THE HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMITTEE.

ON the evening of the 26th April 1644—the day when the proposal made by the Directors in their Twelfth Report to appeal to the Legislature was approved of by the shareholders of the New Zealand Company—Mr. Aglionby moved in the House of Commons for a Committee "to inquire into the state of the Colony of New Zealand, and into theproceedings of the New Zealand Company ; and to report their opinion thereupon to the House." This motion passed without opposition.

I. COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE.—The Committee was composed of fifteen Members : Lord Francis Egerton, Mr. George William Hope, Mr. Cardwell, Mr. Robert Clive, Sir Robert Harry Inglis, Mr. Charteris, Sir John Hanmer, Mr. Monckton Milnes, Viscount Jocelyn, Mr. Wilson Patten, Mr. Roebuck, Viscount Howick, Mr. Hawes, Viscount Ebriugton, and Mr. Aglionby. The only Member of Committee connected with the New Zealand Company was the last. Mr. Hope, the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, represented the Colonial Office; along with Mr. Cardwell, substituted at his request for Mr. Lascelles, an independent Ministerialist. The first ten on the list are habitual supporters of the present Ministry. Mr. Roebuck had, not long before the appointment of the Committee, expressed in the House of Commons opinions unavourable to all colonizing companies. Lord. Howick had taken a part in the negotiations between the New Zealand Association and Ministers in 1838, on which the Association, thinking they had reason to comlain, had often animadverted severely.

The Committee held their first sitting on the 21st of May, their last on the 23d of July. During that time' they examined thirteen witnesses: the notes of Evidence appended to their Report occupy 252' pages. They had also received a mass of documents, which form a closely-printed Appendix of 746 pages. This was not all : from references in the Report—and indeed from the incomplete and supplementary character of some classes of the documents laid before the Committee—it appears that the whole of the Parliamentary Papers relative to New Zealand since 1838 were regarded as forming part of the evidence.

IL THE WITNESSES.—The gentlemen orally examined were-1. Lieutenant M'Donnell, the most extensive cultivator on the Hokianga ; a representative of the old settlers, before the prospect of New Zealand being recognized as a British colony attracted the flood of land-sharks which afterwards set in from Sydney. 2. Mr. Walter Brodie, an intelligent and enterprising settler at the Bay of Islands a representative of the same class as Lieutenant M'Donnell. 3. Dir. Frederick Alonzo Carrington, a gentleman who went to New Zealand as surveyor to the New Plymouth Company, and, when it merged into the New Zealand, Company, passed into the service of the latter body ; was discharged when the Company found it necessary to narrow its operations ; and thinks he has reason to complain of the treatment he experienced at the hands of the Company. 4. Mr. George Butler Earp, member of a Liverpool commercial house, which has establishments at Wellington and Valparaiso ; who has resided in the colony, was at one time a Member of Governor Hobson's Council, and is manager of' a line of' packets to New Zealand, 5. Mr. James Contts Crawford, son-in-law of Admiral Dandas ; a claimant of laud in Cook's Straits ; who resided some time in New Zealand, and returned thither about a month

ago. 6. Mr. Charles Henry Kettle, who went to New Zealand as clerk to a commercial house ; was extensively employed as a surveyor by the New Zealand Company ; was discharged at the same time as Mr. Carrington, on account of the reduction of the Company's establishment ; and was attached to the New Edinburgh colony, until that enterprise was suspended. 7. Mr. Francis Alexander Molesworth, brother of Sir William Molesworth ; an extensive proprietor, and the most enterprising and successful cultivator at Wellington. 8. Captain John Robertson, master of a merchant-vessel, who has made many voyages to New Zealand. 9. Captain John Henry Wilson, on the East India Company's retired list ; who visited New Zealand intending to settle, but found the country did not suit him. 10. Mr. Theophilus Reale, a settler at Auckland. 11. Lieutenant James Sedgwick Lean, R.N., Superintendent of Emigration under the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners. 12 and 13. Mr. Theophilus Child and Lieutenant Wood, gentlemen who have purchased land from the Company, and, after going out to New Zealand, have returned dissatisfied with the Company.

