by these means,
other parties possessed of capital are brought to settle in the
town, your Directors are persuaded that the parts of it which
shall fall to the lot of the holders of the secondary sections will
be more valuable than if they had been permitted to appro-
priate the whole of the town, or at least all the most eligible
site in it, to thernselveS. In order to commemorate their
grateful sense of the great services which a noble member of
their body has rendered to the settlements of the Company,
yot:r Directors have instructed Colonel Wakefield to give to
the town founded as above described, the name of Petre.'

‘• 17. The length to which this Report has already extended,
and the necessity of adverting, before they close it, to ether
subjects of great importance, compel sour Directors to no-
tice more briefly than they should otherwise desire to do, the
slate and prospects of New Plymouth. The site of that set-
tlement was finally chosen in March 1841, at Taranake,
tetwcen between Enui and Ewatoki, in a district which
is stated to be of eminent fertility, generally level, and
ft ee from timber, the plains being covered with the luxuriant
ferns which attain to such an enormous size in that soil and
climate. The great, indeed the only want, is that of a har-
bour, such accommodation for shipping being seldom found,
in New Zealand in the immediate vicinity of any con-
siderable quantity of level land ; and the rivers above-named
having bars, which prevent any but small coasters from entering
them. But a wind blowing on shore is stated to be unfrcquent,
and to last but a short time,. the anchorage in the road-stead
is good ; and your Directors have sent out several sets of moor-
ings for ships, in order to facilitate the landing of cargoes. The
coast holds out great inducements for adventures in whaling ;
and by the latest accounts, the settlers were about to form a
company to fit out a number of boats for what is
called the " shore fishery." But the primasy avocations
of the colonists of New Plymouth Ail' be agricultural,
Wellington being indicated by nature as the commercial
entrepot for all the northern shore of Cook's Strait. The
surveys were advancing' satisfactorily. The town allotments
were given out on the 10th November ; and it was expected
that the suburban sections would be ready fur distribution about
the middle of December. The total English population at
New Plymouth is now about 800 souls, of whom the Company
has sent out 735.

" 13. To turn from the particular affairs of the several settle-
ments to concerns of general importance, your Directors
conceive that they have great cause to congratulate you upon
the constitution of a Bishopric of the Church of
England. in New Zealand ; and on the appointment of
the Rev. George Augustus Selwyn, a gentleman distinguished
alike by zeal arid energy and by warm philanthropy, to that
office. You are aware that this measure was originally sug-
gested and strongly urged upon the Government by the Asso-
ciation of 1537, in which this Company had its origin; and
your Directors have always asserted the great importance of
furnishing the settlers with the means of religious instruction
and worship, subject to the fundamental principle, that the
Company will show no partial favour to persons of any one
religious denomination, but that the numbers, and consequent
wants of cash class, shall be the measure of the proportion of
any grant for these purposes which the Company may make.
In several interviews which your Directors had with Bishop
Selwyn, they could not fail to recognise, with extreme
satisfaction, the enlightened views, and the earnest desire
to promote the temporal as well as the spiritual welfare of the
whole community inhabiting New Zealand, without distinction
of rata, colour, or creed, by which the Bishop appeared to be
actuated in undertaking his arduous and responsible functions.
The Bishop having expressed his readiness to cover with an
equal suns any contribution which the Company or its friends
might be disposed to make, with a view to secure to those of
the inhabirants of Welling. Oil and New Plymouth, who are in
communion with the Church of England, the blessings of spi-
ritual instruction through the instrumentality of a fixed and per-
manent ministry, your Directors thought that they could not
better evince the sincerity of the Company'sdesire to promote the
religious and moral welfare, as well as the temporal advantage of
the colonists who have connected themselves with it, than by
securisi, to the settlements the benefit of double the sum
bestowed.' They gave to Wellington 2,000/., and to New
Plymouth 300/. Your Directors desire to call public attention
to a Committee which is on the point of being formed, with a
view to raise additional subscriptions to these church funds ;
and they beg you to bear in mind, that the Bishop has pledged

