1842 - Martin, S. M. D. New Zealand in 1842 - [Text] p 3-32

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Auckland, New Zealand, 19th September, 1842.

MY LORD,

I had the honor, a short time ago, of forwarding to Your Lordship, complaints of the malappropriation of the Revenue of this Colony in the case of Mr. Robert Appleyard Fitzgerald, and the two Commis-missioners appointed under Sir George Gipps' Act for the investigation of Claims to Land in New Zealand, viz. -- Captain Richmond and Colonel Godfrey. --In one of these communications I took the liberty of adverting in general terms to the profligate and injudicious expenditure of the Government of New Zealand, which has cost England and this Colony upwards of One Hundred and Twenty Thousand Pounds during the last two years, a sum of money under any circumstances infinitely greater than the wants of the country require, or the means of the Colonists can afford. I am well aware that the establishment of a New Government is necessarily attended with considerable expense in the first year of its formation, but the Government of this Colony has not only been attended in its first formation with an expense fearfully disproportionate to the nature of the undertaking, but has also been increased in each succeeding year, in a ratio still less proportionate to the growth and progress of the Colony, without conferring the slightest benefit upon the settlement, as none of the money expended has been devoted to local improvements, such as the formation of Roads and Bridges, or the erection of substantial Public Offices;

As the profligate expenditure of the New Zealand Government must now of necessity become known to Your Lordship from the fact of their having lately been compelled to draw Bills upon the Home Government, to enable them to procure the means of paying their own salaries, perhaps I may be permitted respectfully to submit to Your Lordship some of the causes which have tended to create this inordinate expenditure. --I have resided in New Zealand both before and since the establishment of British Authority, and have been resident in Sydney, while preparations were being made for Capt. Hobson's mission to this country, and can therefore speak from personal observation of all the acts of the New South Wales and New

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Zealand Governments in this matter, and after narrowly watching the progress of the Government of this Colony from the arrival of Captain Hobson to the present moment, I feel persuaded that the following circumstances will be found sufficient to account for the comparative failure of the Colony, and the present humiliating embarrassment of the Officers administering the Government.

The origin of nearly all the evil which has befallen this Colony, has in a great measure arisen from the ignorance of Sir George Gipps and the Government of New South Wales as to the nature of this country, both in respect of climate and soil; but more especially of the character of the inhabitants--New South Wales with even which Sir George Gipps was at that time imperfectly acquainted, was made the Prototype of all the Institutions of this country, as well as of all the local arragements and minor details of the Government. The Government of this Colony was in point of fact nothing more nor less than a miniature of which, New South Wales was the portrait, or rather the original itself. It will not therefore appear surprising, that an attempt to govern a new and free Colony by the Penal Code of New South Wales, should have terminated in so short a period in the ruin of the Colony, and the disgrace and confusion of the officers administering the Government, who after spending all the available means of the settlers, have been compelled to have recourse to every sort of expedient to raise money, and ultimately to insult the Honor of the British Government itself by offering to the Public their own personal guarantee, to the amount of twenty thousand pounds for the repayment of Bills drawn on the Home Government, in the event of their being returned from England dishonoured, the Sydney Banks having already refused to cash them under an apprehension that any effort made to support so extravagant an expenditure as that of the New Zealand Government, would be discountenanced at Home.

It will doubtless be remembered by your Lordship, that a Government had been formed at Port Essington, on the coast of New Holland, shortly before the arrival of Captain Hobson in New South Wales, and that the necessary supplies for the establishment of that settlement, were furnished by the Government of New South Wales. New South Wales, and Port Essington in particular, are as different from New Zealand in every respect, as any two countries can possibly be; the one possessing a dry air and climate, with a soil adapted for pastoral pursuits alone, and affording every facility for land carriage, by means of its extensive and numerous plains, while the other is characterized by a humidity of atmosphere, and by a soil solely and peculiarly adapted for agriculture, though the abundance and extent of the forests, the extremely luxuriant and rank vegetation, the number and depth of its rivers, together with the existence of steep and elevated mountains on many parts of the coast, preclude almost every species of communication, excepting by water. Yet, notwithstanding this great dissimilarity in the nature of the two countries, the very same amount, and list of supplies which had been furnished to the Government of Port Essington, were item for item provided for the use of New Zealand. Horses, carts, drays, and harness of every de-

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scription, were at great expense shipped from Sydney, and landed at Russel in the Bay of Islands, where, from the peculiarly rugged, and precipitous nature of that place, wheel carriages, and even horses could never be used. Such was the ignorance of the Government in this respect, that a company of Mounted Police were deemed indispensible to the retinue of the Governor of New Zealand, although it was discovered on their arrival at Russel, that they could not find as much dry or level land as would enable them even to keep their horses in exercise. The very idea of furnishing such a country as this, with a body of Mounted Police, would appear so supremely ridiculous to any person acquainted with the nature of the place, and the character of the people, as to compel him to refuse credence to the fact. But so well pleased was Sir George Gipps with this establishment, which he himself had been the happy means of recently founding for the purpose of capturing runaway convicts beyond the limits of location in New South Wales, that reasoning from the fact of New Zealand not being included in the nineteen counties which constitute the settled part of New South Wales, he deemed it not only expedient, but wise, to give the Inhabitants of this Colony the benefit of so efficient a corps as the Mounted Police.

If Sir George Gipps committed a mistake in thus furnishing New Zealand, at so great an expense, with supplies altogether unadapted for the country, he erred in a still greater degree, in the number of appointments and the selection of Government officers.

The establishment of a Government in New Zealand happened at a very opportune time for Sir George Gipps, as it afforded him the means of decently getting rid of a number of useless, if not obnoxious persons connected with his own Government, by creating places for them under the New Zealand Government, and handing them over to Captain Hobson as powerful auxiliaries in the work ia which he was about to be engaged; and in order to effect this laudable purpose, it was deemed expedient even before Her Majesty had either obtained the cession of sovereignty, the right of pre-emption, or the possession of an inch of land in New Zealand, to send to this Colony officers to represent every department in New South Wales, together with the usual number of assistants and clerks, A Colonial Secretary, a Treasurer, a Collector of Customs, a Surveyor-General, three Commissioners of Land Claims, Harbour Masters, Protectors of Aborigines, and an extensive body of Stipendiary Magistrates and Police, were forthwith transported to New Zealand, to the great embarrassment of Captain Hobson, who, on his arrival in the Colony, discovered that it was a much more difficult undertaking to govern the parties who accompanied himself, than either the natives or the original settlers. So arduous and perplexing was the task of providing occupation for these officers, that vessels were chartered expressly for the purpose of removing them in rotation from the seat of Government, though apparently under the pretext of discovering a suitable site for the future Capital. As an instance of the manner in which the officers of the New Zealand Government employed themselves in these days, I would mention the fact, that they were twice dispatched in the Govern-

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ment brig from the Bay of Islands to the East Cape, for the purpose of removing the bones of a Native Chief, named Pomari, who had been many years before then killed in war, by the natives of the Thames. This species of employment might have been, in itself, harmless, but for the salaries paid to the officers themselves, as well as the expenses of the various establishments required for carrying on such occupations.

Upwards of eighteen months had been spent in this manner, before fixing upon a site for the projected capital, or purchasing any lands from the Natives for the purpose of locating the immmigrants who had by this time, in numbers, arrived in the Colony, many of whom were compelled to re-immigrate, from the delay and uncertainty of the Government measures. Yet, notwithstanding this, or the imprudence of appointing so many useless offices, and the great expenses created under the New South Wales Government, matters might have still been prevented from terminating in such confusion and ruin as they have done unhappily of late, had the Officers administering this Government exercised any degree of discretion or judgment after the separation of the Colony from New South Wales. But instead of making any attempt to save, for the purpose of emigration or local improvements (by judiciously curtailing their expenses), some of the money which was now fast pouring into the Treasury from various sources, such as the sale of Crown Lands, fees and fines exacted from the original Settlers, together with the receipts from the Customs and other branches of the ordinary revenue, the Officers administering this Government were so ignorant of the principles of Political Economy, or the ordinary relation between cause and effect, that they imagined and acted on the belief that the more they spent the larger would the revenue become. Several new Officers instantly obtained appointments; and offices which in other Colonies are conducted by one individual, were divided and made separate, in accordance with a system of division and sub-division of labour purposely invented where nothing was expected to be done. As an instance of the practical application of this system, I need only refer to the appointment of a Registrar of the Supreme Court long before that Court was established, or even the Judge had left England. Unfortunately, however, for Mr. Fitzgerald, the individual appointed to this Office, the Judge, on his arrival in this Colony, was accompanied by a gentleman whom he deemed more competent to discharge the duties of the Office than the person preappointed, and consequently procured the election of his friend to the office. But the Ex-Registrar could not be forsaken by his party--who, in order to make provision for him--fell upon the happy expedient of dividing the labours of the office and appointed their favourite, --Registrar of Deeds, with the same salary as before and actually paid him the full amount of six months salary before the Ordinance for the Registration of Deeds was in force.

Independent of the money thus spent on Government officers and their favourites, a vast amount has also been absolutely sunk in the erection of temporary wooden buildings, as public offices, as well as in the improvement and decoration of a wooden building sent out from

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England for a Government House--on this house which originally cost Two Thousand Pounds--and which might have served every purpose intended, as regarded the comfort or convenience of the Governor of a New Colony, no less a sum than Fifteen or Twenty Thousand Pounds have been thrown away, while not even One Hundred Pounds have been, as yet, devoted to Local Improvements, in fact so little have the comfort or convenience of the Public been attended to that even the Streets of Auckland itself, where the people have expended so much money in the purchase of Allotments, were in such a state as to be utterly impassable during the whole winter, although ap outlay of One or Two Hundred Pounds would have been sufficient for their improvement. The Revenue of the Colony appears to be made subservient to one purpose only, that of being expended, --directly or indirectly, upon the Government Officials themselves or upon their Friends.

