PETITION TO PARLIAMENT. — NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT BILL. (From EDWARD GIBBON WAKEFIELD, Esq ) To the Honourable, the Commons of the United Kingdom in Parliament assembled, the humble petition of Edward Gibbon Wakefield — Shewet h—
Auckland Retail Pbices, ' ( Friday, October 22, 1852, I Flour, (Auckland), 20s. per 100 lbs.; ditto,; N.S. Wales, 255. ; Bread, 21b. loaf, sfd. ; Biscuit, fine, 28s. per 1001b*., seconds 245. ; Oatmeal, per ]b. sd. ; Wheat, per bushel, 75. ; Barley, 7s. ; Oats, per bushel, 55. ; Maize, dp. 4s. bd. to 55. ; Bran, do. Is. ; TeA (£6 per., chest,) 2s. per lb. ; sugar (moist), from 28s. to 325. per cwt:, per lb., 3d. to 5d. ; Coffee, per ' ]b. Is, 3d.; Pickles, lls. per doz., per bottle, Is. 3d. ; Arrowroot, per lb. lOd. ; 'Beef and Mutton, per lb., sd. to 6d. ; by the caJrcase, 4d. Pork, 4d. ; Butter (fresh), per lb. lsi^do. salt, Is. ; Potatoes, per cwt., 3s. fir! • TV*** «««*
T. That as the author of the British colonisation of New Zealand, as a principal labourer in the work of gelling together, organising, andr sending forth the several bodies ol emigrants who have formed »he settlements of Wellington, New Plymouth, Nelson, Ot&go, and Canterbury, and as an active participator in the Jong efforts whereby those colonists have striven, with the aid of friends at home, to obtain the precious advantage of a right by law to manage their own public affairs in their own way, your petitioner has inevitably acquired so full a knowledge of their opinions and feelings on the subject of a constitution of local government, as enables him to speak with confidence of the degree iv which the measure now before your honourable House is calculated to please them. 11. That in order adequately to lay before your honourable House the desires of the colouists of New Zealdud with regard to a constitution of local government, it is necessary for your petitioner to describe with some particularity some impressions on the subject of colonial government v hicb have been formed in his own mind, and in the minds of the other leaders of New Zealand colonisation whom distance precludes on this occasion from approaching your honourable House. And it appears also necessary, in order that your honourable House may be induced to allow bis opinion some weight, that h^ should mention circumstances with rpgard to himself which have gben him unrivalled opportunities of investigating the subject. f lIT. That by his experience as the author o the colonisation of South Australia, and of the means by which New South Wales and Victoria have been chiefly peopled from this country — as an active participator iv the labours of Lord Durham's mission to North America — as a member of the House of Assembly of United Canada when the responsibility of local ministers was first practically attempted in that colony, and a very active promoter of that experiment in circumstances of great diffienhy — and as a person who has expended fortune, health, and all hia time for more than twenty years in the study and " active conduct of a great variety of matters relating to colonisation and colonial government — your petitioner was long ago deeply impressed with the belief, lhat the defect of their constitutions of government from which British colonists in modern times have suffeied the most, is centralisation of authority independently of the form of government. As a form of colonial government, the representative principle was lately carried out to the uttermost by the constitution of France, which placed in the Legislative Assembly members for the colonies elected by universal suffrage. The pretended object of the arrangement ntither was nor could have been accomplished in any degree whatever. Even if each colony had elected and sent to Paris a Legislative Assr-mbly of its own, to sit there uncontrolled by the government of France, the wide separation of the inhabitants of the colonies from their very democratic but distant legislatures would have deprived them of all real influence in the management of their local affairs. In like manner, under a mixed form of government iv Lower Canada, when the three .important rights of a legislative veto, of nominating the members of one branch of the legislature, and of appointing' to all executive offices, wore exercised by the Colonial Office in London, the colonists had no real share in the management of their own affairs, but were always at variance with their government ; and that state of things was produced, which Lord Durham called " a constituted anarchy." Technically, the present form of government for United Canada is the same as that which distracted the separate provinces ; but in practice it is entirelydifferent. Practically, under the system of local ministerial responsibility, the whole local authority of the Crown has been transferred from the 'Colonial Office in London to a local governor, whom the Crowu instructs to exercise his powers in harmony with the representative assembly. The colonists therefore enjoy a substantial management of their local affairs, and Canada no longer troubles the mother-country. The point gained,both for the colony and the empire, is the overthrow of that extreme centralisation of power which placed Canadian authority io London. Practically, though still not technically, the government' of Canada has been decentralised to the extent of being seated in the colony ; and it may be