Report on Port Nicholson Cultivations.

According to your Excellency's wish, I will endeavour to describe some of the principal difficulties attendant on the settlement of the question of cultivations, occupied by Natives, on sections purchased by settlers from the New Zealand Company in the Port Nicholson District.

I am not prepared to assert that the whole of the lands now under cultivation by Natives were so at the date of Captain Fitzroy's arrangement, viz., January 29th, 1844, or had been so cultivated by them since the establishment of the colony, though at that immediate date discontinued. It would be a task nearly amounting to an impossibility to ascertain what was not included in the above arrangement and is now in cultivation, if such do exist, of which I have little doubt, for the parties from whom evidence can be obtained are so self-interested on one side or the other that the evidence would be most contradictory. It must be remembered that in many cases the sections are the property of absentees, and are let to industrious persons of the working and labouring classes, at a low or often a peppercorn rent, to encourage the clearing of the land, and these would gladly include in these page 10nominally free leases those portions that have been cleared by the Natives, thus saving an expense to themselves and engaging the ready concurrence of the interested landlord.

The Natives, I have little doubt, have encroached, though I think to no great extent. The quantity of land now in cultivation, or which bears recent marks of it—taken in proportion to the Native population, viz., 639 acres to 633 people, children included (or one acre each), their mode of cultivation, their usual habits and wants—is not so disproportionate, nor more than was required by them at the time of the arrival of the first settlers, and from this I infer that the encroachments are of no great amount; but these even might have been prevented, by the issue of plans on which boundaries were defined, the originals to have been kept in a register or other office and copies given to the Natives.

From inquiry amongst some of the settlers (English) of the labouring classes, and who have Natives on land in their vicinity, from which they are anxious that they should be removed, and which is corroborated by others who have an opportunity of judging, the aborigines, from their mode of cultivation, require more land for their individual support than an equal number of Europeans.

The Natives have at present about 528 acres cleared on sections of European settlers, and which either now are and were under cultivation, or were so in the interval between the settlement of the colony and Captain Fitzroy's arrangement, according to the statements of the aborigines. To induce them willingly to relinquish these cultivations, to the greater portion of which they now lay a just claim, it will be necessary to obtain for them an equivalent in land, not in equal quantity, but in blocks of land which would contain a number of acres at least equal in quantity and quality to what they relinquish, and in situations equally easy of access from their places of abode: all this is most difficult to attain.

In considering the question of these lands I must confine myself to their present wants and modes of cultivation: a deviation from the latter must be a work of time and gradual improvement in civilization in the Native race, to obviate their wants as to the quantity of land required.

If the Natives do not obtain land in the immediate vicinity of Port Nicholson, many say—and there may be no great cause to doubt them—that they will migrate to Taranaki, thus increasing the difficulty attached to the settlement of New Plymouth, which it would be better to avoid. The Natives resident at Port Nicholson are all of the Ngatiawa Tribe, with a small exception of the Ngatiruanui, amalgamated with the former at Te Aro: they have the choice between Port Nicholson and Taranaki, from whence they emigrated in 1834, consequent on their conquest by the Waikatos. These are the only places on the Northern Island whereon they can locate, and by a migration to Taranaki we get rid of a difficulty at one place with some show of injustice on our part, only to expose ourselves to one equally troublesome at the other. A question may fairly be asked, "Should we be acting with good faith to those who have been to some extent faithful and vigilant allies to us in the late rebellion in not settling the land question here and obliging them to seek lands at a distance?" thus alienating them from us and increasing our difficulties elsewhere by that alienation.

I now return to their cultivations in Port Nicholson, supposing no emigration to Taranaki takes place, as well as the quantity of land available for cultivation in the Native reserves according to Mr. Fitzgerald's report, and the population of each pa in the district, as near as it can be obtained. The roads now being completed towards Porirua and the Upper Hutt may remove some part of these difficulties, more particularly as an outlay of money of no great amount expended in purchasing the claims of English settlers on Native reserves (about £175) would place at disposal a block of land of 300 acres, in three continguous sections, nearly the whole of which is available for Native cultivation. These sections, Nos. 7, 8, and 9, are Native reserves, and the road to Porirua passes through the block, dividing it into two equal portions.

