DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. Exchange of Land.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume I, Issue 24, 30 September 1843, Page 2

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. Exchange of Land.

Under this head we find published in tbfl last Gazette, the scheme whereby Mr. Shortland proposes to allow the Land Claimant to exchange their own lands for those belong ing to Government. This, like every otb* wise scheme. devised by this Government, i 1i 1 both partial and unjust. If it be a benej to exchange lauds, all claimants should * equally entitled to it. Why should thg whose claims have been heard and decide upon, have a priority of selection over tW whose claims the Government have not y? decided upon ? Is there any justice in sue" a plan, when it is the fault of the GoveiJ ment that such claims have nof.been heard But independent of this gross partial"? 1

iese regulations are partial and unjust' toards even those whose claims have been ided. y?hy should -small claimants get a y advantage over the larger claimants, or i larger claimants an- advantage over the natter?' We "protest against Mr. Shorty's interference in. this matter. The sand f bis glass is. now nearly run out, and w6 r0 persuaded the new Governor has definite istructions to change the whole of Mr. hortland's" proceedings in this matter, we ould therefore, advise the claimants to aUS e before they commit themselves. Why iould they accept of the refuse of the Gpvmment lands on- the terms Mr. Shortland dus imposes ? If justice; were intended, the uae rule would be applied to all. We detest lags legislation, in this, as in every thing Ise.— Tho following is a copy of the docuient above alluded to. . '. . . .Colonial Secretary's Office, Auckland, Sept. 26, 1843. la ordered carry into effect the notice proiidgated in the Government Gazette of the 3th instant, relative to the Exchange of Ahd in tho more remote districts of this lolony, by claimants who may have estabshed their titles to the same before the lommisskraers, for grants in the unoccupied ortions of the 4istrict in which the Town of Luckland is situated, His Excellency the Ifficer administering the Government has een pleased to direct the publication of tho Rowing Terms and Conditions under which llaimants will be permitted to obtain that idulgence. • • Claimants whose revised awards have apeared in the' Supplement to the Government laeette of the Oth instant, will bo divided in3 throe classes, as follows: — Ist; Those entitled to less than 50 acres. 2nd. Those whose awards amount to 50 acres* and.do notexceed 320 acres. 3rd. Those entitled to upwards of 330 acres. Claimants of the Ist class will be allowed > make .selections ou the River Tamaki, com a block of land set apart for that purose, at the rate of acre for acre, to the exsnt of the revised award. Claimants of the 3rd class, will be- allowed i a similar manner to select lands in the )istricfc of Papakuro and on the Wairoa. Claimants of the 2nd class will be allowed redit for so' many Pounds sterling as shall 0 equal, tq tlie number of acres to which hey may be entitled, on any purchaso they lay effect at the Government Land Salo to rib place on tho 18th and 19th<-4ays of )ccember next. To afford Claimants of the last mentioned lass an early opportunity of availing themelyes of this arrangement, Country Lands a tho vicinity of Auckland, on the River 'amaki, will, on the 18th and 19th of Deember next, be offered at Public Auction, t an upset price.of one pound per acre. Pariculars will appeax in ■ the next Government fozette. . Claimants whose lands are situated within lie County of Eden, will not be entitled to fie above mentioned privileges. t Provided in all cases, that the land to be xchanged shall contain the whole claim, or cries of claims; in cases where they are coniguotis, and form a solid block. That tlxe land to be exchanged "bo equal 1 amount, to the .quantity awarded ; and of fair average value— such not being the &se, a' proportionate deduction will be made. Application from Claimants of the Ist and rd classes will 'be. received at the office of he Colonial, Secretary, when, on the report f the Surveyor General as to the average' alue of the land, they will be placed in imwnediate possession of their grantsApplication's from Claimants of the 2nd who. may propose to avail themselves f these conditions,- are to be forwarded to id Office- of the Colonial Secretary on or efore the 9th December next. Plans of the Lands open for selection by Claimants of the Ist and 3rd classes, may Q seen .at the Office of the Surveyor fOueral, By his Excellency's command, (For the Colonial Secretary,) • William Connem,, New Appointments. — We -pereeivo that k Shortlaud- still continues to exercise a onsiderable amount of patronage. Two a portant appointments have lately taken Jace ; Peter Hogg, Esq., has been appointed 'oUector of Customs instead of ,Mr. Cooper, r to has resigned. Mr. Hogg is a very deIrving pefsoiij and will,' we doubt not, give tofch. satisfaction. The circumstances at••ttding this appointment, are well known in "® place, and for the present we abstain, rom makings any further remarks. We hall by and bye allude to it again. We see y the last Gazette, that Mr. Percival ferry has' been, appointed to the office of itaiff, which Mr, Cpates, the Clerk of Conn's has resigned. Mr. Coates never received Q y salary for this office, the duties of which

ho discharged together with Jthpso of his own ! peculiar office, without, any additional ex1 pense to'the Government or the public. We know nothing of Mr. Berry, or his qualifications for this office, or of the salary he is to receive for the same. We believe he came to the colony in the Louisa Campbell, and he has since his' arrival here, been practising as an. attorney. We hope he , will make a good Sheriff, and give satisfaction to the people, for the expense which the necessity of paying him a salary, lias imposed upon the colony. We understand Mr. Berry is a particular friend of Mr. Shortland's. Ho is now public property. i Extensive Sale by Auction.— On Thursday last, Mr. Hart sold on behalf of Mr. j Cooper, late Collector of Customs, several extensive and valuable household and landed properties in this town. There was a very : large attendance, but we are sorry to say, ; that the property was sold at a xery great sacrifice. Before the sale commenced, a | protest was entered by W. F. Porter, Esq., !on the grounds that the sale was calculated to give an unfair advantage to one creditor over all the rest. Most likely this protest and other peculiarities attending the sale, were the reasons why these properties sold at so low a rate. As this however, is a subject to which we must refer at an early period, we shall at present, make no further comment on this, or any of the other strange occurrences which aro now so notorious. We bide our time. •V Flax Dressing. — We are happy to hear that the new flax works of our enterprising fellow-colonist, Charles Terry, Esq.! «c now completed, and in operation. Mr. Terry hag already brought one cargo of the raw material from the Thames, and the Dolphin has been again dispatched for another. We have not ourselves inspected the works, but from the reports of persons who are, to a certain extent, in the secret) we have every reason to hope that the long -looked-for plan of dressing flax at a remunerating price, has been at length discovered, This was all that was really required to advance New Zealand, and from the accounts of Mr. Terry's invention, the plan is so simple, and the necessary machinery so cheap, that every man in the colony may go to his flax fields, and manufacture from its glossy fibres, his cloth of gold. This was the very thing we stood in need of ; an exportable article, on the manufacture of which, our surplus labour could be profitably employed. If every idle man and woman in New Zealand could be assured that by betaking himself, or herself, to a flix field, they could earn even Ss. per day, our colony would soon prosper. We do not know the'nature of Mr, Terry'a. machine, but one part of the process is the boiling down of the fl.ix in iron coppers, so as to ex tricate the fibre from the gluten of the leaf. We venture to suggest to Mr. Terry an advice on this part of the process ; we would recommend him to use copper, instead of iron pots. From the specimens of some of h'ts flax which we have seen, we remarked tint the colour was changed, and rather dark. This arises from the fact, that flax contains a certain quantity of tannin and gallic acid, which combine with the iron of the pots, and so form an inky solution, which impartg the dark colour to the fibre. This could be avoided in the manner we have stated. ;j Symptoms ov Moral Improvement. — It is currently reported that his Excellency Sir Maurice O'Connell, th« commander of the Forces, has issued orders that all the officers stationed in New Zealand, or any of them who shall have been found guilty of injuring the native population by destroying the morality of the native females, shall be tried by Court Martial for euch offence. This, we hear, has been the result of a complaint made to his Excellency by the Bißhop of New Zealand, in consequence of the immoral, and improper behaviour of a certain person or persons at Taurariga, while the troops were at that place. We trust the Governor will follow the good example set by Sir Maurice 6'Coauell, and dismiss from the Magistracy, and from all places under Government, the many who are in a similar manner sowing the seeds of crime and misery among the natives. We hate attacking private character, an 1 shall avoid it, unless individuals make it public property by the impudent and unblushing exhibition of their immorality. But we must) for one crime at least, condemn the European population. The West Indies have been much Bpoken of for the indecent conduct of the planters in this reopeet. Bat our own town, .and our own' population, exhibit pictures of Native and European unblushing *nd shameless immorality, equal to any thing in the West Indies in their worst day*. We trust the new Governor in mercy to the native*, wM exhibit a little more detestation of eueli habits, than his predecessors have done. We cannot help commending the conduct of the Bishop in this matter. But we would recommend to his Lordship to look after the junior members of the Native propagation Society, or as they ara vulgarly called, Native Protectors. We are credibly informed, that some of theve gentlemen are just at deserving of censure as tbe military officers. ' How can it be otherwise, when young men without pretensions to much religion or morality, are sent among the Native's ? Perhaps the Bishop could- procure information on this point from the brother of the officer administering the Govern-

