Page image
Page image

H.—2la

5

supplied by myself. The expenses of the station are contained in those*books. •As the overseer, I made up my returns to Mr. Williams, who made up his books from them. The land was principally fern when I went there. A portion of the land was ploughed. The ploughed paddocks laid down in grass were about 50 acres : a large number of other paddocks were made round those, " surface sown." There were some cattle sold whilst I was there. I took no account of the annual outlay and income, but merely supplied materials for making such account. The block not fenced in had sheep on it. A small portion of land near the homestead was very good, but a large portion of it was of a very inferior description. I would not have given a shilling an acre for it. Of the bulk of the land, I should estimate two and a half acres would be required for one sheep. In its natural state the block would have been worth about £100 per annum (or might be a little more), if let for such a term as to give tenant the prospect of recovering value of improvements. As to the present value, properties are almost unsaleable at the present time, owing to the general depression and want of confidence. Taking into consideration the probable value of wool, and other circumstances, if the district were reduced into a state of security, and confidence were restored, I cannot say what would be the annual value of the property apart from the stock. I was there about twelve months ago for some little time, but had not then an opportunity of examining the property. I have been informed that considerable improvements have been made since I left. Ido not know of any building called the Te Aute School or College—there was none whilst I was on the property. lam not aware of any education having been afforded to the children of aboriginal Natives or other persons in connection with it whilst I was there. I know the inhabited neighbourhood called Te Aute. There used to be a Maori pa there. There was, while I was in the occupation of the property, no institution in the nature of a school maintained at Te Aute in connection with it. There had been, I have heard, previously. The buildings on the property were in very good repair when I left. I am aware that the value of the property has been considerably over-estimated. The public road runs through the paddocks which contained the superior land to which I have referred, and persons passing are induced to estimate the value of the whole by what they see of the smaller portion through which the road passes. The Eev. S. Williams —(lsth April, 1869), —being duly sworn, states: My name is Samuel Williams. I reside at Te Aute. I know the lands comprised in the four grants, copies of which are before me. (Record copies of Grants No. 4, Eeg. xiv. ; No. 5, Eeg. xiv.; No. 12, Eeg. xiv.; No. 1,650, Eeg. 47, produced.) These lands have been transferred to and are now vested in the Bishop of Wellington, Archdeacon Octavius Hadfield, William McCloud Bannatyne, George Hunter, and Eobert Stokes. Though there is a distinction between the trust expressed in the first and second and that in the third and fourth, they have been managed as one property. The land comprised in grant referred to as No. 1,650, Eeg. H. 7, and part of land comprised in grant referred to as No. 12, Eeg. xiv., amounting to 244 acres, was granted in exchange for land—part of the land comprised in grant No. 5, Eeg. xiv. I was not aware of any difference in the trusts till several years after entering upon the management of the property. I am in occupation of and have the management of the property. This commenced in 1854. There is a dwelling-house of timber, with shingle roof, containing four rooms on ground floor in main building, two rooms in skilling, four attic rooms, and a kitchen detached, occupied by myself and family ; a wool-shed built of timber, two small houses in the occupation of farm servants, one-stalled stable and cartshed, and a shepherd's house and a milking-shed; the shepherd's house is on No. 4, Eeg. xiv. The other buildings are on No. 5, Eeg. xiv. There are between twelve and thirteen miles of fencing on No. 5, Eeg. xiv., and No. 12, Eeg. xiv. ; and on No. 1,650, Eeg. H. 7, fifty-five acres have been ploughed and are now laid down in English grasses, making, together with other lands which have been prepared by burning and surface-sowing, about. 900 acres, which are enclosed in paddocks, besides other portions of the land which have been surface-sown. The land which has been surface-sown was fern land previously. The road passes through the edge of No. 5, Reg. xiv.; No. 12, Eeg. xiv. ; and No. 16. Eeg. xiv. The land through which the road passes in No. 5., Eeg. xiv., is some of the best land in the whole property. Ido not consider there are 1,000 acres on the whole property of equal value to that on the side of the road in that block. The whole of the land now belonging to the estate is fenced in, except that comprised in No. 4, Eeg. xiv. Of the land described in plan to grant No. 650, Eeg. H. 7, together with 244 acres bounded by the edge of a swamp on the one side, and the original boundary of the land granted to the Bishop of Wellington, (in grant No. 12, Eeg. xiv.), 4,244 acres were included instead of 4,000 intended to be granted, the extra 244 acres and the 382 acres described in grant 1,650, Eeg. H. 7., having been given by the Government in exchange for the portion of land comprised in grant No. 5, Eeg. xiv. Part of the land described in the plan annexed to the grant of section No. 19b., Te Aute, being land described in grant 1,650, Reg. H. 7, pencilled by me with the letter O and my initials, belong to the trust expressed in grant No. 5, Eeg. xiv., the portions comprised in the grant No. 1,650, Eeg. H. 7., and the portion bordered by the swamp, having been granted in exchange for a portion of the land comprised in grant No. 5, Reg. xiv., and which was re-conveyed to the Grown by the Trustees. When the arrangement for the exchange was agreed to between the Government and myself, I was not aware of the difference between the trusts of the first and second above-mentioned grants, and the third-mentioned grant. The accounts of the receipts and expenditure have been rendered to the Trustees up to the end of 1867. Accounts for 1868 are not yet made up. The accounts are forwarded to the Bishop of Wellington. The merchants' accounts are made up in March in every year, and my agent's account for 1868 has not yet been rendered. The balance of receipts and payments for 1861 was (as against the property upon the general account), £867 13s. 7d., and in 1862, £1,937 65.; in 1863, £3,120 10s. ;in 1864, £2,898 17s. 4d.; in 1865, £2,869 ss. ;in 1866, £1,669 Is. sd. ; in 1867, £1,450 13s. 9d. I laid out, in completing the building, up to 1867, £356 ss. 2d. in excess of receipts. I have examined the account printed in Mr. Russell's report in Parliamentary Paper, E. No. 4, Appendix to Journals of House of Eepresentatives, Report

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert