THE Otago Daily Times. "Inveniam viam out faciam." DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1862.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 145, 3 May 1862, Page 4

THE Otago Daily Times. "Inveniam viam out faciam." DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, MAY 3, 1862.

If the statement laid before the Southland Arbitration Committee be correct, Otago has very little more than half a million of acres of g-ood agricultural land left undisposed of. This anything but inexhaustible quantity it is proposed to deal with, as if Otago had a whole continent at its own command. It is proposed to lock up the title to thousands of acres for a period of several years, and not only that, but to run the risk of a concerted political action, being directed towards depriving the state of its best land without any return being made for it. Such at least, is the only reading we can venture on of the proposed introduction of the Free Grant-of-land-to-immigrants system. However insecure and unsatisfactory the value of the title to the land to the holder of the land warrant, it mnst be remembered that as far as the Government is concerned, it remains denuded of the land during the period over which the conditions extend. The Land passes as it were into Chancery. Neither the immigrant who has made a conditional purchase, nor- the State, that has made a conditional sale, can sttow any available title to the land. It remains locked up to both. There is no room to doubt that the news that has already gone home to England will result in a large direct emigration to Otago. Without any inducement in the shape of land warrants, we estimate that during the next two years, at least twenty thousand immigrants may be expected out from England, without reckoning those that will avail themselves of the shorter passage and the larger choice of ships to come to Otago, en route for any of the other Provinces of New Zealand they may propose to make their destination. We write simply from the point of view of the gold fields as they are, not as they may be. The Province i 3 secure of permanent sources of wealth for many years to come in its Tuapeka, Waitaliuna, Waipora, and WooUhed. But who is to conjecture 'what other fields may also be opened. The extent of land over which gold is known to exist is enormous. | Likely looking ground is to be found all over

the Province, and not a day but rumor points to the discovery of some new field. We think there can scarcely be any doubt that equally large arid rich deposits as those yet brought to light will be again disco vered.and should such be thecase.thc increase of the population by English emigration, will be something larger than wa would care to predict. We are to suppose that all these receive land warrants for twenty acres of land. It is very clear, that before a couple of years, the greater part of the available land in the Province would be swallowed up by the slumbering claims of the holders of the warrants. Then will follow political action. The holders of warrants and the purchasers of warrants, (and nothing can prevent their being sold) will combine and obtain an absolute and immediate title in place of the restricted one imposed by the '' Free Grant1' regulations. Nor will they he wanting in sympathisers, many of them as in Auckland will declare they were lured out on false pretences, and heap curses on the Government that by its agents induced them to think ,they were to find a source of wealth in their " free grants." It will be quite impossible to distinguish between those who were enticed out by the promise of the free grants, and those who would have come out without them. Every one will pretend the promise of the free grant induced him to come, a.id will ask as a measure of justice that the land warrants should have an absolute value given to them. We foresee that- the combined action in^the end would prove sufficiently strong to carry the point, and every land warrant would have to be redeemed with twenty acres of land. And what would the Province • gain ? —we do not hesitate to say that not more than one out of ten immigrants who will come here, will be led to do so by the inducement of the free grant, so that for every ten warrants only one immigrant, who would not otherwise have come, would be secured. Neither can it be supposed that the land grants will induce people to settle down to agricultural pursuits. As stated yesterday, an immigrant who desired to follow farming would be in the highest degree improvidents in doing so on his frea grant of land. Not only would all his labor be thrown away if he were induced to leave before the term of residence imposed (five years) expired, but no matter what improvement he effected, his title would be so bad, that he would not be able to borrow money on the security of the property. Far better for the immigrant to buy fresh land than to risk his all on such terms as the Land Warrants, if the regulations be literally carried out, impose. There is no retiring from one of two positions ; if the regulations be faithfully carried out, the Warrants are worth scarcely anything, four out of six of them will probably be forfeited, and the immigrants who hare brought them out will have the right to regard them as the representatives of a ' fraudulent system of enticing them away from their