New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAITS GUARDIAN. Saturday, August 16, 1845.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume I, Issue 45, 16 August 1845, Page 2

New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAITS GUARDIAN. Saturday, August 16, 1845.

At length the Crown Grants for a portion of the land in the southern district have heen forwarded from Auckland, but they have heen framed in such a way as to be worse than useless ; instead of composing strife, they have infused fresh bitterness into this complicated and harrassing question ; instead of pouring oil on the troubled waters, they have raised a greater storm than before. They may be considered as Capt. Fitzroy's parting legacy ; he feels his political end near, and having done all the mischief in his power while invested with the authority of Governor, he bequeaths this gift to the settlers, which, like the poisoned garment of Nessus, is destinedto inflict on them stillfurther misery, even after the removal of the giver. There are two questions connected with these grants to which we shall briefly allude, — the question of the land now in occupation of the natives, and the grant to purchasers claiming to have prior titles. With regard to the land in the occupation of the natives, Capt. Fitzroy himself stated to Col. Wakefield in his negociations on this subject " that by lands in occupation he understood those tracts of cultivated ground which are now used by aboriginal natives for vegetable productions, or which have been so used by them since the establishment of the colony of New Zealand, but not, if included in these lands which the Commissioner shall report to be fairly purchased from the natives." By this arrangement it was always understood that as soon as the title to the Hutt district was perfected, which was afterwards done by Capt. Fitzroy, at the Company's expense, the intruding natives were to be removed. For this point we have ever contended earnestly, and with a little perseverance on the part of the Government we should have succeeded in gaining it. Now it is remarkable that the words in italics are omitted in the grant. So that, for ought we know to the contrary, it is Captain Fitzroy's intention to give over to the natives, in direct violation of his engagement, what the settlers have ever considered their property, and to obtain which they have made the greatest sacrifices. Again, the grants for

Porirua, Manawatu, and Wanganui wr&mihheld, and all that is included in the grant we have for six years so earnestly desiderated, and on which fees (including those for the grant to Nelson) to the amount of £1,100 are charged, is the town and the district in the immediate neighbourhood of the harbour, subject to the limitations already described. With regard to the grants to purchasers claiming to have prior titles, the step taken by Capt. Fitzroy is in direct contradiction of his assurance to the settlers claiming under the Company, who, on the faith of express guarantees from the Government, have invested their money in improvements to the extent of several thousand pounds, and whose property by this act of spoliation is deliberately made over to another. The case to which we more particularly refer is that of Mr. D. Scott. This was brought before Captain Fitzroy, by the parties interested, on the occasion of his last visit to Port Nicholson, and he then assured them that their interests would receive due consideration ; and concluded by stating, if Mr. Scott were wise, he would lose no time in making terms with the Company, feut Capt. Fitzroy's acts are always in direct contradiction to his promises; and accordingly the first notice received in this district of an adjudication of these claims, is the issuing of a Crown Grant of the disputed land to the adverse claimant, rendering any arrangement between him and the Company if the grant be valid, out of the question, except on such terms as he may choose to dictate. But " your If is the only peacemaker ; much virtue in If, 1 ' and so we shall find in this instance. We can shew, in a few words, that the grant is not valid, if Sir George Gipps' decisions are to be respected, if the arrangements of Capt. Fitzroy's predecessor are to be maintained, or the Ordinances allowed to have any weight. When this colony was yet a dependency of New South Wales in 1840, a deputation was appointed by the settlers to wait on Sir G. Gipps, and the official communications between the Governor of that colony and the deputation from this settlement were published in the supplement to the Ne v Zealand Gazette, of Dec. 10, 1840. From these documents we learn that Sir. G. Gipps refused to acknowledge the existence of the Company, and received the deputies from Port Nicholson as appearing " on behalf of the inhabitants who have settled there, and who sought to have their case liberally considered by the Government." On behalf, then, of the individual settlers of Port Nicholson, the deputation, consisting of Dr. Evans, Mr. Hanson, andMr.Moreing, urged that " with regard to the claimants under previous purchases from the natives, we would only request that such persons may be placed in the same position as that which they would have occupied in respect of land claimed by them in any town formed by the Government. If any claim is made of land not included in the site of the town, the settlers are willing that such claim should be submitted to the decision of the Commissioners, but they consider it highly unjust, if in case, where they have paid £100,000 for what is in reality a town, and 20,000 acres of land, being at the rate of £5 per acre, they are to be subject to the counter claims of persons, who have purchased from the natives, only because it was known that a settlement was to be formed there ; who have contributed nothing to any public purpose ; and who, if the town were formed by Government, would be only entitled to compensation in land." To this representation Mr. E. D. Thomson, by direction of Sir G. Gipps, replies, — " With respect to the individuals who may claim land within the settlement, you have rightly apprehended his Excellency's meaning. Such individuals must be dealt with under the act of Council, in the same way that they would be dealt with if the land claimed by them were required for any public purpose : in fact, the formation of thesettlementis a public purpose; they, therefore, cannot retain their lands in it; but any compensation which may be awarded to them by the Commissioners for the loss of their lands must be made by the settlers collectively, or by the Company."

