EXTRACTS FROM THE BLUE BOOK. Copy of a Despatch from Governor Grey to Earl Grey. Government House, Auckland, April 21, 1847.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 290, 10 May 1848, Page 2

EXTRACTS FROM THE BLUE BOOK. Copy of a Despatch from Governor Grey to Earl Grey. Government House, Auckland, April 21, 1847.

My Lord, — I have the honour to transmit a Report, on the subject of conflicting claims of Europeans and natives to certain portions of land, which I received upon the Bth instant from Lieutenant-Colonel M'Cleverty, who was sent out by her Majesty's- Government, for the purpose of adjusting these land claims. The following is a summary of the most important subjects and recommendations contained in that officer's Report : — Lieutenant-Colonel M.'Cleverty estimates the number of natives inhabiting the harbou r of Port Nicholson at 633, in< lurfing women and children ; whilst the quantity of la d they have under cultivation amounts to 639 acres, which is estimated to bp not more than suffi- ] cient for their wants, reference being had to their imperfect mode of agriculture. 528 acres of the above quantity of land are on sections which have been sold by the New Zealand Company to Europeans. The native cultivations upon sections claimed by Europeans are j. enerally in small patches of a very irregular form. They thus decrease the value of the farm of the European, as he would find it more difficult and expensive to cultivate his | land, especially to fence his irregular boundary. The Europeans and natives equally consider themselves entitled to these cultivations ; they form a subject of frequent dispute, which it is most desirable to acjust. This, however, can only be done by procuring for the native land, which is equally suitable to his purposes as that which he gives ' up ; and it must lure be borne in mind, that the present cultivations of the natives have been chosen by them, as being on good land and oi a suitable aspect, and in situations easy of access from their places of abode. Lieutenant-Colonel M'Cleverty calculates that, at least, 12 sections of land, of 100 acres each, would be required to compensate the natives for the land it is desirable they should give up. But to make an arrangement, which would be a permanent one, he remarks, that a larger extent tf land would have to be provided, because the natives do not understand a rotation of crops, and therefore wear out their land in three or four years, and are then obliged to occopy new land. Lieutenant-Colonel M'Cleverty also remarks, that the Port Nicholson district not belonging to the Government, they have no land there applicable to the contemplated purpose, and that this renders it nearly impossible to put the natives in possession of the land requisite to effect an equitable exchange, without purchasing it from Europeans. The Government has already been compelled to purchase two sections of land for the purpose of meeting the wants of the natives, at an average price of £375 for «ach section.

Assuming, therefore, that, in order to obtain the land required from the natives, it was only necessary to purchase two-thirds of the quantity named by Lieutenant-Colonel M'Clever y (viz. 8 section*-), the sura of about £3,000 would have to be at once provided for this purpose. It, however, also appears, from L'.eutenant-Colonel M'Cleverty's Report, that it may probably be found impracticable to purchase the required land, for but few of the resident settlers will sell their land, and much of the land belongs to absentees, whose agents are generally only empowered to let land, rarely to sell it. Lieutenant -Colonel M'Cleverty proposes the following partial remedies for the difficulties above detailed :—: — lstly. He recommends that a portion of the town belt, which was estimated originally to contain 800 acres, but which, he thinks, really contains about 1.000 acres, should be given in exchange to the natives for such of their cultivations, on European settlers' sections, as they may be disposed to exchange in this manner. I believe that many of the inhabitants of Port Nicholson object to such exchanges being made, on the ground that they bought their town laud on the understanding that the tovm belt was to be reserved for the use of the inhabitants of the town, for the purposes of health, recreation, and the like ; and that the town belt also separated the country lands from the town, and thus secured, as it were, a certain value to the town land, by preventing the town from being extended beyond certain limits; for these and similar reasous they think that any division of the town I elt from the purposes originally contemplated will be a bieach of contract, and will injure the value of their town property. I feel great regret at being compelled to act contrary to wishes urged on such reasonable grounds ; but the answer to the above objections appears to be, that the Commissioner appointed to inquire into the land claims disallowed the original Port Nicholson purchase ; and whilst thus not admitting the rights claimed by the purchasers, he, at the same tune, gave the natives certain rights, which must be respected ; and that the necessity of the case also compels me to approve of this recommendation, which is, indeed, in conformity with my original instructions to Lieutenant-Colonel M'Cleverty. As, however, the surrender of patches of the town belt to the natives will only suffice to pn cure a very small portion of the native cultivations claimed by Europeans, LieutenantColonel M'Cleverty makds the following further recommendation, viz., that, as many of the settlers' sections, which have been cultivated by the natives, have been cleared by them to a valuable extent, on average value per acre, for the benefit accruing from this clearing, should be paid to the Government by the settlers, or the New Zealand Company, on the European claimant being put in possession of the native cultivations. The money thus obtained being intended to form a fund for the purchase of the additional land required by ihe natives. In as far as the settlers are concerned, I could not, now that I am tully acquainted with the circumstances of the tountiy, recommend the adoption of such an arrangement. I find that the settlers regard the number of years during which they have been kept out of possession of the porJons of sections occupied by the natives as a loss which is by no means compensated for by their having this land now given to them cleared ; and I am now apprehensive, from discussions which have recently arisen, that they might on such terms refuse to receive their sections from the Company, and thus one object contemplated in the attempt to arlange this question of native cultivation, viz., to enable the Company to fulfil their engagements with the settlers, would be defeated. The other question raised- in Lietften*nt-Co-^ lonel M'Cleverty's Report, viz., whether the New Zealand Company should be required to \ pay for the cultivations obtained from the na- J tives, and given up to their settler, is a ques-^ •ion which can be arranged between the Government and the New Zealand Company when Lieutenant-Colonel M'Cleverty's final, report is received. ' , Another point raised by Lieutenant-Colonel M'Cleverty is, that the sections allotted to^ their purchasers by the New Zeah.nd Company contain, instead of 100 acres, generally' from 110 to 120 acres each, and sometimes as many as 130 acres. In this case, I think that the Crown has no right to interfere with the surplus, because Mr. Commissioner Spain's award was that a certain district containing so many sections should be granted to the Company ; but that all native cultivations should be excluded from the grant. I think, therefore, that the grant to the Company, although estimated to contain so many acres, had reference really to a certain district, containing so many sections, the exterior boundary lines of which were the boundary lines of the district. The question raised by Lieute-nant-Colonel M'Cleverty appears, therefore,