To be able, however, to form any thing like an accurate idea of the mischievous measures of the Government, or the mistakes and blunders committed by the Officers, it would be necessary to give an Historical Record of their proceedings from their arrival in the Colony to the present moment. Such a record, if faithfully drawn, would exhibit the most extraordinary combination of imbecility, ignorance, recklessness, political dishonesty and selfish cupidity, that has ever been manifested by any set of Public Men. Their conduct in every instance has been remarkable, not only for the profoundest ignorance, but for the utmost contempt of all the principles of general and Colonial policy, as well as of all the minor details of office; the good of the Colony, and the interests of the Public, were esteemed as nothing in comparison with the gratification of the ruling, and all-engrossing passion, --self-interest.

As an instance of this reckless, and impolitic spirit, it were only necessary to refer to the first act of the Government Officers, the purchase of three hundred acres of land from Mr. Clendon, at the Bay of Islands, for fifteen thousand pounds, the subsequent compromise made with Mr. Clendon for that sum of money, by giving him a grant of ten thousand acres of most valuable land, in the immediate vicinity of the Capital, as well as the appointment of Mr. Clendon shortly thereafter, to a seat in the Legislative Council, together with the foolish attempt of establishing a township on this land; a project, the impracticability of which alone, compelled them recently to abandon in favour of Kororarika, the old and established settlement at the Bay of Islands.

Towards the Aboriginal inhabitants of New Zealand, the conduct of the Government has been uniformly distinguished by the practice of faithlessness and deception, and the exercise of indecision, imbecility, and fear. The truth of the first part of this charge might easily be proved, not only by the expedients which they have had recourse to, in procuring the signatures of some of the Chiefs to the treaty for the cession of Sovereignty, but also from their more recent transactions with the Natives, in the purchase of land, as well as in the misappropriation of that portion of the Land Revenue of the Colony which ought to have been exclusively devoted to the instruction and moral improvement of the

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Aborigines. A grosser mockery of justice, or a more perfect imposition on the friends and well wishers of the native race, cannot be conceived than the fact of appointing one and the same individual to the office of Protector of Aborigines and Government Agent for the purchase of land from the Natives. The idea that the same person (even though he may have formerly acted as missionary) will at one and the same time make the best possible bargain for the Native as well as for the Government which pays his salary, would suppose the existence of a higher degree of impartiality and a more unerring sense of Justice than I venture to affirm, even Mr. Clarke himself, who has the honor to fill both situations, will pretend to lay claim to.

A wise Government would have made it a matter of paramount importance to secure the respect and confidence of the Native population by striving in every possible manner to convince them that no advantage would be taken of them on account of their comparative ignorance, inferiority or weakness, --that Justice would be dispensed to them with an even hand, and the same Laws administered to them as to the Europeans. --Sound policy would have also dictated the necessity of teaching them to respect and observe these laws by the certainty of their application whether for the purpose of maintaining and securing them in their just rights, or inflicting with unerring and impartial justice the punishment which such laws demanded, when infringed either by aggression on the part of natives against natives or Europeans; or of Europeans against natives or other Europeans. That the officers of this Government have lost sight of these principles in their intercourse with the natives is unhappily two well known to require much discussion to prove. The correspondence attached to this letter bears too unequivocal evidence of the injury inflicted on the natives of this Colony, by permitting them with impunity to commit every species of outrage, not only against one another but against Europeans also.

The officers of the Government will, I doubt not, attempt to justify themselves to Your Lordship, for not interfering or making any effort to prevent such fearful massacres as that which has recently been perpetrated at Tauranga, on the plea that the military force in the Colony is too weak, together with the danger of losing the influence which they think their imaginary strength enables the Government to exercise over the natives, in the event of a defeat. Such at least were the arguments used in the case of a native named Maketu, who was a short time ago executed in Auckland on account of the murder of several Europeans at the Bay of Islands, until the inhabitants of that place convinced them of the groundless nature of their fears by capturing the murderer themselves without assistance from the Military or the Police. The true cause, however, of the disgraceful and temporizing conduct of the Government in this respect, will be found in a great measure to arise from a precedent which they have established in a case of robbery at Kaipara, and several other instances, of compromising crimes, on the payment of a penalty by the natives, in the shape of grants of land to the Government, for every outrage committed; as well as from the fact, that they dare not now quarrel with the natives, who would im-

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mediately insist upon the full payment of all the money promised to them for land purchased by the Government--a debt which the natives too well know and feel the Government is not in a condition to liquidate. So often and so much has the good faith or credulity of the natives been imposed upon by the Government, in obtaining possession of various tracts of land on the payment of a small instalment at first, or the promise of a further payment, which has never been made, that, on account of such frequent disappointments on the part of the Government, the Natives have now lost nearly all respect for Europeans, and place little confidence in the integrity of their word or promise. Even the Missionaries themselves have become the objects of their displeasure, because they think and say they have misled them in advising them to sign the Treaty of Cession, which they believe to he the origin of all their misery. So strong is this feeling, that in the event of any serious outbreak, they conceal not that the Missionaries would be the first objects of their vengeance.

The next subject to which I would take the liberty of directing your Lordship's attention is intimately connected with the last, and affords the clearest possible illustration of the incompetency, perfidy, and fatal recklessness of the Government Officers. I refer to that unfortunate and much injured class of people who now bear the name of Land Claimants, in the country which they themselves have founded, and over whose destinies they are still likely to exercise the deepest influence.

The case of the Original Settlers of New Zealand has never been fairly represented or properly understood at home. The benefits they have conferred on society in general, and on the Natives of New Zealand in particular, by risking their lives and properties in extending the boundaries of civilization, have either been entirely overlooked and underrated, or concealed by means of the unfair reports of interested persons, and the most exaggerated and false statements of the immorality and misconduct of a few among them. The Records of the Supreme and other Courts since their establishment in the Colony would, however, tend much to remove such ill-founded prejudices by disclosing the most extraordinary fact that none of the Old Settlers have ever appeared in any of the Criminal cases, and very few, comparatively speaking, in any Civil actions before the Courts. At the last Sittings of the Supreme Court in Auckland there was not a single criminal case for trial, and at Kororareka in the Bay of Islands--so notorious for wickedness (in report at least), there were only two cases civil or criminal, and even these two were dismissed.

But if the moral character of the first Settlers has been thus grossly misrepresented, and their reputation so undeservedly injured with the public, their properties have been still more grievously attacked and destroyed by the Officers of this Government, who have been treacherous from the commencement, and faithless throughout, to every promise they made to the Settlers, without whose co operation and assistance they could never have succeeded in establishing any form of Government, or even in obtaining a footing of any kind among the

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Natives of New Zealand. Had Sir George Gipps and the Government, of New South Wales followed out the instructions of the Marquis of Normanby, and the pledge of Captain Hobson himself, that the Lands and Properties of the Settlers of New Zealand would be respected, and all their rights held to them inviolate, the Home Government would not be called upon, as it is now, to advance money for the support, if not for the preservation of the existence of the Government of this Colony, neither would such frequent demands be made upon your Lordship's time for the redress of greivances, or the alleviation of the miseries and sufferings of the Settlers. Had Captain Hobson, instead of throwing discredit on the Titles of the First Settlers, and attempting to found a new Colony on the ruins of the old, but contented himself with the state of things as he found them, and acted in accordance with his first pledge of confirming the settlers in their justly bought lands, New Zealand would have been at the present moment one of the most flourishing Colonies belonging to the Crown of England, On his arrival here, he found all the elements of prosperity, comfort and happiness in full and active operation. --But instead of cherishing and promoting industry and enterprise, the first act of his Government was to suspend them, until, by the impolicy of his succeeding measures, he could be enabled to destroy them altogether. In the accomplishment of this laudable purpose he was in the first instance powerfully assisted by the Governor and Council of New South Wales. Sir George Gipps, by a species of reasoning for which he is remarkable, easily prevailed upon his Council to pass a law, declaring all titles to land in New Zealand invalid. This Act was founded on two propositions, in the truth of which few honest men will be disposed to agree with His Excellency, the first of which is: that Savages, (meaning the Inhabitants of every newly discovered country,) according to some American writers on the Law of Nations, and more especially according to the humane custom of the Americans themselves, in regard to the natural inhabitants of their country, can have no right of property in the soil they occupy--or in the country where they are placed by Providence. --The second proposition was, that the Aboriginal inhabitants of New Zealand are savages, notwithstanding the fact of the Queen of England having obtained from them by Treaty the Cession of their acknowledged Sovereignty, the highest right that can be exercised by any man or body of men. The inference from these two propositions was plain, and easily arrived at, viz., that the Natives of New Zealand having thus been proved to be savages, having no right to, or interest in, the land they live on, all purchases made from them by the inhabitants of civilized countries of any of the minor rights, such as land, were illegal and invalid, and, consequently, belonged by right to the Crown of England. But with the view of keeping alive a certain amount of hope, and a lingering expectation in the minds of the Settlers, of being able to retain some portion of their properties, or rather with the intention of extorting some money from them, in the shape of fees and fines, it was graciously intimated that Her Majesty was pleased to grant to all fair purchasers of land, certain portions of the same, not to exceed in any instance two thousand five hundred and sixty acres, according to a certain scale of price and

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fees, and that three Commissioners would be appointed to examine all claims to land. This appointment, however, was the only part of the boon which has hitherto been conferred, these Commissioners are still receiving fees, fines, and salaries, although none of the Claimants have been put in possession of an inch of their lands.

