TARANAKI IRON SAND.

Timaru Herald, Volume IV, Issue 98, 30 March 1866, Page 5

TARANAKI IRON SAND.

[From the Wellington Advertiser.)

We proposed to ourselves m a late issue to devote more of our space to a consideration of the iron-sand "difficulty," as it may well be called, and we do so now the more willingly, that we are fully impressed with the necessity for at once affording every possible facility for developing the resources of the country m this rich product, which, from the strongest evidence, we are convinced must one day prove a mine of wealth to those engaged m working it, and a source of revenue to this Colony, which no other country can compete with. The matter has certainly been before the world for some years now, and on the outside it would appear that its successful issue is as far (iff as it has ever been, but we believe we shall not be m any way exceeding the bounds of truth when we say that that issue is at last about to be accomplished. The whole matter has been surrounded by such trickery, and we might even add fraud, that the public here and elsewhere has become wearied of the subject through want of belief m it ; yet we are tempted now to go into discussion of it onco more, and to bring the public mind once again to bear upon it, because at last we see a ray of light shining through all the complications that envelope it, and showing the end of those complications. In order fully to understand the matter, it will be uecessary to lay before our readers a resumS of the occurrences connected with it since the year 1858, when first an application was made for leases of that portion of the seabeach at Taranaki which yielded this rich saud. On the 24th of May of that year, a Captain Edward Morshead applied to the Provincial Government of Taranaki for a lease of the land, and on the 25th August following that Government promised to grant him the lease. The application and a copy of the Provincial lease where then forwarded to the General Government, and on the 25th July, 1859, the Governor, with the advice of his Executive, granted a second lease. The two leases were concurrent, and were for a period of twenty -one years, each containing stipulations such as erecting furnaces on the beach for smelting the ore, spending a certain sum annually on the operations, ex|»orting none of the sand m its crude state, &c. These stipulations were very wise ones, as they necessitated the outlay of capital m the country, the creation of local manufactures, and the exportation of a valuable commodity. Unfortunately for the success of the scheme, the lessee was not what he represented himself to be, and was totally unable to carry out the works. He had no capital, and after fruitless attempts to form acompauy m Taranaki, he mortgagert the property to Doctor Samuel, who from that time became identified with the matter. He had also executed a deed of assignment to Doctor Samuel of one hundred free shares, and £750 worth of stock m any company that might be established for working the ironsaud, aud this he did m consideration of large pecuniary assistance rendered to him by Doctor SamueL He then left Taranaki for England, having prior to his departnre constituted Doctor Samuel his attorney m all matters connected with the leases, and leaving behind him his wife and family m the latter gentleman's care, and reliant on him for support. We need not detail Captain Morahead's conduct m England ; suffice it to say that totally regardless of Doctor Samuel's claim, which it is difficult to account for except on the basest ingratitude to a man who was supporting his family, and who had assisted himself when most m need, he attempted to get up three several Joint Stock Companies, which all fell thron«h m consequence of the well-known impecumosity and untrustworthiness of the originator. One instance will show the mode of working adopted by this gentleman. In attempting to establish the first company be absolutely caused a sale of £600,000 worth of iron-sand to a French firm to be minuted m the books chat were to serve as a decoy to his victims, and this before any single work had b*en carried out, and m the face of the clause m his leases which prohibited the exportation of the sand m its crude state.

In the meantime war broke oat m Tsranaki, and Doctor Samuel seeing that all operations must be stopped, applied to both the Provincial Government and the General Government for an extension of the time daring which the stipulations had to be earned out*, and from both, Go*

veruments lie received replies acceding to his request On the 27th December, 1860, Mr. Gisborne, Under-Secretary, wrote to Doctor SamueL saying that although no alteration' in the terms of the lease could lawfully be made, if they were surrendered at the end of the war new leases should be granted on the same terms. The Superintendent of the Province of Taranaki wrote to the same effect on the 12th January, 1861, and on the 11th March following sent & second letter, stating that a clause should be inserted m the new deeds, by which the interests of " third parties" should be secured. On the 26th November, 1860, the Provincial Council of Tarauaki had passed a resolution that Doctor Samuel's interest m the leases should be secured, and a Select Committee, which sat m September, 1862, rejwrted that that resolution ought to be carried into effect Now the "third parties" whose interests were thus to be secured, were noother than Doctor Samuel. He alone had expended money ou the undertaking, and he alone held such deeds and mortgages as gave him an undoubted right to have his interest secured. Victims to Captain Morshead's speculative genius m England may be pitied, but cannot be relieved. That they went blindfold into a bubble speculation, which the very terms of the leaseswould have shewn them was illegal and unjustifiable, if they had only read them, is a matter which the Government of this Colony may regret, but which it cannot remedy without injuring the rights of the sole person who has honestly attempted to develop this source of wealth. But the history of all these complications is not yet told, and occupy more space than we can devote to them, m 1864 a new speculator appeared on the scene, and made application for the leases on the assumption that those granted to Captain Morshead had been determined by Government, and Doctor Samuel again was thrown into contact with a " man of straw," for this gentleman, a Mr. C. Watt, proved to be possessed of no more substantial means than was Captain Morshead, and returned to Melbourne, from whence he had come, having done no more than add confusion to the whole affair.

