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PETITIONS PRESENTED TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND ORDERED TO BE PRINTED.

SESSION 1869.

WELLINGTON. 1869.

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No. 1. PETITION OE JOHN MACLEAN, OE OTAGO. To the Honorable the House of Representatives of the Colony of New Zealand, The Sumble Petition of John Maclean, of Dunedin, in the Province of Otago, Bunholder, Humbly Siieweth, — 1. That on and for some time previous to the sth day of July, 1867, I held under license from the Crown an interest in run number one hundred and thirty-seven in the Province of Otago. 2. That shortly after the coming into operation of " The Otago Waste Lands Act, 1866," I became by purchase the sole tenant of the said run, at a cost of upwards of six thousand six hundred pounds, exclusive of the cost of the stock thereon. 3. That I accepted a lease under the new Act thereby agreeing to pay the very heavy and oppressive assessments imposed thereby, and have (in addition to my original outlay of upwards of six thousand six hundred pounds for the said run) since expended upwards of one thousand four hundred pounds in improvements thereon. 4. That I purchased the said run and carried on improvements thereon, upon the faith and belief that I should not be disturbed in its occupation until the expiration of the lease, or at least until some portion of it might be urgently required for bona fide settlement. 5. That your petitioner was fortified in such belief by the assurance of the New Zealand Government as contained in a letter dated the sth day of March, 1862, from the Colonial Secretary to the Hon. Major Richardson, the then Superintendent of Otago, also by the assurance of good faith towards the lessees from the Crown expressed by His Honor the present Superintendent of Otago on the prorogation of the Provincial Council on the sth day of June, 1867, and by the unshaken conviction that any breach of good faith towards Crown tenants would never be permitted by Her Majesty's representative, or by the Government of the Colony. 6. That the Provincial Council of the Province of Otago has, during its recent Session, adopted a Eesolution {inter alia) —That there is a necessity for a new Hundred, of fifteen thousand acres, at the Beaumont, of which it is proposed to take ten thousand acres out of the run number one hundred and thirty-seven so leased as aforesaid by your petitioner. 7. That within the boundaries of the ten thousand acres so proposed to be taken from your petitioner, a very small proportion of land is adapted for agricultural purposes, a fact which is clearly established by the evidence taken before a Select Committee of the Provincial Council. 8. That there already exists, adjoining to the proposed new Hundred, a tract of commonage containing about ninety thousand acres. 9. That such commonage is in the heart of the Tuapeka Gold Eield, and is nearer and more accessible to Dunedin than your petitioner's run, and contains many thousands of acres of land lying idle, which are quite equal in every respect, if not superior, to any of the land proposed to be taken from your petitioner. 10. That the total population within the limits of the Tuapeka Commonage District does not exceed three thousand eight hundred and eighty-four souls, of whom about one thousand reside in the townships of Lawrence, Wetherstone, Waitahuna, and Waipori. 11. That the supply of land now in the market suited for agriculture is far in excess of the demand, and that the only purpose for which land would be purchased within the limits of the proposed Hundred would be to ensure to the purchasers the opportunity of depasturing stock over the whole of the adjacent country, and thus your petitioner, as the bond fide lessee under the Crown, after expending upwards of eight thousand pounds in purchase money and improvements, would have his interests sacrificed and be ousted to make room for a few small purchasers of freeholds, who would, for a nominal outlay, and without being possessed of any existing vested rights, acquire those rights which belong to him, and for which he has so dearly paid. 12. That the circumstances of your petitioner's case are aggravated in a peculiar degree by the mode in which it is proposed to select the land for the purpose of a new Hundred on his run, for, as will plainly appear by reference to the plan in the margin thereof, it could not have been possible, by exercising the utmost ingenuity, to have devised any other plan so well calculated to render the remainder of the run utterly useless to him as lessee. The run contains in the whole about thirty thousand acres. The portion coloured red indicates the ten thousand acres proposed to be taken as a Hundred, and the portions coloured blue indicate the positions of the remaining portions of the run. Those portions would thus become completely isolated, and, from the character of the country, would, without the centre portion, be rendered almost valueless to your petitioner. 13. That your petitioner's statements are substantially corroborated by various persons of respectable standing in this Province. Tour petitioner prays that your Honorable House will be pleased to take such steps as may be necessary to prevent so great a wrong being done to him as that which the Provincial Council of Otago have sanctioned and approved. And your petitioner will ever pray, &c. John Maclean.

PETITIONS PRESENTED TO THE HOUSE OE REPRESENTATIVES. ORDERED TO BE PRINTED.

