No. 36.
Claims upon lands taken over by the province of auckland from the
general government.
Mr. James Mackay to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary.
Sir,—
Referring to my Memorandum of the 7th instant, on Sir George Grey's letter of the 19th May last, addressed to you on the subject of land purchases, I have the honor to transmit herewith a return showing approximately the value of the property held by the proprietors of saw mills within the District of Hauraki. This information has been principally obtained from the mill-owners themselves, who have given me every facility in their power to complete the return. The totals are cost of erecting fifteen saw mills with working plant, £106,855. Payments to Natives for timber, including in some cases cost of survey of the blocks on which it is growing, £42,045. Value of logs in stock, £64,982. Total value of Mills, working plant, standing forest, and logs in stock, £209,732. The annual average production of timber is valued at £120,750. The number of men employed in these mills is 678. Vessels employed in the carrying trade, 27, manned by 82 men.
These figures are slightly different from those mentioned in my memorandum of the 7th instant, that was, however, my own estimate before the return was completed; the alteration is so small as to be hardly worth noticing.
The more I consider the scheme proposed by Sir George Grey, to give compensation to the mill owners for their rights, the more I feel convinced that it is impracticable and detrimental to the best interests of the country. The goldminer is one of the largest consumers of sawn timber, and his industry would be retarded and suffer loss if the sawmills ceased to supply his demands.
I previously drew attention to the fact that supposing the proprietors of sawmills were bought out in the manner suggested by Sir George Grey, the Colony or Province would derive no equivalent advantage, because the system of granting timber licenses, heretofore pursued by the Provincial Government, gave but small receipts, when compared with the value of the privileges granted. In proof of the correctness of my assertion, I enclose herewith a return compiled by Mr. Tole, the Commissioner of Crown Lands, showing the amount paid for timber licenses over Crown Lands within the Coromandel Peninsula, and the District of Hauraki, during the fifteen years commencing 1st July, 1860, and ending 30th June, 1875. The total is £192 10s.
I have no hesitation in saying that any mill owners would under other circumstances have paid to the natives for the timber cut on the Mahakirau Block alone, four times the total sum shown by Mr. Tole as having been paid to the Crown for licenses over the whole of the blocks specified by him.
I enclose copies of correspondence with the Mercury Bay Saw Mill Company respecting a proposed reduction of the term of years for which they hold the right to cut timber on the Taranoho and Kaimarama Blocks.
It has been stated recently that some of the deeds of grant or leases of timber held by sawmill proprietors confers rights other than those required for the cutting and removal of timber from the forests to their mills. If such privileges have in any case been granted by the native owners, they have not been exercised or desired by the lessees or grantees, and would, I believe, be relinquished at once, thereon application of the Government. I have discussed the question of ordinary agreements and leases on all their bearings with the principal owners of timber residing here, and am convinced they are willing to make favourable terms with the Crown, and merely desire to be confirmed in their claims to Kauri timber, with necessary easements in the shape of roads and water rights, to enable them to convey it to their mills, with the privilege to cut any other timber or firewood required for their own use. If these rights were secured and confirmed to them, they would be perfectly satisfied; and there would not be the slightest danger of any future misunderstanding arising between them and the mining population, who are the only persons liable to have any conflicting interests, as the land on which Kauri grows is unfit for agricultural purposes and settlement.
I have, &c.,
James Mackay.
Enclosure 1.
