Colonial Despatches

I have to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No. 13, of the 25th April last, on the subject of communications which have passed between you and the House of Assembly of Vancouver's Island relative to the reservation by the Government of Crown Lands in the several Districts of the Colony.

In the Imperial Act which was passed to regulate Australian Land Sales in 1842 Parliament specified the objects for which reserves might be made as follows. For public Roads or other internal communications whether by land or water, or for the use or benefit of the aboriginal inhabitants of the Country, or for the purposespurposes of Military defence, or as the sites of places for public worship, schools or other public Buildings, or as places for the interment of the dead, or places for the recreation and amusement of the inhabitants of any Town or Village or as the sites of public Quays or landing places on the Sea Coast or shores of navigable streams, or for any other purpose of public safety convenience, health or enjoyment.

This specification appears to furnish a sufficient rule as to the nature of the Reserves to be made in a new Colony. The general principle is indicated in the concluding words of it, viz. that Reserves should be made for any public object requiring the use of Land, but not for the purpose of raising a Revenue either by its cultivation or by its sale at a future period.

While therefore I do not think it desirable to restrict the reservation of Land to the extent proposed by the House of Assembly, Reserves should not be made beyond what the ascertained or highly probable wants of the public service render necessary, and should not be used as a means of raising an income for any establishment or person.

I approve of your having declined to accede to the request of the Assembly that the Reserves should be dealt with only according to the views of the Legislature.