No. 26.
Mr. Somes to Lord John Russell.

My Lord,—

The gentlemen who have been associated under the name of the New Zealand Company, for the purpose of promoting the settlement of New Zealand, have hitherto been in a position which has prevented their communicating with Her Majesty's Government. It has been, we can assure your Lordship, a subject of great and constant regret to them that they have found themselves, in the execution of a task so interesting to the British public, placed in a position of estrangement from the Government of their country. Believing that by their efforts in the cause of colonization they might have promoted the benevolent views of Government, they were also convinced that without the sanction of Government their exertions must fail in producing the results which, with its countenance, they might reasonably hope to realize.

It is therefore, with great satisfaction that the Company perceives in the recent Proclamations of Captain Hobson, whereby New Zealand is made a British colony, an opening for a satisfactory adjustment of its own position, and of its relations with Her Majesty's Government.

The scene of the Company's operations is now part of Her Majesty's dominions; its property is now under the protection of Her Majesty and of the laws of England. The Company now appears before your Lordship with the hope, that as the act of taking possession of New Zealand has removed almost all the objections which the Government has hitherto seen in the way of a recognition of the page 38 Company, it may now look to receive from the Government that co-operation which its past exertions in an object of great public utility give it some ground to expect. It has also become of great importance to the Company that we should, without delay, know in what light the Government intends to regard the rights which have been acquired by the Company, as well as by other persons who have purchased land and expended money in the settlement of New Zealand.

The Company trust that your Lordship will be of opinion that the causes which have hitherto prevented their communication with the Government are now removed, and that you will see no objection to acquainting us with the terms on which you would be disposed to sanction our corporate existence, to determine our present claims, and to regulate our future operations.

As the Company's interest and those of the settlers who have emigrated under their guidance must necessarily be very deeply affected by the course which Her Majesty's Government may have resolved to adopt with reference to the government and colonization of New Zealand, I may perhaps venture to request that your Lordship will be pleased to inform us of the general principles by which the Crown proposes to be guided in its measures for these purposes.