himself, on behalf of the great societies of the Church of Eng-
' land, that a sum equal to any amount that may be
thus raised, shall be applied to the exclusive benefit
of the settlements above-named. From the funds
subscribed by the colonists at Nelson, in the shape
of an enhanced price of land, for purposes of religious minis-
tration, your Directors have appropriated 5,0001. (which they
deem a fair proportion, in relation to the number of the mem-
bers of the Church of England engaged in that enterprise),
to the endowment of an episcopal ministry in that settlement.
This sum, also, the Bishop has undertaken to meet with an
equivalent ; so that this portion of the Nelson fund has in effect
been doubled by the mode of its application.
" 19. The Bishop having displayed in his conferences with
your Directors a great anxiety f'or the improvement of the
aborigines, and that the scheme of Native Reserves, upon which
the Company has proceeded, should be made conducive to that
end, your Directors stated to him that the Company was willing to
advance a moderate sum on loan, on the security of those re-
serves, upon condition that the lands in question, and the ad.
ministration of the money advanced for the benefit of the native
population, should be placed by the Government in the hands
of trustees, in whom, trom their high station in the colony and
their character, your Directors and the public might feel confi-
dence. By these means it appeared that a double end might
be secured, in the preservation and honest management
of the reserved lands, and in the simultaneous educa-
tion and social advancement of the aborigines. The
Bishop cordially concurred in these views, and your
Directors are now engaged in a correspondence with
the Colonial Department upon the subject. They will not fail
to use their best endeavours to ensure to the native inhabi-
tants of New Zealand, the greatest possible amount of benefit
from the lands which have been set apart for their use and en-
joyment, in the midst of the civilised community which has
settled on their shores.

" 20. Your Directors have not failed to give their atten-
tion, in the course of the year under review, to the important
subject of steam navigation between your settlements. They
beg to refer you, for an exposition of their present views uron
this matter, to their despatch to Colonel Wakefield, of the
24th instant, printed in the Appendix.
" 21. Your Directors have to report, that in conformity
with the provisions of the Charter of Incorporation, the addi-
tional capital of 200,0001. was duly subscribed, and one moiety
thereof, namely 100,0001., duly paid up, previous to the ex-
piration of twelve months from the date of the Charter.
" 22. Your Directors lay before you the usual statements of
receipts and payments, and of assets and liabilities. It could
not reasonably be expected that the affairs of this Company
should enjoy an exclusive exemption from the operation of those
depressing causes which have affected, during the last twelve-
months, every interest connected with the shipping, the com-
merce, the manufactures, and the general domestic industry of
this country. The universal stagnation of enterprise, accompa-
nied byau unparalleled scarcity of money, has, of course, limited
your sales of land in this country, whilst the still more cala.
initous state of things throughout the Australian colonies has
interfered with those local sales, from which, under more
favourable circumstances, your Directors should have looked
with confidence for a considerable accession to the income of
the Company. On the other hand, they have laid before you
ample proof, in the course of this report, that the Colonies which
have been founded through your instrumentality are eminently
flourishing ; and that the prospects of the settlers are as bright
as they, or their hest friends in this country, could expect or
desire.