This view was adopted and sanctioned by Captain Hobson in his letters to Col. Wakefield, dated sth Sept.. 1841, which was published in the New Zealand and Government Gazettes, and on the basis of this arrangement the first Land Ordinance was framed, but on this part of the subject we shall refer our readers to a communication we have received from the Principal Agent of the New Zealand Company (the publication of which we are compelled to defer to our next number) in which thispoint is clearly established.

We last week alluded to an article in the New Zealander, in which the writer proves, by various calculations, that there are more than forty-five thousand pounds of debentures now in circulation. As any additional information on a subject of such deep importance to the community cannot fail to be interesting to our readers, we shall state a f«w of the results at which our contemporary has arrived in attempting to establish his position. From the highest members of the different denominations in Auckland within the knowledge of our contemporary it would appear, there are above £31, 000 of debentures in circulation ; but he i proceeds to shew, by the receipts and expenditure of the government, that the amount of debentures issued considerably exceeds that amount. His statement is as follows :—: — •' 1844, Jan. 1, Government in debt . . £20,000 " Government expenditure not lessthan 40,000 1845 June 30, diUo for six months . • 20,000 £80,000 " The Government at the present time have paid up all their arrears of outstanding debts and salaries ; therefore this sum of eighty thounand pounds, if not more, has been actually disbursed in the last eighteen months. Now, whence have been the sources for such funds, butcs follows. j Bills on the Home Government. £ & 1844 75651 15 130 1845 75b5J Revenue for 18 months (paid in debentures) j Customs. 1844 (10 months) II,OCO] 1845 from April 22d to V 12,500 June 30th 1,500 J Property Rate. ! Ist Qr., actual receipt 9581 o nno 2d " supposed 1,042/ AUW Total receipts from Ist Jan., "I -on con 1844, to 30th June, 1845 J y ' wu Debenture issue 50,370 £80,000 Our contemporary then pursues the calculation a little further, placing the figures in a different form. " During the year 1844, from the Ist Jan., to the 31st Dec, the Colonial Treasurer disbursed the actual amount of £37,823 : 15s. towards the following :—: — Outstanding claims for 1840 & 41 397 16 8 " " 1842 467 10 6 " " 1843 16,240 13 9 In part of estimated expenditure for 1814 20,719 14 1 £37,823 15 0 " This account plainly shews, that during the last year, 1844, the Government paid old debts, due prior to the Ist January, 1844, to the amount of £17,104 Os. lid. ; and it conveys also the fact, that on the Ist January, 1845, they were as much in debt for the expenditure of 1844, as they had been twelve months antecedently for 1843, and previous years ; for the expences of 1 844, do doubt exceeded Forty Thousand Pounds, towards which the sum of £30,719 14s. Id. had only been paid. Putting the account as it must have stood on the Ist January, 1845, we shall have the following figures shewing similar results to the former calculation. Disbursements from Ist January, to 31st December, 1844. 37,823 15 0 (Appendix A. to Mints, of Council Session 5, on Ist April, 1845.) Ist Jan., 1845, Due on estimated Expenditure for 1844. 20,000 0 0 30th June, 6 months expenditure. 20,000 0 0 £77,823 15 0 Deduct Revenue received during Eighteen months. 26,630 0 0 £48,193 15 0 We think these statements, in connection with those advanced by us on a former occasion, establish the fact that there is a considerable overissue of debentures, and that the amount now in circulation cannot be much less than £40,000. When it is attempted to be proved that the issue of debentures is £40,000, and the amount in circulation (so far as can be ascertained from the highest members current) is not more than £30,000, it must be remembered that the arrears due by the Local Government have been paid, for the most part, in £50 debentures, bearing interest at 8 per cent. ; that these do not, properly speaking,