Such, my Lord, is the unhappy logic by means of which the European inhabitants and Natives of New Zealand have been deprived of the rights of Englishmen and men; and by means of which, so many disasters have befallen the Settlers of this unfortunate country. The Ordinance of the Governor and Council of New South Wales, was re-enacted in this Colony, immediately after its separation from New South Wales. But Her Majesty having been pleased to intimate to his Excellency her disapproval of Sir George Gipps' Act, another meeting of the Legislative Council of this Colony was speedily called. A new Bill was submitted by his Excellency, differing in some measure from the former, which pretended to leave a portion of their lands to the Claimants. The object of the New Zealand Bill was to compel the settlers to surrender the whole of their lands to the Crown, and to take value for the amount that would be awarded by Sir George Gipps' Act, in certain allotments in the vicinity of Auckland, and two or three other townships. The design of the Government Officers in thus seeking to collect the population of the Colony around Auckland was naturally supposed by the Claimants not to be so much for their benefit, as with the view of enhancing the value of some town property lately acquired by the Government Officers; a subject, to which I will take the liberty of referring more particularly in another part of this letter. His Excellency was in the end, under the necessity of abandoning this measure, on account of the opposition of the non Official Members, as well as on account of a firm and fixed determination on the part of the settlers not to submit to it.

Another Bill was, however, substituted, and eventually passed. This Bill was by way of distinction called "The Bill of Revenge because the Attorney General and the Colonial Secretary, the framers and projectors of both Bills, threatened the day the last Bill was thrown out, that the settlers would have cause to regret their opposition, as the next Bill would be infinitely worse for them than the first. Mr. Earp, (the only independent member of Council at that time,) strenuously and honestly opposed both measures, and entered a protest against the last Bill, on account of which, and because of the confidence placed in him by the Public, the members of Council persuaded his Excellency to deprive him of his seat in the Legislative Council, which was done forthwith, notwithstanding the disapprobation of the Public of such an extraordinary and unheard of act, and the well known circumstance that the other two non-official members were peculiarly bound to, and attached to the Government, and otherwise from education and pursuits in life, most unlikely to uphold the interests of the Colonists or to appreciate Public Measures, such as must now come before them in their new and unexpected situation, as Members of a Legislative Council.

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After submitting to three years suspense and anxiety in this fearful Court of Chancery, the Land Claimants have still as little prospect as ever, of obtaining any thing like a favorable or equitable settlement of this question, Mr. Spain the Commissioner appointed by Her Majesty to investigate their Claims has been by this act purposely superseded, and the two Commissioners of Sir George Gipps again sent among the Land Claimants to exact more fines and fees, and although it was intimated a short time ago that they had condescended on making some reports on certain of the Claims submitted to them, in accordance with the last Bill passed in this Colony, it appears however that none of these Claims can be given out until Her Majesty's pleasure is again made known to her servants in this Colony, as it is reported that a despatch has been recently received from Your Lordship conveying the intelligence of Her Majesty's approval of the former Bill, founded on Sir George Gipps' Act. So that it is evidently the fate of the Land Claimants to be kept for ever going the round of this Maze of inter-colonial Policy, or to forsake their hard earned properties, leave the country in despair and disgust, and bear the disgrace of being looked upon in the light of swindlers, who have made their escape to avoid their paying just and lawful debts, which the crooked policy, the vexatious delays and the iniquitous measures of the local Government have prevented them from honestly settling.

Having behaved so harshly to the old settlers, it might have been almost naturally expected that the officers of the New Zealand Government would have made some effort to conciliate the recently arrived immigrants who followed in their own wake, and to make room for whom it might have been pretended they were induced to sacrifice the old settlers. Prudence would have suggested such a course to any other set of men however avaricious they might be; but prudence never formed an element in the constitution of the New Zealand Government. In this instance the officers manifested to a higher extent than ever, the usual indications of incompetency and recklessness together with a more undisguised design to make every thing in which they engaged subservient to their own interest. While they harrassed and annoyed the immigrants, by loitering away their time at the Bay of Islands in the enjoyment of the childish occupation, to which I have alluded in the first part of this letter, they never for a moment took into consideration, the condition of the hundreds who were impatiently and uncomfortably waiting till they had finished their amusements, in the hope that they would purchase lands from the natives, with the view of reselling to the immigrants. The case of the immigrants was peculiarly distressing. After expending a great amount of money in coming to New Zealand, they discovered on their arrival that they were not only prohibited from buying lands from the natives of the country, but also from the European settlers whose titles were at this time declared to be invalid. They were moreover unable to procure lands from the Government in as much as the Government had none to sell, having not only neglected to make timely purchases from the natives, but having also the Surveyor-General and his staff travelling over the length and breadth of the country, seeking in every unlikely place, a site for the projected capital,

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as if this had been the most important object of their mission, and for the accomplishment of which the comfort of the poor immmigrant was a thing of minor consideration. The immigrants had in this manner no alternative but either to abandon the Colony, or to content themselves with living in their tents, until it should suit the convenience or caprice of their Rulers (who spent their time comfortably at Russell) to take compassion upon them, by selling to them such lands as they might deem proper for the purpose of enabling them to erect houses to live in. After a delay of eighteen months an opportunity was at last given to the poor immigrants of spending their money on the Auckland Town Allotments, in the purchase of which they had powerful competitors in the Government officers themselves, whose successful speculations in land jobbing have been so frequently and so justly, made matter of complaint to the Home Government, and ultimately disapproved of by Your Lordship to the infinite joy and satisfaction of all the settlers in the Colony, who from this fact are led to hope that they are not altogether forsaken or abandoned to the men who now rule over them, and to entertain with confidence the belief that their grievances only require to be made known at the Home, in order to be redressed. That you may not be induced through the representations of the Government officers to continue to them the possession of Lands, which they have obtained at such a sacrifice of the best interests of the Colony and in so disreputable a manner, I will endeavour as briefly as possible to lay before Your Lordship a correct statement of this shameful transaction.

The Auckland Official Land-jobbing which has grown to be such a monstrous evil in this Colony, derives its origin, like many other similar abuses, from a very small beginning. A few of the Government officers, on or before their arrival in New Zealand, suggested to Sir George Gipps, the propriety of allowing them to select a small portion of land for each officer to erect a house upon, urging as a reason the probable delay that must occur, before the Government could be prepared to purchase land and to sell allotments, and the great inconvenience of living in tents with their families. The arguments appeared so reasonable, that the indulgence was at once granted, care being taken (as Sir George Gipps imagined) that this indulgence should not be abused, by limiting the selections, both as to quantity, and by the rank of the Officers obtaining them, as well as by other very precise and stringent regulations. No better proof of the mistaken kindness of Sir George Gipps, or of the intention of the Government Officers can be given, than the fact, that none of them availed themselves of the right of selection, until the town of Auckland was surveyed, and not more than a week or two before the first Land Sale took place, and, some of them even later. The best possible situations were, however, timeously made choice of; the whole of one bay, containing the best water frontages in Auckland, was selected by all the Officers, with the exception of the Colonial Secretary, who made choice of the largest allotment in Commercial Bay, the only water frontage offered for sale to the public; to this allotment, which commanded the deepest water of any allotment in the place, the half of another reserved allotment was added. Care was also taken

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that so few allotments should be offered for sale to the public, as must of necessity create, not only great competition, but also lead to a re-sale of several of these allotments, by cutting them up in pieces small enough to suit the means of those who could not afford to purchase entire allotments. The result was precisely what they expected, the Government allotments sold exceedingly high, but nevertheless, many of the parties who bought them realized large profits by a seasonable re-sale. Mr. Shortland, the Colonial Secretary, was the first of the Government Officers who turned his grant to good account, by availing himself of the favourable opportunity which presented itself for making money in this manner. Two or three months after the Government sale, he judiciously contrived to dispose of his selection, which originally cost about £300, for the sum of £1200, to a Mr. Porter, the owner and commander of a small trading vessel, who was immediately thereafter, transformed into a member of the Legislative Council of New Zealand.

The example of the Colonial Secretary was followed with various success by the other Government Officers, those of them who had neglected, to take their grants instantly made selections, and when it happened that their salaries were too small to make the grant, (which was proportionate) a matter of much advantage, two would unite the amount of their salaries, and make the selection in the name of one of the parties, by which means they should be entitled, according to the system, to a much larger quantity of land, than if each had separately applied. Such were the advantages arising from "the Auckland Official Land-jobbing Association," that every one of the Officers appointed by the Home Government, instantly on their arrival in the Colony, joined this profitable association--and selected. The Judge and the Attorney General commended the scheme greatly, judging by the fact of their having instantly fixed upon one of the most beautiful and picturesque bays in the harbour for their selections. By a reference to any of the published charts of the River Waitemata, on the south side of which Auckland is situated, your Lordship will perceive that the town itself includes two bays, and that three other bays are in its immediate vicinity. The first bay is called Commercial Bay, because the people were allowed to purchase some allotments here. --Some being reserved for Government purposes. --One being selected by the Colonial Secretary, and another by the Colonial Storekeeper. The second has received the appropriate name of Official Bay, from the fact of its being nearly altogether taken up by the selections of the Government Officers; besides, the residence of the Colonial Secretary, the following gentlemen have taken their selections, and erected houses in this valuable and beautiful bay, viz.: Mr. Mathew, late Surveyor General, now Chief Police Magistrate, Mr. Rough, Harbour Master, and Emigration Agent, Captain Mathew Richmond, one of the Commissioners of Land Claims, Mr. Fisher, late Attorney General, the late Captain Symonds, Mr. Coates, the High Sheriff, Dr. Johnson the Colonial Surgeon, and Mr. Spain the Chief Commissioner of Land Claims; the third Bay is still in the hands of the Government, and unsold; the fourth is called Cooper's Bay, from the fact

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that this gentleman, who is now Collector of Customs, has, together with Mr. Clarke the Protector of Aborigines, been fortunate enough in obtaining possession of the whole Bay, as Suburban Allotments, though according to Sir George Gipps' plan, no Suburban allotment could be taken up as selections, within two miles of the town--yet this Bay is not distant half-a-mile from Auckland, and will in a year or two form part of the town itself. Mr. Churton the Episcopal clergyman owns a small Selection in the same Bay. The fifth, or Iniquity Bay, some times called the Judge's Bay, is entirely in the hands of the Judge and Attorney-General, who have manifested more cupidity than modesty in appropriating to themselves the whole of this lovely Bay. The Postmaster-General and the Surveyor-General have made Suburban selections of inferior value, and by no means injurious to the public interests.

