Thank you for correcting the text in this article. Your corrections improve Papers Past searches for everyone. See the latest corrections.

This article contains searchable text which was automatically generated and may contain errors. Join the community and correct any errors you spot to help us improve Papers Past.

Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

' To the Editor of the New Zealand Spectator. ' ' Nelson, September 6, 1847. Si*, — I have no doubt (such is the love and affection which the good people of Wellington bear toward* the New Zealand Company) thai it will be highly gratifying to them to learn that fbe Company's Agents h.-vejustgained a signal victory over the settlers of this 'place. In this belief I propose to furnish you with a short account ot how this happened, and trust that you will be able to find a corner for it in the column* of yQur valuable journal.

You are, I dare say, aware, that in common with the other unfortunates who purchased land from the Company, the people of Nelson have lingered on for six years without being put in possession of it. According to the prospectus of the Company, and the terms of purchase, they were promised 200,000 acres in the best available site in New Zealand. Of this quantity, there has been up to the present time allotted to them between 50,000 and 60,000 acres, being what are quaintly enough termed the Suburban sections, some of them above 40 miles from the Town. But three out of four of these at least are good for nothing, for the total amount of land available for agricultural purposes on the shores of Blind Bay is at the outside 15,000 acres, and within ten miles of the Town in all directions, there is certainly not above 5000 acres of fertile land. So much for Blind Bay. The nearest districts to us w,hich offer more land are Massacre Bay and ffie Wairau, separated lrora our present location by stupendous natural barriers, geographically distinct, and without any prospect of commercial or social dependence.It appears by the despatches of the Directors that their Agents had not set these things before them as clearly as they ought to have done; but memorials, private letters, and complaints poured in, until at length they began to have an indistinct perception that their scheme was too large for the locality selected, and saw the necessity of some squeezing Agent, some Hydraulic press or other powerful machine tocompress us into our rather limited accommodation. A bold undertaking truly, to compress land- orders for about 130,000 acres of land into the compass of 15,000. With this view, the Directors, rather more than a year ago, sent out an instrument called the "New Regulations," in which it seems they placed a good deal of confidence. But it was on the whole a clumsily framed thing, and the settlers boused themselves out so tight, and proved so confoundedly incompressible, that after the Company's workman at Nelson, who by the by, would not give it up without a trial, had expended some little trouble and perspiration upon it, the screw broke, and the Wellington foreman being referred to, was obliged to admit that it would not work, and in consequence gave it up. You have, perhaps, read of the celebrated experiments of the Florentine Philosophers upon water. They wished to demonstrate, or rather to prove, its compressibility, but no force that they could apply for this purpose was of any avail. And the way in which it was at length shewn was by removing pressure ; for when, by means of an air pump, the weight of the atmosphere was taken off, water was seen to expand, thus proving that it had previously been compieased. Ido not know whether the Directors had this experiment in their eye or not, but having tried forcible squeezing and having failed, they resolved to adopt the opposite method, and by giving us the matter entirely into our own hands, hoped, I presume, to see us, in a natural manner, fit and adjust ourselves to our cramped and distorted locality. Accordingly, in the month of May last, a despatch from them was made public by the Resident Agent, in which, after some very lame attempts to justify their former forcible measures towards us, they concluded with the followipg declaration : That they " are already and fully prepared, Ist. To adopt any measure which the colonists may desire, provided that they be unanimous among themselves, that it be consistent with the duties which the Directors owe to other parties, and that they legally possess the necessary powers ; And 2ndly. To apply to Parliament to confer upon them the requisite powers, it it be determined that these are not already in their possession." This, you will observe, was a \ cry fair and liberal method of proceeding : it was equivalent to saying, name your own terms, provided they are consistent with certain conditions, we will agree to them. j In this light the land-purchasers looked upon it, and in consequence they met together, dis- j cussed the matter, appointed committees, drew up voluminous reports, and at length, after a great deal of trouble, and much concession and liberal feeling on the part of all, they agreed to j a scheme which was embodied in a set of resolutions, which I have no doubt you have seen. The scheme thus agreed to was strictly in accordance with the conditions prescribed, and as the best proof that this was the case, the Resident Agent expressed his perfect concurrence in it, and wrote a despatch to the Court of Directors in which he stated that he approved of it without reservation and recommended its immediate adoption. Now, Sir, when things had been brought to this state, one would reasonably enough have concluded that all was safe and straightforward. If in private life, there is a disputed account between A. and 8., and if after some ineffectual attempts to settle it, A. at length sajstoß., name your terms ; if they are within certain limits I will agreee to them ; and if B. were to do so, would there be any means of A. drawing back from his offer without forfeiting his character ? Most people would say not : and most people in the position of A. would abide by the offer. But this New Zealand Company and every one connected with them are such uncommonly slippery fish, that it is impossible at any time to say with the smallest certainty that you have got them. They put me in mind of eels, or well soaped pigs' tails, or trying to pick up quicksilver off the floor with your finger and thumb. The New Zealand Company must from the very first have been conscious ofthisex- 1 treme greasiness of surface, which has inspired it with fearless hardihood, for it has never hesitated to place it3elf in the most critical and responsible situations, confident of escape through its suppleness "and power of dodging. Thus it has never been in the least degree backward, or rather has been most liberal in making fine promises, and has undertaken to sell, and has sold, immense quantities of land, without possessing a single acre : but when the time has come to meet its engagements, it has wriggled and twisted, referred its dupes to third parties and eluded hitherto all attempts to grasp it and bring it to a straightforward reckoning. To return from this digression. I shall now proceed to inform you how they have wriggled out of their own voluntary 'offer to us. The second of the 'resolution* agreed ,to by the land purchasers of Nelson provides that any purchaser not willing to avail himself of the provision* of a cer-