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No. 2. PETITION OE SETTLEES WITHIN HITNDEEDS IN THE NORTHERN PORTION OE THE PROVINCE OE OTAGO. To the Members of the Honorable the House of Representatives in Session assembled, at Wellington, New Zealand, The Petition of the undersigned Settlers residing within Hundreds, Humbly Sheweth, — 1. That your petitioners, when they purchased land within hundreds, did so on the faith of the Waste Lands Act of Otago, 1866, being strictly adhered to, more particularly the clauses relative to the management of Crown lands within Hundreds. 2. That your petitioners, on the strength of this belief, have invested largely in improvements on their lands within Hundreds. 3. That one of the chief inducements held forth to your petitioners for settlement within Hundreds was the right of pasturage and powers of mangement within the same being vested in themselves by virtue of the before mentioned clauses of the Otago Waste Lands Act of 1866. 4. That your petitioners, through means of their Wardens legally appointed, exercised the said management, have allotted the pasturage, and levied the assessments in terms of said Act. 5. That your petitioners, by means of these assessments, defrayed all expenses of management, paid half the amount of the same to the District Local Road Boards, and have been able to carry out several works of considerable public utility within the various Hundreds. 6. That your petitioners have learnt, with surprise and indignation, that certain Resolutions have passed the Otago Provincial Council with a view to substitute the Superintendent and the Executive Council (for the time being) in lieu of the present local management, and further providing that the assessments, instead of being applied to local purposes as at present, should be paid into the Provincial Treasury and form part of the general revenue of the Province. 7. That your petitioners believe that the powers proposed to be given to the Superintendent and Executive Council over freehold property is an attempt at an illegal interference with the rights of the same, and that the delegation of the management of Hundreds to a constable will be felt as a most invidious and obnoxious measure. 8. That your petitioners desire to state that they have no wish to interfere with any Bills passed by the Provincial Council of Otago so long as they do not disturb and deteriorate their vested rights, -and had the proposed Amendment Act of the Waste Lands Act only sought to legislate for Hundreds hereafter to be proclaimed, they would not have deemed it necessary to appeal to your Honorable House on the subject. At the same time they cannot help thinking that continual alterations of Otago Land Acts are highly objectionable, and calculated to prevent either settlers or capitalists from risking their means by investing under such unstable laws. 9. That your petitioners trust that they have shown ample reasons for your Honorable House rejecting the Otago Amendment Act, 1869, of the Waste Lands Act; and they will ever pray. [Here follow eighty-one signatures.]

No. 3. PETITION OF W. P. GORDON, OE STRATH TAIERI RUN. To His Excellency Sir George Ferguson Bowen, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and St. George, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same, The humble Petition of William Pile Gordon, of Strath Taieri Bun, in the Province of Otago, Bunholder, Sheweth,— 1. That your petitioner arrived in Otago in the year 1865, and, in conjunction with his partner, Captain Shepherd, invested a large sum of money in the purchase from the Crown licensee of his interest in run number two hundred and thirteen B, in the said Province, with certain stock thereon. 2. That your petitioner and his said partner were, in a great measure, induced to make the said purchase by the very important consideration that the said run was situate (as it still is) within a proclaimed gold field, and that, according to the then existing laws relating to the gold fields, the holder of such a run was entitled to an absolute and unqualified right to full compensation in the event of the total or partial cancellation, by the Government, of the license for such run, and that the holder could, if so disposed, insist upon his license being so cancelled at any time during the currency of the said license. 3. That " The Gold Fields Act, 1866," although repealing the former Gold Fields Acts, re-enacted provisions entitling the holder of a run within a gold field to full compensation in the event of the cancellation of the license or lease of the runholder. 4. That the forty-eighth section of the said " Gold Fields Act, 1866," provides that it shall be lawful for the Governor, at any time subsequent to the proclamation of a gold field, to withdraw by proclamation therefrom any Crown lands which he may deem it necessary to withdraw, and that such lands shall thenceforth be dealt with under the ordinary law regulating the disposal of the Crown lands of the said Province. 5. That your petitioner submits that, by the said forty-eighth section, the Legislature never intended that the said power of withdrawing runs from gold fields should be exercised so as to deprive

