7

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in treating fairly with an uncivilized race. When a Select Committee was appointed in 1844 to inquire into the state of the Colony of New Zealand, and into the proceedings of the New Zealand Company, one of the resolutions submitted to the House of Commons was, — " That the principles in which the New Zealand Company have acted in making the reserves for the Natives, with a view to their ultimate as well as present welfare, and in making suitable provision for spiritual and educational purposes, are sound and judicious, tending to the benefit of all classes.'^ 1 ). Among other important points, Colonel Wakefield was reminded that Cook Strait formed part of the shortest route from the Australian Colonies to England, and the best harbour in that channel must inevitably become the most frequented part of colonized New Zealand. So far as the directors were informed, Port Nicholson appeared superior to any other. Colonel Wakefield was also to consider any act of aggression or affront from any of the Company's servants towards any Native of New Zealand as a sufficient reason for immediate dismissal from the Company's service, and in the most public manner. Unfortunately, events will show that the Principal Agent was forced by circumstances to act so quickly that he was unable—even had it been possible—to carry out his instructions in their entirety in regard to purchases from the Natives, and this was the cause of all the Company's troubles when the settlers began to arrive a few months later. 7. The Company at Work in England. While the Tory " was ploughing her way to the Antipodes the Company was busy in England. A strong staff was engaged; agents were appointed to sell shares and land orders in most of the large towns of Great Britain ; committees were established in Glasgow and Dublin ; the directors made full use of the press, and, in fact, financed a publication known as the New Zealand Journal( 2 ) ; and huge placards were posted up in London and the provinces informing the public of expected sailings of ships and on what terms labourers could obtain free passages. The weak point from the purchaser's point of view was that the sections offered did not then even exist on paper. All that could be acquired was an order entitling the holder to select an area of land according to a priority of choice to be determined by lot. No one knew the kind of land he was buying. The plans adopted by the Company for the foundation of their first settlement were received with remarkable favour by the British public. Dealing with the preliminary sales, the directors in their first report announced that( 3 ) — " The lands comprised in the preliminary sales were, it has been seen, offered to the public by anticipation. But so strong was the public confidence in your directors, that within a few weeks the whole of the preliminary lands had been disposed of, and the Company had realized a land revenue of £99,900, of which 75 per cent, was pledged to be appropriated to the sole purpose of emigration. The priority of choice of the purchasers was determined by a ballot held at the Company's office, in the presence of your directors, on the 29th July, 1839, the Native reserves partaking of the same benefits as other sections from the chance of lots. The following is the list of orders of choice for the selection of Native-reserve " tenths " : Nos. 7, 15, 20, 22, 28, 51, 54, 68, 73, 100, 106, 109, 123, 131, 138, 150, 151, 167, 173, 17§, 185, 192, 193, 196, 197, 202, 214, 220, 223, 230, 237, 248, 254, 271, 272, 275, 281, 306, 319, 323, 337, 358, 375, 376, 415, 423, 459, 472, 475, 482, 484, 488, 493, 496, 516, 535, 540, 541, 552, 561, 564, 566, 571, 578, 580, 585, 587, 589, 590, 620, 622, 632, 638, 645, 646, 652, 675, 680, 688, 702, 704, 708, 721, 722, 728, 730, 733, 796, 787, 789, 805, 821, 854, 894, 899, 903, 929, 974, 1010, 1012, 1013, 1016, 1020, 1030, 1031, 1036, 1042, 1066, 1070, 1086: total 110( 4 ). In consequence of the rapid disposal of the land contained in the preliminary sales, the directors issued a second prospectus on the 30th July, 1839, in which they announced their readiness to receive— " Applications for country lands, to the extent of 50,000 acres in sections of 100 acres each, at the price of £100 per section or £1 per acre, to be paid in full, in exchange for the land orders, which will entitle the holders thereof or their agents to select country sections accordingly, either at the Company's principal settlement, or at Hokianga, Kaipara, Manukau, the border of the Thames, or any other part of the present or future territories of the Company, so soon as the requisite survey thereof shall have been completed. The holder will, therefore, select at pleasure, out of all the Company's territories which shall then be surveyed as country sections, a section of 100 acres for each land order, in the order in which the land orders shall be presented to the Company's resident officer in New Zealand( 5 )." No mention was made of reserves for Natives in these proposals. " The first batch of colonists sailed on the 16th September, 1839, and it is no exaggeration to assert that it comprised a body of settlers who for intelligence and energy of mind, as well as for rank and character in society, have not been equalled since the days of the early colonization of North America( 6 )."

( x ) Extract from findings of Select Committee, House of Commons, appointed 1844. ( 2 ) The editor was Mr. H. S. Chapman, afterwards Judge of the Supreme Court, at Wellington: " Early History of New Zealand," by Dr. T. M. Hocken. ( 3 ) New Zealand Company's Ist Report, 14th May, 1840. ( 4 ) Great Britain—House of Commons Report on New Zealand, 1840, Appendix No. 12, p. 154. ( B ) " Information relative to New Zealand," Appendix VI, 2nd ed., by John Ward ; 1840. ( fi ) Ibid., p. 135.