THE Wellington Independent "Nothing extenuate; Nor set down aught in malice."Nor set down aught in malice."B TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1862. TWO SIDES TO A QUESTION.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1804, 16 December 1862, Page 3

THE Wellington Independent " Nothing extenuate ; Nor set down aught in malice."Nor set down aught in malice."B TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1862. TWO SIDES TO A QUESTION.

Many a question, which in itself does not deserve more than a passing consideration, is worth fighting for to the death when an important principle is involved. Whenever it can be shown that an important principle is at stake, it is the. duty of the press to sound an alarm, . and if men are for the moment heedless of its trumpet-calls, to continue its note until they awake up to a sense of what is expected from them. The Wanganui Chronicle received on Saturday, assuies us that in opposing the sale of Campbelltown it is contending for a principle ; and we do nothing more than our bare duty to the- public in assuring that journal, tbat if we thought his suppositions correct, if we could only see as he sees, if we were able to perceive a principle in danger (and especially such an important principle as that which he puts forth) we would join issue with him in denouncing the sale of Caiupbelltown, and would do what we could to bring the matter under the direct cognisance of the Law. But we are peisuaded that there is no principle in danger, and having most" of the eaily transactions with regard to the New Zealand Company's lands at our fingers ends, we can assure the Wanganui public that they are altogether under a misapprehension, if they suppose that the Superintendent has acted illegally in patting up for sale the reserve in question Tbej are altogether wrong iv supposing that the land comes under the designation of a leserve, as defined by the " Reserves Act 1854." If it did, then no reserve would be safe anywhere, and the sale would be worth contesting; but in uo map or document of any kind, handed orer to the Provincial Government when called into existeDce id 1853, will be found any proof whatever that the site of Carapbelltown is anything more than a piece of land, left over after certain native reserves had been conclusively maifced off— too small to be sold under previously existing regulations of the New Zealand Company, and therefore generally called a reserve; but handed over with other waste lands to the Provincial ■ Government, unincumbered by any obligation to be devoted to purposes of public utility. It . is quite true tbat in the Company's old maps, a long strip,' including the piece in dispute, was marked " public reserve" ; but long before the Provincial Government came into being it was obliterated, and nearly the whole of it appropriated by Mr McLean, under the sanction of Mr Bell, the then Land Commissioner. When . handed over to the Provincial Government, the site of Campbelltown was not a reserve for any specific public purpose, has never been so marked on the Government maps, does not come under.the " Reserve Act, 1854," and neither requires to bo conveyed to the Superintendent under Crown ■Grant, nor needs the passing of an Act of Council specially authorising its sale. We trust wehave fairly answered the Chronicles ep peal, and fully touched on what it considers to be "the pith of the matter." If the Chronicle ■ is not satistied with our explanation, we would ' refer him to the fact that the sale, now objected to as illegal, was requested by the Magistrates of Wanganui in 1860, and it was at their instigation, that the survey for a town on the South Bank, was undertaken. From this little fact it is evident tbat our scent is the right one, and that whatever some may say about the present reserve being intended as a place for the citizens to row over and " smoke their pipe and sniff the caller air," the recollection of other inhabitants was clear to the contrary, or the magistrates would not have been induced to request the sale. There being no legal impediment to the sale, , no trampling upon lights, no violation of principle, we tbiuk every one, but a few of the good folk of Wanganui, will admit that the Superintendent is best consulting the interests of the community, and therefore only doing his duty, in proceeding with the sale as advertised. The state of the case is so clearly laid down in the Superintendent's letter of July 30, 1860, that it will be the shortest and best load to a full understanding of the subject, for us to quote that letter entire, as we find it printed in the Chroof 2nd August, 1860.--Superintendent's Office, Wellington. July 23, 1860. Sib, — -I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 19th instant, enclosing a protest adopted at a public meeting held at Wanganui on the 18th instant, against the proposed sale of the reserve on the south bank of the Wanganui river. In reply, I beg to inform you, that tho proposal to sell the reserve in question did not emanate from the Government, and that it ia a matter of perfect indifference to the Government whether it is sold or is kept waste and unproductive. The sole duty of the Government in such matters is, I conceive, to consult the wishes and interests of the persons most immediately concerned. In the present case tho Bench of Magistrates, some months since, transmitted to me a resolution lequesting that the reserve should be laid off and sold in small allotments ; and repeated representations have been made to me by the settlers residing between the Wanganui and Rangitikei rivers, of the grave inconvenience and losses to which they were subjected from the reserve not , being thrown open for sale, so aa to permit of the erection of buildings absolutely essential for the accommodation of tho large population located in the district between the Wanganui and Rangitikei. The representations of .the Bench and of the . .settlers appeared to me so just, (hat J lost no time j \ in giving orders to have the reserve laid off, with . '"& view to immediate sale; and from the time * 'that 'the District Surveyor has been engaged on I ,Jf;i iniagin© the survey must be now completed, •* '"Bat While my^bject'in assenting to their request

