The Taranaki Herald. NEW PLYMOUTH, JANUARY 18, 1854.

Taranaki Herald, Volume II, Issue 77, 18 January 1854, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. NEW PLYMOUTH, JANUARY 18, 1854.

Ar a recent sitting of the Council a resolution wan carried unanimously, " That, with a view to the contraction of the town, His Hoi.or the bupe intctulent bo moved in accordance with the authority conveyed to him in a despatch of the Civil Secretary (No. 53, 1342) dated September 13, 1853. to reque-t the CommJisioner of Crown Lands to reserve all tho unsold land of the town and thu town belt."

One of the papurn tot warded for the information of the Council by His Honor nt it's last sitting is a communication from the Crown Lmds CommKs oner to His Honor on the sutject, and will be found in our present 1 sue.

It will be seen that, that Officer states «iveml nasons why he is unable to (onciir with His Ho ior in recomin-jn li > 3 ' the Go-

vernor to comply with the request urg d in the Council's resolution. The opinions of an experienced officer on matters appertaining to his department are entitled to every respect, and md ed there appears prima facie a case of some strength made out against the proposition, but this by no means negatives the possibility that arguments even more weighty may be found in its favour. The Civil Secretary's despatch referted to states that as sites of townn and villages) reserves for public purposes, and districts to be comprised within the limits of Hundreds will be frequently required in lands either recently acquired from the Natives, or vhich have been for some time in the possession of tho Crown, it will be the ' duly of the Commissioner of Crown Lands 1 to make such rcsei rations f<v tho above purposes as he may think necessary, leporting the same to the Governor. And further, that at the request of the Superintendent, tho Commissioner shall fiom time to lime make such reserves as may appear desirable to Ilia Honor, in each case reporting tho reserve for the appioval or disa loivaucf of the Governor; and should any difference of opinion between the two officers occur, the leasons for such difference arc to be communicated, and hen<e the present paper. The despatch simply allows a suggestion, and permits the reservation pending the I sanction of the Governor, and the epiiit of the document is clearly to place facilities for public improvement in the hands of the local Government of the Province. Unfortunately all the reasons propounded in this document biar, perhaps necessarily, only on one side of the question ; and those which might be opposed to them are not now before us; and this is perhaps proper enough, as doubtless some arguments in favour of the Council's lesoluuon will be bubmitted, so as to enable His Excellency to determine the ptopriety of the two recommendations.

The Crown Lands Commissioner's rca- ! sons, however, cannot fail to suggest much that must operate against hi* conclusions. His second reason shows that if. the sales of town lands are continued the province will lie quickly denuded of all it's lai.d of the description indicated in the Council's HMoltion ; and it would follow that reserves for public improvements, or for any other of the put pose named, would become impossible, or only attainable by a large expenditure. Hence the question arises whether it might not be more prudent for the Province to retain its lands until its necessities shall be more fully ascertained.

As this place progtesses, a laigc increase in the price of those lands may be looked for, and it is this consideration, without doubt, which induces many of the numerous applications icferred to. If, then' such investments aie sought after by private individuals, and considered desirable, the Province is not likely to be a loser by tetaining possession of them.

As far as revenue is concerned, the lands might very quickly be made to produce income under leases at equivalent rents, and would thus be equally available to the requirements of the province in the hands of Iho GcAcnment as of private individuals,

The objection first put by the Laud Commissioner " that the Civil Secretaiy's despatch does not authorise the appropriation of t lie whole of suih lands as reserves," is-, it may be submitted, entnely iirelevant to the matter, since the pjwer of perma-

