ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 11, 6 September 1842, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor of the New Zealand Colonist. Sir, —Observing an extract from a letter of a gentleman in Auckland to. a friend in Edinburgh, in the New Zealand Colonist , of Friday last, in which a comparison is drawn between Port Nicholson and Auckland, and which abouncls in errors, I consider it my duty to contradict suph parts as my perfect .knowledge of the facts in question entitles me to judge of, and to which I shall confine myself; leaving his observations on the harbour to others to notice. .

The Auckland correspondent states, that “ there are not two hundred acres of land fit for cultivation; they have not even been able to find a space large enough to supply the number of town acres which they have .sold; and many of them are stuck in localities which a goat can hardly climb and that “ their surveyors, have been striving hard to get a practicable road' to the interior; but have, as yet, entirely failed.” That there is some mistake here, is very clear, as the following tables will , shew Statement of the number of Country Sections surveyed and chosen in the District of Port Nicholson.

Statement of the number of the Country Sections surveyed and chosen'in the District of Manawatu.

The Town of Wanganui has also been , laid out, and the Sections chosen. . , , , By the first table, it. appears that there are 812 sections iri the neighbourhood of Port Nicholson, or 81,200 acres; I beg to state, that the whole of it, with trifling exception, is fit for cultivation; and that I have no doubt respecting the practicability of constructing good available roads through the country, having made experiment of the Karori, which, although apparently cut off- from Port Nicholson by the Tinakori range, .may be reached without any objectionable gradient, To tell you that the town; is laid out, and that goats can readily climb the ground, may • be almost unnecessary; since, if l imstake not, the ground on which your office stands, is rented at £1 per foot frontage per annum. I shall conclude, by furthei* observing; that there is an almost exhaustless extent of good

at land in Wairarapa valley; and I trust to cc the day when this valuable district will be brought within one day’s journey of Port Nicholson, by means of a good road. I am, Sir, your obedient humble servant, SAM. CHAS. BREES, Principal Surveyor to the New Zealand Company at Wellington. Survey Office, Wellington, Sept. 3, 1812.

To the Editor of the New Zealand Colonist

“ In days of yore, some pretty black mice, Were expected from a mountain, and that in a trice; But our Mountain’s determined to use every force, To outdo the old’un, and bring forth a horse.” Old Song. , Sir, —The confident assurance of Mr. St. Hill, in coming forward (in his letter to you of the Ist instant) with his individual opinion, to dictate to this community as to who are the fittest persons to represent them in the Council of the Borough at the ensuing election, induces me to overlook the slight impression his letter has produced, and. offer a few comments on his remarks. Mr. St. Hill, in the commencement of his letter, (by the aid of sophistry which he has been unable to veil), asserts, by inference, that the list put forward at the late public meeting, are opposed to the New Zealand Company, and to a class of beings called Wakeficldites. ’Tis true, there are a class here called Wakefieldites, who have attempted to erect themselves into a species of mushroom aristocracy, and to divide society, and they are duly appreciated by the public; but certainly no person I ever met has attempted to deny the great benefit we derive from our connection with the New Zealand Company; and I fancy the “ state-in-danger cry” of opposition to the Company, has found birth only in the fertile imagination of Mr. St. Hill; or may we suspect that he, in attempting to raise this fear in the public mind, had something more in view than the desire to get his party into the Council. We all know the Government are hostile to us; and does Mr. St. Hill, who has always been a Government partisan, expect, by making it appear that the inhabitant's of the Settlement are dissatisfied with the Company, expect to get some more substantial Government favour conferred on him, than the mere empty title of justice of the peace, which, I must acknowledge, he has fairly earned ? or does he expect to reap his reward from the parties he is seeking to get into the Council? If Mr. St. Hill can find no other argument to recommend the list he and his self-styled

committee have put forward, I fear he will fail in his

wishes, as the Wellington public are not to be gulled by such flimsy reasoning. It must be, and is, admitted, that there are many useful and good names in the list

put forward by Mr. St. Hill, and his self-styled committee ; but there are some whose want of energy, and business like habits, render less fit to represent the public, than others who are to be found in the Settlement ; and among those who are less fit to be placed in the Council j are a portion of the class referred to, called “ Wakefieldites,” —parties who hold, or represent, large tracks of land in the Settlement, but who have never taken one step to benefit themselves, or the Colony, by cultivating it, thus heavily taxing the Company to support the surplus labour spoken of; while, if land was brought into cultivation, the demand would be far greater than the supply of labour, and thus the burden would be taken off the Company’s shoulders, and the Colony benefitted by the production of articles for our consumption, instead of importing every necessary we require. Mr. St. Hill’s remarks, which refer to the public meet-

ing at Barrett’s Hotel, I leave entirely in the hands of the public, who will be best able to judge whether individual opinions are more worthy of notice than the deliberations of the public, when assembled to consider any question so important as the one now under consideration ; but the question of “ intimidation,” “ undue influence,” I do not feel surprised at Mr. St. Hill passing over so lightly, as he could not offer a contradiction, knowing, as I presume he does, that bribery had been attempted by certain gentlemen with whom he has associated his name in the self-styled committee ; and, if he requires it, I am prepared to lay before the public the names of all parties concerned. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, JOHN WADE.

Names of Districts. Sections surveyed before the 8th, April. Sections under Survey. Town District Laid out. Chosen. 8 40 100 5 « 150 10 7 69 4 18 24 39 108 39 37 74 12 68 7, 51 4 18 24 39 108 39 35 74 11 * 33 : Harbour Do Evans’ Bay Do Ohiro Do. Karori Makara Kinapora 1 Porirua j Tukapu Ohariu TTntt Watt’s Peninsula Pawai-tanga-mu Horoki (probably) .... Karo-KaroandSundry \ Parts J Number of Sections at" present explored, surveyed, or under survey, !> in the neighbourhood of Port Nicholson .. _ 499 313 443 313 812

Names of Districts. Sections surveyed before the 8th April. Sections under Survey. Laid out. Chosen. ' 185 79 101 97 300 286 300 176 300 Number of Sections'! explored, surveyed, or ! under Survey at Ma- f nawatu J 586 . District of Wanganui. Right bank of river.... Left bank of river .... 180 187 v 114 165 , Number of Sections at "I present explored and > surveyed at Wanganui J 367 279 •"