reasonably assumed, from the happyeffects which this change has produced, from the smooth working of local responsibility iv the governments of other North American Provinces, and from the farour with which opiniou in the imperial country now regards the policy of local self government for remote dependencies, that the far more distant colonies of England in the South Pacific will not obtain representative institutions without also obtaining the great boon which has been practically bestowed on Canada, and without which representative institutions iv- ' a dependency lead only to discord and disaffection. If so, the technical reservations to the ; Cro.wn in England (which means to the Colonial I Office) of authority relating to matters exclu- '> sively of a local nature, which appear in the New • Zealand , Government Bill now before your • honourable house, are only open to theoretical or > technical objection, and may be safely disregarded " accordingly. But your petitioner has a serious practical purpose in alluding to the centmlisitiuu of auihojiiy, from which Canada has he«jn lately relieved by the adoption of Lord Durham's le1 'commendations wiih regard to responsible go- > * "<•' — -'- - ...... I. ..«• /•BOH .«.ll.»
sation, similar in kind and not less hurtful ifl degree, though it arises in a very different wayH and produces very different consequences, It iH a centralisation from which every extensive coH lony is sure to suffer great evils, even when thH mother-country wholly reases to exercise powerH of local government. This happens when thH area of the colony is so large, and its means eH communication so deficient, that — let the forrH of government be what it may, whether demoH cratic, aristocratic, despotic, or mixed — the sei^J of government in the colony is, to parts of tbH colony distant therefrom, what London has bee^J as the seat of government for many remote deH pendencies. In such cases, which are as nuraerH ous as the most extensive of the modern colonieH of England, the benefits of government — thH means of getting done things without number! which are greatly needed and which governraeoH alone can do — are confined to the seat of governH went and its immediate neighbourhood. ThH rest of the country is neglected, and stagnateH almost without government. The manifest sourcH of this evil is the unity or singleness of governH roent in • dominion whose wide extent is aggraH vated beyond what the inhabitants of a populouH and wealthy country can easily imagine, by thH dispersion of the colonists, by their coraparativH poverty, and by the paucity of their means oH communication. British North America and thH Australias would supply numerous and strikinH examples. The suitable remedy is indicated bH the origin of the evil : it is a decentralisation ofl authority, with the effect of affording local- goj vernment to portions of the colony remote from! the seat of general government. But this is M very remarkable case among those in which pre-B vention is ensier than cure, because when once £■ central colonial government has been established* let its form be what it may, they who compose itH are little inclined to diminish their own authority! by dispersing it among settlements at a distanced It is seen accordingly that the most centralißedß colonial governments — that is, those which, being! single, embrace the largest dominions — are exM tremely adverse ta all plans of decentralisation.! The_government of United Canada has adopted* in the form of District Councils, with specified! and very limited powers, a most inadequate! method of supplying local wants as respects go-I vernment. It even shifts its seat every now and! then, and becomes peripatetic, in order to satisfy! -some local claims without destroying its own cen-I - tral unity : and the one Australasian government! -which used to sit at Sydney, was deeply, offended! when the imperial power bestowed separate go-1 vernments on those dependencies of New South Wales which are now the Colonies of Tasmania! South Australia, New Zealand, and Victoria. Just so at present, the Sydney government objects to the independence of the Moreton Bay - district of New South Wales, whose inhabitants are praying to be relieved from the miseries ~of dependence on a Temote centre of authority, . Nor is it the governments alone which in such cases - are prone to resist every attempt at decentralisation. Whilst they are so affected by the pride of power, interests grow up within and around them which depend upon a perpetual sacrifice of all remote interests to their own, and which gradually obtain by their magnitude and by the force of propinquity, union, habit, and prescription, an influence in the government which remote districts, widely separated from each other, as well as from the single seat of authority, are wholly unable to counteract, still less to destroy. It is the imperial power 'alone which can prevent the growth of such circumstances, by doing what no central colonial government will ever do of its own accord — that is, extending to the colony itself the operation of the principle of decentralisation. This principle is that of municipal rule, under which, when it is fully carried out, the most convenient subdivisions of territory obtain all the powers of government, except powers - specifically withheld from them to be wielded by a general government ; a principle directly opposite to that of the central