nently reseiving in part or whole is in the disci etion of His Excellency, and not in either the Superintendent or Crown Lands Commissioner. Also, that the same objection would apply equally to the tune when there shall he only a dozen sections left unsold as to the present. Continuing t lie c s.iles would be to deprive the sctUi'imiit of v vahinble patrimony, capiblo of pnducing, under judicious management, ;i considerable annual K'vruue, loi a very inad'quate present advantage, and is fuithci to be deprecated as taking iroin it the nucleus from which its future improvements are 10 come. Once done, thu m^chief cannot be remedied. If theie be any doubt of the policy of pioce'ding with the sales, prudence dictates that we should pause until a. more correct estimate of the advantage g of the twt; piopositions can be arrived at. j Wr. readily give Mr. Culfielrl the opportunity of explanation which he claims, for we luid no wish to misinterpret liivn. Instead of the oblivioustiess which he charges, we must assure him that parlicUlnr attention was paid to take down word by woid what fell fiom him ; and a'though the lion, member's explanation must be taken as no longer permitting a doubt of what he really meant to convey, we mu-<t be understood as repudiating all blame for the inferences which we drew from our materials in the aiticle in quesiion. Jn the notes we find no mention of a, proposition tjiat the labouier should repay the amount of his passage, although in the couisi- of the debate the point, \yas mentioned, but as far as we could understand the Council appear to have no present mind as to the details ; nor can we find anything that would at all justify the conclusion that the rate would end with the (iistyear. Add to ibis tbut the context is not peifect, 1 - that the introductory words determining the single purpose of the tax are wanting, and it may be well contended that the operation of ihe mraMiie so shown would have be^n in conI formiiy with tho construction we placed , on it. To the Editor of the Taranalti Herald. „ Sir, — By accident the 'Herald' of the 3d inst. did not reach me at Tataraimaka, and it wa-. not until the 13th that I had an ' opportunity of perusing its pages, and observing a stiintf of misrepresentations re- ' garding myself in your leading aiticle. i Although as a public servant I expect i an occasional reprimand, and am ready to . s ubmit to the ordeal, yet the present is so , gUiing and so devoid of tiulh, that I feel , it a duly to myself, as well as to those who placed me in ihe Council to protect their interest', to contradict the assertions you ' have put forth, and for that purpose permit me to clnim n space in your journal. ' You have, I believe, &aid you misunder- ' siood m>!. It is strange, sir, that you ' ihould have been the only one present to ■ he so oblivious, — indeed, so much so, that , I urn almost compelled to believe the misl understanding intentional, and for a party purpose. With measures you have a tight s to deal' with as you please, but I have yet to leum if you aie so to deal with i persons. What 1 said in Council was this—" We require 'mon who have never aspired to anything beyond hard labour and plenty of it, " and who 'have seldom perhap> received moie than Is 6d a day for their labour (of 1 course meaning in Englaud) ; such men s will, I think, find their condition so much - improved in this country, that they would " readily refund by instalment?, accoiding to t agreement, a ponion or the whole of t'.ie - money expended in bunging them out, so

iiwmmai 11 1 11 iw n 1 Imi 11 wi nnui.MjMiwjinjujiim ■nn»w that the tax need not be a continuous one." When I made these remarks, 1 think my intentions wete obvious, tliat I intended to biing lab'iurers from the temote pa.ts. of England and Scotland, where men work hard and teceive little pay, to a country where woik v less and pay more than double; yet you intimate to the public that 1 want labour for Is 6d n day, and for which I woul'l give hnrd work and plenty of it. Very liberal indeed on my part if I had said so. I No, sir, my motto is "to live and led live." Idesne not to see the master press on his servant, nor do t desire to see the seivanl ride over his master. But I appeal to any one who knows anything on the subject at ptesent on which horse the saddle is now placed. The other paragraphs in the article I will not allude to, mote than that they are equally 111-foundi d. I teniain, Mr, yours, &c. G. CUTFIKUJ. Tatnraimnkn, Jan. 14, 1851.

Tun following article copied fionthe columns of the Southern Cross, is so pertinent it) the position of this Province, that we heve considered it wrll to ltv it before our readeis as a ■whole, notwithstanding tlie length to which it runs.

Anything calculated to ke<-p public feelirg alive to a more efficient s\steni «>s rcjjiinls the acquirement s-Mid ooutiol ol'lha land in this Piovmee cannot Inil of being uselul.

In Aucklnnd the difficulties surrounding tliis question appe.ir lo be essentially of tlin same diameter as (hose which have to lon<j operated to retard the progress of this settlement, and it may be useful to know the conclusions which ha ve heen ui rived at by our neighbours in relsition to a remedy. It will be reiollected that nbout t«'o

mmiths since a sum of £1000 was remitted from ;he Governor to the Land Commissioner of this. Province for the purchase of land from tlic Natives, and tli.it in compliance wi'li a memorial from New Plymouth, his Excellency had the complaisance to promise th.it an appointment of Lund purchaser fiom th« Native* shnnU be mtide, .r.nl tluit Mr. Conimi>-siuner

IvlcLimii snottlil Ik/'itiMructed to rmne to

New Plymouth and aid iv the neuocMtion which might be necessary to bring the new purchases to a satisfactory cloie.

