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An Epitome of Official Documents Relative to Native Affairs and Land Purchases in the North Island of New Zealand

[No. 1.]

page 1

No. 1.

Copy of a Despatch from Governor Sir George Gipps to Lord John Russell.

Bay of Islands.Appointment of Land Claims Commissioners. Government House, Sydney, 9th October, 1840.

My Lord,—

I have the honour to report to your Lordship that, agreeably to the powers vested in me by the Act which was transmitted with my despatch to your Lordship of the 10th August last, No. 110, I have appointed the undermentioned gentlemen to be Commissioners for inquiring into claims to grants of land in New Zealand: Francis Fisher, Esq., Matthew Richmond, Esq., Edward Lee Godfrey, Esq. And I have further the honour to enclose to your Lordship a copy of the Commission under which these gentlemen have been appointed, and also a copy of the instructions which I have caused to be addressed to them.

Trusting these measures will meet your Lordship's approval,

I have, &c.,

George Gipps.

Enclosures.
(No. 1.)

[Commission of Appointment.—By His Excellency Sir George Gipps, Knight, Captain-General and Govern or-in-Chief of the Territory of New South Wales and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same.]

(No. 2.)

Instructions for the Commissionees appointed to examine and report on Claims to Grants of Land in New Zealand, under the Act of the Governor in Council, 4 Victoriæ, No. 7.

1.The Commissioners will proceed with all convenient despatch to the Bay of Islands, and on arriving there will wait on the Lieutenant-Governor, and, after showing him their Commission and instructions, will advise with him as to the best means of entering on their duties. In the execution of their commission they will not be subject to the control of the Lieutenant-Governor, except in the particulars hereinafter mentioned, but they will of course at all times yield to him the respect that is due to his station.
2.They will bear in mind that the Act of Council does not authorize them to inquire into any case which is not especially referred to them by the Governor of New South Wales.
3.Before proceeding to the actual investigation of any case, they will take care that the following particulars are duly, notified for at least fourteen days in one or more New Zealand newspapers, viz., the names of the-parties interested as claimants; the names of all alleged settlers; the situation, boundaries, and estimated extent of the land claimed; the names of any opponents; the place of hearing, and the time of hearing. In cases of doubt or great importance, it will also be desirable that copies of the notices be transmitted to the Governments of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, for the purpose of being inserted in the respective Government Gazettes.
4.Either the official Protector of Aborigines, or some person appointed in his stead by the Lieutenant-Governor, must be present at all their investigations, in order to protect the rights and interests of the Natives. The attendance of competent interpreters must also be insured.
5.The Commissioners will conduct their proceedings, as far as they conveniently can, with open doors, especially whilst witnesses are under examination; but they will have the power of closing their doors for the purpose of deliberation, or, if necessary, to preserve order; and also to make such rules for the proceedings of their Court as they may deem requisite, being consistent with the provisions of the Act and with these instructions.
6.In summoning and examining witnesses, recording evidence, and in every other step of their procedure, they will govern themselves strictly by the directions contained in the Act of Council; and in preparing their reports they will adopt the., accompanying form (Z), transmitting them with the least possible delay to the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales for the decision of the Governor.
7.By the 5th clause of the Act the Commissioners are directed in very respect to set forth the number of acres which the payments made to the Natives by the claimants would be equivalent to, according, to the table in Schedule (D). They are not, however, to consider themselves absolutely bound to adhere to the number of acres so determined, but, within moderate limits, will be at liberty to recommend more or less, according to circumstances. As a general rule, the number derived from the table may be considered as the minimum to which the claimant may be entitled, whilst the maximum is fixed by the Act at 2,560 acres. The cases in which less than the minimum may be given will probably be where the land claimed is, from its situation or quality, particularly valuable, or where the articles given in barter to the Natives were likely to be hurtful to them instead of useful,— such, for instance, as gunpowder, firearms, or ardent spirits, or where the intercourse of Europeans, has clearly been prejudicial to the Natives. More than the number derived from the table may be page 2given in a case where any individual has rendered personal services to the Natives, or where he may not be allowed to retain all the land on which he has made improvements. These, however, are points in which the Commissioners must he guided by their own discretion, and of course they must take care to keep their awards as far as possible in harmony with and in due proportion to each other.
8.In calculating the value of improvements on lands not to be retained by the claimant, the Commissioners will only take into consideration how much more would the land sell for if entirely in an unimproved state. This sum, or its equivalent in land at its present selling value, may be allowed to the claimant in addition to the quantity to which he is entitled on account of his purchase from the Natives, whether that quantity be 2,560 acres or less; but it is of course to be understood that this applies only to cases in which the land wherein the improvements were made is not allowed to be retained by the claimant. When he retains the land he has the full benefit of his improvements, and herefore can claim no compensation for them.
9.The Commissioners are also desired by the Act to set forth the situation, measurement, and boundaries by which the lands which they award to any claimant may afterwards be described in a deed of grant. To enable them to do this, a surveyor will be placed under their orders.
10.In addition to the particulars above mentioned, they will specify in each report the mode of conveyance used in the purchase from the Natives, whether a formal deed or otherwise, the parties to it, and the proof. They will also insert a description of the land alienated by such conveyance but not awarded to the claimant, defined with such exactness as may be practicable and as may suffice for identifying the same, and preventing subsequent intrusion or encroachment.
11.In making their awards, or in marking out lands, they will observe the general regulations which already have or may hereafter be established in New Zealand in respect to frontage on roads, rivers, or coasts, as well as other particulars, and take care that the whole quantity awarded in any one case be taken in one block.
12.In the reservation of sites for towns, villages, works of defence, or other public purposes, they will (agreeably to the Act) follow such instructions as they may receive from the Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand, and in the absence of any instructions from him they will act on their own discretion; and in awarding compensation for any lands which, were they not required for such purpose, might be granted to the claimant, they will take into consideration the probable value only which the lands would have been of to the claimant had he been allowed to retain them, and not the additional value which they may acquire in the hands of the Government, or in consequence of any proceeding on the part of the Government. They will also further take into consideration the increased value which may be given to any of the lands awarded to the claimant by the neighbourhood of the town, village, or work of defence to be established on the land retained by the Grovernment. The compensation for lands so resumed may, if the case require it, be in excess of the maximum grant of 2,560 acres.
13.As land will probably be claimed by the same person in different localities, every claimant, at his first appearance before the Commissioners, should be required to state the whole amount of his claims in all the Islands of New Zealand, and at the same time he should be warned—if a warning seems necessary—that the utmost which can be allowed for the claims of the same individual in the whole of the Islands is 2,560 acres; also that the claims of a number of partners can only be considered as the claim of one individual.
14.When parties claim in different localities, each separate claim preferred by the same individual is to be considered as a distinct case and decided accordingly, i.e., on its own merits and within its own localities, with the single exception that the aggregate quantity recommended must not exceed 2,560 acres. Where the aggregate would exceed that quantity the Commissioners will use their own discretion, consulting, however, the wishes and convenience of the claimants as far as possible, whether to deduct the excess from any one of the spots claimed, or proportionably from the whole.
15.If it shall appear in the investigation of any case that the real claimant, or rather the person who ought to be the claimant, is an alien, the fact must, be specially reported; but if the alien do not object, having the opportunity to do so, the award may go on and the report be made as in other cases.
16.The Commissioners are not to decline to enter into any case on the ground that the fair claims of the parties will not be satisfied with 2,560 acres, it being an indispensable condition that every claim must be reported on by the Commissioners, except such report be dispensed with by the Governor.

By His Excellency's command.

C. Deas Thomson.

Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 2nd October, 1840.