EXTRACTS from BLUE BOOK—1851. ENROLLED PENSIONERS.

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 658, 4 August 1852, Page 3

EXTRACTS from BLUE BOOK— IBSI. ENROLLED PENSIONERS.

Fhom Governor Sir George Grey to Eabl Gkey. Wellington, New Zealand, February 8, 1851. My Lord, In compliance with your Lordship's instructions that I should furnish a comprehensive report on the general expenditure incurred for settling Pensioners in the Colony of New Zealand, distinguishing the cost of houses, working pay, and other principal branches of expense, I have now the honour to transmit a report which has been drawn up by the Auditor- General of New Ulster for my information, but which appears to me to be so complete and useful a document, that I have thought it right to forward it to your Lordship in its present form, and I think that the details of the financial part of the subject are so fully and clearly treated in this Report, that I need not attempt upon those points to trouble your Lordship with any further remarks. Upon the general financial effects of this plan of military colonization, and the source from •which the cost of it should be paid, I beg to offer the following observations :—: — The total expenditure in New Zealand upon account of the location of pensioners in this colony has, up to the present date, been £59,249 12s. 4d. the details of which expenditure are fully set forth in the Report of the Auditor- General. Upon the other hand, it is to be stated that, owing to the presence of the pensioner force in this country your Lor<^Vp has been already enabled to direct a reuuaion in the military "force serving in New Zealand which it will be found from an examination of the enclosed return for the southern province, will effect an annual saving of military expenditure for the whole of New Zealand, which cannot be estimated at less than £30,000, so that in two years from this source alone, a saving will be effected by great Britain, •which will more than repay "the whole cost of the plan, and this saving will be greatly increased in a few years by the still further reduction in the military force which it will be practicable by degrees to carry out. , But the state of tranquillity of this country which the presence of the pensioner force has tended very greatly to promote and confirm, has also enabled a large reduction to be made in the naval force serving in New Zealand ; and the great increase of population caused by the presence of the pensioners and their families, has a [ s0 add-2d largely to the revenue, and has enabled the Parliamentary grant in aid of the local revenues to be considerably reduced. > It is thus evident that as a mere financial operation, even if the whole of the cost of this experiment were defrayed by Great Britain, still that a large saving will have been effected by it for the mother country. This colony has also undoubtedly greatly benefitted by the introduction of the pensioners ; the single instance of the great increase in the value of lands as stated by the Surveyor- General sufficiently proves this,

Making a total of £67,411 10s., and the value of land in the hundred of Auckland must also have been very greatly increased by the presence of the pensioners and the consequent increase of population ; indeed, the value of the public lauds throughout the whole northern district must have been already greatly increased from this cause, whilst evidently the value of the pi-operty of private individuals must ha\ c increased in exactly the same proportion as land which is the property of the Crown. This increase in the value of lands and inthe amount of the revenue which bas been obtained for the colony, is also not a mere temporary effect, for tbe pensioners being nearly all married men with young and healthy families, the value of landed property, and the amount of the revenue must increase year by year with the already rapidly augmenting wealth of the pensioners, and in proportion to the increase of population I attributable to themselves and their families. Should, therefore, Her Majesty's Government determine, in the terms of your Lordship's Despatch, No. 58, of the 20th of March last, that all the charges of the location of the pensioners in New Zealand shall eventually be defrayed from the land fund of this country, there can be no doubt that in some years ifc could bear such a charge, and probably that if it were then called upon to defray it, that the colony would hardly feel such an exertion ; but I submit that if possible it should not, at least for the present, be called upon to defray the whole of this debt, because much at the pi'esent moment depends upon a European population being steadily poured into New Zealand. An increase in the European population will, by strengthening our race, tend rapidly to diminish the cost of naval and military protection, whilst the increase in the revenue and general wealth of the colony will enable it to defray much more rapidly, and with much less difficulty such portion of this debt as it may be ultimately determined to charge against it. I feel satisfied, therefore, that by adopting the policy of not requiring the colony, at least for the present, to pay the whole of this charge ; your Lordship will take that course which will ultimately effect much the largest saving to Great Britain, and tend most to the promotion of the prosperity and wealth of this country. I will, however, make every effort at the termination of the present financial year 1850-1851, to cause a sum of at least six or eight thousand pounds to be paid from the Parliamentary Grant and Land Fund in part liquidation of this charge. I also beg to state that your Lordship's Despatch of the 20fch of March, 1850, did not reach me until the Bth of October, just before I quitted Auckland, and that it is from this cause that I am not in possession of the necessary information to enable me to state the precise amount of claim made against the colony which it may be in the power of the local Governmeet to defray during the current year. In order that the whole subject may be placed before your Lordship in a complete and connected form, I have put up with the other papers transmitted in this Despatch a return allowing the extent and value of the pre-emption land purchased by the pensioners in the last quarter, from which your Lordship will see that they are already themselves becoming considerable purchasers of land, thereby clearly showing what a great benefit has been conferred upon themselves and their families by their removal to a country where, in so short a ti nc, they have been able to effect so vast an improvement in their circumstances. I have, &c, (Signed) G. Grey. The Right Hon. Earl Grey, &c, &c, &c.