" 23. In conclusion, your Directors are happy to be able to
report that although some important questions, having reference
both to the policy of the Home Government, and to the con-
duct of the local Governor, remain to be finally adjusted, and
it may be necessary to address you specially upon these ques-
tions on a future occasion, yet your Directors are willing to
believe that her Majesty's Government is actuated by friendly
sentiments towards the Company, which is recognised as
having made great and successful exertions in promoting the
settlement of New Zealand. And it is with great gratification
that they can arid, that they have been recently assured by the
Noble Lord at the head of the Colonial Department, that he
has enjoined the Governor of New Zealand to give, on all
occasions, the most favourable consideration to representations
which the Company's agent may make to him on public
matters ; and in the discharge of his legis:ative and adminis-
trative functions, to afford the amplest protection, encourage.!
ment, and countenance to those who may settle upon the land
of the Company.
" 24. In the course of the year, Edward Gibbon Wakefield,
Esq., Sir George Sinclair, Bart., Russell Ellice, Esq., and
Witham Taylor Copeland, Esq. and Ald., M.P., have retired
from the Direction of your affairs. Their places have been
respectively filled by the following gentlemen, viz :—Charles
Buller' Esq., M.P., William -King, Esq., Sir Ralph Howard,
Bart., M.P., and Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, Bart.
" 25. The following Directors retire by rotation at the present
Meeting, viz :—Viscount Ingestre, M.P., Sir W. Molesworth,
Ba,t.; A. Willis, Esq. ; John Ellerker Bouleott, Esq. ; John
William Buckle, Esq. ; and Henry Aglionby Aglionby, Esq.,
M.P.; and being eligible, your Directors respectfully recom-
mend them for re-election.
" 26. Your Directors also recommend that the Auditors of
the Company, vii., Jeremiah Pilcher, Esq., Thomas Frederick
Everingham, Esq., and William Curling, Esq., should be re-
elected for the year ensuing.
" New Zealand House, 31st May, 1842."

The following abstract shows the number of ships, with their
tonnage, and the number of passengers despatched by the New
Zealand Company, up to the 31st of May, 1842.

Cabin
9 Passengers, Steerage Total
C Ist and ...d Panengers Passengers.
~.' Ton- class.
ci: nage.
Male. Fe" Male .l Fe" Male Fe* !Totitl
male. 't male • malc.i
--- —...— I—.
Wellington 29 14,023 321 145 2,057 1;179 2,37 t, 1,124' 4,302
Nelson l3 5,r;r4; 190 41 994 , 94:•• 1,114 969 .'.,10.S
N.ylymouth 5 1,4136! 57 li .75 : 3i 5 43i •SZ 755
.—.—.... i —.—. —_,i— —. .......... ---,..
Totals 47 21,5'23; 493 i 204 !5,42 iI, 3,1.32 3,924,3,216; 1,16

The CHAIRMAN read the cash account.
- -

Mr. ALEXANDER CURRIE said he believed all the
Proprietofs would agree with him in approving of the.
Report which had been read of the affairs of the Company.
It appeared to him from that Report, that notwithstand-
ing the unparalleled difficulties of the past year, the sale of
lands had continued to progress.—(Hear, hear.) In a
speech made by the Colonial Minister not long since, in
the House of Commons, it was stated that the land sales
in New South Wales and in South Australia had been
entirely suspended. He mentioned that fact to show
that they were greatly indebted to the management of
the Directors during the past year.—(Hear, hear.) He
must state,. however, his belief that still more might have
been done by making the sections of land less in
the Nelson settlement. There were at present
eleven hundred allotments, at SOU, in that settle-
ment. lie thought the sectionl might with advantage
be diminished, and the land sold in smaller pro-
portions. Two hundred acres would require a capital of
four or five thousand pounds to cultivate it in a proper
manner, and that was more than men could be expected
to advance. Having thrown out this suggestion he
begged to move—" That the Report now read be adopted.
That Viscount Ingestrie, M.P., Sir William Molesworth,
Bart., John Ellerker Boulcott, Esq., John William
Buckle, Esq., Arthur Willis, Esq., and Henry Aglionby
Aglionby, Esq., M.P., be re-elected Directors ; and that
Jeremiah Filcher, Esq., Thomas Frederick Everingham,
.Esq., and William Curling, Esq., be re-elected Auditors
for the ensuing year."
Mr. DORSET having seconded the resolution, it was
put from the chair and carried unanimously.
Mr. J. HEATH, after a speech in which he compli-
mented the Directors for the energy, talent, and perse-
verance which they had displayed in promoting the
objects of the Company, proposed that a certain sum, not
less than 1,5001. a-year, should in future be applied to
remunerate the Directors for their services on behalf of
the Company.