system, under which subordinate localities obtain no powers except those which may be specifically granted to them by their general government. Under the municipal plan, the several districts of a large British colony receive whatever powers the imperial Parliament chooses to abstain from specifically reserving, whether for itself or for a general colonial government ; and these several districts cannot, without their own consent, be deprived of any of those powers, save by Parliament, the author of their constitution : whereas under the central plan, as has been shewn before, general <colonial governments take care that none but the meanest powers shall be enjoyed by localities remote from the seat of government. This distinction is a principal element of the subject now under consideration by your honourable House. For there are circumstances in the physical geography and peculiar colonisation of the New Zealand Islands, which render the operation of the central plan of local government fatal to the well-being of the great majority of colonists, and which in the same degree recommend the municipal plan as peculiarly suitable to their wants. Nature itself has divided the country into at least six regions or districts, as completely separated from each other as if they were distinct islands ; .and accordingly each of these tenitories, being large enough to support millions of inhabitants, -has been colonised thus far by a distinct body of -people who proceeded from no common centre in the Islands, but, in five out of the six cases, di- i rectly from the United Kingdom, and, in the sixth case, directly from the neighbouring colonies ■of Australia. The products of industry are nearly the same in all the settlements, so that no motive exists for commercial intercommunication - amongst them, still less between all of them and a common centre of business. The imports and exports of each of them are for the most part direct from and to this country and Australia ; and it therefore frequently happens in a settlement, that Australian and even London dates are later than the latest which have been then received from other settlements, and from the seal of government. A colonist who differs from nearly all others in having passed some time at every one of the settlements, publishes here a work descriptive of the country, and, under the influence of local impressions, gives it the title of The Six Colonies of New Zealand. Every one really acquainted with the colonization of the islands, knows that it has resulted in the formation of six communities which are so placed geographically, commercially, and socially, that one general government could not possibly afford to any of them, exrept the one at which such government was ated, ih>3B lueaiis of well-bMog and advance-
oVto" levy'aJy duty, impose aDy prohibition or restriction, or grant any exemptions, bounty, drawback, or other privilege upon the importation or exportation of any articles, or to impose any dues or charges upon shipping contrary to or at variance with any treaty or treaties concluded by her Majesty with any foreign power. 62 The Governor is hereby authorized and required to pay out of the revenue arising from taxes, duties, rates, and imposts levied under any act or acts of the said General Assembly, and from the disposal of waste lauds of the crown, .11 :he costs charges, and expenses incident to the collection, management, and receipt thereof ; also to pay out of the said revenue arising from the
[disposal of waste lands of the crown such sums as may become payable under the provisions hereinafter contained for or on account of the purchase of land from aboriginal natives, or the release or extinguishment of their rights in any land, and such suras as may become payable to the New Zealand Company under the provisions of this act in respect of the sale or alienation of land ; provided always, that full and particular accounts of all such disbursements shall from time to time be laid before the said Legislative Council and House of Representatives. 63. All costs, charges, and expenses of or incident to the 'collection, management, and receipt of duties of import and export shall be regulated and audited in such manner as shall be directed by the commissioners of her Majesty's treasury of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and all such costs, charges, and expenses in relation to other branches of the said revenue shall be regulated and audited in such manner as shall be directed by laws of the said ' General Assembly. 164. There shall be payable to her Majesty, every year, out of the revenue arising from such taxes, duties, rates, and imposts, and from the disposal of such waste lands of the crown in New Zealand, the several sums mentioned in the schedule to this act ; such several sums to be' ) paid for defraying the expenses of the services and purposes mentioned in such schedule, and'to be J issued by the Treasurerof New Zealand in discharge of such warrants as shall be from time to time directed to him under the hand and seal of the Governor ; and the said Treasurer shall account to her Majesty for the same through the Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in such manner and fotm as her Majesty shall be graciously pleased to direct. 