waa undoubtedly to remedy the grievance of whicli the settlers in the Wanganui, Turakina and Kangitikei districts complained, I n«ver for one mo- - ment imagined that the increased facilities thus - proposed to be afforded to them for the transaction of their business at Wanganui. would or , could be regarded with disfavour by the inhabitants on the north bank of the river, especially aa in uo town in the colony are there mote ample reserves (or public purposes than in the town of Wanganui. 1 confess, therefore, that I have received the present protest with some surprise, and I must at the same time express .my regret that the protest should have been signed only by the chairman of I the meeting and three other gentlemen and that Jno information should have been afforded me -4 respecting the number and parties attending the meeting; for in the absence of such information, and especially with the signature of the chairman and three others only attached to it, you will readily admit that it is impossible for me to know what weight is fairly due to the protest. It appears to me that I shall best meet the diffic ulty in which I am placed by these conflicting representations, by allowing further time for the consideration of the question. I shall therefore ! feel obliged by your intimating that the sale of i the reserve will not be advertised until both parl ties — the advocates and the opponents of the sale — have had an opportunity of making known ! their wishes, , I have the honor to be, sir, Your most obedient servant, I. E. Feathebston, Superintendent. George Beaven, Esq., Chairman of the Public Meeting, Wanganni. The want of accommodation on the South side of the river has been increasing ever since, j until at last the representations made to the Superintendent during his lute visit to Wan- _ ganui, led him to see plainly, that he would j uot be " consulting the wishes and interests of the persons most immediately concerned" if be! hesitated any longer to direct the sale of the j township. Through the kindness of a corres- i pondent we are able to lay before our readers a memorial, which he states is being numerously signed by the settlers of Rangitikei and Tarakina, setting forth to the Superintendent their views on the questiou. We can scarcely doubt that after publishing the case, which they so clearly and powerfully put, there will be as little reason for objecting to the expediency of and necessity for the Superintendent proceeding with the sale of the township, as there can be against its legality. The respectful memorial of the undersigned settlers in the Rangitikei and Turakina districts Sheweth, — That your memorialists have learned that an attempt is being made by certain persons resident in the town of Wanganui, to induce your Honor to abandon the sale of the reserve on the south side of the river, advertised for sale by you on the 18th December next. Your memorialists earnestly hope that you will not accede to the wishes of the persons referred to, but will proceed to sell the reserve as advertised. We do not recognise the claim put forward by certain inhabitants of Wanganui to the maintenance of the reserve in question for their exclusive benefit. There is nothing to shew that it was ever net apart by such authority, or in such manner, as to afford a foundation for any such claim, which we regard as having no other origin than a spirit of monopoly, and a selfish desire to exclude competition in the way of business. In a n on- manufacturing district, like that of which Wanganui is the centre, towns exist only for the benefit of tho rural population, by the reception of whose produce and the exchange of imported commodities, such towns are created and maintained. The town is the town of the district, and not of the few merchants, storekeepers or professional men who may happen to reside within its limits. In like manner, the reserve is for the benefit of the district, and not for that of the few inhabitants of the town on tho opposite side of the river, Tho settlers on the south side of the river contribute fully two-thirds of the produce, agricultural and pastoral by which Wanganui is maintained. Hitherto they have been subjected to the greatest possible inconvenience by having to transact all their business on the north side of the river, and to transport to that side all their produce, whether for sale or shipment. It has been suggested by the organ of tha monopolists that all (he south side of the river requires is a store and an hotel, which might be erected on land held under lease. We beg to judge for ourselves in this matter, and emphatically to assert that all the conveniences of a well estab lished town, such as will only be erected on freehold land, are required for the rapidly progressing districts in which we live ; and we know of no other place where we can be bo well provided (if at all) as at the site of the reserve now proposed to be sold. Your memorialists therefore trust thatin deciding this question your Honor will not look solely to the wishes of a portion of tho population of the town of Wanganui, but have regard to the important interests which exist on this side of the river, and to the developement of which nothing will more materially contribute than the existence j of a town on this side. I The sale will take place on Thursday next, at Wanganui, and though it will no doubt be formally protested against, the purchasers need have little fear but that their interests will be maintained, should the protest be carried into the Supreme Court.