inasmuch as the main object of the Association is, and will continue to be, the creation of a colony distinguished from others, not only by unity of religious belief, but, so far as possible, by the good conduct, good character, and respectability of its members.
The pasturage regulations with which you are furnished, sufficiently indicate to you the nature of the functions which you will be called upon to discharge with reference to that branch of the Association's colonizing operations. In these, indeed in all, your dealings with the settlers, especially during the period immediately succeeding their first arrival, you must not only be careful to acquire their confidence by exercising the strictest justice and impartiality, but you must remember to make all due allowance even for unreasonable demands and pretensions. In this, as in every new Colony, there will almost certainly be found persons who will have formed very erroneous ideas of their prospects and of their rights in the country of their adoption, and who will be sure, in the first instance, to lay the blame of their disappointment on the Association. Experience shows that while such persons often become, after their first angry feeling subsides, valuable and useful settlers; they also frequently fail to do so, only for the want of timely and sympathizing advice. It must be your business, therefore, to do all that in you lies to allay such disappointments, should they exist; to meet, whenever you can, the wishes of the colonists; where it is out of your power to do so, to explain why; to be always ready, in short, to hear their complaints, and to render counsel and aid to all who want them.
The Association understands that, out of the million acres[1] which have been allotted to the Canterbury Settlement, about 1450 acres have been disposed of to different individuals, whose names and holdings are given in a schedule hereto annexed. You will assure those individuals that every right and privilege to which they are entitled will be scrupulously respected, and that they will be regarded, in all respects, in the same light as though they had been purchasers from the Association.
It is probable, indeed nearly certain, that before the first body of colonists arrive at Port Cooper, many stock-owners, with large quantities of cattle and sheep, will have found their way to the Canterbury plains. To such persons you will uniformly hold the language of welcome and friendship; recognising the mutual advantages which the colonists and themselves will derive from their neighbourhood, and pointing out to them the means by which, if it should suit them, they may, generally speaking, at an early period, and on easy terms, exchange their temporary occupancy, for an assured right of pasturage. The same principle will be kept in view by you in your intercourse with all persons who may be attracted to Port Cooper from other parts of the Colony, or from Australia, by the prospect of gain which a new settlement will open to them. We allude not so much to labourers and artisans, as to storekeepers, millers, timber merchants, and other capitalists, who may make it their business to provide, in advance, for the early wants of the first colonists. It is almost superfluous to say, that every encouragement should be given to this valuable class of men; but at the same time they must be made fully aware, that their liberty of occupation is of a temporary character only; that, until the first body of purchasers shall have made their selections, no land can be conveyed in the Colony to any one; and that if they invest capital in buildings or improvements
- ↑ Since these instructions were drawn up, the land at the Association's disposal, as previously stated, has increased to 2,400,000 acres, or thereabouts.