Independent of this profitable gambling in town allotments, the Government Officers rendered themselves highly obnoxious to the public by engaging in various branches of traffic. Some of them were engaged in brickmaking, some as pig and cattle dealers, and others took contracts from Government in the names of parties with whom it was well known they were privately in partnership, to prevent the public from having any chance of competing with them, and in order to secure to themselves any advantage that might arise from this source, as well as to keep the matter as quiet as possible, none of the Government Contracts were, until of late, publicly advertised for Tender.

This species of Land-jobbing has doubtless had great effect in impeding the progress of the Colony as well as in bringing about the present embarrassment of the Government itself; but the injudicious system, or rather the want of system in the disposal of Crown Lands, has been an equally fruitful source of mischief to the Colony, as well as a most general and reasonable cause of complaint on the part of the Settlers. Instead of adopting the system of selling Country Lands at a uniform price of One Pound per acre, in accordance with the instructions received from the Home Government, at the time of the separation of New Zealand from the Colony of New South Wales, and allowing parties to select lands in any part of the Country they choose to fix upon. The Government of this Colony put the instructions from home at defiance in this, as in many other instances, and adopted neither the uniform system, nor that of selling by auction at a low upset price, but invented a plan of their own, by which, however much money they may have at first succeeded in obtaining from the immigrants, they are now unable to realize a shilling. The last lands that were exposed to sale in accordance with this plan, were all withdrawn without a single offer, excepting two allotments which were bought by the Colonial Treasurer. Another absurdity in this system is the fact of allowing parties in England a right which will not be conceded to parties resident in this Colony, as will appear by the correspondence attached of this letter, wherein the Colonial Secretary acknowledges that he has granted to Mr. Appleyard, a recently arrived immigrant, an indulgence which he will not concede to parties resident in the Colony. A species of favoritism for which the Colonists can see no just reason; and

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a partiality, on account of which, many persons otherwise disposed to invest money in the purchase of lands in this Colony, have been induced to leave the country in disgust. Independent of this species of favoritism, other circumstances have tended much to prevent the purchase of Lands in New Zealand--such as the smallness of the Farms exposed to sale, as well as the fixed determination on the part of the Government to make choice of the worst lands in the Colony for disposal to the Settlers.

Such, my Lord, is a hurried and imperfect sketch of some of the public measures of this Government. It would have been an easy matter to extend these remarks, could the time of your Lordship, or the limits of a letter, admit of it. To swell the general list of grievances, innumerable instances of individual oppression and personal injustice sustained at the hands of the Officers of this Government, might conveniently be added, such as the suppression of a Newspaper at the Bay of Islands, and another at Auckland, merely because they expressed the opinions of the Public, and endeavoured to form a just estimate of the measures and conduct of the Government; but I feel that I have stated more than enough to convince your Lordship, that the Government of this Colony has been grossly conducted, --that the best interests of the Colony have been recklessly sacrificed, and the rights of the European and Aboriginal inhabitants rudely assailed. In short, that it would be impossible, judging by the acts of the Officers of this Government, to come to any other conclusion, than that a British Colonial Government, where the people have no voice, and the servants of the Government are removed beyond the influence of public opinion, and the control of their superiors must assume not only the appearance, but the reality of the purest despotism, where the very best institutions of our country are made to subserve the purpose of the petty Colonial tyrant, and even the Courts of Justice themselves, the pride and glory of our native land, are converted, in such a Colony as this, where their constitution is left in the hands of ignorant and irresponsible Rulers, into the most effectual, and the direst engines of oppression.

While much of the evil which has befallen this Colony, is justly attributable to the Local Government, it would be still unfair in any general account of grievances, to overlook the errors committed by the Home Government, or to withhold from them their just portion of the merit arising from the ruin of a flourishing country.

One of the first, and greatest mistakes committed by the Home Government, was the appointment of inexperienced men to the arduous undertaking of founding a new Colony. A despotic Government like that of the British Colonies, requires at all times wise and experienced men to render it tolerable to the persons who have been accustomed at home to exercise the rights and privileges of British subjects. But when such power falls into the hands of ignorant men, and sailors in particular, the people are made to feel that they have lost the mixed Government of their native land, which is absorbed in a tyranny exercised by the Colonial despot--the Governor, or it may be

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as in this country, in a hateful oligarchy, consisting of the Officers of Government they are also made to feel, that they are no longer subjects, but slaves having neither a voice in the formation of the laws that govern them, nor the slightest controul over the expenditure of the revenue raised from their own industry. It is at all times a much easier matter to govern an old Colony, than to found a new one. In an old Colony the machinery is already in full, and perfect operation, and experienced men, who understand, at least, the ordinary routine of business, are at the head of all the departments. The Governor of a new Colony, on the other hand, has every thing to perform himself, he has to study, not only the nature of the country, but also the character of the people he is expected to govern. In accordance with the peculiar circumstances of both ought his laws and institutions to be formed. Every act performed by the founder of a new Colony is, generally speaking, for permanent good or evil, if for the latter, it will take years to remedy the error, and to remove its effects. A greater mistake could never have been committed than to entrust the Government of such a country as New Zealand, to the officers and crew of a man-of-war, who, by profession and education, are peculiarly unfit for any civil charge, coming as they do, from a school where knowledge is scarce, and where the nature of the duty requires the exercise of tyranny, and the submission of the slave.

The want of any form of representative Government is another just cause of complaint against the Home Government, not only in this Colony, but in many others, the evil has been severely felt in such a community as this, where all the old settlers had in former days exercised the right of assisting in the formation of those simple, efficient, and equitable laws, by means of which order was preserved, and justice dispensed, and where the sufferings of the more recently arrived immigrants, were aggravated, by the fact that, in leaving their native land, they were deprived of all the natural rights of men, and had forfeited the political privileges of Englishmen, having no alternative, but submit in despondency and despair to every species of oppression, insult, and injustice, their Rulers choose to inflict.

It is a most extraordinary feature in the character of the British Government, that while the people of England itself are under the mildest possible laws, and enjoy the largest amount of liberty of any nation in the world, the Colonies of England, which are justly esteemed her pride and her strength, are subjected to a dominion more assimilated to that of Russia and Turkey, than anything else. In the Colonies, the genius of British liberty is no longer to be found. --Her mild sway is exchanged for the iron rod of the despot, and those who were her children in her native land, have become the subjects and the slaves of petty tyrants. The truth of this will be found in the history of every Colony, and felt in the experience of every Colonist; its effects have been the premature separation of the first American Colonies, the recent rebellion and bloodshed in Canada, the ruin of the present Settlers of New Zealand, the extravagant expen-

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diture of this Government, and the demand upon England for money to support it.

The treatment of the Aboriginal inhabitants of this country, is a subject for which politicians and writers on national laws may commend the wisdom and craft of the British Government; but the humane, the benevolent, and Christian man, cannot regard without sympathy and regret, the present dejected condition of this intelligent and spirited race of men, or contemplate without sorrow and shame, the more than probable fate which awaits them. The Home Government and the Directors of the New Zealand Company confidently promise and assure us, that History will record one exception in favour of New Zealand to the general and prevailing melancholy truth, that wherever civilized men have established themselves, their footsteps must be traced by the blood of the original inhabitants, and their success embittered by the recollection that it has been accomplished by the ruin, and attended by the complete destruction of the race which preceded them. But while I sincerely trust that this may be the case, I cannot still help remarking, that this happy exception, if it do take place, will happen, not because I believe the same means will not always accomplish the same end, or that any more humane system is acted upon in the case of the Natives of New Zealand, but because I hope from the character and intelligence of the New Zealander himself, that he will, despite the attempt at oppression and injustice on the part of British Authority, still be able to preserve some of his natural rights, and to maintain his position in the land where Divine Providence has placed him:--notwithstanding, that England, or those acting under her, have in a manner nothing different from the custom of former days, by first of all claiming the right of Sovereignty over him, either on the plea of a purchase by means of blankets, or of unconditional cession by treaty, endeavoured to deprive him of all his natural rights. --Although he has been declared to be a savage, having no interest in, or right to, the land he lives in, and although the liberty has been denied to him of disposing of his own property as he will, and to whom he chooses, I am still firmly persuaded, that the day is not far distant when he will become so fully sensible of the gross injustice that he has sustained, that England will be glad to leave to him either his natural independence, or to confer upon him all the rights of a British subject; he will not continue to sell for fifty pound's worth of property, (as in the case of the land given by Government to Mr. Clendon), land which is sold immediately for thirteen thousand pounds. His own character, and not the deception practised on the public in the shape of Protectors, will save the aboriginal inhabitant of New Zealand from the ordinary fate of savages.

