THE NEW ZEALAND COMPANY'S LAND TRANSACTION. [From the " Nelson Examiner."]

New Zealander, Volume 6, Issue 452, 14 August 1850, Page 3

THE NEW ZEALAND COMPANY'S LAND TRANSACTION . [From the " Nelson Examiner."]

It is much K> be regretted that in the settlement of the c'a ms of the land purchasers upon the New Zfix land Company which has lately bc-n effected, some systematic and intelligible ■ lan was not laid down anil adhered to, which bhould have embraced every case, vnryintr, as> °oiiie of them rniu'ht have done, in natnre and txu-n ( It is tiue th.it the resolutions of July, 1847, were it>rended to havo been bucli a scheme, but notwi'h- landing the cry raised against the infringement of these Resolutions in the sma lest paiticular, they were in many impoitant particulars virtuully s«l aside. The result of tint has been, that instead ol ihe systc tnatic settlement contemplated, it bus proved the most ]isgb,l> oy-p gg ! edy atinir conceivable, to the total c'isri j n "iul of tue p.ineiples for the distxsal of waste land laid down 'oy Waketield t' eor'es, Aims of I'ailiainent apd Regulations of the New Zealand Company. Bit the 'regularity, and in a stuct sen-c the- injustice, of the Company satisfying the clamoms of tilt- land-pur-ch.iserH at the expense of the settlement, wns bad cnou-ih when the claimants, being original purchasers of land in the settlement, hau <:o:itiibuu'd their quotas to th> Tiust Funds, which the Nelson tcheme reqniied, but what shall be paid of these instances wheie the Company has givi n land in Nelson to individual who never com'ributed a tar lung to thob-- Funds, but who have obtained Imid here in virlUr of pureh.isei muJe in the other island. So long as these tians ctious weie confined to two 01 three individuals who had bei n driven here from Watig-inui, no notice was taken, for it would have been an unjreneious act to have thrown any impediments in the way of iho c juIT rers, after Ihe Jnsais which they had eucounteied. A few exclunjrers oUand in Uip Wellington distiici loi Nclvm land, has been effected nlso '»v oiher parties, but the amount bein h ' small m each cas- J , no regard has been paid to thu circumstance. A case, however, has junt aiiscn, of the Same nature, which, by its magnitude, calls lor some, remark ; the Ai'ents ot the Company having suffered Mr Duppa, who ws a Wellington and nota Nelson la..d-pnrchabt-r, to exchange the wlmle or a large pro,-city in Wellington (or land in Niison. As the exact rmturo of this arianijement does n->l appear to be generally undeihtood, and a- miieh nusapprebrnsinn exists upon it, it will lv aa well to nuke known the true circumstances :•— Mr. l>ii;>pa was an otiiiin.il purdusei in Wrllingtori of eight ' llotmcatj ot Jand, costing i,BOO, and, \\kc rn-my otheis, wan long kept out of possession of the land lor whu h he had paid. In consequence of h.iviug become a Ntloon resident at a verycaily stag, of this settlen.ont, a..d liaving engaged largely in agriculture and block-form-ing. Mr. Duppa did not tail into the ainmg-'meni recently made btUeui) his brother land purcliaserb in Wellington and the Company ; as, however satislucioiy that iirraiiu'emcnt might Kavt been to tho«e whos t inteie-,t wmajticd w'Wjllii.gtof, to htm, who lia'l become a Nelson settler, it utleied lnUe induu- i.cut, I and his object was to ger land where it would Ik ot red aflvaiiirfgf to him. Now we do not compl.ii.i of the Company that it acceded to Mr. Dupe's wislitb. pro- ldt-d that it is will. v.,' to m<-uie the funds oMhe sett'ernent ugniiiHt any lobs by th> tiansaction. The ttwi.d m.de to Mr. Dm pi in lieu of ell his Wellington land, and as cmiipaisation foi it« non dei vcrv, and some other and epevul losses lu'h been ,L'2OO ■ of scrip, and Una sections ot suburban hud at Allin^tou, j ' whicl-, valued at |3 mi a ire, will give tognher ihe sum of £2COJ. According to the NeLon scheme, five sixths of the cost of nil the land goes to tin- TiUfit Funds, so that in this tmnbaclion the Company is clearh liable to the set lenient m the sum of X2lG6* 13s. 5,1. If the Company admiiß ibid claim, then we shall et-nsider the tmns.iciion as quite leguimale, hut othe wis-j if will be one which cannot hu buffered to pass without exciting the stroimiHt dis"ppiolution.