MAORILAND REMINISCENCES.

NZ Truth, Issue 72, 3 November 1906, Page 7

MAORILAND REMINISCENCES.

EARTH HUNGER,

Some Big Land Grabbers*

(BY J,

Before the actual official assumption of sovereignty by Queen Victoria,New Zealand was a " happy hunting ground for the speculative land-grab-ber. Distance, it is said, lends en* ohantment to the view, and Maoriland was invaded at all points by people who had read of the extraordinary fertility of its soil, the beauty of its scenery, the romance attached to its inhabitants, and the healthful fact that it was well watered, that it had sites for innumerable ports and harbors, and was, m short, a gem set m the southern seas worth being "grabbed at."-

■ The earliest European pioneers of New Zealand were not land-grabbers. They were chiefly traders with Sydney, m whale oil, furs, skins, and timber. In addition to these useful commodities,

THE MAORI WOMEN were a source of attraction to the British shell-back and the runaway convict, and -a number of this class settled down tp a sort of Socialistic life at Maori villages. They were tor lerated by the natives, who used them chiefly as interpreters with the trading vessels visiting the islands. •*...• .■

To the Rev. Samuel Marsden, who has the credit of first carrying the Christian banner to the Maoris, goes the honor of having been the first purchaser of land direct from the Maoris. With Messrs Kendall, Hale, and King, and their wives, and several mechanics, with some sheep and cattle, Marsden embarked at Sydney for New Zealand at the latter end of the year 1814, m a brig manned, it is said, by convicts, The "party landed at the Bay of Islands, and were well received by the Maoris. The brig carried A STRANGE ASSEMBLAGE OF PASSENGERS. Marsden says the number of persons on board The Active, including women and children, was 35— the master, his wife and son ; Messrs Kendall, Hall, and King, with their wives and children ; eight New Zealanders,«including Duaterra and his ' uncle, the great warrior Shunghie or Hongi, two Otaheitians, and four Europeans belong-, ing to the vessel, bes_ide*s Mr John Lydiard Nicholas and myself ; there were also two sawyers, one smith,, and a runaway convict, whom we afterwards found on board ; a horse and two mares, one bull and two* cows', with a few sheep and poultry. The bull and cows have been presented by Governor Macquarie from his Majesty's herd."

Marsden wanted land for his party, and to be <jn the safe side he purchased 200 acres, the land being conveyed'by deed drawn up by Mr Nicholas, as follows;— ■■''■ "Know all men to whom these presents shall come that I, ANODEE Q GUNNA, KtNG OF RANGHEEHOO, m the island of New Zealand, have m consideration of twelve axes to me m hand now paid and delivered by the Reverend Samuel Marsden, of Parramatta, m the territory of New South Wales, given, granted, bargained, and sold, and by this present instrument do give, grant, bargain, and sell unto the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East, instituted m London, m the Kingdom of Great Britain, and to their heirs and successors all that piece and parcel of land situate m the district of Hoshee, m the island of New Zealand, bounded ■om the south side by the Bay of Lippouna and the town of Rangheehoo, on the north side by a creek of fresh water, and on the west by a public rbad into the interior, together with all the rights, members, privileges, and appurtenances thereto belonging ; to have and to hold to the aforesaid committee of the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East, instituted m London, m the kingdom of Great Britain, their heirs, successors, and assigns for ever, clear and freed from all taxes, charges, impositions, and contributions, whatsoever, as and for their own absolute and proper estate for ever,

"In testimony whereof I have, to these presents, thus done and given, set my hand at Hoshee m the island of New Zealand, this twetaty-fourth day of February, m the year of Christ, - one thousand eight hundred and fifteen."

(Signatures to the deed.) THOMAS KENDALL, J. L. NICHOLAS."

To this was affixed a complete drawing of the,! 'Amoco" or tattooing of G-unna's face, done by Shunghie (Hongi), on one side of which he set his mark. It may seem a matter of surprise that Marsden, who resolutely refused to trade firearms, should purchase this 200 acres of land with twelve axes r or, as I think the Maoris called them, long tomahawks. Marsden, needing land for his little colony, had some excuse for the purchase at such a price.

The next recorded purchaser of land direct from. the. Maoris was Mr William Pairburn, also a missionary, who thought that he^could not preaoh Christianity unlefs he were a landed proprietor. Mr Pairburn obtained 400 acres for which he gave £10 worth of merchandise, the bill of particulars of which have not been lurnished (1821).

