THE PETITION OF THE EARLY SETTLERS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4548, 18 October 1875, Page 2

THE PETITION OF THE EARLY SETTLERS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sib,—The petition of the early settlers presented to Parliament by Sir George Grey has not yet been reported upon. The business of the session has been considered too urgent to admit of that due consideration being given which the petition demands. The early settlers and their families do not intend to let the matter rest, though it may be late in the day for them to advance their claims. We see petitions considered for claims in a variety of ways, but a petition for a just claim to free grants of land to the original founders of the colony is allowed to stand over till the end of the session without being considered. In all new countries, the early American settlements, and, later in the day, in New South Wales, the Swanßiver settlement, &c, &c, and in fact in all the British colonial possessions, free grants of land were given to the pioneers. There is therefore nothing new or unreasonable in the prayer of the petition now before Parliament. Are not grants, under certain regulations, being given to immigrants now arriving from Great Britain and the Continent? It would have been more creditable to the Government to have considered the matter long ago, and not to have neglected the pioneers up to the present day. Had the systematic colonisation of New Zealand been commenced by the British Government instead of by a trading company, there is no doubt but that the pioneers would have had what the Government ought now to give them—a free grant of land. The trading company referred to (the New Zealand Company) sold their land iu London. The settler who came out, and who was not a purchaser from the company, had to purchase secondhand; and what with the arrangements and. disagreements between the company and the Government, and between the Government and the natives, the early pioneers did not only not get grants of land, but they were positively prevented from purchasing land from the natives (savages), and for years could not get land to occupy. An erroneous impression exists in the minds of the settlers of the present day, that 'the pioneers had inexhaustible chances of making fortunes; the very reverse was the fact; particularly in the New Zealand Company's settlements, where town and country land was held principally by absenteo capitalists, represented by agents, who selected for them, and who let the laud at very high rates ; and where purchasing clauses were given, an exorbitant sum was fixed. The immigrant of IS4O to IS4S without capital was the servant, and slave in many instances, of the landed proprietors. His chance of obtaining a freehold was very remote—so much so that many valuable settlers left the country because they would not submit to the tyranny of the traders and speculators in land purchased from the New Zealand Company. And as to buying land f ronr the natives, that was looked upon as a crime. It is only those who are conversant with the struggles of the pioneers who know this. The Government of the day fostered this state of tilings till a change was brought about by the action of Sir George Grey. What gave rise to the establishment of the small farm settlements in the Wairarapa, but a determination on the part of a portion of the ruined settlers to become freeholders, a deeply cherished wish in the breast of every true Briton f As an instance of one of the English capitalists who was a large purchaser from the New Zealand Company, it will not be out of place to mention the Hon. A. G. Tollemache—everybody knows the high prices that he obtained for the sale of his lands. There would be no difficulty in mentioning many instances where foreign capital has been employed to buy up the country, which was made habitable for population by the early pioneers who are referred to in the petition now before the House. The statement is utterly false, that the pioneers had advantages placed in their way which they have not embraced. They have paved the way for the present prosperity; and that colonist, be he an early settler or a late arrival, who would deny the justness of the claims—as set forth in the petition—must have most extraordinary notions of justice. A testimonial may be given for service rendered publicly: let the Government of this rising colony present that testimonial to the practical founders, which has been so long withheld, but which every right-minded man admits is justly due. Sir George Grey will receive the warmest thanks for the interest he has taken in the matter. Let others do their duty. Justitia pnecipt parcere omnibus, consulere generi hominum, suum cuique reddere, sacra, publica, aliens, non tangero.—l am, las., PIONEEK. Porirua-road, October 16.