form part of the circulation, but are held, as Captain Fitzroy expresses it, as a collateral security by the creditors of the Government. The process of their manufacture, as detailed in this article, is curious and instructive. " They take their rise under the auspices of the Government printer, who, we presume, in order that he may with certainty recognise any improper fraudulent imitation of the Government type, has at the commencement of the debenture, impriuted a Roman c, in the word " the" preceeding i " Colonial Treasury, &c." It would be imagined that when the debentures have been thus, most cleverly, put into form, they ,would be carried forthwith to some proper officer in the Colonial Secretary's office, — but no, — they are then transmitted to the chief clerk at the Audit office, to be numbered. What the Audit office can have to do with the issue of debentures, we have in vain attempted to discover, and we can only ascribe the ridiculous performance of such puerile automatous duty of making figures by the chief clerk of the Audit department, to that general interference with almost every department, under the egotistical assumption of universal knowledge, in every matter, respecting the machinery of a government. After being thus magically numbered, the debentures are sent to the office of the Colonial Secertary, afterwards to the Governor, and then to the Colonial Treasurer. Now we should like to know, whether during this round of manufacturing circulation, auy vouchers of receipt, or transfer, pass between the different departments ; if not, who can tell how many books may have been lost, or how many forged debentures may yet be in circulation ? We most truly believe, that as none have been made responsible, and many most ridiculously have been concerned in preparing them for circulation, that most perfect ignorance prevails as to the real position or state of the debenture issues." After reading this account we almost cease to be surprised at Mr. S. Freeman's delinquencies, seeing he was, as it were, invited by this system to help himself; but when we remember what a severe account the British Government always exacts of such offenders, the impunity with which he is permitted to escape is perfectly astonishing, and excites the suspicion that the offender in his confidential situation had learned more than it was desirable should be known, and that if driven to desperaiion by an attempt to punish him, he would have made important but inconvenient disclosures. From Mr. Stuart Freeman's forgeries to the postcript of Col. Despard's despatch is an easy transition. Simiiis simili gaudet. It is reported, on good authority, that Captain Fitzroy not only acknowledges the forgery, but excuses it as a pious fraud. He thought he might take the liberty of using Col. Despard's initials, as he did it to allay public excitement. But we imagine that such interpolations, made to suit a purpose, will tend to increase rather than allay public excitement. If a Governor of a colony can tamper in so open a manner with public documents, there is no safety for the governed, and they must submit to a despotism of the worst kind, in which neither law nor right, principle nor honesty is suffered to interfere with the caprices of their despot. As a proof of this we may instance Mr. Waitford's case : in the late prosecution instituted against him by the local government, the Governor wished the police magistrate not to accept bail. This, being clearly illegal, Mr. Percival Berry refused to do, and being much inforced, preferred to resign rather than do what he knew to be wrong. On his resignation Mr. Beckham, a compliant tool was appointed, and Mr. Waitford was committed to prison. Now, we submit that either of these cases ought to be sufficient not only to insure Capt. Fitzroy's recal, but to procure his impeachment. Here are three distinct charges of so serious a nature that any one of them, clearly proved, would ruin a public man. The Southern Cross, on a former occasion, took occasion to observe, " it was high time there should be an end to compounding of felonies" by the Government ; but this consummation, most devoutly to be wished, has not yet arrived, — the falsifying apublic document destroys all faith or confidence in any publication by auauthority, — while Mr. Waitfords's case is an example how completely our present Governor overrules all law wheuever it suits his purpose. If the opening of a letter by order of the Home Secretary could set all England in a ferment, what would be said if the same Minister superseded an honest magistrate to make room for a subservient creature, who would unhesitatingly make his will the law. A.nd yet the Governor of a remote dependency is immeasurably inferior to a Secretary of State^. Surely a day of reckoning must come when Captain Fitzroy will be required to give an account of his stewardship.

