RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR DEPASTURING CATTLE

Lyttelton Times, Volume I, Issue 30, 2 August 1851, Page 3

RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR DEPASTURING CATTLE

OUTSIDE HUNDREDS OF WASTE LANDS OF THE CROWN. Issue of Depasturing Licenses outside the boundaries of Proclaimed Hundreds. yi All persons requiring Licenses for Buns on ,}*noceupied portions of the Crown Lands, or for portions of the same which they now occupy, shall lodge a description of such run (as near as may be in the form of Schedule B, hereunto annexed), with the Commissioner of Crown Lands J.qy the District in which such Run is situated. If no objection exist to the applicant being allowed to occupy such run, the Commissioner will-thereupon publicly notify that it has been claimed as a run, and he will at the same time publish (in the Government Gazette, or in a local newspaper), whenever he has the means of so doing, the name of the person claiming the run, and the description of it. No person shall be allowed to dispute the claim of another person to any run described according to these regulations, unless he shall do so within three months subsequently to the date of the publication above alluded to.

From the date of the expiration of the above named period of three months, the applicant will be required to pay rent for the run at the rate and in the manner after mentioned; and he will be required to mark, by marked trees or posts, or in such manner as shall be satisfactory to the commissioner, such boundaries of the run as are not distinctly marked by streams or natural boundaries.

Any person who shall have a run, or any considerable part thereof unoccupied for a period of four months after he shall have claimed the same, shall be liable to be regarded as having abandoned such run or part thereof; and if the Commissioner of Crown Lands shall lind it necessary publicly to notify that such run or pait thereof has been so abandoned, it shall thereupon be given into the occupation of the first applicant for it.

So soon after the time at which rent for a run may have become payable under these regulations as the occupant may, in the opinion of the Commissioner, have sufficiently stocked the same, he will be entitled to,a License to depasture stock upon it for fourteen years, in the form of Schedule A hereunto annexed, and subject to the following conditions:-—

If at any time during- the currency of such license, the land comprised therein, or any part thereof, shall be included within the boundaries of any Hundred, the said license shall cease and determine as to so much of the land as shall be included within such boundaries, from and after the day of the date of the proclamation by which such hundred shall be constituted.

If at any time during the currency of such license, the land comprised therein or any part thereof, shall be sold by or on behalf of the Crown, then and in that case also the said license shall cease and determine as to so much of the land as shall be so sold as aforesaid, from and after the day of the date of the Government Gazette in which notice of such sale shall be published.

If at any time during the currency of such license, the annual fee of five pounds, and the annual assessment imposed by the Local Ordinance, No. , entitled which may be due under such license, should not be paid by the holder of it, in the manner and at the time required by these regulations or the aforesaid ordinance ; then and in that case the said license shall cease and determine, and the commissioner of Crown Lands will there-

ujoon be empowered to notify publicly the for- "* feiture of such license, and to let the run to which it relates, by public auction to the highest bidder, for a term of fourteen years, subject to the conditions of these regulations, and of the before-mentioned ordinance. No such license for fourteen years will be granted to any applicant for a run until he shall have paid all arrears of rent and assessl^tnents which may be owing by him to the fw^rown for such run. */•, In the event of any dispute arising between or more claimants regarding-the boundaries of their respective runs, it shall be in the power of the commissioner of crown lands to make such alterations in the boundaries of their runs, or of any of them, as he may, upon enquiry, judge to be just and expedient. Every proper facility will be afforded for the acquisition of homesteads on their runs, not ex-

ceetling eighty acres, to persons who may be desirous of purchasing the same; but the Government will not undertake to survey and offer for sale any smaller block than fifty acres of land.

