COMPENSATION COURT.-Saturday. [Before T. Beckham, Esq., Commissioner.]

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXII, Issue 2885, 24 October 1866, Page 7

COMPENSATION COURT.-Saturday. [Before T. Beckham, Esq., Commissioner.]

The Commissioner sat m Court at eleven o'clock. ' Th • .J. J0 IHN?° 1 HN ?°. !T D OUOAL, RAGLAN. *£; ffiot! clwm — £257 17s - 6i « «**• iJ^nH P^ly heard on the previous fendrnof 0!^0 !^ *? the Venetian Mr '.which slZ^^T* the m«»orm «»or a ndum required, Juue, 1863 Cattle were solJ °* m * '»llo^T iBsi fS^ tid that tUe Co « rfc could not X 8 ltem ?j «28 10a. for forced sale of cattle, ,M they we.c sold before the date of his commission! llJl'i Boa I r J m !? "* d Portions of letters which had been issued by the Government during the war re.bpect.ng the state of Baglan, and with- reference to - J£«. ?&■ le^ n °S- ,H * intended, after considering Afcoae letters, to deal with each claim from that di* 'triotonn. merit, in the wmeway as claims from other places were dealt with. i JJ h ® Commissioner said he would look into the letter* of instructions from the Government, and consider Mr Dougal's claim as well as those of other Kaglan settlers, before giving his decision. SAMUEL LDDBROOKB CLAHKB, TAURANGA. JSSStft 1 " WM £m 18 - 2 - * nd ' the William C. 0. Spenser deposed: £ resided at lauranga for two years. I left abont six months before the troops went there. I oannot say definitely whether I was living there in July, 1863. I went !u In Tl . ly ,' two yews befo *o the troops went there I lured at Te Papa, a missionary settlement. Mr. Clarke, farm u about one and a half miles from the mission station. He had a house on the farm and one at Te Papa. There was a good road between them when 1 lived there. It wa» very level. The farm was not destroyed before I left The natives had not commenced to destroy any property when I left. It was anticipated that they might oommenoe disturbances. I never heard that the King natives had passed a law that the property of Europeans should not be touched. It would have been easy to h«ve removed the goods from one place to the other. lam not aware that the mission ■tation was injured or attacked. Mr. Clarke resided at his house at Te Papa. T lived at the farm. I was learning farming. Mr. Clarkes two brothers, Mr. Bakw, Archdeacon Brown, Mr. Black, Captain Sellars, and others were living near Mr. Clarkes faim. They all ceased to live there, with the exception of Archdeacon Brown and Mr. Purvis. They left, I think, in ISG4. Some of them did not return. I know Mr. Henry Clarke returned when the troops went there. Mr. Black Mr. Faulkner, and others were liable to the same danger as Mr. Clarke. No property was destroyed when I was there. Edo not know the value of Mr. Clarkes reaping machine. The winnowing maohine was value for between £15 and £20. The stable was a large building, the sides being filled in with tea-tree. I have been at Tauranga since the war. There were some of the fruit trees in the orchard. The orchard, I think, was destroyed altogether. The dwelling-house was a mile nearer Te Papa than Mr. Purvis's house. Samuel L. Clarke deposed : I never lived on the farm. I lived at Te Papa, which is about a mile and a half from the farm. I took charge of the farm. The intervening land was not mine. I ceased to lire at Te Papa in consequence of the war. 1 left on the 80th July, 1863. We left in consequence of a letter received from Thompson. I never returned to live there. The natives never threatened to damage the property at all. I never heard that they did. I never heard that they arranged not to touch the property of Europeans. They never gave me notice to that effect Some friendly natives lived at the farm after I left, by my permission. They did not cultivate the farm. They cultivated merely a patch of potatoes. The property for which I claim compensation was on the farm when I left I saw them there when I left. I can't say what became of them. The first disturbances commenced a short time before the Gate Pa affair in 186*. There was no actual fighting, but people were not considered to be lafe there. Persons resided where the camp was, at Te Papa, during the intervening time. Mr. Purvis left his place for a time — I can't say how long. Th 9 property was taken after the natives left The fiatives were not on the farm when I left They lived in the farm-house afterwards, with my permission. I can't say from my own knowledge what became of the farm implements. 1 can't pay when,- or by whom, the stable was destroyed. I did not return until some time before the Gate. Pa affair— early in 1864. I don't know whether Mr. Faulkner's property Was destroyed. I don't know, except by a witness, that my fencing was taken to the Gate Pa. I don't know when the house was destroyed. The orchard was at Te Papa. After the letter we received from Thompson we could not do otherwise than leave. My garden would not have been preserved if I had been living in my house. Archdeacon Brown returned after a few weeks. Mr. Purvis resided in my house after I left in July. Mr. Black resided on the opposite side of the harbour. Mr. Faulkner returned. He was here several months, but I can't ■ay how long. We got all the goods we could away. They might have been allgotaway Idaresay. Wedid not consider it safe to keep the cattle there. The stocktnanwasfired at by thenativesbefore the Gate Pa affair. We could not gay whether we were safe at that time. Every one was of opinion that it was not safe. Mr. Purvis's house was gutted the same time as mine was. He requested me to make a claim for him, but he d«d not give me a power of attorney to do so. He kept his cattle somewhere on the coast My cattle were sold on August 29, 1863, by Mr. Buckland, in Auckland. I estimated the loso at 20 per cent, I believe, though the loss was much heavier. The passage money, £29 16s. Bd., was for myself and family. It does -not include the expense of going back. There were 30 chains of furze fencing destroyed after the Gate Pa was held as a redoubt I don't know the date. It was directly after the Gate Pa was taken. It was one of the first things done after that by the troops. The furze [fencing, stable, &c., are not included in the amount of capital expended. Mr. Whitaker refused to go into an arbitration on the spot of the damage done. The orchard might have been .included in the claim for £700, .but I am not sure. I put down what I expended on the place, but did not go into every item. We thought the articles safe as long as the natives were there. I took away the horses before I left. We did not know at the time, that,tbe troops were coming. The natives I left in charge are at Rotorua, I expect They were Rotorua natives. The timber belonging to the Government was taken away to build the Gate Pa, and, if the Government could not protect their property, it need nob be wondered at that the settlers could not. The case was adjourned until Wednesday, 31st inst, in order to enable claimant to produce the evidence of Mr. Purvis, Tauranga. The Court then adjourned until Tuesday.