Mr. McLe.m has not however arrived, ami whether the appointment of a lund officer li»s been uvftdc or not the people of New Plymouth are in utter ignorance. A report has recently reached this place that Mr. McLean was not aware that the money had been sent, or that his presence i was required, and further profes'-ieu his ignorance that the Waiwnikniho Block, said to be alieady purchased, had not been opened. It has been suited for months past thnt theie were difficulties in the way of a distributiou ot that block, y<-t the chief commissioner is ignorant of the fact ! It this account is true, either the officer v\hose Juiy it was to convey the information to the Governor li.is omitted to do so, or the Gvvetnor has not thought the matter worth his at'utition. The forwarding of the money is simply a farce if it is to remain uiiHCCompani'ed by authority to make it available. The next ninil may p issibly bring a key to these difficulties, but the present portion of this nftuir augurs, we feay, but little good I to the Piovince. But v few months have elapsed since tbc settlers of t'.e province of Auckland were astonished by the proclamation (dated 4ih March) of Governor Grey, which rtdueed the upset price of land from an uniform price of 20s. per acre, to 10s, for m;ricultural, olid hi. for pastotal land. But there nre other tilings than mere Proclam Balions ne«s-.ary to render clic.ip -teud a means ol

groat and benefirisl colonization. Lund must bo largely and readily available to the intending no-

loumt ; not contrnctcd wi hin such petty hound* at to preclude the possibility of locution much le»« o( select lon. No Auckland colonist can have forgotten Iho

impetuous ru-.li that wai marie upon tho Lund

Commisiioner when the hind ua» thrown open for selection in April lust. IluJ the Commiutioncr

Inen armed wilh a cha.it, (,u lie ought to Inive liccn) rzhibinn^ iouip millions, or even some hundreds of tlioud uids of' acres from which to

chooic, nil would ti.ive lieen well, and, ere this, very many men of wealth, alluied hii her from tho neighbouring colonies would have cost in their lot

with ours and oeen now indimnouily and energeticully reclaiming] the wilderness. UnlmppUy, however, f r our progress, nil the land available -could be counted by a few tinn of hundreds of acri'H

and, as a matter of courae. these were greedily and

spetdily absorlied. Were all the Provinces of Ne.v Z alnnd placed on an equal footing wilh icgnrd to l»nd. the evil would lie more endu ruble, but whilst Taiannki la cramped ap, nnd thU Province i< alike uuahlc to afford the immigrant the scopi! Irom which tv (house, we learn from the inaugural mieerh of the Superintendent nf Wilhngti-n lh.it ihat I'.ovincc hai no leal than three millions of awes ojien foi selection, It is mnri* than time that iho crnmping, onuhing lysleni which him been hitherto applied to thin I'rovince were changed. Number* of peioons have

been deluded hither by the Ten Shi Inn an " e re

I'rflclamullnn but only to depart again 111 dugust, We may safely ulhrm thin theic iue few who teem to |<now or care how many thus conic uud e;o. At least im mCiina lmvo been tried to laciliiute their settlement amonii,' us the evil is none the lesi icrious because it comes lets iinlpubly hefoic I lie pub-

lie. Tlrese itiungcrs cannot go over the country, because it ii/next to impossible to traverse v laud into which their Uso little accent, And it is

a fart that strangers are actually leaving ua now for lack of lnnd.

Tli a acquisition of lnnd is the main source of attraction to every now country ; uud uiiluhu our new ro|{ulatious he speejily rendered applicable to a lnrge and liberal unlocking of the country, they cun only he regarded as '• a mockery, a delusion, and a in.ire." Let u» hope iliac some mombor of the ProvinWil Council may bo induced lo move for a Reluni of all purchases of lanrf during the administration of G vernor Grey, tbowing the dale of the first agreement and the fiaal settlement If something in 1101 sprcdily dune, it Is clear th»t there inuat be mi end of every hope of progress. With the exception of one block in tin- district of Waugaroa, we doubt if any new purchase, pro* perly so called, hrn been niudu from the natives, during Governor Grey't n*tmini«i ration. Wnilo every exertion has lii-en mads by him in the New Zfii'nnd Company's Settlements to purchase landu of the natives by ilie thoimaud and ten* of thousiinds — nay millions of arraH so as to afford their coloni-as iibnndiinceof lnnd lo pick and chuo»e from

nnd to nitrnot cupitulints from all (juariera ; — hardly "an acie lias been purchase! hirr, but every cffjrt in ml c to sUrre us out. , We are well aware that iniidry small turns liar*

ing lately bi'cn paid for patchoi of laud here, bat theic have been for the completion of old purchnsca, or are too loignificant to deserve notice. This want of land h not a new objection.