.M.F.)

England, m a whaling ship, to interview King George. In 1822 Mr Kendall "completed the purchase of 40,000 acres of land on Hokianga River, for the Baron, the price given bom« 86 axes. The story of the Baron's "purchase" and his attempt to occupy his territory as a sort of local king, supported by an army of the tag-rag and bob-tail from Sydney, .has been told at length m these columns. Up to the year 1839 it was claimed that 20,000 acres had been legitimately purchased by Europeans from the Maoris, most of it having been acquired by the missionaries.

The companies, analogous to the syndicates of the present time, formed m Great Britain for the acquisition of land m New Zealand, were numerous and for a time powerful. The Wakefields, a family of four or five, endowed with wonderful enermr m colonisation schemes, floated several companies and grabbed without ; hes^ tation the choicest lands, the heritage of the Maori, for which they gave practically nothing, a few gew-gaws, some axes, and plenty of promises* The Wakefields were imitated by others, and Otago, Canterbury; Nelson, and other "Edens" were settled under the auspices of the companies. Sydney speculators cast longing glances at the new country, and many efforts were made to "annex."

But of the attempts made by landgrabbers who sought to acquire territory m New Zealand, none approached m audacity that made by WILLIAM CHARLES WENTWORTH, Mr Busby, and some others to capture a whole island and part of an adjacent one. These parties "purehasred" ten million acres m the "Middle Island," now known as the South Is- [ land, . which purchase included the territory now known as Otago, Southland, Canterbury, Nelson, and Marlborough. In addition, they obtained •200,000 acres m the North Island, for the entire of which, m the North and South Islands, they paid the paltry sum of £400 m cash, with small [prospective, annuities to the vendors, a few infatuated chiefs, who were induced, as one authority puts it, to fritter away

THEIR BIRTHRIGHT FOR A MESS OF POTTAGE. • • . • •• To understand this -huge grab properly, it must be stated that Rev. William Williams, with bis wife and family, took up his residence at Poverty Bay m January, 1840, In February he petitioned the Queen to prevent the inhumanity and injustice which traders were endeavoring to inflict on A the Maoris by pretended purchases of Maori lands. He sent an account pf "a most nefarious transaction wfc.ich took place m January last, being an attempt on the part of Captain Rhodes^ of the barque Eleanor, Sydney,

TO DUPE THE NATIVES out of a tract of land from Port Nicholson" (Wellington now) "to the not th side of Ahuriri, m Hawke's Bay, and again from the north bank of the river Wairoa to the north of Table Cape." For one hundred and sixty miles of coast, with undefined limits m the interior, "Captain Rhodes pretended to have procured a title by distributing property valued iat £160," just twenty shillings for each mile of coast frontage, 'Mr Williams hoped that the transaction wouW be set aside, and was prepared to prove that much of the land was claimed under signatures of Maoris who had no interest mit or claim to it. Some who had signed the deed declared that they did »ot know its contends, and others on being told the purport of it declined to receive any portion of the "purchase money." The whole transaction may be taken as a specimen of the bargains by which, m emulation of the New Zealand Company, speculators, agents, and

LAND-SHARKS PROM SYDNEY, grabbed at the lands of tne Maori. Governor Gipps, as the guardian of the Maoris and their territory, found it to be his duty to interfere m these sales. .Gipps, a level-headed, keen, calculating man, took the bull by. the horns. He wrote Governor Hobson that he had settled upon the terms of a *Bill dealing with the titles to land m New Zealand. The first clause would declare all purchases or pretended purchases from the natives null and void. The preamble of the Bill best describes the measure :— "Whereas m various parts of the islands of New Zealand comprehended within the limits of the territory and government of New South Wales, tracts or portions of land are claimed to be held by various individuals by virtue of purchases or pretended purchases, gifts or pretended gifts, conveyances or pretended conveyances, or other titles, mediately or immediately from the chiefs or other individuals ol the aboriginal tribes inhabitating the same ; and whereas no such individual or individuals can aoquire a legal title to, or permanent interest m, any such tracts or portions of land, by virtue of any giftj purchase, or conveyance, by or from the chiefs or other individuals of such aboriginal tribes as aforesaid, and whereas her Majesty hath by instructions under the hand of one . of her principal Secretaries of State" (14th August, 1839) "declared her pleasure not to recognise and titles to land m New Zealand which do hot p.roceed from, pr are not, or shall not be, allowed by her Majesty, and, whereas it is expedient and proper to put beyond doubt the invalidity of all titles to land within the said islands of New Zealand founded upon such purchases