English homes to endure the hardships of colonial life; whilst, on the other hand, if the regulations are not to be strictly adhered to, enormous political corruption will arise, which will end in despoiling the State of the bulk of ita best agricultural land without any payment being made for it. It is at all times very difficult to dispense justice to immigrants, who have come out on the faith of understandings entered into with agents 16,000 miles away. The agent's interest is to send out as many emigrants as possible, and for that purpose he is not, over-scrupulous himself, or through his sub-ngents, in representing in con four de rose, terms the prospects of those he is endeavoring to persuade emigrate. Morally, the Government is bound to carry out all that its agent has promised ; but then it has no means of ascertaining what his promises really were, and it has either to submit to possible extortion, or to keep bad faith with those who have implicitly relied on the statements of its representative at home. For instance, many of the immigrants whom the Government talk 3of suing for arrears of passage money, aver, that they were promised by the agents a longer credit than the Government now chooses to grant. These statements may or, may not be true ; nothing is more likely than, that the sub-agents anxious to pursuade emigrants to " come to the scratch," should have said "the Government'won't think of asking you for the money advanced till you have been three years in the colony." To violate the pledge such a remark conveyed would be an act of bad faitlr,but it is impossible for the Government to be aware in what cases, any, it was made, and in what cases it was not. And now we come to the question, can*anv reason be adduced in favor of the proposed system ? We have shown it will not be likely to encourage the following of agricultural pursuits. We have shown that as far as the Government is concerned, in the locking up of the lands, and in the. risk of ultimate sacrifice, the cost of each emigrant, induced to come out by the promise of the warrants, will be enormous. We have shown that Otago has no land to spare, either to lock up in doubtful alienation, or to give away without a satisfactory quid pro quo, and we ask, in the name of coaimon sense, if it be necessary to pay for immigration, why immigrants should not be procured in an economical instead of a frightfully expensive way ? By paying half the passage money, Otago could draw to its shores any number of selected immigrants; why then should it relinquish the title to land worth to the Government at least twenty pounds, to give to every immigrant, selected or not, who finds it his interest to visit Otago, or pass through it on his way to other places. Badly as the free grant system worked in Auckland, it would work ten times as ill in Otago. Wb mentioned, on si previous occasion, being in receipt of a number of bills prepared by Mr. Sexvell, and proposed to be introduced by that gentleman at the coming Session of the House of Representatives. We subjoin a short resume of the leading features of some of them; together with a few remarks on their general nature : —• Lunatics Bill.—The proper care, custody, and manageinsat of those unfortunates who

become deprived of reason, is a sacred duty of humanity, too often overlooked or forgotten, —very much so in our own Province. It is pleasing, therefore, to see that the General Government are not without thought in this matter. The bill proposes the compulsory establishment of Asylums in every Province, or for every Province by the combination of two or more Provinces, in the erection and support of such an Institution. There appear, however, two very objectionable principles, pervading the Bill. First, the Governor in Council is to be the absolute autocrat in reference to these institutions; he may order their plans, fittings, management, alterations, officers, visitors, —in short, everything connected with them, even to the extent of imposing penalties; ancl tliis without any possible check on the amount or mode of expenditure. He orders ;it must be done without appeal, and the Province must pay, be he the most whimsical sentimentalist or experimentalist. And, worse than all, these unlimited powers he may delegate to the Superintendent of a Province, thus placing the Superintendent beyond the check of his Executive in the expenditure of the Provincial funds. Our representatives must see to it, that this be not permitted. Secondly, the mode by which a person may be condemned to custody as a lunatic, seems a most dangerous one, and capable of very serious abuse. Two creditable witnesses, and- the certificate of one medical practitioner, may, at the option of a couple of country justices (or, it may be one double-barrelled one, or It.M.), consign a man, without a chance of evidence to the contrary being brought, to the horrors of such a fate. Further safeguard nmst be provided against the abuse of such an enormous power, of the undue exercise of which, in Britain, there have been such frightful instancesWhether, by a, publicly notified enquiry, or by the verdict of a jury, some check must be provided, else we pray that those who penned Clause 31 may its first victims be. The powers conferred on the Supreme Court, in reference to the estates of lunatics, seem to be necessary and judicious.

