wT- ^S 
 
 FAREWELL ADDRESS 
 
 W. CAMPBELL, M.L.C., 
 
 THE ELECTORS OF THE NORTH-WEST PROVINCE, 
 
 I{b Sjictcljci in % ^tslatfoe Cnui|dl 
 
 INIQUITY OF THE "LAND TAX ACT." 
 
 Melbourne, Wh Jpril, 1882. 
 
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 SANDS & McDOUGALL, PRINTERS, COLLINS STREET WEST. 
 
 1882. 
 
 
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 THE LIBRARY 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 FAREWELL ADDRESS 
 
 W. CAMPBELL, M.L.C., 
 
 THE ELECTORS OF THE NORTH-WEST PROVINCE, 
 
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 INIQUITY OF THE "LAND TAX ACT." 
 
 Melbourne, 14th April, 1882. 
 
 Mklboubne : 
 SANDS & McDOUGALL, PRINTERS, COLLINS STREET WEST. 
 
 1882.
 
 TO THE ELECTORS OF THE NORTH-WEST PROVINCE. 
 
 Dear Friends, and Gentlemen, 
 
 On the eve of my departure from Victoria to visit my native 
 home, after holding a seat in the Legislative Council for the last 
 twenty years, I cannot refrain from expressing my gratitude for the 
 honor you did me in twice electing me to that most honorable and 
 most responsible office. I presume to say that I discharged my duties 
 to the best of my humble ability, under an independent, fearless, 
 patriotic feeling, and that I know no vote of mine that I would wish 
 to rescind. I am aware that I am considered an ultra-Conservative, 
 but my conservatism aimed only at the preservation of what was good 
 in our laws and in our Constitution, and in the prevention of what 
 was bad being enacted. I can conceive the consistency of a Radical, 
 but not that of a lukewarm weathercock, who trims to every breeze. 
 Although I have not taken a leading part in the Council, I natter 
 myself to have done some good work, such as the alteration of 
 the Kerang railway from the way of Elmore to that of Eaglehawk, 
 by which the State will save about 100,000, and travellers a distance 
 of about eighteen miles. 
 
 I may add that I also had the honor, in 1851, of being one of the first 
 of the twenty representative members of the first Legislative Council 
 for the pastoral district now included in your Province, and I am the 
 only member of that early body that now holds a seat in the Legislative 
 Council. Political life entails sacrifice of time, and, except to place- 
 hunters and recipients of members' pay, is unprofitable ; but the honor 
 of having a voice in the making of the laws is of more value to a true 
 patriot than any other consideration. I therefore trust that the young 
 men who have a permanent stake in this new land will look upon it in 
 that light, and that they will not allow adventurers and professional 
 politicians to monopolize the government of the State. 
 
 A most grievous law passed in 1877 I mean the "Land Tax Act" 
 which I feel justified in referring to at some length ; and, in elucida- 
 tion, I annex speeches made by me on that question in the Legis- 
 lative Council, as reported in Hansard. 
 
 The effect of the land tax has been to depreciate the value of laud, 
 without even excepting the lands exempted from the tax, while, from 
 the cheapness of money, land should otherwise have been relative! v 
 much enhanced in value ; in fact, the imposition of such an iniquitous
 
 4 
 
 tax has scared capitalists, great and small, from purchasing or from 
 lending, under a feeling that a Parliament that has been guilty of the 
 crime of confiscating a large proportion of the value of land may 
 impose an equally unjust tax on mortgagees. 
 
 It therefore becomes a most important question as to how to cure 
 the evil effect of such a law, which is certainly a sore disgrace to the 
 Parliament of Victoria. Probably the most practicable course would 
 be to amend the " Land Tax Act" so as to embrace all real property, 
 great or small ; a very small percentage, taken from the valuation 
 made by the shires and municipalities, would be sufficient. The small 
 owner of a few acres would only have a few pence to pay, and would 
 not feel the tax, but he would participate in an improved state of the 
 country. If there is a necessity of relieving the small owner of land 
 from any pressure of taxation, why not take it off his tea and sugar 
 and clothing ? This would not only be a gain to him, but it would 
 remove the stain of an iniquitous^ tax, which is a disgrace to our 
 legislation. The Imperial Parliament recently passed an Irish Land 
 Act under which owners have their rents fixed by commissioners, who 
 may fix it fairly or may not ; and Lord Cairns calls it confiscation. 
 But, bad as it is, it is harmless compared with our land tax. It is 
 general, whereas our tax exempts ninety-eight per cent, of the 
 landholders. 
 
 It may be asked, Why did such an act become law ? It has been 
 said that the public feeling was in favour of such a tax, but such is not 
 true. No doubt, a land tax was mooted at the general election, but 
 not an unjust, unequal, class tax. In fact, Mr. Cuthbert, who repre- 
 sented the Government in the Council, stated in his speech, on moving 
 the " Eeply to the Address " on the 26th June, 1877" I don't know 
 that the country has approved of any particular land tax." This 
 statement (see Hansard), comes from one who represented two 
 successive Administrations in direct opposition to each other, and who 
 should be considered a good exponent of the voice of the people. It 
 may, however, be affirmed that a desire to accommodate the Opposition 
 in attempting to defeat the Berry Ministry had an injurious influence 
 on several members of the Council, who wished for a change. Two 
 important questions were then on the tapis, viz., Payment of Members 
 and the Land Tax. The Opposition tactics were to reject the former, 
 and allow the latter to pass; but both passed. The former is certainly 
 impolitic, but it does not disgrace our statutes, as the latter does. 
 This colony possesses rich lands and mines, temperate climate, and the 
 most central position of any of the Australian colonies, and it only 
 requires just laws to induce other colonists to make it their home ; but 
 if the holding of a few extra acres renders the owner liable to a penal 
 class tax, it is likely to induce an emigration instead. I am not now 
 liable to pay the land tax, nor am I unfavourable to a wide distribu- 
 tion of the lands in many hands ; but cannot see why one who 
 purchased land from the State at the price of the day should be taxed, 
 while smaller owners are exempted. 
 
 Let us see what Dr. Adam Smith says on taxation. His first maxim 
 is that " The subjects of every State ought to contribute towards the
 
 support of the government as nearly as possible in proportion to their 
 respective abilities ; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they 
 respectively enjoy under the protection of the State." 
 
 J. Stuart Mill, who is a Liberal, follows Smith in these principles of 
 justice, which are, I trust, inherent in the hearts of the mass of the 
 people, but some of whom are frequently misled by designing, envious, 
 impecunious, wicked demagogues. 
 
 In 1881 an " Amending Land Tax Bill" was discussed by the Council, 
 and rejected without a division. The following extracts are made 
 from the speeches of members who voted for the Bill in 1877, most of 
 whom bitterly regret the crime they committed then. Let us see 
 what they have to say in palliation of their votes. 
 
 Mr. Balfour : " I conceived that it was only right that the Council 
 should bow to the popular will, and that we should show ourselves 
 prepared to submit to a tax on land, with the hope that the next time 
 the same question arose the law should be amended so that its 
 inequalities and unfairnesses should disappear, and its incidence 
 become at least more equitable." 
 
 Mr. Robertson: " I voted for that Bill, not because I believed it was 
 based on an equitable principle, but because we were assured that its 
 enactment would bring political peace and rest, which the country 
 wanted. That was my object in voting for the measure, and at the 
 present time I scarcely know whether to compliment myself for the 
 I gave on that occasion. There is no doubt that the 'Land Tax 
 Act' has had the effect of reducing the value of all country lands at 
 least fifty per cent." Mr. Robertson gives the following quotation 
 from J. S. Mill, on an exclusive tax on realised property : " Should 
 the scheme ever enlist a large party in its support, the fact would 
 indicate a laxity of pecuniary integrity in national affairs scarcely inferior 
 to American repudiation." 
 
 Mr. "Wallace : " But, though I voted for the existing Act, I do not 
 believe in the land tax. I do not believe in any class tax. I have seen 
 the injury which the land tax has done, and I intend to vote against 
 the present Bill." 
 
 Mr. Belcher : " I desire to say that I voted for the present 'Land 
 Tax AcV under the belief, as I stated at the time, that it would be the 
 thin edge of the wedge for an all-round land tax. Since then I have 
 found that I was wofully mistaken ; and I am not ashamed to acknow- 
 ledge that I very much regret the vote which I gave on that occasion." 
 
 Mr. Sumner follows : "I am very much in the same position as the 
 honorable gentleman who has just addressed the House. I believed 
 in direct taxation, and was under the impression that the tax would be 
 so extended as to be equitably distributed on all kinds of property." 
 It is most remarkable that a debate that extended over four nights 
 should not have anyone to support the Bill, except the member repre- 
 senting the Government. 
 
 On the motion of Sir Charles Sladen, the following reasons were 
 appended on the rejection of the Bill : 
 
 1. Because, under tlw pwtanoe of miring revamp "" to i* in Halation of tho 
 first four of the maxims, or principles, laid down by Adam Smith, and universally
 
 accepted by political economists, namely : " The subjects of every State ought to 
 contribute to the support of the Government as nearly as possible in proportion to 
 their respective abilities ; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respec- 
 tively enjoy under the protection of the State. In the observation or neglect of this 
 maxim consists what is called the equality or inequality of taxation." 
 
 2. Because the tax is really not imposed for revenue purposes (as publicly 
 declared by the Chief Secretary and the Attorney-General), and no tax for other 
 than revenue purposes should be imposed without due notice being first given of 
 such intention. 
 
 3. Because the tax, contrary to all principles of justice, is imposed upon the land 
 of only 828 out of over 48,<J00 owners of freehold property, whilst the great bulk of 
 other kinds of realised property is free from taxation. 
 
 4. Because, in the words of J. S. Mill, " future buyers would acquire land at 
 a reduction in price equivalent to the peculiar tax, which tax they would therefore 
 escape from paying, while the original possessors would remain burthened with it, 
 even after parting with the property, since they would have sold their land at a loss 
 of value equivalent to the fee-simple of the tax. Its imposition would thus be 
 tantamount to the confiscation for public uses of a percentage of their property, 
 equal to the percentage laid on their income by the tax." 
 
 o. Because it tends to lower the morale of the colony generally. 
 
 6. Because it has sown the seeds of distrust as to the future, and has destroyed 
 that confidence in the abiding security of property wbich, especially in a new 
 country, ought rather to have been encouraged, and the effect has been to put a stop 
 to improvements, and throw thousands out of employment ; and, moreover, it has 
 rendered country lands unmarketable, so that an owner wishing to break up his 
 property can only do so at a ruinous sacrifice. 
 
 7. Because its injustice has deterred, and will continue to deter, capitalists from 
 investing their money here ; and therefore the tax is opposed to the progress in 
 wealth and importance of this colony, and everyone in it. 
 
 These seem to me to be sufficient reasons why we should set our faces against not 
 only this Bill, but the Act of which it is supposed to be an amendment. Under all 
 the circumstances, if we were to pass legislation of this kind, could we consider that 
 we were acting wisely or justly ? As an independent House, as a branch of the 
 Legislature, it is worth the while of honorable members to consider whether any 
 pressure that may be brought to bear upon them should ever induce them so far to 
 depart out of the course of upright and honest legislation as to make them guilty of 
 doing what is not only not wise, but unjust. I say that honorable members should 
 never allow themselves to be again put into such a position as they were placed in 
 i 677. I cannot help believing that it was a great misfortune to the country that a 
 majority of this Chamber committed themselves I don't care for what purpose to 
 vote for placing on the statute-book an Act, the effect of which has been most 
 disastrous during the time it has operated, and which must continue to be disastrous 
 for years to come. I beg to propose, as an amendment on the motion for the second 
 reacting of the Bill " That this Council, whilst recognising the justice and policy of 
 imposing a tax upon land if all other realised property is taxed, at the same time 
 regrets that it is unable to concur in the principles and provisions of this Bill, and 
 that therefore this Bill be read a second time this day six months." 
 
 The amendment was agreed to. 
 
 These extracts show the almost unanimous condemnation of the tax, 
 and suggest that it should be amended so as to embrace all real pro- 
 perty, and thereby restore confidence. 
 
 I trust that this letter may attract your attention, and also the 
 attention of the mass of the people, to the existence of such a wicked 
 law, and that this exposure may help to bring about a just and equit- 
 able amendment of the 'Land Tax Act.''''
 
 The Imperial Parliament gave us a good sound constitution, but 
 unfortunately gave us also a power to alter it, under which power we 
 have abolished the qualification of voters to the Assembly, and lowered 
 that of the voters of the Legislative Council from 100 to 10. I 
 think these evil changes were unnecessary, as the agitators for reform 
 were only exciting the people against the owners of property. I felt 
 it my duty to oppose that downward course. I have also always 
 opposed payment of members, as it brings many needy men into Par- 
 liament, who depend chiefly upon it for a livelihood, and who are not, 
 therefore, so independent as could be wished. But these enactments 
 are questions of policy, and, however objectionable, are not a disgrace 
 to our legislation, as the "Land Tax Act" is. 
 
 I built here with the view of a permanent residence, but bad legis- 
 lation has destroyed my confidence ; has militated against my desire 
 to see my descendants settled here ; in short, it has much estranged me 
 from this fine colony. I feel doubtful whether to return to this great 
 South Land, or to spend the remainder of my short days in my native 
 land ; but, wherever I go, I shall look back with affection to the birth- 
 place of my children, with gratitude for prosperity, and with fond 
 remembrances and best wishes to the many kind friends I leave 
 behind. 
 
 Tour very grateful and most obedient Servant, 
 
 W. CAMPBELL. 
 
 Melbourne, 
 
 Hth April, 1S82. 
 
 APPENDIX No. 1. 
 
 Mr. "W. Campbell's Speech in reply to Address, 26th June, 1877. 
 
 The Hon. W. CAMPBELL. No other honorable member on this 
 side of the House appearing desirous of addressing himself to the 
 present subject, I will venture to offer a few remarks. As far as I 
 can gather from the very moderate speech which I very much 
 concur in of Mr. Cuthbert, the question mainly pressed upon 
 our consideration is the proposed land tax. Now, judging from 
 the remarks on the subject made during the general election, we 
 may fairly conclude that the coming measure will contain exemp- 
 tions from its operation of not only a highly objectionable but 
 a wholly unprecedented character. I am not aware that in England, 
 Prance, or even the United States of America, democratic as that 
 country is generally considered to be, any portion of the commu- 
 nity is exempted from taxation, no matter now small the burthen may 
 be. To my mind the great principle should be that taxation and
 
 8 
 
 representation should go hand in hand that under no circumstance 
 should there be either taxation without representation, or represen- 
 tation without liability to taxation. This House is generally supposed 
 to represent property, and many honorable members here are un- 
 doubtedly the holders of considerable property ; but I believe there is 
 not a single one of us who would object to any fair and equitable 
 taxation, so long as it was all round. It is my conviction that any 
 taxation which will discriminate between property-holders and divide 
 them into classes will lead to interminable difficulties. There will be 
 no knowing where the limit would be fixed. Eor instance, one 
 Government might propose to exempt all holders of property bringing 
 in under 80 a year, while another would reduce that minimum to 80s. 
 There would be no end to the changes. I consider that taxation 
 ought to be made to apply to every class of property, especially land, 
 because that is most easily taxed. I am sure that a fair and equitable 
 land tax would meet with no objection whatever in this Chamber. 
 I would be very glad to see such a thing. Should the necessities of 
 the State call for such an imposition, I don't think any difficulty would 
 be placed in its way here. But the tax now in view is of a different 
 character. Then we are told that the "Land Tax BilV will be in 
 accordance with the policy approved of by the country. What are we 
 to gather from that ? We know that a majority of the members of 
 the Assembly go in for a land tax with large exemptions ; but has 
 that policy been approved of by the country ? I deny that the country 
 has expressed any special opinion on the point. The electors had all 
 sorts of matters put before them to decide upon. There was free 
 trade,' protection to native industry those were very prominent 
 points the education question, and many others. Consequently, I 
 don't think the Government have any right whatever, to single out 
 this one point of land taxation from the rest, and say that the policy of 
 the country is specially the imposition of a land tax. I deny that that 
 is a fact. I cannot discover that the country has expressed any 
 decisive or definite opinion whatever on the subject. Therefore we are 
 in the dark as to what the propositions of the Government on this 
 point will be, except so far as their election and other speeches enable 
 us to judge what they have in their minds. That what they intend to 
 propose is also the policy approved by the country does not follow in 
 the least. However, it will be time enough to deal with the thing 
 when we have it before us. I observe that the address in reply 
 contains no allusion to it, probably because the measure in question 
 will not be one we can in any way alter. 
 
 Mr. ANDERSON. The allusion to it in the Governor's speech is 
 not addressed to the Council at all. 
 
