DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. County Court.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume I, Issue 23, 23 September 1843, Page 2

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. County Court.

This Court sat on Tuesday last, for the disp ! j| of criminal business, but fortunately, there was B f 'g single case to be tried. It was however, a great 1"® ship for the Jurymeu to be dragged from their b oS S for nothing. ||

Oil Wednesday, sereral civi,l cases were tried and cided by the Judge. The case 3 were, generally, Mne, too uninteresting to be noticed, excepting P one circumstance, md that was, that we could not ". f ee iing, that most of the actions were such as. bould have been settled out of Court. We fear there , 8 reprehensible propensity- of encouraging useless, ' i expensive litigation on the part of some of our rieods, the lawyers. This is not right,' lawyers, have " mote professional right to encourage strife and Lation, than medical men have to generate and pronto disease, for the profit or pleasure of curing ick men. Captain Fitzrot.— ln our fourth pnge we pub•jo the character of our new Governor, from ihe $ (V Zealand Journal, we are ha. py to perceive that l8 ,-g a man of education and science ; and if an ariaocrat, he is unlike our present ones so, both by birth md educafon. We regret to hear that a strong feeing, and prejudice against him, are cherished by the oembers of " the family compact," or official clique. We warrant them lhey have cause to be frightened, fbe be the man we expect him to be. He will soon cc through their hollow- pretensions, and bring their ecret works to light. Their compacts, their coroprouiseß, their conuivauces, and bolstering up of one mother, will not last longer than until he arrives. But they have no cause to dislike the- new Governor, nerely because they feet that he muat, as the repre« lentative of the Home Government, bring them to task for the manner in which they hate abused tne [nut reposed in them. The Late Despatches. — We hear that Mr. Rhortlandbas received several despatches from the Borne Government, which he has not condescended to make known to ihe people, even that which he mblished in the Qazrtte teearding the land claims, i» without a date. Why is he here, but to inform the ieople of her Mnjesty 8 intentions towards them. A Governor is not to lule like a tyrant. He should show his instructions, and give a reason for what he "floes. We hear that Mr. Miortfand has received intimation that nearly all the Ordinances passed by the Legislative Council have been disallowed ; why does he withhold this information ? The Supreme Court, the County Court, and Registration Acts, are said to have been all disallowed, and not to be in force after a certain date, from the rece ; pt of certain despatches ; and yet nothing is published by Mr. Shortland on this Bubject. The selections of the Governmtnt Officers have been disallowed, and the public are kept in ignorance of the fact. How is this ? Does Mr. Sbortl&nd really expect that he eva keep all these matters s««ret? tie will find himself some day woefully mistaken. Government Gazette.— Shortland vehrus Short-land. — We published lately a list of Mr. Shortlands official appointments, we had this "week seme idea of "j.ubtishing an account of the inconsistencies ot Mr. Shortland'a public acts, but our paper would not contain the half of them, and we abandon ibe task. The last Gazette contains the most humiliating expression of official inconsistency that can well be imagined. A short time ago, Mr. Shortland, aj Governor, caused a Gazette to be published with the names of Bererel tortured individuals, called Land Claimants, to whom he awarded a certain portion of the lands chimed by them. This, as coming from a Governor, must of course be final, or else the acts of « Governor are no more to be depended upon than those of any other individual, but what will be thought of the Governor, who, some mon'hs thereafter issues another Government Gazette, contradicting avery word or the former, and changing the whole affair. Those who were to get the highest quantity of land by the former, ure reduced \o more than one half; others %m, obtain three times as much as before, and all are changed. What sort of Government do we live Under .* what dependance can we place upon any one , of its Rets ? To-day they are, and to-morrow they are not. Tuis wavering, and this abominable vacillation ' of purpose, have been the ruin of the colony from the i n>6t. We recommend the claimants to keep all their I lands, and pay no more money ro Government ; it is of no use paying for deeds which may in a day be changed. Those who have obtained large awards in the former Gazette, let them not heed the present, and those whose quantises have been increased by the last, let them accept of the boon. The one Gozttte is as good as the other,' it is the Gjrernor in either case. Let the claimants choose the most favourable of his awards, and keep by it ; he binds the Home Government by his acts. He cannot withdraw the word once given. Native Titles.— Crown Grants. — Nearly all l!»e quarrel^ which exist amonsc the natives, have their origin in disputes about the boundaries of lands. fule to land cmong the natives, is in many respects «ry different from what it is in England. Occupation confers title. A friend dyißg, or being buried on land, (if a chief, gives at leaat a claim to such land on the part of the suwiving friends. The circumstances which constitute a -claim to land, are in fact, though well understood among the natives, still so numerous, that they are sure to engender quarrels*'he Manganui fight, the. Tauranga massacre, have taken place on account of disputed lands ; and the only J>lat> by which guch unfortunate and cruel calamities can be prevented among the natives of New Zealand, 'f by giving them Crown, titles to their lands. The title specifyipg the exact quantity awarded, and defining bounties bo accurately, as not to be mistaken, this would at once bring peace to the natives, inasmuch as it would give them the power of appealing to something definite and decided. We are glad to perwive that the increasing intelligence of the natives themselves, is beginning to make them alive to the importance of this matter. This has doubtless arisen tr om their observing «he existence of this custom Btnong the European -, and the good effects resulting r «m it. They observe, that all those who purchase "nda in Auckland for instance, obtain a writing or S'ont from Government, certifying the aame, and thej ""demand tbat this writing debars all olhers from taking any claim y upon such lands. We have talked *'th several persons on this subject, and we are given l ° understand that many of the natives are likely, 'Wtly to apply fpr Crown grants to their lands. We * c no reason whatever why the wishes of the natives.