Supreme Couiit Amendment Bill, refers chiefiy to grauting probates and letters of administration. It enables the judges of the Supreme Court to appoint Surrogates, with j powers similar to Surrogates in England—an i unnecessary piece of machinery, if we have a judge in each Province, and an introduction of Erclesiastical officers into what should now be recognised as purely a civil matter, viz., the administration of the estates of deceased persons. The greater part of the bill is in reference to the administration of the estates of deceased natives, which are to be divided according to the Governor's idea of native custom, or <: as near as may be." Let us have done with this mixed legislation. Let the Assembly of JTevv Zealand legislate for the British subjects of ISfew Zealand as suchj leaving the Imperial Government to deal with their Maori proteges as they choose, and be responsible for their so dealing. Let there be separate tribunals for the administration of these different laws, but let not our Supreme Court, for the administration of British law to British subjects, be degraded into an engine for carrying out the dictum of the Imperird representative.in regard to what is or is not native custom. The Juries Bill is intended to provide for the proper selection, regulation, and impannelliug of juries, a matter in which our law is at present very defective. So far as we can judge the provisions appear to be judicious. The mode of compiling the jury roll seems rather too cumbrous, and requires more machinery than necessary. And we cannot recognise the justice of the provisions in reference to juries on native cases. They should be treated either as subjects or aliens, not as a conglomerate species. The Law Practitioners Amendment Bill is only one of those periodical eruptions to which our assembly lawyers are liable, in the attempt to define who are or ought to be recognised as members of the profession. Whether this new attempt be more successful than their former ones we may safely leave to those who know more about it than we do. The public are not much interested in the matter. The Gaols Bill—is a consolidation and amendment of the Acts relating to prisons, and the duties and responsibilities of the several persons havissg the custody and oversight of prisons and prisoners. The provisions of the Act seem judicious, with the exception of that which gives the Governor in Council the power to order the erection of new gaols at the expense of any province. There appears a tendency in this and other Bills, as well as in the acts of previous sessions of the General Assembly, to commit Tery large and arbitrary powers to the hands of the Governor, and to relieve the responsible Executive of the colony of their duties in many matters. This is an evil which should be guarded against. We would also suggest that where, in this and other Acts, the power of delegation by the Governor of his powers to the Superintendent is given, it should be provided, that in the exercise of such delegated powers, the Superintendent should exercise these powers by, and with the advice and consent of his Provincial Executive. This would at least prevent unseemly collisions between the Superintendent and hia advisers, which otherwise must occur were he to exercise his arbitrary delegated powers without their concurrence. The Inferior Courts Bill, constitutes " Sessional Circuit Courts " and " Courts of Petty Sessions," and reconstructs the '.' Resident Magistrate's Court." This, we presume, is intended as carrying into effect the resolution of the House of Representatives, in 1800, affinni:ij> the principle that with additional Supreme Court Judges, and a proper working of the Justices of the Peace, District Courts were unnecessar)'. If Ruch be the intention of this bill, the provisions fall far short of the intention. The sessional Circuit Conns are merely the District Courts, under another name, in fact, a bad imitation of them, with almost the same civil jarisidiction as the former Court, viz: — up to one, .£IOO, but omit the right of having the claim tried by a jury—and having extended powers in ejectment, bus without the Probate and administration jurisdiction of the farmer

Court, and with Criminal jurisdiction of a similar character to the former Court. This portion of the Uill we unhesitatingly denounce as utterly worthless, as being inferior greatly to the District Courts Act. There is one provision highly flattering to the supreme Court Judges, viz : that they may hold the Sessional Circuit Court Judgeship, if they choose, and .if they don't, the Sessional Julge may come to them for advice on any point, and give his judgment according to their advice. We trust the present Judges of the Supreme Court feel duly sensible of the honor intended to be conferred on them! Why should not, instead of all this machinery, the Judges of the Supreme Cour!» who are not over-burdened with work at present, hold monthly sittings for claims under £100, and others give all the necessary facilities to the public without,the erecting of new offices, new jurisdictions, new rules, &c? The thing seems perfectly easy. The "Petty Sessions Court" seems to have a concurrent jurisdiction with the Resident Magistrate's Court, the attendance at the Petty Sessions being compulsory on Justices. This may be very well for supplying Country Districts distant from a Resident Magistrate, but otherwise is of but little use except perhaps to train some of our