[enclosure i.] i Audit Office, Auckland, November 20, 1800. The Auditor-General, having before him the Secretary of State's Despatch, No. 58, Military, dated 20th AJaicb, 1850, on the subject of the expenses which have been incurred foi the settlement of the pensioning enrolled tor service in New Zealand, and on the benefits which the colony may have experienced from the presence of the pensioners, furnishes the following Iteport for the information of the Governor-in-Chief. The disbursements on account of the pensioners, in what may be regarded as their civil capacity, have been defrayed by advances made from the military che.>t, and accounted for by the Colonial Treasurer. The whole of the accounts relating to these disbursements, and the vouchers in suppoit thereof, ha\e been annexed to the provincial quarterly accounts, and despatches to the Commissioners of Audit in England with the greatest regularity. h will be seen from the accompanying return of the disbursements by the Colonial Treasurer at Auckland on account of the pensioners settled in New Zealand that the heaviest item of expenditure is that of the working pay of the pensioners employed on the public works, amounting, together with the cost of superintendence, to £18,092 2s. ?d. This expense commenced late in the year 1847, and was continued beyond the term lequired by the conditions of enrolment in consequent of the urgent necessity for the completion of some portions of the works, ami by reason of the position in winch many of the men were placed by the noncompletion of their cottages, which had subjected them to many hardships and privations ilunng the winter months, and gave a strong claim for temporary public employment at the rate of Is. 6d. per diem, thp average rate of wages of labouring men at the tune being about 4s. per diem. The only pensioners who are at the present time employed on the public works are those forming a small party of Lieutenant Hickson's division, engaged in the construction ol a stone causeway over the River Tamaki. The expenditure ou account of the working pay may, therefore, be considered to have ceased. Advei ting to the circumstance that a portion of the expense on this account during the year 1848, amounting to about .£l,OOO (one thousand pounds sterling), was incurred during the year 1847, it may be stated that it was not brought to account by the Treasurer until the commencement of the following year. It will be observed that the working pay of tbe four divisions which arrived in tbe colony in tbe year 1847, exceeds in pioportion that of the other divisions which amved at a subsequent period. The disproportion is owing to the higer rate of wages given to the men durit the first year of the settlement of the force. The expenditure on account of tbe first company lotaled at Onehunga, and of that at the village of Paninurp, ceased on the termination ot the first \ ear of their settlement. The former village is favourably situated, in the midst of a rapidly increasing agricultural population, and within six miles of the town of Auckland ; and at Pnnmure the condition of the pensioners is exceedingly comfortable and independent, owing to the great fertility of the soil, and the care and energy of the staff officers in whose charge the settlement was tempo* rarily given. At Howick and Otahuhu the mon appear to have experienced some difficulty in obtaining private employment; many of them were, thereiore, continued on tbe public works until their cottages were completed. The amount issued to staff officers of pensioners as compensation for the accommodation which they were deprived of in consequence of then houses and lands not being available for occupation on their arrival in the colony, was authoiised in accordance wilh the terms I granted by the Secretary-at-War, dated 3rd February, 1847, and in consideration of the expenses to which ibey were necessauly exposed on their first arrival in the colony. The sums already issued on this account amount to about £3,000, and it is expected that the charge will cont-nue for some penod yet, the monthly rate of disbursements, however, being from time to time reduced by the completion of the houses. The payments on account of religious and educational purposes amount to about £40,0. In respect to those for education, it was intimated in a letter from the Lord Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, addie^ed to the Secretary- at- War, on the" ,'jth August, 1847, that a sum, to be limited to per annum for two years, was to be provided in aid of schoolmaateis for the instruction of the childien of pensioueis belonging to the battal m proceeding on service to New Zealand ; and that other provisions weie contemplated, by which the "choolmasteis were to have allotted to them a fiee house, with a fue passage and rations to the colony ; and that the funds neccjs-s.uy to be piovidr-d in the colony, in order to carry out tins avrangement, were to he issued through the Commissariat But as no steps appear to have been taken at the time in England to -pye efleet to the proposed arrangements, and as it was necc-sary, il much advantage was to be derived from them, that they