Having devoted so large a portion of this communication to the consideration of the various circumstances which have combined to check the progress of this Colony, and to bring about the embarrassment of the Government, as well as the ruin of the present Settlers, I feel that I should not be doing justice to this natural fine and promising country, without proposing some remedy for the existing grievances,

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and developing some plan by means of which the inhabitants of a country so exceedingly fertile and admirably adapted for the abode of man, might be rescued from their present unhappy position, and enabled to apply themselves with energy and certain success to the work of Colonization. In order that the Home Government may be fully satisfied of the nature of the grievances under which the Colonists suffer, as well as of the extent of the abuse of power and the mischief committed by the Local Government, Commissioners should, with the least possible delay, be sent from England to enquire into the state of affairs in the Colony, with full powers to remove all or any of the Government Officers they might deem expedient, to redress all existing grievances, and to arrange a new state of things in accordance with the requirements and exigencies of the Colony. All the Officers of such a Government as this should be men of some education, intellect, and above all, integrity; men who would make it a matter of duty and principle not merely to live by the Settlers, but for the Settlers and the good of the Colony; and who should be above all from their good and moral conduct not only an example, but a terror to all the evil doers, whether Native or European. It is a sad and grievous error to suppose, that the Aboriginal inhabitants of this or any other country will improve in religion or morals, if we send men to fill the high places among them, who are indifferent to both. --The evil example of one man in power, will be more than enough to counteract the labours of ten Missionaries, or any instructors of morality and religion. If it be thus necessary to exercise so much care and discrimination in the appointment of the inferior Officers of Government, it is still more requisite that they should be attended to in the selection of the Governor, the successor of His Excellency the late Governor, should not only be a wise, enlightened, and experienced man, but he should also be, if possible, a civilian, who is intimately acquainted with Colonial policy, as well as experienced in the ordinary routine of business--a man of energy, judgment and decision, who would not only on account of superior intellectual attainments, but also on account of high moral feeling and principle command the respect and deserve the esteem of those whom he ruled.

The people should also be allowed a voice in the management of the affairs of the Colony, by extending to them those valuable representative institutions which they have enjoyed at home. Men, who have been all their life-time accustomed to feel, that they had some share in the formation of the laws which governed the society they lived in, will not easily accustom themselves to submit to, or yield, obedience or respect to laws that are framed and exercised without their consent or controul. A representative Legislature should be conceded to the people of this Colony, so as to give them a voice in the formation of the laws that govern them, as well as to enable them to exercise some controul over the expenditure and application of the revenues of the Government they live under. Had this right been conceded to the inhabitants of New Zealand from the first, I need not assure your Lordship that no demand should have been made on England to defray the expenses of the New Zealand Government.

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The next and most efficient remedy which I venture to propose to Your Lordship, is the removal of the present anomalous condition of the aboriginal inhabitants, who have been deprived of their own national rights by the Acts of the Government and who are also denied the rights of British Subjects. The only part of English Law which they are allowed to enjoy being the privilege of being tried by the Criminal Code. The right of property, the natural and inherent right of all men and of British Subject in particular, is purposely withheld from the native of New Zealand, until this right is restored to him he will never look upon the ministers of Government in any other light than as oppressors, nor will he ever be taught to confide in their honor or become reconciled to their institutions. He cannot be reasoned into the belief that it is just to deprive him of the right of selling his land to whom he will, while he sees that Europeans are daily allowed this privilege. The natives of this country are widely different from either those of America or New Holland, their reasoning and perceptive powers are fully as acute as those of Europeans and they are exceedingly more jealous of any attempt to deprive them of their rights. It will be argued I doubt that in the event of restoring to the native the right of selling his land to whom he would, England must abandon the idea of colonizing New Zealand altogether, in as much as it might be apprehended that the means could not, otherwise be provided for the purposes of emigration, but justice to the native has nothing to do with this consideration, nor will he be easily convinced of the propriety of taking his land from him in order to procure more immigrants from England; --but this objection however will soon remove itself, --it is now the decided belief of almost every person in New Zealand that no revenue can be raised from the sale of land in the manner in which it has hitherto been disposed of, and it is more than likely the natives will soon cease to sell any of their lands to Government, or if they do it will be the worst as has uniformly been the case hitherto. In proof of this, several instances could be cited wherein the natives have already refused to sell their lands to Government. At the Bay of Islands in the centre of the Town of Kororarika they at the present moment own a small piece of land which they have refused on every consideration to sell to the Government. So strongly was this feeling manifested, that about twelve months ago when the Government attempted to erect a Custom House on a part of this land, the natives strenuously resisted and caused the building to be pulled down and removed from their ground. On a recent occasion the Government Surveyors were prevented by the natives from cutting even a line of road from the Bay of Islands to Hokianga through their grounds, on account of which the Government was obliged to disist from the undertaking. So much do the natives value their lands that there is not an acre in the whole of the North Island which is not claimed or owned by some person. They are now so fully alive to the advantage which the Government seeks to obtain, in compelling them not to sell their lands to private individual, as well as, of the profits made by Government from the re-sale of their lands, that they will either retain their lands altogether or dispose of them at a rate so high as to leave the Government hut little towards emigration. --But that even the selfish consideration of raising money for emi-

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gration may be removed out of the way of doing justice to the natives,

I would beg leave respectfully to suggest to Your Lordship a method of honestly and fairly obtaining a fund for emigration without violating the rights of natives or Europeans. This might easily be accomplished by imposing a small tax per acre on all the unoccupied lands, whether in the hands of natives or Europeans, this plan was formally proposed to His Excellency the late Governor during the discussion of the last Land Claims Bill, and it was clearly proved to him that from the lands of the old settlers alone, a revenue of thirty or forty thousand pounds might be conveniently raised every year.

If justice will not induce the Government to concede this right to the native, necessity and the result of the last Land Sales will soon compel them to have recourse to a different system from that which is pursued at present. They will soon find that the estimated revenue of fifty thousand (£50,000) for sales in 1842. will be nothing but a sad illusion, --Eight months of the time are now gone by and the whole amount realised is not more than seven thousand pounds. If the result of the ensuing four months may be anticipated in accordance with the last Land Sales, they have little more to expect.

The last remedy which I would propose is one which I feel persuaded would not only be attended with beneficial results to New Zealand, but also to all the Australian Colonies; --it is the doing away with the Customs, and declaring the Ports of New Zealand free. The impetus that such a measure as this would give to trade in this, and the neighbouring Colonies, is incalculable. The loss in revenue could easily and equitably be made up by means of a property and income tax, which I doubt not the people would cheerfully pay. The present taxes on Imported Goods are made to press heavily on the honest trader alone, the facilities for smuggling being so great in a country possessing such fine harbours, and such an extensive coast line as New Zealand as to require a more efficient Coast Guard than that of England or Ireland for its prevention. To such an extent is smuggling carried on in the article of Tobacco alone that a short time ago it could in this country be bought at l0d. per pound, duty paid, or said to be paid, while the duty itself was a shilling.

In concluding this sketch of the wrongs of New Zealand I have to apologize to Your Lordship for the length of the communication, as well as for the apparent severity of my censure on the Government and Government Officers. In extenuation of the latter offence, however, I would respectfully remark that I am not only a witness of the ruin and misery in which the inhabitants of these magnificient Islands have been involved through the unwise policy, and mischievous measures of the Local Government, but that I am myself one of the principal sufferers. It is impossible, My Lord, to suppress feeling, and difficult not to manifest indignation itself in seeing the fruits of labour and industry destroyed--the efforts of energy and enterprize thwarted--and the designs of Providence Himself opposed, through the instrumentality of men whose acts fully warrant me in (characterising them as the most

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fatally unhappy, and mischievous rulers, by whom the power and authority of England have ever been exercised or abused.

I have the honor to be,
My Lord,
Your Lordship's most Obedient,
and most Humble Servant,
S. M. D. MARTIN;

To the Right Honourable
LORD STANLEY,
Principal Secratary of State for the Colonies.

P. S. --Since the first part of the above letter was written, the reins of Government have, through the death of His Excellency Captain Hobson, dropped unexpectedly into the hands of Mr. Shortland, who now unites in his own person the two offices of Colonial Secretary and Administrator of Government, Whether he will continue to follow the same line of conduct which he has hitherto advised the late Governor to pursue, or, like a noted King of old, see "the error of his way," is scarcely a matter of hope. Every man taken from the Plough is not expected to follow the noble Roman's example. The days of disinterested patriotism are unhappily gone by, nor is there any just reason to expect their revival under the Shortland dynasty. The "family compact" cannot and will not be dissolved even for the good of the state. While the son is Governor, the father in law will not be forsaken, and the brother, however low the funds of the Colony may be, will doubtless be continued in his recent office of Sub-Protector of Aborigines, until he shall have acquired a sufficient knowledge of the Native language to qualify him to step into Mr. Clarke's shoes as Chief Protector. Favoritism and every other species of abuse have already injured the Colony so much that the settlers' hopes must rest entirely on the justice of the Home Government. The Augean stable is so full of corruption, and the "family compact" so firm, that nothing less than a River of water can cleanse the one, or the strength of a Hercules break the other.

APPENDIX I.

No. 1.