 Mr. CAMPBELL. What I wish to say is, that I would not have 
 alluded to the matter but for the remarks made by Mr. Cuthbert, in 
 moving the adoption of the address in reply. I may here refer to the 
 fact that it is often asserted that honorable members in this Chamber 
 are particularly reluctant to tax themselves. The old remark so often 
 quoted "Do you think we are going to tax ourselves," was, I remem- 
 ber well, made by a friend of mine in the old Legislative Council,
 
 9 
 
 when a Bill came up for increasing the assessment on stock. The 
 words were unwittingly let fall in a sense far removed from that now 
 attributed to them. What, indeed, are the facts of the case ? At 
 that time I was myself a stockowner, and the representative of one of 
 the three pastoral electoral districts of the colony ; and, if any one 
 will take the trouble of looking up the proceedings of our first session* 
 lie will find that it was on a motion of mine that the assessment of 
 stock was increased. I moved the amendment upon which the amount 
 of that assessment was made larger. I set that action namely, the 
 increase by the stockowners themselves of the taxation they had to 
 pay against the incautious remark of one individual, who spoke 
 almost unmeaningly, and certainly without the intention now attributed 
 to him. What is that observation worth against the actual circum- 
 stance that, at the time I allude to, the stockowners did tax them- 
 selves ? I think honorable members around me are also quite willing 
 to tax themselves. At the same time, we want that taxation to be 
 equal and just, and not penal ; whereas the land tax shadowed forth in 
 the Ministerial speeches and in the Ministerial newspapers will be 
 necessarily penal and unjust. Why should landowners as a class be 
 singled out for punishment? I hold land in Victoria myself, every 
 acre of which was put up to auction. The survey authorities of the 
 colony, at very considerable expense, divided that land into small 
 allotments of from 20 to 160 acres I don't believe any allotment 
 exceeded 160 acres and they were put up to auction without so 
 much as a bid being made for one of them. Yet I hear people assert- 
 ing broadly that at that time the poor man could not get land through 
 the competition in the auction-room of wealthier persons. There is the 
 fact that the lands I speak of were not bid for, and lay for weeks open 
 to the first person who chose to give 1 per acre for them. Now, how- 
 ever, the men who bought land in this way, or who bought it at auction 
 in the face of public competition, the Government directly encouraging 
 buyers of every kind to come forward, are told that they thereby 
 did a wrong and a wicked thing. They are told that they committed 
 a crime, and must now be punished for it that they must be induced 
 or, rather, coerced by certain means to part with their land at a 
 disadvantage. I believe that is the object in view. It is called 
 "reducing the size of the great properties." The common expression 
 employed is that the estates of the country must be "burst up." 
 Whether it is convenient or not, we are to be compelled to sell our 
 properties. I ask is that a fair and equitable view of the question ? 
 So far as I am aware, I know of no precedent whatever in any country 
 for such legislation. If the Parliament of Victoria passes such a law 
 it will demean itself in the eyes of the whole civilized world. The 
 country will be rendered unfit to live in, so far as protection to life 
 and property are concerned, because, if you take away security with 
 respect to the latter, I don't think that of the former can be very 
 good.
 
 10 
 APPENDIX No. 2. 
 
 Ox the Second Reading 27th September, 1877. 
 
 % The Hon. W. CAMPBELL I differ from the concluding senti- 
 ment expressed by the last speaker. I don't think that the country 
 has committed itself to approval of this tax There were other 
 questions placed prominently before the country at the last general 
 election besides that of a land tax, one of which was the question of 
 free-trade or protection. Another important matter which had some- 
 thing to do with the results of the election is the grievances under 
 which the Roman Catholics are suffering. I believe that the influence 
 which the members of that body brought to bear had more to do with 
 the results of the election than the land tax or any other question 
 submitted to the country. It is therefore unfair and untrue to say 
 that the members of the Assembly were returned solely to support 
 this land tax. I deny that they were. 
 
 Mr. B ALEOUR. I did not say that the members of the Assembly 
 Were returned solely to support this land tax, but that it was one of 
 the questions put prominently before the country at the last election, 
 and that the country returned a majority in favour of it. 
 
 Mr. CAMPBELL. The burthen of the song of those honorable 
 members who have spoken in favour of this tax has been that 
 the tax is in accordance with the voice of the country, but I 
 submit there is no evidence that such is the fact. Honorable 
 members generally have condemned this tax have condemned 
 the inequalities of it and yet some of them are going to vote 
 for it, and so commit a gross injustice. Some honorable mem- 
 bers say that it is similar to the income tax in England, but I 
 deny that there is any analogy whatever between the two things. The 
 tax proposed by this Bill will act altogether inequitably, for a man 
 may have a very large income but only a small quantity of land, and 
 he will escape the tax altogether ; but another man may have a large 
 quantity of land, yet have it burthened so heavily that he is com- 
 paratively a poor man, and he will be taxed while the rich man escapes. 
 It is absurd to compare this tax with the income tax in England. 
 Mr. Balfour says that he condemns a penal or progressive tax ; but this 
 tax is penal in every sense of the word, and it is also a progressive tax. 
 "With regard to the exemption, I may remark that in some of the rich 
 districts of the colony there is land worth 40 or 50 an acre, and 
 why should 640 acres of such land be exempt from taxation ? Again, 
 a man may own several 640-acre allotments of good land, and yet he 
 will escape taxation under this Bill if the allotments are five miles 
 apart from each other. Such a man may possess 20,000 or 30,000 
 worth of land, and yet he will not pay one farthing of taxation. I 
 consider that this is one of the great blots on the Bill. We have been 
 told by Mr. Sargood that if we do not pass this Bill we may have 
 another presented to us, the skeleton of which has been mentioned to 
 the country ; but, if we do pass this measure, there is nothing to
 
 11 
 
 prevent the other to which the honorable member refers being sent up 
 to us next session. I think, indeed, that it will be more likely that 
 the skeleton Bill will be sent up to us if we pass the present one than 
 if we do not ; and that the more concessions we make to unjust 
 propositions, the more will we be likely to have worse legislation 
 thrust upon us in the future. With respect to the power of the com- 
 missioners to commit men to prison, the Postmaster- General said that 
 if they commit any man improperly he will have good grounds for an 
 action against them ; but no pecuniary recompense could compensate 
 him for the indignity which he would have been subjected to. I think 
 this power of imprisonment is a monstrous power to give the commis- 
 sioners. That alone is a sufficient reason why the House should 
 adopt the amendment. There are also other good and valid reasons 
 why it should do so. This House, I submit, has the power of laying 
 aside any Bill, and if in any case there are good and sufficient reasons 
 for taking that course, I think we are justified in adopting it. I will 
 read an extract from May on this point : 
 
 " The constitutional power of the Commons to grant supplies without any inter- 
 ference on the part of the Lords has occasionally been abused by tacking to Bills of 
 Supply enactments which, in another Bill, would bave been rejected by the Lords, 
 but which being contained in a Bill that their Lordships had no right to amend, 
 must either have been suffered to pass unnoticed, or haTe caused the rejection of a 
 measure highly necessary for the public service. Such a proceeding invades the 
 privileges of the Lords no less than the interference of their lordships in matters of 
 Supply infringes the privileges of the Commons, and has been resisted by protest, by 
 conference, and the rejection of the Bills." 
 
 If the Bill be laid aside it will not necessarily be shelved altogether, as 
 some honorable members suppose. It will be quite competent for the 
 two Houses to hold a conference about it. The Assembly can search 
 the records of the Council, ask for a conference with this House, and 
 then after the conference a fresh Bill can be introduced, curing the 
 defects which even some of the supporters of the present measure are 
 desirous of seeing amended. Mr. Balfour made a suggestion about a 
 conference ; and I would like to ask the Postmaster-General whether, 
 in the event of the amendment being withdrawn, and the Bill read a 
 second time, the Government will agree to a conference ? 
 
 Mr. CUTHBEET. I think I may answer that question by asking 
 another. Are honorable members who support the amendment pre- 
 pared to pass the second reading of the Bill ? 
 
 Mr. CAMPBELL. I cannot presume to answer that question. The 
 honorable member had better ask Sir Charles Sladen. 
 
 Mr. CUTHBEET. Am I to understand that there is a proposal on 
 the part of honorable members to withdraw the amendment, pass the 
 second reading of the Bill, and then ask the Legislative Assembly for 
 a conference in reference to the measure ? 
 
 Mr. CAMPBELL. Will the honorable member accept such a pro- 
 posal if it be made ? The suggestion for a conference was thrown out 
 by Mr. Balfour, and I think it might be a good solution of the matter 
 to adopt that suggestion. 
 
 Mr. CUTHBEET. I really do not see what good is likely to flow 
 from a conference. If I thought that any good would result from one,
 
 12 
 
 I would be glad for it to take place, but I do uot think the slightest 
 good -would result. The probabilities are that the members of the 
 committee appointed to represent this House would be chosen for the 
 views the Council entertains in reference to the Bill ; they would meet 
 a similar number of members of the Assembly, who would no doubt be 
 chosen for the views that House holds in regard to the measure, and 
 angry recriminations might take place. (" No.") Honorable members 
 may say " No," but I am stating the reasons why I think a conference 
 at this stage is not desirable. It is a most unusual thing in connection 
 with a Bill of this nature a Bill for the imposition of a tax which 
 we have only the right to accept or reject, and in which we are unable 
 to make any amendments, to ask for a conference. I tbink we had 
 better address ourselves to the question of whether the Bill is to be 
 read a second time or not. I have not consulted my colleagues on the 
 question of a conference, and I am not in a position to bind them in 
 any way ; but, speaking my own views, I do not think any good would 
 flow from a conference. 
 
 Mr. CAMPBELL. The proposition did not emanate from this (the 
 left) side of the House. It proceeded from a supporter of the Bill, 
 and I inferred from that that he might have some sort of authority to 
 speak for his party. 
 
 Mr. CUTHBERT. No. 
 
 Mr. BALFOUR. There is no party. 
 
 Mr. CAMPBELL. I was under that impression ; otherwise I 
 would not presume to make such a suggestion However, nearly all 
 the supporters of the Bill acknowledge its defects. They admit 
 that it is- a bad and unjust Bill in many respects. For myself, as a 
 property-owner, I would be glad to see a land tax, but I would like to 
 see it applied all round, with no exceptions. We would thus follow 
 the example of the mother country. And here I wish to point out 
 that the cry that property-owners object to tax themselves is untrue. 
 I think Mr. a'Beckett was a member of the old Legislative Council at 
 the time that an increased assessment of stock was resolved upon, and 
 it may be in the recollection of the honorable member that I proposed 
 that increase. With this fact in existence I assert that it is unjust to 
 say that owners of property object to tax themselves. I believe there 
 is not an owner of property in this House who would object to a fair 
 and equitable tax, a tax which would apply all round. But the pro- 
 position now before us is an unprecedented one. I am not aware 
 that such a tax is in force in any civilized country. Mr. Wilson 
 has called attention to the taxation which the banks have been 
 subjected to, and contended that this House committed an in- 
 justice to those institutions when it sanctioned that taxation. 
 Assuming that the House made a mistake in that regard, 
 I would remind the honorable member that two blacks don't make a 
 white; but I am not aware that in imposing taxation on the banks, the 
 large establishments were taxed heavier than the small. I think the 
 tax applied to all banking institutions equally ; so there is no analogy, 
 as the honorable member appears to suppose, between that case and 
 the present. The chief objection which I have to the taxation now
 
 13 
 
 proposed is that it singles out a class ; it divides property-owners into 
 classes, and sets class against class. And in imposing taxation there is 
 one thing we ought carefully to look to, and that is our reputation in 
 the old world. 1 find that already our 4 per cent, debentures are some 
 2 or 2\ per cent, below par, while the 4 per cents, of the neighbouring 
 colony of New South Wales are quoted at 4 per cent, higher than 
 ours. I also find that in the July number of the Quarterly Seview the 
 propositions of the present Government are stigmatised as revolu- 
 tionary. And what, I ask, is likely to be said what are our securities 
 likely to sell at if such an offence against good government as I deem 
 the passing of this Bill will be is committed ? I fancy that our repu- 
 tation not only in the mother country but throughout the world is 
 likely to suffer by such a proceeding. "With regard to the reasons 
 given by Sir Charles Sladen for laying the Bill aside, I think they are 
 quite sufficient. There can be no question that this House has the 
 power to set aside any Bill. No doubt, the House ought to be able to 
 assign good reasons for such a course, and I maintain that the reasons 
 submitted in this instance are good and sufficient. I sincerely trust 
 the House will be saved from what I cannot help regarding as the 
 terrible disgrace of passing the measure. I concur with Sir Charles 
 Sladen, that this House will lower itself in the estimation of the colony 
 if it does pass the Bill, and I would regret that exceedingly, because I 
 think the House, at present, stands well with the country. I trust 
 that honorable members will not be frightened, as it were, from doing 
 their duty. Some honorable members seem to think it expedient to 
 assent to the measure because the country goes with it. But I deny 
 that the country goes with it. Why, Mr. Bromell has already shown 
 that a large section of the small proprietors who will be exempt from 
 taxation are opposed to the Bill. I hope honorable members will not 
 be influenced by dread of anything which may happen outside as to 
 their vote on this question. If they have anything to dread, it is the 
 dread of committing the mistake of passing such an iniquitous Bill. 
 
 APPENDIX No. 3. 
 
 Personal Explanation 15th June, 1880. 
 
 The Hon. W. CAMPBELL said he desired to make a personal 
 explanation with respect to a statement, published in the Argus of 
 Friday, June 11, to the effect that he had been accused of committing 
 a fraudulent act. He was sure no honorable member would be 
 thought to be behaving properly if he remained silent when such an 
 imputation was brought against him. Undoubtedly the House gene- 
 rally was interested in the character and reputation of its members. 
 The charge he alluded to was set forth in a paragraph relating to a
 
 14 
 
 discussion that occurred in another place with reference to the Land 
 Tax Act, and it was as follows : 
 
 " Mr. Laurens went on to state that one honorable member of the Upper House, 
 the Hon. W. Campbell, who originally paid 460 per annum, had so arranged that 
 his name had disappeared from the list. 
 
 That was perfectly true. 
 
 " Mr. Longmore, who followed, said that what had been done by the gentleman in 
 question and others was to divide their estates among their families ; and such 
 transfers, he declared, were fraudulent." 
 
 Now, he (Mr. Campbell) was under the impression that one of the 
 arguments put forward in favor of the land tax by a certain, and by 
 no means small, class of the community was that it would have a 
 tendency to subdivide properties in other words, to burst up the large 
 estates. It ought to be remembered that the honorable member of 
 another place who used the word " fraudulent " was the Minister of 
 Lands of the Government that carried the " Land Tax Act." Now, 
 however, it appeared that the advocates of the tax were by no means 
 delighted to find some of the large estates burst up, for certainly he 
 (Mr. Campbell) had burst up his estate with a vengeance. In the 
 first place, he would mention that the estate referred to as having been 
 held by him consisted mainly of about 21,000 acres in the parishes of 
 Salisbury and Tarrayne. The land was originally put up to auction 
 by the Crown, with the result that nearly all of it was passed in, there 
 being no buyer. The fact that at that time no one would pay 1 per 
 acre for it was surely a pretty good indication of the poor quality of 
 the soil. Being thus unsold, it remained, as a matter of course, for 
 some weeks open to be purchased by any one who tendered 1 per acre 
 for it, and the greater portion of it was then taken up, as an investment, 
 by Mr. Donald Larnach, now of London, Mr. Ochiltree, of Ballarat, 
 and the Messrs. Lewers, all gentlemen concerned in banking. From 
 them, and also from Messrs. Kaye and Butchart, he purchased the 
 property, to which he added a small area he bought direct from the 
 Crown. The price of the whole, before the land was subdivided or 
 fenced, amounted to about 25s. per acre, but, inasmuch as for a long 
 time afterwards, he let it to his son, with all improvements, at a rental 
 of only 2s. per acre, it would be seen that his bargain was not a very 
 good one. Things went on in that way until what he could not help 
 calling the iniquitous land tax was adopted. He owned that his feeling 
 against that impost was so strong that it seemed to him a degradation 
 to pay it. He regarded it as a species of black-mail as legalized 
 robbery. Under these circumstances, he considered he was entitled to 
 maintain his rights ; consequently he divided his land into blocks, each 
 less in extent than the minimum area subject to taxation, and then made 
 an absolute gift of them to different members of his family. They had 
 all reached years of discretion, and had been in receipt of allowances 
 from him far in excess of the value of the estate, and he had felt that 
 he only held it for their benefit. The subdivision was effected in a 
 perfectly honafide way, for he had divested himself wholly of all right 
 or title to the property. Since the term " fraudulent " had been applied
 
 15 
 
 to the transaction, it might perhaps be supposed by some that the 
 transfer was made with a sort of secret reservation which would enable 
 him, whenever he chose, to reverse it; but such was not at all the case. 
 He had never had any idea of the kind. He would add that he regretted 
 that the accusation against him was not made under circumstances 
 which would render the accuser answerable to him for libel. Friends 
 had told him that he might well treat the whole charge with contempt, 
 and pass it by, but that was not his view of the matter. He felt that, 
 while he might rest satisfied that those who knew him would never 
 believe him guilty of anything resembling fraud, there were some who 
 did not know him, and to whom his personal character was compara- 
 tively strange. On the other hand, the same thing might be said o 
 Mr. Longmore. There were many in the colony who did not know 
 him, and might on that account place greater reliance upon his words 
 than those better acquainted with him would do. Therefore, he thought 
 that, upon the whole, he ought to offer the present explanation. As 
 for the land tax itself, he regarded its imposition as a misfortune to the 
 colony. He believed it to be one of the main causes of the existing 
 depression and stagnation in trade and business affairs generally, and 
 also ol the disemployment of the hundreds of hard-working honest men 
 now daily going about looking for work, and finding none. Its effect 
 had been not only to discourage investment in land, so as to render 
 it almost unsaleable, but also to prevent those who held it from 
 improving it. Where, indeed, was there any inducement to landowners 
 to increase the value of their property by fencing, draining, building, 
 or clearing ? For example, he knew a gentleman in his own neighbour- 
 hood, at Bridgewater, whose land was originally forest, and scarcely 
 worth 1 per acre, but he cleared it, put in grasses, and so improved it 
 that its value was greatly enhanced. But what was his reward for his 
 enterprise ? He had simply brought taxation upon his shoulders, for 
 his land was classified higher than that of his neighbours, who had never 
 touched their holdings to improve them. If the present Government had 
 within them a spark of real patriotism, they would amend the "Land Tax 
 Act." He did not mean to imply by his remarks that he objected to a 
 tax on land. On the contrary, he wanted to see every acre in the colony 
 subjected to a fair and equitable share of the burthens of the State. 
 It was only by pursuing some such course as that, that public 
 confidence could be restored throughout the country. While the 
 present land tax remained, he, for one, did not care to invest in land, 
 nor, if he had money to lend, would he lend it upon security of that 
 character. Besides, it ought never to be forgotten that the persons 
 directly touched by the land tax were principally pioneers of the 
 colony, who had made their mark in it, and much assisted its progress. 
 Let people prate of the .Reform Bill, and the good of passing it, as 
 they chose; nothing but the amendment of the "Land Tax Act" 
 would remove from the statute-book of the colony the greatest blot 
 that now disfigured it. 
 
 From "The Argus;' 11 th June, 1880. 
 
