The Land Jobbing Ring of Hawke's Bay.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2130, 1 November 1875, Page 2

The Land Jobbing Ring of Hawke's Bay.

(FROM OTTR AUCKLAND CORRESPONDENT.)

The notoriety which the unscrupulous " Land Jobbing Bing " of Hawke's Bay has got into with the natives of that province has caused a good deal of newspaper and Parliamentary discussion during the last couple of years, and it is hardly creditable, but it is nevertheless a , fact, that although the General Government was aware of the fearful demoralis- ! ing disposition of the natives, nothing was done in the matter. The gross frauds which were perpetrated by some of those interested in the .many purchases are now matters of notoriety and of history. The following communication, transmitted to the Government of the day by a. gentleman who held a high position in one of the banks, will to a small extent show your readers that although the sale of ardent spirits was illegal, and that its sale | was known to the authorities, no steps were taken to stop it, and there can be no doubt but that during these drunken periods the natives signed mortgages and conveyances which acted as a forerunner to all the ill-feeling and lawsuits which subsequently followed in relation to the questionable disposal of very many blocks of fine land. The following is the communication ; — Napier, July 14,1871. William Fox, Esq., Wellington. Dear Sir, —As you are a powerful advocate for the propagation of abstinence amongst Englishmen, I am satisfied you will not blame me for asking you to do something for the natives in this district to prevent them killing themselves, as they are now doing, by the consumption of the filth supplied them by the publicans. I was tinder the impression that publicans were prohibited by law from selling spirits to the poor fellows, and in other parts of the colony I have seen such a law enforced, but here it is " more honoured in the breach than the observance "if such a law exisls. I have seen women and girls of say 15 years of age supplied with dark brandy until they were in such a state as to make it necessary to be lifted into a trap or cart to remove them to their homes. If for the sake of peace and so on it is necessary to let the Maoris have drink, let good beer or any other mild stimulant be saleable by publicans, but I do think they have no right to bo poisoned wholesale, as they indubitably are at the present time in Napier. Yours faithfully,

P.S. —I do not know whether you remember me. I am a son of the Bey. -. ■■" , lately resident at Wellington.