meat, Mr. Edward Shortland. This gentleman doubtiesi knows something about the manner in which transactions of this kind are carried on among the Natives ; and would assist in any likely scheme to improve the condition of this unfortunate race. We hear he is a particular favourite with the natives of Maketu. It would be well to enquire into the conduct of these gentlemen. They are a bond of union between the two races. Melancholy Effectsop Unlawful Affection among the Nativbs.— A very distressing: and romantic case of this kind has been related tr> ns by a person who was cognizant of its actual existence. The tragic story might almost found the ground work of a novel, and proves that our sable brethren Arc- as acutely and sensitively affected by the ordinary feelings and passious of our nature as the most refined and 1 civilised of our countrymen* The simple facts of this melancholy and fatal tale, are the following: — Some time ago, a young native chief at Manganui became enamoured of a lovely young woman, called £ Roa, or •• The Beauty." They were married, and lived happily. A few months ago, however, the young chief unfortunately died, and £ Roa became tho wife of his old father, in accordance with native custom. But as might have been expected from so unnatural a union, and from the unlovelinesi of old age, the heart did not accompany tbe hand. ERia loved not the old man ; and although his wife, she permitted her young heart's affection to be gained by another. She became attached to, and waa beloved by a young man of her own age, in her husband's tribe. Their crime was made known to the jealous, fond, and foolish old man. He took his dire and fatal revenge upon the unfortunate E Roa ; whom he caused to be put to death. The youthful and disconsolate lover, determined, however, in accordance with native belief, on obtaining in the Maoria Heaver, that happiness of which he was deprived on earth. In order to live with hit lovely E Roa, he sacrificed his earthly life by shooting himself. Tbe old chief in the infatuation of bU foolish fondness, could not bear the idea of hit losing for ever the being whom b? loved and destroyed. la (lie full belief that death was but the passage to another gtate of existence, he prepared to pursue tbe object of his affection, and shot himself with the view of frustrating the designs of his more favoured rival. The huuband, the wife, and the lover, thus died togettier. This circumstance has actually taken place at Manganui, since the late fijht between the natives. We suppose tbe parties were heathens. The facts arettme. i Pi/bhc Buildings, — It is much to be regretted that such a Targe amount of money should have been thrown away upon unsubstantial public buildings in this colony, but is (till more to be regretted that these buildings should be no soon allowed to go to decay and ruin. The Treasury, which has been put up at such expence, is already sapped in the foundation ; for want of lime or cement, the bricks, which were badly made, are crumbling away. But the most culpable neglect is observable in the present condition of the stone building which was erected about twelve months ago in Mechanics' Bay. Tuis house will in a very short time tumble down. The stones are already, from the effects of the weather, and the want of lime, worn away to the very centre of the wall, and no attempt is made to save the building fom destruction. This house would have answered well for an Emigrants' Barracks. What use it serves at present, we do not know, unless it be to remind the settlers of the vast sums- of money expended by Captain Hobson and Mr. Shortland in sawing timber for the Government House, laundry and kitchens. Copy of a Letter from Mr. Penningtou to tho Secretary for Colonial Laud Commissioners.