65. It shall be lawful for the General Assembly of New Zealand, by any act or acts, to alter all or any of the sums mentioned in the said schedule, and the appropriation of such suras to the services and purposes therein mentioned ; but every bill which shall be passed by the said Legislative Council and House of Representatives altering the salary of the Governor, or altering the sum described as for native purposes, shall be reserved for the signification of her Majesty's pleasure thereon, and until and subject to such alteration by act or acts as aforesaid the salaries of the Governor and Judges shall be those respectively set against their several offices in the said schedule; and accounts in detail of the expenditure of the several sums for the time being appropriated under this act, or such act or acts as aforesaid of the said General Assembly, to the several services and purposes mentioned in the said schedule, shall be laid before the said Legislative Council aod House of Representatives within thirty days next after the beginning of the session after such expenditure shall have been made : provided always, that it shall not be lawful for the said General Assembly, by any such act as aforesaid, to make any diminution in the salary of any Judge to take effect during the continuance in office of any person being such Judge at the time of the passing of such act. 66. After and subject to the payments to be made under the provisions herein-before contained, all the revenue arising from taxes, duties, rates, and imposts levied in virtue of any act of the General Assembly, and from the disposal of waste lands of the crown, under any such act made hi pursuance of the authority herein contained, shall be subject to be appropriated to such specific purposes as by any act of the said General Assembly shall be prescribed in that behalf ; and the surplus of such revenue which shall not be appropriated as aforesaid shall be divided among the sereral provinces for the time being established in New Zealand under or by virtue of this act, in the like proportions as the gross proceeds of the said revenue shall have arisen therein respectively, and shall be paid over to the respective Treasuries of such provinces for the public uses thereof, and shall be subject to the appropriation of the respective Provincial Councils of such provinces. 67. It shall he lawful for the said General Assembly, by any act or acts, from time to time, to establish new electoral districts for the purpose of electing members of the said house of representatives, to alter the boundaries of electoral districts for the time being existing for such purposes, to alter and appoint the number of members to be chosen for such districts, to increase the whole number of members of the said house of representatives, and to alter and regulate the appointment of returning officers, and make provision in such manner as they may deem expedient for the issue and return of writs for the election
\ m in England and Wales incorporated in virtue of such Statutes or any of them, and to" qualify and restrict the* exercise of any such powers in such and the same manner as, by the statutes aforesaid or any of them, her Majesty may qualify or restrict the exercise of any such powers as aforesaid in England : Provided always, that all provisions of any such letters patent, and all byelaws and regulations made by any such Corporation, shall be subject to alteration or repeal by any ordinance or act of the Provincial Council for the Province in which such Corporation may be established, or of the General Assembly, according to their respective powers berein-before declared. 71. And whereas it may be expedient that the laws, customs, and usages of the aboriginal or native inhabitants of New Zealand, so far as they are not repugnant to the general principles of humanity, should for the present be maintained for the government of themselves, in all their relations to and dealings with each other, and that particular districts should be set apart within which such laws, customs, or usages should be so observed : It shall be lawful for her Majesty, by any letters patent to be issued under the great seal of the United Kingdom, from time to time make provision for the purposes aforesaid, any repugnancy of any such native laws, Customs, or usages to the law of England, or to any law, statute, or usage in force in New Zaaland, or in any part, thereof, in anywise notwithstanding. 72. Subject to the provisions herein contained, it shall be lawful for the said General Assembly to make laws for regulating the sale, letting, disposal, and occupation of the wa*te lands of the Crown in New Zealand ; and all lands wherein the title of natives shall be extinguished as herein after mentioned, and all such other lands as are described in an act of the session holden in the Tenth and Eleventh years of her Majesty, chapter one hundred and twelve, to promote colonization in New Zealand, and to authorize a loan to the New Zealand Company, as demesne lands of the Crown, shall be deemed and taken to be waste lands of the Crown within the meaning of this act : Provided always, that subject to the said provisions, and until the said General Assembly shall otherwise enact, it shall be lawful for her Majesty to -regulate .such sale, letting, disposal, and occupation by instructions to be issued under the Signet and Royal Sign Manual. 