The iron-sand has, therefore, lain idle, notwithstauding an effort which the Provincial Government at Taranaki made on its own account to get it worded— an effort which was asunsuccessful as it was disgraceful to the Government that could act as they did. On the 23rd March, 1864, Mr. Charles Brown, the then Superintendent, sent a message to the Provincial Council with respect to Mr. Wait's application, and m it uttered what can simply be called bare* faced falsehoods with regard to Dr. Samuel's claims. He said that that gentleman had never made his iwsition as agent of the lessee known until he applied for a renewal of the leases, and iv another sentence further on says that Doctor Samuel had not made his position known until the 13th September, 1863. Mow tbe application for a renewal of the leases was made at the end of December, 1860, and was answered m January, 1861, aud previous to that time Doctor Samuel had written to and received letters from the Government as attorney for the lessee. When false assertions such as these are made by so high an official, little justice can be expected by a private individual from the Government at whose head he is. But that was not all. During the year 1862 the same Superintendent had applied secretly throughout thi» aud the neighboring Colonies for rates of freight on iron-sand to Eugland, and obtained them m a manner which showed, not that he ignored the mortgagee's claim to have a voice m the matter but that he wished to keep it secret from him. It was discovered, however, and, though a quantity of the sand was shipped off, a note of protest was entered by Doctor Samuel, and the saud was seized on its arrival m England, placed m the Queen's warehouse, and, having lain there for some months, was ultimately sold at a fraction ot its value to defray expenses. We would strongly recommend Doctor Samuel to pursue a similar course it' ever any attempt is made to infringe his just rights, and we have no doubt that he will do so.

We have been compelled to condense all these particulars very much, and yet have had to omit much that is of importance, but we shall not let the subject drop with one passing notice It is of too much importance to the whole country to* see this metal worked, to treat the matter lightly. We understand that the affair is to be submitted to arbitration now, and that ou the decision of the arbitrators the whole will rest. Their duty will be a tedious one, but not a difficult one ; they will have to get rid entirely of the false claims of such men as Captain Morahead, and when it is known that the matter is divested of its complexity, nodoubt capitalists will be only too glad to take part m what must give a most lucrative return. Doctor Samuel' 8 claim we must leave to another time.

Depreciation of Sydney Habboub. — Some* time since a commission was appointed by the Governor to examine the condition of the harbour of Port Jackson, and report as to the supposed injury arising from the city sewerage matter tilling up portions, and lessening the depth of the water. The commission consisted of Captain Sidney, R.N., Mr. Smalley, Mr. Moriarty, Mr. Hixson, and Mr. Watson. They have just presented a progress report to hia Excellency, which is published m the Sydney papers. It presents rather an alarming view of the deteriorating condition of the harbour. As m the case of Morpeth, so at Sydney, the various streets opening on to the harbour are meauß of constantly injuring it, by tilth and rubbish of all sorts sweeping down into the water m times of rain, while the city sewerage emptying into the harbour, without any attempt to prevent the solid portions from accompanying the liquid, a much more rapid depreciation is proceeding at these points. Altogether, the commissioners report that not only is the depth of water diminishing, but that the available space for vessels to lie m deep water is also constantly lessening. — Maitland Mercury.

The mutiny at Martinique may produce consequences. French soldiers do not like being shot down by their comrades, and if all wo hear is true, the Zouaves were badly used. Accord* ing to the official account, 1,050 Zouaves landed m Port de France on 27th October, and were marched to Fort Dessaix, The Governor, rather afraid of a disturbance, ordered that they should visit the town 200 at a time, so that during the week's sojourn each Zouave would bave one clay's leave. The Zouaves mutinied, seized somemuskets, attacked the gate, and were shot down by soldiers and marines to the number of sixteen killed and thirty-seven wounded. If this story is correct they were m wrong, but a private letter from Port de France assures us that the Governor would only let out twenty-five at a time, thus depriving 800 of them of any holiday at all. If this latter account is true, we shall yet hear more of the Martinique mutiny.

A curious letter appeared m the Cheltenham Examiner from a Mr. Macdougall, pointing out how hijih negro gentlemen have actually risen m Jamaica. In the Legislative Council there areseveral men of colour, among them the Hon. Richard Hill, one of its ablest members. One* third of the Assembly were men of colour, the leaders, Mr. Jordan and Mr. Osborne, among them. On the bench of the Supreme Court, Mr.. Moncrieff, the ablest of the judges; is a black man. The Attorney-General, Mr. Heslop, whowas consulted by Mr. Eyre m the case of Mr. Gordon, is, says Mr. Macdougall, a man of colour, and Mr. Nairn, chief of the police, is a black man. So Mr. Macdougall denies strenuously that the negroes have not been gaining rapidly m social status since the date of emancipation. For the rest, Mr. Macdougall thinks well of the Maroon's, and maintains they are not savages. He is quite m favour of the massacre as essential to "the security of capital" in m Jamaica— capital, which he regards as the great civilising agency — and he thinks evidently that justice and law such as we should bring to* bear m this country on aocu • rising MB M*