fain scheme of re-selection, &c, may submit his case to arbitration ; aud further, that any purchaser having availed himself of the scheme, but still considering himself entitled to something more, may submit his case to arbitrators who shall determine what additional compensation he may be entitled to. The nature of the compensation was purposely left unspecified, thus leaving it for the purchaser to claim, and for the arbitrators to award either money or land. Well, the Principal Agent arrived in Nelson, and the purchasers having assembled to meet him, he informed them with a degree of modesty that cannot be too highly appreciated, that he had but two words to alter, or rather to add to the resolutions. He wished that after the -word compensation, " in land" should be introduced. Two words surely could not do much' harm. | We have despatches it is true announcing very important conquests in three words. There is the *'veni, vidi, vici" of classical limes and there is within the last few years its rival "I have Scinde." " If, " and " but," and " not," and the like are considered to be pithy little words, and will effect considerable changes in the meaning of a sentence, but surely no danger could be apprehended from two little words of one syllable from so innocent and unsophisticated a mouth as that of the Principal Agent. Notwithstanding this, some of the purchasers felt rather uneasy. It seemed to them » as if, | after all, terms were to be dictated to them, and it was accordingly resolved that the 2nd resol'u- [ tion should be maintained, and at thp same time the Company s Agents be requested to see the different purchasers aud learn from them upon what terms they would agree individually to compromise their claims. Thirty -nine persons, being the whole of the i esident purchasers, sent in a statement of the terms which would satisfy them. The majority were content to take land. Seven required either money alone or money and land, and half-a-dozen more who did not know their own minds, declared that they would be satisfied with land, but if any other person got money, they should have it too. £2000 was the total sum demanded in mone>, and it was perfectly evidenjtthat little more than £3000 would satisfy all claims. And now pray maik the conduct of the Agents of the New Zealand Company, of the great, the powerful, the publicspirited, the disinterested, the fostering New Zealand Company. £3000 will render a whole settlement contented, a settlement which has suffered deeply at their hands. £3000 will preserve their word unblemished, in this transaction at least. £3000 distributed among some of their ruined purchasers might put them in the w^y of attaining to comfort. But £3000 is dearer to the New Zealand Company than the satisfaction of a settlement, more highly prized by it than the sacredness of its word. The hour fixed for the adjourned meeting arrived when the decision was finally to be come to. Having assembled for some time, a couple of gentlemen were sent with a message to the Agents to inform them that the settlers were waiting, and returned with the answer that the Agents would prefer meeting a deputation. Some seven or eight were accordingly deputed, and the horero having commenced were informed by the Agents that this was their decison :—: — "That the number of persons claiming money compensation was so small that they should proceed with the general arrangements of the scheme without any reference to them. That they adhered to their determination to give no money compensation, and as to those seven purchasers, not only would they not give them the compensation they required, but they would exclude them from the benefits of the scheme generally, such as re-selection," &c. These seven purchasers, in short, were naughty boys, whom the Agents or head ushers were going to chastise for having been so impertinent as to act upon the offer made to them by the New Zealand Company, and so exceedingly ill-man-nered and vulgar as to ask for money. Tins awe inspiring flourish of the birch having been made, was soon perceived by the ushers to fail somewhat of its intended effect. One ot the little boys before them, who presents by the bye the singular anomaly of having grey hair, was actually impertinent enough to say that if they adhered to their determination with regard to the seven naughty boys, the other purchasers would have nothing to do with the scheme. One or two other remarks to a somewhat similar effect having been made, the naughty boys were forgiven, and the final determination was at length modified in this manner: — All were to participate in the benefit of the scheme according to "the Resolutions." Compensation was to be awarded in land, the amount to be determined by arbitration. For those who claimed money, they weie to do their best to get it where they could ; the Agents would not recommend it to the Court of Directors. The deputation then returned to the meeting with this announcement — one member of it alone seemed to have felt the conduct of the Agents to be anything but what it oHght to have been, and expressed himself to that effect. But several of the others dissented in toto from this over- sensitive member, and were of opinion that they had been treated with marked courtesy, and not in the least like little boys. These proceedings terminated by the meeting adopting by a large majority a resolution to the effect that they were satisfied, and requesting the Agents "to put the resolutions of July into execution forthwith!!!" You are now, Sir, in possession of th'e facts of this transaction. May I beg of you to bear with me for a short time yet, while I add a few brief items of information which may actas a sort of key to what has taken place, — and in the first place, it will no doubt strike you that the affair will admit of explanation on the principle of the bundle of sticks. For the New Zealand Company, though in the position of our debtor, and .with the strongest general feeling against both its policy and its honesty, has been able by its unity of action to dictate its terms to the Nelson purchasers, and to set aside one of the most important of their resolutions, which were agreed to after infinite tiouble and arrangement, and were declared by them to be as unalterable as the laws of the Medes and Persians. You must further consider that, a great many of the purchasers are completely wearied out and dispirited, and prepared lo make a. compromise j upon almost any terms. There are persons here ;

