PETITION TO HIS EXCELLENCY AND THE HOUSES OF ASSEMBLY, FROM THE SETTLERS OF MURIHIKU, RELATIVE TO PROVINCIAL SEPARATION.

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1858 Session I, D-02

D—2

PETITION TO HIS EXCELLENCY AND THE HOUSES OF ASSEMBLY, FROM THE SETTLERS OF MURIHIKU, RELATIVE TO PROVINCIAL SEPARATION.

PRESENTED TO THE HONOEABLE THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, BY COMMAND OF HIS EXCELLENCY.

{Ordered to be printed, May 11th, 1858.)

AUCKLAND: 1858.

2

Mataura, 2nd May, 1857. Sib^ —I have the honor to enclose to you a M.S. copy of a petition adopted by the Settlers in Murihiku, at a meeting held at Waihopai on 28th March 1857. The original has been forwarded to his Excellency the Governor, under cover to his Honor the Superintendent of Otago. The petition has been signed by eighty-seven settlers (forty-three in autograph and forty-four by mandates, which are filed.) The copy enclosed is transmitted to you, in the hope that, from expressed opinions of some members of the Ministry, its prayer will receive a favourable consideration ; and that it will be laid before one or other of the Houses of Assembly. Should the division of Otago become, as we trust it will, a ministerial measure, on considerations of general expediency, the petition will afford evidence that the settlers in Murihiku earnestly desire it, for cogent reasons set forth therein. One point which has been but touched upon, I beg to explain a little further. The Bluff is referred to as the principal harbour, but there are many others both safe and available ; the estuaries of four rivers on the mainland, in and near Foveaux Straits are excellent harbours ; on Stuart's Island there are admirable harbours on every side, round the mainland towards the west the coast is indented at short intervals with sounds and inlets, which are easy of access, safe and commodious, for vessels of any tonnage ; so that in the neighbourhoood of Foveaux's Straits,, vessels can quickly run into shelter, in event of a storm, whatever point the wind may blow from. The voyage from Australia to the Bluff, or vice versa, is on the average of shorter duration than, that between Australia and any other part of New Zealand, (Signed) James Menzies, Honorary Secretary. P.S.—A mandate from twenty-three settlers at Aparima, being informally drawn up, I have not felt at liberty to use, and cannot further delay to forward the petition, with the view of obtaining another mandate from them, expressed in correct terms. (Signed) J. M. E. W. Stafford, Esq., Colonial Secretary, &c, of New Zealand.

Unto His Excellency Colonel Thomas Goke Browne, C.8., Governor of New Zealand, fyc, <Sfc, and unto the Honorable Houses of General Assembly of New Zealand in Parliament convened. The humble petition of the Settlers agricultural, pastoral, and others, in Murihiku, i.e., that part of the Province of Otago south-west of the Otago Block, Sheweth, — That, we, your petitioners, settled in this south-western part of the Province of Otago, being convinced that this part of the Province, possessing as it does the essential natural resources qualifying it to take ita place as an independent Province, would, if under the guidance of men residing in it having a direct interest in, and studying its material welfare, become rapidly prosperous. That, feeling the great inconvenience of having the Government administered at a place so distant as Dunedin, by officials who know very little of the character of the country or of its requirements, and above all that, viewing with alarm the course of recent legislation in Otago, evincing as it does a spirit hostile to the progress of Murihiku, and enacting one prominent measure, susceptible of being when in operation, so directed as to crush the rising settlement. Therefore humbly pray that this portion of the Province of Otago be withdrawn from the peril in which it is now placed, and disconnected from that part of the Province situated more in the neighbourhood of Dunedin, be constituted into a separate Province, independent of Otago. It further sheweth, that, the ranges of mountains dividing the basin of the river Mataura from that of the Molyneux, may be taken as a convenient basis for tracing out the line of separation to be hereafter accurately determined, assuming for the present that the boundary line on the south-eastern watershed of the Island ran along those ranges, the north-eastern portion would contain all the lands set apart for the Otago Association, under the name of the Otago Block. The portion south-west of

