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in the United Kingdom by subscription to a public marketable stock, to be issued on the security of the lands to be settled on, and guaranteed as to the interest by the co-operation of the Imperial and Colonial Governments, the latter undertaking and guaranteeing the administration of the capital and the collection of the interest from the settlers, and the Imperial Government lending its guarantee by way of indorsement of the colonial security, to enable the money to be raised at the lowest possible cost. I enclose for your information a reprint from the European Mail of the 19th August, which contains a fuller statement of Mr. Kimber's proposed scheme. It should be distinctly understood that, in transmitting these proposals for examination by your Government, Her Majesty's Government does not at present pronounce any opinion either upon the principle of the system which is placed before them, nor upon any of the details as now formulated. I have the honour to request that you will favour me with the views of your Government upon this suggestion, and with any observations they may have to offer upon it. I shall be glad to receive your reply before the commencement of the next session of Parliament. I have, &c, H. T. HOLLAND. The Officer Administering the Government of New Zealand.
Enclosure. , .. [Reprinted from the European Mail, 19tli August, 1887.] Colonisation. The Government, as will be seen in another column, by the answer of the First Lord of the Treasury to a question put by Mr. Kimber, M.P., in the House of Commons, following on previous answers to questions by him, have at length recognised in a practical manner the importance of colonisation to the interest of both the Mother-country and the colonies, and have promised that a communication shall now be addressed officially by the Colonial Office to the several colonies, to ascertain distinctly their views upon a definite plan of co-operation between the Imperial and Colonial Governments, which will adequately grapple with the difficulty which presents itself, and achieve the enormous advantages to the welfare and the trade of both which must result. The question put by Mr. Kimber enunciated in a concise manner the outline of a very definite plan. He asked that a proposal should be submitted by the Government through the Colonial Office to the several colonies for their consideration, "based on the principle of the funds being provided by the public here, by subscription to a public marketable stock, to be issued upon the security of the lands settled on, and. guaranteed as to the interest by the co-operation of the Imperial and Colonial Governments, the latter undertaking and guaranteeing the administration of the capital and the collection of the interest from the settlers, and the Imperial Government lending its guarantee by way of indorsement of the colonial security, to enable the money to be raised at the lowest possible cost." Mr. Kimber further asked, not only that the views of the several colonies should be invited upon this plan or principle, but that in the alternative their suggestions of any other plan should be asked. The Government have twice previously admitted the very great importance of colonisation, and have now gone further, and admitted that there is no reason why this plan should not be considered, and have pledged themselves to take the necessary steps. As the terms of the proposition as stated in the question and answer were necessarily very condensed, and contain only (though quite clearly) the principle suggested, it may be well to refer to the details of the plan as previously promulgated by Mr. Kimber himself in the form of propositions, or theses, before the voluntary Committee of the Houses of Peers and Commons who associated themselves together on the subject. These propositions were designed to procure, in the first instance, some agreement as to the principles upon which colonisation should proceed, before defining the details of the exact plan to be adopted, which would naturally differ with different colonies, although the principles would probably be the same. These are directed mainly to settle the respective parts which each of the parties interested —namely, the Mother-country, the colonies, the settlers, and the capitalists —ought to take in this great work, which, it must be obvious to all thinking people, would give new life, power, and energy, new commerce, work and wages, and profit to our people. Depression (which means only stagnation and stupidity, want of intelligence on the part of all of us to see what the world is really doing) will have passed away, and in fulfilling the primary duties imposed on us by the Creator—to " be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth " —we shall see that our boasted greatness is mere littleness itself compared with the more extended and more peaceful glory that may yet be in store for us. Surely the nation has not yet finished its work. 1. The first of these propositions is that " Colonisation has become the duty as well as a necessity for the nation," and is taken as a postulate granted and requiring no proof in this place. The congestion of the population at Home already, its now increasing increase of a thousand a day, the want of population in the colonies, the utter inadequacy of all existing means and agencies of emigration to make any sensible impression on these necessities, should be enough to prove this.
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