Page 6 Advertisements Column 1

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 174, 6 May 1854, Page 6

. lations, I was in any respect restricted as to the " minimum extent I might consider sufficient for v sheep.. That the foundation of a system of " gross monopoly of pasturage had been laid before I arrived in the Middle District of the Middle Island, was so obvious to me that I at oiice sent back to the Colonial Secretary, as being irregular and not according to form, the whole of the applications which had been handed over to me; with a request that he would cause them to be rectified, and then returned to me to be acted upon. The originals, however, were by the Colonial Secretary again sent to me, with a request that I would make the best I could of them. The best I could do, as every one was as ignorant of the country as myself, was to gazette or advertise all the applicationsfor runs; and thus I had to take the applicant's? word as to the probable extent of the run he: had taken possession of. These are the rights of the occupants of whose cause you have avowed yourself to be the champion; that is, you are to redress the wrongs I have dune them. But I did not allow myself to be influenced by what was so strongly urged upon me by Mr. Domett, in his letter of the 9th April, 1853. I had now become satisfied as to the views and schemes of the cormorant propensities of the monopolists I had to deal with. I had now seen a certain extent only of the country ; and it was the fault of the Government, and not mine, that I had not seen more of it. I bad • also had opportunities of acquiring sufficient information to enable me to judge of the nature and capabilities of the pasturage in general; and the result was that I arrived at the conclusion—keeping in view that stockowners ought to be something more than mere temporary occupants of runs, and that they are bound to improve them—that one acre of pasturage in general for a sheep is quite sufficient; and, in the exercise of the discretionary powers confided to me, for the interests of the Crown and the Public, I determined that in no case, especially as the Crown Lands, according to the new Constitution, are to be at. the disposal of the General Assembly, would I allow more than 25,000 acres for a run. Acting upon this, which I conceive a just and fair principle, I issued the fourteen year licenses, as I did in strict conformity to law, and also in the form prescribed by the Pasture Regulations. His Excellency Sir George Grey was kept by me fully aware, in every respect, of my intentions as to the issuing of these pasture licenses. I even sent him a map showing sufficiently accurately where every run licensed by me is situated. His Excellency made no objection whatever to my allowing runholdera twelve in place of six mouths to stock them. I fully explained to His Excellency that the new Provincial Scab law rendered this extension of the period allowed for stockmgiiulispensably neceseaiy. This was the only instance in which I deviated from the regulations : and I consider it an act of great injustice to deprive us (I speak as a runholder myself) of our runs for their not being stocked at the end of six months. This is a point which I trust you will refer to the General Government, as you have, I conclude, my letter to you of the 23rd of March, 1854; in which (as a ruuholder) I did myself the honour to inform you that " It is intended to take advantage of what is sanctioned by the General Land regulations lately established by His Excellency Governor Sir George Grey, to purchase at five, or ten shillings an acre (as commissidner i»f Crown Lands I would not allow any extent of pastura»e, especially to the north of the Waipara, to be worth only five shillings an acre,) the whole of the most valuable and available parts of my sheep run, situated on the rightbank of.ille Waikari and to the northward of the Waiuara river, consequently outside the late Canterbury block." " To this hardship all the duly licensed for 14 years runholders outside the' Block, including myself, are exposed, whilst the whole of the runholders inside the Bluck—of whom you fire yourself, I believe, one—are still protected J'rom Hie rapacity of monied speculators or hind-jobbers. This, obviously, is so unjust, that through you, as Commissioner of Crown Lauds, I beg to appe-.l to the General Government fur protection, until I can make arrangements for purchasing either the whole of the run, or suck portions.of it as I may want, for pastoral «r other purposes; and I conclude you cannot luit think it both fair and advisable that the same privilege should be extended to all the licensed runholders outside the Canterbury Block."