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the runholder of his right to compensation for the cancellation of his lease under the said Gold Fields Act, because, in the first place, such a construction would impute an unjust and evasive spirit to the section in question, instead of the very different and more equitable interpretation of which the words of the section are capable; and because, in the second place, it is expressly provided in the one hundred and thirteenth section of the said Act that no then existing right, title, interest, obligation, or penalty, should be affected by the said Act, so that the said absolute and unqualified right to compensation, so vested as aforesaid, was saved by the said " Gold Fields Act, 1866." 6. That, upon the passing of " The Otago Waste Lands Act, 1866," your petitioner applied to the Waste Lands Board for a pastoral lease of the said run, in terms of the sixty-ninth section of that Act. 7. That the Provincial Government of Otago thereupon made it a condition of the granting of such application that your petitioner and his said partner should enter into a covenant to allow the Provincial Government to select ten thousand acres of the said run for sale or agricultural leasing without giving any compensation to your petitioner and his said partner. 8. That your petitioner and his said partner submitted to the said condition, surrendered their depasturing license, and accepted a pastoral lease of the said run, relying upon the good faith of the Provincial Government, which, as above clearly appears, was pledged to your petitioner and his partner, that, save as to the said ten thousand acres, they would not be dispossessed of any part of the said run without receiving from the Government the full compensation which, in that event, they were intended to receive under the said Gold Fields Act. 9. That, relying as aforesaid on the good faith of the said Provincial Government, your petitioner, since the issue of the said pastoral lease, has paid increased assessment under the same to the amount of nine hundred and seventy pounds nine shillings and ten pence in two years, and has laid out large sums of money in fencing and other improvements upon the said run. 10. That, still relying upon the good faith of the Provincial Government, your petitioner recently purchased the share of his said partner in the said run and stock for the sum of six thousand five hundred pounds. 11. That, on the 4th day of June, 1869, the Provincial Council of Otago passed a Resolution affirming the necessity for a new Hundred of twenty thousand acres at Strath Taieri, the boundaries to be as recommended by the Provincial Government, and that your petitioner is informed and believes that it is the intention of the said Provincial Government to give effect, so far as that Government is able, to the said Resolution, by recommending your Excellency to proclaim the proposed Hundred. 12. That the proclamation of such a Hundred would effect almost the entire ruin of your petitioner by depriving him of, without giving him any compensation for, fifteen thousand acres, comprising nearly half of the said run, and consisting of the low-lying pastoral land in the said run, and by leaving to your petitioner a tract of country which, for the most part, consists of high mountain ranges, which during the winter are continually covered with snow, and upon which it would be impossible, to depasture more than a small portion of your petitioner's sheep and cattle now upon the said run. 13. That if the proposed Hundred were proclaimed, your petitioner would be exposed to the further and vexatious disadvantage of having his sheep and cattle constantly impounded for straying upon the unenclosed Hundred, the said Provincial Council having recently passed a Resolution which, if legalized by Act of the General Assembly, would authorize such impounding, and it being scarcely possible, from the nature of the country, to prevent sheep and cattle from straying as aforesaid. 14. That the proposed mutilation of the said run, if carried out, would in fact render the remaining part of the run so useless as a run, that nothing short of the value of the lease of the whole run, and of the improvements thereon, would approach to an adequate compensation to your petitioner, who, even if compensated for the whole run as aforesaid, would yet suffer great loss from the ruinous sacrifice of stock which would be caused by a forced sale in a very depressed market. 15. That a very large part of the southern portion of the proposed Hundred is thickly covered with large masses of rock, which render it quite unfit for agriculture, and that, in the other portion of the said proposed Hundred, there is only a very small proportion of land at all suitable for that purpose. 16. That there is no market for agricultural produce within fifty miles of the proposed Hundred, and no agricultural farmer within thirty miles. 17. That it is notorious that such land as the proposed Hundred is not wanted for the purpose of bona fide settlement, according to the well understood principle of the Hundred system, nor, if proclaimed as a Hundred, is it intended to be used for any other than pastoral purposes by those who would then be able to acquire the right to depasture stock upon the Hundred by the purchase of an insignificant area therein. 18. That your petitioner ventures to submit to your Excellency that such an attempt to oust, without any compensation, the runholder (who, in reliance upon the good faith of the Government, has invested his all in the purchase, improvement, and stocking of his run), not for the purpose of the bond fide settlement of an agricultural class, but only to distribute among many stockowners the grazing area which rightfully belongs to and has been dearly purchased by one, is calculated to undermine all public confidence in the fairness of the Provincial Government in administering the land laws, and will certainly deter capitalists from risking their means in such precarious investments, unless, by the timely exercise of your Excellency's overruling authority, such practices shall be forbidden and public confidence thereby restored. Tour petitioner therefore humbly prays that, before dealing with the recommendation of the Provincial Government respecting the proposed Hundred, your Excellency will be pleased to appoint a Commission of capable and disinterested persons to examine into and report to your Excellency upon the matters above referred to, and that, in the event of such report confirming the substantial truth of the statements above mentioned, your Excellency will be pleased to refuse to proclaim the proposed Hundred. And your petitioner will ever pray.