 In the Assembly last week, Mr. Laurens stated that the Hon. W. Campbell, 
 who originally paid land tax to the extent of 460 per annum, had so arranged that
 
 16 
 
 his name had disappeared from the list. On this Mr. Longmore remarked, with his 
 usual affability, that the gentleman in question had divided his estate amongst his 
 family, and that such transfers were fraudulent. Mr. Campbell, thinking that "many 
 that did not know Mr. Longmore might place greater reliance on his words than his 
 intimate friends would," considered it due to himself to take notice of the 
 offensive observation. He explained how he had acquired the estate which was 
 assessed at the sum mentioned, and showed that it was a poor investment. He then 
 proceeded thus: 
 
 " Things went on until the passing of what he called this iniquitous land tax. 
 He felt it a degradation to pay that tax. He looked upon it as a species of black 
 mail legalized robbery. He felt that he was morally entitled as he was legally 
 entitled to do what he pleased with his property. He subdivided the land into 
 blocks, less in extent than the area subject to the tax, so that they were all exempted. 
 He made an absolute gift of the land to his family." 
 
 The hon. gentleman then went on to complain of a bond fide transaction 
 being described as fraudident, and expressed regret that the words had not been 
 used in a place where the person who uttered them could be held responsible 
 for his language. We regard Mr. Campbell's explanation as quite satisfactory. 
 He had a perfect right to relieve himself, if he could legally do so, from an 
 impost which, as a tax upon a section of society, is an infamous product of class 
 legislation. The whole affair is notable on two grounds. In the first place 
 it shows that Mr. Longmore can never contemplate the proceedings of his fellow-men 
 without suspecting fraud. Some may say that this is only natural in the case of a 
 man whose political career has always been a fraudulent pretence. Perhaps they 
 are right. The other point to which we draw actention is, that it is evidently 
 impossible for the large landowners to please the "Liberal" party, no matter what 
 they may 'do. "Strike high or strike low," it is all one. The principal object of 
 the land tax, whatever its effect may have been, was to "burst up" the large 
 estates. It appears now, however, that if a holder gives effect to this policy, he only 
 transforms himself from a bloated monopolist into a fraudulent evader. Is it not 
 about time for the House to surrender one or two of its privileged and habitual 
 libellers to the operation of the law? 
 
 APPENDIX No. 4. 
 
 Land Tax Act Amendment Bill 24th June, 1881. 
 
 The debate on the Hon. E. D. Eeid's motion for the second reading 
 of the Land Tax Act Amendment Bill (adjourned from June 7) was 
 resumed. 
 
 The Hon. W. CAMPBELL said. Mr. President, the question before 
 us has been so well discussed already that I fancy I cannot throw 
 much light upon it. But I think that, on the present occasion, it is 
 the duty of every honorable member to express his opinion on the 
 subject, if only in order to bear testimony to the impolicy of the 
 existing Land Tax Act. As to offering arguments why the Bill should 
 not become law, I don't see that there is much need for anything of 
 the kind. I fancy that how the measure will be dealt with by us is 
 by this time pretty well understood, and that the honorable member 
 representing the Government will not break his heart over the busi-
 
 17 
 
 ness. Dr. Hearn has, with his usual great ability in connection with 
 all constitutional matters, put it to us very forcibly that the Bill is 
 clearly a measure of policy, and therefore one this House has a perfect 
 right to deal with ; but I am prepared to say that, were it one of 
 money only, I would vote against it, because it is every bit as unfair 
 and unjust as the "Land Tax Act" and I do not hesitate to hold that 
 in extreme cases the Council has a right to throw out a Money Bill. 
 However, Dr. Hearn has proved beyond doubt that what we have 
 before us is a question of policy, and therefore no point about it being 
 a purely financial measure can arise. It is said that when the existing 
 law relating to land taxation was carried here, we were, so to say, under 
 duress, because public opinion on the subject was so strongly excited 
 that there seemed to be a prospect of something dreadful perhaps 
 rebellion happening if the Bill did not pass. But I deny that there 
 ever was such a feeling in the country. For instance, I have no 
 recollection of a single public meeting being held on the subject. I 
 know there was at the time a general opinion that land had escaped 
 taxation much too long, and that I, in common with, I imagine, every 
 honorable member here, was perfectly willing that land should be 
 taxed. Indeed, I believe the community were unanimous on the point. 
 But that there was any general or strong sentiment in favour 
 of the land tax we helped to impose on the country, I, for one, 
 entirely deny. I have a better opinion of the intelligence of my 
 fellow-citizens, whom I regard as inferior to no section of the human 
 race, than to suppose that they ever really expected such a measure to 
 become law. As for any fears of rebellion of an attempt at 
 revolution I thought them then, as now, entirely groundless. 
 History shows that events of that sort don't occur without pretty 
 good cause for them ; but what sort of cause of the kind can be 
 said to exist here ? Surely, no one will say that the landlords of the 
 country are guilty of any crime. Yet what has been the operation of 
 the "Land Tax Act" with respect to them? It has been tantamount 
 to the confiscation of one-fourth of the properties affected by it. Most 
 of the landholders of the colony acquired their properties in a 
 perfectly legitimate way. My own case is simply an example of many 
 others. The land I bought was originally put up for sale by auction 
 without a bid, and afterwards purchased at the upset price by 
 capitalists, from whose hands I took it. The Government of the day 
 were only too glad to find purchasers for the property. I have heard 
 it said that in the old days a poor man could not buy land, because he 
 was always run out of the auction-room by some leviathan squatter; 
 but to my knowledge that statement is as a rule quite incorrect. It is 
 notorious that during the land-auctions period very large areas were 
 often put up for sale to the public without an offer, except from small 
 meu, who bought twenty or fifty acres at a time. Then, if the land- 
 lords of Victoria have committed no crime, why are they punished ? 
 Of course, we have heard of the land in the old country being confis- 
 cated ; but how and why was the thing done? After the rebellion of 
 1745, many of the estates that belonged to men who had joined in that 
 affair were taken from them, but that was because they were guilty of
 
 18 
 
 treason ; and, after all, in almost every case the properties were 
 eventually restored either to them or to their families, But why was 
 the property of the landholders of Victoria confiscated? Practically 
 because they had been successful in life because they availed them- 
 selves of the resources of the colony, and thereby accomplished more 
 for its development than any other class of the community. Yet 
 men of that stamp are held up to public scorn and degradation by 
 demagogues who have no interest whatever in the country. For my 
 part, I look upon the " Land Tax Act " as a disgrace, but not as an 
 eternal one, because I do not despair of seeing sentiments of fairness and 
 justice prevail, and a tax equitably affecting every class in the country 
 possessing property, no matter of what kind, passed into law. Such 
 an impost would, owing to its operation being widely distributed, be 
 really very little felt. In fact, the amount the small property-owners 
 would have to pay under it would be truly insignificant. I have no 
 doubt we would soon see a state of things of that sort if w r e had at the 
 head of affairs real statesmen men who would not stoop to pander to 
 the follies of the hour instead of men w r ho seek a road to power by 
 fomenting the passions of the multitude at public meetings, which are 
 always avoided by the better classes of society, and are almost always 
 led by some leather-lunged demagogue, who cares little what he says 
 so long as he carries his hearers with him for the time being. Unless 
 the " Land Tax Act " is amended, I see no chance of any real restora- 
 tion of public confidence. It is said that now that we have reform, 
 peace, and cheap money, we ought to progress ; but is it not the fact 
 that, in spite of everything, property does not increase in value ? As 
 Mr. McBain show r ed us a few nights since, although money is 40 per 
 cent, cheaper than it was a year or so ago, property has lately gone 
 down rather than risen in the market. Writers in the press have a 
 good deal to do with the state of matters I complain of, because un- 
 doubtedly they lead public opinion, and it is owing to the course they 
 took when the question of land taxation was last before us that w r e 
 accepted the proposals on the subject then made. I am sure many 
 honorable members here are much led by the press, and perhaps they 
 ought to be so led to some extent; but I would have them look at the 
 fact that the press often means men who have only a very temporary 
 interest in the country, and perhaps do not see any further than other 
 people. If we had here the system of land taxation they have in England 
 where all property is taxed, it would be a great advantage to us. 
 But what have we got instead ? A land tax based on the principle of an 
 income tax. Now, there is no analogy whatever between the taxation 
 of incomes and the taxation of land. Tor example, because a man is 
 the reputed owner of a large property it does not follow that he is 
 correspondingly wealthy. His land may be heavily mortgaged, and, 
 when he has paid interest upon its encumbrances, and land tax as 
 well, he may be only a poor man perhaps almost a beggar. What 
 justice can there be in taxing him as though he was a rich man ? 
 On the other hand, under our existing system, a man may be in receipt 
 of an enormous income he may be a capitalist owning very little real 
 estate and yet escape taxation altogether. In some of the newly
 
 19 
 
 settled portions of the United States they have a tax which is worth 
 taking notice of. It applies to all sorts of property, land, houses, 
 stock, mills, flocks, and herds everything, in fact and, inasmuch as 
 it amounts to only half per cent, on the capital value, no one feels it. 
 Tet it answers every purpose, and its operation is to give confidence 
 to all classes, and to enable the community concerned to progress 
 very rapidly indeed. "What during the same time have we had in 
 this colony under our iniquitous land tax? Nothing but retrogression. 
 Our landowners have lost heart ; they will not go on improving 
 their property to half the extent they formerly did, and the consequence 
 is that a great number of working men have been thrown out of employ- 
 ment here, and been driven into the neighbouring colonies. There is 
 no doubt that our late loss of population is partly to be accounted for 
 in that way. Thus indirectly the land tax has been a great blow to 
 the working man as well as to the smaller landholders reached by it. 
 As to the character of the tax in the light of the true principles of 
 political economy, I need say nothing. That ground was well taken 
 up, the other evening, by Mr. Robertson. I wish, however, he had 
 brought forward the same quotations from the great authorities when 
 the former " Land Tax Bill " was before us. Perhaps, had he done 
 so, our action with respect to that measure would have been different, 
 and we would not have consented to a tax which reaches only 
 one person in a thousand only 800 individuals in a population of 
 800,000. I dare say the land tax is consistent with what is called in 
 these days a "liberal" policy; but, to my mind, such liberalism means 
 people taking money out of the pockets of others instead of their own. 
 1 cannot help thinking that, had the honorable members of this 
 Chamber who supported that tax had any foresight of the evils it 
 would give rise to, they would never have agreed to it as they did. 
 In conclusion, I will say that I am sure every honorable member here 
 who intends to make Victoria his permanent home must be desirous 
 to see the " Land Tax Act " amended, but he must also see that the 
 effect of the amending Bill now before us would be to make things 
 worse than ever. 
 
 c55e2b
 
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 'V 
 
 \>V^
 
 THE CEOWN LANDS 
 
 AUSTRALIA.
 
 \
 
 CROWN LANDS 
 
 OF 
 
 AUSTRALIA: 
 
 BEING AN EXPOSITION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE LAND REGULATIONS, AND OF THE CLAIMS AND GRIEVANCES 
 OP THE CEOWN TENANTS; 
 
 WITH 
 
 DOCUlENTAM EVIDENCE APPENDED; 
 
 \ 
 
 TOGETHER WITH A FEW 
 
 HINTS UPON EMIGEATION & THE GOLD FIELDS. 
 
 BT 
 
 WILLIAM CAMPBELL, 
 
 LATE MEMBER OP THE IF^IouATIVB COUNCIL OP VICTOBIA. 
 
 JOHN SMITH & SON, GLASGOW; 
 WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, EDINBURGH AND LONDON. 
 
 1855.
 
 GLASGOW : 
 PRINTED BY WM, EADIE AND CO. PRINCE'S SQUARE.
 
 O \5o 
 
 Melbourne, 22d May, 1854. 
 
 William Campbell, Esq. M.L.C. 
 Melbourne. 
 
 Dear See, We, the undersigned Tenants of the Crown, cannot permit 
 youio leave this colony without tendering to you the expression of our 
 warm thanks for the ability, energy, and perseverance you have dis- 
 played in advocating the cause of tho pastoral interests of the 
 community. 
 
 Appreciating as we do the sincerity which has ever formed the 
 groundwork of your action in this cause, and feeling that your interest 
 in it can never be diminished, we venture to request that you will 
 represent our grievances to the Home Government, and maintain the 
 rights you have ever so consistently upheld. 
 
 Wishing you a safe and happy voyage to your native land, and the 
 realisation of all your hopes in re- visiting it, we remain, Dear See, 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 D. Maclachlan. William Snow Clifton, J.P. 
 
 F. Taylor. John Goodman, M.L.C. 
 
 J. H. Kerr. Wm. J. T. Clarke. 
 
 Fred. Fenton. Alexr. Cameron. 
 
 J. West, tertius. A. G. Brodribb. 
 
 William Paterson. Wm. Degraves. 
 
 W. B. Hamilton. Lewis Clarke. 
 
 J. Sutherland. James Hum. 
 
 Duncan Cameron. James Webb. 
 
 J. M. Loughnan. G. B. Maicke, M.D., F.B.S. 
 
 Thomas U. Bhyder. W. Bobertson. 
 
 A. M. Campbell, J.P. John Brock. 
 
 Gideon S. Lang. J. H. Boss. 
 
 Matthew Harvey, M.L.C* Bobt. Boss, J.P. 
 
 Andrew Bussell, M.L.C. John Carfrae, J.P. 
 
 Alexr. Macallum. 
 
 * M.L.C. Member of the Legislative Council. 
 
 G47009
 
 Melboubne, 26th Mat, 1854. 
 
 Mr Deab Sie, In forwarding yon the inclosed Address, I cannot 
 refrain adding some personal expressions of gratitnde for your exertions 
 in a cause in which, with many others, I am deeply interested. Only 
 aware of your projected departure within these last few days, I have 
 not obtained many signatures, which, if time had permitted, would 
 have been hut too willingly joined to the list of those already appended. 
 I will only mention, that every tenant of the Crown in Melbourne has 
 availed himself of the opportunity to express his admiration of the con- 
 sistent and honest career which you have pursued with so much ability 
 and determination. Believe me, yours faithfully, 
 
 D. M'LACHLAN. 
 W. Campbell, Esq. M.L.C. 
 
 The reluctance felt by the Writer, in publishing the foregoing Address 
 and Letter, was overcome, with the view of showing that he was author- 
 ised to represent the grievances of the Crown Tenants of Victoria.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 LEGAL DOCUMENTS REVIEWED. 
 
 Order in Council Sufficient Land open for Sale Tenders for Runs Transfer of 
 Leases guaranteed Investment of Capital Expense of Survey and Settlement 
 of Boundaries Lord Grey's Despatches Reserves not required Crown Law 
 Officer's opinions Population all employed in Pastoral pursuits Increase and 
 decrease of Wool Legal claims Governor's power limited Responsibility of 
 British Government Representation of Pastoral Interest destroyed Scheme 
 of Compensation, _.__^._----3 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IMPOLICY OF DISTURBING THE LAW. 
 
 Power to Sell Challenged Pre-emptive Right Opinions of Crown Law Officers 
 Instructions to concede Pre-emptive Right Instructions disobeyed Urgent 
 request for Re-consideration Opinion of Law Officers of Victoria Reserves 
 not justified Survey of Runs retarded by Survey of Townships Population 
 dispersed Agrarian feelings fostered Cause of Scarcity of Butcher Meat 
 Capitalists leaving the Colony Decrease of Stock Policy of granting the 
 Pre-emptive right Lands applied for Average price of Land Crown Tenants' 
 capital idle Policy of the Order in Council Government bound to establish 
 rights Decrease of Agriculture Intimidations and Misrepresentations of the 
 Press Squatters' want of confidence in the Government, 16 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. 
 
 Mr. Johnson's Motion, relating to the Sale of Land at the Gold Fields, amended 
 Colonial Secretary's Admission of the Pre-emptive Right Motion for the 
 Extension of the Settled Districts defeated Immediate issue of Leases and 
 Sale of Lands under the Pre-emptive Right recommended by a majority of 18 
 to 9 Reference to the Home Government Provision in the Draft of the New 
 Constitution for the fulfilment of the Promises of the Crown, - - - 25 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OFFICIAL DESPATCHES TO AND FROM THE COLONIAL OFFICE. 
 
 Delay in the Settlement of the Question Strength of Claims confided in Want of 
 Representation Compensation suggested by the Duke of Newcastle Errors 
 regarding the Views and Claims of the Squatters Development of the Re-
 
 Vlll 
 
 sources of the Colony Compensation suggested by the late Lieutenant- 
 Governor Error regarding the Maximum of Pre-emptive Right Quibbling 
 Governor can only legally refuse to Sell such Lands as are described in the 7th 
 Section of the "Order in Council" Admission of Claims Injustice of Ante- 
 dating the Leases Appeal to the Law Sale for Speculative Purposes illegal 
 Infringements unnecessary Colonial Secretary's interpretation of the Privi- 
 leges of the Crown Tenant Disproportionate Sale of Lands under the Pre- 
 emptive Right in the several Districts, ------- 31 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 EFFECTS OF THE GOLD DISCOVERT. 
 
 Gold discovered in Victoria on the 8th July, 1851 Derangement of the industry 
 of the Colony Agricultural decrease High prices Impolicy of refusing the 
 Pre-emptive Right Bad faith of the Executive Sufficient land legally open for 
 Sale Leases due long before gold was discovered Crown tenant entitled to 
 the increased value of lands applied for Population quadrupled High Wages 
 diverted many from the Gold fields Gold fields inexhaustible Auriferous soil 
 not adapted for agriculture Rich volcanic soil convenient Produce of bulky 
 articles practicable Gold exchanged for Flour Expense of farming Squatters 
 the principal agriculturists near the Gold fields Their importance acknow- 
 ledged by the Lieutenant-Governor, --------38 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS IN CONCLUSION. 
 
