“ACCOUNT DUE”

Grey River Argus, 28 August 1937, Page 4

“ACCOUNT DUE”

£800,000,000 BILL. AUSTRALIA AND BRITAIN SUED. LONDON. "Account due to Boleslaw J. Strzelecki of New York from the Dominion Government of Australia ail’d the Government of Great Britain £BOO,000,000.” This is the claim now being circulated by Strzelecki, as “heir-in-law” of his great uncle, Sir Paul de Strze-

r lecki (known as Count Strzelecki), to - the "honourable Parliaments of the r Commonwealth of Australia and Great Britain” in connection with his 1, discovery of gold bearing and other » territories in Australia in 1840, ana of s the personal estate left by Sir Paul - Strzelecki on his death in 1873. Details of Strzelecki’s claims are:— Dollars. • To cost of exploration by great uncle 560,000 To value of gold mines in ' territory discovered 1,350,000,000 To loss of rents in ditto 1,500,000,000 ' To cost of litigation un- ‘ dertaken by heirs and 5 descendants 1,500,000,000 To fortune of great-uncle 85,000,000 Total claim: 4,435,560,000 ! It also is suggested that Sir Paul ' Strzelecki “annected” the Mount Kosciusko region of New South Wales ' and the “Strzelecki province” of Victoria “as a Polish possession." It is therefore claimed that 25,000 Polish families should be admitted yearly to the province, and that the Strzelecki s family should, in addition, have the right to settle 1,000 persons, “members of the family,” with full rights of “partition and colonisation'' on the estates of the province. Previous litigation, it is added, “issued adverse decisions to the heirs.” The Dictionary of National Biography includes a fairly extensive account of the life of Sir Paul Strzelecki, and makes the comment that priority in the discovery of gold in Australia "undoubtedly belongs” to him.