MASTERTON TOWN LANDS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 796, 17 June 1881, Page 2

MASTERTON TOWN LANDS.

The following letter has been placed at ,:'■ ; .- our 'disposal by Mi; Reriall:-'. ■■".' y.y ~ • ■ ; Mttstertoh, May 20th/18811; '} V To the Honorable the Minister for Lands. Sjr,-I havejthe honor to.invito'your. attention to the position inVwj)ic|j.:lhe sections 106, 111,, and 49 in the town of Masjtertoii' are ■placed) 'artd'l am' ! induced : ; '• ;>; : .. tojdp so from the kuowu desire you display, to become acquainted With all matters connected with'your 'doparfmeVt. O.jjoir will! sob the difficulty, in whioh Tarn ■ placed by the wanfof'jn'foriijiiiibn'-which prevails on riak/of , being diffuse*, I must ask'yhif" attentirtn' and adviceV; Uh'dorstandirig tjjat an ,appl|. cation hasibeeni'iha'de to '"!'.;■,; to place l section (42): under; tioni of the; Trustees of,-the Masterton " ' x ' Towii Lands, I feel'it'm'yyluly to [warn, D the Government that the acre in question '' * ■•••" is held by Mr Car'lenn^fustby.aCrown Grant Bpecially7 ( pr'epared/.by.Sir;>%l[qx,. r* .when prownJjands Commissioner, on the' ' application of Mr "Jackson,, of S,f'pne»tea'd; ;!, ' ! ' ! '^. Mr Carter, and myself,'on'W 'about the y'e'arjlßß7-8, in. consequence of a previous Crown Grant haying been prepared.'conveyihjj these 'lands id ; foQ:simple toithe late Mr W. Allen, at ihat time the CJhairirianjof the Wairarapa Small Faritv.Cqmuiiltee, Bgainst;' theijiaaue.: a caveAt was lodged byMessrs Carter son, and myself; as joint owners;, with' the late Mr Masters, j after whom tKel town y waa,named. Upon"' the lodetoeh| caveat, Mr Allen withdrew, kfeepihg Jpossession of all our; books,' maps,'mptieys, and Ipapers, thus-; entailing, Mr. Carter, who undertook the duty if preparing and delivering' to some 'one hundred !and sixty persons who had purchased fromjus town apreß iti; (Jrey to wn anrjMas., tertop their respective -conveyanceslirltti-' out fee or Wwapol;'khd-:• aB/fTe'^hihiself" lately statedata'publio meeting, terton, without:evea-"I thank you/" • is difficult to,condense the information ph this'liiatier i» s th'6 compass*oif. v a' '^< Vr letter, but I must endeavor toNio' !'? >-.; ! Before Sir, George Grey,- left the colony,,, atthe expiration of ! hiß' firaiGdvernoi*-! J '• - ,;; ship,! he set, aside,-some forty..thousaud, .j ~> acresiofland in this distrfpt : ,;.ah(i jiistriio-•' * ''■•"'' ted the Lands Commissioner, the present ;Sir Francis Dillon Bellf tojallow it to be sold,[and. flisppsed,of'.undpr V«ch rides, and 0, R;. Career,, E: Jaokson,, and myself,, '« w should dbtermine; 'oh, andf the'lCom-ifi?*' •miwioner aoprovs; j\;• .Thisj. ; coijgessipn L-was, ifr/>ny,,pur,; I having,., I , i -x I been j excluded from the. rarge,amount t .. \ of .compensation granted'by the '" ;i . .Zflalahd Company, to reimburse -the set*). <)"> tiers 'for their losses and sufferings' aui-' l ■ tamed through the Native .disturbance $ ] 'the Btu't't in ! tho yeafa 1846-7:' The sation granted by the New Zealand Company; was apportioned to the purchasers ; of ? the Company's /lahd'ofily, to-the" ! 'ex-? elusion of. the ksettlers wbej..;had AotHv;,nii 'all and suffered sq severely from the war. : Mr Alletflvydi appointed Mrloliaiirr mati.j The approval < of the Commjlsoneriof Lands wag required to validate ■ our wles and regulations. This approval ahdvth'e iregtila'tio'n§;4B6j)ted!l&H.,: Wheq ; thißj qbjajrjfidiM vjta j{™i WJs®sM?oatiii hdndfod. acres,f land^jß&lpaic*, thj "WOL-i,;.-," iOi,.one hundred pounds sterling for the samefThe-pW&ta These2oo aores form the Bites of the toitts- ,;^;; : iqfeMastertbnjfnQ Greyf'owhi Having put; : h :'■ £ ohaaed a suneyor,./'..'--of.the Hatt, m&m,wte,