J.P.s to judicial business, which they seem now only to studj' in the granting of Publicans licenses. Query? How is it that a large beuch always appears on a licensing day, but at no other time ? In the constitution of the Resident Magistrates' Courts little alteration seems to be contemplated, except the omission of the useful and we believe seldom misused power to decide according to equity and good conscience—leaving thus the unfortunate R.M, to be the shuttlecock tossed about by two contending lawyers, quoting Blackstone and all manner of law. and'as we not iinfrequently hear, endeavoring to persuade the patient R.M. of the existence of law such as Blackstone and Coke never dreamt o£ and of cases in point having not the slightest bearing on the matter on trial. If the R.M. is thus to be badgered, he must be a lawyer. On the whole this act is badly drawn, confused in its arrangements and unsuitable in many of its provisions, and we trust will receive a thorough overhaul ere it becomes, if ever it becomes, law. Apropos to the subject ©f the reward offered by the Auckland Government for the discovery of a payable gold field, the Southern Cross of April 11th, has the following among " Notices to " Correspondents.—' A Friend to Fair Play' '' ought never to be afraid or ashamed to give ,' his name ; and the only reason why his letter <' is excluded is because it is unauthenticated. •' But we will make an extract from the letter, ,' which ought to satisfy our correspondent; and <' we are confident it will satisfy tho thinking por- " tioii of the community that the writer's views of "'fair play'are, like an Irishman's notion of re•'ciprocity—'all on the one |side.' Writing of " the influx of diggers from Otago, and alluding " to the fact that the most auriferous district■ is '■ " in the hands of the natives, our correspondent " supposes that because this land is closed against " us there will be ' a probable sacrifice Of life.* "He then continues—' Who are to blame ? In- " ducements have been he d out to adventurers, " a trap has been laid, and the bait is strong, ani "the result will be a cruel one. The reward " offered is blood-money, and compounding " felony. If gold is supposed to abound in greater "quantities in the native district, why not adopt " legitimate means to obtain that land, arid not " take advantage of the power of might over a. " weaker and less intelligent body, using cunning " ourselves in obtaining that knowledge, and " making use of its power to enforce its po«- ---" session. The detachment of the 70th regiment at pr. • sent in Dunedin, have morel into their recently erected winter quarters. The change from living under canvas, to being located in comfortable wooden houses, cannot fail to be an agreeable one to the soldiers. The metal laid down in Princes-street is veryunsuitably broken. Some of the pieces are more like boulders than broken metal. The rute and holes too1 were not first filled up, consequently the new metal has already sunk in several places. All the Ordinances hitherto published under the authority of the Provincial Government, are punctuated as they pass through the hands of the printer. This is entirely out of Parliamentary order; for, who ever saw a Bill encumbered with commas, semi-colons, colons, and full periods ? Let any person take up an English Act, and he will soon see that punctuation i« omitted. An Act of the Legislature ought never to be punctuated, any more than a genuine legal instrument. Who ever knew a deed of conveyance to be punctuated ? If the Provincial Council take to punctuation at this stage of the proceedings, we apprehend there will be no stopping It 1 Information reached us yesterday that a person had been to Captain Baldwin, at AVaitariuna, reporting that he had discovered seven miles of quartz ranges, with an alluvial gold field in the mmediate vicinity, more extensive than any previously discovered in Otago. and fully capable of supporting from 20,000 to 30,000 miners. Ha stated that the ground vras shallow and rich, and that ho had himself washed 3 oz. of gold from ono shovelful of stuff from shallow ground, and that he had also fossicked gold out of the side of the hill without washing. lie declined to mention the locality, or to give any clue to its whereabouts until he could obtain a guarantee of a rew.rd of £3000. Captain Baldwin, of course, had to refuse to make any promise until he had communicated with the Government, and in tlio meantime the secret is preserved it appcari that the individual is we.l known, lie being the same man who first discovered the lignite at Waitahuna. He says that ho ha 3 refused £500 to divulge the secret'to a private party. There i« nothing extremely improbable in this itory, but, at the same time, former experience justifies til in accepting all such glowing accounts with considerable caution. It is quite possible that the prospector may himself be deceired, not of course as to what he actually obtained, but in his estimate of the value and extent of the field. Doubtless,; a few days will show whether there is any truth in his tale or not. It would certainly bo a fine thing if a fresh gold field were to be opened up shortly. In our advertising columns will be found the notice of the Superintendent convening a public meeting to take into consideration the question of the separationofthe two Islands, in accorduncc with a numerously signed, requisition presented to hi» Honor, calling on aim to take that step.

