17

I.—B

and the Seal of the Colony, as authorized by "The Taranaki New Zealand Company's Land Claims Act, 1872," I have the honor to state that as I have not yet been favoured with a reply to the above-named letter, and as the time limited and specified by the Act above named will shortly expire, I have to request that the Government will be so good as to inform me what their intentions are on this matter. I may say that I have looked over the Estimates, but do not see any sum placed there to meet Mr. Hamilton's award. I therefore trust that the Grovernment will be pleased to authorize land to be selected to the amount of the award, or that the sum named by the Commissioner be placed on the Supplementary Estimates. , Before closing this letter, I think it right to state that it is now nearly thirty-four years since the New Zealand Company received the purchase money for the land for which the award herein referred to was made. I have, &c, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. Feed. A. Caeeington. The Hon. the Colonial Seceetaet to His Honor P. A. Caeeington. Sic, — Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 17th August, 1874. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 6th instant, referring to your Honor's former communication of the 6th February, in reply to mine of the 4th of that month, upon the subject of certain blocks of land which have been purchased by the Government under the provisions of" The Immigration and Public "Works Act, 1873," and the award made by Mr. Hamilton, as Commissioner under "The Taranaki New Zealand Company's Land Claims Act, 1872." As your Honor informs me that you have not yet received a reply to your letter of the 6th Pebruary, I enclose the copy of a letter addressed to you by Mr. Eeynolds, in my absence, on the 6th of March last; and I would invite your Honor's attention to the paragraph in th^it letter which I have marked with a red-ink line, and which points out to your Honor that the means by which the Commissioner's awards should be satisfied have already been settled by law. I have, &c, His Honor the Superintendent of Taranaki. Daniel Pollen. His Honor P. A. Caeeington to the Hon. the Colonial Seceetaet. Ln re Downe's Waitara Land, and the Award made by Mr. Hamilton, the Commissioner. Sic,— ' Wellington, 21st August, 1874. Referring to my letter of the sth February, 1874, and its enclosures, I have the honor to request that, in conformity with "The Taranaki JSiew Zealand Company's Land Claims Act, 1572," His Excellency the Governor be asked to issue a land order, in the form set forth in the Schedule of the above-named Act, authorizing me, Frederic Alonzo Carrington, of New Plymouth, in the Province of Taranaki, the attorney and agent of Gerald Surman, Charles William Matthews, and William Egerton Hubbard, trustees of the above-named estate, to purchase land for them, on the terms stated in the said Act, to the amount stated in the report by Mr. Hamilton, the Commissioner, a printed copy of which was forwarded to me, Frederic Alonzo Carrington, "the Superintendent of Taranaki," together with the Hon. the Colonial Secretary's letter of the 23rd August, 1873, No. 229. Tiie sum total of the award made by the Commissioner, Mr. Hamilton, in Downe's estate, is £9,275, the particulars of which are set forth iv the said report, and shown in my letter of the sth February, 1874, above referred to. I have, &c, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. Peed. A. Caeeington. P.S. —Also wrote same day, for Sartoris, a like-worded letter, to Colonial Secretary. —21st August, 1874. « F. A. C. His Honor F. A. Caeeington to the Hon. the Colonial Seceetaet. Re Sartoris and Downe's Waitara Land, and the Award made by Mr. Hamilton, the Commissioner appointed under an Act ofthe Legislature and the hand of His Excellency the Governor in Council and the Seal of the Colony. The Report is dated 2£th March, 1873. Sic, — New Plymouth, 17th Pebruary, 1875. , I beg leave to call your attention to my letters of the 21st August, 1874, and the letters therein referred to, which I did myself the honor of addressing to you for the purpose of obtaining the land orders authorized to be issued under " The Taranaki New Zealand Company's Land Claims Act, 1872," for the purpose of enabling me to select land for E. J. Sartoris, Esq., and the trustees of the estate of the late Edwin Henry Downe. As I have not yet obtained these said land orders, or received any reply to my two letters of the 21st August, 1874, I think it right to remind the Government that the Act above referred to requires that the land in question be selected within two years after the award be made. The award was made on the 24th March, 1873, therefore the time appointed by law will expire in about five weeks from this date ; and, as I have done all in my power, and used my best endeavours to obtain the land orders, which 1 now again ask for, and without which I cannot select the land awarded, is it not advisable that the Government should take some immediate step to satisfy or maintain the award which has been made, and thereby obviate the difficulties that may arise by the resumption of 3—l. 8.