Name of Owner. | Cost of Mill and Plant. | Date of Erection of Saw Mill. | Situation of Timber Purchased. | Date of Purchase of Timber. | Amount paid for Timber, including Surveys of Land. | Value of Logs in Stock in Bush or at Mill. | Estimated Present Value of Mills, Plant, and Standing Forests. | Total Value of Mills, Plant, Standing Forests, &Timber in Stock. | Average Number of Men employed in Mills & Forests. | Average Number of Vessels employed in Timber Trade. | Average Number of Men employed in Vessels. | Average Amount of Timber Cut Annually. | Average Annual Value of Timber Cut. | Remarks. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
£ | £ | £ | £ | £ | Feet. | £ | ||||||||
1. Tairua Saw Mill Company | 23,000 | 1864 | Tairua | 1864 | 3,000 | 5,500 | 26,000 | 31,500 | 100 | 3 | 10 | 3,000,000 | 13,500 | Forests are extensive, but timber difficult to get out to mill. |
2. Mercury Bay Saw Mill Co. | 9,000 | 1863 | Mercury Bay | 1863 | 5,500 | 8,666 | 12,000 | 20,666 | 70 | 2 | 6 | 2,500,000 | 11,250 | A good deal of the timber has been cut; but there is work for several years to come. |
3. Schapp and Ansenne | 4,500 | 1863 | Mercury Bay | 1863 | 3,750 | 5,000 | 8,000 | 13,000 | 35 | 2 | 6 | 1,500,000 | 6,750 | Same as above. |
4. C. A. Harris | 15,000 | 1862 | Whangapoua | 1862 to 1870 | 2,500 | 15,000 | 40,000 | 55,000 | 125 | 6 | 18 | 5,000,000 | 22,500 | Many years' cutting still in forests; large quantity shipped annually to Middle Island, South Sea Islands, and New Caledonia. |
5. C. A. Harris | 10,000 | 1865 | Whangapoua | 1862 to 1870 | 4,025 | 15,000 | 40,000 | 55,000 | 125 | 6 | 18 | 5,000,000 | 22,500 | Many years' cutting still in forests; large quantity shipped annually to Middle Island, South Sea Islands, and New Caledonia. |
6. Cruickshank and Co. | 4,500 | 1863 | Kennedy Bay | 1863 | 2,600 | 3,000 | 5,000 | 8,000 | 40 | 2 | 6 | 2,000,000 | 9,000 | Timber will be cut out in a short time. |
7. R. Cashmore | 5,000 | 1862 | Cabbage Bay | 1862 | 2,500 | 3,400 | 3,000 | 6,400 | 20 | 1 | 3 | 1,000,000 | 4,500 | Forests nearly cut out. |
8. Pollard and Co. | 2,500 | 1865 | Port Charles | 1863-64 | 1,200 | 2,500 | 4,000 | 6,500 | 30 | 2 | 6 | 1,800,000 | 8,100 | Forests not very extensive; will only last a few years. |
9. Charles Ring | 2,700 | 1859 | Coromandel | 1859 | 1,000 | 150 | 2,000 | 2,150 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 500,000 | 2,250 | Mill generally idle; forest being nearly all cut. |
10. A. J. Cadman | 3,500 | 1865 | Coromondel and Matamataharakeke | 1864 and 1872 | 1,150 | 1,000 | 5,000 | 6,000 | 20 | 300,000 | 1,350 | Coromandel timber nearly cut out; mill will probably, be removed to Matamataharakeke. | ||
11. W. C. Daldy | 8,000 | 1865 | Waikawau and Mata Rivers and tributaries | 1864 | 2,500 | 3,000 | 7,000 | 10,000 | 39 | 2 | 6 | 2,000,000 | 9,000 | Forests extensive; a great deal of timber has been cut |
12. Shortland Saw Mill Co. | 9,291 | 1872 | Waiwhakaurangi River and tributaries | 1869 | 5,427 | 11,666 | 15,000 | 26,666 | 50 | 1 | 3 | 3,500,000 | 15,750 | This mill has not hitherto been in full work; timber chiefly consumed at Grahamstowm and Shortland; forests extensive; timber difficult to get to mill |
13. John Gibbons | 4,700 | 1874 | Kirikiri, and on bank of Waihou and Ohinemuri Rivers | 1871-72 2,200 | 4,750 | 6,000 | 10,750 | 65 | 2 | 6 | 1,900,000 | 8,550 | This mill outs white pine occasionally as well as kauri. | |
14. Hauraki Saw Mill Co. | 3,964 | 1869 | Turua Forest, Waihou or Thames River | 1868 | 3,843 | 650 | 10,000 | 10,650 | 60 | 2 | 8 | 2,000,000 | 6,000 | This mill cuts white pine only. A great part is shipped to foreign markets, the remainder is consumed at Grahamstown and Shortland; forest extensive. |
15. Holdship and Co. | 1,200 | 1868 | Otuturu Block | 1870 | 850 | 700 | 1,750 | 2,450 | 20 | 1 | 2 | 500,000 | 2,250 | This mill is situated at Grahamstown, and is connected with window-sash, door-making, and wood-dressing machinery; the product of which is consumed in the district. |
Totals | 106,855 | 42,045 | 64,982 | 144,750 | 209,732 | 678 | 27 | 82 | 27,500,000 | 120,750 |
James Mackay.
