Original Correspondence.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 527, 3 May 1851, Page 3

Original Correspondence.

To the Editor of the New Zealnnder. Sir,— ln your paper of Saturday I find that a proposal to appropriate the property of the settlers in this Province to satisfy the claims of the dupes of the New Zealand Company upon that respect ible. body, had been made, and had received, not consideration certainly, but some notice and support from certain inhabitants of the town of AuqM tnd. It is no doubt highly flattering and pleasant that just at this moment the peculiar advantages of this Province should have become so suddenly patent to the settlers of the defunct Company, after having spent ten years in decrying and abusing it ; but w e rr.ust not, at this hour, allow the soft sawder of " New Munster Land Claimants," nor "the plaints of " Taranaki victims," nor yet the hasty and possibly interested support of oertain capitalists and, shopkeepers in our good town of Auckland, to close our eyes to the consequences which must ensue from any such arrangement as is now proposed. We are still slowly recovering, and but slowly, from the "effects 6f a former visitation in which, to extinguish the claims of the " original" land speculators of this Province, a large portion or our available ani most v.i viable land was s'wflticfwe&up. It will be in the reco^ection of many of your readers that the scheme to enable the claimants, by the issue of scrip, to exchange their distant and useless property for lands in the vicinity of the capital was well received at the time, and great hopes were entertained that the arrangement, when completed, would have proved a real benefit to the unfortunate individuals themselves, and an advantage to this settlement by concentrating the population, and bringing the land adjoining the town into useful occupation. Now what was the result? The value of the scrip instantly fell to 2s. 6d., to 25., to Is., and to 6d. .the pound sterling. '' One shilling and a pot of porter" became the current value of an acre of land within hail of the capital. The scrip was caught up from the needy holders by the speculators and capitalists of the town, and the claimants were left oftentimes, in a worse position than before, while the consequences to the colony were disastrous; the land re revenue was annihilated — for seven yeaFs thereafter the receipts *did not cover the expenses of the Survey Offipe ; immigration, which had just commenced was - effectually stopped ; the land remained uncultivated, (a great deal of it remains so to this -hour,) in the hands of speculators, who retailed andj: continue to retail it at enormou? prices. The scheme^was an utter failure — the claimants lost, the colony 4ost, an 3 many subsequent misfortunes. The wild ten-shilling-an-acre. and other frantic schemes to obtain a revenue and brins? land into the market, may be. fairJy traced to that unhappy project. ' ' ' We have every right to calculate that the same consequences will fojllow a iimilar proceeding at this time, if indeed the clear seeing individual at the head of affairs in this country could be induced to sanction such folly, which I for one do not believe. There , would be an immediate cessation of land sales by the Crown> all hope of resumed immigration would be cut off, the market would once more , be glutted with " scrip," once more the knowing ones would ha*e an opportunity of making such a harvest as would enable ,them 'to retire from ihe scene of their useful labours to spend the "proceeds" elsewhere; and then, even if #om'r'he temporary addition to our population which ''might -Uke"'j)la(sfti>iour excellent fellow-townsmen were enabled to sell a few more shirts and blankets, and a little more brandy and .tobacco, still the " tottle of the whole" would show a balance grievously against the colonyl Can we afFord to buy land from the Natives to maintain an expensive staff for the purpose of surveying it, and then give it away to relieve the necessities of every individual who has, with his eyes open and the use of bis reason, made a bad bargain in another settlement 1 Have we not a right to be jutt to our own land purchasers belore we become generous to those who have no claim upon us ? With what amazing nonchalance it is proposed to chuck away the property of this colony, to choke up the very spring of our existence— for what 1 —To pay the debts of the New Zealand Company. Let us, Mr. Editor, pay our own debts; let us see that justice is done to ourselves ; let us insist that the trovernment of this Colbny shall perform its portion of the engagement into which it eaters with every land - purchaser, by virtue of which it exacts a high price for \and on condition.that a portion of the money shall be returned, in the shape of imported Ifbour to till his | nacres ; and that his neighbour shall not be permitted to acquire land on other 6r better terms , and let us attend ' to our own affairs, and not rush to the rescue of those who can, or ought to take care of themselves. If there is amongst us any superfluous political force, here is a direction in which it may be usefully exercised. Instead of a petition to the General Council, dictated by thoughtless benevolence or reckless sellinterest, to confiscate the public property of this Settle- , ment, let the demand be, that the portion of the land 'sales of the past year, due to the purchasers of • these lands and to the public, shall be appropriated, not to the payment of the salaries of government officers, but religiously to the introduction of emigrants. Here is a stone which requires but to be set rolling : it will gather moss. Each- batch of working men will bring the labour to earn the money which shall buy more land and impart more' labour, and we shall then have no need to bribe the inhabitants of other settlements with gilts of our " dirty acresV" to become for a seasoii customers o$ Oiir enthusiastic townsmen. F believe, JMr. Editor, that ifc J is*jUst possible that we can in a legitimate way » procure additions to our population of as good quality, at a, very much cheaper rate, and I do, therefore, most vehemently protest against the projected spoliation. I am, Sir, yours, &c, April 28, 1851. X. DVc cheerfully inseit the following letter, although