When the proclamation wa< first iiHuedwe wrote as loiloivs — nnd the event hue provud the uccuracy of oar obsrrvation :—

" While the new regulations will prove of incalculable benefit V. tlie Southern Province!, where n'oundunce ot land ha* nlrcudy been secured thead« vantagen 10 us wiil by comparison, he small indeed, unleis raeusurci ure immediately devised for the acquiring land from the native owners, to meet the

vast ili'inand which we may immediately etpect. Unions this be <love the Province pf Auckland will be doomed to ttaud still while the bouthern Provinces, will be rapidly col»ni/.i:d." — Southern Cross, 18th April 1853.

We, arc not? reaping the natural fruit of the land jig! tati an into which Governor Grey thought fit tv plunge u'j. Instead of inciting the native tcytl c* pule the piirchnaoi of lnnd made irmn them by the Kuropcan, every effort should liuvu been held out to them tv mnke further sales. They are nun careless about selling. And the consequence, m tlmt there is scarcely an uvailnblo piecu of laud in the bunds of the Government for title. It must surely, theiefore we icpeat he obvious to the most ardent admirer of Governor Grey, nnd the prehent nyitim, that v can be liiiiintaiucil no longer without the moat serious obstiualion lo our progress.

Under an amended syxtcra , insuring an abundant

supply of Land, we bhould odvance more in on 0 yeaii ihou we possibly can do in a dozen years of so prevcrsc a system.

The veriest optim.nt may well grumble at the cxi«ling state of olTairs, since theio in but too m mil reason to conclude thnt the abund'.ncc of and in the Southern market, bus been effected by

means of our revenue A frc-ih draft on our funds wai, we hrar, nmde from Wellinetun h f. w week< since. And, if we be coirecllv informed, acouui derahle sum has been transmitted lo Tar.innki for the piircliino of lind there, / AiHumiiiK ■ li is to be aiuheniii:,— as t>u hive the j BtronffPHt roa<on for brlirvini; it lo he— it biliovti , the I'rovincial Council, to petition her Maji-sty the Queen, praying that she would he pleated to direct that i lie levmue of one I'rovinoi! fli.ill not hinhitr.ictei) tv purchase l.mi) in auoiln-r l'r>vince and tliut the power posm-mrd by the Governor of purchaiiiiig land anil «pcndin<; money in this way •hull by placed under some control which does not at present cxi«t.

Every posiiblc attempt has been made to lock up the land of this'l*. ovinco, whilst a diametrically opposite course has been puisued with respict to Wellington. There, ihrf p runs can be obtained to any extent,— one firm at least holding upwards of a quarter ol a million of ncret. And is it right th.it (my Governor should huvu tho ,iower of gorging one Province with land almost to repletion and of starving another when it may suit his purpose to do so ?

Surely the colonists ought now to percoivc that unless they «tir in thit mutter, — unless they press it upon the Government nothing will be done, Government will slumber on as of you', — diawing old salaries and devising new — doing as little for I both us they possibly cnn/atxl cuoless whether the Province bo station iry or not. The people however, should he active and earnest in looking alter their dearest interests and utc every posobk exertion to turn the laud regulations to profitable ac. count, We have heen a surcd I bit Grant Deeds have been accumulating for a lon£ time and at the present time there ure upwards of lOOn lying for «ig" nature, and in the i'«c<! of thm, away went bin Excellency upon a pleusuic excursion without signing them, indifferent apparently to the vait inconvenU once to buiinest which such neglect occasion* . Of course no legal conveyaiie can ba made until the grams be obtained, so that this mere statement may suflico to demonstrate the injurious obstruction! thereby e'eatcd. An Ordinance ii now about to be brought before the Provincial Council to remedy tho defects of Lund Titles, arising for the past from this cause. A new course however shouid be adopted for the future, The Superintendent ou^ht to be empowered to signal! land grunts whinh should be issued a<> soon as possible after the sale ; say within ten or fourloen days of such snlo at the far(licit, The/inconvcniencc arising from such mismanagement in this respect bat been very great. Among other of the many important reasons why the Genoial Assembly should be at once convened, is that the Waste Lands should be handed over to the dirposal of the several Provincial C'lunnils ; and that power be given to Superintendents to sign Grunt Deeds. Until this be done the land purchmcrs in the different Provinces wilt be unable to obtain titles to their lands, as his Excellency, howevor clever, cinnot be übiquitous,