TUESDAY". Tb« Commissioner sat at 11 o'clock this morning. THOMAS JOWIB, RANGIAWHIA. In this cue, the Commissioner intimated to the claimant ttat the Government had been pat to the expense of £35 153., coit of witnesses and other expenses ; and, if claimant would refund that sum to the Government Agent, there wonld be no objection to hear his claim again. The case was not to be reheard unless the money were paid. The Commissioner instructed the Clerk of the Court to communicate the matter to Mr. Brookfield. Claimant : I will endsavour to raise the money. Commissioner : The sooner you do so the better. BROWN, CAMPBELL. AND CO. The original claim was £1,127 10s., and the award £685. Robert Farmer deposed : I was manager of claimants' land at Waihoihoi, Tuimata, and at the Mauka. There were 50 acres of grass on the land nearest Drnry, all fenced. Part of the island was ' fenced. Tuimata was fenced all round. The whole of the island belongs to Brown, Campbell, and Co. There were 30 chains of fenciDg destroyed at Tuimata after July, 1863, by troops, I think, using it forßrewood. Th* redoubt was on the farm. It was all in good repair. •It was made of puriri posts wad tea-tree rails. There were thirty acres of bush entirely destroyed at Tuimata, after July. It was rather heavy timber. I thought it was destroyed by the troops until I saw Mr. K.ew s evidence. I saw soldiers cutting it, and also militiamen. I saw the soldiers cutting it in August. There was then a good deal cut. '1 hey said they were cutting light rails for the stable at Drury, •which was built by the artillery. I g aV e no permusion to any person to cut this wood. Mr. Waterson and mjself were the only persons who could give permission, and neither of us did so. Any ' person cutting down this timberwould be trespassing and cutting down property to which they had no right. I estimated the timber at 2i. 6d. per ton Standing. There were 1,400 tons estimated to have been destroyed, which, at 2s. 6d. per ton, would be £175. The claim is made for £100. The clearing -of the timber would not be an advantage. There were a good many puriri trees out down. I would nob hare cleared it in the way it is cleared now. The stores were .taken, from Waihoihoi. The £25 is

claimed for filling up the hole?. There were 60 head of cattle lost, principally at Waihoihoi. I saw them in the beginning of July. I have not recovered any of them, a' though they have been sought for. 1 be/an to re-occupy the land in April, 1864. It was not safe to occupy the land n(Jar Drttry during the War. It is b«hind Mr. Yottog's farm, up to the coal mines'. Some of the land is near the road — ten acres. Part of the fencing of those ten acres was takeu. Settlers from the Hunua came tj live in the house. The ten acres might have been occupied so far as danger is concerned. William Kerr deposed : I was a contractor for supplying the troops with firewood during the war. The contract commenced in April, 1863, and continued up to April, 1864. X have no idea of the total quantity supplied. There might have been 1,500 tons, but I cannot speak positively. The supply would fully average 100 tons per month. I got a large portion off my own land. I got from 50 to 100 tons of timber off Messrs. Brown, Campbell, and Co. 's land. Samuel Hall gave me permission to cut the timber. I understood he had charge of their property. He cautioned me not to cut any trees, but to take timber that was lying. I did not 'cut any trees down. The timber I had cut and carted bad been previously cut down by order of the Government. Robert Farmer, re called : Samuel Hall was stockman. He had no instructions to give any one permission to cut any timber. The whole of the thirty acres of bush were cut down. The Commissioner said the evidence would only warrant a very small interference with the claim, A reduction of £35 was made, and the final award given for £650.

I WILLIAM KEBR, PRTJRY. The original claim was £269 7s. 4d., and the award £212 7s. 4d. The claim hud been partly re-heard on the 10th of October, and claimant intimated that he deaired to to examine a witness respecting the value of the description of drapery goods lost. Samuel Bright was examined at considerable length by the claimant as to the prices of the various articles of drapery mentioned in the claim. During the examination, Mr. Boardman took exception to the evidence of the witness 'from the fact that he had not been here in 1863. Witness stated that he came to this province in September, 1864. The Commissioner directed that the witness could be questioned as to the pi ices in England in 1863, and the examination was continued. Mr. William Eattray was examined at great length by Mr. Eoardman as to the value of the different articles ; and his evidence did not differ materially from that given by Mr. K. Uobbs on a previous day. Mr. Kerr was re-called and examined. The Commissioner reserved his decision until he should read over the evidence adduced. The Court then adjourned. "