THE PIAKO-WAIKATO SWAMP LAND SALE

Colonist, Volume XVII, Issue 1981, 19 October 1875, Page 3

THE PIAKO-WAIKATO SWAMP LAND SALE

The report dp the eb&mittpe;>pi>oihte<l $$>~ inquire f intb, the circumstances; attending the sale jof, tHe ' Piakb'Waikato swamp-land to M> Thomas'EusfleirWiß brought up in the House of Kepr«Berit&ttres 6n October' istb. It aUegeltnitan irregularity has transpired in' connection: with; the1 Bale, but nothing more-'ther^fore/the1 Ministers are cleared of the graver1 charge of corruption" which5 was made against thepi1 with respect td" this'sale. The following ''paragraph* from" the report show wherein the Government were to blame.: — ' , . ", The proviso'of the above-quoted sectiok is repealed by the 2nd clause of the New Zealand. Settlements Act Amendment Act, 1866, which goes on to enact that 'it is hereby expreeely declared and provided that the land in the said section referred to shall be sold for such consideration, ,or at such price, and whether for cash or otherwise, as the Governor shall'from time to time prescribe.' " The last-named Act in the Bth section, further provides that' all lands sold or otherwise disposed of, or all scrip issued under this Act, shall be sold or disposed of, or issued under ' regulations to be ' made by ! the Governor in Council, which regulations shall f be published in the New Zealand Gazette? . 11 I am directed to report, that with respect to the Fiako swamp su^cli regulations have not yet been isauje^oc^bHshedin the New Zealand Gazjktel *t&tha^altbbugh an agreement to sell nas been made By1 the Governvxejit } oie land -has not' yet "been actually tsoM* '-'or' Cmmpto "Jgi^nted,v'to Thomas '^Russell.' "jtiat the lttbd Hrltif practically withdrawn from sale by private contract by the regulations of 1871, which; provide 'that all sales should be by'auction after sacF_ey, and that the, transaction was not in'accordance with the provisions of the Jlaw in force at the time, which clearly required that the making and publication of regulations should precede sale. " That it is evident that the agreement made "between the Government and Mr Thomas Russell, tacitly implied that regulations should be issued' in terms of section 8 of tbe New Zealand Settlements Act, 1866, which should enable the Government'to sell the land 'in accordance with the conditions of the agreement so entered into. That the land was sold without sufficient' enquiry as to its value, or the possibility of its being drained, although the General Government agent and the Inspector 'of Surveys, both recommended that such inquiry should be made. " Finally, while it appears that the price to be paid for the block was not inadequate, and that public benefit will accrue from the construction of the Piako-road, your com,mittee are of opinion that dealings by private contract with the public landed estate are inexpedient, and they are glad to observe that the Government have proposed to bring the confiscated lands under the operation of the ordinary waste lands laws of the Colony." The New Zealand Times says : —We are of opinion that Mr Kussell thought he was, making a good bargain with the Government. He looked to the future to recoup Kirn for a large present ontlay in extensive drainage works. The Government, on the other hand, thought they were making a good bargain. They looked to the present ;—to the importance of settling the district, by attaching to ifc capital and labor, so as to drain and render habitable a waste territory of swamp land and stagnant pools, but which might, by the expenditure of money,1 be covered bypleasant homesteads in the occupation of a prosperous and contented people. From either point of view the bargain was a perfectly fair one. A large sum of money has been expended; if the title to the .land be. confirmed, a much larger outlay must hj gone to to render secure and profitable what has been already spent. Mr-Russell, and his partners in this undertaking, will ultimately reap the reward of their enterprise; but the Government; and the country at large, will be gainers from first to last.. 'Labor is: employed, settlement ia encouraged;: the producimg powers of the country are developed, the land fund is localised, and least of all, the Government are censured by a select committee for obtaining these results by a departure from the strict letter of the law. Well1* we do not defend them for doing so. It was wrong, no doubt, to depart from the requirements of the law; but ifc was right, beyond question, to extend settlement from the Upper Waikalo towards the Piako, and to reclaim some eighty thousand acres of desolate swamp, making it fit for the habitation of man..