Population of the Harbour of Port Nicholson.

[Varies in consequence of frequent visitors.]

Pas.	Adults.		Children.		Total.
	Males.	Females.	Males.	Females.
Pitone	58	41	14	21	134
Waiwhetu	24	20	10	6	60
Ngauranga	25	22	12	9	68
Kaiwharawhara	31	22	5	2	60
Pipitea	53	35	11	17	116
Kumutoto	8	11	2	2	23
Te Aro	88	51	19	14	172
Tiakiwai*
Total	489		144		633

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Cultivations at Port Nicholson, and Quantity available on Native Reserves, for the above population.

[For quantity available for cultivation in Native reserves, see the Report of the Assistant-Surveyor, Mr. Fitzgerald.]

Districts.	Cultivations: Quantities in Acres.												Number of Native Reserves.	Acres available on Native Reserves.
	On Sections belonging to Settlers.			On Unsurveyed Land.			On Native Reserves.			Total.
	A.	R.	P.	A.	R.	P.	A.	R.	P.	A.	R.	P.
Upper Kaiwharawhara	16	3	0							16	3	0
Ohiro	158	1	27							158	1	27	4	30
Karori	89	2	38							89	2	38
Town sections, exclusive of pas	7	1	36				22	2	0	29	3	36
Town													2
Town Belt				61	0	6				61	0	6
Harbour	220	3	15							220	3	15	3	100
Kinapora													3	300
Horokiwi	6	3	34							6	3	34	1	70
Lower Hutt and Waiwhetu	27	3	22	24	1	34	2	3	30	55	1	6	8	280
Upper Hutt													3
Lowry Bay													2
Wainuiomata													1
Total	528	0	12	85	2	0	25	1	30	639	0	2	27	780

Cultivations at Port Nicholson, exclusive of the above.

Districts.	Cultivations: Quantities in Acres.												Number of Native Reserves.	Acres available on Native Reserves.
		A.	R.	P.	A.	R.	P.	A.	R.	P.	A.	R.			P.
Ohariu	48	2	27	125	2	21	59	2	0	233	3	8	7	300
Makara	48	2	27	125	2	21	59	2	0	233	3	8	4	150
Block at Raewaira.													5	300
													16	750
Reserves													27	780
													43	1,530

One of the greatest difficulties arises from the imperfect mode of Native cultivation: not understanding a succession of crops, they wear out their land in three or four years, and sometimes less, and are then obliged to seek for and clear land elsewhere: hence many of their cultivations are now worn out and unfit for their uses, but they are unwilling to relinquish them without having others; and I should fear the same results for a few years, unless lands more than sufficient for their present use were procured. Land may hereafter, within a short period, increase in value in this neighbourhood, but it will gradually fall below its present price. It will be found that, under the protective influence of peace, the extension of civilization and agricultural knowledge, the gradual development of their own power, and the resources of the land, the Natives will be enabled in most, nay, they are already able in some cases, to undersell the European agriculturist. The Maoris will prefer working, as an union, for their own tribe, for lower wages, and in adaptation of their notions, rather than for the English farmer, whose hire of English labour being exorbitantly high, he will be unable as an agriculturist to compete with his Native neighbour. The cultivators are mostly on settlers' sections, and in the immediate neighbourhood of Port. Nicholson, in patches scattered throughout. One block or patch consists of portions on two sections (Nos. 28 and 29) in the Karori District, one in the Ohiro (No. 10), one in the Upper Kaiwharawhara (No. 1), and a small portion of the Town Belt, comprising in all 101 acres. In the Karori District, where there is no Native reserve, there are also thirty-one acres on settlers' sections; and in the adjoining district, Ohiro, there are four reserves, containing thirty acres of available land, and 158 acres on settlers' lands, of which 109 acres are in one block. There is another block of 100 acres, with slight intervals cultivated by the Pipitea, Ngauranga, and Waiwhetu Natives, also on settlers' sections in the Harbour District.