it points to a conclusion different from that at which we haTe ourselves arrived respecting the propriety of o«r facilitating the object of the New Zealand Company's Land Claimants at Taranaki. Our corresponpondent's strictures on the mere upeculatori in scrip of former years are undeniably just ; but we apprehend the cue would be found different now. Few can become scrip holders, inasmuch as scrip will be issued only when the Government is unable to put the claimant in possession of the particular land which he eMms ; and, of those who now seek the privilege of selecting land in New Ulster, the majority are known as settlen already actually engaged in agricultural pursuits, and desiring no more than to be permanently located in this Province. At the tame time, the evil which he deprecates very probably may bo 'apprehended in some instances; and it wai because we thought so that, in a former article, we suggested the necessity of some provision in the new Ordinance which would restrict the privilege to buna fide settlers. With 6uuh a limitation, we are still of opinion that the concession would be fair in itself, and beneficial rather than detrimental to the general interests of the Colony. Ed. N. Z.]

To the Editor of the New Zealandcr. Sir,— l think allusions, in newspaper controversy, to the supposed personnel of anonymous writers, not only bad taste, but a tiespass on the public patience. 'Whatever importance newspaper correspondents attach to their own identity, the public only oaies about the matter written, and is interested only in proportion to the quantity <>f sense 01 nonsense pi opounded. The greatest objection to these allusions is not that they are generally wrong. Whether right or wrong, they manage to elicit a vast amount of correspondence extremely tiresome to the sensible part of the community. Here, for instance, in the Southern Ctost of to-day, a man, with an unintelligible name, wastes I don't know how much of his time and of bis readeis' patience, in, rebutting a supposed attack upon some supposed correspondents of a former date. Not that the writer is personally interested in the matter. His identity, I should imagine, judging from the specimen of his literature, would never be a matter of much moment. But, anxious to rush into piint, and delighted, after his kind, to do a little toadyism, and other d rty work, he writes and re-writes about his great literary friends, and how they are not what they are supposed to be, till he really works himself into a belief that the public would like to know a little of himself. Whereupon he informs us he is proud to call the supposed Jushtia a fi iend. I hope this supposed " Justitia," this "nominis umbra," is gratified, out I greatly doubt the public anxiety on this point. He next lells us he has been newly enrolled in, and admitted to the piivileges of the " clique" of the Southern Cross ; and more fully to establish this fact, and to illustrate hi& thorough initiation into their craft, and his confidential intercourse with them, he has wiitten more than a column of slip-slop upon a subject which the Editor himself, in a foot-note, seusibly deems unworthy of notice. I remain, Sir, your obedient servant, One of the Public. Auckland, May 2nd, 1851.

Heads of the Charter of Incorporation to be granted to the New Bank at Wellington under the style and title of the " Union Bank of New Zealand." Thf amount of capital of the Company to be fixe** at £20,000, and the whole of such amount to be subscribed for within a limited period, not exceeding eighteen months from the date of the Charter or Act of Incorporation. - ' , , The Bank not to commence business until the whole of the capital is subscribed, and a moiety at least of the subscriptions paid up. The whole amount of the capital to be paid up within four years from the date of the Charter or Act of Incorporation. The debts and engagements of the Company upon promissory notes, or otherwise not to exceed at any time thrice the amount ot the paid up capital with the addition of the amount of such deposits as may be made with the Company's establishment by individuals in. specie or Government paper. In event of the assets of the Company being insuf* ficient to meet its engagements, the shareholders are to be responsible to the extent of twice the amount of their subscribed shares (that is for the amount subscribed and paid up, and for an additional amount equal thereto.) The Company shall not hold shares in its own stock, nor make advances on the security of those shares. The discount or advances by the Company on securities bearing the uame of any Director in office thereof, as drawer, acceptor, or endorser, shall not at any time exceed one-third of the total advances and discounts of the Bank. The Company shall not advance money upon the security of lands or houses, or ships, or on pledge of merchandise, or hold land* or houses except for the transaction of its business, nor own ships, or be engaged in trade except as dealers in bullion or bills of exchange, but shall confine its transactions to discounting commercial pap^r, and negotiable securities and other legitimate banking business. The dividends to shareholders are to be made out of profits only, and not out of the capital of the Company. The Company to make up and publish periodical statement* of its assets and liabilities (half yearly or yearly) shewing under the heads specified in the form prescribed for that purpose, the average of the amount of its notes in circulation and other liabilities, at the termination of each week or month during the period to which the statement refers, and the average amount of specie or other assets that were available to meet the same. Copies of these statements are to be submitted to tne Government and the Company to be prepared, if called upon, to verify such statement! by the production t as connden ial documents, of the weekly or monthly balance sheets from which the same are compiled. No bye law of the Company shall be repugnaut to the Charter or Act of Incoipoiation, or to the ltw of the colony. The Charter or Act of Incorporation may provide for an addition to the capital of the Company within specified limits, with the sanction of the Governor-in-Chief in Council, such additional capital, and the shares and subscriptions that may constitute toe same being subject in every other respect, trom and after the dae of the above-mentioned sanction, to conditions and regulations similar to those applying to the original capital. t In all cases in which shares in the Company s stock are transferred between the period of the grant of the Charter or Act of Incorporation, and the actual comtnenciag ot business by the Bank, the responsibility of the original holders of the transferred shares shall contiuue for i\x month* at Unst after the date of the transfer,