AND WELLINGTON SPECTATOR.

New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, Volume IV, Issue 276, 30 August 1843, Page 2

AND WELLINGTON SPECTATOR.

Wednesday, August 30, 1843. We stated in our last that, at the request of a Deputation appointed at a Public Meeting on the 24th instant, Colonel Wakefield had expressed his willingness to resume the negociation relative to the settlement of the Land Claims, which had been suspended since last May. We then entertained hopes that it would have been by this time our pleasing duty to report a favourable progress of the negotiation ; we regret to say that, on the contrary, it has been entirely broken off, and that Mr. Spain, the umpire to whom any differences which might arise were to have been referred, has sailed for Auckland on board the Government brig.

Public expectation had been much excited by the hope which was generally entertained that this long vexed question was likely to be summarily disposed of at last, and the nonfulfillment of this hope has naturally led to strong expressions of disappointment on the part of those who entertained it. The termination of the resumed negotiation certainly appears to have been very abrupt, and we regret that mote consideration was not bestowed upon it before it was finally broken off. However, as the umpire left for Auckland immediately after his rejection of the proposal made on the part of the Company to the Protector of Aborigines, we fear that' we must regard all hope of any arrangement as' entirely excluded.

We understand that the negotiation had its commencement as far back as the 22nd of August last year, when the Company's Principal Agent, having had experience of the slow progress of the Commission of Enquiry, proposed to Government that the question of the Company's Titles should be submitted to Mr. Halswell, the Protector of Aborigines for this district, on the one part, and an Agent of the Company on the other part ; with reference, in case they should differ, to Mr. Spain as umpire between them. This application was, after the lapse of five months, acceeded to by the Local Government in January last, Mr. George Clarke, jun., being substituted as the Native Protector instead of Mr. Halswell, and Colonel Wakefield himself acting on behalf of the Company. The Government at this time appears to have contemplated the submission to the referrees of all the Native claims, including their pahs and cultivations ; and forseeiug that the principal trial of strength was likely to arise in respect of those occupied portions, the point was particularly alluded to at the time. "I am further directed to state " writes the Colonial Secretary, " that in order to afford you every facility in carrying out the arrangements already made by the Company, his Excellency will consent, that in the event of a difficulty occurring in the negociation with the natives for the sale of such of their pahs and cultivations as are within the limits already alienated by the Company, to permit such case to remain in abeyance with a y view to some future adjustment of the Native claim." It seems from this that Government contemplated the inclusion of the pahs and cultivations in the negociation, for if they were not included, no dispute such as is spoken of as probable could arise respecting them. In the course of the 1 negotiation disputes did arise on this £oint, as appears by the following extracts, which have been communicated to us from letters which passed between the two referrees Mr. Clarke and Colonel Wakefield. The first is from a letter of the former dated 27th February, 1843, and addressed to Colonel Wakefield. " Referring to our conversation on the 25th instant, re'stoejcting the amount of payment i to which tneNatives of Pipitea, Kumutoto, and Te. Aro, may be considered entitled, I have the honor to inform you, that after a careful deliberation, I have computed the | value of their claims to be one thousand arid.

fifty pounds sterling. lam instructed that the Natives will be allowed to retain their pahs, and cultivated grounds, until they -feel disposed to alienate them, but in cases where they interfere with the public convenience, I shall always consider it ray duty to induce the Natives to alienate them for a fair equivalent, provided another suitable spot can be found for them. * * • * I beg to be distinctly understood, that in consequence of the exhorbitant demands of the Natives, my object is merely to fix upon a definite amount of consideration which I may offer them, and which I will endeavour to induce them to receive. Signed George Clarke, Jun."

