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Historical Records of New Zealand

Robert Torrens to Under-Secretary Horton

Robert Torrens to Under-Secretary Horton.

June 14th, 1827.

Sir,—

Having perused with great attention the substance of the report of the Navy Board upon the plan of emigration to New South Wales which I had the honor to propose, I request permission to make a few observations upon that report.

In the plan proposed, the expence of the emigration was to be mainly defrayed by collecting and preparing the hemp which is indigenous in the Islands of New Zealand, and which, by the contracts of the Navy Board, would be worth £40 per ton when brought to this country. It was proposed, indeed, to bring home cowdie spars, but it is obvious that this proposal was added not as the most eligible mode of defraying the expense of the emigration, but for the national object of securing an important article of naval equipment independently of Russia and of the United States.

A transport of 500 tons would bring home a cargo of New Zealand flax worth £20,000, and a cargo of New Zealand spars worth no more than £8,500. If the expence of the emigration could be defrayed by one cargo of flax and one of spars it would be much more than defrayed by rejecting the spars altogether, and lading both transports with the flax. The grounds which the report of the Navy Board assigns for not recommending page 677 this plan are precisely those which, if we confine our view to the replacing of the expence of locating the emigrants in New South Wales, would go to shew that the plan would prove more decidedly beneficial than even its calculations have set forth.

From information subsequently received from a part of New Zealand not visited by the storeships of the Navy Board, I am convinced that the objections urged by the Board on account of the difficulty of procuring cowdie spars would now be found to be invalid. But it is unnecessary to examine these objections in detail, because, by rejecting the cowdie spars altogether, and lading the transports only with the native flax, the plan, considered as a scheme for defraying the expence of emigration, would be rendered more efficient.

The Commissioners state that the report of the quality of the hemp of New Zealand, so far as their experiments have gone, is satisfactory. This, I conceive, is quite sufficient to establish the propriety and expediency of giving at least a trial to the plan of emigration which I have had the honor to submit. The Phormium tenax, which the satisfactory experiments here referred to have proved to be equal to the finest Russian hemp, grows without culture, and in great profusion throughout the Islands of New Zealand. Under such circumstances, can there exist any reasonable doubt that one hundred Scotch or Irish families familiar with the process of preparing flax would, within a moderate time, load one transport of 500 tons with the New Zealand flax? Now, this single cargo, at the contract prices paid by the Navy Board, would be worth £20,000; that is, would replace the whole expence of locating one hundred families in New South Wales.

The Commissioners observe that the natives are exceedingly apprehensive of the English taking possession of their island, and that the arrival of a ship with so many people would excite unfriendly feelings, and operate to defeat the object in view. In reply to this objection it is sufficient to state the fact that when, as frequently happens, several British whalers arrive at the same time in a New Zealand port no alarm or unfriendly feeling is excited in the natives. Whatever vague apprehensions may now exist amongst them of the English taking possession of their islands, instead of being excited, would be altogether removed, as experience convinced them that no usurpation was contemplated, and that the emigrants came and departed for purposes purely commercial.

The Commissioners state that the proposition that the ships should proceed to New Zealand with the emigrants would not be desirable, inasmuch as the length of the voyage, and the long confinement of the passengers, would inevitably endanger their page 678 health. This objection proceeds from a misconception of the plan. The voyage to New Zealand is not longer than that to New South Wales; it is not intended to confine the emigrants on board during the stay of the vessels; on the contrary, the object is to employ them on shore to collect and clean a cargo of the native flax. It is not possible to conceive that this easy employment, performed under one of the most salubrious climates of the world, and while supplied abundantly with potatoes, fresh pork, and fish, could endanger the health of the emigrants. On the contrary, they would be refreshed by their short residence in New Zealand, and would arrive at their destination in better condition than if they had made a direct voyage to New South Wales.

In conclusion, I beg to say that after having given my best consideration to the report of the Navy Board, I feel a more decided conviction of the practicability and efficacy of the plan of emigration which I have had the honor to propose. Nothing can reasonably be feared, either on account of the disposition of the natives or for the health of the emigrants; and by admitting the objections of the Board with respect to the difficulty of procuring cowdie spars, and confining the labour of the emigrants to lading the transports with the native flax, the replacement of the expence of their emigrating would be rendered perfectly easy and certain.

I have, &c.,

Robert Torrens.

The Right Hon. R. Wilmot Horton, M.P., &c., &c.