D—2

3

the assumed line, is known by the name of J'lurihiku, possesses a climate similar to that of the south of England, at similar elevations for a long distance from the coast, and contains it may be, from one half to one million of arable acres, and six or eight times as much of pastoral land, this estimate, however, is conjectural, and may be wide of the truth ; as the country has not been explored for any great distance from the coast. There are besides extensive tracts of forest. That, in the Bluff, it possesses an excellent harbour, situated in a central position with relation to three navigable rivers, having tidal subsidiaries, which flow through those districts in which the agricultural lands are most abundant, whereby those localities are easy of access. That, its mineral resources are as yet imperfectly known, lignite, however, crops out on the banks of various rivers, and good coal may eventually be found ; iron ores are abundant: and gold is found in the sands of the Mataura, abundantly in some localities, and it is quite probable that the valley of the Mataura may become a remunerative gold field. That these facts, we submit, justify our assumption that Murihiku contains the elements of future prosperity ; requiring only that its natural sources of wealth should be properly developed. It further sheweth that the Land Regulations of April, 1856, provided that land should be sold at ten shillings an acre, on payment of which, a certificate of occupation would be granted in each case, and on the expenditure by each applicant of £2 an acre in improvements &c, within four years, the Title Deeds would be issued. That some of your Petitioners now settled in Murihiku applied for certain sections of land during the currency of Sir George Grey's Act (or Proclamation ; whereby land was to be sold unconditionally at 10s. per acre,) their applications were approved of in the Land Office, but when the Land Regulations April, 1850, came into operation they were induced by the Acting Commissioner to cancel their first applications, and reapply under the terms of the Regulations. Thus they forfeited their claim to a Title to the lands unconditionally. That the applicants then paid for those sections of land, receiving only vague receipts for the money, while the certificate of occupation, which under the provisions of the Land Regulations they ought to have received, were, and still are, withheld ; and thus, those settlers can show no valid Title to the lands they occupy. That a survey of those lands has never been made, though repeatedly promised, and even partially entered into; and that your Petitioners, in consequence, are discouraged from proceeding with those improvements which are essential to their success, thereby suffering great loss and injury. That the Regulations, though permitting the survey of the land by the applicant, if made within six months, yet contain no provision rendering that survey imperative on the Government. That the complaints and communications of your Petitioners to the Waste Land Board are generally treated with disregard or indifference, and when they undertake a journey to Dunedin, wjiich is distant from one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles, from the various localities, they can seldom succeed in getting any satisfactory adjustment of their business with the Waste Land Board. Tiiat nothing can be done with regard to the Waste Lands excepting at Dunedin, though the establishment of a Land Office at the Bluff, or at the Waihopai, the settlement in its neighbourhood, would seem to be a measure, the propriety of, and necessity for which, would naturally occur to the Executive, to conduct the business of the department so far as regarded the South-western district?, thereby facilitating the acquisition of land in those parts in which it seems to be at present most eagerly sought, and materially diminishing the expense and trouble which settlers must now incur in their dealings with the Land Office at Dunedin. That the want of a comprehensive survey has also operated injuriously in checking the influx of Stockowners, for applicants for cattle runs, who traversed the country too hurridly to admit of their forming a correct idea of the limits of the tracts they applied for, frequently named absurd or impossib'e boundaries, and the land Board knowing still less of the localities, received such applications, not unfrequently indeed admitting applications from different parties for the same lands, thereby giving occasion to numerous disputes respecting boundaries, and many forfeitures. It further showeth, that the Provincial Land Regulations of April, 1856, were based upon the principle that accumulation or monopoly of land in the hands of capitalists would be most injurious to the Province, and contained provisions, mentioned above, calculated to deter other than bonafide settlers from purchasing. In December 1856, the Land Sales and Leases Ordinance was hurried through the Provincial Council, which empowered the Provincial Government to sell unconditionally, six hundred thousand acres, somewhere near New River, at ten shillings an acre, in blocks of not less than two thousand acres ; blocks so large as to be beyond the reach of moderate means, and consequently open for purchase only to capaitlists. Thus, in March 1856, the Provincial Government conceiving that the acquisition of land in large blocks, would be highly injurious to the Province, fettered the sale of land with conditional clauses ; in December 1856, the Council ordain that an extensive tract in Murihiku shall be thrown open for unconditional sale, available in large blocks only. The authors of the