Mr. Gordon Gairdner, of the Colonial Office, also appeared before the Committee, but only to produce papers. 1. The evidence of Lieutenant M.Dcmnell relates exclusively to the character of the harbours of Hokianga and Kaipara, and the surrounding country, and the condition of the settlers before and since the establishment of a British government in New Zealand. He gave a striking account of the delay and expense of the Court of Land-Claims, and the unjust and exorbitant claims suggested to the Natives by its proceedings. Lieutenant M`Donnell summed up his opinion of the past and present state of the district with which he is connected, in tbe emphatic words—" Since it became annexed to the British Crown, it certainly has retrograded most miserably."

• 2. Mr. Brodie purchased land at the Bay o' Islands in 1839; but his range of personal observation in New Zealand has been more extensive than that of Lieutenant M'Donnell : he is well acquainted both with Auckland and Wellington. A great deal of information respecting the natural capabilities of the North Island was elicited from him. Mr. Brodie's object in purchasing land was to obtain possession of a coppermine on it. Mr. Brodie is of opinion that in the Northern Island not one acre in a thousand is cultivated. He attributes the wars and bloodshed in the North to the injudicious course pursued by the Protector of Aborigines. He stated, that even in the cases of land-claims decided by the Commissioners no grants have yet been issued ; and that consequently no one lays out capital on land. He attributed the misgovernment of the colony to Mr. Shortland; detailed the landjobbing practices of that gentleman ; and explained the transaction in which Mr. Clendon disposed of the site of Russell to Governor Hobsou. Mr. Brodie brought forward some strong examples of the levity with which the Natives violate their engagements when they believe they can benefit themselves by so doing, and of the partiality towards the Natives evinced by the Commissioners. The Natives, he says, were on excellent terms with the settlers before Governor Hobson's arrival ; but their relations to them have since been quite altered. The Crown could have obtained the cession of the waste lands for a trifle at first ; but the policy adopted by the Local Government appears to Mr. Brodie to have rendered that impracticable now.

3. From Mr. Carrington a great deal of information was obtained relative to the natural capabilities of the New Plymouth district, the efforts of the settlers, and the state of affairs in that settlement. He too believes that Government could at one time have settled the land-claims at a trifling expense : now, from the protraction of the dispute, he thinks the prices required would be enormous. Mr. Carrington approves of the plan of giving an interim title to the Company—the plan which Lord Stanley promised should be adopted, but which Governor Fitzroy has refused to act upon. Great part of Mr. Carrington's evidence was taken up with crimioations of the Company ; but the effect of his statements on this head was materially modified and shaken by cross-examination. He admitted that be "felt sore" on account of his dismissal ; and that, after applying to the Directors in vain, he went and gave information to the Land and Emigration Commissioners—" not with any ill-feeling or wish to injure the Company, it was simply with the purpose of getting an appointment." 4. The examination of Mr. George Ruder Earp lasted three days. The first was devoted almost exclusively to an exposition of the agricultural and mineral resources of New Zealand, and the commercial advantages of its position. Mr. Earp's statements on these topics are characterized at once by largeness of comprehension and minuteness of detail ; they are obviously the evidence of a man who has enjoyed a liberal education, had some practical experience of trade, and turned his opportunities of observation in New Zealand to the best account. The second day's examination bore on the temper of the Natives, the state and prospects of the settlers, and the policy of the Local Government. To these points Mr. Earp spoke as one who bad shared in the early struggles of the Port Nicholson settlers; and had learned from his position at Auckland as a Member of the Governor's Council to look at the affairs of the colony from a commanding point of view, and to appreciate the policy of Government from opportunities of personal observation. Mr. Earp concurs with Messrs. M•Donnell and Brodie as to the effect produced by the expense and delays of the Court of Claims in paralyzing the efforts of the settlers and awaking a hostile and exacting disposition towards them among the Natives ; as to the large share which the injudicious policy of the Protector of Aborigines has had in stirring up Native wars; and as to the deep implication of the leading officers of Government in land-jobbing. More information was obtained from Mr. Earp than from any other witness respecting the disputes of the Wellington settlers with Ranperaha, Rangihaeata, and other chiefs, and the agency of Mr. Clarke in originating those disputes.

