(220)

"It is not my intention here to discuss the
evils attendant on the accumulation of land in
new Colonies, in the hands of persons without
capital, or the means of introducing labour. I
consider them to have been sufficiently estab-
lished by experience to entitle me to assume
them as admitted. By the Ordinance of the
9th June, 1841, which has been assented to by
Her Majesty, this evil is guarded against by the
limitation to 2560 acres, beyond which no grant
can be claimed: This restriction the Ordinance
now under consideration abandons, and placing
no limit upon the size of the grant which each
claimant may acquire, might prove the means
of exposing New Zealand to those evils which
have resulted in other Colonies from throwing
large and unmanageable grants into the hands of
individuals unable profitably to use them. ***

"I cannot think that it would be prudent in
Her Majesty's Government to dispense with the
direct and wholesome check upon the undue
acquisition of land which the former Ordinance
had imposed, and which from the earliest Pro-
clamations the settlers must have been led to
expect. I feel therefore no doubt, as regards
the interest of the Colony at large, that they
will be best consulted by reviving the Ordinance
of June, 1841. Feeling, however, the considera-
tion which is due to the interest of the indi-
viduals, I will examine, thirdly-

"The provisions of this Ordinance as affecting
claimants themselves.

"To many of them, and those too the persons
most deserving of consideration, viz. a large
body of the ansatttlons judging by their own
representation, it appears probable that its
operation would prove most injurious.

"The principle of the Ordinance of June,
1841, was to value the land to those who had
acquired it in times of insecurity, and expended
labour and capital on its improvement, at a low
rate-and in so doing proceeded upon a per-
fectly just principle.

"That principle the Ordinance of February,
1842, abandons, and placing all parties upon an
equality, fixes a uniform price of 5s. upon land,
whenever, and under whatever circumstances it
had been acquired. To the justice of this I
cannot assent. The price of 5s. per acre would
be too high for those to whom by the graduated
seals it would have been valued at 6d., and too
low for those to whom it would have been valued
at 8s.

*"Under such circumstances I need hardly ob-
serve, that it became my duty to advise Her
Majesty to disallow, and Her Majesty is accor-
dingly pleased hereby to disallow this Ordinance,

"It follows that you will be guided in future
by the provisions of the enactment of the 9th
June, 1841, which will of course be revived by
the disallowance of the Act which repealed it!

By His Excellency's Command,
(For the Colonial Secretary,)
WILLIAM CONNELL

---LAND CLAIMS ALREADY REPORTED
UPON.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 6th September, 1843.

IN consequence of the disallowance of the
Ordinance of the Legislative Council of this
Colony, Session 2, No. 14, intituled " An
Ordinance to amend an Ordinance enacted by
the Governor of New Zealand, with the advice
and consent of the Legislative Council thereof,
Session 1, No. 2," passed on the 25th February,
1842, His Excellency the Officer Administering
the Government directs it to be notified that a
List of the confirmed Claims to Land in New
Zealand, revised in accordance with the Ordi-
nance of the 1st Session of the Legislative
Council, No. 2, now revived, will be published
in a Supplement to the Government Gazette of
the present week.

By His Excellency's Command,
(For the Colonial Secretary),
WILLIAM CONNELL,

GOVERNMENT NOTICE.

EXCHANGE OF LAND.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 6th September, 1843.

HIS Excellency the Officer Administering
the Government directs it to be notified
that by a Despatch recently received from the
Right Honorable the Secretary of State for the
Colonies, he is instructed that Her Majesty's
Government has consented to allow to all
claimants who have established their Titles to
land in this Colony, before the Commissioners
appointed to investigate their claims, the option
of exchanging their Land for Grants in the
unoccupied portions of the District in which
the Town of Auckland is situated, especial
reference being had to the proportional values
which have been established in the Colony for
Town, Suburban, and Country Allotments.

Claimants who are in the above position, and
whose names will appear in the Supplement to
the Government Gazette of this day's date, are
accordingly informed that applications from
parties desirous of availing themselves of this
indulgence, will be received at this Office until
the 31st day of December next.

By His Excellency's command,
(For the Colonial Secretary,)
WILLIAM CONNELL,

ALTERATIONS IN THE LIGHTS OF CAPE
GRINEZ, AND OF POINT D'ALPRECK,
ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE STRAIT
OF DOVER.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 31st August, 1843.

HIS Excellency the Officer Administering
the Government, in pursuance of instruc-
tions received from the Right Honorable the