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No. 4. PETITION OF FRANCIS WALLACE McKENZIE, OF GLENKEREICH, OTAGO. To His Excellency Sir G. F. Bowen, G.C.M.G., Governor of New Zealand, and the Executive Council thereof, The humble Petition of Francis Wallace McKenzie, Settler in the Glenkereich District of the Province of Otago, Sheweth, — That your petitioner is a retired captain of Her Majesty's and the Honorable East India Company's Service, in receipt of a pension. That your petitioner settled in this district in the year 1856, and was the first to open up this part of the country. That your petitioner is at present lessee of run number one hundred and sixty-eight, being about fifteen thousand acres of pasture land. That your petitioner has learned that Mr. John McKellar, of Tapanui Run, a part of which run was recommended for proclamation into a Hundred at the late meeting of the Provincial Council, has since then procured to be signed a petition to the General Government, purporting to be the spontaneous act of the inhabitants of the Tapanui Township, and praying that a portion of your petitioner's run should be declared a Hundred instead of a portion of the said John McKellar's run, as recommended by the Provincial Council. That the said petition has been got up solely in the interest of the said John McKellar, and not in the interest of the public of the Province ; and that the prayer of the said petition differs from the prayer of a petition from the same people and place, upon which was founded the recommendation of the Council for a new Hundred in this neighbourhood. That that portion of your petitioner's run proposed to be included in the Tapanui Hundred is separated from Tapanui and the remainder of the proposed Hundred by a large river, is not easy of access from that side, is of a character unsuited for agricultural settlement, and from its detached position would prove unavailable to the settlers on the Tapanui side for pastoral purposes. That the Provincial Council refused to recommend that this portion of your petitioner's run should be included in the Tapanui Hundred, and your petitioner was not examined by the Select Committee. Tour petitioner does therefore pray that no new Hundred be declared upon his run number one hundred and sixty-eight until at least your petitioner shall have accorded to him the usual grace of stating his objections thereto before the Provincial Government, or a Select Committee of the Provincial Council. And your petitioner, as in duty bound, will ever pray. E. W. McKenzie. Glenkereich, Tapanui, June 21, 1869.

No. 5. PETITION OF HARRIE CARR ROBISON. To His Excellency Sir George Ferguson Bowen, G.C.M.G., &c, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, The Humble Petition of Sarrie Carr Bobison, of the Wairuna District, in the Province of Otago, in the Colony of Neiv Zealand, Bunholder, Humbly Sheweth,- — 1. That your petitioner was formerly the licensee from the Crown of runs numbered 31 and 78, in the said Province of Otago. 2. That, in compliance with the terms of " The Otago Waste Lands Act, 1866," your petitioner surrendered his licenses for the said runs, and accepted leases from the Crown in lieu thereof. 3. That the annual payments to the Crown in respect to the said runs while they were held under the original licenses, amounted to about thirty-five pounds only, while under the new leases the annual sums paid by your petitioner in respect thereof amount to abo"ut four hundred and twenty pounds. 4. That your petitioner was induced to surrender his original licenses and accept leases in lieu thereof on the understanding and belief that his occupation would not be disturbed until such parts of the said runs as are fitted for the purposes of agriculture and bond fide settlement were actually required for those purposes. 5. That your petitioner was fortified in such belief by the assurance of the New Zealand Government, as contained in a letter dated the sth day of March, 1862, from the Colonial Secretary to the Hon. Major Richardson, the then Superintendent of Otago, also by the assurances of good faith towards lessees from the Crown expressed by His Honor the present Superintendent of Otago, on the prorogation of the Provincial Council, on the sth day of June, 1867, and by the conviction that any breach of good faith towards Crown tenants would not be permitted by her Majesty's representatives or by the Government of the Colony. 6. That additional land is not required in the Wairuna District for bond fide agricultural settlement, an assertion which is supported by the fact that until a few months ago about eighteen thousand acres of land were open for sale adjacent to run number thirty-one, land of superior quality, more easy of access than any land held by your petitioner, and situate within a short distance from the landing place on the Pomahaka River, from which there is regular steam communication with Dunedin. That these lands were open for sale for five years, at twenty shillings per acre, and on being submitted to auction a few months ago they were" purchased by'two capitalists, namely, Messieurs Tolmie and Douglas, at prices varying from ten shillings to twelve shillings per acre.