A notification appears in the Government Gazette, 18th June, stating that " the Colonial Treasurer will be prepared to issue large debentures, bearing\interest at 8 per cent, per

annum (as a first charge on the revenue of the colony), in exchange for small debentureyiow in circulation." We do not suppose that many persons will voluntarily accede to this arrangement, as its effect will be to withdraw from circulation the smaller debentures (the present currency of the colony), and to render it still more difficult for the holders of these larger debentures to make any use of them. The great evil of the debentures is, that they have introduced so much confusion into the commercial transactions of the colony, that any change for the better is impossible, until they are withdrawn, and the circulation of the colony is placed on its former footing. By the Aurora, £500 of small debentures were sent by the Governor to the Sub-treasurer of this district, it is said, for the purpose of replacing those defaced or worn from circulation ; but when we remember the claims of the militia, and the otber pressing demands on the Government, there is little doubt that this fresh batch will speedily be added to the currency of this settlement. At Auckland the Commissariat is obliged to receive debentures in payment for its bills, a -sure proof that it is found impossible to sell them on any other terms.

In the Government Gazette, July 30th is a Proclamation by the Governor establishing a Register Office for registering deeds, wills, and memorials, at Wellington, and also at Nelson under the " the Ordinance to provide for the registration of^eeds and instruments affecting property," which, by the above Proclamation, is appointed to come into operation in these two settlements on the Ist October next. The same Gazette contains the official announcement of the appointments in the Wellington Battalion of Militia, and also a notification that the Governor has been pleased to appoint David Sclanders, Esq., Hugh Martin, Esq., James Mackay, Esq., and Alexander McShane, Esq., of Nelson, to the commission of'the peace for the colony of New Zealand.

We are informed, on' good authority, that Rangihaieta has sent messengers to Jackitai, one of the chiefs at Ouridi, inviting him to join him in an attack on Port Nicholson, and holding out as an inducement the amount of plunder they would share between them in the event of success, which he affected to consider certain ; but this chief declined these overtures on prudential considerations. He said he had been to Port Jackson and knew the power of the English, and though their attack on the settlers might succeed, yet fresh soldiers would be sent, and they would be ultimately destroyed ; and therefore he preferred lemaining at peace. Similar messages were sent to the chiefs at Wairarapa, but with a similar result. One of these chiefs (Simon Peter) replied that he saw no advantage in quarrelling with the pakehas, as they gave his maories blankets ; that the soldiers might attack him, and he was without guns or powder; he therefoie preferred remaining at peace with his tenants.

We beg to direct the attention of our readers to the advertisement calling a public meeting on Wednesday evening to consider the draft of a petition to Parliament by the settlers in Cook's Straits, representing the evils under which they are at present suffering. The petition is very ably drawn up, aud enters fully into the history of our grievances.

On Wednesday, there was a review of the regulars and militia, when they marched to the top of Mount Victoria, the highest eminence in the neighbourhood of the town, taking with them two light field-pieces. The ascent was accomplished without any difficulty. This practice is attended with very good effect, as it accustoms the militia to act in concert with the regulars, and gives them confidence, if they should ever be called upon to act upon broken or difficult ground.

We are happy to state that another box was recovered yesterday from the wreck of the Tyne, by Mr. Houghton and his boat's crew.

Post Office, August 19, 1845. Mails for Sydney and the Australian colonies* also for London, per Sister, will close this day a 1 3 o'clock. P. D. Hogg, Deputy Postmaster-

Birth. — AtTinakori Road, on the 7th insfc., the lady of N. Levin, Es.q, of a son.