73. It shall not be lawful for any person other than her Majesty, her heirs or successors, to purchase or in anywise acquire or accept from the aboriginal natives land of or belonging to or used or occupied by them in common as tribes or com* munities, or to accept any release or extinguishment of the rights of such aboriginal natives in any such land as aforesaid ; and no conveyance or transfer, or agreement for the conveyance or transfer of any such land, either in perpetuity or for any term or period, either absolutely or conditionally, and either in property or by way of lease or occupancy, and no such release or extinguishment as aforesaid, shall be of any validity or effect unless the same be made to, or entered into with, and accepted by her Majesty, her heirs or successors: Provided always, that it shall be lawful for her Majesty, her heirs or successors, by instruction under the Signet and Royal Sign Manual, or signified through one of her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, to delegate her power of accepting such conveyances or agreements, releases or relinquishmenis, to the Governor of New Zealand, or the Superintendent of any Province within the limits of such Province, and to prescribe or regulate the terms on which such conveyances or agreements, releases, or extinguishments shall be accepted. 74. And whereas under and by vinue of the said last-mentioned Act, and of a notice given on the fourth day of July, one thousand eight hundred and fifty by the New Zealand Company in pursuance of such act, the sum of two hundred and sixty-eight thousand three hundred and seventy pounds fifteen shillings, with interest after the yearly rate of three pounds ten shillings per centum upon the said sum, or so much thereof as shall from time to time remain unpaid, is charged upon and payable to the New Zealand Company out of the proceeds of the sales of the demesne lsnds of the Crown in New Zealand : In respect of all sales or other alienations of any waste lands of the Crown in New Zealand in fee simple or for any less estate or interest (except by way of license or occupation fpr pastoral purposes for any term of years not exceeding seven, and not containing any contract for the renewal of the same, or for a further estate, interes', or licence, or by way of reservation of such lands as may be required for public roads or other internal communications whether by land or water, or for the use or benefit of the aboriginal inhabitants of tha country, or for purposes of military defence, or as the sites of places of public worship, schools, or other public buildings, or as places for the interment of the dead, or places for the recreation and amusement of the inhabitants of any town or village, or as the sites of public quays or landing places on the sea coast or chores of navigable streams, or for any other purpose of public safety, convenience or health, or enjoyment) there shall be paid to the said New Zealand Company towards the discharge of the principal sum and interest charged as aforesaid, in lieu of all and every other claim of the said Company in respect of the said sum, except where otherwise hereinafter provided, so long as the same or any part thereof respectively shall remain unpaid, one fourth part of the sum paid by the purchaser in respect of every such sale or alienation : Provided always, that it "shall be lawful for the New Zealand Company, by any resolution of a majority of the proprietorsof the said Company present at any meeting of such proprietors, and certified under the pommon seal of such Company, to release all or any part of the said lands from the monies or payment charged thereon by the said act or this act, or any part of such monies or payment, either absolutely or upon any terms or conditions, as such proprietors may think fit. 75. It shall not be lawful for the said General Assembly to repeal or interfere with all or any of the provisions of an act of the session holdeu in the thirteenth and fourteenth years of her Majesty, chapter seventy, intituled "an act empowering the Canterbury Association to dispose of certain lands in New Zealand," or of an<=act passed in the session then next following, chapter eighty-four, to - liter and amend the said first mentioned act: P Provided always, that on the expiration or sooner letermination of the functions, powers, and tuboriiies now vested in or lawfully exercised by
the said Association, the provisions of tbe present act shall come into force as regards the lands to which the said acts relate. 76. It shall be lawful for the Canterbury Association, at any time after a Provincial Council shall have been constituted under this act for the Province of Canterbury, to transfer to the said Council all such functions, powers, and authorities, and the said Council is hereby empowered to accept such transfer, upon such terms and conditions as shall be agreed upon between the said Council and the said Association : Provided always,- that nothing contained in such terms and' conditions shall interfere with the rights of her Majesty, ber beirs and successors, or of the New Zealand Company respectively ; and from and 5 after such lime as shall be agreed upon betweenthe said Council and the said Association, the said Council shall have and be entitled to exercise all the said functions, powers, and authorities. 77. Nothing in this act or in any act, law, or ordinance to be made by the said General Assembly, or by any Provincial Assembly, Ehall affect or interfere with so rr.uch of an act of the session holden in the fourteenth and fifteenth years of her Majesty, chapter eighty-six, intituled " an act to regulate the affairs of certain settlements established by the New Zealand Company in New Zealand," as relates to the administration of the fund for the purposes of the settlement of Nelson. 