 First Settlement of Port Phillip in 1835 Difficulties of the Early Settlers The 
 Result of their Success Created Commercial Prosperity Provided Means for 
 the Development of the Gold Fields Led to the Discovery of Gold Produc- 
 tion of Enormous Exports Ex-Squatters greatest Opponents to the Pastoral 
 Interest Mr. Foster's Interpretation of the Rights of the Squatters, in 1851 
 Wages in Victoria in August 1854 Duke of Newcastle's application of the 
 same Law differently Opinions of eminent Barristers Mr. Robert Lowe's 
 Interpretation, in 1847 Second Edition of the "Order in Council" proposed 
 The People misguided by the Press Produce of Two Millions' worth of Ani- 
 mal Food Modification of the Land Regulations Scheme of Compensation 
 by the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce Condemnation of the Procrastina- 
 tion of the Lieutenant-Governor, and the Despatch of the Duke of Newcastle 
 Home Government's Responsibility Legal Proceedings in defence of such 
 Rights Prevention of a State of Anarchy Settlement of the Question before 
 the Control of the Crown Lands is given the Local Legislature Representation 
 of Pastoral Interest swamped Safety of Rejecting the dictation of the Press 
 Honour of the Crown pledged Legal and Moral Claims entitle the Crown 
 Tenants to a Recognition of their Rights Abstract Conclusions demonstrated, 44 
 
 HINTS ON EMIGRATION, _ _ 55
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The great pastoral interest of Australia had its 
 origin in the foresight and enterprise of the late 
 Captain John Macarthur of Camden, who will be 
 ever memorable in the history of his country. 
 That great interest was the means of creating 
 every other interest not even excepting the great 
 gold interest ; and Captain Macarthur may there- 
 fore be justly held the father of a country soon 
 destined to become, if under a wise and just go- 
 vernment, a great and mighty empire. In 1803, 
 Capt. Macarthur lodged a paper in Lord Hobart's 
 office in London, in which it is stated, " Captain 
 Macarthur is so convinced of the practicability of 
 supplying this country with any quantity of fine 
 wool it may require, that he is earnestly solicitous 
 to prosecute this, as it appears to him, important 
 object; and, on his return to New South Wales, to 
 devote his whole attention to accelerate its com- 
 plete attainment. All the risk attendant on the 
 undertaking he will cheerfully bear he will re-
 
 quire no pecuniary aid and all the encourage- 
 ment lie humbly solicits, is the protection of Go- 
 vernment, permission to occupy a sufficient track 
 of unoccupied lands to feed his flocks." The 
 Government acceded to his wishes, and ultimately 
 gave him a large grant of land; and it need 
 scarcely be said that his prophetic convictions 
 were realised: his flocks increased rapidly under 
 his care and good management. Others followed 
 his example : the lands were lying waste : the Go- 
 vernment very wisely encouraged their occupa- 
 tion ; and licensed any free and respectable person 
 who desired to occupy them. Commissioners were 
 appointed to manage these waste lands, and the 
 occupants voluntarily paid an assessment to defray 
 the Commissioners' expenses, and that of the po- 
 lice under their direction, so that their occupation 
 might not cost the Government anything. But in 
 the course of time, when nearly all the available 
 lands within a practicable distance were occupied, 
 great evils were experienced from the arbitrary 
 acts of these functionaries, who assumed great 
 power in defining the extent of runs, by lessening 
 one run in order to enlarge another. They were 
 accused of receiving bribes, and of acting very 
 unfairly between man and man. The occupants 
 were powerless against the Government, as they 
 had only an annual licence they could not be 
 otherwise than dissatisfied they required a better 
 tenure, to secure them against the irresponsible
 
 XI 
 
 acts of an arbitrary Governor and his needy subor- 
 dinates they agitated their grievances, and ulti- 
 mately obtained an equitable title to a lease upon 
 definite terms, with a preferable right to purchase 
 at a fair value. They obtained that title through 
 an Act of Parliament, and an Order of Her Majesty 
 in Council. They were grateful for that boon 
 granted to them, and were encouraged to improve 
 their property, under the fullest confidence that 
 the promise of the Queen, under the sanction of 
 the Imperial Parliament, would be held sacred. 
 In this, however, they have been much disap- 
 pointed, as Her Majesty's representative in Victoria 
 violated that promise, by refusing to give the oc- 
 cupant of Crown lands the stipulated pre-emptive 
 right, and otherwise illegally disposed of such 
 lands to their prejudice. The tenants of the 
 Crown (for such is the proper designation of the 
 Australian squatter) protested against such arbi- 
 trary infringements. The executive procrastinated 
 for years, and were encouraged in their indecision 
 by the clamours of the press. Ultimately the 
 question was referred to the decision of the Home 
 Government; and, after a waste of seventeen 
 months' time, was left in as unsettled a state as 
 ever by the indefinite despatch of the Duke of 
 Newcastle, which is reviewed in the fourth chapter. 
 In the meanwhile a great gold-producing in- 
 terest sprung into existence, and now seemingly 
 excuses the executive from the fulfilment of pro-
 
 Xll 
 
 mises and contracts entered into by the Crown and 
 its tenants; but which promises and contracts 
 ought to have been fulfilled years before any pro- 
 duce of gold existed in Victoria : indeed, both the 
 Crown and the tenant implemented the leases, as 
 is proved in the first chapter. The Crown tenants 
 are therefore entitled to be placed in as good a 
 position as that in which they would have been, 
 were it not for the procrastination of the executive. 
 It is impracticable to restore the lands which have 
 been illegally sold; but it is absolutely necessary, 
 for the ends of justice, that equivalent compensa- 
 tion be made to the injured pioneers of Australian 
 civilisation; and if the executive, through an ap- 
 parent pressure of expediency, are to continue such 
 violations of the rights of property, they are bound, 
 by the pledged honour of the Crown, and by every 
 principle of honour and of justice, to make provi- 
 sion from the Crown lands to indemnify the arbi- 
 trary abrogation of such rights. 
 
 An erroneous impression prevails regarding the 
 privileges of the tenants of the Crown, which re- 
 quires prominent correction. It was published by 
 Mr. Robert Lowe in 1837, that the Crown tenants 
 had a monopoly of buying the lands at 20s. per 
 acre; whereas the truth is, that they have only a 
 right to buy the land at a, fair valuation, which the 
 Governor may fix at the highest obtainable price, 
 but which can never be lower that 1 per acre. 
 
 The Act 5 and 6 Victoria is embodied in the
 
 Xlll 
 
 Appendix (No. 1), merely to complete the code of 
 land regulations : it was amended by the Act 9 and 
 10 Victoria, A pp. 3, and is applicable only to the 
 Settled districts. The reader will therefore ob- 
 serve that the legal claims of the Crown tenants 
 are chiefly founded upon Nos. 3 and 4 of the 
 Appendix. 
 
 The appropriation clause in the Assessment Act 
 (App. No. 2), which was in force when the leases 
 were demandable, shows that the Crown tenant is 
 liable only to be assessed for lccal purposes: and 
 that the attempt made by the Executive in the 
 Legislative Council last session to increase the 
 rent, by an exorbitant rate of assessment, in order 
 to meet a deficiency in the general revenue, was 
 illegal and unjust ; and the exclusion of the appro- 
 priation clause in the new Act was an indirect in- 
 vasion of the rights of the Crown tenants : so much 
 so, that they are, in the absence of such security 
 of the proper appropriation of their assessment, 
 legally justified in refusing payment of it, as the 
 Act is thereby not in accordance with the Order 
 in Council, nor with the former Act. Such illegal 
 invasions upon the rights of the Crown tenants, 
 having no limit affixed, indicate what they might 
 have to expect from the Legislature hereafter, if it 
 was legally empowered to decide upon their claims 
 which the Home Government is in honour and in 
 justice bound to settle, before the Crown lands are 
 handed over to the Local Legislature, in which the
 
 XIV 
 
 representation of the pastoral interest is swamped 
 by the formation of superfluous townships in the 
 pastoral districts. The Colonial Secretary, by 
 such invasions, evidently forgot his interpretation 
 of 1851. See page 47. 
 
 The First Part of the Appendix is composed of 
 legal documents, which form a complete code of 
 the law of the sale of Crown lands, and which are 
 reviewed in the first chapter. 
 
 The Second Part contains the opinions of the 
 Crown law officers, which, though not forming any 
 part of the law, go far to explain and strengthen 
 that law : they are reviewed in the second chapter. 
 
 The Third Part contains the votes and proceed- 
 ings of the Legislative Council bearing on the 
 question; but they can only be received as expres- 
 sions of opinion on the part of that body, which 
 were not empowered to interfere with the man- 
 agement of the Crown lands. It also contains 
 opinions of distinguished barristers; protests and 
 memorials from the Crown tenants, in defence of 
 their rights; correspondence between the Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor and the Secretary of State for 
 the Colonies ; together with a report from the 
 Melbourne Chamber of Commerce, condemnatory 
 of the encroachments of the Government, and 
 suggesting a scheme of compensation. 
 
 The Fourth Part consists of statistical returns. 
 
 The long complicated despatch of the late Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor was enough to mystify the subject
 
 XV 
 
 to one of more leisure than the Duke of Newcastle, 
 who in his reply was evidently misled by that des- 
 patch, and so misapprehended the rights of the 
 Crown tenants; otherwise his Grace could not have 
 left such an important question in such an unde- 
 cided state, to the injury of the peace and pros- 
 perity of the Colony at large. The length of that 
 despatch precludes it from a place in the Appendix. 
 
 Lest the strictures which are necessarily made 
 upon the official acts of the late Lieutenant Go- 
 vernor may appear personal, I take this opportu- 
 nity of expressing the greatest respect for the 
 private character of that gentleman; but the re- 
 presentation of the grievances of an injured class 
 of fellow-colonists being confided to me, I should 
 fail much in my duty were I to allow any respect 
 for private worth to shield the author of these 
 grievances from public exposure. 
 
 I haye briefly touched upon the effects of the 
 gold discovery in Victoria, which, although only 
 disclosed to the government in the month of July, 
 1851, was actually discovered a year and a half 
 before then. 
 
 I have also briefly touched upon Emigration, 
 which may be benefited by a modification of the 
 land regulations, in order to dispel erroneous im- 
 pressions prevailing regarding them. 
 
 I have prefixed an Address from the Crown 
 tenants of Victoria, with a letter from Captain D. 
 M'Lachlan, late of the Rifle Brigade, explaining
 
 XVI 
 
 how the address was not more numerously signed : 
 this I do in order to show that I am authorised to 
 represent the grievances of that body. And feel- 
 ing honoured as a representative of such a respec- 
 table body, and in grateful appreciation of their 
 mark of confidence, I have voluntarily undertaken, 
 in the absence of a professional man, the compila- 
 tion and publication of documentary evidence in 
 proof of their rights ; and only regret the imper- 
 fection of the exposition which I have thus ven- 
 tured to demonstrate. 
 
 W. CAMPBELL. 
 
 Cakraith, November, 1854.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 LEGAL DOCUMENTS REVIEWED. 
 
 Order in Council Sufficient Land open for Sale Tenders for Runs 
 Transfer of Leases guaranteed Investment of Capital Expense of 
 Survey and Settlement of Boundaries Lord Grey's Dispatches Re- 
 serves not required Crown Law Officer's opinions Population all 
 employed in Pastoral pursuits Increase and decrease of Wool Legal 
 claims Governor's power limited Responsibility of British Govern- 
 ment Representation of Pastoral Interest destroyed Scheme of Com- 
 pensation. 
 
 On the 9th March 1847, an Order in Council, under the 
 authority of an Act of Parliament, entitled the occupants 
 of crown lands beyond the settled districts in New South 
 Wales, to "demand" leases, for 8 and 14 years, in their 
 respective districts, with a preferable right to purchase 
 during the continuance, and upon the expiration of the 
 leases. App. 3 and 4. 
 
 On the 7th October 1847, Her Majesty's representative, 
 the Governor of New South Wales, promulgated the 
 Order in Council, and required the demands for leases to 
 contain a clear description of the boundaries supposed 
 extent estimated capabilities of the runs, &c; and to be 
 made within six months of that date, under pain of for- 
 feiture. App. No. 6.
 
 The Order in Council reserved a power to extend the 
 intermediate districts up to the 1st January 1849. The 
 colony was accordingly divided into three districts Set- 
 tled, Intermediate, and Unsettled. The lands in the 
 settled were left, as formerly, open for sale by auction. 
 
 The lands in the unsettled districts to be held under 
 lease for fourteen years, and during that term, " not open 
 to purchase by any other person, except the lessee." 
 (App. No. 4, Sect. 6.) The lowest price to be <l per 
 acre; if the land was of greater value, the Governor to 
 exercise his power of having them valued. (App. No. 4, 
 Sect. 3.) On the expiration of the lease, the lands to be 
 open for sale, subject to the lessee's preferable option 
 of purchase at a valuation in the event of the lessee 
 declining to purchase, the value of his improvements to 
 be allowed to him out of the price of the land. App. 4, 
 Sect. 16. 
 
 If more than three-fourths of the run remained unsold, 
 the lease renewable for the remaining portion. 
 
 The rent to be fixed at <2 : 10s. per 1000 sheep, exclu- 
 sive of the assessment for Commissioners and Police ex- 
 penses. App. 4, Sects. 2 and 4; see also App. 2, Clauses 
 I. and XL 
 
 As an encouragement to effect improvements, the rent 
 under the renewed lease not to be raised more than 50 per 
 cent. App. 4, Sect. 18. 
 
 Under the 8th section of the Order in Council, (App. 
 4,) the Governor is empowered to reserve from sale lands 
 for such public purposes as are described in the 3d clause of 
 5 and 6 Vict. App. No. 1. 
 
 The 9th section of the Order in Council enables the 
 Governor to make grants or sales for public purposes. 
 App. 4.
 
 The formation of a railroad in the unsettled district to 
 bring all the lands within two miles of it, under the rules 
 of the intermediate district. App. 4, Sect. 10. 
 
 The conditions of a lease in the intermediate district 
 are the same as those for a lease in the unsettled district, 
 except that the term is only for 8 in place of 14 years; and 
 that, at the end of every year, the Governor, on giving 60 
 days' notice, can offer all or any of the lands for sale, 
 subject to the lessee's option of purchase at a fair value. 
 (App. No. 4. Cap. III.) A lease, therefore, in the inter- 
 mediate district, though nominally for eight years, is in 
 reality only a lease for one year. 
 
 As the intermediate district in Victoria includes nearly 
 all the lands adapted for agricultural purposes beyond the 
 settled district, it is competent for the Governor, at the 
 end of every year, to throw any extent of land in that ex- 
 tensive district into the market for sale, and so require 
 the lessee, within 60 days, to exercise his option. Had 
 the late Lieutenant Governor legally exercised his power 
 in that way, which was afterwards pointed out to him by 
 the Legislative Council on the 28th July 1852 (App. 
 46), in place of destroying the rights of property, and 
 violating the law, which he did, by refusing the lessee the 
 option to purchase lands which he sold to other parties 
 for private purposes, all the odium attached to his govern- 
 ment on that head, and the groundless clamours of a 
 mercenary press, would have been avoided. 
 
 By a Proclamation of the 1st January, 1848, (App. 7, 
 8, and 9,) regulations were established for the acceptance 
 of Tenders for forfeited and for new runs. Under such 
 regulations, 61 tenders were accepted by the Government 
 between the 1st January, 1848, and the 1st July, 1852. 
 (App. 62.) The substance of the agreement entered into
 
 between the Governor and the Tenderer was the payment 
 of a premium generally, in addition to the fixed rent, by 
 the tenderer, for and in consideration of a lease ; surely 
 the acceptance of the tender, the receipt of the premium, 
 with possession, under a promise to grant, forms a com- 
 plete equitable title. 
 
 On the same date, 1st Jan. 1848, another proclamation 
 was issued, establishing rules respecting the transfer of 
 runs, (App. 10,) by which any licensed occupant was 
 empowered to dispose of his interest in his lease, the right 
 of which to be " thenceforth held to be vested in the person 
 in whose favour he requested that it should issue." The 
 effect of the Government so guaranteeing the leases to 
 purchasers of runs, made them as marketable as any other 
 commodity in the Colony, so that, before the 1st July, 
 1852, no less than 514 runs changed hands. (App. 62.) 
 The fixed tenure of a lease, with the option to purchase 
 the land, gave a greatly increased value to runs, and they 
 changed hands readily at enormous prices. Good healthy 
 runs, with stock upon them, generally realised double the 
 value of the stock; that is, when a flock of 10,000 sheep 
 were worth only 5000, the same flock, with a good run, 
 was worth 10,000. 
 
 Let the reader only fancy himself in the position of one 
 of the 514 purchasers of runs, and, under a thorough con- 
 fidence in the honesty of the Government, to have paid, 
 perhaps, all that he was worth in the world for one of 
 those runs, and, in the course of a few months afterwards, 
 to find his just and lawful rights denied to him, by the 
 very Government who had induced him to invest his all 
 in the purchase of these rights; in such a position, what 
 could his feelings be ? 
 
 On the 8th August, 1848, a Proclamation was issued,
 
 extending the limited time of applications for leases, from 
 the 6th April to the 30th September, 1848. App. 15. 
 
 On the 7th June, 1848, an Act was passed by the 
 Colonial Legislature, to appoint Commissioners to exa- 
 mine and report upon disputed boundaries of runs. By 
 that Act, claimants for leases were required to submit 
 their disputes to the Commissioners, and to pay high fees 
 before their case could be heard. App. 5. 
 
 Many were put to great expense, trouble, and annoy- 
 ance, in getting a survey of their runs made, and procuring 
 witnesses to prove their claims. The Governor, by the 
 receipt of the Fees, and by his decision in describing the 
 boundaries of the lands to be leased, implemented the 
 promise to grant a lease, otherwise the lessee's money and 
 trouble would have been thrown away. 
 
 Lord Grey, then Secretary for the Colonies, by his 
 dispatches of the 29th November 1846, and 30th March 
 1847 the latter transmitting the "Order in Council," 
 gave very pointed instructions to the Governor to be care- 
 ful in classing the lands of the Colony, on dividing it into 
 districts, as, to use his own words, * lands to be defined 
 as unsettled, would be put out of the power of the Crown, and 
 rendered unavailable to the public for purchase for the long 
 period of fourteen years." The interpretation of the Secre- 
 tary of State, written a few days after the date of the 
 " Order in Council," and transmitting it with minute in- 
 structions to the Governor, must be held to be the inter- 
 pretation of the Imperial Government ; but, in fact, the 
 "Order in Council" is so clear that it will not bear any 
 other construction. App. 22. 
 
