New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Saturday, March 13, 1847.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 169, 13 March 1847, Page 2

New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Saturday, March 13, 1847.

One of the immediate and most important effects of the new roads now in progress will be to render available for cultivation the several districts through which they pass. All the upper Hutt district, the Wairarapa, the greater part of the Porirua district, the whole of the Horokiwi, and the other districts in the neighbourhood, which the settlers had heard of, but which from want of the means of communication or from other impediments were rarely visited, will now become accessible. The next point to be considered is, how they may soonest be made productive, and thereby increase the resources and wealth of this settlement. There is no doubt that the speedy and final settlement of the Land Claims will have a material and beneficial effect in promoting this end. Tt may be said by some persons, that already the land is open to the settler, and to a certain extent this may be true j but we are regarding the effect which the news of the settlement of the Land Claims will have on the numbers in the Mother Country desirous of emigrating to New Zealand, but who are waiting until they receive satisfactory and unequivocal assurance of the peaceable state of the colony, and of the final adjustment of all those questions which have hitherto operated as impediments to its prosperity, and of these the Land Claims has been one of the chief. It is generally believed that his Excellency's present visit to the Southern settlements is mainly for this purpose, and we hope he will not return to Auckland until this question is finally disposed of. It will be the most effectual way of proclaiming to the world that the troubles in New Zealand are over, and that all who are willing to come, may come in safety. The way in which the Absentee Lando-vners intend to deal with their lands in this settlement is another important point affecting their occupation. These persons for the most part appear to have postponed the consideration of this subject to a more convenient season, and in many instances have either appointed no agents, or have given their agents such limited powers as to prevent them from acting with advantage. But we would entreat them now to consider this question as pressing and immediate, and to be guided in their instructions to their agents by that dispassionate business-like spirit which would probably actuate their decisions in any other transaction ; that they would endeavour to free their minds from those extravagant notions which they have hitherto generally entertained, and be satisfied with a fair rental, or price for their lands, a point more likely to be decided satisfactorily by persons on the spot with a full knowledge of all the circumstances affecting its value than by those residing at a great distance, who know nothing of it but by vague or exaggerated reports. Among those likely to be tenants, there is a daily growing desire to become the possessors of the land on which they intend to labour ; — and this desire is so strong as to prevent in many instances the occupation of land when the agent has no power to grant a purchasing clause. Those therefore who determine not to sell, determine that their lands shall remain unproductive, — to their own injury and to that of the settlement. This observation particularly refers to the valley of the Hutt, the greatest part of which is waiting to be occupied, and would support a numerous and industrious population. If the Absentee

Landowners refuse to grant reasonable terms this land will continue to lay idle, and it will appear to the natives a strange and incomprehensible anomaly, that after so much money has been spent, so much exertion made, and so many valuable lives lost in driving the rebels from this district, and where recently so many persons have been engaged in forming the road, the land should still continue unoccupied ! The amended Cattle Trespass Ordinance of last session is another subject materially affecting the interests of those engaged in cultivation, particularly the class of small farmers. From the loose and careless way in which the Ordinance has been framed, and the inattention of the members of the Council, the Ordinance has been passed without any impounding clause, so that whatever injury his crops may sustain from his neighbour's cattle, the cultivator is virtually without redress. We are sure we have only to call attention to this serious mistake to ensure its alteration ; as the law at present stands, it acts almost as a prohibition to cultivation.

The American whaler United States arrived on Thursday from the Southward. She reports that whales were very plentiful on the ground where she has lately been cruizing, but the weather was so rough it was impossible to lower the boats after them.

The revenue of this Settlement continues to increase steadily and rapidly. We believe the amount of customs for this year received' up to the present date exceeds three thousand pounds, — so that according to the present rate we may fairly anticipate the amount of revenue collected at Wellington this year will amount to sixteen thousand pounds, or nearly four times as much as the amount collected during the last year of Captain Fitzroy's administration.

We are requested to remind the Subscribers to the Horticultural Society, that the ensuing Exhibition will take place on Tuesday next, the 1 6th inst. A meeting of the Committee will be held at Barrett's Hotel this evening, for the purpose of appointing the Judges and transacting other business.

Theatre. — This popular place of amuse* ment was opened on Tuesday evening last, when a new piece, called the Broken Sword, was performed, which was very favourably received by a crowded house. The Company had exerted themselves to give full effect to the representation by the introduction of new scenery, dresses, and decorations, and their efforts to please were attended with complete success.

Wkllington Savings Bank. — Mr. G. Hunter, Mr. J. Kelham, Mr. H. Knowles, and Mr. G. Moore, the Managers in rotation, will attend to receive deposits at Messrs. Johnson & Moore's store, front seven to eight o'clock on Saturday evening, the 13th March, 1847, and at the Union Bank of Australia, from twelve to one o'clock on Monday forenoon, the 15th March.