New Zealand Colonist. FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 1843.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 52, 27 January 1843, Page 2

New Zealand Colonist. FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 1843.

On the second of March the New Zealand Company will, in all probability, have fulfilled its contract with the purchasers of land in the first and principal settlement, so far as regards the selection by the purchasers or their agents . of the land agreed to be sold. There will then remain two points, both of much interest to the Company and the Colony, which will require consideration. The one relates to the means by which the settlers may be enabled to obtain actual possession of the land which they have selected—the other, to the share in the surplus profits of the New Zealand Company which ought to be received by those original purchasers. The former of these points will, we doubt not, be soon adjusted. The latter is one of more difficult nature, and involving, probably, a protracted discussion. It is a case, however, in which the rights of the settlers are so manifest > that we cannot for a moment permit ourselves to doubt of the ultimate allowance of the claim. We shall embrace the present opportunity of entering with some detail into this question. We have no design to dwell upon the early history of the New Zealand Association. That history has yet to be written, but it would, lead us too far from our present subject. We begin at that period when the New Zealand Company offered for sale in London, 100,000 acres of land in New Zealand, and found persons willing to invest 100,0007. of money in their purchase. Up to this time we believe that the expenditure of the Company had been about 15,0007., incurred chiefly in the purchase and outfit of the Tory, and the outfit of the Cuba. This was in Julv 1839, and in the autumn of that year was witnessed the siugular spectacle of a fleet of ships, laden with emigrants of all classes, sailing from the shores of England towards an unknown destination—uncertain not merely of the spot • fated to be their future resting place, but even whether any such spot could be found. It is needless to do more than refer to the circumstance that, owing to the almost unprecedentedly rapid passage of the Tory, and to the circumstance of Col. Wakefield having been able to

avail himself of the services of Mr. Barrett, the harbour and district of Port Nicholson, which in England had always been regarded as the most suitable site for the proposed settlement, were secured for the Company, and that here the settlers were established. Up to this period, however, what had been the proportion of risk borne by the two parties in this undertaking; the landowners and the Company ?—So far as those who remained in England were concerned, the risk might seem to be about equal. The purchasers risked the loss of their purchase money—and the Company risked the being compelled to refund it. Though even here the risks of the Company were less. Not merely were they remote and contingent, and guarded against by considerable legal ingenuity —but as the major part of the purchase money was not expended by the Company until after the receipt of the news of the acquisition of Port Nicholson, the risk, such as we have described it, was never actually incurred, excepting with regard to a portion. So much for the mere money question. As regards the Settlers, there can he no dispute that the hazard of the Company was trifling as compared with theirs. They risked every thing;—and if the undertaking had proved a failure, it might have been much lo have preserved even their lives amidst the total wreck of their fortunes.

And as the Settlers risked every thing; so also they accomplished every thing. Not that the New Zealand Company left them altogether without assistance, hut that the assistance j was ludicrously disproportioned to the wants of the Settlement. We remember well the rididule by which the Settlers were assailed, when it was gravely announced that the New Zealand Company would in the first year of the Settlement, advance for public purposes the sum of £2,000 ; especially when it was known under what conditions this advance was to he made, and .by how many securities its improvident or wasteful expenditure w r as restrained. It was not, *in fact, until after the news of our successful establishment, and of the manner in which we had provided for the legal exigencies of our position, had enabled the Company to obtain from the Government something like a pledge of the confirmation of their titles, that a more liberal spirit was manifested in the assistance yielded to this Settlement. At the time, then, when this arrangement with the Government was made, the account between the Company and the Colonists stood thus r-The Colonists and their English principals had invested 100,000/. in the purchase of land ; they had incurred the risk of seeking this land under circumstances which exposed them to a chance of failing in their search; they had established a Settlement in which they made a provision confessedly imperfect, but stillt he best which the circumstances permitted, for the administration of justice and the maintenance of order ; and they had thus induced the Government, who doubtless looked upon the New Zealand Company as their representatives, to arrange with that Company upon terms of the most advantageous character. The Company had expended originally about 15,000/. They had made themselves liable, under a very remote and improbable -contingency, to repay a part of the 100,000/. paid by the landholders ; and they had advanced to the Colony, for public works, 2,000/., or thereabouts. In this statement, we are not aware of having either suppressed or exaggerated any thing. And it is quite sufficient to shew that the Company could have no peculiar claims to compensation from the Government arising out of the Port Nicholson Settlement, beyond, or in opposition to, the claims of the Settlers.

We find that we must reserve the reasons of the subject to another opportunity.

