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(3) For the value of 40,960 acres of land, comprised in case 305 G, and proved to have been purchased in good faith, estimated at £1 per acre, £40,960.

(4) For the value of 3,000 acres, case 305 H, proved to have been purchased in good faith, and for the value of spars taken from the land for the use of the British Navy, £25,645.

(5) For the value of 9,000 acres (cases 305 D, 305 F, 305 L), purchased in good faith and erroneously alleged to have been withdrawn from the commission, estimated at £1 per acre, £9,000.

Mr. Webster also asserts claims to other tracts of land, comprising about 200,000 acres, which he estimates at 10s. per acre, and claims damages for the destruction of his credit and business in New Zealand, and contends that interest should be allowed on all the items except the last from January 30, 1840. Mr. Webster does not include in the above statement Barrier Island (case No. 305 E), which he reserves for further consideration.

No. 387.]

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

London, January 17, 1891.

SIR: Referring to your instruction numbered 350, of September 2 last, I have the honor to inclose herewith copies of a note which I addressed to the foreign office relative to the claim of Mr. Webster against the authorities of New Zealand, and of a communication in reply thereto which I have just received from Her Majesty's Government.

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MY LORD: Referring to your lordship's note of the 7th December, 1887, to my predecessor, Mr. Phelps, transmitting copies of a memorandum of Sir Robert Stout, the governor of New Zealand, on the subject of certain American land claims in that colony, I have the honor to recall to your lordship that, in that memorandum, Sir Robert Stout reviews the history of the claims and makes an extended reply to a report of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate of the United States, who have for some time had the subject under consideration. The committee were furnished with a copy of that reply and gave it careful consideration. The result of that consideration is that, on the 11th of June last, the chairman of the committee, by their direction, advised the President of the adoption by the committee of the following resolution:

"Resolved, That the papers in the case of William Webster be transmitted to the President, with the statement that the committee respectfully recommend this matter to his attention, with the accompanying papers, as a claim that is worthy of consideration, and with the request that it be made the subject of further negotiation with the Government of Great Britain."

I am therefore instructed to acquaint your lordship that my Government has made the matter the subject of careful examination, with a desire to arrive at a just determination, and finds itself unable for the reasons which are set forth in a memorandum, of which I have the honor to inclose copies in duplicate, for the consideration of Her Majesty's Government, to accept the conclusions stated in Sir Robert Stout's memorandum.

It is believed by my Government that Her Majesty's Government, upon the perusal of the document inclosed, will find that the above-mentioned conclusions of the governor of New Zealand, and the arguments and allegations, some of them injurious to the claimant, by which those conclusions are reached, are not

S. Doc. 231, pt 3-4

justified by the facts as disclosed in the documents furnished by the governor; and it is hoped that a way may be found by friendly consultation between the two Governments to afford Mr. Webster the fair and impartial disposition of his claim to which it is thought he is entitled.

I have, etc.,

[Inclosure No. 2.]

ROBERT T. LINCOLN.

Mr. Sanderson to Mr. White.

FOREIGN OFFICE, London, January 16, 1891.

SIR: In his note of the 11th of October last, Mr. Lincoln forwarded, for the consideration of Her Majesty's Government, a memorandum in regard to the claim of Mr. William Webster for further compensation on account of certain lands purchased by him from native chiefs of New Zealand before the annexation of that country by Great Britain.

I have now the honor to state that, in pursuance of the assurance given in my reply of the 21st of the same month, this memorandum and all the previous papers and circumstances of the case have been most carefully examined in consultation with the law officers of the crown.

The result of that examination has, however, been unfavorable to the claim, as it is clearly shown that Mr. Webster in the first instance, when bringing his case before the commissioners, under the colonial land claims act of 1856, waived his right to be treated as an alien, and so debarred himself from the right to claim anything beyond what was awarded to him by those commissioners.

Under these circumstances, Her Majesty's Government regret that they are unable to reopen the case, or to entertain Mr. Webster's claim for further compensation.

I have, etc.,

(For the Marquis of Salisbury.)

T. H. SANDERSON.

[No. 528.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, June 3, 1891.

SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your No. 387, of the 17th of January last, with which you inclose a copy of a communication which you received from Her Majesty's Government under date of the 16th of that month, in reply to the memorandum accompanying Depart ment's No. 350, of the 2d of September, 1890, touching the claims of William Webster, growing out of his wrongful deprivation of lands belonging to him in New Zealand.

The Department regrets tolearn that Her Majesty's Government have, after consultation with the law officers of the crown, taken an unfavorable view of Mr. Webster's claims. This is especially to be deprecated since that view appears to be the result of a misapprehension of the facts. If the facts had been correctly understood by Her Majesty's Government, there is reason to suppose that the result of their deliberations would have been different.

It has been the understanding of this Department that Mr. Webster was in reality deprived of his lands, and of his claims to lands, by the commissioners under the colonial land claims act of 1856. This understanding is set forth in the memorandum which you communicated to the foreign office and is confirmed by the note of the foreign office of the 16th January; but there seems to be an incorrect appreciation of the facts, when Her Majesty's Government state in the same note that it is clearly shown that Mr. Webster in the first instance, when bring

ing his case before the land commissioners under the colonial act of 1856, waived his right to be treated as an alien, and so debarred himself from the right to claim anything beyond what was awarded to him by that commission.

An examination not only of the memorandum submitted by this Department, but as well of the evidence heretofore presented in opposition to Mr. Webster's claims by the authorities of New Zealand shows that he never brought his claims before the commissioners under the colonial act of 1856. In reality, he was then in the United States, and was pressing his claims before this Government. At that time he had been nearly ten years absent from New Zealand, during which time the Department fails to find that he had any correspondence with the local authorities, or in any way knew of or countenanced what they did under the land act of 1856.

It is the duty of the Department to bring these facts to the attention of Her Majesty's Government, as you are now instructed to do, since the reply to this Government's representations-due, as it appears to be, to an entire misconception of the facts-can not be regarded as satisfactory and conclusive.

I am, etc.,

WILLIAM F. WHARTON,

Acting Secretary.

London.

ROBERT T. LINCOLN, Esq., etc.,

No. 515.]

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
London, August 19, 1891.

SIR: Referring to the Department's instruction numbered 528, of June 3 last, I have the honor to inclose herewith copies of a note which I addressed to the Marquis of Salisbury on the 23rd of that month, relative to Mr. Webster's claim to land in New Zealand and of the reply thereto which has just reached me.

The records of this legation show that Lord Aberdeen's note to Mr. Everett of February 10, 1844, was forwarded to the Department of State in Mr. Everett's dispatch No. 95, of March 4, 1844.

I have, etc.,

Hon. JAMES G. BLAINE,

ROBERT T. LINCOLN.

Secretary of State.

[Inclosure No. 1.]

Mr. Lincoln to Lord Salisbury.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

London, June 23, 1891.

MY LORD: With reference to your note of January 16 last relative to the claims of Mr. Webster against the Government of New Zealand, arising from his alleged wrongful deprivation of lands belonging to him in that colony, I have the honor to acquaint your lordship that my Government regrets to ascertain that an unfavorable view has been taken of the claim in question by Her Majesty's Government, after consultation with the law officers of the crown; and the more so, as this view appears to the Department of State to be the result of a misapprehension of the facts of the case.

It has been the understanding of my Government that Mr. Webster was in reality deprived of his lands, and of his claims to lands by the commissioners under the colonial land claims act of 1856. This view of the case is set forth in the memorandum on the subject which I had the honor to communicate to your lordship on the 11th October, 1890, and is confirmed by your note of January 16 last, but Her Majesty's Government appear to mine to be in error in stating in the same note that it is clearly shown that Mr. Webster, in the first instance, when bringing his case before the land commissioners, under the colonial act of 1856, waived his right to be treated as an alien and so debarred himself from the right to claim anything beyond what was awarded to him by the commission. An examination not only of the memorandum, but also of the evidence heretofore presented in opposition to Mr. Webster's claims by the authorities of New Zealand, shows that he never brought his claims before the commissioners under the colonial act of 1856. He was at that time in the United States, and was pressing his claim upon my Government, having then been absent from New Zealand for nearly ten years, during which period the Department of State fails to find that he had any correspondence with the local authorities or was in any way aware of or countenanced what they did under the land act of 1856.

