The New Zealand Herald AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 1865.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 552, 19 August 1865, Page 4

The New Zealand Herald

AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 1865.

SriOCTEMUR. AGENDO. " Give erery man thine ear, but few thy voice : Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. This above all,—To thine ownself be true; And it must follrw as the night the <lay. Thou canst nott be false to any man."

THE DISCHARGED MEN OF THE Goth KEGIMENT. The immediate departure of the Goth regiment having, as will be seen elsewhere, been fixed l'or the earliest possible date, general orders have been issued calling the men of the regiment together, and instructing the ollicer' commanding it to forward for confirmation with as little delay as possible the discharge documents of all men who have completed ten years service, who desire to bo discharged for the purpose of remaining in the colony. The SOth," SLst and 82nd clauses of the ■' Auckland "Waste Lands Act, LSuS," which we append to these remarks, entitle those soldiers leaving the service for the purpose of settling in the Province of A-Uehland, to reccive from the "Waste Lands Commissioner a land order enabling them to acquire land free of cost, to the extent of GO acres for every private, and for every non-commis-sioned ollicer, SO acres. Each claimant will be called upon to prove, by certificate or otherwise that he obtained his discharge for the purpose of settling in the Province of Auckland, and must also produce a certificate from the ollicer, under whom he may have served, of having during his period of service been of good character. Such land order must be applied for within twelve months after such discharge. AVe specially mention these conditions to prevent those men who may obtain their discharges from being disqualified from the benefits of the Waste Land Act through ignorance of the necessity of complying with such conditions. "We take the opportunity of again pointing out the advisability of rendering these existing inducements for trained military men and useful settlers to remain in our Province as attractive and practically beneficial as they can be made. The Goth Regiment will probably leave behind it as fine a body of men wherewith to found two or even three special settlements as any wise and farseeing Government could desire to have located within the borders of the Province. Three such settlements firmly fixed in the North would do more to preserve tho peace, by the moral effect they would have upon the natives, than would a whole regiment of soldiers kept in garrison at Auckland and at Otahuhu—to say nothing of the advancement of the Province by the settlement of its waste lands by bond fide colonists, men who know the country are inured to a rough life, and who, with a little assistance in the first year of their location, have in them the stuff of which successful settlers are made. "What we have proposed before and what we now reiterate as the wisest course for the Province to take with respect to these and similarly discharged men of the several regiments leaving New Zealand from time to time—is to adopt some definite system under which they may avail themselves of the provisions of the Auckland "Waste Lands Act in a manner calculated to mutually benefit both themselves and the Province to the fullest extent possible. In the first place instead of these men taking up their land orders one here and one there, special blocks of lands of the best quality and with tolerable access should be set apart for them, and they should be invited { to organise, themselves in parties of from fiftv to one hundred members, for the occupation of particular locations. Taking the average amount of land at seventy acres per man, the block required for a special settlement of fifty of these men need only consist of 3,500 acres, or for one consisting of one hundred men of 7,000 acres. I here would be little difficulty, we think, in finding such a block of first class laud, cither forest or open ground—and the former is generally more advantageous to the man of small capital—in tho vicinity of nearly each one of our flourishing Northern settlements, and in many places south of Auckland, where there would at once exist the opportunity for many of these special settlers to obtain occasional work amongst the-old established settlers in their | neighbourhood. But if we wish to secure these men as bona \Jide settlers for the Province of Auckland, we must do something more than give them even good land in special settlements. We do not hesitate to pay the passages of many from Great Britain whose value as colonists turns out in too many cases to be very doubtful indeed. Why should we not expend on men now in the Province, and who are already colonised, the same amount of money, as a help to their first year's settle-

ment, that weexpeud on merely bringin^P? grants to our shores, one large proportion lol " whom are unwilling to work for fair \ V a-"' and who grumble because we do not provfi'' tlicm with all the luxuries of a feather existence, and another large proportion" whom are. scarcely suited for hard work!' V th' y were ever so willing to take to ip "With good land, with the occasional to agricultural work away from his farm with an advance <>t tools and seed, an!} j* some cases of provisions, there would be lit-t risk in the establishment- of such ? etl !'.' meats, and the repayment of the ad van t alluded to, as in the case of assistance afi'orded to immigrants whether as passage monev r otherwise, might be secured to the Proving by promissory note of two or three years dat? If ten, or even twenty per cent., failed to honor these notes or deserted their settle ment the Province would gain more by 4," successful settlement of the remainder man would pay over and over again for any pense it had been put to. It is unfortunate perhaps, that our energetic, business lli-i Superintendent is at ~\Y ellington at the pr e '. sent time, fulfilling his duties in the Assembly, or we should have had little fear but that what could be done would be done by to make the most of the present opportunity In all probability, however, the session will have concluded, and both that gentleman and Mr. Carleton will have returned to Auckland before the final departure of tie regiment takes place. "What we do to induce these men to become bond fide settlers in this Province must needs be done at once as the General Government will no doubt lose no time in offering counter attractions to'secure their services for Mr. Weld's am d'elite, the " fifteen hundred constables." The following are the clauses of the Auckland Waste Lands Act, ISSB, now in force referring to NATAL AND MILITARY SETTLERS. 80. Every Naval and Military Officer, whether ca ■ full or half-pay, and every non-commissioned o£«> ancl private, marine and seaman, whether bclonjiaj to Her Majesty's service or to the service of the Is.; India [Company, who may retire or obtain his dijl charge from the service to which he may belona, or who having retired or obtained his discharge for the purpose aforesaid, liaa not selected land under aat former law or regulation enabling Naval and Military Settlers to select land free of cost, shall be entitled (in lieu of an allowance in respect of money expended in passages, as hereinbefore provided, in respect of settlers emigrating from the United Kingdom szd elsewhere) to receive from the Commissioner a la; 4 order enabling him to acquire land free of cost after the foLowing rate :— Commissioned officer, 400 acres, Non-commissioned snd war ant officer, 80 acre;, Private soldier, marine, and t-eaman, CO acr;!. 81. Provided always that any such officer, notcommissioned officer and private, and any marine aid seaman, before he shall be entitled to ;reeeiT3 a:; such land order, shall prove to the satisfaction of the Commissioner, by certificate or otherwise, that he retired or obtained his discharge for the purpose of settling in the Province of Auckland ; and any eki commissioned officer, or private, marine, or seimsn, shall, at the same time, produce t"> the Commissioner a l eitificate from th-; officer under whom he mavhavj served, of having', during his period of service been of good character : Provided a 1 o that any suchhed order shall be applied for wiihin twelve cikrdir months nest after such letirenient or discharge:! aforesaid, or witain throe months from the pa-sing of this Act, by those who h.ive retired or been discharged. 83. Every such land order shall be granted by th» ' Commissioner, or his Deputy in New Zealand, and shall bii to the same purport, and shall have the sams effect, and sh ill tn itle the person in whose lVour the same is gr.mud to the s une rights and privileges as a land order grunted by an agent in England, to a person emigrating th--reirom, after such last mtitioned order shall have been presented to, and had a note made thereon by the Commissioner or hii Deputy as hereinbefore provided