To this .Colonel Wakefield replied in a letter, da|ted March 1, 1843, in which he very fully discussed thee onsideration to which the Natives were entitled, and in which occurs the following passage. " With respect to their pahs and cultivations, I am bound 'in candour to state that it is utterly beyond my power to become a party to any arrangements that does not prospectively at least provide for the cession of any such lands as may already under the sanction of Government, have been allotted to individuals, or vested in the Corporation of Wellington for public purposes. * * * * I beg therefore, that you will be good enough to determine upon one proposal to include all claims for the Port Nichulson district, if there be any beyond those you have advanced, and on such terms as v ill leaoe no question as to the surrender of the pahs and cultivations required for the settlement so soon as the Natives can be reasonably expected to leave them. Signed W. Wakefield." This letter was replied to at length by Mr. Clarke ; the only part of his reply which appears material at present, is as follows :—: — March 2, 1843. I beg to be clearly understood, that it is contrary to my instructions, and utterly out of my power to become a party to any arrangment which stipulates for the cession by the Natives of their pahs and cultivations, to the New Zealand Company under any circumstances, without their own consent. (Signed) George Clarke. On the 23rd May, Mr. Clarke again referred to the subject (no correspondence having occurred in the interval,) as follows. " With reference to your proposal, that I should include all the claims of natives resident within, the limits described in the New Zealand Company's Port Nicholson Deed, in my estimate of the award of compensation to which they may be entitled, I have ,the honour to inform you that after a careful investigation of their respective merits, I have arrived at the conclusion, that they are entitled to compensation equal in value to £1,500 sterling." (sigued) George Clarke, jun. This was the precise position in which the negotiation stood when Colonel Wakefield requested that it might be suspended till the arrival of the next ship, after which he would be prepared to go on with it. We understand that no reply was given to this request, but the matter has stood over til] the recent arrival of the Tyne and Mary. As soon as that event happened, Mr. Spain the umpire between Colonel Wakefield and Mr. Clarke, addressed the former, " proposing to allow him to proceed with the arbritration commencing from the precise position he was in when he receded from the arrangement." Colonel Wakefield replied that he was, " prepared to resume the negociation respecting further compensation to the Natives, commencing from the precise position in which we were placed when the arrangement was postponed," and stating that " he had written to Mr. Clarke, to inform him that he was ready to do so." The letter to Mr. Clarke, was not answered by him, but he placed it in the hands of Mr. Spain, who immediately addressed Colonel Wakefield on its contents as follows : — Since my letter of this morning was written, the Protector of Aborigines has handed me your letter to him of this day's date, in which you quote a paragraph from a letter of his of the 23rd May last, to the following effect — viz., " that we should include all claims of the Natives resident within the limits described, in the New Zealand Company's Port Nicholson Deed " — from which you infer that Mr. Clarke has waived his objection to a cession of the Pahs and cultivated grounds ; and that you must repeat what you had stated in & former letter that you cannot hold the Company responsible for any settlement that shall not be final and conclusive.

With respect to Mr. Clarke's letter generally, I would beg to observe that I conceive that you ought not to have addressed any letter to that gentleman until I had finally decided that the arbitration was to be resumed : and as to the paragraph I have quoted, I would only observe that although I admit your perfect right to urge any matter you may think necessary upon the consideration of (he Protector as Referee on the part of the Natives, yet I cannot allow any condition to be imposed upon me through him inconsistent with the original terms of the arbitration, which I have fully expressed in my letter of the sth instant ; and,, therefore, I have to request to be informed whether you consent to renew the arbitration upon the terms proposed in that letter, without any reference whatever to your letter to Mr. Clarke, with which, as umpire, I can have nothing to do.

To this Colonel Wakefield replied, as fol. lows —

Wellington, 25th August, 1843. Sir, — I have the honor .to acknowledge the receipt of your communication dated 9 p. m. last night; and in reply, beg to state that the communications I made yesterday to Mr. Clarke and yourself, have met with the entire concurrence and approbation of a deputation appointed by a Public Meeting of the land owners of this district; and I am bound to say that nothing short of " a final and conclusive settlement of all claims of the natives resident within the limits described in the New Zealand Company's Port Nicholson Deed," will satisfy the feelings and expectations of the landowners and the settlers. Under these circumstances, I am now ready, willing, and anxious, to proceed in the negociation for the final settlement of all questions at issue, without any further delay. I must, however repudiate the charge of wishing to impose upon you any new conditions for the adjustment of the native claims. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient servant, (Signed) W. Wakeield, Principal Agent of the New Zealand Company. Mr. Spain's answer was as follows :— Land Claims' Office, Wellington, August 25, 1843. 2 p.m.

