NEW ZEALAND SPECTATOR AND Cook's Strait Guardian. Wednesday, October 12, 1853.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 855, 12 October 1853, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND SPECTATOR AND Cook's Strait Guardian. Wednesday, October 12, 1853.

The Provincial Gazette of last Monday contains some important notices with reference to the recently purchased districts in the Wairarapa. By the end of the I month these districts will be open to general selection under the Governor's land regulations, a preference or pre-emptivd right to the extent o( 640 acres, under certain conditions, being allowed to the holders of runs in the district, and a block having been set apart to allow the promoters of the " Small Farm scheme* an opportunity of fairly trying their experiment. Upwards of half a million of acres will by these arrangements be available to the settlers for purchase, and when the negotiations with the natives for the remainder of the valley are concluded and the purchase of the whole Valley to the East coast completed by the Government, about a million of acres altogether will be open for sale. The announcement is suggestive of many reflections, — as it will be productive of important consequences. It is a sufficient and complete answer to those who thought it a good electioneering cry to ask " Why is not the Wairarapa district bought by the Government for the settlers ?" In less time than they could have possibly anticipated, what they required, if they were really in earnest, has been done, and a greater amount of available land is open for sale in the neighbourhood of Wellington with the best of all titles, a title from the Crown, than has yet been offered since the settlement was founded, besides the valuable and extensive districts beyond, on the East Coast. In the eager desire felt by all parties to go in and possess the good land, Mr. Justice Stephen's injunction is as clean forgotten a£ though it had never been granted : but if, instead of becoming a dead letter, (that mischievous decision had really l^een acted upon, ' and the sale of land Si' 10s. and 3s. an acre had been altogether prevented, — we tremble to think of the ruinous consequences which would have ensued. It can hardly be doubted that these purchases, — seeing the ainounto'f money required to be immediately paid down — would not have been made if the injunction had been sustained, and the Province would have been brought to a dead lock, as far as any land available for freshcomers is concerned. The New Zealand Company and Judge Stephen have been the Scylla and Charybdis of the land question, but if these are hapjnly passed, it is not all plain sailing; the regulations under which the Small Farm Scheme is to be worked, have yet to be framed by the combined wisdom of the Provincial Council^ and more than all, the road into Wairarapa Valley must be completed by the Provincial Government, before the province can derive all those advantages from these acquisitions 'which may be reasonably expected from them.

On Monday his Excellency Sir George Grey took his final departure from Wellington. His Excellency and Lady Grey embarked on board the Government Brig about two o'clock in the afternoon ; shortly afterwards the Brig sailed for Auckland.

In Monday's Government Gazette, bcfsides the notices reprinted in our present number, were the following: — Official -notifications of the election of the members for the General Assembly and Provincial Council of the Province of New Plymouth; of the Harbour Department of "Wellington having been placed under the Provincial Government. Comparative returns of arrivals and departures to and from the Port of Wellington for the June quarter 1852 and 1853 ; Return of Immigration and Emigration at the Port of Wellington for the June quarter, 1853. Total amount of Immigration, 117 ; of Emigration, 211. Returns of Imports and Exports of New Zealand produce to and from the Port of Wei- ! lington for the June quarter, 1853. Total imports, £20,272 ; total exports, £19,136. Statement of the receipts of New Munster, exclu siveof the land fund, for the year 1852. Total amount of receipts, £32,847 10s. 6d. .A comparative statement of the revenue and expenditure for the December quarters 1851- and 1852, and two quarterly returns of intestate estates by the Registrar of the Supreme Court., In the Provincial Gazette of the same date, in addition to the notices we have reprinted, is a notice of the sale of land by. Government at Wanganui on " the 29th November next ; 86 sections of Town land, 8 sections of Suburban land and 4 sections of Rural land are offered for sale.