PUBLIC MEETING.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume I, Issue 5, 9 November 1844, Page 2

PUBLIC MEETING.

A gbneeal meeting of the resident landowners was held at Barrett's Hotel, on Tuesday last, to take into consideration the difficulties ander which they were at present labouring from the non-settlement of the Land Claims. The meeting was attended by between thirty and forty of the principal land proprietors in the settlement. , Henry St. Hill, Esq., having been requested to take the chair, briefly explained the objects of the meeting, and called upon Dr. Featherstone to state the plan which he, Mr. St. Hill, understood he was prepared to propose.- Dr. after expressing "His "belief that if any practicable scheme could be submitted to the Governor, it would receive his Excellency's support, said, that in devising a plan to relieve them from the very difficult position in which they were at present placed, it was necessary to remember that the purchasers of land were justly entitled to compensation for the losses they had incurred from the inability of the Company to complete their contract ; — That the Company, 1 having been awarded by Mr. Fennington between 3 and 400,000 acres for their expenditure in emigration of the £80,000 received from the purchasers of land, they (the land owners) had a claim to a part of the land thus awarded; — That it was also necessary to remember that the Company having suspended their operations as a colonizing body, there was no prospect of the evils of absenteeism being mitigated by any fresh influx of settlers, and that therefore it was more than ever essential to the prosperity of the settlement that the present scattered population should be concentrated ; that the plan which he would suggest was that the Governor should be rtques-

ted to purchase a block of acres in the valley of the Wairarapa, at the termination in the valley of the' Hutt road. • That the purchasers of land in the -first settlement should be allowed the privilege, of re-selecting their lands in this block. That as compensation for the loss they had incurred from not having been able to obtain possession of their land, a grant should be made to them in the proportion of 50 or 100 acres for every 100 acres they had purchased. That as an inducement for settlers scattered along the coast, to remove to this district, a further grant of land should be given to them for the expense incurred by their removing. That after these claims had been satisfied, the residue of the block should be sold at a fixed price, and the proceeds after re-imbursing to the Government the , price of their block and defraying the expense of surveys, should be devoted to the making of roads, and other public purposes in this settlement. A long add animated, although a somewhat desultory conversation then ensued, which gradually tended to loose sight of the more immediate questions of compensation &c, and to merge into another on the evils of absenteeism, and the best means of getting rid of this intolerable incubus. Some of the speakers (particularly Mr. Hanson) advocated the necessity of concentrating the chief agricultural population into one fertile district, the land of which should only be given out to those who would go upon it. True it was that such a plan could never be carried out under the present system, which permitted English proprietors to hold large blocks of waste land between those that were occupied by actual settlers, thus producing dispersion instead of concentration. Mr. Hanson proceeded to explain his views on the best locality for such a district, which he considered should be that of the Hutt valley. The proposition of the Governor to offer to the absentee .proprietors of lands in that valley, other lands of equal value in any part of the island, and to give them a Crown Grant for the same, so soon as they have made their selection, and thus to stamp such property with a current marketable value, was the best and the most conducive to the wants of the settlement that he thought could be devised. Had he been still acting as an agent, he considered he should be injuring the property of his principals by refusing to acceed to such a proposition, since land, however valuable in itself, was perfectly unsaleable without a legal title. Mr. E. Johnson, and several other gentlemen, followed the same line of argument. Mr. Clifford, Dr. Evans, and others, expressed their objections to any proposal which meddled with the property of the absentees. We only regret that limits of oac paper, and the absence of a reporter, prevents us from giving more than the substance of whatwas said. Mr. Revans, in reply to objections which were urged to the justice of the Governor's plan, reminded the meeting of the injustice that would be inflicted by allowing matters to remain iv their present state. The plan of the New Zealand Company could not be carried out, and consequently a considerable proportion of the purchasers must remain without the land that they had selected. The proposition of the Governor, which gave compensation to all those who did not require land for use, and furnished the actual settler with land which he could employ, consequently removed instead of causing injustice. In this stage of the meeting, Mr. St. Hill, stated that he so completely disapproved of the principle on which the proposition of the Governor was based, and of the arguments by which it was now supported, that he could not remain in the chair, and he vacated it accordingly. Mr. Swainson, of Hawkshead, was then requested to occupy it. As. the -meeting-was uoanimoas in opinion that some district, or block of land, should be parcelled out to the actual settlers, without venturing to decide where that land should be | situated, Mr. Hanson moved the following resolution, which he so framed as to meet thro I wishes of all parties. It was seconded by Mr. E. Johnson, and, upon a shew of hands demanded by the chairman, was carried nem. con. That the landholders do wait upon his Excellency, Captain Fitzroy, for the purpose of urging him to call upon the Agent of the New Zealand Company, immediately, to complete the title of that Company to all lands required by purchaser* from that body. And in the event of his inability \ so to do, then to request his Excellency to acquire a title to a district in the immediate vicinity of the town of Wellington, in which the whole body of resident landowners may obtain possession of the quantity of land which they claim, and compensation for the losses to which they have been exposed, through their inability to obtain possession of such land. And that the following gentlemen be requested to form a Committee to prepare the details of a plan for carrying out the latter purpose, for the consideration of his Excellency the Governor. Mr. Swainson, Mr. Hanson, Dr. Featherstone, Mr. E. Johnson, and Mr. Hart. —Communicattd.

The Commissioner of the Court of Requests, R. D. Hanson, Esq., opened his Court on Wednesday morning, with the usual formalities. The first day of sitting was appointed for the third Wednesday in the present month. The Court* of Request* Ordinance abolishes County Courts. Courts of Requests hare exclusive coguiz&nce of all suits for sums not exceeding j£2o, except it be the balance of an account for a sum originally higher. Actions in this Court may be taken into Supreme Court by consent of both parties ; or, by a similar arrangement, actions which should have been tried in the Supreme Court may be heard in this. Judgment' to be final. Court to sit twice a month. Solicitors or advocates not allowed to practise. When goods are insufficient to satisfy demand, body may be taken and imprisoned — for £5 and under, one month ; £5 to JelO, two months ; j£lO and upwards, three months. Creditors to pay 4s. a week for maintenance of debtor while in prison, failing which he will be discharged. Commissioner has power to issue a warrant to arrest debtors leaving the colony in the absence of Judge of Supreme Court. Came into operation October t.