Whenever it becomes necessary to offer for sale by public auction any homestead of the occupier of a run under a license for fourteen years, on which lie has made improvements, such improvements will be valued by two arbitrators appointed respectively by the Government and by the lessee, ov by an umpire chosen by them, and the homestead will be offered for sale at a sum made yip of the upset price of the land and the value of the improvements. Should the holder of the license not become the purchaser, the value of his improvements, estimated as above, will be paid to him immediately after the sale. But should there be no bidding for such homestead, the bolder of the license will be required to purchase the land at the upset price immediately after the1 sale. Should he not do so, .the Government will at any time sell the homestead at the price at which it shall have been last offered to the holder of the license, or at any higher price which it may judge expedient. ISSUE OP TIMBER-LICENSES. Persons occupying waste land of the crown, for the purpose of cutting timber, will be required to pay a fee of five pounds yearly to the crown upon the issue of the license. The commissioner of crown lands will determine the extent of land to which such license shall give a right of occupancy, and the licenses are only to have effect within the district specified in them. No fresh ajjplicant for a license will be permitted injuriously to interfere with a portion of forest upon which any other person may have expended capital and labour. In the event of any occupant of a portion of forest, upon which he may have expended any considerable sum in the formation of roads or improvements to facilitate the removal of timber, wishing to resign his license, he will, if in the consideration of the commissioner he should be regarded as having established a claim to this indulgence, be permitted to transfer his license and right of pre*occupancy to such person as he may select. All applicants for timber licenses, must address their applications to the commissioner of crown lands, stating their names and residences in full. When the application has been approved, it will be forwarded to the Colonial Treasurer, by whom, upon payment of the required fee, the license will be issued. No person will be allowed to cut or remove timber, on or off from the crown lands which have been reserved by Government for the public use. GENERAL. All annual licenses to be drawn so as to expire simultaneously on the last day of each year. Licenses applied for after the Ist June in each year, will only be chargeable with half of the usual fee. Licenses, excepting those within hundreds, to be signed and issued by the Colonial Treasurer, upon payment of the proper fee. No license will preclude the Government from including within a Hundred, or selling, or will in any way affect the rights of the crown to land occupied in virtue of such licenses. All disputes between holders of licenses having reference to depasturing stock, or cutting timber, shall be heard and decided by the commissioner of crown lands, who is authorized by the Crown Lands Ordinance to charge, at his discretion, to the parties against whom his decision shall be made, a fee of five pounds. Licenses for depasturing purposes can be transferred _ from one person to another, with the authority of the government previously obtained through the commissioner of crown lands. These regulations are not intended to affect any rights already acquired by occupants of purchased land, to depasture upon crown lands in their vicinity a certain quantity of cattle in proportion to the extent of purchased laud which they may occupy, whether such rights have been acquired under regulations issued by the Government, or by the New Zealand Company. SCHEDULE A.—Form of License. _ Whereas of has made application for a License to (depasture stock) upon the waste lands of the crown, within the district of

(Boundaries), and has this day paid into my hands the sum of 1. s. d. I do hereby license the said to (depasture stock) upon the said land for the term of fourteen years from the date hereof, subject, nevertheless, to be sooner determined pursuant to the provisions of the crown lands ordinance, Session No. and of the regulations under which this license is issued, and to be cancelled as by the said ordinance and regulations is provided. Dated this day of Signed ( ) SCHEDULE B. Description of a run on the wastelands of the crown claimed by Situation Boundaries Estimated extent Numberand description of stock kept upon the run. ( Signature.) N. B.—lf the holder of the above license shall contravene or violate any order or regulation of the government made with respect to any of the purposes for which this license is granted, the government reserves to itself the power of declaring the license of any such person so offending to be cancelled, and such license shall thereupon become null and void, and shall not be pleaded in justification of any offence committed against the provisions of any Act relating thereto. *#* In consideration of these Regulations by the Council on the Ist July, the following was moved— That this Council recommend that the following clause do form part of the rules and regulations for depasturing cattle on waste lands; —Provided always, that in estimating the sufficiency, of stock for any sheep run applied for, the Commissioner shall" make allowance for natural increase according to the following scale :— For any No. up to 1,000 increase to be allowed for 5 years. .... from 1,000 to 5,000 . . . . 4 . . . . . . from 5,000 to 10,000 . . .. ■ 3 . . .... 10,000 and upwards . . . . 2 . .