 Again, by an Order in Council, dated 18th July 1849, 
 the Governor was prohibited from selling any portions of
 
 8 
 
 reserves to any other person than the holder of the lease, 
 for the purpose of pasture or cultivation. App. 24. 
 
 The government exceeded its power by making large 
 reserves ; and the late Lieutenant Governor of Victoria, 
 then Superintendent of Port-Phillip, destroyed the virgin 
 peace and prosperity of Australia Felix, by his legion of 
 townships and reserves, On the 1st July 1851 he had 
 made no less than 246 reserves beyond the settled dis- 
 tricts, containing an extent of 681,700 acres. (App. 760 
 He added to their number largely since then. The go- 
 vernment of New South Wales has in a great measure 
 rectified the error at first fallen into, as, by a proclamation 
 of the 11th March 1852, the lessee in that Colony is em- 
 powered to nullify the reserve by applying to exercise his 
 right of purchase. App. 21. 
 
 The practice of the government of Victoria, on the 
 contrary, has been to sell, right and left, utterly regardless 
 of the claims and protests of the tenants of the Crown. 
 While Port-Phillip was under the jurisdiction of New 
 South Wales, the opinions of the Crown law officers 
 (App. 27, 29, 30, 31, 41, d. f.) being clearly against the 
 power desired by the Superintendent of Port-Phillip, 
 Charles Joseph La Trobe, Esquire, restricted that officer 
 for a time, and ought to have satisfied him that it was 
 never intended that he should have the very arbitrary 
 power of selling the lands of any unoffending or offending 
 squatter when he thought proper. But no! the opinions 
 of professional men of high legal attainments and matured 
 experience, like the Crown law officers of New South 
 Wales, did not satisfy him nor would the interpretation 
 of the imperial Government, through the Secretary of 
 State for the Colonies, guide him, he was blinded with 
 the "love of power" a power that no wise man would
 
 9 
 
 wish to have the responsibility of exercising amongst a 
 free and enlightened British community e And, very soon 
 after he became Lieutenant Governor of Victoria, he ob- 
 tained opinions from Law officers of his own appointment, 
 which opinions, vague as they were, partly coincided with 
 his own, though in the main against him as it was only 
 where there was " an absolute necessity" and not to meet 
 "the prospective wants of the community ," that they thought 
 he had the power to sell. App. 41, g. 
 
 On the 1st January 1851, there were 5,600,000 sheep, 
 and 308,000 cattle, depastured beyond the settled districts. 
 (App. 72.) On the 29th March of the same year, the 
 population beyond the settled districts was only 13,914, 
 consisting of 10,029 males, and 3,885 females. (App. 75.) 
 It is very obvious that that small population were barely 
 sufficient to manage such a large number of sheep and 
 cattle; to wash, shear, and carry to a seaport, about 
 18,000,000 lbs. wool : in fact they were all employed in 
 pastoral pursuits; there was no other source of industry 
 within these districts. The remainder of the population 
 were fully employed in various pursuits in and around 
 Melbourne and the settled districts, and their prosperity 
 dependent upon the prosperity of the pastoral interest 
 entirely. Where then was the " absolute necessity" of a 
 legion of townships and agricultural reserves ? Nowhere 
 except in the imagination of His Honour the Superin- 
 tendent and the Landjobber. The pastoral interest was 
 the only interest beyond the settled district, and did not 
 require either townships or agricultural reserves. The 
 squatters had a right to cultivate grain for themselves, 
 though generally they preferred purchasing flour at the 
 shipping ports, and carrying it on their return wool drays, 
 which would otherwise reach the stations empty. The
 
 10 
 
 Australian flockmaster found that he could grow wool a^ 
 a greater profit than he could grow wheat, and was glad 
 to benefit the commerce of the colony by exchanging the 
 proceeds of wool for flour. His energies were directed to 
 improve the quality and increase the quantity of the 
 staple of the country. It need scarcely be said that his 
 exertions were eminently successful, and that all other 
 classes in the colony participated in his prosperity. From 
 1807, when Captain M'Arthur first exported 245 lbs. 
 wool, to 1850, the quantity increased to the enormous 
 amount of 39,000,000 lbs. The British manufacturer 
 receives the whole of that immense quantity, which ex- 
 ceeds all other imports of wool into Great Britain besides. 
 From 1851 the progression in Victoria both in quantity 
 and quality has been assuredly reversed; and I fear, under 
 present prospects, that the decrease will be more rapid 
 than the increase was. Official returns may have unfairly 
 shown for the last two years an increased weight, but the 
 most of the material, "not being washed" as formerly, 
 contained nearly 50 per cent of grease. A short time 
 may tell whether it has not been impolitic, as well as 
 unjust, to discourage an interest that has developed the 
 resources of a wilderness so soon, and whether the British 
 woollen manufacturer may not yet have cause to lament 
 its decline. 
 
 The squatters never questioned the power of the 
 government in establishing inns and police along the 
 thoroughfares, nor of granting sites for churches, schools, 
 &c. ; on the contrary, they subscribed to build churches 
 and schools, and paid assessment for police expenses. 
 
 That the occupiers of Crown lands have acquired an 
 equitable title to a lease, with an option of purchasing the 
 lands at a fair value, no one can deny; but should tho
 
 11 
 
 reader have any doubt on the matter, let him carefully 
 peruse the " Order in Council," (App. 4, and particularly 
 the 6th Section,) which expressly prohibits the sale of the 
 lands to the public, until after the lessee has exercised his 
 right of option to purchase; let him also observe the 10th 
 and 15th sections. The 7th section defines such lands as 
 the Governor is empowered to refuse to sell to the lessee. 
 The 8th section defines such lands as may be reserved 
 for public purposes. The 9th enumerates, in great detail, 
 the public purposes for which the Governor has the power 
 to make grants or sales of, concluding with the following 
 words, " or for any other purpose of public defence, safety, 
 utility, convenience, or enjoyment, or for otherwise facili- 
 tating the improvement and settlement of the Colony ; 
 but so that the quantity of land which maybe granted to any 
 railway company, shall not exceed, in all, the rate of 100 
 acres for every mile thereof in length." Great stress has 
 been laid upon these words by the opponents of the 
 squatting system ; but these words imply only public pur- 
 poses, and that the Governor might "otherwise " than by 
 sale or grant, dispose of lands for public purposes, for 
 instance, to lease them, but even for public encourage- 
 ment in establishing railways, he was restricted to 100 
 acres for every mile of the line, which is only a breadth of 
 275 yards, the adjoining lands for 2 miles on each side of 
 the line, if within the Unsettled district, to be brought 
 under the regulations of the Intermediate district. If it 
 had been intended to have given the Governor the power 
 of selling the lands indiscriminately to private persons, by 
 auction, whenever he thought proper, it would have been 
 most absurd and superfluous to have made any division of 
 the Colony into districts under different regulations, and 
 equally absurd and superfluous to have mentioned public
 
 12 
 
 purposes at all; because, if the Governor had the power to 
 sell to a private individual for any purpose, there would 
 have been no occasion to have reserved a power to sell 
 for public purposes ; but, if it admitted of the least doubt, 
 the prohibition in the 6th section, the provision in the 
 10th section, and the conditions of the sale in the 15th 
 section, must completely remove it; Lord Grey's dispatch, 
 already referred to, interprets the matter so clearly, that 
 it certainly does not admit of a doubt. 
 
 It is hoped that enough has been adduced in this chap- 
 ter, to prove that the claims of the tenants of the crown 
 in Victoria are strongly and fully established in law and 
 equity. There was no necessity to have infringed upon 
 their rights. There were not even gold-digging agitators 
 to intimidate the Government for several years after it 
 had entered upon its invasions; but, had there been, it 
 could not have justified the destruction of private property 
 without compensating the sufferers. 
 
 It has been already shown that, in 1851, the population 
 beyond the settled districts, consisting only of 13,914 
 souls, men, women, and children, were all profitably and 
 fully employed in the production of an export alike valu- 
 able to the colony and the manufactures of the mother 
 country; it has also been shown that a legion of 246 
 reserves were made prior to the 1st July, 1851, before any 
 gold digging interest, or any other interest, except the 
 pastoral interest, existed in these districts ; consequently, as 
 there was no other interest, there could not be any public 
 requirements, not even for townships, as inns had been 
 long established, and were recognised by the Squatters for 
 their general accommodation as public requirements. 
 
 The state of matters after the gold discoveries will be
 
 13 
 
 observed in the sequel, though nothing can affect just 
 rights acquired by law. 
 
 The Reserves in the Intermediate districts were en- 
 tirely superfluous, because the Governor had the power, 
 on giving 60 days' notice, of throwing any extent of land 
 required into the market; and, if there was any error ori- 
 ginally in giving an undue extension to the unsettled 
 districts, it was not the fault of those who obtained exclu- 
 sive privileges, but that of the local authorities, who had 
 power to extend the Intermediate district up to the be- 
 ginning of 1849. 
 
 It is thought by some that the Colonial Office 
 (after the evasive despatch of the Duke of Newcastle, 
 which will be observed hereafter) will try to get rid of 
 the responsibility of redressing the grievances of the 
 Crown tenants in Victoria, and may throw the onus of 
 repairing the violations of the late Lieutenant Governor 
 upon the Legislative Council. But surely the British 
 Government, who are now so nobly expending their best 
 energies in the Crimea in redressing the wrongs of the 
 Turks and who are now requiring the Government of 
 Greece to indemnify Greek subjects for losses suffered 
 from the insurrection will not themselves shrink from 
 indemnifying British subjects for losses sustained at the 
 hands of Her Majesty's representative. Surely they will 
 not be pusillanimous enough to hazabd the sacrifice of 
 rights granted direct from the Crown, which they would 
 assuredly do, if they delegated the power of settlement to 
 the local Legislature; for amongst the many evils the 
 pastoral interest has sustained from the invasion of town- 
 ships, is included that of the total destruction of the re- 
 presentation of that interest in the Legislative Council 
 so complete a destruction, that it is questionable whether
 
 14 
 
 the pastoral interest will ever be able to return another 
 member : under such an adverse state of things, it 
 would be manifestly dishonourable in the British Go- 
 vernment to fly from its path of duty. 
 
 The squatters, as tenants holding directly from the 
 Crown, expect the Crown, as landlord, to fulfil the condi- 
 tions of the lease, and secure them undisturbed possession ; 
 but should the Crown deem it judicious, in order to satisfy 
 the unreasonable cravings of an unsettled people, to ex- 
 tinguish the privileges of the leases by a scheme of com- 
 pensation, as suggested by the Duke of Newcastle and 
 others, (App. 54, 58,) the position of the parties require 
 that that compensation be determined by the Crown, or 
 by valuers mutually chosen by the Crown and the tenant, 
 in the way pointed out in the valuation of land, where 
 the Governor has the power of finally appointing the um- 
 pire, and so really fixing the rate. The difference of va- 
 lue of the live stock without a run and their value with a 
 run would be a fair compensation. 
 
 The British Government can only be actuated by a 
 desire to do justice to those dependent upon it and it is 
 trusted that it will not be swayed out of its path of recti- 
 tude by the prejudices of any party, whether in or out of 
 office ; and that it will not sacrifice justice on the altar of 
 expediency or convenience. The pioneers of Australia 
 ask only for Justice ; and Truth will point out what jus- 
 tice is due to them. 
 
 The question of the appropriation of the sums of money 
 arising from the assessment upon stock, requires to be 
 better understood than it generally is. The assessment 
 was levied originally at the desire of the squatters them- 
 selves, for the maintenance of police and other local pur- 
 poses beyond the settled districts fsee App. 2, clause XL);
 
 15 
 
 and although the Legislative Council is empowered by 
 the " Order in Council " to levy a sufficient rate for such 
 local purposes, it cannot legitimately impose a higher rate 
 than sufficient for such purposes ; or appropriate the rate 
 to any other purpose. 
 
 The documents referred to in the Appendix are ob- 
 tained from the Records of the Legislative Council of 
 Victoria, with the exception of Nos. 55 to 61 inclusive, 
 together with 74 and 78. The writer can safely vouch 
 to the authenticity of the whole of these documents, as 
 obtained from various sources, which they themselves will 
 show.
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 IMPOLICY OF DISTURBING THE LAW. 
 
 Power to Sell Challenged Pre-emptive Bight Opinions of Crown 
 Law Officers Instructions to concede Pre-emptive right Instructions 
 disobeyed Urgent request for Re-consideration Opinion of Law 
 Officers of Victoria Reserves not justified Survey of Puns retarded 
 by Survey of Townships Population dispersed Agrarian feelings fos- 
 tered Cause of Scarcity of Butcher Meat Capitalists leaving the 
 Colony Decrease of Stock Policy of granting the Pre-emptive right 
 Lands applied for Average Price of Land Crown Tenants' capital 
 idle Policy of the Order in Council Government hound to establish 
 rights Decrease of Agriculture Intimidations and Misrepresentations 
 of the Press Squatters want of confidence in the Government. 
 
 Having in the preceding chapter reviewed the claims 
 of the tenants of the Crown in point of law, it follows 
 now to expose the impolicy and injustice of disturbing 
 these claims. 
 
 In November, 1847, Messrs. Moore & Griffiths chal- 
 lenged the power of the Governor to sell land upon their 
 run. The lands were withdrawn from sale. (App. 25.) 
 The Crown Law Officers' opinions were taken, which 
 opinions (App. 29, 30, 31, and 34) show that the Go- 
 vernor had no power to sell any portion of the runs beyond 
 the settled districts, except for public purposes. The 
 Governor's encroachments were thereby restrained for a 
 time.
 
 17 
 
 On the 7th Nov. 1850, Messrs. Jeffries applied to pur- 
 chase lands upon their run, under the pre-emption right, 
 and disputed the power of the Governor otherwise to sell 
 the lands before they had an opportunity of exercising 
 their option to purchase. (App. 41.) The lands were 
 withdrawn from public sale, and His Honour, the Super- 
 intendent, submitted the case to the Government, and, in 
 doing so, said that " the validity of the act of sale must 
 depend upon the decision of the law officers" (App. 41. 6.) 
 The Colonial Secretary, in reply, wrote, "your Honour 
 sees cause to question the right of these gentlemen, not 
 only to the obtaining of the lands at the upset price, but 
 to the exercise of any pre-emptive right whatever in 
 respect to them ; without questioning at length the argu- 
 ments adduced in the report of the Attorney-General and 
 Solicitor General, it may be sufficient to state that these 
 officers, whilst admitting the actual power of the Govern- 
 ment to sell the land in question to the highest bidder, 
 are yet of opinion that such sale would not be in accor- 
 dance with the spirit of Her Majesty's Order in Council, 
 and the Government can have no desire to assert extreme 
 rights, but, on the contrary, has every disposition to act 
 up to the spirit of the Order in Council, His Excellency 
 conceives that the claims of the gentlemen referred to, and 
 every other pre-emptive claim of the kind, which is not over- 
 ruled by a strong public necessity, should be conceded." 
 (App. 41.) Such decided instructions from a superior offi- 
 cer, based upon the opinions of the Crown law officers, 
 ought to have been obeyed by the Superintendent, as, to 
 repeat his own words in submitting the case, " the validity 
 of the act of sale must depend upon the decision of the 
 Crown law officers." But no ! he was determined to have 
 the irresponsible power of making or marring the fortunes
 
 18 
 
 of every squatter at his will : he delayed to carry out the 
 decisions of the Governor, and urgently requested the re- 
 consideration of the decision arrived at. (App, 41. e.) 
 In the 8th part of his letter he writes about reserves being 
 absolutely necessary for the settlement of the district, and, 
 in the 6th paragraph, about " lands in such and such 
 quarter being called for by the public," forgettiug that 
 there were then no public beyond the settled districts, ex- 
 cept the public employed in pastoral pursuits, as has been 
 proved in the preceding chapter; yet His Honour thought 
 Messrs. Jeffries' claim, and the claims of many others, to 
 be overruled by a strong public necessity, when there 
 was no necessity whatever. To get rid of the importunity 
 of His Honour, the Sydney authorities, preparatory to 
 the separation of Port-Phillip, left the further con- 
 sideration of the question to the government of Victoria, 
 of which His Honour was to become the Head. (App. 
 41 .f) His Honour, now Lieutenant Governor of Victoria, 
 appointed law officers, and soon obtained an opinion from 
 them, which opinion, though vague, is sound upon some 
 points. Their interpretation of public purposes is thus: 
 " The general words," or for any other purpose of public 
 defence, safety, utility, convenience, and enjoyment, " oc- 
 curring in the 9th section, must, according to the ordinary 
 rules of construction, be interpreted with reference to the 
 particular instance lands, the subject of these instances, 
 are all to be appropriated to public purposes, in the en- 
 joyment of which every person may participate. They are 
 converted by the grant, sale, or other disposal mentioned 
 in that section, as it "were, into public property, and de- 
 dicated to the use of the inhabitants generally^ (App. 
 41. g.~) Much stress has been laid upon this opinion by 
 his late Excellency, but it clearly shows that a sale to any
 
 19 
 
 private person cannot be a sale for public purposes ; so 
 that a village allotment is as much private property as a" 
 block of 1000 acres. 
 
 Further on in the same opinion, they say, " we consider 
 that the Governor, when satisfied of an absolute necessity, 
 would be justified in selling, or reserving for immediate sale, 
 such portions of the lands in the intermediate or unsettled 
 districts as may be required for the formation and sup- 
 port of these towns and villages. But we are of opinion, 
 that it would not be in accordance with the correct inter- 
 pretation of this section, nor within the spirit of the Order 
 in Council, were the Governor, without reference to the 
 sites of towns or villages, or present and pressing public re- 
 quirements, to reserve for sale portions of land in those 
 districts, with a view of meeting the prospective wants 
 of the community ! " Under this opinion even, how 
 could the 246 reserves, containing 681,700 acres in the 
 intermediate and unsettled districts, be justified, at a time 
 when there were only about 13,000 people in these dis- 
 tricts, and these people all profitably employed in pastoral 
 pursuits to the public advantage. There was no " absolute 
 necessity " for a single reserve then. The " wants " were 
 all "prospective." However, His Excellency was bent on 
 " power ; " the squatter's legal rights were disregarded ; 
 the lands were sold, and the moneyed land-speculator may 
 thank His Excellency for the spoil. 
 
