C—No. 1

19

PAPERS RELATIVE TO THE

The humble Petition of the undersigned Miners and Inhabitants of WangapeJea, Waimea South, and other Districts within the Province of Nelson, and Colony of New Zealand. Showetii, — That at the sittings of the Provincial Council for the Province of Nelson, aforesaid, in the month of May, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, the sum of £100 was voted as a bonus to any person or persons who should discover a payable gold field in the District of Wangapeka aforesaid. That such payable gold field within the District of Wangapeka aforesaid was discovered by William Griffiths, Henry Pilkington, Levi James, and James Sharp. That the said William Griffiths, Henry Pilkington, Levi James, and James Sharp claimed the said bonus, and in the month of July, one thousand eight hundred aud sixty two, the Provincial Treasurer of the Province of Nelson, by order of the then Superintendent of the Province of Nelson, paid to the said William Griffiths, Henry Pilkington, Levi James, and James Sharp, the said bonus of £100, in equal proportions of £25 to each man. That many miners have since then, and up to the present time, subsisted by gold-miuing operations within the said district. That by Proclamation issued under the hand of Oswald Curtis, Esquire, the Superintendent of the Province of Nelson, on the eighth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, after reciting that by certain Proclamations issued under the hand of Alfred Saunders, Esquire, as Superintendent of the Province of Nelson, and bearing date respectively the thirty-first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, the first day of September, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, and the third day of September, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, certain lands within the said Province were declared to bo a gold field, within the meaning of the Gold Fields Act, and called or styled the " Nelson South-west Gold Fields ;" and after reciting that it was desirable and expedient to alter and extend the boundaries of the said gold field, it was declared and proclaimed, after revoking all former Proclamations declaring the boundaries of the Nelson South-west Gold Fields, that on and after the date thereof, all the land comprised within the under-mentioned boundaries, should be a gold field, for the purposes of " The Gold Fields Act, 1866," and that the same should be called the Nelson South-west Gold Fields, commencing at Weka Kura Point, on the sea coast, thence following the boundary of the Collingwood Gold Field to Mount Arthur, thence in a straight line to Mount Owen, then along the top of the ranges eastward of the Itiver Hope to its junction with the Buller, thence to the nearest peak of the range forming the water-shed between the River Howard and Lake Rotaroa, thence along the top of the range to Mount Travers, thence along the top of the range to' Mount Mackay and Mount Franklyn, thence along the top of the range of the Spencer Mountains to Travers' Peak, thence following the water-shed to the saddle between the heads of the Teremakau and Ilurunui Rivers, thence by the northern boundary of the County of Westland to the mouth of the River Grey on the sea coast, thence along the sea coast to Weka Kura Point, excepting thereout certain lands not connected with the matter in question. That your petitioners are informed and verily believe that all the lands in the Wangapeka District are included within the boundaries of the above recited Proclamation, and have not been withdrawn therefrom by Proclamation. That the Mount Owen, as described on the Government Plan of the Province, is not the Mount Owen recognized by custom, or by persons acquainted with the locality, nor as yet laid down in the Admiralty Chart. They consider that the River Owen takes its name from the mount from which the river takes its rise, and that would place the mount the easternmost peak of the range, thereby placing the land as purchased by the late sale within the boundary of the South-west Gold Fields. That on and about the thirteenth day of October, one thousand eight hundred aud sixty-nine, one Alfred Culliford, a miner, stated publicly, in the City of Nelson, within the said Province of Nelson, that he had discovered at Wangapeka aforesaid a rich gold-bearing quartz reef, and exhibited rich specimens, alleged by him to have been taken from the said reef. That the said Alfred Culliford did not apply for the sale of sixteen acres of land, but that he did apply for protection for having discovered a rich quartz reef, situated in the Wangapeka District, and was told that protection could not be granted him. He then applied for a lease, and was informed that a lease would not suit his purpose, but that he could purchase sixteen acres of rural land, although ho had exhibited specimens of gold-bearing quartz, thereby clearly showing that the land had been improperly disposed of. That on the morning of the fourteenth of October, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, the said Alfred Culliford applied at the office of the Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Province of Nelson, to purchase sixteen acres of land at Wangapeka (including therein that part of the quartz reef from which he had obtained the specimens before mentioned), and the same was sold to him by the said Commissioner, under " The Waste Lands Act, 1863." That shortly afterwards, and on the same fourteenth day of October, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, many other persons applied for and purchased other sections of land adjoining, and including therein the continuation of the said quartz reef. That by fortieth section of " The Gold Fields Act, 1866," it is enacted that " any district proclaimed or to be proclaimed a gold field, shall not be subject to any provisions of any Waste Land Act, or of any other Land Act for the time being in force regulating the sale, disposal, and occupation of Crown Lands within the Province in which such gold field is situate, except for certain purposes, therein mentioned." That your petitioners feel aggrieved that such sales should have been allowed by the Waste Lands Board for the Province of Nelson, whereby the miners arc, as they -believe, illegally and unjustly deprived of their rights in marking out claims on and working the said reef, according to the fourth section of Bales and Regulations of the Nelson South-west Gold Fields. Your petitioners therefore humbly pray your Excellency to cause strict inquiry to be made into the subject-matter of this petition, and in the meantime to withhold the grants from the persons who