or aboriginal inhabitants of New Zealand. Be it therefore declared, and enacted by his Excellency U)c Uover» nor of New South Wales, with the advice of the Legislative Council of the said colony, that fill titles to j land m New sSeal»,n<l, which are not, lor mar^aot hereafter be allowed by titles to kuid, are and shall be absolutely void." By eleven cjauses the Governor was empowered to appoint commissioners who were n to be guided by the real justice and .good conscience of the case. No grant was to exceed two thousand five hundred and sixty acres (4 s-,^puare miles), unless authorised by the Governor m Council. No bays, headlands, islands, etc., which might be required by the public, were to be included, no site,s for towns or villages, or sites required for public utility; and it was nob to be obligatory on the Governor to Wake a grant even when recommended by the commissioners.

Permission was given claimants, to be heard at the Bar of the Legislative Council against the BUI. Mr Wentwopth and Mr Busby were heard personally, the other claimants were heard through theiff counsel, Mr William tt'Beckett,

AFTERWARDS CHIEF JUSTICE QF VICTORIA, and Mr John Bayley Darvall, afterwards Attorney-General of New South Wales. .

I Early m the year 1840, seven Maori chiefs were m Sydney/ and they were Invited tp sign at Government House a declaration pf their willingness to accept Queen Victoria as their Sovereign,. They attended and heard the document read, each of them received > ten sovereigns, why we are not told, and they were to return to Government House m forty-eight hours to sign the declaration. ; But the Maori chiefs did not return. To a message sent them, .one of the English hosts - : -axscording to Rusden— replied i that they bad been advised to sign no treaty which did not contain full'security for the possession by the purchasers of all the linds acquired from the natives. William Charles Wentworth was the adviser of the .Maori chiefs m this matter. According to Rusden Mr Wentworth claimed one hundred thousand acres m the, Northern, and

TWENTY MILLIONS OF ACRES m the middle of South Island. The seven chjefs who had not kept their appointment at Government House wece the nominal sellers. They were to receive £200 a year for life. Mr Busby claimed 50,000 acres and a site for a township at the Bay of Islands.

Sir George Gipps m a forcible, logical speech, crammed with authorities, replied to Mr Wentworth and his colleagues, and Sir George was complimented by Lord John Russell on the 'ability displayed m dealing with the matter. Sir George Gipps passed his measure, and Wentworth threw up his- commission as a magistrate, and Gapps cancelled a "call" which be had made, or was about to make,, of Wm. Charles Wentworth to a seat m the Council. ...-■;

As, however, the English Government had determined upon making New Zealand an independent colony, Sir George Gipps 1 Act was disallowed m view of legislation m NewZealand x and a commissioner would be sent from England 1^ investigate claims. . > i

Soon after Governor- Hobson \s arri^ yal he.wote concerning the "shoal of speculators

GATHERED LIKE HARPIES , oft the coast of New Zealand.'' He said ;~r"The passion for land-jobbing now pervades every class, and all other; considerations appear to be ab T *

sorted m that one object. Tracts of country, m some pases five, hundred square miles, are claimed by single individuate." Outside the New Zealand Company's claims, millions of acres m the North Island were alleged to hay« been purchased, Jn the Middle Island more acres were said to liave been purchased than it actually contained. Setting aside Wentworth's claim, mow than 19, 000,000 acres were demanded. One man residing m Sydney claimed the whole of Stewart Island for all asserted' payment of one hundred pounds. One man .claimed five and a half millions of acres at Akaroa for an alleged payment of sixty pounds. He also was a Sydney man. Two men of the same name I claimed several millions of acres at Banks Peninsula, the Bluff, the Molyneux, and pther points on the coast, but never appeared before the Commissioner to -support the : claim. "Greedy as were the Maoris for arms and ammunition, oh which existence depended," says Rusden, "the lust for land, bought with, a few muskets &nd iron weapons, made the white man. equally avaricious, and i* was weU that the vigorous hand of Governor (Jippa was near to styy a plague which would have spread over the land if various titles had even been provisionally acknowledged, and had JPd.to an armed combination of the tribes to resist) extortion."