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7. That the Provincial Council at its last Session passed a Resolution that there is a necessity for a new Hundred of about twenty thousand acres on runs seventy-eight and thirty-one. 8. That the plan drawn in the margin hereof, and edged with green, gives a correct delineation of runs numbers seventy-eight and thirty-one, while the portions thereof coloured red show those parts which the Provincial Government desire to take from your petitioner, from which it will appear that it is proposed to deprive him of the whole of run thirty-one, and by far the best part of run seventy-eight thus rendering the whole of the remainder comparatively useless to him. _ 9. That with the exception of about three thousand acres the land proposed to be taken from your petitioner is not suitable for agriculture, much of it being situated at an altitude of about one thousand two hundred feet above the sea level. 10. That your petitioner has (acting on the belief that he would be dealt with in good faith) expended large sums of money in improving the breed of his stock, and has also expended upwards of two thousand five hundred pounds in improvements (which will become useless to him should he be deprived of his land) including fencing, sheep-wash, houses, woolshed, &c. 11. That additional injustice would be caused to your petitioner by the proclamation of the said Hundred, inasmuch as the remainder of run seventy-eight would be quite inadequate to maintain his stock, which consequently he would be compelled to throw upon the market, at a time when any stock of all descriptions are almost unsaleable, and thus entail upon him a heavy loss. _ 12. That from his own knowledge, and on the authority of statements made by many of the agricultural settlers themselves, your petitioner can confidently state that agriculturarfarming is not at present a remunerative occupation; also, that in the event of any of the land within the proposed new Hundred being purchased in small parcels or otherwise, it will not be used for agricultural purposes, but solely with the view of securing grazing rights to the purchasers ; in short,°the result would be merely a change of pastoral, tenants, id est, from your petitioner, who has in good faith acquired by lease from the Crown a vested right in the land, and for which he pays a high rent, to a, few small squatters, who have no such right, and from whom no rent would be obtained. 13. That your petitioner is informed and verily believes that on a previous occasion the Provincial Government of Otago were induced to recommend your Excellency to proclaim a new Hundred in this Province on the faith of a promise by a large number of settlers that they would, on such proclamation being made, purchase at twenty shillings per acre the greater portion of the land thrown open for sale; but that, notwithstanding such promise, on the said land being opened for sale, not one of the said' persons applied for or purchased a single acre, and that to the present time only a few hundreds of acres of the said land have been purchased, and those by one of the pastoral tenants of the run so thrown open for sale. Tour petitioner therefore prays that your Excellency will be pleased to prevent an act of injustice and wrong being done to him, by refusing to proclaim the said runs into a hundred, unless under such conditions as will afford to your petitioner a fair and full compensation for the losses he would sustain by being deprived of his property. And your petitioner will ever pray, &c. Haerie C. Robison.

No. 6. PETITION OF E. W. EGGERS AND OTHERS. To His Excellency Sir George Bowen, G.C.M.G., Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand, The Petition of Miners of the Macrae's Plat Gold Fields, Sheweth, — Whereas we view with distrust and alarm a Resolution of the Provincial Council of Otago, passed fourth June, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, withdrawing a largo tract of land (no less than sixty thousand acres) from the Gold Fields : We humbly petition and pray your Excellency to exercise your sovereign prerogative and authority of veto upon such resolution taking effect without complete and full evidence being taken on the part of the mining interest of Otago that such land is not required for gold-mining purposes. And your Petitioners will ever pray, &c. [Here follow 34 signatures.]

No. 7. PETITION OF JOHN McKELLAR, OF TAPANUI, OTAGO. To His Excellency Sir George Ferguson Bowen, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same, The Humble Petition of John McKellar, of Tapanui, in the Province of Otago, New Zealand, Sheepfarmer and Grazier. Sheweth, — That your petitioner and his brother are, as copartners, joint lessees and occupiers of the Tapanui Station, in the Province of Otago. That your petitioner and his copartner purchased the said Tapanui Station from the then licensee thereof, about the period when the occupiers of country under pastoral leases were required, if they so desired, to apply for a lease under the provisions of " The Otago Waste Lands Act, 1866," and as a

