Imperial Government will promptly adopt the wisest and most effectual measures for securing the safety and contentment of this portion of Her Majesty’s dominions.
- (3) That having regard to the geographical position of the Island of New Guinea, the rapid extension of British trade and enterprise in Torres Straits, the certainty that the island will shortly be the resort of many adventurous subjects of Great Britain and other nations, and the absence or inadequacy of any existing laws for regulating their relations with the native tribes, this Convention, while fully recognising that the responsibility of extending the boundaries of the Empire belongs to the Imperial Government, is emphatically of opinion that such steps should be immediately taken as will most conveniently and effectively secure the incorporation with the British Empire of so much of New Guinea and a small island adjacent hereto as is not claimed by the Government of the Netherlands.
- (4) That although the understanding arrived at in 1878 between Great Britain and France, recognising the independence of the New Hebrides, appears to preclude this Convention from making any recommendation inconsistent with that understanding, the Convention urges upon Her Majesty’s Government that it is extremely desirable that such understanding should give place to some more definite engagement, which shall secure these islands from falling under any foreign dominion; at the same time, the Convention trusts that Her Majesty’s Government will avail itself of any opportunity that may arise for negotiating with the Government of France, with the object of obtaining the control of those islands in the interests of Australasia.
A few months previously, Sir George Grey had introduced into the House of Representatives an Annexation and Confederation Bill, which passed its second reading without discussion or a division, and was only slightly altered in committee. The measure authorised the appointment of a Committee to take steps to annex to New Zealand any islands not possessed by foreign Powers. It was thought that New Zealand had a commercial interest in the islands, as well as an imperialistic interest in common with other parts of the Empire. The islands, it was argued, would supply New Zealand with sugar, rice, coffee, cocoa, and other articles, while they would take from the colony many articles which it produced, and for which at that time there did not seem to be an extensive market. No reason could be seen why a lucrative trade should not grow up at the same time as the boundaries of the Empire were being extended and the bonds were being cemented. Besides that, it was obvious that the islands lying near New Zealand’s door might be inhabited by a population that would give New Zealanders a great deal of trouble. It was not proposed to give