In a provincial gazette, published yesterday, arc printed returns of the sales of town lands imd rural lands iii the province of Otago for the months of January, February, and March respec. tively. We cull frcm them the following particulars :—ln January there were sold, town lands at Port Chalmers,' In. lr. Op, which realised £82 10s., or an average of £06 p;r acre. At Wnihola, 3 acres, realising £398 10s., or an average of £132 16s. Bd. per acre. At Molyncux, 4 acres, realising £244, or an average of £G1 per acre. Of rural hind within Hundreds there were sold 7730 a.. lr. 23p., realising £17,920 15. 3dThere were also sold 80 acres of pastoral land, realising £80. The average prices obtained in the different Hundreds were, Oamaru, £2 17s. 4d., Moeraki, £1 ; Huwksbury, £1 18s. 3d. ; Dnnedin, East Taieri, West Taieri, East Clutha, and West Clutha, £1. In February there wero sold, town lands nt Oamani, 3 roods, realising £74, or £104 per acre ; Hampden, 2 roods £28, or £56 per acre ; Huwksbury, 4a. 3r., £256, or £53 17s. 10dper acre ; Tort Chalmers, 3a. 3i\, £260 10s., or L7O per acre ; Waihola, sa. 3r., LI23G, or L 223 13s. lid. per acre ; Molyneux, 4a. 2r., L 315, or L7O per acre. Of rural land within Hundreds there wero sold 8551 acres, realising Ll 1,082 33., besides 160 acres of pastoral land which realised £160. The average prices per acre in the hundreds were Oamani, £1 12s. 4d. ; EastTuicri, £1 os. o|d. ; West Clutha, £1 Is. Sd. ; Moeraki' Hawkesbury, Dunedin, West Taieri, Waihola' North and South Tokomaririo and East Clutha' Ll. In March there were sold Town Lnnds as follows :—Omaru, 10a. lr., for L 2087 0rL203 12s. per acre ; Hampden, 4a. lr., L 256 or L6O 4s. Bd. per acre j Hawkesbury, 2a. 2i\, L 163 or LOS 4g. per acre ; Waihola, 6a. lr., L 456 10s. or L 72 19s. 2d. per acre ; Kaitangata, 2a. 2i\, L 135 or 1<54 per acre. Of Rural Lands within hundreds there ■were sold 970 acres, realizing L 985 4s. Gd., besides 100 ceres of Pastoral Land, realizing Ll 60. The average prices obtained per acre were Hawkesbury, Ll Is ; East Taieri, South Tokomairriro, East Clutha, and Dunedin, Ll. The total quantity of Town Land sold during the three months is 54 acres, realizing L 5.996, and the total of Bural Land for the same period, 17,651 acres 2 roods 23 perches, realising L 30,388 as. 9d., thus making the total for the quarter L 36,384 2s. 9d. It will be seen by the letter of our Waipori correspondent that the miners in that locality are determined to give Sir George Grey a hearty reception when he comes to Otago to visit the gold fields. It might, perhaps, be as well for the people of Duuedin to make some move in this matter. It is quite as well to be prepared, and there is no danger here ot the same contretemps as occurred lutelv in Wellington, whero a large body of natives, who had come into town from a, great distance to bo present at the ceremony, had to return home disappointed, after waiting about the town for nearly a fortnight.