AUCKLAND. [From the Government Gazette.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 129, 24 October 1846, Page 2

AUCKLAND. [From the Government Gazette.]

To His Excellency (Japtain George Grey, Governor and Commander-in-chief of Her Majesty's Province of South Australia, and Lieutenant- Governor of the Territory of New Zealand and its dependencies, The Memorial of the Undersigned Settler*, and occupiers of Land in the district of the Tamaki and its vicinity, Sheweth, That your Memorialists resorted to this Territory upon the assurance of Her Majesty's Government, that on their arrival they would have an opportunity of purchasing land from the Crown, and the Crown only, by fair competition at auction, of which £ per cent, of the purchase money was to be applied as an Emigration fund,, and £25 per cent, in making roads and in other public works ; and, your Memorialists were further informed that no purchase except from the Crown would be sanctioned or allowed. That upon, the faith of such assurance, your Memorialists hesitated not to pay for land in. this district, prices varying from twenty -five to thirty shillings per acre, being considerably more than the upset price fixed by her Majesty's Home Government, knowing as they did that though land had been, and might be obtained cheaper from the Natives, that it was the duty as well as the interest of your Memorialists to obey the Laws and Ordinances jf the Territory and thereby claim and deseive the protection of the Government. , That your Memorialists proceeded to cultivate their lands at considerable expense, undeterred by the numerous purchases from the natives' which they saw daily made, relying on the hitherto unbroken faith of the British Government towards her subjects whether at home or in the Colonies, and never for one moment supposing that in their own case that faith would be first violated. That your Memorialists were aroused from this state of confidence by an announcement from his Excellency the late Governor, that the right of Pre-emption on the part of the Crown would be waived on moderate purchases from the natives, on payment of a fee of ten shillings per acre ; an announcement which your Memorialists viewed with mingled feeling of alarm and distrust ; of alarm, as they saw the consequent inevitable depreciation of the value of ttieir property, of distrust, because the boundary line of national honour and good faith being once .broken, they feared other equally important pledges might also be violated, and that even this measure was merely the piecursor of other changes respecting native purchases, a fear but too soon realized, the fee to the Crown on the Waiver of the Right of Pre-emption being speedily i educed to one penny per acre. That your Memorialists have by the reductions in Crown Fees received considerable injury in two shapes. 1 stly, By depreciation in value of their lands. Secondly — Inasmuch as the sab of large blocks of native land to speculators, who mostly have neither the intention or means to cultivate them, prevents a concentration of inhabitants, causes delay in the making of roads so necessary in every new Colony, and will entirely annihilate the Emigration and Road funds by which your Memorialists and the Territory at large would greatly benefit, without referring to the stop put on free emigration which this course will cause in the MotherCountry ; for it is not to be supposed that parties will come to this land with the certainty of being driven into the interior of the country. Your Memorialists therefore trutt that your Excellency will see the impropriety of sanctioning under any circumstances the issue of Crown Grants in respect of purchases made from the" natives and thereby prevent the injury which impends on those who have dealt in good faith with her Majesty's Government, and who have expended their capital upon Crown purchases. • - - Patrick Anderson, Chairman, William Church,- David White, William J. ! Taylor, Charles Knox, Robert Hayward, Peter Ferguson, James Gollan, Alexander Thompson, Thomas Cawkwell. Reply of htt Excellency to the foregoing Memorial.

Gentlemen,— ln reply to the Memorial you have presented to me, praying for the various reasons therein set fqrth, that I would not under any circumstances sanction the issue of Crown Grants in, respect of purchases made from the natives, under the terms of a Proclamation of my predecessor, dated 10th of October, 1844, — I have to acquaint you, that much as I regret the injury which may by this measure be inflicted upon the interests of yourselves, and, indeed, upon those of the vast majority of her Majesty's subjects, of both races, who inhabit this Colony, — it is not at present in my power to do more than assure you, that in arranging the complicated claims which have arisen under the terms of the Proclamation above alluded to, I will to the best of my ability and judgment,, do such justice to all the interests concerned, as upon mature enquiry may be foundtpracticable*, , (Signed) George Grey, Lieut.-Gov.

SUPREME COURT— September 16, 1846. , - Before Hit Honor Chief Justice Martin. The Attorney-General v. Heale and Whitaker. t This was a suU of Scire Facias, brought by the Attorney General against the defendants, for the purpose of setting aside a Crown Grant, dated 3rd of September, 1845. The ground on which this proceeding was taken, was, that the Grant was contrary to the provisions of the "Australian Land Sales Act," 5 &6 Vie. c. 36. The case came on for argument this day on demurrer. — The grounds the defendants went on were these :—- I.— That the Lieut. Governor had no power to institute such a proceeding. 2. — That notwithstanding the " Australian Land Sales Act," the Crown retained the power to exchange one piece of land for another. And 3. — That the present case was within the exception of the 3rd clause. The Attorney General appeared on behalf of the Crown. , Mr. Whitaker and Mr. Merriman for the Defendants. The CouTt took time to consider, as, in a case of such importance, the Chief Justice wished to have a reply from Mr. Justice Chapman to a communication addressed to him, before giving judgment. — New Zealander.