5. Mr. Crawford purchased land from the Natives, and some from a purchaser from the Company. His claim of purchase from the Natives has been a year before the Commissioner; • it is unopposed, but no decision has yet been pronounced on it. Mr. Crawford gave the Committee such information respecting the numbers of the Natives, their views of hind-rights and transfers of land, and the titles acquired from Natives previous to the establishment of British authority. He was at Port Nicholson when the first body of settlers arrived, and also when Mr. Shortland arrived. Before the latter arrived, the most perfect harmony

and good feeling existed between the two races : the Natives were principally employed in building houses for the Whites, for remuneration. But " they ran about the beach when Lieutenant Shortland came down, crying out that the Queen was coming to drive the Company's White men into the hills." " There was a feeling of hostility toward, the settlers on the part of Mr. Shortland, and followed up by the other subordinates who were with him : this taught the Natives to treat the settlers with contempt." "The Natives of New Zealand are, like all semi-barbarians, an exceedingly greedy race; and if they are persuaded they can get more payment for anything they will try to get it. They soon got persuaded in this instance they could get more payment ; and in several instances when a White man tried to settle upon the land, they insisted upon a fresh payment."

6. Mr. Kettle has travelled over much of the North Island ; has learned the language, and has had much intercourse with the Natives. There is about all his descriptions of the country and its Aboriginal inhabitants' the freshness of impressions derived from recent intercourse. His information respecting the extensive agricultural plains in the upper Manuwatu, the Ruamahanga, and the Wairarapa, in the Wellington dia. trict, is entirely new, and very valuable. Mr. Kettle described the aggressions of Rangihaeata and Rauperaha, and of Natives instigated by them, on the settlers ; the opening of the Court of Land-Claims, and its immediate effect in inducing the Natives to advance claims unheard of before.

7. The most valuable part of the evidence of Mr. Molesworth is his account of the capabilities of the soil, and his own successful efforts to bring it into cultivation. At the close of his first day's examination, (20th June,) the following resolution was moved by Mr. Roebuck, and adopted nem. con.—" That the Committee does not consider it necessary to receive any further evidence as to the natural resources of the islands of New Zealand."

8. Mr. Robertson said, "Port Nicholson, I think, from its central position in the islands, has a decided superiority over most of the harbours in New Zealand : independent of its position, a better could not be found." The voyage from Port Nicholson to Auckland is only a few hours shorter than from Port Nicholson to the Bay of Islands. The average voyage from Port Nicholson to Auckland is twelve days. The communication between Port Nicholson and all harbours in Cook's Straits may be made in a few days or hours. Wellington is more convenient than any harbour in New Zealand for being called at by vessels from Sydney to England. The Straits are a little out of the way of vessels from Sydney to England; but vessels from Hobart Town and Port Phillip would find a decided advantage in passing threugh them. Captain Robertson does not think much of the harbours of the Bay of Islands.

9. Captain Wilson contributes some valuable information respecting the collision at the Wairau. He was on board the Government brig which conveyed the ill-fated expedition from Nelson to Cloudy Bay. 1.1is evidence leaves not the shadow of a doubt that the murder of Captain Wakefield had been predetermined by Rauperaha and Rangihaeata; and that the quarrel at the Wairau was only made the pretext for effecting it.

10. Mr. Heale's evidence related to the views of the Natives about Auckland respecting property in land. He admitted that his information was second-hand from his partner Mr. White, formerly a Wesleyan Missionary, discharged by the Mission for land-sharking. Speaking on his own observation, Mr. Heale states, that the effect of the Waitangi treaty has been to prevent Government from getting a good title to lands, to excite exaggerated expectations of gain in the minds of the Natives, and to make them discontented.