should be carried into operation as early as possible, directions were issued by the Go\ernor-in-Cbief for the appropriation of a aura of £200 (to be drawn from the military chest) for educational purposes at the several pensionpr villages; a sum for the lilce amount, and for the rame purposes, being taken from the local revenue. This expenditure is to be spread over a period of four years. The provision made by the Go\einment for religious and educational purposes would have been very inadequate had it not been aided by the active co-operation of the Bishop of New Zealand and the mission of the Roman Catholic Church. The total amount dishursed by the Colonial Treasurer at Auckland on account of the pensioners for the period included between the ariival of the first companies in the month of November, 18 17, and (he 30th September, JB5O, irrespective of the expenditure on account of the'r passages to the colony, is £'23,985 6s. 2d., of which sum £5,893 3s. 7d. was issued in payment | of the allowances of staff officers, off medicines, and the pay and allowances of medical officers, and of incidental expenses, Adveiting again to the rate of wages issued to the men of the first four companies when employed on the public wotks, and to the distance from the capital at which the villages were located, it is desirable to add, that although the settlement of the pensioners happened at a period when the colony was beginning; to exhibit a more prosperous state of its affairs ; when labour was needed for the development of its resources, and the colonists themselves, who were as yet principally corigiegated in the town of Auckland, were enabled, from the introduction of capital and the pajment of a large portion of the Government debentures, to afford remunerative wages to labour, it was notwithstanding, considered unadvisable, if not impracticable, due regard being had to the objects for which the pensioners were em oiled (or service, to throw them fully into the lahour-mailcet immediately on their arrival. The success of the scheme of pensioner immigration waa dependent on the possibility of letaining the men at their villages. Scattered among the population, they could have added little to the resources for the defence of the colony and the maintenance of peace and good order The conditions of enrolment, moreover, required their attendance once in the week at their respective villages, and placed obstaclesin the wayoftheirobtainingpeimanent private employment at a distance fiom the settlements. There was also at the time only a smnll, though increasing demand for labour among agriculturists, who were compiatively hw in number; so th.it the wages of the men, who, under tbese circumstances, could obtain employment, would have fallen at first exceedingly low, and an unfair advantage would have been derived fiom the numbers, with their families, suddenly introduced into a small community. Until, therefore, there was a larger demand for labour in the vicinity of their villages, and in older that while engaged on works ot public utility they might paitake of the advantages which fall so largely to the share of every other emigrant, they were paid daily wages little inferior to the current ratPs. And iv respect to the distance of the settlements from the capital, it was found to be a meaaiue of great difficulty to place the whole of the force in close proximity to Auckland, owii.g to the small size of the blocks of available Ciown lands near that town; and it was considered that, even if n had been praciicable to carry it into operation, and thus place the men wheie daily wages for labour were more easily obtainable, it would have been liable to the very senous objection tbat it would entirely defeat the reasonable anticipations which were enteitained of the probability of tbe increased value given to Crown lands in the neighbourhood of the settlements, supplying the means by which eventually the firi-t cost of the location of the force might be defrayed. Such increased value would be conferred upon surrounding lands near to Auckland, iriespective altogether of tbe presence of the pensioners. On the other hand, to form tbe villages within a reasonable distance of tbat town, and within five or six miles of each other, in tbe midst of unsold lands, was giving tbe whole plan afnir chance of success. The Goveinmpnt have, for these reasons fixed the central village of Panmure at distance of S^ miles from the town of Auckland, and the other villages at a distance of somewhat less than 5 miles from Panmure ; and public works weie commenced for the formation of the villages and the construction of roads to connect them together. The immediate advantages derived from this arrangement was considerable. The mere addition to the population of the colony by the arrival of the pensioners, increased at once the public levenuo, and enlarged the resources of a small community, Jsy retaining the men in the vicinity of their villages, and giadually lowering the rate of working paj , they weiu led to cultivate then I small allotments of land. The agriculturists among whom they are settled having a constant supply of moderately cheap labour always at hand, have extended j their operations, and by the benefits which they have derived from the presence of a large labouring populaj tion, have attracted into the country a number of settlers. Jf the pensioners have not availed themselves so fully and geneially as they might have done of the many advantages with which the Government surrounded them, in an anxious solicitude to aid thf progress of a promising and interesting experiment, the fault lies in the unexpected force of their long-ac-quired habits of dependency, and the want of that energy, perseverance, and sobriety which distinguish the emigrants from the United Kingdom in every colony under the British Crown. Their general advancement, however, has been satisfactory : many of them are owners of dairy stock. If the number who have purchased Crown lands is small, this must in a great measure be ascribed to the regulations which were brought into force soon after their arrival, by which the whole of the Crown lands within t'\e hundieds were rendered common lands, for ihe entire benefit of the respective residents and occupiers; and which induced the pensioners to embark their first earnings in the pui chase of dairy stock, for the maintenance of which the beneficial airangement alluded to offered peculiar facilities. The works for the accommodation of the pensioners (comprising the erection of cottages and officeis' houses) were executed under the superintendence of the Ordnance Department, and have been defrayed directly from the military chest. The accompanying return from the Royal Engineer Office, furnished for the peiiod ending 30th September, 1850, shows that the expenditure incurred for the erection of permanent cottages amounts to £27,759 17s. 3d. The amount already disbursed on erection of officers' houses amounts to jjj 2023.C j 2023. A sum of £961 6s. Bd. has also been paid for temporary accommodation. Ihe cost of extra superintendence, together with the amount i^iied as allowance in lieu of travelling expenses to the Civil branch of the Royal Engineer Department amount to £2102 2s. 3d. The total sum defrayed by the Ordnnnce Department up to the 30th September last, as shown by the return, amounts to £32,06-1 6s. 2d. To this sum may be added the approximate estimate for the final completion of the works, amounting to £2100. The allowance in nid towaids the erection of cottages for the accommodation of the men forming the two companies which arrived last in the colony under the charge of Captain Haultain and Lieutenant Symonds, has not been included in the returns forwarded here- j with. Advances on this service have been issued from the military chest amounting to £2600 ; but of this sum | about £200 is in excess of the amount actually requned for the erection of the cottages, and will eventually be lecovered and repaid into the military chest. The works are being executed under the direction of the major commanding and the immediate superintendence of the respective staff officers, whose duty n is to take care that the allowance in aid for the erection of cottages is appropriated in a manner that will be most conducive to the inteiest and comfort the pensioners. This service appears to have been conducted with great economy and efficiency ; and it is contemplated that the whole of the cottages will be erected by the month of March next. As regards tbe cost of materials, tools, and implements, sent out by the Ordnance Department in England for the service of the pensioners, the acting Ordnance Storekeeper at Auckland has reported, that no information on this point can be furnished in thp colony, as the cost of the store 9 sent out from England for the service of the Engineer Department has not been forwarded to his office.

