—I am sorry that it would not be in my power to see you here to-morrow, or at all before Thursday, when I shall be at New Zealand House at one o'clock.

I have always thought it very desirable that the Association should have a charter; and individually I can see no reason why the cost of one should not be reckoned among preliminary expenses to be advanced by the New Zealand Company.

But I am now much disheartened by the state of the land question. From what has passed lately I doubt whether the page 26Government will give direction to the Local Government to acquire the land. It strikes me that they are more disposed to let things alone—that is, to let New Zealand be colonized irregularly by means of land-sharking and squatting, than by any systematic process. And if so, neither the Association nor the Company can go on. This question must be settled presently. If there should be a fair prospect of getting the land, I, for one, shall be most ready to adopt the plan of enabling the Association to have a Charter.