Murdoch and Rogers to Merivale (Permanent Under-Secretary)

We have to acknowledge your letter of 14th instant,
enclosing a Despatch from the Governor of British Columbia
with the copy of a Proclamation which he had issued on the
subject of the disposal of the Crown Lands in that Colony.

2. On 7th February last Sir E. Bulwer Lytton having
received from Governor Douglas a report on the disposal of Land
in British Columbia, addressed to him a Despatch laying down
certain principles for his guidance. Sir E. Lytton expressed
his approval of an upset price of £1 for Country Lands in
the Fraser River District, and of a lower price elsewhere;
he estimated his preference for Sales by Auction over Sales
at a fixed price, he expressed a decided opinion in favor of
prompt payment instead of payment by instalments, but he left
to the Governor to decide the size of lots, the terms on which
mineral lands should be let, and the mode in which a revenue
should be obtained from the produce of the Gold Fields,
as well as some minor points which had been adverted to by
Governor Douglas.

3. Governor Douglas' present Despatch is dated 19th
February last, 12 days later, and the Proclamation which it
encloses is dated 14th February. The Proclamation
announces that all Lands, other than Town or Mineral Lands
or lands specially reserved, will be sold by Auction at an
upset price of 10s/- an Acre, the price to be paid half
in Cash at the time of Sale and the other half at the end
of two years, that Lands unsold at Auction may be disposed
of by private contract, at the upset price, and that all
Sales are to be subject to such private right of way as
maybe declared at the time of Sale, and such public right
of way as may be afterwards declared. The conveyance of the
Land is to include all Trees and Mines and Minerals except
Gold and Silver. The Proclamation further announces that it
is intended to lay out the Capital of the colony on the right
bank of Frasers River, that three fourths of the Lots will
be put up to Auction in the Colony during the present Month
of April, and one fourth reserved for Sale in the United
Kingdom and British Colonies, but if not there
sold will be disposed of in the same manner as the three
fourths, that purchasers at Langley Fort may resign their
purchases and be allowed the price in purchases in the
Capital, that the Capital will be declared a Port of Entry,
and that the River frontage will be let on leases of 7 years
for the construction of Quays. No upset price is named for
lots in the Capital nor is the size of the lots specified.
In his despatch Governor Douglas states that it is
intended for the present to reserve all Lands known to
contain Minerals and to make large reserves for Churches,
Schools, and public purposes and for Towns and Villages,
and as a general rule not to sell any Land till it has
been surveyed. He adds that it was considered advisable
to fix a low price for Country Lands in order to encourage
Emigration from England, the want of the English element
in the population being one of his greatest difficulties
in legislating for the Government of the Country.

4. It will be seen from the preceding statement that the
only essential point in which Governor Douglas' regulations
differ from Sir E. Bulwer Lytton's principles is in the
admission of payment for Country Lands by Instalments.
This is no doubt an important point, and it is, perhaps,
to be regretted that Governor Douglas, after sending home his
report of 27th October last, did not wait to ascertain
the views of the Secretary of State before issuing any final
regulations on the subject. Possibly, however, the
circumstances of the Colony made delay unadvisable. Looking
now to the inconvenience of frequent changes in the
regulations, and also to the large proportion of the purchase
money to be paid down at the time of purchase, we do not
think it necessary to recommend that Governor Douglas should
be directed to rescind this portion of his regulations. But
whenever new regulations are issued it would be desirable that
the mode of payment should be altered, in conformity with Sir
E. Bulwer Lytton's instructions.

5. In respect to the sale of Country Lands Governor Douglas states that it is proposed to reserve the land
bordering on the United States Frontier (which would include
the Fraser River District) and to form on it a Military
Reserve for the Royal Engineers and if possible for an
exclusively English population. In regard to ordinary
Country Lands we do not suppose that a higher price than
10s an Acre could be maintained, in the face of the lower
price and greater facilities offered in the adjoining
States of the Union. We should indeed have been disposed
to doubt whether 10s/- was not too high, but Governor Douglas and his advisers must be the best judges on that
point. We can readily understand the importance which
he attaches to the introduction of English Settlers, but
we fear that the length of the passage round Cape Horn and
the expense of that across the Isthmus, will prevent any
considerable Emigration of the Laboring Classes from this
Country. It is probably from the British subjects settled
in Australia and in the various Islands and Countries in the
Pacific that Governor Douglas may most confidently hope to
recruit his British population. It is by no means improbable
that many of these may be attracted by the material advantages
which the new Colony holds out, enhanced by the security and
tranquillity to be obtained under British Rule.

6. In regard to the proposed Sale in the United Kingdom
and the British Colonies of one fourth the lots in the
proposed Capital we cannot but feel some doubt. If it is
contemplated to attach any conditions of residence to
such lots there seems no reason for selling them out of the
Colony. The terms of Sale could be equally well published
in the United Kingdom and British Colonies without any
actual Sale of the Land. If it is not intended to attach
conditions of residence, the lots will be bought by
speculators who will hold them on the chance of a rise in
value, with the usual result of obstructing the progress of
the Town, interrupting its communications and creating a nuisance
to the holders of aspiring lots. It may be difficult to
prevent absentees speculating in Town Lots, but it is not
necessary to invite them to do so. It would, we think, be
wise to abandon this part of the scheme.

7. In conclusion we may point out a slight confusion
in the Proclamation. The second paragraph states that the
price of all Lands except Mineral and Town Lands "shall be
10s/- per Acre payable one half in Cash at the time of the Sale
and the other half at the end of two years from such Sale"
but the fourth paragraph states that with certain exceptions
"all the land in British Columbia will be exposed in lots
for Sale by public competition at the upset price above
mentioned" &c. The meaning is, of course, as we have stated
it, that all country Lands shall be put up to Auction at
an upset price of 10s/-, an Acre, and that one moiety
of the price for which the Land is sold should be paid at
the time and the other moiety after two years.
We do not suppose that any difficulty will arise from this
ambiguity, but whenever the regulations are reconsidered
it would be as well to remove it.