The Natives almost invariably choose land on hilly situations having an eastern aspect: thus in many cases sections would not be available to them under their present system of cultivation, and therefore, where a western aspect predominates, more than half the section would be valueless. It must be borne in mind that all the present cultivations are composed of good land, suitable, from aspect, &c., for their wants, and chosen on that account.

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The reserves, consisting of 3,800 acres; and a block of 500 acres, have an average proportion of 1,530 acres of cultivable land, according to the Government Surveyor's report. It has been said that the surveyor appointed by the Company reported that about 1,800 might be so included. Assuming the higher number, this quantity is insufficient for the wants of those in the immediate neighbourhood of Wellington (exclusive of Tiakiwai), amounting to 633 inhabitants, added to those scattered in smaller settlements on the shore, at Ohiro, Waiariki, Oteranga, Ohariu, &c.; many of these reserves are at too great a distance.

Supposing that even half of each section on an average were good land, but that it is hilly, having equal portions of aspect west and east, it follows that one-fourth only will be considered valuable by the Native until he learns a better mode of cultivation, to be acquired in time. In many cases a section of a hundred acres of good land will only yield the Native fifty available for his cultivation. Generally speaking, at the very least, to compensate for the 580 acres now under cultivation by the Natives on settlers' sections, twelve sections of a hundred acres would be required in exchange. The Natives occupying the eastern would not prevent the European from tilling the western faces of the hills. But a difficulty again arises in the separation of the section, as to the irregular outline of the boundary, and which is at present so strongly illustrated. Take the cultivations in the Karori and Ohiro districts, and they will be found, nearly without exception, with an eastern aspect; also at Kaiwhara; the same again towards Pitone, where they occupy the flat land on the tops of the hills; the absence of cultivations on the Lowry Bay side of the bay, extending to the hills on the left bank of the River Hutt, and which have a westerly aspect.

There is another difficulty: to obtain blocks of land in suitable situations within a reasonable distance of the town. The Natives naturally complain that, if they give up their cultivations in the immediate vicinity of the town for others situated at a greater distance, the expense of time and labour to reach the port with their produce will be greater. At a cursory glance at the map it will be seen that the land within a reasonable distance of the town is altogether in the hands of Europeans, rendering it nearly impossible to put the Natives in possession of land without a purchase from the white people near the town or public roads, or on the very few Native reserves which may be equally well situated.

Most sections allotted to Europeans contain from 110 to 120 acres each, even in some cases 130, though the land order is only for 100, and is thus accounted for in the Crown grant to the Company; and in few cases do the Native cultivations exceed on any one section twenty acres: the general average may be five. The difficulty might to a certain extent be got rid of by confining the settler to his 100-acre section and giving the Natives the excess above it; but such an award would hardly be equitable to the European cultivator, to take advantage of the liberality of the New Zealand Company. As the clearings of the Natives, from their irregular form, would render the farm of less value to the English farmer, he would have more difficulty in tillage and an increased expense in fencing the boundary. Yet the absentee, provided he could obtain his 100 acres in one block, could not complain of being confined to his just claim of purchase, particularly when not removed from the locality of his choice.

Absenteeism is a perplexity. In many cases there is no ostensible agent. The absent owner may repudiate the sale if the agent is not properly accredited with full powers of attorney to sell. In general the only power granted is to lease, in many cases for a peppercorn rent, at a definite period a small pecuniary rent, which is gradually increased. If land becomes of increased value, from local causes or arrangements by the Home Government, those whose agents have sold may repudiate the sale unless an additional sum is paid. And during the lapse of time and different references the land may be cleared for the settler, he may be willing to pay an equitable sum for the portion cleared, but the Native will be driven to seek land elsewhere, and increasing that feeling of distrust which at the present moment is on the decrease generally.