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matter of convenience in the carrying out the terms of purchase it was arranged that the then licensee should apply for such lease. ..,,-< „ ,-v, i , That a lease was accordingly applied for, and the Provincial Government o± Otago consented to o-rant such lease, subject to the condition that the lessee should execute a deed covenanting to permit and allow His Honor the Superintendent of Otago, at any time during the term of the lease, to enter on the lands comprised in such lease, for the purpose of having surveyed in allotments eight thousand acres of such lands, and to permit and allow the said Superintendent to sell such eight thousand acres, and on such sale thereof to quit and deliver up possession of the lands so sold. That, with the consent of your petitioner and his copartner, the licensee agreed to take a lease of the said station, and to enter into the deed of covenant so required, and a lease and deed of covenant were accordingly executed, such lease being subsequently assigned to your petitioner and his That shortly after your petitioner had taken an assignment of the lease of the said Tapanui Station, at suggestion of a resident in the township of Tapanui, the eight thousand acres which the Otago Provincial Government reserved the right to sell, in pursuance of the terms of the said covenant, were directed by His Honor the Superintendent of Otago to be surveyed with the view to the same being That your petitioner, on hearing that such survey was made, represented to His Honor the Superintendent of Otago that the greater portion of the land so surveyed was not applicable for agricultural purposes, and, with the concurrence of the lessees of the adjoining country, suggested to His Honor that a portion only of the eight thousand acres, in conjunction with the lands forming part of the adjoining stations should be offered for sale, and His Honor subsequently informed your petitioner'that only four thousand acres of your petitioner's country would be offered for sale. That, at the last Session of the Otago Provincial Council, a petition was presented, praying that.a Hundred'should be declared of the lands in lease to your petitioner and his said copartner, and in compliance with the prayer of such petition the said Provincial Council recommended that fourteen thousand acres of the Tapanui Station should be declared into a Hundred, and such recommendation, your petitioner is informed, is now under the consideration of your Excellency. That the fourteen thousand acres so recommended to be declared into a Hundred comprise the eight thousand acres previously surveyed, with the view of being offered for sale in pursuance of the right reserved under the said deed of covenant. That, previous to the survey before mentioned of the eight thousand acres proposed to be ofiered for sale, under the provisions of the said deed of covenant, your petitioner had, of his own free will and without being requested so to do, fenced off and appropriated to the use of the inhabitants of the township of Tapanui and neighbourhood, for the purpose of depasture, two thousand acres or thereThe petition presented to the Provincial Council, praying for the declaration of a Hundred on the lands leased to your petitioner, was signed by one hundred and six persons, described as residents of That there are only from sixty to seventy inhabitants in, and in the immediate neighbourhood of, the township of Tapanui. , , . . Tour petitioner has reason for believing that some of the signatures to the said petition were fictitious, and that some at least of the persons purporting to have signed such petition never were required nor did sign such petition, and in proof of this assertion on the part of your petitioner, your petitioner would refer to the evidence taken before the Committee appointed by the Otago Provincial Council to inquire and report on the Petitions of Hundreds. That many of the parties whose names appear as having signed the said petition are in no way interested in the prayer of the said petition. That your petitioner is well acquainted with the inhabitants in and m the neighbourhood of Tapanui, and who could be in any way interested in the proclamation of the Hundred prayed for by the said'petition, and such persons, with the exception of the few resident in the township of Tapanui, the originators of the said petition, have declared themselves quite satisfied with the provisions, as before stated, made by your petitioner for the depasturing of their cattle on your petitioner's station, and your petitioner is assured that there is no desire whatever on the part of any of the parties who signed the said petition to purchase any part of the lands so recommended to be declared into Hundreds. . . That if otherwise than as last before stated, your petitioner is assured that the most of the persons who signed the said petition to the Provincial Council are not in a position to purchase any portion of the land recommended to be declared into a Hundred, of sufficient area for agricultural purposes. Your petitioner has no hesitation in asserting, from his knowledge and information of the circumstances of the persons interested, whose names are attached to the said petition to the Provincial Council and from his knowledge of the requirements of the district in which your petitioner's station is situated, that land for agricultural settlement is not required by them, or that, if required, they are not in a position to purchase for the purpose of agriculture ; and moreover, assuming the Hundred recommended to be required, it could only be with the view of acquiring the right to depasture by the acquisition of a limited area of freehold. ~■■,• TT , ■, , , That of the fourteen thousand acres recommended to be declared into a Hundred, only about one thousand five hundred are fit for agricultural purposes, the residue consisting of shingle and broken land being only adapted for pastoral purposes ; and your petitioner, in verification of this assertion, would respectfully ask an inspection and survey of the lands proposed to be declared into a Hundred by a disinterested! person competent to judge of its capabilities for agricultural purposes. Your petitioner ventures to assert 'that the agitation for the declaration of a Hundred on your petitioner's station originated from persons resident in the township of Tapanui, who had no desire themselves, and who knew well that there was no general desire on the part of their neighbours, to acquire lands for agricultural purposes, and that it was only from motives of envy and malice, and to serve political purposes, that such persons agitated the presentation of the petition, representing to

