No. 23

I have to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No 5 of the
12th of January enclosing a Proclamation issued by you prescribing
the conditions on which unsurveyed Agricultural lands may be occupied in
British Columbia.

The difficulties you experienced in providing surveyed country
lands for agricultural Settlers were explained in your despatches of the
4th July and 18th of October last and the present Proclamation
carries into effect the measures to which you had found yourself compelled to
resort of granting occupation of unsurveyed land with a future right of
preemption.

The Proclamation has been laid before Parliament in compliance with
the provisions of the Act 21-22 Vic: Cap. 99, but I shall delay to
convey to you any final decision upon it until I shall have received
your report upon the scheme of Captain Clarke R.E. for the disposal of
the Crown Lands of British Columbia which I forwarded to you with my
despatch No 3 of the 7th of January which has crossed your
despatch now under acknowledgement.

In the meantime it may be useful to communicate to you the enclosed
observations of the Emigration Commissioners in which
some necessary
amendments of the Proclamation issued by you are pointed out.