to be rather a question between the Company and their settlers than between the Government and the Company. Upon the whole there appears to be nothing contained in the enclosed Report from Lieu-tenant-Colonel M'Cleverty, which should induce me, until I have been made acquainted with the pleasure of her Majesty's Government on this subject, in any way to modify the instructions which I issued to that officer upon the 14th of September last, a copy of which I transmitted to your lordship's pred •- cessor in my despatch, No. 89, ol the same date. I have, &c, (Signed) G. Grey. The Right Hon. Earl Grey, &c, &c.

[From late Australian papers.]

South Australian Mines. — How many mines pay? The Burra Burra pays enormously — one happy man there received £4000 on his shares in January — he received another £4000 on the Ist March, while I was there • — he will have to swallow the same dose twice more in the twelvemonth. He originally invested £2000, and now gets £16,000 per annum. The shares pay thirty per cent, at the late price, £150 per share — and there is every reason to believe that the thirty will, under improved management, become sixty. They fell to £100 per share just as I leit, but the present pressure was the cause. Some holders of shares were forced to sell, and money happens to be very mnch exaggerated in value. But there are veiy few in the market, and I don't believe that the holders generally would take £300 for their shares — they would be great fools if they did, for they have the minimum of trouble and the maximum of profit — and how they could better themselves I can't conceive. The Kapunda mine gave enormous profits during the time it was in active work. It cleared in one year upwards of £15,000 to its proprietors. But they have been stopped by water. They have a 35 horse power engine now putting up, and will soon begin again. The Glen Osmond mine, as well as the adjoining mine ofPeachy's, has just b pan to pay. I think the former will clear £2000 or .£3OOO this year. It might do much more if they manufactured sheet lead on the spot. No other mine pays. But iher^ are few of them that will not. Few have been begun more than three years, and in very many cases three years is too short a time to expect a return. The argument that mining won't pay, Vecause after two or three years working scarcely any have ever paid their expenses, is a most ignorant one. Many years must elapse before mining operations are fairly tarried out in a new country. I only hope the Adelaide people may have money to go on without English capital. I fear that the Jatter will rush in by-and-bye and get possession of the best mines— with all the dividends going to the mother country, instead of beiug spent in the colony. But 1 have heard insane people express a fear that these enormously productive mines will reduce to some very low pitch the price of the commodity. Now the mother country consumes above 200,000 tons of copper yearly — which is equivalent to about two millions of tons of copper ore. 'What a d'op in the bucket would be fifty Burra Burras! — From an article in the Atlas, by Mr. J. R. Hardy. The return of imports to South Australia for the last quarter of 1847 is £95,419. — Exports for the same period, the produce of the colony, £103,029. Sixteen thousand bales of wool have been exported from Gie'ong this season. No man who has been a convict is allowed to join the police force at Adelaide. The following is an abstract of the amount of sales by auction effected at Adelaide during the month of February, 1848:— John Bentham Neales, £4788 65. ; William Sam8op f5 ,.,£539 §5... lOd. ;. E. N v .,Emmett, £630*135.11 d.[ Arthur Fox, £155 195.6 d.; —£6407 Os. 3d. Speaking of exiles, the Melbourne Argus says, " The loss that has been sustained from the robberies, thieving, forgery, &c, consequent upon the introduction of these characters, would have sufficed for the importation o f ten times the number of decent iudustrious labourers." A Free Church Extension and Education Society has been established at Geeloug. Mr. Gaffney, of the firm of Mocatta and Gaffney, at Port Adelaide, has been appointed Vice-Consul for France at Port Phillip. We learn that Mr. Gaffney wiil apply for the transference of his appointment to Port Adelaide. The Bishop of Adelaide held his first confirmation on Ash Wednesday. Hrs Excellency the Governor has sanctioned the issue of a lease of the Melbourne racecourse tot three years, for racing purposei, to six trustees ; three to be named by the subscribers to the race fund, and three by the Government. A considerable number of pine-apples have recently been senj from Sydney to Geelong.