! In regard to tlip benefits which the colony may have experienced from the presence of the pensioners, it is unnpcessary to repeat much ihat lias already been advanced in evidence of the comfortable condition of the pensioner* themselves. Their success is, howevrr, the success of the n hole colony. Their settlements offer a scene of much interest. The ciltle on the public commons, the well stocked enclosures of the neighbouring farmers, the orderly appearances of the villages, and the cultivated allotments, give the best assurance of the gradually extending prosperity of the community and the success of the experiment The public woiks performed by the pensioners consist in the construction of rodds in the immediate neighbourhood of the settlements ; of mam lines of ro,id connecting them together ; and in such works of draining and clearing as were requisite to render the villages convenient and accessible. Wharves have been constructed on the river Tamaki at the village of Panmure, and a stone causeway is being- built on the same river at Otahuhu. Various works of public improvement have been executed in the streets of the town of Auckland. The whole of these are works of public utility from which the colony is deriving considerable advantages. Increased value has been given to land, the country has been thrown open to some extent, and the limits of the settlement enlarged. It is difficult to estimate with any precision to what amount the value of Crown lands has been met eased. Their value in 1844 and 1845, if estimated from the large land sales of those years, may be taken in the neighbourhood of Howick at about 4s. 6d. per acrp, that being nearly the average value of land scrip at the time. Small farms in the neighborhood of Auckland were worth about £3 per acre, and the value of other lands within the hundreds of Ilowlck, Otabuhu, Panmure, and Onebunga would ransje between those prices, varying according to the excellence of the land or its proximity to Auckland. It mil be seen from the accompanying return that the piesent average value of Clown lauds in the immediate neighbourhood of the pensioner villages, as deduced ftom the sales, is as follows : —