Auckland August 4th, 1842,

SIR,

I have the honor to request an answer to the following questions, viz.: 1. If Government Lands exposed to sale by Public Auction, and not sold, are open for selection at the price of one pound per acre, 2, If parties may be allowed to select lands in any part of the country, even though such lands have not been surveyed os exposed to sale, at the fixed price of one pound per acre.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed) S. M. D. MARTIN.
The Honorable the Colonial Secretary,
&c,, &c, &c, '

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No. 2.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, August 8th 1842.

SIR, --I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 5th instant, in which you request information on two points, with reference to the disposal of Crown Lands in this Colony.

As regards your first query, "Whether lands exposed to sale by Public Auction and not sold, are open for selection at the fixed price of one pound per acre," I am instructed by the Governor to acquaint you, that such lands are not open for selection in the way you mentioned.

In order to answer satisfactorily your second enquiry, namely, "Whether parties may be allowed to select lands in any part of the Colony, even though such lands have not been surveyed, or offered for sale, at the fixed price of one pound per acre," His Excellency awaits further instructions from the Right Honorable the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed) WILLOUGHBY SHORTLAND.
Dr. S. M. D. Martin,

No. 3.

Auckland, August 9th, 1842.

SIR, --I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 8th instant, and to express my surprise at the tenor of your answers to the questions which I have through you, submitted to His Excellency, in regard to the Land Regulations in this Colony.

I cannot help remarking that I imagine these answers must have been given without due consideration, as I would not for a moment suppose, that the Land Regulations in this Colony, could be as you state they are, in direct opposition to the instructions from the Home Government. In the 49th Clause of the Instructions under the Sign Manual, dated Buckingham Palace, 5th December, 1840, I find the following words:-- "And we do direct that any person within our said Colony of New Zealand, who shall pay to the Treasurer or Deputy Treasurer of our said Colony, any sum or sums of money for the purchase of lands situated in the said Colony, shall be entitled to receive from such Treasurer or Deputy Treasurer, a certificate of such payment, and on production of such certificate at the office of the Surveyor-General in the said Colony, every such person shall be entitled to have appropriated and granted to him or her, such unappropriated land within the said Colony as may be selected by him or her; the number of acres to be granted to him or her, corresponding with the amount of the payment so appearing to have been made by him or her, divided by the same uniform price per acre."

I have the greater confidence in the belief, that the existing land regulations in New Zealand are founded on the above clause, from the circumstance of Mr. Appleyard, a recently arrived immigrant, having been allowed by the Government of New Zealand to select and to occupy land which had neither been put up for sale by auction, nor surveyed, and to purchase the same at the price of one pound per acre; the amount of which purchase-money he has paid to the Home Government, by whose order, I understand, he was permitted to select the land. I am anxious to ascertain if the same indulgence will be granted to persons resident in the Colony.

Waiting the favor of an early answer.

I have the honor to be. Sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed) S. M. D. MARTIN,
To the Hon, the Col. Secretary, &c.

No. 4.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 12th August, 1842.

SIR, -- With reference to your letter of the 10th instant, in reply to mine of the 8th, on the subject of the regulations for the disposal of Crown Lauds in the Colony,

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I have the honor, by the direction of the Governor, to inform you, that under existing circumstances His Excellency can enter upon no regulations in this matter, until further instructions are received from the Secretary of State.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed) WILLOUGHBY SHORTLAND.
Dr. S. M. D. Marlin. i

No. 5.

Auckland, August 15th, 1842.

SIR, --I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 12th instant, and regret to find that you have entirely misunderstood the nature of my communication of the 8th, by referring to which you will perceive that I never expressed a wish that His Excellency would "enter upon no regulations in this matter, until further instructions are received from the Secretary of State." I merely requested the favor of an answer to the simple question, whether parties resident in this Colony were entitled to the same indulgence as has been granted to Mr. Appleyard, a recently arrived immigrant, who has been allowed to purchase land which had neither been surveyed nor put up to Sale by Auction, at the price of one pound per acre.

As your communication is entirely destitute of this information, I have still the honor to request an answer to my former letter.

I have the honor to be Sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed) S. M. D. MARTIN.
The Hon. the Col. Secretary, &c.

No. 6.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 17th, August, 1842.

SIR, --In reply to your letter of the 15th instant, in which you request to be informed "whether persons resident in this Colony are entitled to the same indulgence as has been granted to Mr. Appleyard. a recently arrived immigrant," I have the honor by direction of His Excellency the Governor to acquaint you, that parties resident in this Colony cannot, at present, be allowed to select lands on the terms granted to that gentleman.

I have the honor to be. Sir,
Your very obedient servant,
(Signed) WILLOUGHBY SHORTLAND.
Dr. S. M, D. Martin.

APPENDIX 2.

No. 1.

Hekutaia, River Thames, May 22nd, 1842.

SIR, --I have the honor to inform Your Excellency that a party of natives, led by the notorious Chief Teraea, went from this river a few days ago, to attack the tribe at Tauranga, on the east coast. So well did they conceal their intentions, that even up to the moment of their departure, no idea was entertained by those who did not join in the expedition, as to what party they were to attack, the consequence has been, that they have returned this morning, bringing with them about twenty females and children as slaves, and the heads and bodies of several others, whom they have sacrificed and destroyed.

Although I am aware that Your Excellency would be desirous of obtaining the earliest information of a transaction so insulting to the Queen's authority and sovereignty over New Zealand, as represented by Your Excellency, I should still have hesitated in addressing Your Excellency, were it not that they have not confined their depredations to the Natives only, but, did on their return this morning, strip one of my stations of every thing belonging to the men employed there, and refused to give up any pari of the property taken away.

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This, I conceive to be a case calling for Your Excellency's interference, as they could have no plea whatever for committing such an outrage on my property, as I have always studiously avoided having any transactions with them, from their well-known character.

I am in expectation every moment of having all my property here destroyed, and it is very probable that the lives of all the Europeans may be sacrificed in the exterminating warfare that shall succeed this first outbreak. I therefore implore Your Excellency to give us protection, either by punishing the parties concerned in these outrages, or by sending a small military force to keep them in check.

Permit me to mention that this is the third time I have had my stations plundered by the same parties, and that forbearance on every part, has only confirmed the Natives in the opinion that Your Excellency has neither the power nor the wish to protect us. May I also inform Your Excellency that several persons were engaged in the present attack, who were no ways concerned in the cause of quarrel, and merely led thereto through the love of bloodshed; such persons as these are peculiarly deserving of punishment.

Trusting Your Excellency will adopt prompt measures for the redress of these grievances, and the prevention of a recurrence of similar outrages,

I have the honor to be,
May it please Your Excellency,
Your Excellency's most obedient and humble servant,
(Signed) L. ALLAN M'CASKILL.
To His Excellency, Captain Hobson, R.N.,
Governor, &c., &c., &c.

No. 2.

Auckland, May 20th, 1842,

SIR, --I have the honor to enclose to Your Excellency the accompanying letter from my partner, Mr. M'Caskill, regarding a fearful massacre committed by the Thames natives on those of Tauranga.

Mr. Cormack has arrived to-day, and fully corroborates the statements of my friend, Mr. M'Caskill. He says, that no less than fourteen dead bodies have been brought to the Thames, and devoured by those savages.

I have the honor to be,
Your Excellency's most obedient and most humble servant,
(Signed) S. M. D. MARTIN.
To His Excellency Captain Hobson, R.N.,
Governor, &c. &c. &c.

No. 3.

Auckland, June 30th, 1842.

SIR, --I regret much to hear that Your Excellency still continues in bad health.

On calling this day, I was not aware of Your Excellency's state of health; had I been so, I should be sorry, indeed, to trouble Your Excellency on matters of business, however urgent.

I have lately heard from my friend, Mr. M'Caskill, who represents the Natives as being in an exceedingly excited state. He is every moment in dread of being attacked by them. In the letter which he has addressed to Your Excellency, I believe he has forgotten to mention, that Teraea and his tribe are those who threaten to attack him; he is not at all afraid of the Tauranga natives; but this savage is so elated with his success, that he is determined to attack all the Europeans in his vicinity.

I trust Your Excellency will make some effort to preserve the lives and properties of Europeans in that part of the country, and convince this people that they are now under British law and authority, and that these laws are not to be infringed upon with impunity.

If Your Excellency will not send troops to keep the Natives in order, I hope you will, at least, afford us the means of making an effort to protect ourselves, by giving us the use of some arms. From what Mr. M'Caskill has written, I apprehend he will feel himself under the necessity of defending himself, and will do so, perhaps, at the sacrifice of his own life, and that of some of the Natives;

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Mr. Abercrombie returns in the Rory O'More to-morrow. Should Your Excellency think of sending some troops, this would be a favourable opportunity.

I have the honor to be,
Your Excellency's most obedient servant,
(Signed) S. M. D. MARTIN.
To His Excellency Captain Hobson, R.N.,
Governor, &c. &c. &c.

No. 4.

Auckland, August 2nd, 1842.

Sir, --I have upwards of a fortnight ago forwarded a letter to His Excellency, from my partner, Mr, M'Caskill, complaining of a robbery committed at one of our Stations on the Thames, by a body of Natives, and requesting the protection of Government in order to prevent a repetition of such outrages.

I have now the honor to request His Excellency's answer to that letter, and to ask if the Government intends to enquire into this robbery.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed) S. M. D. MARTIN.
The Hon. the Col. Secretary, &c.

No. 5.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 5th August, 1842.

