Colonial Despatches

I have to acknowledge the receipt of Mr Secretary Hawes's letter of the 4th Instant, stating that it is your Lordships opinion that there should be introduced into the Grant a formal condition that the Hudson's Bay Company will be prepared to sell land to persons desiring to settle on Vancouver's Island on reasonable terms, and that the whole price received for the land so disposed of by them together with any receipts on account of coals or other minerals should, after making a fair deduction for profit to the Company, be applied in the colonization of Vancouver's Island, and that Your Lordship would suggest (as you did when I had the honour of an interview with your Lordship a few days ago) that a deduction of 10 p cent from the gross amount received for land and minerals might be regarded as affording a fair remuneration to the Company, and further, that a stipulation to that effect should be inserted in the Grant.

At the interview to which I have already alluded, Your Lordship did not, as I understood you, consider that an express stipulation to the above effect in the grant would be necessary, but that a written acknowledgement of the understanding would be deemed sufficient. At the same time I beg to assure your Lordship that I have no objection to the introduction of the condition into the Grant. I request however that you will send me a draught of the condition for my consideration and approval.

I have the honour to acquaint your Lordship that on Wednesday last I laid before a General Court the correspondence on the Grant printed by order of the House of Commons, and mentioned the additional condition and that the Court unanimously adopted the following resolution: "That upon the formal execution of the Grant, a copy of which has now been read to the Court the Governor and Committee be authorised to accept the same and to make sub-grants on such terms and conditions as they think fit." I therefore now only wait till I receive the Grant to commence operations.