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Town of Wellington, Port Nicholson, from Rai - Warra - Warra Hill (From Samuel Charles Brees, Pictorial Illustrations of New Zealand, John Williams and Co., London, 1848) Twelve months in Wellington / by John Wood (1843)

Chapter 14
The Settlers' charge against
The New Zealand Company

Contents: narrative | chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17
The  Exchange, Wellington, by Samuel Charles Brees, Pictorial Illustrations of New Zealand, John Williams and Co., London, 1848. 1st. They took our money in London for land which did not belong to them ; and which, up to the hour of our quitting New Zealand, was virtually in possession of the natives. Their land order implied quiet possession, guaranteeing us against all but the acts of the British Government. But on arrival in New Zealand, we find the native title to the land which the Company has sold has not been extinguished, and that we are refused its possession.
Who is to reimburse the settler for time and money wasted, not to mention the anxiety which many have endured, who, during the three years of inactivity which they have been compelled to live in Wellington, would in more favoured colonies have laid the foundation of a competency? If the New Zealand Company will not do this, is there no punishment for such men - a chartered Company though they be? The Emigration Society of the Cape of Good Hope advertise their ships to sail upon a stated day; and if not, the emigrant can claim a certain sum for every day he is detained. Let a clause somewhat to the same effect be inserted in the charter of the New Zealand Company, namely, that the settler shall be placed in possession of his land at the expiration of a certain period after his arrival in the colony ; and that the Company, failing to comply with this, shall pay to the settler a stipulated sum daily, until their contract be fulfilled!

2nd. The land they have sold being inaccessible, even if ours, is of no use for agricultural purposes. The Company certainly did not bind themselves to open the country ; but in their compact with the public they are morally bound not to take money for land which cannot be got at.

3rd. Instead of giving us our country land within a moderate distance of their first and principal settlement, which was tacitly implied in their contract, we found, on arrival at Port Nicholson, a re-emigration of 112 miles by sea necessary, to the river of Wanganui. To this district, up to the period of our quitting New Zealand, the Company, had not, as promised, sent a single labourer for its cultivation! They must have received about £25,000 for this purpose from the settlers, but instead of sending the labour thus paid for to Wanganui it was sent to Wellington. Is not this a breach of trust?

4th. What means a dividend of 10 per cent from their profits in the emigration trade, when the settlers, who have given them the cash they thus dispose of, are yet without their land.

5th. For all the evils with which the settlers have had to contend we hold this Company responsible, although for the present they have managed to shelter themselves by making a scape-goat of both the local and home Governments. From the commencement of their colonizing operations they have proceeded upon defective information. This is the pith of our charge against the New Zealand Company, and it is no light one, for they must be held morally responsible for leading many families into error.

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