4

Regulations of April 1856, are the same who have carried through the Council, the Land Sales and Leases Ordinance of Decemher 1856, which violates the principle they broadly laid down in introducing the Regulations. It showeth further that the country situated between the rivers Mataura and Aparima (called Jacob's River) which are from 40 to 50 miles apart, consists for a distance of about thirty miles from the coast of an undulating plain, of which woodland and swamps form a considerable proportion, the greater part being open grass land of a most fertile character. That a Government Surveyor has been for some time past, and is now traversing this line of country and its environs, engaged in what the Government again {Of ago Colonist, 10th January)announced as a "Chronometrical Survey, especially with a view to the proper apportioning of runs" under the direction of the Waste Land Board. That, early in February, some stockowners in occupation of runs in the country referred to, and for which they made applications, which were approved of at the Land Office some months before, received a circular notice from the Waste Land Board, intimating that the survey at present in progress was preliminary to the country being laid off in two thousand acre blocks, for sale under the provisions of the Land Sales and Leases Ordinance; consequently no licenses will be given; and the occupants are coolly recommended to look out for country elsewhere to which their stock may be removed. That in order to indicate the pernicious effect of the Land Sales and Leasee Ordinance, it is necessary to examine those circumstances and their tendencies somewhat in detail, premising a few remarks on the Circular. The vVaste Land Board in these cases proceeds to act as if the Land Sales and Leases Ordinance was already a Law; but until the assent to it of his Excellency the Governor is published, no Provincial Ordinance of this character can become Law. No such assent had been received at the date of the " Circular," consequently it follows as a necessary conclusion that the notification contained in, the " Circular" referred to amounts to an usurpation of power on the part of the Waste Land Board of a character highly illegal. That the character of the district now being surveyed, preparatory to its sale in large Blocks, constitutes it the principle agricultural district in Murihiku, while the facilities of water communication afforded by those navigable rivers, viz., Mataura, Orete, (called New River) and Aparima and their tidal tributaries, with the harbour of the Bluff centrally situated with respect to them, confer upon it advantages possessed by no other district, agricultural or otherwise, in this island. It is a field, which, when its character is widely known will present great attractions to agricultural immigrants, and in which their labour is certain to produce a proximate and ample return, its retention for agricultural settlers is therefore essential to the future prosperity of Murihiku. That in the debate in the Provincial Council on the resolutions of December 1856, a member of the Executive endeavoured to show that the measure did not denote a change of principles on the part of the Executive, and asserted that they still held the same opinions as before (as in March 1856). It follows then as a legitimate inference that in their own opinion, the Executive deliberately devoted to ruin, the extensive tract of country in which those block sales were to take effect. In the report of the debate {Otago Colonist, 26th December, 1856,) motives are disclosed, and feelings towards Murihiku displayed, which seem to harmonize with the inference ; the measure is supported " from a desire to remove the temptations in high quarters, of executing a threat of dividing Otago,"— again from a desire to take advantage of the present general arrangements with regard to the Land Revenue, and one member declares his conviction that the tract of land mentioned (600,000 in extent) could well be spared by Otago," " would never be missed, even if it were swallowed up." It is true that the Provincial Solicitor gave an assurance that such lands in the country proposed to be sold as were " suitable for agricultural or rural farmers," would continue to be protected by the conditions of the Regulations of April, 1856, it does not appear, however, that the selection of lands for such protection would be otherwise than optional with the Provincial Government, and the conduct of the Waste Land Board towards stockowners, after a similar authoritative assurance, had been given in their case in the Provincial Council, gives very reasonable grounds for entertaining a doubt whether the assurance of the Provincial Solicitor in this case will be in any way fulfilled. And we may here remark that all the Members of the Waste Land Board sit in the Provincial Council, and that the Members of the Executive have seats both in the Provincial Council and in the Waste Land Board. That the promoters of the measure in the Provincial Council expressly declared (officially) that the Ordinance would contain such provisions as would protect the interests of the stockowners in occupation of portions of the lands proposed to be sold ; yet from the contents of the " circular" it appears that the Waste Land Board is resolved to remove all such occupants, regardless alike, of the pledge of the Executive, of the unquestionable rights acquired by those stockowners in virtue of their occupation of those lands with the antecedent sanction of the Land Office, and of the serious injury inflicted on the interests of those occupants, by compelling their removal from localities in which they had during the term of their occupation, expended much money and labour. That in order to show the extent of the interests which will be affected, we have to state that above a million of acres have been applied for, for pastoral purposes, between Mataura and Aparima,