But a portion of this increased value has arisen from the general prospeiity of the community. The quantity of Crown lands at present compised within each hundred, subject to be affected in value by the settlement of the pensioners is as follows : — Ilowick 9,44-5 acres. Panmure 1,343 " Otahuhu 3,38* " Onehunga 4,333 " The effect produced on the labour-market has necessarily been beneficial especially to the agriculturists in the neighbourhood of the settlements. It is not, how ever, in the first few years that the most beneficial results to the colony fiom the adoption of such a plan as pensioner immigration can he felt ; for the benefits yet to be derived from the families of the in migrants, and the establishment of a considerable popula tion of small landed proprietors in a country of much fertility, will be gaeater than any wbicb are apparent at present. But if tbe immigration of pensioners be regarded merely as a scheme of colonization, apart from the circumstances that the colony of New Zealand has been established in the midst of a warlike and enterprising native population, it cannot be consideied as the most advantageous manner of appropriating the Crown land revenue. To the disadvantages which arise from the advanced agf> and infirmities of the men, by winch, as reported by Staff Surgeon Bacot, many of them are unfit either for labour or military duty, must he added the provisions made ibr their settlement, the cost of houses built for tbeir accommodation, and finally to be conveyed to them in consideration of their having performed, for a period of seven years, the military services required of tbe militia in other colonies. Except for their value therefore, as constituting an enrolled militia for the defence of the Province, and thus preventing tbe necessity of the frequent withdrawal of a large number of persons from industrial pursuits for militia training, they are not contributors in an equal degree with the oidmaiy labouring population to the prosperity of tbe colony. As to the extent to which they have increased our military defences, they certainly furnish a cheap and effective local force of protection against native aggression and rebellion; and if the sj stem were combined with a provision for a permanent garrison of pensioners of a fixed number of men raised in England for seven years' service, and enrolled on the same conditions as those of the two last companies wbicb arrived in tbe colony under tbe charge of Captain Ilaultain and Lieutenant Symonds, the plan of defence would be more perfect and less costly to the Province than any scheme of embodying a permanent militia force. The militia are not generally effective ; or if properly trained, skill in the use of arms and in military movempats can have been obtained only by tbe frequent withdrawal of a number of persons from their occupations, and by their undpgroing what, to a civilian, mu-st Le toilsome and incompatible duties. 'J he outlay for the future settlement of pensioners may, from the experience which has been obtained in the settlement of the present force in New Zealand, be estimated for each company of 25 men, at about j£ 1,200 for working pay and incidents, and about tbe like sura towards tbe erection of cottages. To these must be added tbe expense of the {erection of officers' houses, which should not exceed .£2OO per house, and the charges lor medical attendance. , Charles Knioht, Auditor-General.

