the same or any part thereof respectively shall remain unpaid, one fourth part of the sum paid by the purchaser in respect of every such sale or alienation: Provided always, that it shall be lawful for the New Zealand Company, by any resolution of a majority of the proprietors of the said Company present at any meeting of such proprietors, and certified under the common seal of such Company, to release all or any part of the said lands from the monies or payment charged thereon by the said Act or this Act, or any part of such monies or payment, either absolutely or upon any terms or conditions, as such proprietors may think fit. LXXV. It shall not be lawful for the said General Assembly to repeal or interfere with all or any of the provisions of an Act of the session holden in the thirteenth and fourteenth years of Her Majesty, chapter seventy, entitled "An Act empowering the Canterbury Association to dispose of certain lands in New Zealand," or of an Act passed in the session then next following, chapter eighty-four, to alter and amend the said first-mentioned Act: Provided always, that on the expiration or sooner determination of the functions, powers, and authorities now vested in or lawfully exercised by the said association, the provisions of the present Act shall come into force as regards the lands to which the said Acts relate. LXXVI. It shall be lawful for the Canterbury Association, at any time after a Provincial Council shall have been constituted under this Act for the Province of Canterbury, to transfer to the said Council all such functions, powers, and authorities, and the said Council is hereby empowered to accept such transfer, upon such terms and conditions as shall be agreed upon between the said Council and the said Association: Provided always, that nothing contained in such terms and conditions shall interfere with the rights of Her Majesty, her heirs and successors, or of the New Zealand Company respectively; and from and after such time as shall be agreed upon between the said Council and the said Association, the said Council shall have and be entitled to exercise all the said functions, powers, and authorities. LXXVII. Nothing in this Act or in any Act, law, or ordinance to be made by the said General Assembly, or by any Provincial Assembly, shall affect or interfere with so much of an Act of the session holden in the fourteenth and fifteenth years of Her Majesty, chapter eighty-six, entitled "An Act to regulate the affairs of certain settlements established by the New Zealand Company in New Zealand," as relates to the administration of the fund for the public purposes of the settlement of Nelson. LXXVIII. And whereas certain terms of purchase and pasturage of land in the settlement of Otago had been issued by the New Zealand Company before the fourth day of July one thousand eight hundred and fifty, and the said terms, or part of them, were in force on that day as contracts between the New Zealand Company and the Association of lay members of the Free Church of Scotland, commonly called the Otago Association: And whereas by the provisions of the said Act of the tenth and eleventh years of Her Majesty, and of the said notice given by the New Zealand Company, the lands of the said Company in New Zealand reverted to and became vested in Her Majesty as part of the demesne lands of the Crown, subject nevertheless to any contract then subsisting in regard to any of the said lands: And whereas it is expedient that provision should be made to enable Her Majesty to fulfil the contracts contained in such terms of purchase and pasturage as aforesaid: It shall be lawful for Her Majesty for that purpose to make provision, by way of regulations to be contained in any charter to be granted to the said Association, for the disposal of the lands to which the said terms of purchase and pasturage relate, so far as the same are still in force as aforesaid, and for varying from time to time such regulations, with such consent by or on behalf of the said Association as in any such charter or instructions shall be specified, and for fixing the boundaries thereof, and for enabling the said Association to transfer its powers to the Provincial Council for the Province of Otago: Provided always, that no such charter shall be granted or have effect for any longer term than ten years from the passing of this Act; but one of Her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State may at any time during the term for which such charter shall be granted, by writing under his hand, extend the term for which such charter shall have been granted for such further time as in his discretion he may think fit: Provided always, that it shall not be lawful for Her Majesty, by any such regulations as aforesaid, to diminish the sum now payable to the New Zealand Company in respect to all waste land sold under the said terms of purchase, unless with the consent of the New Zealand Company, signified as hereinbefore provided; and during the continuance of such charter as aforesaid, it shall not be lawful for the said General Assembly to repeal or interfere with any such regulations respecting lands in Otago, except with such consent by or on behalf of the Otago Association as in any such charter or instructions may be provided, and (so far as the rights of the New Zealand Company may be affected) with the consent of such Company signified as hereinbefore provided; and every bill which shall repeal or interfere with any such regulations shall be reserved for the signification of Her Majesty's pleasure thereon. LXXIX. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by any such letters patent as aforesaid, or instructions under Her Majesty's signet and sign manual, or signified through one of Her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, to delegate to the Governor any of the powers hereinbefore reserved to Her Majesty respecting the removal of Superintendents of provinces, and the regulation of the sale, letting, disposal, and occupation of waste lands, the establishment of municipal corporations, and the preservation of aboriginal laws, customs, and usages. LXXX. In the construction of this Act the term "Governor" shall mean the person for the time being lawfully administering the Government of New Zealand; and for the purposes of this Act "New Zealand" shall be held to include all territories, islands and countries lying between thirty-three degrees of south latitude and fifty degrees of south latitude, and one hundred and sixty-two degrees of east longitude and one hundred and seventy-three degrees of west longitude reckoning from the meridian of Greenwich. LXXXI. This Act shall be proclaimed in New Zealand by the Governor thereof within six weeks after a copy of such Act shall have been received by such Governor, and, save as herein expressly provided, shall take effect in New Zealand from the day of such proclamation thereof. LXXXII. The proclamation of this Act, and all proc lamations to be made under the provisions thereof, shall be published in the New Zealand Government Gazette. Schedule referred to in the foregoing Act. DESPATCH FROM THE COLONIAL SECRE- December 8, 1854 I HAVE to acknowledge your despatches of the numbers and dates specified in the margin, reporting the proceedings which have taken place in the General Assembly of New Zealand on the subject of the future Executive Government of the Colony. As regards the most important portion of that subject, I have taken the earliest opportunity of informing you that Her Majesty's Government have no objection whatever to offer to the establishment of the system known as responsible government, in New Zealand. They have no reason to doubt that it will prove the best adapted for developing the interests as well as satisfying the wishes of the community. Nor have they any desire to propose terms, or to lay down restrictions on your assent to the measures which may be necessary for 1 Commons Papers, 1854-55, vol. 38, No. 160, p. 39. |