in this respect, should not lie complied with. Indeed, the advantage is so manifest to the Government, be well a,s to the natives, that such a measure shou'd not for a tooment be delayed. We shall treat of this subject more fully by and bye. The Natives.— -We are sorxy to observe how Uttle care is bestowed by tins Government on the moral improvement, or physical comforts of the natives, not a house has been built for them, not a piece of ground has been reserved for their accommoda'ion when they visit this place. We felt very muqh for them the other day, during the inclement weather, exposed on the beach without any shelter. Surely something might be done for their accommodation. A shade might at teas! have been erected, where they could sleep during the night! while disposing of their produce iv town. Sale of Government Lano. — On Monday last, another attempt was made at Belling land. But the attempt sigrally failed, and but for the advantage taken of a few individuals who had previously obtained leave to cut wood, and to make bricks on portions of this land, not an acre would have been sold. Of all the lots offered for sale, about seventy in number, only five or aix were bought, and these by the brickmakers who were settled on the land, and who were made to pay £2 per acre for this land, when not auo» ther would have given ss. for it. It was a cruel injustice to raise the upset price to £2, merely because it was known that these poor people must, at any price, buy the land which they had themselves improved ; it was taking advantage of their m.cae»itieB. Improvements in the Neighbourhood of Auckjlakd. — It is quite gratifying to observe the changes that are rapidly taking place in the appearance of the country around the metropolis. New lands are being daily brought into cultivation, and a tuperjor and better system of cultivation, and of fencing land is being daily adopted. We recommend our country friends to jnspect the fence which is now in the court c of being put up on the beautiful allotments of Mr Lewis, near ihe burying ground. This is decidedly one of, if not the beat lence we have seen in Ntw Zjali^nd- The other settlers would do well to follow die example set by Mr. Lewis. Mr. Halse.— -We perceive by the last Government Gazette, that this gentleman has been by Mr. Shortland dismissed from the Magistracy. We* wonder what dire offence he has committed ? It mußt be something extraordinary, else he should be just as fit for the office as most of the others. We tiuat the New Governor will immediately on his arrival, revise the old list, and lemove the names of all doubitul characters.