who have been waiting for five years m the sickness of hope deferred, who have received yet no equivalent for their money, who have exhausted in their support during that period the capital they brought with them, and have nothing to live on but what they can get out of the ground. These persons are clearly in no position to stand npon their rights. They are the creditors, it is true; but, alas! the debtor has them at his mercy. They are willing, nay anxious, to compound for a tithe of what they are entitled to, for the sake of a final settlement of the question, and the Company's Agents know this perfectly well. Then there are the land-agents, who are looking forward to the fees for selecting the rural sections, &c, &c. ; and one or two lawyers, who expect to pocket fees for conveyances. The bias of these parties is evidently towards adjustment. It is very far from my intention to impute to them any unworthy motives, but it would bo expecting too much from human nature, proverbially frail, to suppose that their views should not be in some measure influenced by their position in this respect. There comes next a class of purchasers who take their opinions from those persons I have just mentioned, and were persuaded by them, naturally enough, that the best thing the} could do was to accept the New Zealand Company's Agents' terms. There are a few persons who will really be very much benefited by re-selec-tion and land-compensation; and lastly, one or two persons who not long since were among the most marked in their opposition to the Company, have, from some unaccountable motives, or under the influence of a new light (but it is in vain to speculate as to the cause), very suddenly, wheeled round, and now are as zealous in the service of the Company as formerly they were violent in denouncing it. When a few of the leading hounds of the pack begin to puzzle, and lose the scent, you know very well what the effect is on the main body. When you take these things into consideration, and the jealousies which such a question was sure to engender, you can easily understand how little cohesion our community possessed, how badly it was calculated to act in a publicspirited and resolute manner. Unanimity, or even the determination of a majority would, I am satisfied, have produced a Very different result. But there are not six persons in the settlement who are in a position to be able to demand something like a just fulfilment of their bond. The consequence has been' that the purchasers have come off second best; they have been driven from a position which they should never have abandoned, and which they never will recover. Nor should I omit to mention in enumerating the causes which have led to this result, that it has been very industriously circulated by these liangers-on of the Company (few in number, it is true), that legal opinions have been obtained, according to which the sbarenolders are free from personal liability. One gentleman indeed, most conspicuous for his devotedness to the cause of this rotten and selfish joint-stock Company (a devotedness which in a better cause would do honour to him, but under existing circumstances provokes partly the pity, partly the smiles of his less visionary fellow-colonists), got up and assured a public meeting in the most positive terms, that opinions had been obtained to the effect that I have above mentioned. I have since then, however, been given to understand that this was an entire misconception on the part of the gentleman alluded to, and that no opinion to that effect has been obtained, butra ther the contrary ; and as far as my own knowledge of the matter goes, I can speak with certainty to one opinion (and only to one), for I heard it read. It was on the subject of the trust funds of the settlement, and to this effect: That the Company was legally liable, as trustees, not only for the capital sum placed in their hands, but also for all the interest which had accrued upon it. May not this opinion throw some light upon the Company's position with regard to the Port Nicholson purchasers, and upon the ownership of the land which the Company has hitherto claimed in virtue of the expenditure of 75 per cent, of your money. So much for the causes which contributed to the Company's victory, or let me say rather tq the victory of its Principal Agent. It is clear, from the Company's despatches, that the settlers have in nowise to thank the Agents for the offer made to them by the Company. W hat they owe them in the matter is this, that after they had by their own representations obtained the Company's offer, and in pursuance of it had agreed upon a proposition, the Agents, one or both- of them, interfered, and set the .most important part of it aside. But perhaps our resident Agent ought to be exempted from this censure; not the first part of it indeed, but the second; for he entirely approved of the purchasers' schema, and if we had had him alone to deal with, it would probably have been carried into effect. Poor man 1 it must have been more or less mortifying to him to be obliged to change his tone, and condemn what he formerly had approved of. He must have been reduced to great extremities for arguments to defend his .new position. On this supposition alone can we explain his making use, as he did, of such statements as'th6 following: That it was inconsistent witb the duties which the Directors owed to other parties, to award any money compensation, and that it was inexpedient to grant it here, because many persons if they had money would immediately leave the settlement. What a statement ftom the mouth of a Company's Agent I What a picture of the condition of one of their principal settlements t Land-purchasers detained in it against their will, and absolute poverty the detaining cause? And how philanthropic the motive which would withhold money I How necessitous the condition of tne settlement which cannot afford even to lose a pauper, and that' pauper not available in the" labour-market, because he is a broken-down gentleman ! It is really smv prising that such statements (they cannot be called arguments) should issue from the mouth of a man of superior education, and a lawyer. But those who are in subordinate positions must obey their superior officers, and act according to their instructions, all- but Government officers, in whom such a line of conduct provokes the utmost indignation of the settlers. " " . However the matter ultimately ends, it may confidently be pi edict ed that the purchaser* will get the worst of it. As regards weight Or

