TARANAKI COUNCIL PAPERS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 116, 18 May 1863, Page 3

TARANAKI COUNCIL PAPERS.

(From the Taranaki Herald, April 25.) A Bill to enable the Governor oj New Zealand to resume the Tataraimaka Block in the Province of Taranaki. Whereas the Tataraimaka block forms part of the settled lands of the Province, and it is expedient that the same should be resumed by the Crown for the purpose of being occupied by military settlers: Be it therefore enacted by the Superintendent of the Province of Taranaki, with the advice and consent of the Provincial Council thereof, as followes:— 1. It shall be lawful for the Governor to take the whole of the Tataraimaka block, or any portion he may deem expsdient, and the same to resume on behalf of tb? Crown.

2. The price to be paid for the land taken shall be ascertained and determined by two abitrators, one to be appointed on behalf of the Government of New Zealand, and the other by the owner of the land taken, and such arbitrators (or an umpire appointed by them previous to their entering upon the arbitration) shall declare the price to be paid for such land.

3. In default of the owner of the land taken agreeing to submit the question of price to arbitration, all the powers and authorities hereinbefore given to two arbitrators to decide the same shall and may be exercised by the arbitrator acting on behalf of the Government. Provided that it shall be optional with the Government to take any land at the valuation authorised by this Ordinance. 4. All awards shall be made in writing under the hands of the arbitrators or umpire making the same.

5. Land taken under the provisions of this Ordinance, shall be paid for in cash.

6. The Short Title of this Ordinance shall be the “ Tataraimaka Ordinance, 1863.”

New Plymouth, 16th April, 1863. Sir, —It is considered by the Government as essential to any scheme for the satisfactory reinstatement of the settlement of Taranaki that the Tatarimaka block should he occupied in future by a body of settlers able to maintain their position, and thus to give great additional security to the inhabitants of the rest of the Province. The present owners of land in that block do not, as your Honor is aware, number more than twenty, several of whom it is probable would not in any case reside there. It is obvious that so small a body of men, separated from the other districts belonging to Europeans by a tract of land owned by disaffected natives, would require for their protection a military force disproportioned to the results to be obtained, and which in the event of any considerable reduction of the troops kept in the colony, would either have to be maintained there at the expense of more settled portions of the country equally requiring protection, or being proportionably reduced, would cease to afford the security the settlers require. If, on the other hand, a strong military settlement were placed on the block, these difficulties would be avoided, while a powerful advanced guard would be provided for the protection of the southern boundary of the settled districts, which it is hoped would furnish, in connection with other measures of a similar kind, a material guarantee for the future peace and security of the whole settlement of Taranaki. To enable such a measure to be carried into effect, the Government must obtain possesion of the block in question. For this purpose an Act of the Provincial Council would be necessaiy, similar in its provisions to the other Acts which have lately been passed for obtaining lands for public purposes. I have therefore to invite your Honor to lay a Bill before Council, with as little delay as possible to authorise the General Government to take the whole of the land in

Tatarainiaka block, or any portion it !might deem sufficient for the objects it has in view at a fair price per acre. Should this be done, a settlement will at once be established there, to consist of a body of soldiers, accustomed to the country and particularly acquainted with this Province, who are now entitled to and waiting their discharge, and who would obtain the lands upon a kind of military tenure and other conditions hereafter to be specified. It must of course be understood ’that r the Government does not pledge itself 'to effect this purchase if the sum ultimately found requisite should exceed the amount Government may think proper to devote thereto. I have, &c., Alfred Domett. His Honor the Superintendent of Taranaki, &c., &c., &c., Superintendent’s Office, New Plymouth, 21st April, 1863. Sir, —I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th instant, acquainting me with the views of the Government in regard to the future occupation of the Tataraimaka district, and inviting me to lay a Bill before the Provincial Council to authorize the General Government to take the whole of the land, or any portion they may deem sufficient for the object of forming a settlement of discharged soldiers there. I shall, upon your request, lose no time in submitting a Bill of the nature referred to for the consideration of the Council; at the same time I must state that I am unable to give the measure my support. First, as the position of Tataraimaka is by no means more isolated than that of other settled districts in this island, it appears to me evident that the special proposition of dispossessing the laud-owners of Tataraimaka merges itself into the more general one whether it is necessary or desirable to withdraw the ordinary settlers from all lands similarly situated ; and being thus but one instance of the application of a principle most important to the whole colony, I think that it -would be much wiser in the Provincial Council to decline to legislate upon the subject, even if that body should be disposed to assent to the principle involved. Again, if it be desirable to remove the Tataraimaka land-owners, I cannot but feel that, they are fully entitled to receive from the Government the market value in times of peace of the land in the possession of which the Government are unable, it seems, to protect them, and 1 therefore do not feel myself justified in assisting in any attempt at coercion until it is shewn that they either refuse to sell by arbitration or ask a price for their land greater than it would be worth if it could be accupied in security. In conclusion, I would state j that if it is the opinion of the Government that the settlement can only be protected at this date by a chain of military posts of the magnitude proposed, then the question, affecting as it does every settlement in the North Island, seems to me one for the immediate consideration of the Colonial Parliament. I have, &c., Charles Brown, Superintendent. The Honble. the Colonial Secretary, New Plymouth.

The correspondent of the Nelson Examiner, speaking of this measure, says: Ton will see that the obnoxious measure for dispossessing the Tataraimaka people of their lands was thrown out by our Provincial Council at the first reading. I should have preferred to see a day fixed for a second reading of so grave a proposal, though no one can grumble at the fate it has met with. To the Governor, the result must practically be indifferent, though it will no doubt vex him to see his reinstatement measures so little respected. For, whether his Excellency got the land by fair purchase, or “ took” it, as proposed by him, the real difficulty would be untouched. The natives are bent on fighting us, and have been for years, long before Teira and his little patch of land were known beyond his own family. The Waitara affair simply precipitated hostilities. A measure, somewhat similar, passed the Council on a pledge from the Governor that, if the Council would enable him to C£ take” sites of land for military purposes, martial law would be removed from the Province. The pledge has not been fulfilled, nor can I believe the Governor can do so now, though in truth we are only a stage advanced—a stage worse in the Maori entanglement. Will the Bill be returned disallowed under the circumstances? It is doubtful if it is legal, though the Provincial Government is in no way responsible for this. They simply complied with a request made on conditions favorable to the inhabitants generally.