SIR, --I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 2nd instant, on the subject of an alleged aggression by a body of Natives at one of your Stations on the River Thames; and in reply, I am instructed by the Governor to acquaint you, that it will be necessary to apply to the Police Magistrate, before whom you can depose on oath as to the exact nature of the complaint you prefer, of which information I am to remark, your communication is destitute.

This being done, His Excellency will take such steps as the Law may direct, and the circumstances of the case require.

I am directed further to observe, that His Excellency had been informed, that the outrage complained of by Mr. M'Caskill, to which it is presumed you refer, has been fully redressed.

I am, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
(Signed) WILLOUGHBY SHORTLAND.
Dr. S. M, D. Martin, Auckland.

No. 6.

Auckland, August 8th, 1842,

SIR, --I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 5th instant, in answer to my letter of the 2nd, regarding a robbery committed at one of my Stations on the River Thames, by the Native Chief Teraea and his tribe, on their return from the Tauranga massacre.

I have to express my regret that the formality of applying to the Police Magistrate of Auckland, had not been suggested by His Excellency while my friend, Mr. M'Caskill, was in town. I feel the more surprised at this, as he had come expressly from the Thames to seek the protection of the Government, and to demand redress for the outrage committed by the Natives, and had an interview with His Excellency on the subject.

I should have no hesitation in deposing before the Police Magistrate as to the truth of the robbery, but that the latter part of your letter appears to render this unnecessary, as it is stated, that His Excellency had been informed the outrage complained of by Mr. M'Caskill, had been fully redressed.

I am still, however, unaware of any redress whatever having been afforded, and shall, therefore, feel obliged by your informing me of the nature of the same before applying to the Police Magistrate, as the information contained in the latter part of

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your letter would seem to do away with the necessity of complying; with the recommendation in the commencement of the same.

In the hope of receiving an early answer to this communication.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed) S. M. D. MARTIN.
The Hon. the Col. Secretary, &c.

No. 7.

Colonial Secretary's Office.
Auckland, August llth, 1842.

SIR, --With reference to your letter under date the 8th instant, received at this Office on the 9th, on the subject of a robbery committed at one of your stations, on the River Thames, I have the honor to acquaint you by desire of the Governor, that your communication is the first Official intimation His Excellency has received, regarding the outrage complained of.

As regards that part of your letter, wherein, in reply to mine of the 5th instant, on this subject, you allude to the compensation reported to have been already given for the wrong, I am to acquaint you that the information on this subject was derived entirely from the Natives.

In conclusion, I beg to say, that in the event of the charge you have preferred, being substantiated. His Excellency will take care that every satisfaction be afforded you.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed) WILLOUGHBY SHORTLAND.
Dr. S. M. D. Martin, Auckland.

No. 8.

Auckland, August 15th, 1842.

SIR, --In answer to your communication of the 11th instant, I have to express my surprise that His Excellency should state that my last letter was the "first Official intimation received regarding the outrage complained of." I would respectfully remark that if my last letter was deemed an Official communication, I cannot see any reason why my former letter should not have been received as equally Official. I would also take the liberty of stating that I had the honor of forwarding to His Excellency on the 30th of May, a letter from my partner Mr. McCaskill, dated 22nd May, addressed to His Excellency, and giving a detailed account of the Tauranga massacre, as well as of the robbery committed by Teraea and his party at one of our stations, on their return from Tauranga; on the faith of which communication, I understand, two ambassadors, viz., the Colonial Secretary and the Protector of the Aborigines, were sent by His Excellency to Teraea, although the result of that embassy has not as yet, been communicated to the public.

In compliance with your request, I have now the honor of enclosing for His Excellency's information, copies of depositions made before the Police Magistrate, on the 13th instant, the one by Mr. Charles Beverly Sampson, regarding the Tauranga massacre, and the other by myself, regarding the robbery committed at one of my stations on the Thames. These formalities, which have hitherto, it appears, impeded the due course of justice, having been now attended to, and the subject having been formally, and officially brought under the notice of the Public Authorities. I hope the Government will not lose any time in causing the perpetrators of these atrocious crimes to suffer the punishment which such deeds deserve.

Waiting His Excellency's answer to the above communication.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant.
(Signed) S. M. D. MARTIN.
To the Hon. the Col. Secretary, &c.

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No. 9.

NEW ZEALAND TO WIT,
COUNTY OF EDEN.

Be it remembered that on the thirteenth day of August, 1842, Charles Beverly Sampson, of Temata, in the frith of Thames, cometh before me Felton Mathew, Esq., Chief Police Magistrate of the District, sitting at Auckland, and giveth me to understand that certain Aboriginal natives have been guilty of murder.

(Signed) FELTON MATHEW,
C. P. M

Charles Beverly Sampson aforesaid, on oath states, on or about the 20th of May last, a party of Natives headed by the Chiefs Teraea, Kanini, Portuke, Teraiti and Tahu, attacked a Native Pah at Tauranga, and murdered several of the inhabitants. I was not on the spot at the time, neither did I see the transaction, but on visiting the Pah of Teraea, two or three days after, I saw parts of two human bodies. I questioned the Natives about them, and they told me that one of the heads was that of a Native named Whanaki, and the other that of a Native whose name I cannot recollect, and that they had both been killed at Tauranga by Teraea and his party.

(Signed) C. B. SAMPSON.

Sworn before me this 13th August, 1842.
(Signed) FELTON MATHEW,
C. P. M.

No. 10.

NEW ZEALAND TO WIT,
COUNTY OF EDEN.

Be it remembered that on the thirteenth day of August, 1842, Samuel Macdonald Martin, M.D., of Auckland, cometh before me Felton Mathew, Esq., Chief Police Magistrate of the District, sitting at Auckland, and giveth me to understand that a certain Aboriginal Native Chief, named Teraea, hath been guilty of felony.

(Signed) FELTON MATHEW,
C. P. M.

Samuel Macdonald Martin, M. D., residing in Auckland, on oath states, I have received a letter from Mr. McCaskill, my partner, informing me, that on or about the 22nd of May last, a station on the River Thames, belonging to him and myself, was attacked by an armed party of Natives, headed by the Native Chief Teraea, they plundered a hut occupied by my men on the station, of every article of clothing and blankets.

(Signed) S. M. D. MARTIN.

Sworn before me this 13th August, 1842.
(Signed) FELTON MATHEW,
C. P. M.

No. 11.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland 17th August, 1842.

SIR, --In reply to your letter of the 15th instant, conveying copies of depositions made by yourself and others, before the Police Magistrate at Auckland, on the subject of the offence committed at the station of Mr. McCaskill, on the River Thames. I do myself the honor, by the direction of His Excellency the Governor, to acquaint you, that the case being now in the hands of the above functionary, who will deal with it according to its merits; His Excellency has nothing further to add to the communication already made to you in my last letter.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
(Signed) WILLOUGHBY SHORTLAND.
Dr. S. M. D, Martin, Auckland,

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No. 12.

Police Office,
Auckland, 17th August, 1842.

SIR, -- With reference to the depositions made by yourself and Mr, Sampson at this Office, on the 13th current, I have the honor to inform you that copies of the same have been transmitted to the Colonial Secretary.

It is however necessary that I should repeat that your deposition with regard to the robbery being grounded solely on information derived from a letter, is of a nature which renders it impossible for me to adopt any proceedings in the matter. In order to justify my interference, it is necessary that I should have information on oath from the bona fide owner of the property stolen, or some person at least who is actually cognizant of the transaction, describing the property, and specifically charging some particular person or persons with the offence.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
(Signed) FELTON MATHEW, C. P. M.
S. M. D. Martin, Esq,, M. D.

No. 13.

Auckland, August 18, 1842.

SIR, -- In answer to your letter of the 17th instant, regarding the depositions made by Mr. Sampson and myself, I have the honor to inform you that no doubt can exist as to the fact that a most atrocious murder has been committed at Tauranga, by the parties named in Mr. Sampson's deposition, and that the very same parties who perpetrated the murder, did, on their return to the Thames, rob some of my servants of certain articles of property, as stated in my deposition.

From the tenor of your letter, as well as from your former indifference in regard to the robberies committed by the Natives of Kaipara, at Mr. Forsaith's place, and at the houses of several Settlers at Wangari, I cannot help perceiving that you are much more anxious to discover some means by which you think you may justify yourself in overlooking these crimes, than to act promptly and decidedly on the too unequivocal information laid before you. I have again, however, to request that you will, in your capacity of Chief Police Magistrate, immediately issue warrants for the apprehension, at least, of the perpetrators of the murders--as I have reason to hope it will be rather difficult to devise any plan by means of which the Public Authorities in this Colony can justify themselves in allowing the perpetrators of such crimes to escape unpunished.

I need not inform you that the deposition made by me is precisely in the form which you yourself suggested; the men robbed were my servants; the property stolen was blankets and wearing apparel, as stated in my deposition.

If you apprehend the parties accused of these murders and robberies, I will undertake to bring forward sufficient evidence to convict them.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed) S. M, D. MARTIN,
To Felton Mathew, Esq,, Chief Police Magistrate, Auckland.

No. 14.

Auckland, August 22nd, 1842.

SIR, --Having had the honor of forwarding to you on the 15th, for His Excellency's information, copies of depositions made before the Chief Police Magistrate, on the 13th, regarding a massacre perpetrated by certain Natives at Tauranga, and a robbery committed by the same parties at one of my Stations on the Thames, I have now respectfully to complain to His Excellency, that the "above Functionary" has neglected to interfere in the matter, and to remind you of the promise contained in your letter of the 5th, wherein you state, that as soon as a deposition was made on oath

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"as to the exact nature of the complaint," His Excellency would take "such steps as the Law may direct, and the circumstances of the case require."