D—2.

5

and about two hundred thousand more, within the limits of the country over which the surveyor has traversed, external to those rivers; about half a million of acres have been occupied as runs, and all of them will be more or less affected by the operation of the Ordinance. That, however much the doings of the Waste Land Board may be ultra vires, a suit in the Supreme Court at Wellington, is a remedy far too expensive for the numbers who would at once take advantage of the sittings of a Judge of the Supreme Court in Otago ; thus the Waste Land Board is, practically, quite irresponsible. That the apprehension of the great, and it may be irremediable evils, which in the exercise of the powers conferred by this Ordinance, the Executive Government of Otago may inflict upon the southwestern districts, leads us humbly to pray for a separation from Otago ; and though the operation of the measure should be modified, or stayed, and the apprehended injuries averted for the present, we have no confidence in the political wisdom or consistency of the Government of Otago, such as would induce us to withdraw from the position we now assume, or relinquish our object of severing Murihiku from Otago. That the course of action of the Government of Otago toward Murihiku hitherto appears, in our opinion, to have been directed to check its advance ; evidence of the want of sympathy in Otago with the rising - settlement in Murihiku may be remarked in the appropriation of the estimates voted in Dec. 1856 by the Provincial Council, in which, we may here observe that, Murihiku is altogether unrepresented. Of the sum of £48,000, (which is about four times the sum of the estimates of the preceeding year) something less than £1000 has been appropriated for Murihiku ; although land sales in it are the very source from whence the bulk of the revenue is expected to accrue. It further showeth that your petitioners humbly urge that a separation from Otago now, will ■prevent the formation by current or subsequent legislation, of vested interests in Murihiku, such as might in a few years present obstacles to a separation all but insuperable. That, we believe that the Revenue even within the first twelvemonths will be, at least sufficient to meet the expenditure, provided that, in event of a separation of Murihiku from Otago, and a •consequent rearrangement of the New Zealand Company's Debt among the Provinces of this Southern Island, it would be permitted, that the annual payments due by Murihiku, for the first three years, upon the amount of the New Zealand Company's Debt allotted to her, would be payable by instalments, within three years, or a more prolonged period, as she might be able to meet them, or as might be determined. Upon the gross amount of the Customs Revenue at the Bluff, at present yielding little surplus after paying the expense of Collection, &c, a large annual increase may with certainty be anticipated ; from the sale of land, license fees, assessment on about thirty thousand sheep and two or three thousand great cattle, and other miscellaneous sources, a gross revenue of £5000 may, at a very moderate estimate, be safely calculated on for the first twelve months. Finally, that in event of your Excellency and your Honorable Houses withholding for the present a favourable answer to this our humble petition, you would be pleased to give us an opportunity of being heard in our own behalf, at the Bar of the House of Representatives, or before an impartial commission specially appointed by your Excellency and your Honorable Houses to enquire on the spot into the circumstances set forth in this our petition, that the result of such an inquiry would convince your Excellency, and your Honorable Houses, of the justice of our prayer, we are finally persuaded. May it therefore please your Excellency and your Honarable Houses to grant the prayer of their petition and to constitute and erect this south western part of the Province of Otago external to the Otago Block, into a separate and independent Province. And your petitioners shall ever pray, &c, &c., &c, [Here follow 87 Signatures.]