ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 654, 21 July 1852, Page 3

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor of the New Zealander. Sm, — It is an old proverb, and in many respects a good one — " De mortieis nil nisi bomcm," and as our late Municipal Council, when alive, did nothing that I knowof to merit the benedictions of the community, it would be merciful at least were it allowed " rcquiescere in pace It was, according to Esculapius, before the deceased was in articulo mortis, and whilst there was )) r et even a faint hope that he might recover, if relieved of that flatulence which was all along the primary complaint, to endeavour to act upon the wind-lags by severe and searching remedies. It was discreet, too, of the poet to cast into shade the last act and the consequent interment in the swamp at Onehunga, and chant a funeral dirge over his remains as if he had been inurned with honour in the Tomb of the Capulets ; but it; does seem strange conduct on the part of a near relative to bi'ing under the notice of the public the convulsive contortions and fitful fancies of the patient, parading them as proofs of robust health and sane judgment. I would not, Sir, revert to this subject were it not that one of the members of the defunct Council has come forward, and, in an address, appealed to his doings (misdoings) in that Council as a reason for obtaining the suffrages of the City Constituency, and that some of his friends in their anxious endeavours to invest him with more exalted functions would have us to believe that he is entitled to equal honours with the bird that saved the Capitol. For the sake of many who may be desirous of learning the truth, it will not be^too late to ask whether or no it be the fact that the worthy Alderman, as some say, prevented the Burgesses from having a rate inflicted on them. If so, it must have been the intention of several in the Council that a rate should be levied. Who were they ? It is also asserted that had the Council gone on to expend the money at their disposal, only .£5OO to £700 would have been available after the salaries and other expenses were paid. Shade of Cocker, how could this be ? Plow could the salaries and contingencies be more for this year than £350 under the scrutinizing eye and economical determination of Mr. Councillor Newman and others ? Was there not in the Treasury, at the disposal of the Council, a sxim exceeding £1.600 at the very moment they voted the suspension of their meetings, and was it not argued that that sum would be increased from time to time by the third of the money arising from the sale of lands ? and has it not been so increased by upwards of £300? Would not £1600, expended on the roads, under the control of the Council (the salaries, &c, being provided for besides) have done some immediate good to the Borough ? Will the Wardens, who are expending this money, consult the convenience or comfort of the inhabitants generally in a greater degree than the Council would have done ? And finally, if these questions are answered reasonably and truthfully, I would ask further, will the citizens give a seat in the Provincial Council to one who is now said to be promising roads and pathways, but who would not give them, when he had the power ? I am, Sir, yours, &c, R. L.

To the Editor of the New Zeaxander. Sir, — You did me the favour, in May last, to insert a letter respecting my land at Papakura, and you Avill again oblige by assisting me to let the public know the manner in which I have been treated with regard to my honestly acquired acres in that district, especially as you may see that my case bears upon a question in which the people in this part of New Zealand have no little concern. I am not now going to complain of the Government, for Sir George Grey's policy to the claimants has been consistent throughout — his opposition to the system under which they claim commenced on his arrival, and continues the same till this day. But a letter from Mr. Brown in the Southern Cross, putting forth his claims on the people to elect him, reminds me of the part lie has played in the affair, at any rate as regards myself and my Papakura claim. Mr. Brown states that his endeavours to obtain cheap land have been unremitting from ihe foundation of the colony. Certainly, to my own knowledge, it has been ssando — and his endeavours are still put forth as earnestly as ever to obtain, at a cheap rate, my land at Papakura, for which he well knows I paid the natives honestly. Mr. Brown takes the cheap land question for his strong point of recommendation to the electors, but from the manner ; lie lias acted, in conjunction with others, towards me, I would not advise the public to put much reliance on his advocacy of that or any other question beyond what would serve his own interests. It is well known, and he now reminds the public of it, that he was in favour of direct purchase of land from the natives. Governor Fitz Roy was in favour of it too, and granted permission to the settlers by waiving the Crown's right of pre-emption. I was one of those who took advantage of the privilege, and nearly impoverished myself to secure as much land as would serve my purposes as a stockholder in my future operations. On the arrival of Governor Grey, my hopes, as well as those of many others, were blighted ; for although I had completed my purchase from the natives entirely to their satisfaction, and had got my land surveyed, my claim was disallowed, because I would not consent to pay five shillings an acre additional for a GovernI ment title — and then only "be allowed to take five hundred acres out of what I had paid the natives foi*. The Native Land Purchase Ordinance subsequently prevented me from making any use of the land, — I dare not occupy what I had purchased, and what was, according to the laws of honesty, undoubtedly mine. The natives looked upon it as mine ; — their views of integrity — their sonse of right and wrong — half enlightened as they were — gave the verdict unhesitatingly in my favour ; and they invariably and honourably refused to re-sell the land to the Government, until that lately some influence has been brought to bear in order to corrupt them, and to turn them aside from the honest course they had pursued throughout. One of them — but the principal one, it is said, only gave way. The others — to their honour be it told — still hold out on the side of justice. But who has moved the Government to become so anxious lately for the possession of this land \ The very man who now boasts of his untiring efforts on behalf of the public to secure cheap land. My claim lay in abeyance : although it had been disallowed, 1 had hopes left that one day right would prevail, and I should get possession of what in all righteousness belonged to me. I, with many others, believed that if ever our old friend, Lord Stanley, (now Prime Minister) came into office, a memorial from the claimants as a body, laying before him the whole statement of our grievances, would have been attended with good results. And the settlers — to their honour be it spoken — in most instances refused to have anything to do with the purchase of land from the Government that had ever been wrested from a claimant. Mr. Brown himself has continued to recommend this course in his paper — but how has he acted in practice ? It is well known that he was one, if not the chief partner, concerned in the Commissariat contract for beef, held in the name of another party last year. Well, of course, the securing of that profitable contract for 1852 was looked forward to with considerable anxiety. Accordingly, in January last, Mr. Brown (through Jame's Farmer) applies for a defined ran at Papakura — (Mr. Farmer's application is published in the Government Gazette of the 14th January) — under the new Regulations issued in November last. Now this run includes my land, and before the Government could grant it, they of course must needs arrange with the natives.

This arrangement, it is said, lias been at last effected, and through the intervention of Mr. Brown, the self-vaunted disinterested friend of the claimants, all my hopes of redress are about to be blasted. And, no doubt if he could turn every other claim in the Province to his own account in an equal degree with mine, the claimants would have as good an opportunity as I have had to form a proper estimate of his regard for their interests. His application has not been granted — at least no public announcement of it has yet appeared : if it should be granted, then there will be less chance than ever of the Home Government interfering on my behalf — for, however well they might he disposed towards me or the other claimants, they would find it inconvenient to interfere with a license granted to Mr Brown, or any other like him, who, under the new regulations, would have a fourteen years' right of occupancy, with leave to buy a portion of the land secured by his license. Mr. Brown, in reply to the "Elector" this morning, says he holds no opinions that he is ashamed of ; and he should be sorry to find that he was elected in ignorance of those opinions. I wish therefore, Sir, by this letter, to let all who have been interested in the land claims' question know the soit of friend they may expect to find in Mr. Brown, before they make him their representative. There may be still a ray of hope left for redress at the hands of the new Ministry under Lord Derby : "our interests — which are, indeed, identical with the interests of the Province — will no doubt be attended to by the new Provincial Council ; but that the interference of the Council on o\ir behalf may be effective, the members would need to be men who can take this subject up with clean unsullied hands. — I am, Sir, 3 r ours, &c, Adam Ciiisiiolm. Auckland, July 20.