COMMISSIONERS' REPORTS

C—No. 1

56

The settlers of Whangarei are of a highly respectable class; and already thriving, though it is only within the last few years that they have established themselves there. At Waipu, about twelve miles from the South head of Whangarei, a body of emigrants from Cape Breton, North America, have formed a settlement, and, in the short space of twelve or fifteen months, have converted the primitive wastes and forests into comfortable homes and farmsteads; without any other aid than that of the axe and hoe, they have cleared and brought under cultivation much more than sufficient land to raise crops for their own subsistence; and, from their hardihood and previous skill in contending with the heavy forest, and capricious climate of North America, there is every reason to expect that in a country like New Zealand, which they regard as comparative paradise, they will eontribute greatly to the material advancement of this Province. Thousands of their countrymen would follow these first pioneers from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and other parts of British North America, if inducements are held out to them to do so. These inducements need not be of any extravagant character; all that they ask is that we should give them land in localities suited to their requirements; allowing them the usual privilege to which other immigrants are entitled, by way of remission in land for their passage money; and a credit for the five or seven years such additional quantity as it may be advisable to assign to thein under a preemptive right of purchase. By these means, the Government would insure a steady flow of immigration to the Province, of well trained, hardy, and experienced bushmen and sailors, whose loyalty and devotion to British authority, joined with their clanish spirit and unanimity of action, would be found most important el; ments in the formation, and early settlement, of a new country situated like New Zealand. Such colonists moreover, derive a peculiar yalue from the manner in which they transplant themselves to these shores, bringing along with them their religious and educational establishments, already in operation ; no chance collection of men, but an active and organized community, possessing many of the characteristics of the early pioneers of colonization in North America. Nor ought this opportunity to be overlooked by either the General or Provincial Governments, lest the stream should be diverted to other colonies, the Cape of Good Hope for instance, which is fully sensible of its value, while a liberal administration of the waste lands, valueless and unproductive without capital and labor, might secure for New Zealand a population which would so materially contribute towards the wealth, the stability, and progress, not only of any one province in particular, but also of the Colony at large. A glance at the map of the Northern Peninsula of New Zealand, will shew vour Excellency the peculiar advantages which it presents for English colonization. In addition to the main harbours of the Eastern Coast, Auckland, Whangarei, the Bay of Islands, and Whangaroa, likely to be so important in case of the establishment of the Panama line of steamers, are numerous well sheltered coves and smaller anchorages, while the Kaipara, and Hokianga, on the Western side, if more dangerous, from the bars across their mouths, and the stormy character of the coast upon which they open, yet lead up into navigable streams, which must form a hardy and skilful race of seamen, invaluable to our insular position in the Southern hemisphere. Means should now be adopted to resuscitate and promote upon a permanent basis the colonization of this portion of the Northern Island, so materially valuable, and historically so interesting, as the seat of the earliest European settlement of New Zealand. To effect this, it will be necessary to adopt liberal and comprehensive measures, contemporaneously with the extinction of the Native title to the extensive districts of waste land that as yet remain unpurchased in this peninsula. The first step which I would recommend, would be the resumption by the Crown, of all the lands which have been already alienated by the Natives to different individuals, and which have been subsequently exchanged by those individuals for Government scrip. There should be no delay in taking possession of these lands, while some of the other Natives who sold them are yet alive, and cau point out to a surveyor their locality and limits. From what I have observed among the Northern tribes, they are most anxious that this should be done; and they are almost all of them particularly honorable in pointing out the exact boundaries of what they have sold. Two intelligent surveyors and parties acting in concert with the Land Purchase Commissioners, could in twelve months determine with sufficient accuracy, the extent of those lands, which should be declared open for sale and selection, whenever the boundaries are defined. The next step, and one which is now in successful progress, is to acquire larger tracts of land by purchase from the Natives ; out of which blocks, ranging in extent from one hundred to two thousand acres, should be reconveyed under Croevn Grant to the principal Chiefs, upon the extinction of the tribal title ; such blocks consisting not only of cultivable, but also of forest land, in order to secure to them a continued revenue, proportionable to their rank. In order to do away with present, or future dissatisfaction, on the part of the Native sellers at the price they received for their lands, as compared with the value it acquires when in the hands of Government—unable, as yet, to comprehend the reasons that influence comparative values—it would be most desirable to expend a certain definite proportion (and that no inconsiderable one,) of the moneys realized by the waste land sales on roads and other improvements, exclusively within those districts from which they have accrued, and from time to time to publish the balance sheets of such expenditure in the " Maori Messenger " No correct return of Native population of this Northern peninsula has yet been taken ; this should be done without delay, and the territorial limits of the four leading tribes, the Aupouri. the Rarawa, the Ngapuhi, and the Ngatiwhatua, should be ascertained, and, as nearly as possible, defined. Estimating the present population at eight thousand souls, it would not be difficult to ascertain the names of the principal Chiefs whose co-operation would be essential for carrying out the views of Government, and who should, in return for their exertions (when efficiently rendered,) to preserve the peace of their respective districts, be rewarded with marks of approbation, aud fixed annuities for their services.