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fetitioner°'s Si slatfon UCII *•**" **' *S° *** ™ ld ac 1-e the right to depasture on your country; but your petitioner respLtfullv„S rt fl' *? * heagnC, ? ltural settlement of the Excellency will notin Ttl ' vT™ deSlrable such Element may be, your private interests!or oSrlvovTZ 6 T* ~ ar % d ° to existing jeopardize an ex sting 7 ° V t0 th ° ° b -J ect desired ) the general prosperity \f the Colony ® § * large rOTenue ' and otherwise resulting to petitxWaLloS 3^d3S i iS , rfsJ i H , J t circu - ta -- P-iously referred to by your & ral purposed and sanction the tt°n * *» thousand pounds, or ' 7 ° W P etltloncr and his copartner gave fifteen and S^JtSff I SSSgS?SS n tl g ° tiated &r *? ? UTChaSe ° f the Ta P a »»i station, petitioner and his SrtinfS^dSft^S^^T 9 f , °/ ag ° Waste Lands Act ' insisted on by the OtaSftSSGoverWeS ST 8 °/ C °T enant before referred to, your petitioner and his copartner 5Z ! S condition on which such lease would be granted Hundreds, and subject only to theffi the kwSc fro 7°f SU ° h J ? nd " dedared into limit of eight thousand acis wortXrA^Zit *° ™ y ° ffer for Sale the Sdtfiffit tnTi *°" » SUcb «* provisions of the lease ; and onX fai h oTtho 2 f J as ~ ent and rent im P oSed ™ d <* the ment of the conditions as so understood in whichl£? rf ° r ~ on the part of the Provincial Governleasc, your petitioner and his coparte IT P etltlone f a » d his copartner concurred, in such ments on the said station, since the date of suchlen l 6X^ eilded m bl " ldm S s > fencin *' and improveconsiderably in the imrchase of sheep and cattle 'UP *° f th ° USand P ° Unds > and ™ ted (» *J*£ *T Petitioner and his offering for sale the eiht thousa'TLes ™ed ™L, ° f the deed of COTenan t by required to fence in tie and untTfcJ «" f^* 8 ° f d / ould h -e bei would have continued to have the right to depasture W+ ft tV T com P leted ?°™ Petitioner proposed, your petitioner and his copartner willnot on'lv£ ?J° /f BanCtlon the Hundred will have to incur yet further heavy exSiSl^W 7 de of such contingent pasturage, but depasturage of the residue Tf the m fencing off such Hundred for the protection of the expenditure will have to be made in tte woof «W \ & *«*?*» that stiU "er building for the efficient working?of £BSr 'J ' shee P- dl P> and sections and have SnTdrSustSg *J? SSft Se'lenurfftl ?T f^ TO t0 granted in pursuance of the provisions oft he wLte Lands Aof' V Under the leases deed of covenant entered into by your Id Z Act^ otwith «tandmg the provisions of the conditions and on the same unttanfi and C ]Z£S **' °^ r lessees under the same capitalists from the neighbouring Colonic; in ?JT P? ktl . oner ls well a «™red, in purposes in the Province of Otago Australia declining to make investments for pastoral your petitioner and his copartner has petitioner and his copartner will lose ctlon f th ° Hundred your Colony. losetne greatei part ot the large capital they have invested in the oylhe'der^ » the ~ of a large to the case of your petitioner with oT°" Hundred '\ circumstances simillr viz., the agricultural the object desired to be obtained, contained in the Otago Waste Lands Act J provisions for the declaration of Hundreds Bunted systefii,TpadTcS7caSd ? bmit i™ the P rinci P le the encouraging the purchase of the Waste Lands „& g P ?n ? 6 settlemeil t of the Province by are declfrel S3!? lt?t d at if purposes, the result must necessarily be (ZticXlv under ,S ,vT f Ti!°f T&t f ° r a S ricul tural his copartner) to do injustice to private E? ™der cases similar to that of your petitioner and . pastoral interest in the province thF %f T** 0 ? ° f Ca P ita1 ' to in i ure th e consequence, to retard L thtcZv deSlred ' t0 enterpriS6 > and ' as a HunSd r -notion to the his copartner. * excellency s approval on the lands under lease to your petitioner and And your petitioner will ever pray, &c. July 13th, 1869. JoHH ' McKemab.