 The delay in the issue of the leases was attributed by 
 the Governor to the want of a sufficient number of sur- 
 veyors; but the surveyors being employed in laying out the 
 townships and reserves, for the " prospective wants," could 
 not be employed at the same time in defining the bound- 
 aries of runs. The townships were not wanted, however, 
 and had the surveyors been legitimately employed, the runs
 
 20 
 
 would have been very soon surveyed and described, as it 
 is only the extremities that require measurement; and 
 many of the runs bounded with water courses, dividing 
 ranges, roads, &c, require very little measurement to 
 describe them accurately. 
 
 The consequences will be that the population will be 
 thinly dispersed in a multitude of miserable small town- 
 ships, without proper police protection, where they will be 
 a thorn in the side of the pastoral interest ; they will in- 
 dividually own a few cattle, and their agrarian views will 
 lead, as it has done already in the neighbourhood of 
 Kilmore, to deeds of barbarous cruelty and destruction of 
 property. Had there been no rights in the way, it would 
 have been most impolitic to have scattered a profusion of 
 townships and reserves throughout the country, to damage 
 and destroy an interest so essential to the prosperity of 
 the country ; the public already feel the effects of that 
 discouragement in the high prices and scarcity of butcher's 
 meat. It may be said, however, that high wages has been 
 the cause of producing that scarcity ; and it may be ad- 
 mitted that it has had something greatly to do with it ; 
 but the main cause is a feeling of great discontentment, 
 arising from the encroachments upon the runs, and the 
 want of confidence in the Government. The flockmaster, 
 having lost the security of tenure which he formerly felt, 
 could not safely increase his flock, because, if he lost his 
 run, as his neighbour had done, his flocks would be worth- 
 less to him ; and, if they became diseased, he could not 
 remove them, and he dared not to sell them. There are 
 instances of several runs adjoining to each other being 
 completely lost in that way. The higher prices now 
 obtained for the stock more than covers the high wages ;
 
 Ill 
 
 21 
 
 but nothing can cover the lawless spoliation of a Govern- 
 ment, or make the injured feel contented. 
 
 In another way, the colony suffers from denying the 
 squatters their right of purchase, as many are selling off, 
 and leaving the colony in disgust, abstracting capital 
 which would otherwise be invested in the purchase of a 
 portion of their runs. If the present retrogression in the 
 decrease of their stock is not checked, it will become 
 questionable whether a considerable portion of the Crown 
 lands of Australia, now under occupation, may not revert 
 to their original state of unproductiveness. 
 
 The granting of the pre-emptive right to the fullest 
 extent would have accelerated the settlement of the 
 country, and would have established a respectable class of 
 proprietors, who, from practical knowledge of the capa- 
 bilities of the colony, and from the possession of means, 
 would have developed the resources of the colony to a 
 much greater extent than has been done under a vacillat- 
 ing administration. 
 
 The whole of the lands applied for under the pre- 
 emptive right, on the 12th May, 1850, was only some 
 50,000 acres. (App. 67 and 70.) It could not be sold 
 for less than 20s. per acre ; if it was worth more, the 
 Governor had the power of valuing it. The average 
 price of country lands, sold from 1837 to 1851, was 
 <l Is. per acre, (App. 66^), and from 1851 to 1st July, 
 1852, it was only .1 6s. 7d. per acre. It therefore 
 follows, from the low price realised for lands, even within 
 the settled districts, that there could have been no great 
 loss to the Revenue had the Crown-tenants got all the 
 lands they applied for, beyond the settled districts, at the 
 minimum price of 20s. per acre ; but if it was worth 
 more, they were willing to have paid value for it. At tho
 
 22 
 
 time they applied to purchase these 50,000 acres, which 
 they had a perfect right to do at a fair value, the value of 
 land was very low ; and if that value has greatly increased 
 since the time they applied to purchase, it should be held 
 to their advantage, because the applicant's belief that they 
 would get what lands they applied for, deterred them 
 from otherwise investing their capital, which they could 
 have done in many other ways to equal advantage ; their 
 applications lay for years " under the consideration of the 
 Land Board," as the return App. 70 will show, and their 
 capital was during that time comparatively idle, waiting 
 in expectation of "His Excellency's approval of their 
 claim to purchase." It is well known that capital invested 
 in land or houses, in and around Melbourne, during these 
 years, has increased generally 1000 per cent : then, why 
 should the capital of the Crown tenants, which legitimately 
 sought investment in those years, have been rendered 
 unavailable through the indecision of the Governor ? j For 
 had their claims met even with a refusal, in place of their 
 applications " being under the consideration of the Land 
 Board " for years, their expectation would have ceased, 
 and they would have felt at liberty to have made other 
 investments. 
 
 The best policy, perhaps, that can be adopted in the 
 settlement of a new country, is to give the first occupant 
 protection against intrusion, with a right to purchase " at 
 a fair value;" in short, to carry out Her Majesty's "order 
 in Council." It is surely not too much to give the man 
 who first explores and occupies new tracks of country, at 
 the risk of his life and property, a preferable claim to 
 purchase "at & fair value." The Australian pioneer 
 required nothing more, and the Queen in Council con- 
 ceded that right to him, under the authority and sanction
 
 23 
 
 of Parliament; and the honour of the nation requires to 
 secure him in his just and lawful rights, and to cause him 
 to be indemnified for the encroachments made upon his 
 rights by the representative of the Crown. 
 
 The minutes of arguments adduced by a deputation of 
 occupiers of Crown lands, through their very able leader 
 the Honourable J. F. Palmer, the Speaker of the 
 Legislative Council, are much to the point. See App. 43. 
 
 By returns furnished by the Lieutenant-Governor, in 
 May, 1853, he showed that there was a decrease of lands 
 under cultivation, from 57,298 acres in 1851, to 36,658 
 acres in 1852. (See App. 77.) By the same returns he 
 showed that 726,961 acres had been sold prior to 30th 
 May, 1853, or twenty times the extent of land under 
 cultivation. 
 
 These returns include the Crown lands in the pastoral 
 districts under cultivation, as well as the purchased lands 
 throughout the whole colony ; and if such Crown lands 
 were deducted, say one-eighth, it would have left only about 
 4 per cent, of the purchased lands under cultivation ; yet, 
 in the face of such facts, elucidated by himself, the Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor went on adding to his array of " agri- 
 cultural reserves," under the guise of "public requirements," 
 without any regard for the remonstrances of the despoiled 
 tenant of the Crown. The land-jobber, through the con- 
 stant howling of an ill-informed press, accelerated his 
 aggressions. They made the public believe that he was 
 the friend of the squatter, and used means to intimidate 
 him from his path of duty. The Government was de- 
 scribed to be a squatter Government the Governor was 
 declared to be a squatter himself, and to be in league with 
 the squatters and their representatives in the Council, 
 and such unfounded fabrications. The squatters, how-
 
 24 
 
 ever, knew better to their cost ; and although their claims 
 " were under the consideration of the Land Board," and 
 generally considered in a measure dependent upon the 
 irresponsible will of the Executive, two out of the three 
 representatives of the three purely pastoral districts voted 
 with the minority against the Government, in Mr. John- 
 son's motion of the 23d November, 1852, expressing a 
 want of confidence in the Government. 
 
 The opinions of the Legislative Council will be reviewed 
 in the next following chapter.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. 
 
 Mr. Johnson's Motion Relating to the Sale of Lands at the Gold 
 Fields, amended Colonial Secretary's Admission of the Pre-emptive 
 Right Motion for the Extension of the Settled Districts defeated . 
 Immediate issue of Leases and Sale of Lands under the Pre-emptive 
 Right recommended by a majority of 18 to 9 Reference to the Home 
 Government Provision in the Draft of the New Constitution for the 
 fulfilment of the Promises of the Crown. 
 
 To follow out the arrangement in the Appendix, it is 
 here requisite to review the votes and proceedings of 
 the Legislative Council of Victoria, which although fav- 
 ourable to the claims of the Crown Tenants, can only- 
 he received as the opinions of a body, which had no 
 power to interfere with the administration of the Crown 
 lands. 
 
 The first opinion emanating from that body was 
 arrived at on the 20th July, 1852, when Mr. Johnson 
 moved, " That an address be presented to His Excellency 
 the Lieutenant-Governor, requesting His Excellency to 
 cause measures to be taken for bringing into the market 
 a large extent of land, suitable for agricultural purposes, 
 in the immediate vicinity of the Mount Alexander and
 
 26 
 
 JBallarat gold fields," upon which an amendment was 
 moved, to add the following words, " in accordance with 
 the provisions of the Orders in Council, a due regard at 
 the same time being had to the rights and interests of the 
 occupiers of the land." (App. 44.) A long debate ensued, 
 for a report of which see App. 45 ; during the debate, the 
 mover of the original motion, whose views were con- 
 sidered inimical to the claims of the Crown tenants, 
 stated frankly in his reply, that " if the squatters did 
 not choose to take the land at a valuation, and when the 
 Government had the power of appointing two valuers out 
 of three ; if the valuation was incorrect, it was not the 
 fault of the law, but of the impracticable Government." 
 He disclaimed any intention of interfering with the 
 rights of the squatters, and considered the amendment 
 unnecessary; but it was thought that the original motion, 
 if left on the records of the House, without the qualifica- 
 tion of the amendment, might be construed into an 
 approval of the illegal sales of land by the executive : 
 the amendment was, therefore, put to the vote, and 
 carried. During the debate, the Colonial Secretary, 
 when speaking of some lands that had been withdrawn 
 from sale at the instance of an objection raised by the 
 occupier of the land, said " These lands could be put up 
 on a future occasion, when a certain notice might be given 
 to the squatter that a part of his run would be offered 
 for sale, and the squatter could then, if he choose, claim the 
 privilege of purchasing such part." Yet, notwithstanding 
 that explicit course of action pointed out by the organ of 
 Government, in his place in the House, these very lands 
 have been since sold to the highest bidder; and the 
 squatter who applied to purchase them has been denied 
 the exercise of his option to purchase. He was also
 
 27 
 
 debarred from purchasing at auction, because, if he had 
 done so, he would have become a consenting party, and 
 would thereby have lost recourse against the Government 
 for the infringement upon his rights. 
 
 Eight days after the amendment of Mr. Johnson's 
 motion, Mr. Fawkner moved, " That an address be pre- 
 sented by this Council, requesting His Excellency to 
 represent to the Queen in Council the urgent necessity 
 for extending the area of the settled districts of Victoria, 
 and that His Excellency will be pleased to strenuously 
 urge upon the Home authorities the vast importance of 
 the extension, and the necessity for its instant adoption ; 
 and that such a large addition has been, and is daily 
 being made to the population of this province, in con- 
 sequence of the gold found here, that not less than the 
 whole of the intermediate district, together with all that 
 extent of country in which gold can be profitably worked, 
 ought to be included in and under the title of settled 
 districts." (App. 45.) Upon which Mr. Rutledge moved, 
 as an amendment, that all the words after " That " be 
 omitted, with the view to insert the following words, 
 " That leases be immediately issued to the occupants of 
 Crown lands, to bear date on the 7th April, 1848, in order 
 that the lands may be opened for sale under the Order in 
 Council of 9th March, 1847, in quantities to meet the 
 demand of the increasing population of the Colony." The 
 
 amendment was carried by a majority of two to one 
 
 18 to 9 out of a House consisting of only 30 members, 
 inclusive of the speaker two members only being absent. 
 The amendment is, therefore, a decided opinion of the 
 Legislature, as to the interpretation of the spirit of the 
 Order in Council, and the settlement of the land 
 question ; and it agrees with the interpretation of Lord
 
 28 
 
 Grey and the Crown law officers already adverted to ; 
 but unfortunately it did not agree with the views of 
 the Lieutenant-Governor, who took no steps to carry out 
 the leases. 
 
 On the 17th August, 1852, Mr. Fawkner moved "that 
 an address be presented to His Excellency, that he will 
 be pleased to withhold the granting of all i lands ' to all 
 persons who may have claimed, or may claim lands under 
 the so-called pre-emptive right, conferred, or supposed to 
 be conferred by the Order in Council, dated England, in 
 1847, until this matter shall have been brought under 
 the notice of Her Majesty in Council." Upon which 
 Mr. Polhman, a nominee, and holding office under the 
 Government, moved, as an amendment, the insertion, 
 after the word "lands," of the words " beyond the home- 
 steads, or such quantity of land as to His Excellency may 
 appear proper in each particular case, to all persons who 
 may have claimed or may claim lands under the so-called 
 pre-emptive right, conferred, or supposed to be conferred 
 by the Order in Council, dated England, in 1847, until 
 this matter shall have been brought under the notice of 
 Her Majesty and Council." The amendment was 
 seconded by the Colonial Secretary, and carried without 
 opposition. The representatives of the pastoral interest, 
 confiding in the good faith of the British Government, 
 preferred to refer their disputed claims to the arbitration 
 of the Crown ; in fact, they never recognised any other 
 power to deal with their claims. Being in the position 
 of tenants holding directly from the Crown, they fully 
 expected the Crown, as landlord, to fulfil the conditions 
 of their leases, which were implemented both by the 
 Crown and the tenant, as is shown in the first chapter. 
 It is very apparent that the amendment was the handi-
 
 29 
 
 work of the executive ; it did not venture to disturb the 
 opinion formerly expressed as to the " immediate issue of 
 the leases/' though it recommended the sale only of such 
 portion " as to His Excellency may appear proper" until 
 the matter was referred to the Crown. It was then, as it 
 had ever been, the desire of the Executive to refuse to 
 grant the pre-emptive right, and in order to suspend the 
 granting of that right, and have some reason for refusing 
 to comply with the expressed wishes of the Legislature, 
 so explicit in Mr. Rutledge's amendment, and in Mr. 
 Johnson's amended motion, the Executive got rid of 
 " immediate " action by a side wind. 
 
 The Legislative Council of Victoria made the follow- 
 ing provision, in the last clause of the proposed new 
 constitution for that Colony : " Provided that nothing 
 herein contained shall prevent, or be construed to prevent, 
 the fulfilment of any contract, promise, or engagement, 
 made by or on behalf of Her Majesty, with respect to 
 any lands situate within the said Colony, in any cases 
 where such contract, promise, or engagement shall have 
 been lawfully made before the time at which this Act 
 shall take effect within the said Colony." And the 
 Legislature of New South Wales made more explicit 
 provisions, guarding the vested rights granted under 
 " promise " and " engagement " of Her Majesty, in the 
 draft of the proposed constitution for that Colony. The 
 Legislature of Victoria has not since expressed any 
 opinion on the question. 
 
 In a pecuniary point of view, it will be immaterial to the 
 Crown tenant whether he gets his lease with the privileges 
 attached to it, or a fair compensation instead thereof. 
 But the loss of the " run," under any circumstances, 
 will hurt the feelings of many who have respectively
 
 30 
 
 formed attachments to the localities which they redeemed 
 from the wilds, and which they were long taught to look 
 upon as their home and the home of their children ; and 
 no one but themselves know the miseries and anxieties 
 they suffered there, amidst the insubordination of 
 pampered servants ; and when their property and their 
 lives were at the mercy of the aborigines of the country, 
 it was only the hope of making a home that enabled them 
 to surmount these dangers and difficulties ; and it is not 
 without a bitter pang they will part with that hope, the 
 loss of which no pecuniary consideration can compensate.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OFFICIAL DESPATCHES TO AND FROM THE COLONIAL OFFICE. 
 
 Delay in the Settlement of the Question Strength of Claims con- 
 fided in Want of Representation Compensation suggested by the 
 Duke of Newcastle Errors regarding the Views and Claims of the 
 Squatters Development of the Resources of the Colony Compensa- 
 tion suggested by the late Lieutenant-Governor Error regarding the 
 Maximum of Pre-emptive Right Quibbling Governor can only legally 
 refuse to sell such Lands as are described in the 7th Section of the 
 "Order in Council" Admission of Claims Injustice of antedating 
 the Leases Appeal to the Law Sale for speculative purposes Illegal 
 Infringements unnecessary Colonial Secretary's interpretation of the 
 Privileges of the Crown Tenant Disproportionate Sale of Lands under 
 the pre-emptive right in the several Districts. 
 
 The late Lieutenant-Governor, by a long complicated 
 despatch to the Secretary for the Colonies, which was 
 more an attempt to justify the illegal encroachments of 
 his Government than a fair representation of the claims 
 of the Crown tenants, brought the question before the 
 Colonial Office. The despatch was dated 28th Decem- 
 ber, 1852. The early settlement of the question was a 
 matter of great importance to all parties ; yet His 
 Excellency allowed upwards of four months to elapse 
 before he despatched the case to the Colonial Office, and
 
 32 
 
 the Duke of Newcastle's despatch of the 23rd Novem- 
 ber, 1853, did not reach the Colonial public before the 
 14th March, 1854. In the meantime the squatters 
 confided in the strength of their rights, and in the 
 integrity of the British Government they were so much 
 off their guard, that they did not appoint any one to 
 represent their claims to the Colonial Office, nor did they 
 secure the advocacy of any section of the press in either 
 Melbourne or London. They confided too much in 
 both their legal and moral rights ; and it is much to be 
 regretted that circumstances could have led a Minister of 
 the Crown to write such a document as that evasive, 
 indefinite despatch of the Duke of Newcastle's. (See 
 App. 54.) The instructions to the Governor, in the 
 twenty-fourth paragraph of that despatch, are absurd in 
 the extreme : namely, to give a nominal lease to such 
 parties as may be silly enough to give up their equitable 
 title to a bona-fide lease, with an option to purchase at a 
 valuation. At the same time, the suggestions in the 
 twenty-sixth paragraph, proposing a scheme of compen- 
 sation from the lands of the Colony, is perhaps the most 
 practicable mode for the indemification of the destruc- 
 tion of vested rights. 
 