While I regret much to be compelled so frequently to bring this matter under the notice of the Public Authorities, I have still more to regret the indifference manifested by the Public Authorities in regard to the Suppression of Crimes so revolting to humanity, and alarming in their consequences, both as respects the Native and European population.

I trust, I need not endeavour to impress upon His Excellency, that the laws of humanity, the safety of the European population, the present and prospective welfare of the Natives themselves, as well as the laws of our Country, and the honor of our Sovereign, demand that the Representatives of British Authority in New Zealand, should make some effort to prevent a repetition of such fearful massacres as that of Tauranga, by bringing the perpetrators of such crimes to the punishment which their deeds so eminently deserve

In conclusion I have the honor to request that His Excellency will be pleased immediately to order measures to be adopted for the apprehension of the Tauranga Murderers, as the Police Magistrate has failed to do his duty in the matter.

Expecting the favour of an early answer, I have the honor to be,

Sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed) S. M. D. MARTIN, M. D.
The Hon, the Col. Secretary, &c.

No. 15.

Auckland, August 29th. 1842,

SIR, --I have the honor to request His Excellency's answer to my Letter of the 22nd instant, complaining of the conduct of the Chief Police Magistrate in regard to the Tauranga Massacre.

I have the honor to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed) S. M. D. MARTIN, M. D.
The Hon. the Col. Secretary, &c.

APPENDIX 3.

No. 1.

Auckland, May 23rd, 1842.

SIR, --As requested by Your Excellency, I now take the liberty of addressing you on the subject of the conversation which I had the honor of having with Your Excellency and the Attorney-General on Saturday last, the 21st instant, regarding my Land Claims, but in doing so I scarcely know to what point to crave Your Excellency's attention, as it was not at all clear to me what the nature of Your Excellency's views were; but the impression left on my mind from that extraordinary conversation was, 1st. --That Your Excellency held that as my land (though purchased and partially paid for before the Proclamation) had not been all paid for before that period; and that, therefore, Your Excellency "was quite justified, and had it quite within your power to throw aside my Claim altogether." But in consideration of some peculiar circumstances of my case, that Your Excellency was inclined to make a compromise with me, by taking my own land in the neighbourhood of the Township from me, giving me instead one acre of ground in some other situation, for every £1 sterling which I had paid. Such is the impression which one part of Your Excellency's conversation left upon my mind. But, again, I am led to believe that such views have not been finally decided on by Your Excellency, from another portion of our conversation, in which Your Excellency and the Attorney-General tried to shew the reasonableness and justice of such a course; as also, the propriety of my acceding to the hinted offer of compromise, which would have the effect of preventing a reference of the claim to the Home Government, and thereby save one year or eighteen month's delay in getting the case decided."

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It is matter of great astonishment to me, that any difficulty should be found in deciding a case, which, in my own humble estimation, appears so extremely simple, and is shortly the following, as is well known to Your Excellency:-- I came to New Zealand from Sydney in the month of February, 1839, and after seeing various parts of the country, ultimately fixed upon this as being in every way suitable for my agricultural views; and in November and December, 1839, purchased two pieces of ground from the Natives, and made them a considerable deposit, in part payment, till I should have time to obtain from Sydney the remaining part, (each party being bound by a written contract for the completion of the agreement), not being then in possession of the particular description of goods the Natives demanded. The Natives, before the Commissioners, have all, without exception, admitted to the fullest extent, my having purchased the land; indeed, they have rented portions of it from me again, and continue to this day, to make me payments for the same, so that not a shadow of doubt remains of my having fairly, fully, and honestly acquired said land from the Natives; the only question remaining being, as to how far my claim would be affected from my having paid part of the purchase-money after the date of the Proclamation?

In my estimation this appears a very easily answered question--for there can be no doubt, that the purchase was fairly made at the date when I made the first payment or deposit, which deposit was an earnest of the bargain--evidence of a bargain having been made as clear as if the full amount of the purchase-money had been paid at the time, and a method of completing simple bargains adopted, in almost every country, and in no portion of the globe held more sacred than by the Natives of New Zealand. Nothing can be more certain than that I was bound in honor and honesty to complete the bargain, which bad thus been made by me with the Natives; --had I not done so, I should have acted the part of a dishonest man, and have been scorned as such by them; and such being the fact, surely neither the Laws of England nor her Majesty's instructions can be such as to compel me to violate the laws of Nature, and the plainest principles of justice and common sense, by preventing me making the second payments to the Natives which I had promised--or in other words, refuse to give me the land which I have now actually paid for according to my original agreement. Your Excellency mentioned at the conversation alluded to, a case of a similar kind, where a clergyman in the north part of the island, who had made a valuable purchase of 20,000 acres, and had paid a deposit on it before the Proclamation, asked your Excellency's advice as to whether he should complete the purchase or not, when your Excellency recommended that he should at least delay doing so; but, however prudent this course may have been, I have no hesitation in repeating what I stated in conversation with your Excellency, that such a course, in my opinion, was not morally right, and that, as an honest man, the clergyman was bound to complete the payments which he had promised, and which the natives would have been perfectly justified in taking from him by force; The Attorney-General, at this part of the conversation hinted, that the difficulty in my case might have been obviated, had the date of my title deeds been of the same date with the deposit, in other ante-dating the deeds, which, in my humble opinion, would have been as illegal, as it would have been immoral, and that by such a proceeding I should have rendered my titles utterly invalid, and have put myself on a par with the clergyman above alluded to. In short I cannot see that I could honestly have acted otherwise than I have done, and I feel the utmost confidence that my claim will, ultimately, be allowed.

Your Excellency further stated, that in strict Law, I was not entitled to any grant of land. I certainly cannot pretend to a knowledge of what may be deemed the strict law of the case, though the little I do know inclines me to suppose, that, a bargain of the nature of the present, where part payment is made when the transaction is entered into, is held in strict law to be a perfectly binding agreement, which either parly may compel full performance of. But in the present case I submit to your Excellency, that the strict law of the case should not be enforced--that equity and good conscience alone should form the rule of decision, which is not only in harmony with the strict principles of reason and justice, but is strictly in accordance with the published instructions of her Majesty on the subject. On this point the Attorney-General stated, that the "investigation was conducted in equity, but that the decision was given according to Law ."This distinction I am entirely at a loss to comprehend, as it seems to favour the idea, that Law and Equity are totally at variance with each other, and that these opposing principles are to be applied to the same case.

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I desire nothing at the hands of your Excellency, but what, is strictly honest and right. though I am well aware that I could ugre many peculiar circumstances of hardship in my own favor. I need only recall to your Excellency's recollection, that when you first came to this district, long before this Township was established, your Excellency found I had already commenced agricultural operations on a large scale, and had made preparations for farming the very portions of land now in dispute, when the hints which your Excellency gave as to the probability of your Excellency requiring the land for Government purposes, induced me to abandon my operations; unhinged all my plans, and after throwing me out of employment for some time has forced me to enter into business in town at once, uncongenial to my taste, and in a way which I never contemplated. One of the pieces of land which belongs to me has already been taken possession of by your Excellency, and a portion of it sold to the public for upwards of £600; and it disheartens me beyond measure, after waiting upwards of two years for your Excellency's decision to allow me to obtain possession of my land, to find that my hopes and expectations are now entirely blasted; and that your Excellency, in return for all this sacrifice on my part, offers me 298 acres, in some part of New Zealand, for the £298 which I paid for the land in question; a mere fraction of which, as already stated, has realised to the Government upwards of £600. If such should prove to be the decision of your Excellency, I have no hesitation in here stating, deliberately, what I stated in conversation to your Excellency, that I would much sooner loose all than accept of such a paltry recompense, and that it will be the means of driving me from this settlement, as the Government seems only to exist for the purpose of ruining and oppressing the settlers. Finding, from your Excellency's statement that this case of mine would form a precedent for the decision of a great number of similar cases, I have been the more desirous of stating explicitly and decidedly my views of the subject; and, as the interests of others are to be so deeply affected, it would appear by my decision, I have deemed it my duty, in fairness to some of my friends similarly situated, to make them aware of my views on the subject, in which they entirely concur; and as your Excellency stated that dissatisfaction with the proposed compromise would cause the cases to be referred home, we have already lost so much time, that a little more, in comparison with the sacrifice now expected from us, seems of no moment, and it is more agreeable to live in the hope of obtaining justice from home, even at a long date, than to accept of such a mockery of it here.

I have the honor to be, &c., &c., &c.
(Signed) A. DALZIEL.
To His Excellency Capt. Hobson,
Governor, &c., &c., &c.

No. 2.

(Copy.)
Government House, May 25th, 1842.

SIR, --I am directed by His Excellency to inform you, that he regrets to find the nature of his communication respecting your Land Claims has been quite misunderstood.

His Excellency told you merely, that the Commissioners on enquiry had found your Claims to be invalid; but that in consideraron of your having made payment of a sum of money, which, coupled with the Governor's consent, alienated the land from the Aborigines; they had recommended that you should receive a simple equivalen; for that outlay.

During a conversation, His Excellency endeavoured to impress on you, that it was an act of Grace to make you any allowance for a transaction which took place after the proclamation; and that such act of grace was only conceded on the recommendation of the Commissioners.

In conclusion, I am directed to inform you, that this case shall be referred to Her Majesty's Government.

I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
(Signed) EDWARD SHORTLAND,
Mr. Alexander Dalziel, &c.

PRINTED BY J. MOORE, AT THE PRINTING-OFFICE, HIGH-ST.