11. Lieutenant Lean was appointed by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners in London to superintend the emigration conducted by the New Zealand Company. Of the Company he said—" On all occasions they have attended to every suggestion I have offered ; and I have been happy to cooperate with them in the way I have done." And again—" I cannot speak too highly of' the mode in which the ships have been fitted ; and I have been perfectly satisfied with the provisions supplied to them, and with their conduct and arrangements in every respect."

12. Mr. Child resides at Halifax : he thought he could give information to the Committee which they could not procure from others. He sent a statement to a friend, which was communicated to the Colonial Office: he was sent for to the Colonial Office, and shown the evidence of Messrs. Earp and Kettle, on which he made notes. He differs in opinion from those gentlemen on many points. Mr. Child states, that the proceedings in the Court of Land-Claims at Port Nicholson have instigated the Natives to make fresh demands—demands so exorbitant that the Commissioner was obliged to control them ; that the constitution of the Court is bad, its proceedings dilatory, and encumbered with judicial forms not understood by the Natives ; and that the proceedings were not calculated to produce harmony between the English and the Natives. 13. Lieutenant Wood reasserted statements he had published in a pamphlet on New Zealand a year ago. He is of opinion that the conduct_ of Government in regard to the Native question has hindered the prosperity of the colony.

III. DOCUBLENTS.—A great proportion of the documents printed in the Appendix to the Committee's Report consists of supplementary additions to the official correspondence, and financial accounts relating to New Zealand, published by order of Parliament at intervals during the last four or five years. The Twelfth Report of the Directors of the New Zealand Company is reprinted entire, with liberal selections from the documents contained in its Appendix. The first document presented to the Committee from the Colonial Office was a "Memorandum" on this Report, exculpatory of the Office and inculpatory of the Company. (Appendix No. L) In reply to this, a Counter-Memorandum (Appendix No. X.) was lodged by the Directors; and towards the close of the Committee's investigations, a "Statement" (Appendix No XII.) was submitted on behalf of the Company. Appendix No. XIV. consists of the New Zealand Company's Accounts ; Nos. XV. and %BM of Letters from Messrs. Earp and Carrington explanatory of the evidence; and No. XVI A. of a correspondence between Mr. Some, and Lord John Russell, in which Lord John explains the view tin entertains of his agreement of November 1840.

V/. The DEcisron or nes ComanTres.—The resolutions adopted by-the Committee, after carefully scrutinizing this enormous mass of I evidence, speak for themselves: they are embodied in the Committee's Report, which is subjoined. They are nineteen in number: of the nineteen originally proposed by the Chairman, twelve were adopted without modification ; two with slight modifications suggested by Lord Francis Egerton, which in nowise diminished their strength ; and one with the omission of the name of the New Zealand Company, to please Mr. Cardwell. Three were omitted ; and the only one remaining to be accounted for was left out where first proposed to be inserted, and subsequently, on the motion of Lord Francis Egerton, substituted in another place for one which was allowed to drop as unnecessary. Of the three resolutions moved by Members of Committee and adopted, which make up the original number of nineteen, one (proposed by Mr. Charter's) approves of the principles on which the New Zealand Company have acted ; and another (by Lord Francis Egerton) vindicates the memory of Captain Arthur Wakefield and his companions. Of the twenty-five counter-resolutions proposed by Mr. Cardwell, not one was adopted ; not one of the alterations on the Chairman's resolutions proposed by Mr. Hope was adopted; on one of them he stood alone, nine Members of the Committee—even Mr. Cardwell—voting against him. Though the majority of the Committee refused to adopt a resolution proposed by the Chairman, and a similar resolution subsequently proposed by Mr. Milnes, condemning the selection of Auckland as the site of Government, they also refused to adopt the substitute proposed by Mr. Hope approving of it. The draft of a counter-report moved by Mr. Hope, but not put to the vote, and apparently not even seconded, seems to have been produced merely to show that the representative of the Colonial Office dissented from the judgment of the Committee.