 The late Lieutenant-Governor, in the sixty-sixth para- 
 graph of his despatch, of the 28th December, 1852, 
 writes " that the extension of the pre-emptive right over 
 the whole of the lands covered by their lease, with the 
 exception of such portion as the Crown may be legally 
 considered empowered to reserve from, or withdraw from 
 occupation, under the 9th section, was neither asked for, 
 nor dreamed of in this Colony, either by the settler or 
 the executive Government." But His Excellency must 
 have forgotten facts, as, with that very despatch, he sent
 
 33 
 
 inclosures to show that parties had very early challenged 
 his power otherwise to dispose of the land upon their 
 runs : see Messrs. Moore & Griffiths, Messrs. Jeffries, 
 and Messrs. Booth & Argyle's claims. (App. 25, 41, and 
 60.) Again, in the sixty-seventh paragraph, His Ex- 
 cellency writes, " Why should the lessee have the 
 advantages of that purchase under the pre-emptive right ? 
 I cannot for my part assign a satisfactory reason." No, 
 he could never see any reason for the fulfilment of Her 
 Majesty's promises, nor for the obedience of the orders of 
 superiors, though given under the solemnity of advice 
 from the law officers ; far less could he see the moral 
 claims of the men who had, at the risk of life and 
 property, explored and occupied a country lying waste 
 and wild for ever before a country which, were it not 
 for their untiring exertions, would yet be in its primitive 
 state of unproductiveness; and the wonderful golden 
 treasures of Australia would yet be undiscovered. But, 
 in the seventy-fourth paragraph, His Excellency comes to 
 the conclusion that "if the Orders in Council, when 
 properly interpreted, are seen to have given to the stock- 
 holder rights which cannot now be justly taken away, I 
 believe I speak the sentiments of the Colonists as a body 
 let compensation be made at any sacrifice, but at every 
 risk let these exclusive rights, where they are seen to 
 operate to the public disadvantage in appearance, if not in 
 reality, be done away with." The opinions of the Crown 
 law officers are, that the Crown tenants have such 
 exclusive rights ; why, therefore, not come to the point 
 at once, and say that as these exclusive rights are ap- 
 parently disadvantageous, take them away and give 
 compensation for them. 
 
 The Duke of Newcastle, in the sixth paragraph, of the
 
 despatch, (App. 54,) writes, "they seem to have en- 
 joyed up to this time the full benefit of leases ;" in which 
 he is greatly in error, as they were denied their privilege 
 of the option to purchase. His Grace is much in error 
 again in the seventh paragraph, and is evidently misled 
 when he writes, " It was not intended to give them 
 advantages beyond other members of the community 
 towards becoming purchasers of land, except to the very 
 limited extent required for their actual accommodation." 
 His Grace could not have made himself acquainted with 
 the " Order in Council," or the 9th and 10th Victoria, 
 or he would not have penned such a sentence. The words 
 in the 6th section of the Order in Council are, " any 
 portion not less than 160 acres ;" the minimum is limited, 
 but the maximum is certainly not : if the quantity be less 
 than 320 acres, the purchaser to have to pay the expense 
 of survey, so that the Order in Council, in place of 
 restricting the sale, offered a premium to any one buying 
 not less than 320 acres. 
 
 The Duke, in the fifteenth paragraph of the unfor- 
 tunate despatch so often referred to, says, *' In the next 
 place, although the lessee in an unsettled district has an 
 exclusive right of purchase during the currency of his actual 
 or assumed lease, I find no provision in Section 6 com- 
 pelling the Governor to sell such lessee any land on his 
 demanding it." But how can the lessee have an "exclusive 
 right to purchase," if the Governor is not bound to sell ? 
 No barrister retained to plead could use more quibbling 
 arguments. If His Grace had referred to the 7th section 
 of the Order in Council, he would have found that such 
 lands as the Govenor can refuse to sell are described in 
 that section ; and, with the exception of such lands, the
 
 35 
 
 Governor is clearly bound to sell all or any of the lands 
 the lessee may require upon his run. 
 
 Yet, in the tenth paragraph, His Grace appears to 
 admit almost every claim of the lessee. He says, u they 
 appear to be entitled to demand leases, for terms not 
 exceeding eight and fourteen years respectively the 
 right of pre-emption in the intermediate district ex- 
 clusive right of purchase in the unsettled district and 
 renewal of the lease." 
 
 But the only point which His Grace arrives definitely 
 at, is the antedating of the leases to the 7th April, 1848 ; 
 and had the occupants had the full benefit of leases, as 
 His Grace inferred they had had their applications to 
 purchase under the pre-emptive right been approved of 
 there would be less to complain of the antedating of the 
 leases; but that right was denied to them, and lands 
 which of right ought to have been theirs were illegally sold 
 by auction to speculators, who are now enriched by the 
 increased value of these lands. Parties who have 
 suffered in that way may appeal to the courts of law, 
 unless the Crown affords them redress. 
 
 In the seventeenth paragraph, His Grace says, "It 
 was intended to prevent land comprised in these runs 
 from being sold by Government to parties purchasing 
 for mere speculative purposes." Exactly ; such was the 
 intention of the Act: and if land is sold by auction, how 
 can the Government prevent speculators from purchasing 
 it ? It is utterly impossible. And it is well known that 
 nearly all the lands sold by Government are purchased 
 on speculation ; in confirmation of which, see (App. 64) 
 sales of land at Melbourne and Geelong, in June, 1854. 
 In the Melbourne list of land sold, near the Mount 
 Alexander road, and only "from eleven to sixteen miles
 
 36 
 
 from Melbourne," the first purchaser is Mr. Taylor, a 
 large landed proprietor, down for 7 lots, of 640 acres 
 each ; again, in the same list, there is Mr. Clarke, the 
 largest landholder in the Australian Colonies, and perhaps 
 the richest man in the southern hemisphere, adding 10 
 lots to his princely domain. Take the Geelong list, and 
 out of 46 lots sold, Mr. William Harding, another large 
 landholder, has bought 15 lots, or nearly one-third of 
 the sale. These gentlemen have a perfect right to buy 
 as much as they can for any purpose ; but the system 
 shows that it is as perfect an absurdity for the Govern- 
 ment to say, that land sold by public auction to the 
 highest bidder is a sale for public purposes such as are 
 enumerated in the 9th section of the Order in Council 
 as the buyer can apply the lands to the most worthless 
 purposes. It may be in place to add here, that a great 
 deal of lands illegally sold upon the licensed runs are not 
 used for any purpose whatever; they are merely held for 
 a rise in price. The sale of the lands ought to be en- 
 couraged as much as possible ; but in selling the lands 
 there is no necessity for infringing vested rights. Let 
 the Government put a fair price upon the land, and 
 require the Crown tenant to exercise his option of pur- 
 chase within sixty days; or, if more satisfactory to the 
 public feeling, extinguish the leases and the pre-emptive 
 right by a fair compensation, when the lands would be 
 legally open for sale. 
 
 On the 22nd March, 1848, the Colonial Secretary, 
 under instructions from the Governor, and advice of the 
 Executive Council, wrote to the Superintendent of Port- 
 Phillip, " If Mr. Coghill's run be brought within the class 
 of intermediate lands, the Governor may sell any portion 
 of it at the end of each year, on giving sixty days' notice,
 
 37 
 
 but Mr. Coghill will be entitled to exercise the pre-emptive 
 right conferred on lessees." (App. 32.) Nothing could be 
 clearer than the interpretation thus given of the power of 
 the Crown, and the privileges of the tenant, and nothing 
 can justify the illegal encroachments made by the Super- 
 intendent, in direct opposition to the views of the 
 superior Government. 
 
 It is very remarkable, that, although the settled district 
 is of very limited extent, and the pre-emptive right limited 
 to a single section upon each run, that there has been 
 nearly as much land sold within it, under the pre-emptive 
 right, as has been sold in both the intermediate and 
 unsettled districts; and that at a lower price. (App< 49, 50.)
 
 CHAPTER T. 
 
 EFFECTS OF THE GOLD DISCOVERY. 
 
 Gold discovered in Victoria on the 8th July, 1851 Derangement of 
 the industry of the Colony Agricultural decrease High prices Im- 
 policy of refusing the pre-emptive right Bad faith of the Executive 
 Sufficient land legally open for Sale Leases due long before gold was 
 discovered Crown tenant entitled to the increased value of lands 
 applied for Population quadrupled High "W ages diverted many from 
 the Gold fields Gold fields inexhaustible Auriferous soil not adapted 
 for agriculture Eich volcanic soil convenient Produce of bulky articles 
 practicable Gold exchanged for Flour Expense of farming Squatters 
 the principal agriculturists near the Gold fields Their importance 
 acknowledged. 
 
 The discovery of the first gold field in Victoria was made 
 known to the Government and the public on the 8th 
 July, 1851. In the month of September following, there 
 were 532 licences issued. During the latter months of 
 1851, and the whole of 1852, there was a regular rush 
 of people, first from the distant parts of the Colony and 
 the neighbouring Colonies, and afterwards from all parts 
 of the world, racing to the diggings. Doctors left their 
 patients lawyers their clients shepherds their flocks 
 farmers their crops merchants their stores builders
 
 39 
 
 their contracts sailors their ships; and all joined in the 
 scramble at the gold fields. At one time there must have 
 been three-fourths at least of the male adult population 
 at the gold fields. Some of the smaller townships were 
 said to have been left entirely to the care of the women 
 and children. Agriculture decreased 40 per cent, in 1852. 
 Prices of hay, flour, and potatoes rose to <100 per ton. 
 The Melbourne press blamed the squatters and the land 
 system, when they ought to have blamed the Government, 
 and those who deserted their farms in their scramble for 
 gold. The Executive listened to the clamours of the 
 press, and, in place of granting the homestead sections to 
 the squatters at once, which would have gone far to have 
 met the agricultural wants, it left their applications under 
 the withering delay and uncertainty of the " considera- 
 tion of the Land Board " for years ; and it was not until 
 1854 that some of these applications for land close to the 
 gold fields were approved of. 
 
 In bad faith the Executive, notwithstanding the 
 reference of the question to the Home authorities, sold 
 the lands; and in place of complying with the law, as 
 interpreted by the Imperial Government, the Crown 
 law officers and the Legislature, it invaded the sacred 
 precincts of the law, violated the rights of property, and 
 repudiated the promises and contracts of the Crown, as 
 has been proved in the first chapter. 
 
 The Executive may shelter itself under the miserable 
 plea of expediency ; but, with a firm, decided, energetic 
 Government, there would have been no such plea for ex- 
 pediency. For had the leases been granted, and the lands 
 thrown open for sale under the Order in Council, as 
 pointed out by the Legislature, (App. 45,) there would 
 have been ten times yea, an hundred time?; more land in
 
 40 
 
 the market than was required, and the law would at least 
 have been respected. It was not the place of the Govern- 
 ment to exact the uttermost farthing for the land ; but if 
 the land had peculiar advantages, the Governor had the 
 legal power of exacting full value for it. Why then 
 should the Government not have taken the legal mode of 
 disposing of it ? Because it was an " impracticable 
 Government," and perhaps because it was jealous of the 
 wealth and respectability of the Crown tenants as a class. 
 
 The Crown tenants ought to have been in possession 
 of their leases years before gold digging was known in 
 Victoria ; indeed His Grace of Newcastle held them to 
 have been in possession of their leases since 1848, by his 
 instructions to have the leases antedated. (App. 54.) 
 They had, at all events, both a moral and a legal right to 
 have had their leases ; and it is hard that, through the 
 delay and indecision of the Executive, they have been 
 precluded from the benefits of the leases. Assuming 
 that they had their leases, and that their pre-emptive 
 applications had been "approved of," when made years 
 ago, (which ought to have been,) would they not be as 
 much entitled to the recent rise in the value of property 
 as those who hold property in Melbourne and the settled 
 districts are ? Most decidedly they would ; but their 
 applications were received (not refused), and left to the 
 slumbering " consideration of the Law Board " for years, 
 during which time their expectations of purchase pre- 
 vented them from otherwise investing their capital in 
 land. 
 
 A migratory people, consisting chiefly of males, col- 
 lected from all parts of the world at the gold fields, and 
 the population of Victoria, from some 70,000 in 1851, 
 quadrupled itself in the three following years : it being
 
 41 
 
 now estimated at 280,000. The high rate of wages 
 abstracted a large proportion from gold digging pursuits 
 in 1853 and 1854 ; and although the population of the 
 Colony has been greatly augmented during these years, 
 the real gold mining population has increased but very 
 little during that period, which accounts for the apparent 
 falling off in the produce of the gold fields ; but which 
 are still steadily yielding up their treasures in abundance, 
 are increasing in extent, and are likely to occupy the 
 labour of ages to exhaust them. New South Wales, 
 though not hitherto so rich as Victoria in auriferous 
 deposits, is of much larger extent, and the probability is 
 that an equally rich gold field will yet be discovered in 
 that Colony, where the gold is known to be widely 
 spread over its surface, and where the geological forma- 
 tion is very similar. The auriferous soil is generally very 
 poor, and ill adapted for agriculture ; but there are 
 generally patches of rich volcanic soil on the margin of 
 the auriferous formation, where it is desirable that 
 agricultural farms should be established, to supply the 
 gold mining population with the bulkier articles of 
 produce, such as potatoes, hay, &c. &c. But Foreign 
 growers, having cheap labour, can undersell the Colonial 
 grower in portable articles, such as flour; and the pro- 
 ducer of gold, like his predecessor the producer of wool, 
 will find it to his advantage to exchange his gold for 
 flour; and his doing so will increase the exports and 
 imports, and so add to the commercial importance and 
 wealth of the country ; for while the Victorian can dig 
 twenty shillings worth of gold per day, which he can do 
 on an average, his labour would be otherwise misapplied in 
 digging on agricultural lands for less. The expense of 
 erecting buildings and fences, clearing and breaking up
 
 42 
 
 new land upon a farm, purchasing seed, working cattle and 
 horses, drays, ploughs, harness, furniture, &c. &c. is so 
 great, that it requires a much larger capital than is gene- 
 rally supposed to establish a moderately-sized farm ; and 
 a farm on a small scale is in proportion much more expen- 
 sive. The price of the land is small compared with the 
 outlay required in farming it. The fortunate gold-digger who 
 has the means of working a farm, generally prefers re- 
 turning to the locality he came from. The sale of lands 
 should have been encouraged in place of having been locked 
 up through the unjust indecision of Government ; and it 
 was of little consequence to the public whether the lands 
 were purchased by the occupant, or, as they now are, by 
 the land-speculator. But had the occupants been allowed 
 to purchase the lands at a fair value when they applied to 
 do so, they would, from their practical knowledge of the 
 country, and the command of means, have long since 
 established farms, and so have met in a great measure the 
 agricultural wants ; indeed, they were then the only class 
 that could at all provide for such wants ; and, even with 
 their limited purchases, which have been tardily allowed 
 to them, they are the principal agriculturists in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the gold fields ; and, to use the language of 
 the late Lieutenant-Governor, in the 73d paragraph of 
 that dispatch so often referred to in previous observations, 
 their importance is justly verified. " That the pastoral 
 interest should be protected requires no demonstration. 
 Its due maintenance is for the present as necessary to the 
 welfare and prosperity of the provinces as for the advan- 
 tage of the mother country. It never can be overlooked, 
 that but for the supplies which it has been enabled to 
 pour into the gold districts, to the assistance of the thou- 
 sands upon thousands rushing, without due preparation and
 
 43 
 
 foresight, beyond the reach of the ordinary means of sus- 
 tenance, the riches of the gold fields themselves could 
 never have been developed as they have been. The pe- 
 culiar and embarrassing circumstances in which this great 
 interest is seen to be placed, in consequence of these very 
 gold discoveries, may present further argument why it 
 should meet with every degree of consideration." In the 
 paragraph, just quoted, and in the 74th paragraph of the 
 same despatch, proposing compensation, which has been 
 already referred to, it must be admitted that his late 
 Excellency has, in justice, in a great measure, acknow- 
 ledged the damage, with the view of repairing the acts of 
 his own administration.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS IN CONCLUSION.' 
 
 First Settlement of Port Phillip in 1835 Difficulties of the Early 
 Settlers Result of their success Created Commercial Prosperity 
 Provided Means for the development of the Gold Fields Led to tho 
 Discovery of Gold Production of Enormous Exports Ex- Squatters 
 greatest Opponents to the Pastoral Interest Mr. Foster's interpretation of 
 the rights of the Squatters, in 1851 Wages in Victoria in August, 1854 
 Duke of Newcastle's application of the same Law differently Opinions 
 of eminent Barristers Mr. Robert Lowe's interpretation, in 1847 
 Second Edition of the "Order in Council" proposed the People mis- 
 guided by the Press Produce of Two Millions' worth of Animal Food 
 Modification of the Land Regulations Scheme of compensation by 
 the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce Condemnation of the Procrasti- 
 nation of the Lieutenant-Governor, and the Despatch of the Duke of 
 Newcastle Home Government's responsibility Legal Proceedings in 
 defence of Eights Prevention of a state of Anarchy Settlement 
 of the Question before the control of the Crown Lands is given to the 
 Local Legislature Representation of Pastoral Interest swamped 
 Dictation of the Press Honour of the Crown pledged Legal and 
 Moral Claims entitle the Crown Tenants to a recognition of their 
 rights Abstract Conclusions. 
 
 It is only nineteen years since the first settler, Mr. Bate- 
 man, landed on the shores of Victoria, then Port Phillip ; 
 and the result of that settlement is wonderful in the 
 extreme. Without any assistance from the Government,
 
 45 
 
 the settlers risked their all their lives, their proper- 
 ties; and, amidst hidden dangers, weary toils, endless 
 cares, and sore annoyances, they spent the best part of 
 their lifetime away in a comfortless, friendless, homeless 
 wilderness; where not a few lost their lives at the treacher- 
 ous hands of the savage ; where many lost their capital ; 
 and where those who succeeded, did so only by long- 
 continued exertions and severe privations. However, 
 time and perseverance overcame many of their difficulties: 
 their flocks increased under careful management; so that, 
 in fifteen years from their first settlement, they exported a 
 larger quantity of wool from Port Phillip than did any 
 other port in the known world a result almost pro- 
 phetically foretold by Captain Macarthur a result so 
 beneficial to the mother country and to the Colonies 
 a result which created a commercial community, employed 
 a large shipping, and built a city at Melbourne a result 
 which now providentially provides food for the multitudes 
 rushing from all nations to reap the golden harvest, and 
 which led even to the discoveries of these long-hidden 
 treasures, and to the production of exports amounting 
 annually to about 12 millions, and that from about a 
 quarter of a million of people, being a rate ofi8 per head 
 for every man, woman, and child in the Colony a produc- 
 tion certainly unparalleled in any age or country before. 
 