W m ' onl he prnsent townships, dot Jn g of ode hundred town acrealn'oad S#»» action undw,tert»i hue of 40 acres of suburban, and 10 S?f|»ft&haa.beenc6mp)etdc wemade amplication to-the Commissione 2?jll Jan* ifttp 4Q«cr „ " a " th 9 swveyind. must be done at ou five per cent, i: - nlm* us for our_outlaj tiMrFfflp;? 0 * {ound '•w'fi >« [Wwim difficulties, very short n money, and what was.'as-bad, or worse oe ! n f P»inful journeys on foot, oyer the Rimu uuta-journeys, airrthar you'can we] li yourown;<e^efeiice,JiriTdinter'buryar' the tiwftjlotaa. hy ! Sir;George .GreyVti dispose-of. the Jarids placed, under, oiir.con trol,wewire'»(ill in asolvent condition having some fifty unsold town acres During-thisr^peftddl'should- state tha twenty;, been ,'adde<i : to thi town\W.a the': .'laie,\' Dr • Feaiherston . ■ our personal ex were to be liquidated.; but unfortuiwtely.byvthj* tiu)e;a]),the;;best acfei nad been selected, arid we found ours'elvei flithjan unsaleableestate, no, lUely to realise any,cash for some years to wine. After a'few years'had passed, the first to the l<'e Mr 0. Dixon of Master ton, who paid the first, year's rent on a town acre in Masterton, the,.amount being two'-shillirigs4nd sixpence,'Mi Carter arid'show. mg it to me with;.the'retaark' '.thatoui long-hoped for. expenses ,had< began- to a* rive, arid thaVtim'e Would yet reimburse Us for however; were vain; for' although' the! district is settled,,; *p;have : received;no money.' A long.time.isince,' and when we were comparatively poor men,.we agreed to give the unsold seclious as endowments to the two towns; (with, all:emoluments" that should accrue from them) we hadwiththe valued and ever' be• i'eriiembe'red lirj'erality of Sir George Grey, founded. 'Daily toil and patient industry in our adopted land have rendered each of us survivors independent'men", and'jve have acres sufficient and some tq aptfre if; we had two more such "townships >p found. Out of the number of the .unaojd\> sections three v flcresalone, are .left'asabove-mentioned Nos. 105 and-ill were; originally sold but never clafmed. nnr were the conditions »f purchase complied jri hj- while section 42 was omitted trora the -Act of 1879 dealing with, those unßold lands'. When this Bill was before r the; Leglialatur'e I had . frequenUdCMion'towaitori the AttorneyGeneral, Mr Sjewell, who had ; ohare;e of the measure'; 1 and'had great (rouble in shewing and convincing him that we had a oleiir title to the proporty.and the £460 which had accrued in the shape of rents and placed" to the credit of Mr Carter as our trustee in .'the Bank, was our own money, but he after' being made conversant with these, details, was fully satisfied that the terra; Association used in the Crown Qrmt, although liable to a misconstruction in its use, extended only to the Committed,-'of the five persons who purchased'the:land from the Government. The,sum of L 460 before mentioned, waff'divided between the two townsm'ps, each receiving ,tho amount raised within it. The unsold Town Acres with the exception oftho three specified Nos, 106, 111 and 42, were bestowed by lan at our.desiro and instigation; as endowments ,upon the towns, Thus every condition and stipulation on our part was more than fully carried out. The rules and regulations under which the whole of thelfiind was sold ynu will find, in' the Wellington Lands Office. In writing this memo, or statement, I am fulfilling a long-neglected promise, as Mr Sewell complained that when dealing with these reserves the Government could obtain no information for its guidance. Hence the bills previously passed had proved useless. I am unable to give any information as to the nature of the application made to the Government before alluded to, as advanj tage was taken of my absence to iriduci the Government to interfere with land sold and Crown granted to.us many years ago. You will see that no suoh reques pould have proceeded from the trurteo, M Carter. When a previous attempt wa made to interfere with these lands th present 'Crown Lands' Commissioner, M Holdsworth, warned the'parties so at tomptihg 'that'niiy interference in an Way would ho .iilegtl ; ''; !■' ' ! ; V I hope this narration, ofevents may pefql in settling the question, of the e ghangp of :{I)6 scjiqal sijes-w l)jc|i fpfip pa of the lands We gave the' town of MasteJ ton by the. Act of'187I;:anel in' restfaihin| the Government from adopting any coursi of action hot irioohforniity with'theJiisticsr of the:caw.' It is the;more','lmperative that I ihrfbld draw'Jo'ur; attention to this matter,.'.because Tbmmised ; Mr. 0. R. Oarter.ihat no action should: be. taken; by any party '.'during; his absence from the. colony .that should.-prejudice- his trust without myitakihg all and every means at my disposal; to restrain them from so doing.;':;'; -;'■ .'•.j l ..-•'.'"' "< ■■■■"■:' ;• 'l'havethehbiiorjAc. 1 , ..'. '!.. ''■'.?'" '•';■' ' i ";i' ; A v .'W.'BENAn,. i TheHon.W.'Wleston.