The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28 1875.

Evening Star, Issue 3799, 28 April 1875, Page 2

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28 1875.

The necessity for a reform in the survey system of the Colony has long been a i firmed, but never demonstrated until Major P almer inspected and reported upon it. Much has been said by some of our contemporaries about the “talent in the Colony” being competent to the task, and the unfairness of instituting the investigation through a stranger. Such puerilities are scarcely worth replying to. The slightest reflection is sufficient to show that although it may be true that in New Zealand sur vp.yors are to be met with, possibly equal in ability to Major Palmer himself, thev have not hitherto been so manifest by their works as to lead to that conclusion. Row, then, was the Government to know who are and who are not competent men, if they are not to avail themselves of the services of one whose reputation's established? >othing can be plainer than the necessity for the investigation, and the advantage of it is seen in thecredit that is given to those who have proved themselves able to do their work No surprise need be felt at the defective surveys m the I>orth Island. The difficulties the-e were of no ordinal y character. Most of the surveys Major Palm-r tells us were made in a crude and unsystematic manner, by a class of sui veyors who were said to be v- jy imperfectly acquainted with;their profession.

So great, at that time, were the fears and prejudices which, from causes that need not be dwelt upon here, the Natives felt towards surveyors iu general, and particularly those of the Government stall, that it had been thought best to allow them to employ men of their own choosing. The only check—and it was a very slight one practically—upon the trustworthiness of these men was, that they were required to be licensed by the Government. A general system thus become impossible, and the work fell into the hands of an incompetent set, many of them utterly ignorant of the commonest rudiments of sound scientific surveying. It was accordingly done, though at frightful cost to the Natives, in a vague and slovenly style, and by methods which did not admit of its being properly tested, except by doing it over again. The geographical basis to which many of tne surveys were referred was that of the naval hydroguaphprs, often seriously in error, especially in inland waters. No attempt hod been made to connect all the various parte accurately together by reference to common points, or to collate them on general index maps. The work, in short, was so had, and the descriptions of locality were often so vague, that not only was the whereabouts even of some of the claims uncertain within several miles—contiguous estates having been occasionally placed far apart—but there was no security that the same laud might not he grunted two or three times over to different persons. Blunders iu detail too were numerous and large. Very often it happened that, owing to gross eirors in detached surveys, claims were turn ed upside down, mapped altogether wrong places, and Crown granted accordingly.

Well aware of this disorderly condition of surveys, attempts have been made to remedy it, but without any material benefit. Speak ing of the efforts of Mr Beale ty remedy this crying evil, Major Palmer says In order to remedy this deplorable state of things and to guard in future against the risk of gaits aud overlaps, Mr Heale at once set to work to build up a general index map, fitting in upon it as he best could the detached maps already drawn. Then, to insure that all future mrveys should be laid down at least approximately in their true positions, a rule waa made that titles should be refused, or at least delayed, in every case where the surveyor had not connected his work either with previous surveys or with some one or more well-defined neighboring points or features which might be afterwards fixed men, in 1868, a triangulatiou was set on foot, to be ultimately extended over the area iu the North Island chiefly occupied by Native lands; and provision was made for gradually connecting previous and all future surveys with it, so that each one might eventually be brought accurately into its place. About this time also, a well-prepared manual tor the guidance of his own staff was issued by Mr •Ueai.e, laying down rules and principles fpr an accurate aud uniform system of trigonometrical and detail surveys. Against the evils of the Native-surveyor system, however, he for a long time struggled iu vain: it is oniy witbm the last few mouths that the entire contlie of survey and employment of stall has come into his own hands, and a beginning been made of a better state of things in this quarter.

It fodows that the surveys executed since 1867, Wlth those done previously, to more n ? mb . e f- have partaken of most of the inherent defects of the earlier ones. So loiiir as the surveyors continued to bo employed and paid by the Natives, it was not possible to insist on their doing more than they were paid for, i.e., just so much as was absolutely required by the rules of tho Court. In ale w cases men of the better class were prevailed upon to show some of the interior detail on their plans or to connect their work with any trigonometrical points winch might be easy of access. But these were exceptions, and the staff and the general style of working remained much as before. . • evertheless, by employing his own trigonometrical observers m making the necessary connections, by a close scrutiny of the surveyors’ work, and by a great deal of painstaking labor, Mr He ale has at length succeeded in brinsing these surveys of the last seven or eight years into a fair state. Hrudreds ot cases of errors, and of gaps and overlaps arising from them, were detected in the course of mis investigation and sent back for correction; and J'haX the residual en-ors are now so small that no great future difficult.es need be apprehended, and that nearly all of the work would little rectification, be available for replotting on new sheets if required. Mhese remarks 18W e whie1?‘rf Cely + U i t>l>l / 40 i! 1 * 16 B,lrve y s made before iJ-f do u ° t he together, and therefore could Ri?^r b nn^l!fli rv - eyed Cn vutsse: they have sinc i been d d m most ctlses wit, h other surveys, and OrS -“T 6 api>roxlmatel y kuowu. Perhaps no further special inconvenience will arise from them, but there arc very few estates in which leadiustment will not be required. Many of the plans are deficient in information, and the field-books are missing. The descriptions in Crown grants, more--oVe f , , u fe 80 loose that they could hard y be appealed to to estabhsii boundaries; of these, possession, and oral evidence of original marks on the ground, must be the practical proofs. Mr Bbale must have had an uphill, wearisome time Nothing is so wearying to man’s patience as the consciousness that his department is not in good working order, because he has not men who are able or willing to carry out tho system la d down for their guidance As a matter of course, the report treats of details and technicalities that very >ri7 °u- t r e P ublic would feei interested iu the chief point ascertained is that through the necessity for employing incompetent men much injustice has been done, and in all probability much difficulty is looming in the future. There are 4,711,r.5ti acres , ic- ®ake up the total area of Native claims hitherto surveyed in New Zealand, but little, if any, has been done with smh accuracy as would enable it to form part of a general cadastral survey, and of the coni nds ’ wllic h amount in all to about 1, Jio 000 acres, none of them are good- indeed, those in the Waikato are as bad as bad can be, done mostly by contract several y® 11 " 8 a S°« plotted to all kinds of compass mer.diaus, unchecked and unconnected. The greater part of these lanas, nevertheless have either been allotted, or sold, or Crown granted on the basis or these worthless surveys. r l he necessity for change of system is plain, . o f* r aa reported, there seems no leason to blame the head of the department. We judge him to bo a competent man. Respecting Otago and its surveys we have, on the whole, reason to be satisfied. ,eays;~ : 1

The late chief surveyor, Mr J. T. Thomson, established in 1861 a Uniform system of surveying, which, if not highly scientific' or scrupulously exact, was at lea-.t simple and practical, and uoi likely io introduce inordinafe’errora or dls tori ions. Upon this system, the surveys have been pushed on os quickly ns possible, under the direction of Mr Thomson, and latterly under that of his successor, Mr M'Kbeeow. They have generally kept pace with the demands of settlement, and ore at present m a forward state.

When, os the surveys within circuits progressed, the various initial points came to be connect d together by intervening minor triongnlations, it became possible to test the occuracy of the worthy making comparisons between the observed differences of latitude and the differences computed through the network of triangles; also by comparing the observed and computed convergence of meridians. The results of these tests were very satisfactory, considering the means and the instruments used ; and they do high credit to the skill and care of Mr MVKehrow, hy whom all the original observations for latitude and true azimuth were made.