Mr. CHRISTOPHER Dowsox seconded the resolution,
which was carried unanimously.
, The CHAIRMAN said he wished to state, in.referenee
to what had fallen from Mr. Currie, that the high price
of the sales of lands in Nelson was to be brought under
the consideration of the Board in a few weeks, and if
any satisfactory alteration could be proposed, the Direc-
tors would have great pleasure in acceding to the
proposal.
Mr. G. F. YOUNG said, it ought to be stated that the
plan of the Nelson settlement was not originally drawn
out by the New Zealand Company, but by other parties,
whose plan had been adopted by the Company.—(Hear.)
The plan proposed involved the making the sections.
of their present size, as well as the price of 30s. per acre.
The principle then adopted was, that all beyond 1/.
• per acre, should constitute a fund, to be vested in the
1 Directors, for the purpose of being expended on certain
objects, which were thought to be essential to the pro-
sperity. of the colony. Amongst other objects contemplated
were, the providing the means of spiritual instruction, the
establishment of a college, and the encouragement
.of steam
navigation. These were objects for which specific sums
were to be set aside. The price of land in that settlement,
therefore. could not be regarded as a simple investment, as
in the case of Wellington and New Plymouth. The
Directors had already considered whether it would be
possible to lessen the. sections without doing injustice
to the regular settlers, and they had declined to inter-
fere. The subject, however,' was to be again brought
under 'consideration, 'and he trusted that on arrange-
ment would be made which would satify all parties.
A vote of thanks was then given to the Chairman,
and the meeting separated.

The depth of water over the flats outside of Nelson Ha-
ven is 20 feet at hie. water at spring tides, and 17 feet at
high water at neap tides.
t Resides the vessels enumerated in the text, the Mandarin
and other ships, not chartered by the Company, have sailed for
Nelson in the course of the past year, with numerous cabin
passengers.
Some discouragement has resulted to the agricultural
Interest of the settlement from an incautious state-
ment in a letter written by one of the principal colo-
nists, and published in the newspapers in this country,
that the forest land could not be cleared at a less
cost than 401. per acre. Experience has proved that the
actual cost is between 101. and 12/. per acre; and it is not
doubted, that the work will eventually be done much cheaper.
As a proof of what may be effected by energy and industry,
, Mr. Heaphy mentions the case of two young Scotehmen own-
ing a section in the Karori valley, having cleared about twenty
acres of heavily timbered land and built themselves a house, in
the space of six months, with no assistance hut that of a native
em loved to bring their provisions from the town.
The passages hereafter quoted from Mr. Eleaphv, have
been taken from a pamphlet now in preparation for the press
by that gentleman, and communicated by him to the Directors.
The greatest number of labourers employed by the Com-
party at any time in the formation of roads, was about 60 ; a
very small proportion in an European population alone of
3,700 souls.

Ilia Operative Conservative Association, which
once made such a bustle jn Dudley, has gone out like an evil
disposed candle,'leaving a bad smell and an unsavory reputation
behind it. The room where its meetings were formerly held
is now occupied by the Dudley Waterworks Company, and the
sign, the tables, the benches, and the other stage properties of
the Association, have been taken possession of by Nlr. Cox, the
landlord, for rent due to him Worcestershire Advertiser.

At the Middle Temple Hall, a turtle, venison, and
champagne dinner is announced to be given on Monday next,
the 6th June, to celebrate the happy escape of her Majesty
from assassination.

A person whose wife carries on the.business of a
stay-maker in the quartier des Quinze-Vingts, has just been
arrested on a charge of inhuman treatment to a girl 001 l
twelve years of age. who was an apprentice to his wife. t
has been ascertained by the p9lice that this man was in the
freqnent habit of stripping his victim and fogging ber with a
kind of knout, or with a whip, having an iron ho9k at the end
of it. The poor girl, whose body was one sure, has become
almost an idiot from the cruel treatment which she has exile*
rienctd.


IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS, June 2.
Their Lordships sat at Five o'Clock.
INCOME-TAX BILL.

Mr. GREENE brought up from the Commons the
Income-tax Bill. The Bill was read a first time. and
was ordered to be printed.
At the suggestion of the LORD CHANCELLOR, Lord
CAMPBELL postponed his motion relative to the pro-
ceedings against a witness in a Scottish Court of
Justice.