influence of any sort, they Are as a body, or rather their not being one body, perfectly contemptible ; and their eyes are not yet opened. The amount of fair land in the country is still Sreatiy oVermted, and the probable value of lat land is seen through a most fallacious and gilding medium. It may be asserted With per* feet confidence, that one half of the rural sections will not for the next century be worth the fee of selection. And as to the land for compensation which is so freely promised, Heaven alone knows where it is to be found, more correctly perhaps, Heaven knows that it is nowhere to be found. As one gentleman at our last meeting most truly remarked, The Company six years ago promised us 200,000 acres of land without knowing where one of them was to be found. They are now perfectly ready to promise us as much more. The Nelson settlement and the Nelson settlers will present a rare and beautiful specimen of the practical working of the Wakefield system of concentration, — when, about 3,000 in number, they are to be met with here and there upon the coast from Cape Farewell to Banks' Peninsula. There has never been seen a more complete shipwreck than the Company's settlements. There never were pilots who went to sea with worse charts, and a more flimsy knowledge of navigation than the New Zealand Company. Heaven grant the colony a speedy deliverance from them. They are neither useful nor ornamental : on the contrary, they hang about us like a dead body tied to a living one, impede our progress, and stink in our nostrils. But this cannot last much longer, and from the period of our severance from them, will date the commencement of the prosperity of New Zealand. I am, Sir, Your obedient, humble Servant, A Nelson Settler.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZSCSG18471023.2.5

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 233, 23 October 1847, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
3,831

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 233, 23 October 1847, Page 3

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 233, 23 October 1847, Page 3

Help

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert