Sinclair to Buckingham

I have just received a Communication from Mr Stafford,
Colonial Secretary, informing me that Her Majesty's Government cannot
comply with my request for a Grant of Land in New Zealand. Indeed,
it is now so long since I sent the Memorial, that I have forgotten
the name of the person to whom it was confided, & cannot assign any
reason for the long period that appears to have elapsed between its
arrival in London and its receipt by the Secretary of State in April
last.

I now take the liberty of writing your Grace upon a most
important subject that at first I intended to desire my friend, Judge
Goodwin, of Shanghai to correspond with the Cabinet about.

The transfer of the Russian Possessions in North American to the
United States must in some measure affect our hold of British
Columbia, & if the sale of the latter to the States would lower our
prestige, I would most respectfully suggest that arrangements should
be made to increase the population of the Colony, by fostering
Emigration, & grant every facility to the inhabitants for the
developement of their local resources.

In New Zealand, I must confess I am a Monarchist; if ever this
Colony is to be the "Britain of the South," it will most rapidly
become so, either as a Monarchy, under one of Her Majesty's Children,
or separated into Provinces, each being left to develope its own
resources. The prosperity of this Province, at least, will be much
retarded by the rejection of the "Shores Bill" in the General
Assembly through the jealousy of the Provincial Superintendants. And
yet Mr Stafford appears to be the only politician with enlarged
general views on the Colony.

Now, what New Zealand will be in the South Pacific, British
Columbia, in my humble opinion, may, by judicious management, be made
in the North—a great Naval Power, or the seat of a future great
Naval Power; and I do most respectfully entreat your Grace to bring
the matter before the Cabinet, that such measures should be taken as
would tend to consolidate and strengthen that Colony.

If my experiences in the United States & New Zealand would be of
any service to Her Majesty's Government in the formation of Special
Settlements in British Columbia, I shall willingly place them at the
Command of the Cabinet, or go to the Colony & report on the best
means of promoting its prosperity in connection with the Mother
Country.