I am instructed to bring these facts to the attention of your lordship, and to express the hope that as my Government is of the opinion that the reply of Her Majesty's Government to the representations set forth in the memorandum transmitted with my note of October 11, 1890, is based upon a misconception of the essential facts, and can not therefore be considered as satisfactory or conclusive, Her Majesty's Government will readily reconsider its views upon the subject. I have, etc.,

ROBERT T. LINCOLN.

[Inclosure No. 2.]

Mr. Sanderson to Mr. Lincoln.

FOREIGN OFFICE, London, August 18, 1891.

SIR: I have the honor to acquaint you that, in accordance with the assurance conveyed to you on the 29th of June, Her Majesty's Government have carefully considered the representations in your note of the 23d of that month respecting the land claim of Mr. Webster in New Zealand.

It appears, on further examination of the case, that in the note which I addressed to Mr. White on the 16th of January last a mistake was inadvertently made in the reference to the colonial land claims act of 1856. It was in the year 1841 and to the commissioners under the colonial ordinance of that year that Mr. Webster submitted his claims, having previously received full notice from the governor that if he adopted this course he must be held to claim as a British subject.

While expressing to you my regret that this mistake should have occurred, I have the honor to state that it does not appear to Her Majesty's Government to materially affect the question at issue, nor to involve any alteration of the decision at which they have already arrived. For Mr. Webster having voluntarily accepted the conditions imposed upon him by Governor Fitzroy in 1841, and having submitted his claim as a British subject under the colonial ordinance of that year, Her Majesty's Government are unable to admit that he could at any time afterwards bring in a fresh claim as an American citizen under the principle conceded Mr. Everett by Lord Aberdeen in his note of the 10th of February, 1844.

I have, etc.,

(In the absence of the Marquis of Salisbury)

T. F. SANDERSON.

[Executive D, Fiftieth Congress, first session.]

LETTER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TRANSMITTING THE REPLY OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO THE RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE OF FEBRUARY 28, 1887, RELATIVE TO THE VALIDITY OF LAND TITLES IN NEW ZEALAND, ETC.

To the SENATE:

In answer to the resolution of the Senate of the 28th of February last, requesting the President of the United States to obtain certain information from the Government of Great Britain relative to the proceedings of the authorities of New Zealand concerning the titles to lands in that colony claimed by American citizens, I transmit a report of the Secretary of State, together with the accompanying documents. GROVER CLEVELAND.

EXECUTIVE MANSION,

Washington, January 5, 1888

The PRESIDENT:

The Secretary of State, to whom was referred the resolution of the Senate of the 28th of February last, "That the President of the United States be requested to obtain from the Government of Great Britian copies or full statements of all the proceedings of the Government of New Zealand, and of any land commission or board, or other lawful authority that has decided upon, or that has pending before the same, any matter relating to the validity of the titles to any lands that are or have been claimed by American citizens in the islands of New Zealand under grants or deeds made by the chiefs or other ruling powers in said islands prior to the date of the exercise of sovereignty over them by the Government of Great Britain," has the honor to lay before the President the papers relating to the subject, mentioned in the subjoined list.

Respectfully submitted.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, January 4, 1888.

T. F. BAYARD.

Mr. Bayard to Mr. Phelps.

No. 552.]

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, March 7, 1887.

SIR: I inclose herewith for your information a copy of a resolution which was adopted by the Senate on the 28th ultimo, requesting the President to obtain from Her Britannic Majesty's Government copies of certain proceedings in New Zealand in relation to certain lands in that colony claimed by American citizens. I will thank you, therefore, to apply to the proper quarter for the desired information, adding that the Department would be pleased to have copies in triplicate of any printed papers which may be obtainable in relation to the subject. I am, etc. T. F. BAYARD.

EDWARD J. PHELPS, Esq., etc.,

London.

Mr. Phelps to Mr. Bayard.

No. 638.]

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
London, December 10, 1887.

SIR: Referring to your instructions, numbered 552, under date of March 7, 1887, transmitting a resolution of the Senate relative to certain American land claims in New Zealand, I have the honor to inclose herewith triplicate printed

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