Sir, — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this day's date just handed to me, and in reply I beg to inform you that the terms therein proposed are such as to interdict the resumption of the negotiation to which it refers. I have the honor to remain, Sir, Your most obedient servant, (Signed) Will". Spain. William Wakefield, Esq., Principal Agent of the New Zealand Company. The following morning Mr. Spain sailed for Auckland.

We believe that we have, in the above extracts, given every thing which bears materially on the merits of the case. Our readers will form their own opinions upon it. We confess that we have ourselves some difficulty in understanding the exact ground on which Mr. Spain broke off the resumed n.;gooiation. He refers it himself to an attempt on the part of Colonel Wakefield to impose some terms not contained in the original arrangement with Government ; but he does not make it clear to our apprehension what terms these were. The original arrangement seems to have left it open to Mr. Clarke and Colonel Wakefield to include the pahs and cultivations, if they could agree upon the value, and prevail upon the Natives to accept it whether they were to be included or not seems to have rested entirely with those gentlemen, and at the time when the negociation was suspended in May last, Mr. Clarke appears to have consented to take them into consideration ; and as far as we can form an opinion by the comparison of his letter of the 23rd of May, with Colonel Wakefield's of the Ist of March, to which it was a reply, we should certainly consider that the pahs and cultivations were included in the increased demand of £1500. If they were included, then on reverting to the "precise position" in which the negociation stood when it was suspended, the only question would be one of value; namely — whether Colonel Wakefield choose to give £1,500 or not ; if he did, then the matter was concluded without any occasion to refer to the Umpire ; and if he did not, then the office of Mr. Spain was to decide upon an amount between the two referrees.

However, as we have said, all hopes of any arrangement of the Land Claims by private arbitration is now gone, and we appear to be left to the natural course of the Land Commission, or the chance of some interference on the part of the Home Government.

If it were possible to induce the parties to agree to proceed to a partial settlement, excluding the pahs and cultivations, the great obstacle would still exist of defining what is meant by these terms. There are considerable tracts cleared many years ago and since abandoned by the Natives, there are other portions which were in actual cultivation at the time of the sales to the Company, there are others which have been brought into cultivation since, some by natives and some by white men, and we see no definition anywhere establishing which of these come within the meaning of the intended exception. The greater part if not the whole of both Te Aro and Thorndon flats, have been cultivations at some period, and some portions were in cultivation at the time when E' Puni obliged his dependent tribe on Te Aro, to permit the Settlers to occupy that part of the town. Considerable portions of country sections are in the same predicament, and we confess that it appears to us to render these exceptions so very extensive, and to leave so large a power in the hands of the Natives to eject and annoy the Settlers, that the benefit derived from any partial settlement would scarcely have been felt. The enormous amount to which the Natives might have extended their demands in respect to these, would probably have4>een altogether a bar to their separate disposal. R We should be sorry to excite any ground-

less expectations, but at the same time, we cannot help adverting to the rumours which are abroad, relative to the improved position of the affairs of these settlements with the Home Government. It is stated on very respectable authority that there is every prospect of the existing Land Commission being abolished", and that in fact the question is possibly now settled at Home. It is known that the Land Claims Ordinance passed at Auckland has been disallowed at Home ; and more must follow. The same authority also holds out the prospect of our obtaining a LieutenantGovernor, independent of Auckland, a Supreme Court, the control and expenditure of our own taxes, and some popular voice in the Legislative Assembly. As mere rumours we should put little faith in these ; but when we consider the position of the Secretary for the Colonies, the fact that he must' either have gone to Parliament for a grant of nearly £100,000, to meet the effects of mis-government, or have acceeded to some arrangements which would procure us the advantages hinted at, we confess that we are ourselves very sanguine of some beneficial change, and that not remote, in the aspect of our affairs.