78. And whereas certain terms of purchase and pasturage of land in the settlement of Olago had been issued by the New Zealand Company before the fourth day of July one thousand eight hundred and fifty, and the said terms, or part of them, were in force on that day as contracts between the New Zealand Company and the Association of lay members of the Free Church of Scotland, commonly called the Otago Association : and whereas by the provisions of the said Act of the tenth and eleventh years of her Majesty, and of the said notice given by the New Zealand Company, tbe lands of the said Company in New Zealand reverted to and became vested in her Majesty as part of the demesne lands of the Crown, subject nevertheless to any contract then subsisting in regard to any of the said lands : and whereas it is expedient that provision should be made to enable her Majesty to fulfil the contracts contained in such, terms of purchase and pasturage as aforesaid. It shall be lawful for ber Majesty for that purpose to make provision, by way of regulations to be contained in any charter to be granted to the said Association, for the disposal of the lands to which the said terms of purchase and pasturage relate, so far as tbe same are still in force as j aforesaid, and for varying from time to time such regulations, with such consent by or on behalf of I the said Association as in any such charter or instructions shall be specified, and for fixing the boundaries thereof, and for enabling the said As- ! sociation to transfer its powers to the Provincial Council for the province oi Otago : Provided always, that no such charter shall be granted or have effect for any longer term than ten years from the passing of this Act, but one of her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State may at any time during the term for which such charter shall be granted, by writing under his hand, extend the term for which such charter shall have been granted for such further time as in his discretion be may think fit : Provided always, that it shall not be lawful for her Majesty, by any such regulations as aforesaid, to diminish the sum now payable to the New Zealand Company in respect of all waste land sold under the said terms of purchase, unless with the consent of the New Zealand Company, signified as herein- before provided ; and during the continuance of such charter as aforesaid, it shall not be lawful for the said General Assembly to repeal or interfere with any such regulations respectiog lands in Olago, except wiih such consent by or on behalf of the Otago Association as in any such charter or instructions may be provided, and (so far as tbe rights of the New Zealand Company may be affected) with tbe consent of such Company signified as herein-brfore provided ; and every bill which shall repeal or interfere with any such regulations shall be reserved for the signification of her Majesty's pleasure thereon. 79. It shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by any such letters patent as aforesaid, or instruc ions under her Majesty's Signet and Sign Manual, or signified through one of ber Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, to delegate to the Governor any of the powers herein-before reserved to her Majesty respecting the removal of Superintendents of Provinces and the regulation of the sale, letting, disposal, and occupation of waste lands, tbe establishment of municipal corporations, and the preservation of aboriginal laws, customs, and usages. 80. In the construction of this act the term " Governor " shall mean the person for tbe time being lawfully administering the. government of New Zealand ; and for the purposes of this act " New Zealand " shall be held to include all territories, islands, and countries lying between thirty-three degrees of South latitude, and fifty degrees of South latitude, and one hundred and sixty-two degrees of East longitude and one hundred and seventy- three degrees of West longitude, reckoning from the meridian of Greenwich. 81. This act shall be proclaimed in New Zealand by the Governor thereof within six weeks after a copy of such act shall have been received by such Governor, and, save as herein expressly provided, shall take effect in New Zealand from the day of such proclamation thereof. 82. The proclamation of this act, and all proclamations made under the provisions thereof, shall be published in the New Zealand Government Gazette. SCHEDULE referred to in the foregoing Act.
Governor 2,500 Chief Justice 1,000 Puisne Judge 800 Establishment of the General Government 4,700 Native Purposes 7,000 £16,000
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New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 759, 10 November 1852, Page 3
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5,376PETITION TO PARLIAMENT. — NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT BILL. (From EDWARD GIBBON WAKEFIELD, Esq ) To the Honourable, the Commons of the United Kingdom in Parliament assembled, the humble petition of Edward Gibbon Wakefield—Sheweth— New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 759, 10 November 1852, Page 3
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