MR. BUSBY'S LAUD CLAIMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume V, Issue 1399, 12 May 1868, Page 4

MR. BUSBY'S LAUD CLAIMS.

(To the Editor of the New Zealand Herald.) Sib,—ln leading your-journal of Saturday last, I was quite .astonished to pead the list of property and money the arbitrators have awarded to Mr. Busby for his supposed losses (which 5 he never did lose), at the times when Mr._ Hugh Carleton was scheming to pass that Act to > ruin the-province for his relation and friend, Mr. Busby. Mr. Partridge was employed to carry a petition round all Auckland for signature, and. asking people to sign it who never knew; Mr. Busby or anything about his claim ; he .had the face to bring it to _ me, to ask me to sign it, telling me that. I, knowing all about Mr.- Busby's affairs, my signature would he a great help ; I told Mr. Partridge I never was guilty of signing a petition that I knew to he incorrectly stated. I told Mr. Partridge that Mr. Busby ought to be the hut man in New Zealand that ought to askfor any compensation for his losses, (if he h.ad any)- Mj*. Partridge, began to, toll me the lobssb Mr. Busby, had, beside.the loss of his land that wfis tat.en :_away from him by the General Government, mentioning a very expensive mill, and a great, number of servants and labouring men, and. a great numoer .of cattle and sheep, which I never heard before. I knew Mr. Busby from his first landing at the Bay of Islands, he being the .. head magistrate at Waitangi, and I being the governor at Kororareka, I always had my eye close, on Mr. 1 Busbv. Now, all the servants I can recollect Mr. Buaby ever brought to New Zealand was one family of the name of (if I. am not mistaken) MacKay. Now, I know he imported a small stock of cattle, but I never knew him to lose one of.,them by beitfe stolen. ...... i

Mr. Busby and his friend, Mr. Hugh Carleton, want to ruin this province to pay for Mr. Busby's supposed losses but I should hope that the whole of-the inhabitants in this province will protest against such an unjust olaim and his Honor the Superintendent . ought to. be the first to protest against such an unj nst act I -wonder how Sir. ' Clarke and Mr. James O'Neill and the other gentlemen could be led on by Hugh Carleton to vote for that Act when they all knew Carleton so well, and what his scheme was at the time. When Mr. Busby bought his land there were about half-a-dozen gentlemen, I could* mention their names, real land sharks, [ and when they wanted a block of land they would first select it and next find out the native chitf and invite him a few timos to come and see little store s of blankets, fish-hooks, tomahawks, and all other trash you could mention. The natives at that time were, what-I called-them, a set of innocent, ignorant people, and go they proved to these land.&harks and when a block of land was chosen by the land-sharks, and the poor innocent chief or chiefs went to mark the . boundraios, the way. the boundaries were nwrked out , was , this—The shark had it all planned out, before-hand, and a high bill selected to ta.ke the chief and his associates to; and when they arrived at the top of the hill, all sat down together for a little time—then came the selection of .the block. > The shark stood up, facing the sun, stretched his hands out, pointing[towards the sun, and, turning himself right round till he faced the sun again, said, ''I would lika to take the whole' °f this block." They all then went'down to the 6t Pre, and the articles , laid before the natives, the ■.prices fixed, and deeds drawn out. The natives ,3«pne.a.U Qm, and all was settled. I do not write by near-say, but I know it to be a fact. Now, I wish book° l^. uab ?' s claim according to my scrapdUtHnf , es Cusby—2,ooo acres in the Tepuke, Bay of Islands ; money and goods

to the'araount of £132 6s. James Busby—s,ooo acres on the north bank of 1 W aitasgi River, Bay of Islands; money and goods to the amount of £112 14s. James Busby—lso acres' on the south bank of the Waitangi River; goods to the amount of £162 12b. James Busby—2s,ooo acres of; land situated at Wangarei or Bream Head; money and goods to the amount of £193 os. 6d. James Busby—ls,ooo acres,, situated at Wangarei or Brown Bay; money and goods ■to the amount of £127 9s. 3d. James Busby—27o acres, situated at Waitangi; money and goods to'the amount of £60 6s. 6d. James Busty— 25 acres, situated at Waitangi ; goods to the amount of £37 4s. James Busby—soo acres, situated near the Bay of Islands ; goods to the' amount of £13 ss. James Busby— 2000 acres, distriot of Waitangi, Bay. of Islands ; money and goods to .the amount of £21, 7s. 6d. James Busby•—loo aoreg, district of Waitangi; j money and goods to the amount of £21 17s. 6d. j James Busby—6o acres,districtof Waitangi, £25105. Now, I will leave the readers of this letter to judge whether Mr. James Busby is not. one of our first land sharks in New Zealand. Now, for the portion of land that the Government justly, took from him, that did not cost him one balf-penny an acre, he and his friends want to impoverish the whole of this province, by giving him ' the whole of the waste lands, besidesa large sum of money, for property that did not cost him £400-; therefore it becomes every settler who has got any stake in the provincp of Auckland to protest against such an unjust claim. If Mr. Carleton's Act is to carried out, Mr. Busby be allowed his compensation,..!, and many more of 'the old settlers will be ten times more ■entitled to compensation than Mr. Busby is, therefore this province will never be out of debt till all these compensations are done away with. And Mr. Busby ought to be the very last man in New Zealand that ought to look fcr it.—l am, Sir, a lover of justice and fair dealing, •: /. • i Benjamik E. TPHNEB. Retreat Cottage, May 11th, 1868. -