15th July, 1875.Enclosure 2.
Mr. James Mackay to the Commissioner of Crown Lands, Auckland.
Sir,—
As I am procuring, for the information of the General Government, a return respecting the timber trade of this Province, I have the honor to request that you will be so good as to supply me with a return showing the number of timber licenses issued within the limits of the Coromandel Peninsula and District of Hauraki from the 1st July, 1860, to the 30th June, 1875, showing the block for which such license was issued, and the fees received in respect thereof, with the name of the person in favour of whom it was granted.
I have, &c.,
James Mackay,
Agent General Government.
Enclosure 3.
The Commissioner of Crown
Lands, Auckland, to Mr. Mackay.
Sir,—
In compliance with the request contained in your letter of yesterday's date, I have the honor to enclose a return showing the number of timber licenses issued within the limits of the Coromandel Peninsula and District of Hauraki, from the 1st July, 1860, to the 30th June, 1875, together with the name of the block for which such license was issued, the fees received in respect thereof, and the names of the persons in favour of whom such licenses were issued.
I have, &c.,
D. A. Tole,
Commissioner of Crown Lands.
Agent General Government, Auckland.
Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure 3.
Return showing the Number of Timber Licenses issued within the Limits of the Coromandel Peninsula and District of Hauraki, from the 1st July, 1860, to the 30th June, 1875, together with the Name of the Block for which such License was issued, the Fees received in respect thereof, and the Names of the Persons in favour of whom such Licenses were issued.
Total Amount of Licenses issued. | Name of Block for which License was issued. | Fees received in respect of License. | Name of Person to whom License was issued. | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
£ | s. | d. | ||||
Nineteen (19). | ||||||
Awakanae | 5 | 0 | 0 | Heron, Andrews, and Matthews. | ||
Hoho | 2 | 10 | 0 | Thomas Carina. | ||
Ditto | 5 | 0 | 0 | Ditto. | ||
Purangi | 2 | 10 | 0 | Neill and Savage. | ||
Mercury Bay | 2 | 10 | 0 | Vincent De Moitch. | ||
Purangi | 5 | 0 | 0 | Neill and Savage. | ||
Whenuakite | 5 | 0 | 0 | Paraneha. | ||
Mahakirau | 5 | 0 | 0 | George Strong. | ||
Hoho | 5 | 0 | 0 | Joseph Baker. | ||
Whenuakite | 5 | 0 | 0 | Archibald Smith. | ||
Mahakirau | 50 | 0 | 0 | Thomas Sullivan. | ||
Hoho | 5 | 0 | 0 | John H. Graham. | ||
Te Kauri | 5 | 0 | 0 | Thomas Carina. | ||
Ditto | 5 | 0 | 0 | George William White. | ||
Purangi | 2 | 10 | 0 | Thomas Carina. | ||
Te Kauri | 2 | 10 | 0 | John F. Connolly. | ||
Mahakirau | 25 | 0 | 0 | Thomas Sullivan. | ||
Ditto | 50 | 0 | 0 | Ditto. | ||
Hoho | 5 | 0 | 0 | Antonio Joseph. | ||
£ | 192 | 10 | 0 |
D. A. Tole,
Commissioner of Crown Lands.
Enclosure 4.
Mr. James Mackay to the Secretary, Mercury Bay Sawmill Company.
Sir,—
Referring to the conversation I had with you some months ago respecting a proposed modification of the conditions of the timber leases held by the Mercury Bay Sawmill Company over the Taranoho and Kaimarama Blocks, in the Mercury Bay District, by reducing the term of the leases from ninety-nine years to twenty-one.
page 320I have the honor to request that you will be so good as to inform me whether the company are willing to make the proposed alteration.
I have, &c.,
James Mackay,
Agent, General Government,
Auckland.
Enclosure 5.
The Secretary Mercury Bay Saw Mill Company
to Mr. Mackay.
Sir,—
In reply to your communication of 5th instant, and conversation held between ourselves, re leases of Kauri held by this Company, I am directed by the Directors of this Company to inform you that they have agreed to recommend to the Shareholders that the lease of the Kaimarama Block be reduced to twenty-one years, and the Taranoho Block to forty years. A meeting of shareholders will shortly be held, the result of which I will inform you of.
I have, &c.,
Benj. Gilmore, Secretary.
James Mackay, Esq., Agent General Government.