In some cases property is held in common between individuals of different pas at distances from each other. For instance, the Natives at Pipitea have cultivations on the Hutt, near the bridge, in partnership with some of the Waiwhetu Natives, and also near Te Aro, with some of that portion of the tribe at Te Aro.

Some portions of the Town Belt, in patches amounting in all to about sixty-two acres, are under cultivation by Natives of the Pipitea, Kumutoto, and Te Aro Pas, in which they have been guaranteed by Captain Fitzroy's arrangement; and, with the great difficulty to obtain land in good situations, I would respectfully suggest that more of the Town Belt should be so relinquished to them, to an amount not exceeding (exclusive of that before guaranteed) 150 acres, furnishing them with plans to check future encroachments. They will also receive copies of plans of their town reserves whereon they have cultivations, and which might also be guaranteed to them as cultivations, in conjunction with these portions of the Town Belt; the originals of these plans, certified to by an officer of the Survey Department, with the signatures of the accepting parties and Government officers or others as witnesses, to be retained in the Survey Office; and I propose the same attention to plans, and duplicates of the same, with respect to the country cultivations of the Port Nicholson Natives, and to recommend the same in all future purchases from the Natives.

In recommending a portion of the Town Belt (in the whole said to contain 800 acres, but which, on measurement, I believe will contain upwards of 1,000 acres) to be given to the Natives in exchange for other lands required for the settlers, which have been purchased by them from the New Zealand Company, I merely recommend an extension of the occupancy which they hold under Captain Fitzroy's arrangement of the 29th January, 1844, and in the belief that the Town Belt is to be considered as waste land and belonging to the Crown. In this I have been guided by the grant to the New Zealand Company of the Port Nicholson district and the description thereto, in which no allusion is made to the Town Belt or unsurveyed lands within the limits of that grant. The area is 209,372 acres within the boundaries, part of which only, namely, 71,900 acres, are surveyed by and granted to the Company, accepted by that body, and acknowledged hitherto as part of 1,300,000 acres granted by Lord Stanley in liquidation of expenditure, &c.

An objection is raised by the principal agent of the company, not to the quantity granted within page 13the boundaries of the Port Nicholson District, but as to its distribution in favour of certain bodies of Natives on settlers' sections and the Town Belt; the 71,900 acres are defined, viz., 70,800 acres of country sections of 100 acres each, and 1,100 town sections of one acre each, and in which the Town Belt is not included. I conceive the balance, viz., 137,472, includes the Town Belt and other unsurveyed lands as waste and pertaining to the Crown; more particularly as Lord Stanley, in a letter dated November, 1842 (vide Report of the Committee, 1844), declined to submit for confirmation the Ordinance to provide for the Establishment and Regulation of Municipal Corporations, objecting to certain clauses—amongst others, to the 7th, which excepts all " Crown reserves, Native reserves, and allotments sold or intended to be sold to private persons, and marked accordingly," from the land to be vested in the Municipal Corporation, which extends to a diameter of fourteen or radius of seven miles, and therefore might include an area of 154 square miles nearly.

The vested interest of a Municipal Corporation in all portions of the above 137,472 acres, included within a radius of seven miles of the Town of Wellington, would include the Town Belt; and this, I conceive, is not intended by Her Majesty's Government. I therefore recommend the appliance of part of the Town Belt, as waste land, to a purpose that may remove a part of the difficulties attendant on the settlement of Port Nicholson, now for so many years a desideratum.

Many of the settlers' sections that have been cultivated by the Natives have been cleared to a valuable extent. I would suggest that an average value per acre should be paid by the settler or Company on being put in possession by Government of these portions.