To the Editor of the New Zealand Spectator. Wellington, January 20th, 1854.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 884, 21 January 1854, Page 3

To the Editor of the New Zealand Spectator. Wellington, January 20th, 1854.

Sir, — An .inducement far stronger than the, Taunted fertility , of. soil and healthiqess of .climate, .which served to attract Englishmen to New, Zealand ;iu preference to the United States, was the belief; that, as these islands formed a purely British colony, we carried with us the civil rights, the laws, the social, privileges, and security of our individual properties which are enjoyed, in our Mother Country by even the poorest British subject. . j l,n Britain nothing is held more legally sacredjjtban the right of every British Freeholder to the unmolested enjoyment of his landed' estate— T whetlier stinte 1 to half a rood or extending to.half a« county — he is alike free to enclose, any ,portioji,.or all, or none of his land, as may suit his. means,, his pleasure or his interest ; and utterly-unconstrained by law he is at liberty to fence (if it happens to be his pleasure to fence at-alty at what times, in what manner, aud.with

what-material he"- pleases* •> in* bis - chapter on Trespass, clearly pjaces, all the responsibility upohVthe'owtiers of cattle ;' for he distinctly states, that for the "-purpose of legal protection of property, the known boundary of e#ery man's estate is a legal Jeoce, even if there ,is no visible fence ; and that the' landowner may " elect eitber'to distrain any intruding cattle," or. if he prefers, sue the owner for damages;' in shbrt, the fencing of land has never been 'legally held in England as " Qne of the duties of property ;" nor have the owners of cattle ever been exempted from legal penalties for trespass, on the frivolous" ' excuse, .that their farming neighbours baJ' 'riot erected ea tie-proof enclosure round their crops. This knavish' Fencing 'bill riot merely attacks the j&st principle of eveiy man's right toVlie , quiet possession of property he has honestly paid tor, but it impertinently forces him into uridesired partnerships, making him liable riot only for his own deeds; but for act 9 done at the' malice ' or caprice of any l individual, tohbm accident or , his evil fortune may make the owner of the adjoining allotment : ..for instance, many unlucky land- ' -ownornJxanfi^hdnffKt land, w bich frora.being mostly '* either swampy, barren, brAk'enjTocfcy7 >i dr-pr«r«ipi— r l tous, has three-fourths of it utterly unavailable, " ' and instead of being allowed without interference to make the best' of the available quarter, of their investment, they are comforted by receiving Fencing bills for £40 or £50 from the owners of 'the adjoining fertile sections, who, fencing their ' ,own land for their own interest, have incidentally enclose) by ra'ejr party fences portion's of bad land which' the'luckless owner regards only as a ■ magazine of fuel, which in' the bush will be worthless until the rext generation, and upo.n which he would not willingly waste sixpence, in, fv-ncing. ' ' ,' , , Before the panic caused by this projected ' Fencing Act, so great waS the cor.fidence t of the public in land as a fir3t-rale security, that many working-men could by pledging' their'forty acres lots have readily obtained at a 'fair interest'£ls advance wherewith to commence cleariog ; bu'f"' now, as the retaining our own land wilt probably be contingent on 'the caprice of any knavish neighbour, who may legally insist upon our performing a practically impossible condition, no cautious capitalist is likely to" aflvance even Isd. on merely lance security. , Triie,,any man may possibly escape liti r ious neighbours, rabid* for fencing, but our former "feeling of security has departed ; people 'tis true, may live and die in Russia without either feeling the knout, or'enjoyirig a Siberian' 'excursion — or, in Tunis may " depart to Paradise without the aid ( of scyraitar'or , strangulation — or in ancient tirjnes may have slumbered unhurt beneath the sword of Damocles; but I confess I feel a perhaps stupid prejudice in favor, of the certain security' of the laws "and. government of Old England. Hoping the Provincial Council will, by rejecting this un-English l Bill, prevent 'a 'new 'game (substituting fences, for cards) of " Beggar my neighbour," , I remain.. Your humble servant,' A. "POOR FREEHOLDER;*