can testify for many of those with whom I hare the honour of acquaintance, that there is no sacrifice they are not prepared to make to forward the interests of this settlement. I say, too, that if you value your own interests you will get rid at once of the idea' that the wishes of the Canterbury Association are not identified, I may say identical, with your own. Thus much for the first part of this subject—if I have carried you with me it will be almost unnecessary to touch upon the second part, let me however say this much upon it, that those who are faithful to the Association need nonecessarily be unfaithful to you. The resolution before you, guarded though it is in genei'al terms, is aimed, I repeat, at individuals rather than at principles, but I rather thank Mr. Bridge for having brought it forward, as it gives me the opportunity of declaring that I have no desire to hold the position I do hold in opposition to the wishes of my fellow colonists. I shall be willing, therefore, to abide by the decision of the meeting to-day. It lias been invidiously suggested, both covertly, and also openly in my hearing, that our opinions are bought and paid for. I throw back the insinuation and declare that I am as independent and free to vote according to my own convictions as any one here present. I can venture to look back upon my past acts, and I believe I have never given my support to any measure that has not had for its object andits end the welfare of the settlement. In conclusion, I will say, that although the post which I occupy was pressed Upon me, unsought for and unsolicited, and although I am not sure that in accepting it I did not sacrifice greater pecuniary interests, asserting too, that tlie acceptance of it left me as independent in principle and action as before : notwithstanding all this, I will not hold this post in opposition to the wishes of my fellow colonists, and I shall be as ready to resign it,as I am to resign that higher post which you conferred upon me, should this resolution be carried. Mr. Phillips rose to say that as he considered one part of Mr. Brittan's speech bore allusion to himself, he must be allowed to say lie had never asserted that Mr. Brittan's services were "bought and paid for;" he had never meant to attribute mercenary motives to that gentleman. The Ghaiumai; said this was out of order, as no one had been pointed out in Mr. Brittan's speech. Mr. Bkittan requested to be allowed to say that he was only too happy to hear that no such motives had been attributed. Mr. Wielock corroborated Mr. Phillips's explanation. Some other gentlemen in the room spoke to i the same effect. Mr. Willock said he did not know whether ! any one would second Mr. Bridge's motion, but he wished to propose in the 10th clause of the Rules an amendment which he thought would meet the same end, which he read to the meeting. He referred to the wish of the Association's agent to consult the Council in all matters of importance, and he thought they should take care to have its opinions expressed in the clearest manner. The presence in the council of those connected with the Association was likely to excite little suspicions. He would compare it to the nominee system ; Mr. Godley was in a manner their governor, and he thought it'would be better to avoid all possibility of the members of council beingbiassed by his opinions. Mr. Fitzgera£d said he would go even further than Mr. Brittan in opposing Mr. Bridge's motion, in his opinion it ought to be reversed. It should be, "That no one shall be a paid officer of the Association who is unable to get a seat in this council." To exclude those connected with the Association from a seat in the council, was the same as if you said that the ministers should not sit in the House of Commons, but at all events they had the remedy in ! their own hands. He quite agreed with Mr. ! Willock that suspicions might arise ; but if they i had no confidence in the officers of the Association, they were not obliged to elect them. Mr. Willock said, that three members formed a quorum for business, and who were so likely to be present as the Association's officers ? Mr. Fitzgerald suggested that this might be obviated by then- electing members who would attend. Mr. Pollard seconded Mr. Bridge's motion, which was then put to the meeting. Motion lost. Mr. Fitzgerald proposed, that previously to his bringing forward the motions on the subject