We have noticed in the Gazette of Wednesday, a letter signed. W. M. Smith, complaining of an alleged irregularity in some proceedings adopted in a suit in which he is a defendant. The folly imputed to the parties attacked in that letter, if it contains the truth, and the whole truth, is so egregious, that we are inclined to suspect some error or omission on the part of the gallant gentleman by whom it is

written. As, however, we understand that, some motion on the subject is to be made in Court on behalf of Captain Smith, on Saturday next, we shall wait until we hear what are the real circumstances of the case, before expressing any opinion. o We are glad to notice the arrival of the Brougham from Valparaiso direct, with flour and other articles of consumption for this place. It is, we believe, a joint undertaking of several individuals, and is the first instance of a vessel being sent from ’ here, a step we long since advocated, and which we hope to see followed up, as it will prove not only beneficial to the parties themselves hut to the colony at large, by importing the article from the country where it is produced, and. thus save large profits and charges hitherto paid by the Colonists to the Sydney merchants. To prove the extent of the large amount of goods shipped to New Zealand we beg leave to lay before our readers an account extracted from the New Zealand Gazette of the 24th of December last:— " “ The estimated value of Exports from the Port of Sydney to New Zealand, from the Ist October 1841, to the 30th September 1842." Colonial Goods £31,380 Foreign Goods .£31,780 British Goods £65,196 Total for 1842 * £128,356 Total for 1841 £124,861 oWe are informed that a quantity of Alfalfa seed has arrived in the Brougham, a portion of which is intended for the Wellington Horticultural Society. As we believe the introduction of this plant, from the description we have received of it, will be a threat benefit to the Colony, the following account of it may not prove unacceptable to .our readers. The Alfalfa is a species of Lucerne, and was originally introduced into South America from the South of Spain. It is of quick growth, being commonly between three and four feet high at the time of cutting. In Chili it grows luxuriantly, and forms the principal green food for cattle ; all that it requires is a free light soil, a tolerably sheltered situation, and plenty of moisture. It is superior to Lucerne, as a given quantity of land sown with Alfalfa will produce more at each cutting than a similar quantity of land sown with Lucerne, and it may be cut four times in the year, while Lucerne will produce only three crops. It is never manured in Chili, and it is so much valued in South America as food for cattle, that, within the last few years a quantity of the seed has been imported into the South of France, where it is now cultivated extensively. We need hardly say more in , its praise to those Colonists who are devoting their attention to the care of stock, or who are engaged in agricultural pursuits, and we may hope shortly to see the cultivation of Alfalfa widely extended through the settlement, as we should imagine it to be better adapted, if possible, to the moist climate of New Zealand, than to South America. In the neighbourhood of the Manewatu and Wanganui, and those districts where the subsoil is sandv, it would grow luxuriantly.

The Barque Brougham , Captain Robertson, arrived here on the 24th from Valparaiso, and Talcahuano, after a prosperous voyage. By her we learn that the Jane Goudie, which sailed from this port, arrived at Valparaiso November Bth, and intended to proceed to England ; and the Earl of Durham, Captain Cabell, arrived there November 12th from Sydney after a very quick passage. While the Brougham was at Talcahuano, intelligence was brought from Callao, by the Valparaiso, that the Due de Nemours, second son of Louis Philippe, King of the French, had been elected Emperor of Mexico, but at Valparaiso the news seemed to want confirmation. The Peru steamer had not arrived from Callao before the Brougham left Valparaiso, but was expected daily. There was a strong Naval French force in the harbour consisting of the Thetis, a 50 gun frigate, La Peine Blanche of 50 guns, with Admiral de Thouar’s flag; this vessel had just returned from Tahite which the French had taken under their protection (an account of which appeared in the Colonist of last Friday) and the Triompliatite corvette of 22 guns. The Triomphante sailed for Tahiti on the 12th November. o (From the Nelson Examiner.J The Royal Mail has put in for surgical assistance, the captain having an eye blown out, and both arms severely fractured. Three of the (brew are more or less blind. We have not yet heard how the accident occurred. We regret to have to announce the loss of the Clifford, another of the vessels which brought us emigrants last year. The following extract furnishes the particulars, being the Isabella’s letter left on Booby Island, dated August 21st.: “ Sailed from Sydney, July ‘27th. Saw the Clifford on a reef, Sir Charles Hardy’s West Island, N. and by E. i E., 3-i miles ; Haggerstone’s Island bearing SW.

and by W. i W., distant about nine miles. Twelve of the Clifford’s men on board the Tomatia; Captain Sharp, the doctor, passengers, and remaining men, on board the Isabella.” In addition to the above, the schooner Minerva, of Launceston, has been wrecked at Waipiro; the brig Porter , of-Sydney, in Torres’ Straits ; and the Christiana barque on the West London Shoal, on her voyage from Calcutta, to China. There has also been a dreadful shipwreck at the Cape of Good Hope: the Waterloo, with convicts for Van Diemen’s Land, struck on a rock on entering Table Bay, and 189 live* were lost. The Abercrombie Robinson, with troops for Algoa Bay, went on shore the same night, but no lives were lost.