Return showing the Amount of Expenditure up to the 30th September, 1850, inclusive, defrayed by the Ordnance Department, for the settlement of the Royal New Zealand Fencibles, distinguishing its various branches, as called by the Colonial Secretary's Letter, No. 32, dated 4th November, 1850.

W. It. CnusNEY, Lieut. Royal Engineers, (Commanding Koyal ISuyinoeft.). New Zealand, 21st Nov., 1800.

Amount oi Kxpentiture liicin iv iin £ s . ( i. Erecting pmniiincnt Cottages 27,75!) 17 3 Erecting OUicers' Houses .. , • .. .. 2,023 0 0 Piovuling Tempoiaiy Acconimodaton „ 961 o H Estr.i Snpoiiitcnilence 1,906 5 9 Allowance in lien of Tr.»\ i>llin(j Expense* to iIk 1 Civil Buucli «{ llo).il Lugimcr Vep.utniGiit 213 1(J C rotril ;innmnt ol Expundilme up to 30th SeptcmbtM,lBso U,8()4 fi 2 Amount of Appioximate Estimate foi the final lompli'tion 2,100 0 0

■*j oateoo >->"O U M 13 o •5 — © »t 00 to co Ol C V» * " * ' " CD CO — O O CO O ©« o noe i10 «» '•«« '• =1 *00 — O I 1I 1 t t» CO o s «» 0>) IN O •»< £ O CO ct f< •» ;h«io (N J o » CT .M3IM CO _ — !—. |^ ST~ " <-? 00 2 o a> ci ** H i-t © •ra ; m Jo N X m o o © * •£::::: f:;::: S j j; j ■" coo , a :•--' . : •c . > • . Sllill = _ a-c 3 9 .2 «O-Oa< 5 n _ S .2 "< S rt <" s § s s £f j; u o v a) £^ s s a a i '• >bo ■ | ' o ' • •••• •* r 3* to- •.= ..'3. .3 '«••«>•'«* s :1 : :1 : :i : ?* O « S - o> :J= :s 5 : SS2 '5 •£■* ' q

o I o N I" « s ta B a S e3 +? 8l eh -a !-§ a; 52 '5f •grS S © ass -£! CO § p I <1

Onehunga .... Otahubu Panmure IJowick £ s. 7 10 3 0 4 0 2 0 d. 0 peracri 0 « 0 « 0 «

Amount disbursed by the Colo, nial Tie.istucr Amount dchayed by the Ordnance Department Advances oh account of cottages for Captain Flaultam's and Lieutenant S^mond's Compsiinea £2COO Deduct excess 200 £ a. d. 23,985 6 "I 32,864 6 2 2/100 0 0 TotjJ 5!),J>19 12 4

It appears, thereforp, that tbe totnl expenditure on account of ihe settlement of the pensioners in this co lony up to the 30th of September, ]800, as far aa can be shown from information received in the Audit Office, is as follows- —

lowick . )tahuhu . )nehunga . 18,890 5,372 10,152 32,997 s. 0 0 0 10 (I. 0 0 0 0

It appears from his calculations that in those hundreds alone in which the pensioners are located the lands, the property of the Crown are now of the following estimated value.