of Pasturage Regulations, of which he had given notice, the Clerk should read Mr. Godley's letter to the council, dated June 1, 1851, with its enclosure to Mr. Aitkin. The letters were then read, which were as follows •. — "Lyttelton, June Ist, 1821. " Sir, —I beg you will lay before the Council a copy of a letter which I have addressed to Mr. Aitken. If the colonists approve of it, 1 will ratify it by a formal agreement, and act in a similar manner towards other persons applying for pastoral runs. It may be necessary to add that a condition should be appended to all such agreements, to the effect that within six months the run shall be stocked, and I snggesi that a run shall be considered as stocked, if one breeding ewe for every twenty acres, or one head of breeding cattle for every 120 acres, be placed upon it. In my letter to Mr. Aitken, no such condition was mentioned, because I knew his run to be already stocked. My opinion as to the absolute necessity of immediately relaxing the strictness of our pasturage regulations is well known to the Council, and, I believe, fully participated in by the colonists. lam aware that the plan now proposed by me is anything but satisfactory, but Mr. Aitken and other stockholders are content to accept it as a provisional arrangement, and it is the best I can become a party to without danger to myself. " I am, Sir. your obedient Servant, "John Robert Godley, A.C.A." "To Edward Wright, Esq., Clerk to the Council of Land Purchasers."

"Lyttelton, May 27, 1851. " Sir, —I have had under consideration your application to take a run of 20,000 acres at a gradually increasing rent, and in reply beg to explain the terms on which I am prepared to meet your wishes as nearly as I can. " I will undertake not to give during the next seven years to any person, not having a legal right to demand it, occupation of the run which you apply for, on condition that-you engage to take at the ordinary rent, and in conformity with the general regulations, as much land as will produce £iO at the commencement of the first year, £20 the second, £40 the third, £70 the fourth, and £100 at the commencement of the fifth year. I am advised that no person has a legal right to demand occupation of a particular district for pastoral purposes, except purchasers of rural lands, who have a right to five acres of pasturage for every acre of freehold. lam prepared therefore to refuse to any other persons than such purchasers license to depasture on any part of the 20,000 acres applied for by you, unless compelled to do so by legal process. Perhaps it would be as well for additional security that you should make a conditional offer to the effect, that if another person apply for any part of your run you will step in and take the part applied for. It is for you to consider whether this be advisable. " I have the honour to be, &c. "John Robeiii Godley, A.C.A." " .T. C. Aitken, Esq." "P.S. It may be necessary to warn you that the above arrangement, being not in accordance with the views intended to be carried out by the Pasturage regulations of the Canterbury Association, must be subject to confirmation by the Association, to whom it shall be transmitted." Mr. Fitzgerald then said, The letters which have just been read, Sir, contain a very important proposal, which it becomes the duty of the Land-Purchasers to take into their most serious, consideration. It will be within the recollection of the Society, that not long after our arrival in the colony, we found that the pasturage regulations established by the Canter bury Association, were wholly inapplicable to the circumstances of the colony. The council appointed a sub-committee to investigate the subject and draw up a report, which was adopted and forwarded to England, with a recommendation that its suggestions should be attended to. That report was before the Society, and was published in the Lyttelton Times. It has been freely canvassed by the public press in the neighbouring settlements, and the land owners are no doubt well acquainted with its contents.

Had nothing occurred to alter the position of this question, we might have been contented to wait until we heard from home, as to the fate of those suggestions. But, Sir, two new and important events have occurred. The first is the commencement of what promises to be a very extensive importation of stock into these parts of New Zealand. The other is the publication of the Government Pasturage Regulations. The com-

From this it appears that a flock of 1000 ewes may become 10,000 sheep in the course of little more than five years. If therefore we allow only two acres to a single sheep, (I believe Sir George Grey allows three acres) a stockholder who will put 1000 ewes on a station can obtain a run of 20,000 acres upon the terms I have mentioned. The assessments are made up on the first of September. If the number of the flocks are returned, as will probably be. the case, before lambing, the payments at Id. per head which will be made in each successive year for five years, will be, including live pounds, the cost of the license, as follows.

£84* 10 0 So that the total amount which the stock holder will have to pay in five years, "will be 84£. 10s. Practically he will have obtained a run of 20,000 acres with a lease of fourteen years, with security for compensation for all improvements, by the payment of less than one hundred pounds in the first five years; of which sum the smallest part is due during the first years, when the returns from the run are necessarily small. These are the terms offered by the government. Now upon what conditions could a run of 20,000 acres be obtained from the Canterbury Association ? Only upon a yearly rent of 200 Z., without lease and without security of any kind for improvements. Where the stock holder would have paid less than