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Province of Otago, requesting that further time should be allowed, before the proclamation of any future Hundreds, within which they might be allowed to bring forward objections against such proclamation.

The request preferred by these gentlemen appears to His Excellency’s Government to be reasonable; and a letter has been addressed by this mail to His Honor the Superintendent, pointing out the course which it is considered would ensure a fair consideration being given to the interests of the runholders. A copy of this letter is herewith enclosed for your information.

The Superintendent is therein requested to communicate to you the intention to apply for the proclamation of any Hundred which it is desired may be hereafter constituted; and on the receipt of such communication from his Honor, you will give notice immediately to the runholders within the proposed limits, so as to afford them reasonable time to make any representations that they may deem right with a view to the protection of their interests. This will afford you materials upon which to frame your report, which you will be good enough to forward, accompanied by a copy of the representations which the runholders may have made.

I have, &c.,

(Signed) HENRY SEWELL,

For the Secretary for Crown Lands.
The Commissioner of Crown Lands,
Dunedin.

Dunedin, Otago, December 11, 1861.

Sir,—It was our intention to forward to His Excellency the Governor, by the present mail, a petition—which had been numerously signed by settlers of position and property, for the most part engaged in agricultural pursuits—praying that His Excellency would, before proclaiming any more Hundreds in this Province, allow the runholders whose interests are endangered by a recent resolution of the Provincial Council, an opportunity of stating any reasonable objection there might be to such a measure. Unfortunately the petition referred to was deposited in the offices of Messrs. Cargill and Co., which were destroyed by fire a few days ago, and is consequently lost.

As it would require some time to procure the signatures to another petition, and as any delay might be attended with very serious results to many individuals, we beg to be permitted to submit for His Excellency’s consideration some of the facts which led the memorialists to believe that any extension of Hundreds at present is utterly unwarranted by the requirements of the Province.

The Land Regulations of Otago restrict the sale of land to those districts comprised within proclaimed Hundreds. By the same Regulations the holders of runs cease to have an exclusive right to occupy, so soon as they shall be included in any new Hundreds which it may be found necessary to proclaim when more country is required for sale and agricultural occupation; but the runholder opens up his run, makes large and expensive improvements, and invests capital with the understanding that he will not be disturbed until such a necessity absolutely arises. It was with no little consternation, therefore, that the runholders of this Province heard that the Provincial Council (in which their interests are scarcely at all represented) had, without discussion, agreed to a motion recommending the proclamation of new and extensive Hundreds, while many hundreds of thousands of acres in the Hundreds already proclaimed still remained unsold.

In the Hundreds between Dunedin and the Molyneux or Clutha River, and extending to the boundaries of the gold-field, there are nearly two hundred and fifty thousand acres still unsold. In the Hundreds south of that river, and immediately adjoining those now proposed to be proclaimed, there are about 50,000 acres of unsold land, of which quantity about 33,000 acres of good agricultural land have been surveyed into fifty-acre sections and open for selection for several years; from which it is evident that there is not an immediate demand for more Crown Land to be thrown open for purchase in that neighbourhood. To the north of Dunedin, the whole seaboard for about eight miles back has been recently declared into Hundreds, comprising about 360,000 acres, of which only about 18,000 acres have yet been sold. Were the present Hundreds surveyed into allotments, we believe there would be more eligible land in the market than would be required for some years to come.

It should be remembered that it is a regulation in this Province that no land is to be sold until so surveyed.

The boundaries of the extensive Hundreds recommended by the Provincial Council included large tracts of land wholly unfitted for agricultural purposes; and it is therefore with considerable alarm we view a proposal which will add but little to the development of the agricultural resources and occupation of the country, but which, if carried out, must result in almost ruin to many individuals, and embarrassment of an interest which has been, and may still be, of vast importance to this Province.

We therefore pray that His Excellency