CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 2, 19 March 1842, Page 8

CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor or the Nelson Examxnkr. Sir — In the last number of the Nelson Examiner a notice appeared, signed "H. A. Thompson," warning all persons who might erect buildings' on any public reserve, of their liability to ejectment without notice. The purpose of this letter is to inquire whether the unquestionable right of the Government to eject persons settling On the public domain will be enforced. Those who themselves have property in the lands of this settlement, or who represent absent proprietors) of land, are much interested in this question; for if peroons are permitted to settle on the public lands, as man/ have already settled, it is obvious that the value of land generally will be diminished. If a decisive prohibition be not pat upon this practice, the Government will be coming into the market as competitors with individuals : a principle fraught with much dangerous mischief, and calculated, if acted upon, to cause an effectual impediment to private enterprise. When the land was purchased from the Company, purchasers never contemplated the possibility of their lands being reduced in value by such a practice as this; and, as the representative of a very large proprietary, I venture to protest against its adoption. I should hope, from the notice issued last week by the Company's principal agent, relative to the cutting down of timber in the Trood, and from the similar notice issued *by order of the Governor, the rights of the public will be respected by those in whom the control of the public lands is vested. And I should also hope that the rights of individuals will be equally secure . The right of property is absolutely invaded if private proprietors are deprived by the act, or by the indifference of those representing the Government, of the advantages which were among the inducements to their becoming purchasers of the lands. I may be permitted to add that the practices [ in question — that of squatting on the public I domain, and that of cutting down the timber on sections already appropriated to a proprietary and about to be distributed — ought to awaken the jealousy of the Protector of the Aborigines. The native reserves will be lessened in value as much as any private property if the practice be not disallowed. lam, sir, Your obedient servant, W. C. Y.

To the Editor of thk Nelsox Examixbr. Sir — As the representative of many absent proprietors of land in this settlement, I beg to inquire, through the medium of your paper, whether the purpose to which the public reserves are to be applied is yet definitively determined. The schedule has been published. . It is obvious that, in selecting sections, the knowledge of the purpose to which the reserves are to be applied materially affects the value of choices. By referring to the surveyor's plan, I am aware, indeed, that the purposes to which it is proposed to apply the reserves may be ascertained. But this is not enough. It must surely be as easy to dispose of the question now as it will be after the lands have been allotted. We ought to agitate — to bring public opinion to bear upon the Company and the Government. What are the land agents about ? I am, sir, Your obedient servant, W. C. Y.

A man at Wellington, of the name of Lockwood, has been passing fictitious cheques on the Union Bank, for the sake of receiving the difference of his purchases in cash. He escaped from, the gaol once, and was brought before the bench of magistrates, on the Ist of March, heavily ironed : he was fully convicted for trial at the next quarter sessions. An inquest- was held on Saturday at the Lampton Tavern, before J. P. Fitzgerald, Esq.,M. D., Coroner, and a respectable jury, on the body of a man found drowned on Friday morning hist. From the evidence, it appeared that deceased (Thomas Hawkins) was in the employ of the Messrs. Kebbell. | He was well educated for his station in life, and had latterly laboured under depresjion of spirits, in consequence, as he alleged, of not having received letters from his friends in England. Hawkins got up from his bed early on Friday morning, and his fellow workman said he- thought the reason of his not returning was, that he was with a friend down the beach. The jury, after some further unimportant' evidence, returned a verdict of felo-de-se^ — [This verdict, we are sure, will be looked upon with great regret by the unfortunate man's relatives and friends — for the legal censequences are very distressing. Besides, there, was no evidence, to show that Hawkins meditated self-destruction — the utmost that it went to prove was, that he had been unwell, and was low spirited at not hearing from hip friends.— Ed,] — Wellington Gazette. — We are astonished beyond measure at this strange freak. The verdict of felo-de-se is we. firmly .believe, an unwise one under any circumstances. It is chiefly surprising that alaw which the disgust of all enlightened men has rendered almost a dead letter should be allowed any longer to disgrace our books. That a Port Nicholson jury should be found straining the evidence beyond its proper construction, so as to give a verdict of unnecessary though Iftgal barbarity, is indeed hardly credible, though we have \% on so good authority as that of the Editor of the New Zealand Gazette.— Ed.]