The Gisborne standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY, THURSDAY, Saturday Morning. Saturday, August 31 1889. CLAIMS OF OLD SOLDIERS.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 345, 31 August 1889, Page 2

The Gisborne standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY, THURSDAY, Saturday Morning.

Saturday, August 31 1889. CLAIMS OF OLD SOLDIERS.

Be just and fear not; Let all the ends thou aim’st at be thy country’s. Thy God's, and truth’s.

The Select Committee appointed to consider and report upon the above subject, in the course of their labors, examined 86 petitions and a large number of letters bearing on the subject, together with reports made by previous Royal Commissions. The discovery was made that nearly 2000 persons claimed to be entitled to grants of lands under various Acts. The Committee found that a number of claimants under the Naval and Military Scrip Act, 1856, were entitled to a remission of £2O in the purchase of Crown lands within the provincial district of Auckland. A very strong case is made out on behalf of naval and military settlers, in reference to whose case the report states: —“These men, on entering Her Majesty’s service, undoubtedly were led to suppose that, if they retired froti) the service for the purpose of settling in New Zealand, they would be entitled to grants of land, and many men took their discharge with the object of securing land, unaware that subsequent to their enlistment various Provincial Acts provided that claims for land had to be made within a definite period ; and, further, that a residence within distinct boundaries for a defined period also was essential before the issue of a Crown grant. It appears that those conditions were not well known to most of the p!simants, who. in many cases, were quite uneducated men, and did not know how to set to work to acquire the land to which they were entitled. Many, undoubtedly, were careless of those right, and did not apply for land which they did not know how to make use of. Others were deterred from pushing their claims on account of the poor quality of the available lands near the settled districts which remained open for selection on account of their poverty, and could not, on account of the unsettled state of the native tribes, and the difficulty of obtaining any employment, occupy lands in the remoter parts of the country. But one of the remarkable features of the case is the fact that the acquisition of land was extremely difficult; most persons applying for land had to wait until surveys were made, and Mr Percy Smith stated in evidence that surveys took months, and, in some instances, years to complete, Of course, the ordinary discharged soldier, unprovided with any means of subsistence but his own labor, was unable to wait whilg surveys were being made, and therefore joined the colonial forces’, ar wrdgred £way' in search of work, and, having got' employment, allowed the period during which his claim should have been made to lapse.” And (remarks the H.B. Herald) the committee might have gone further, even, especially in relation to the difficulties which beset those to whom grants were made in connection with the native difficulty. Many of the grants were made in Taranaki, at a time when a European did not dare to go a mile 1 outside the settlement for faar of being . 0 petted,” There is no doubt that, ag I

the Committee say, the claimants have forfeited their rights if the law is strictly interpreted, but it is also true, as, indeed, the committee urge, that the Government has not been without blame in the matter. The men were led to believe they would be given land, but, as a matter of fact, they found it practically impossible to obtain it unless in such a remote or dangerous locality that occupation or subsistence would be impossible. The committee express the opinion that any officers or men who were discharged in the colony, or who. having retired from Her Majesty’s service, arrived in New Zealand on or before the 31st December, 186 S, should be considered as though they had become entitled to land claims prior to the passing of The Auckland Waste Lands Act, 1867. On the question of compensation, the report proceeds: — “To compensate these claimants with money would perhaps be unwise, but your committee is of opinion that all officers, non-commissioned officers, privates, seamen, and marines whoretired from the service with a good character for the purpose of settling in the colony, and who have remained therein, are equitably entitled to the grants of land, according to their respective ranks, they would have been entitled to had they put in their claims (as the provincial statutes provided they should) within twelve months." It is clear from the above that if the strict letter of the law is adhered to, much injustice may be done, and the course indicated by the committee’s report is that the spirit of the regulations, shorn of technical disabilities, should be adhered to, and in this any unprejudiced person will heartily agree.