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PETITIONS.

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PETIT ION OF WILLIAM HENRY ROBERTS, OE ARDMORE STATION, To His Excellency Sir George The Znt Petite of William Henry Sherwood Boberts, of Ardmore Station, » the Province of The humble I Bheep _ farmer anA Grazier, SHm W your petitioner is lessee and occupier of a sheep and cattle station, called the Ardmore Station, situated in the Province of Otago station under the terms of a depasturing license That your petitioner formerly occupied tte ma Regulations, issued under the terms of the provisions of ge Otag^Was to _ . d^t =011, in pursuance of the powers and provisions of condition that your petitioner executed a f deed by P && & to event of His Honor the Superintendent, of£tago atanyi ti b tione r should consent to such sale, throw open for sale six thousand acres of'the lands leased yo p of mght be and quit and deliver up possession of the lands to tne ex required. . . . . leage glabiec t to the condition of his entering into the That your petitioner declined to take a lease nee on the pa rt of the Government required died of covenant, except on be free from the liability of that, if such deed of covenant was enWmt° ; your P eti 0 && rf having any part of his said station declared mto hundreds mentioll ed in the said deed of during the term of the lease, except to the ~ nt °Vl^ give such express and distinct assurance to covenant; and thereupon the , th ° « of Ms station, and executed the required deed of COTC Thtt your petitioner is informed, and believes the last *to» d^^JjoPj^gJ Sfbe a^ EXCe S y vour petitioner's station thereon, five thousand pouniTr sffiya -p-— « the said stto upwards ° fS Vhtt reapportion of the sum laid out in the improvements on the said station has been expended since the acceptance of the said lease. increased rent imposed under the That your petitioner would not have consented to j improvem ent, except on the provisions of " The Otago Waste Act 1866 no*^ e ld to gee J ed the certain tenure of faith of the assurance of the Provincial Government tnat reserved by the deed ol covenant Ms station for the full term granted by the the Hundred on the lands leased That, should your Excellency sane ion recommenaa && & hw&mi to your petitioner, your petitioner will be to c t pc r" petitioner on the station ' .anSv?^ That the proposed hundred comprises that tlie rec ommendation for the said has fenced off into paddocks; an<! rf f Specks and the cost thereof, and wdl proposed Hundred, your petitioner of ne P pad docks. . , L compelled to incur considerable expense in Ahe ioimi £ ft Hundred on your petitioner s That of the eleven thousand acres F°P«***° « a „ ri cultural purposes, station, there are not more than four and the inhabitants thereof, That your petitioner is well acquainted with the ™ CT f cultura l pur p o ses is not required serve political purposes by parties m no way and others whoso position will not who have no desire to purchase land for agricultural P-po-s alone, V Hd d permit the purchasing for such purpose, signed the petitmn & oi on it being represented to them they wouki, .d r £ e of a small'portion of the Hundred depasturage on your petitioner ■ °he Provincial Government, and of the recomP has suffered much injury mendation for the declaration of in value; and if the recommendation for s: sto win be : ome comparatively valueless Session of the Otago Provincial Council, your petitioner

PETITIONS.

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owing to the proceedings taken by the Council with regard to the declaration of Hundreds, the offer to purchase the said station was withdrawn. Tour petitioner therefore humbly prays that your Excellency will not sanction the recommendation of the Provincial Council of Otago to declare a Hundred on your petitioner's station. And your petitioner will ever pray, &c. 13th July, 1869. W. H. S. Robebts.

No. 9. PETITION OF SETTLERS AT TAPANUI, OTAGO. To the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives, Petition of Forty-nine Settlers at Tapanui, Otago, Sheweth, — We, the undersigned memorialists residing in Tapanui, regret to learn that the Hundred petitioned for has been recommended by the Provincial Government to be declared on the runs of Messrs. Roberts and McKellar only, instead of the four runs belonging to Messrs. Roberts, McKellar, Logan, and McKenzie. We would therefore request that the Hundred of twenty thousand acres, as' agreed to, be declared on the above-mentioned four runs, at a point where they all join, within two miles and a half of the township of Tapanui. The last-mentioned run, Captain McKenzie's, is most adapted for agricultural purposes, and the most likely to be bought up, and would be of great advantage to your memorialists. Trusting that you will take our request into your favourable consideration, We will, as in duty bound, ever pray, &c. [Here follow forty-nine signatures.]