 If such results are not morally worthy of gratitude, they 
 ought at least to secure the lawful recognition of the rights 
 of those whose energy and perseverance produced them. 
 For, were it not for the squatters, Melbourne would yet 
 have been a small straggling village, and the gold fields 
 still an unproductive hunting-ground, under a few bar- 
 barous, cannibal savages. 
 
 It is a most remarkable fact, that the most unreasonable
 
 46 
 
 opponents of the pastoral interest whether as members 
 of the Legislative Council or as editors of local news- 
 papers are those who were unsuccessful squatters them- 
 selves, and who would not battle out the difficulties of 
 the "bush." On retiring, they of course sold their 
 runs at the best price they could get. Is it, therefore, 
 consistent with any principle of justice or honour, on their 
 part, to advocate the confiscation of those very runs for 
 which they received a consideration ? in short, to induce 
 one to buy a commodity, and then turn round and try to 
 destroy it. No terms can be too strong to condemn 
 such acts. 
 
 The following quotation from a work written in 1851, 
 by J. F. L. Foster, Esq. formerly member of the Legis- 
 lative Council of New South Wales, now the honourable 
 the Colonial Secretary of Victoria, justly ascribes the 
 cause and foundation of the prosperity of Victoria to the 
 "energy of the squatters." It also interprets the condi- 
 tions upon which the squatters hold their " improved tenure 
 of land;" which interpretation, coming, as it does, from one 
 of great acuteness, who had ten years' experience in 
 Australia, who had been bred to the legal profession, and 
 who now holds the most important office under the local 
 government, may be considered valuable, and thoroughly 
 disinterested, as it was given at a time when that gentle- 
 man was untrammelled with the chains of office; and who 
 it is hoped will not now forget his interpretation of 1851, 
 which is as follows : 
 
 "To the pastoral resources of the Colony however must 
 be assigned the first place, as the cause and foundation of 
 the prosperity above described. Of the exports, accord- 
 ing to the official returns for 1848, out of a total of 
 658,511, 654,938 were strictly the produce of the
 
 47 
 
 flocks. Due importance must therefore be ascribed to 
 the energy of the squatters, and to the nature of their 
 pursuits, which enables them at once, without expense, to 
 make the land available for man. 
 
 " In this body may be found men of a description little 
 to be expected from the barbarous appellation of 'squatter,' 
 adapted by them from the Americans, who used it to de- 
 signate a very different class. Among them may be found 
 men retired from their professions, whether clerical, mili- 
 tary, naval, legal, or medical ; younger sons of good, even 
 of noble families, who prefer seeking an active indepen- 
 dence to pursuing the lounging life of drones in the mother 
 country. Rough, no doubt, was at first their mode of 
 living, and many were the privations of the early settlers ; 
 but a great change in their condition has taken place, 
 partly from the increase of their means, partly from the 
 improved tenure of land, which has been lately granted 
 to them by the Government. Formerly all Crown lands were 
 held by annual licence, the charge for which rested with the 
 Governor. These by usage were renewable and transfer- 
 able, but were liable to, and sometimes were, the subject 
 of arbitrary decision. At present the country is leased for 
 terms of one, eight, or fourteen years; compensation for im- 
 provement is secured to the tenant, the right of pre-emption 
 is granted to him, and his rent is ascertained." 
 
 The above quotation is a very clear interpretation of 
 the "Order in Council." The charge formerly made rested 
 entirely with the Governor, who could raise the charge, 
 and even withhold a renewal of the licence, at his pleasure. 
 But the ? Order in Council," so often referred to, "secured 
 to the tenant the right of pre-emption, and his rent is 
 ascertained." It so rendered him independent of an
 
 48 
 
 "arbitrary decision " of a Crown Land Commissioner, or a 
 whim of an irresponsible Governor. 
 
 In illustration of the expenses of a sheep station in 
 Victoria, the following return of wages, with board and 
 lodging, is extracted from a letter from that Colony, dated 
 20th August, 1854. Shearers obtained 305. per 100 ; 
 ploughmen and bullock drivers 40s. per week, with board 
 and lodging ; day labourers, 10*. without rations, last 
 season. It need scarcely be said, that the production of 
 wool requires encouragement. 
 
 Mrs. M'Leod and three Sons, \ 
 
 Donald M'Leod, shepherd, / 
 
 Duncan H'Leod, do. boy, j 200 
 
 Murdoch M'Leod, do. adult, J 
 
 Roderick Gillies, "Wife, and three Sons (two of them 
 
 boys), all employed hut-keeping and shepherding, 250 
 
 Michael Hanlin, shepherd, 60 
 
 Mrs. M. Hanlin, hut-keeper, 50 
 
 Michael Hanlin, junior, stock-keeper, 75 
 
 John Hanlin, shepherd, (lad about 16,) 60 
 
 Edward Hanlin, hut-keeper, (boy,) 60 
 
 295 
 
 Richard Spence, hut-keeper at head station, 65 
 
 Richard Day, general servant, 80 
 
 890 
 It is publicly reported that the Duke of Newcastle has 
 addressed a despatch to the Governor-General of Austra- 
 lia, to say that his despatch to the Lieutenant-Governor 
 of Victoria, on the land question, is not applicable to 
 New South Wales. But his Grace ought to know that 
 Victoria was a district of New South Wales at the time, 
 and for several years after the promulgation of the " Or- 
 der in Council," and that the rights accruing therefrom 
 are common to the occupiers of Crown lands in both Co- 
 lonies. Why, therefore, should the colonists on the south 
 bank of the Murray be placed at a disadvantage with those
 
 
 49 
 
 on the north bank of that river, when they are all subject 
 to the same law, which conferred equal rights to both. 
 
 The Resolutions adopted at a meeting, on the 2d of 
 September, 1852 (App. 51), and the Petition (App. 53), 
 are much to the point, and the opinions of the Crown 
 tenants as a body are thereby fairly expressed. 
 
 The opinions of three eminent barristers, Messrs. Pal- 
 mer, Fellowes, and Lowe, (App. 55, 56, and 57,) are 
 clearly in favour of the claims of the Crown tenants. The 
 opinion of the latter was voluntarily given before any ag- 
 gression was contemplated by the authorities; and it is 
 trusted that that gentleman, who now holds an honoura- 
 ble office under the British government, may, if consulted 
 on colonial matters, see cause to adhere to the disinte- 
 rested interpretation publicly given by him before any 
 question was raised. Indeed, the " Order in Council " 
 is so explicit, that it cannot fairly bear any other inter- 
 pretation. 
 
 It is rather amusing to observe avowed opponents of 
 the present squatting system the candidates for the re- 
 presentation of Geelong, on giving their views on the set- 
 tlement of the land question unwittingly proposing a 
 second edition of the present system. Mr. Carr " consi- 
 dered that the land should be surveyed far and wide, and 
 that new arrivals should be enabled to take possession of 
 the land at once, at a reasonable rent, with a right to pur- 
 chase." "Mr. Fife's views coincided with those of Mr. 
 Carr." The inference to be drawn from the expression 
 of such views by public men, in opposition to each other 
 upon the hustings, is, that if there was no " Order in 
 Council " establishing rights to leases, or pre-emptive 
 rights to purchase, that the Colonial Legislature would
 
 50 
 
 establish such rights. Mr. Fife has been returned, and 
 may produce the new edition. 
 
 The incessant clamours of the Melbourne press misled 
 the people, and especially the new arrivals at the gold 
 fields, to look upon the preferable rights, justly conceded 
 by law to the first occupiers, as unfair towards themselves. 
 They were easily led to believe that they had every right 
 which the Crown tenants had. They were left ignorant 
 of the fact that the squatters provided two millions' worth 
 of animal food for them. They can import flour cheaper 
 than they can produce it; but they cannot import but- 
 cher's meat, without which they cannot well exist. It is 
 therefore their interest to encourage the production of 
 that essential article of diet as much as possible, and not 
 to be misled by demagogues. 
 
 The press knew that it was palatable to the great bulk 
 of the people, as well as to the land speculator, to cry 
 down the Crown tenants as obstructive monopolists, and it 
 pandered to their feelings in a mercenary spirit. The people 
 knew not the legal nor the moral claims which the Crown 
 tenants had, otherwise they would not have looked upon 
 them with a jealous eye. Under such a state of things, 
 first brought about by the obstacles thrown in the way by 
 the Lieutenant-Governor's illegal refusal to grant the 
 pre-emptive right; and, latterly, by the influx of people 
 to the gold fields; it may be judicious to modify the 
 waste lands act, so that provision may be made from the 
 Crown lands for compensation for the abrogation of exist- 
 ing rights. But, in any modification that may be made, 
 it will be well to bear in view, that, in a pastoral country 
 like that of the greater part of Victoria, it is absolutely 
 necessary that the lands in the pastoral districts be held 
 in large blocks of say not less than eight sections, or 5120
 
 51 
 
 acres each. The present mode of selling not more than 
 640 acres in one lot may suit the agricultural districts ; 
 but, for pastoral purposes, large blocks are absolutely 
 essential. Practical experience has proved that small 
 blocks are in a manner worthless for pastoral purposes ; 
 and the " Order in Council " wisely made a rule that no 
 run should be less than sufficient to hold 4000 sheep. 
 Even in the United Kingdom, where lands are dear and 
 labour cheap, it is found requisite to have the grazing 
 farms large in extent, and even to increase the size of the 
 smaller agricultural farms. 
 
 On the 10th August last, according to public report, 
 the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce adopted a Re- 
 port, by a majority of 12 to 2, recommending compensa- 
 tion, by remission land orders, to be given to the squatters 
 in lieu of their leases and pre-emptive right. (App. 58.) 
 Such report, emanating from a commercial body, and 
 from a chairman who has publicly declared himself in op- 
 position to the pastoral interest, is of much signification. 
 The chairman very candidly admitted " that the result of 
 that inquiry was to stagger him, and he believed the rest 
 of the committee." The Report condemns the procrasti- 
 nation of the late Lieutenant-Governor; and it severely 
 censures the Duke of Newcastle for shrinking from the 
 responsibility of deciding, and for writing such an eva- 
 sive despatch. 
 
 The principle enunciated in the Report is sound in the 
 abstract, but the uniform rate of compensation is practi- 
 cally wrong; because a short lease in the intermediate 
 district, liable to be terminated at the end of every year, 
 is not nearly so valuable as a long lease for a fixed term, 
 with an exclusive right of purchase, in the unsettled district. 
 
 The rate suggested by the committee may be a fair
 
 52 
 
 rate for indifferent runs in the intermediate, though not 
 half enough for good runs in the unsettled districts. 
 
 It was not formerly the part of the Crown tenants to 
 suggest any modification of the land regulations, to meet 
 an apparent exigency; but it was certainly the part of 
 the executive, before it invaded the rights of property, to 
 make provision for the indemnification of the destruction 
 of such rights; and now even, it is only those who have 
 actually suffered direct losses, from the illegal sale of their 
 runs, who have legal recourse against the authorities; 
 though all have suffered, and all are suffering, from a 
 want of security of fixed tenure. Those who have suffered 
 directly, from the illegal sale of their runs, are sure to 
 institute proceedings in defence of their rights ; and, un- 
 less the Government abide by the law, or provide for the 
 indemnification of those who suffer from a breach of the 
 law, a state of anarchy will ensue, which will be detrimen- 
 tal to all the parties concerned, alike disgraceful to the 
 Government, and injurious to the Colony at large. But 
 if it is deemed desirable to take away such rights, and to 
 grant an indemnity in lieu of them from the land fund, 
 let the necessary arrangements be finally completed by the 
 Crown, before the control of the management of the 
 Crown lands is handed over to the local Legislature (as 
 is justly proposed to be done under the new constitution); 
 for however favourable the views of that body have hitherto 
 been, relative to the claims of the pastoral interest, the 
 formation of townships and agricultural settlements within 
 the pastoral districts has destroyed the representation of 
 that interest. It would therefore be most repugnant to 
 the principles of British jurisprudence, and manifestly 
 unjust, to refer the arbitration of such claims to a body 
 interested, and principally constituted in hostile opposition
 
 53 
 
 to the establishment of such claims; and, besides, it would 
 never satisfy the claimants. 
 
 This long vexed question once settled, the Crown 
 tenants could fraternise with the other classes, and all that 
 rancour of class interests would soon be absorbed in a 
 common interest, so essential to the peace and prosperity 
 of the Colony. 
 
 The eternal principles of truth and justice, inherent in 
 humanity, will undoubtedly, sooner or later, require that 
 justice be done the injured pioneers of Australian wealth 
 and civilisation ; and Government will yet feel that it is 
 wiser, and safer in the end, to follow out a direct course 
 of justice, than to succumb to the dictation of a mercenary 
 press, and so be carried downward in the dark polluted 
 stream of base expediency. 
 
 If the Government wishes to maintain the pledged 
 honour of the Crown to respect the purity of justice 
 to uphold the power of the law to protect the rights of 
 property and to prevent a state of anarchy in the colo- 
 nies, it will immediately interpose its authority, and award 
 that justice to the despoiled tenants of the Crown, which 
 both their legal and moral claims entitle them, as loyal 
 subjects, to demand. 
 
 From the evidence of the documents embodied in the 
 Appendix, the writer assumes that he has fully demon- 
 strated the following conclusions : 
 
 1. The legality of the rights claimed by the Crown 
 tenants. 
 
 2. The illegal infringement of such rights by the 
 Government. 
 
 3. The impolicy and the injustice of infringing and of 
 withholding the exercise of such rights.
 
 54 
 
 4, The justice of compensating those tenants who have 
 already suffered by the illegal sale of their runs. 
 
 5. The expediency of either modifying the law, to 
 provide an indemnification for the abrogation of existing 
 rights, or a strict adherence to the law in security of such 
 rights. 
 
 Having demonstrated such facts, the writer confides in 
 the justice and wisdom of the Government, in speedily 
 redressing the grievances of a great and important interest, 
 which are thus represented.
 
 HINTS UPON EMIGRATION. 
 
 The Australian Colonies are of the greatest importance, 
 as an outlet for the surplus population of the mother 
 country, and even of that of the whole of Europe. And 
 as emigration may be diverted from these colonies, through 
 the prevalence of erroneous impressions regarding the 
 claims of the Crown tenants, it may be desirable, in order 
 to completely remove such impressions, to extinguish such 
 claims, and to throw the whole of the Crown lands open 
 to the highest bidder, compensating, of course, the present 
 occupants for the surrender of their rights : not that there 
 is really any thing in the present system to prevent suffi- 
 cient land being sold, but to get rid of all dissatisfaction, 
 however unjust it may be, and to encourage emigration. 
 It is the scarcity of labour, and not the scarcity of land, that 
 keeps agriculture in the background; indeed, there is not 
 one-twentieth of the land already sold under cultivation. 
 There is an abundance of the finest land in the world, in 
 the three colonies of N. S. Wales, Victoria, and South 
 Australia ; and Victoria, whether as regards pastures, 
 agricultural soil, or gold deposits, is unquestionably the 
 richest country of equal extent in the known world. Any 
 delay or mismanagement of the development of such 
 brilliant resources, is a loss to the British empire.
 
 56 
 
 The climate is healthy, and well adapted for Europeans; 
 and, with the exception of a few weeks of hot winds an- 
 nually, it is on the whole very agreeable in the country 
 districts ; but in the city of Melbourne, from the want of 
 sewerage, and the proximity of a large extent of low 
 marshy ground, it is not so healthy, and young children 
 suffer much from the miasmata, which drainage may re- 
 move: the country, on the contrary, is remarkably healthy. 
 The clouds of dust whirling in the streets of Melbourne, 
 during the hot months of summer, are most disagreeable 
 to the eye; yet, strange to say, that organ is less subject to 
 opthalmia than it generally is in warm climates. A light 
 frost frequently occurs in the winter months in Melbourne. 
 Snow falls very seldom, and never lies long. 
 
 The writer has been often applied to for advice to in- 
 tending emigrants; and, as many pitiful cases of unsuitable 
 immigrants came under his notice in the Colonies, he 
 considers it a charitable duty to point out the difficulties 
 that lie in the way of some classes : and the advantages 
 to others. For instance, those of the middle classes, with 
 young families under ten years of age, either without capi- 
 tal or with a little capital, have no inducement to go to 
 Australia. The high rates paid for house rent, fuel, 
 water, provisions, &c. even without the luxury of servants, 
 soon swallow up a little capital ; indeed, it is better to be 
 without capital than to place dependence upon a little 
 capital. The man, again, without any capital, however 
 respectable he may have been in his native country, must 
 be prepared for immediate difficulties and disagreeables on 
 landing: probably to break stones upon the public roads, 
 at 10s. or 12s. per day, having his wife and helpless chil- 
 dren cooped up in a small hovel, or huddled together under 
 the shelter of a tent, without sufficient fuel or water, and,
 
 perhaps, without proper food ; the youth of his children, 
 if they exceed two or three in number, prevents him from 
 being employed far up the country on sheep stations, 
 where he would at least get sufficient food and shelter, 
 and where, probably, his services would be appreciated. 
 Letters of recommendation are worth very little. Again, 
 young men of idle and unsettled habits cannot go to a 
 worse place, as, ten to one, they will become more dissi- 
 pated, from being able to spend more, from the receipt of 
 high wages. 
 
 On the other hand, single men or women, or married 
 couples with not more than three children under ten years 
 of age, cannot fail of bettering their condition in life, if 
 they are steady and industrious. But those who are most 
 suitable, and who cannot well fail of speedily realising an 
 independence, are families the parents of which have 
 reached or passed middle age, with their children nearly 
 grown up, that is, from 10 years and upwards. A steady 
 man with his wife, and 3 or 4 boys above 12 years of age, 
 can readily get employed upon a sheep station, at wages 
 from 200 to 300 per annum, with board and lodging ; 
 a careful boy of 12 being well able to shepherd a flock of 
 sheep on a level open country. Such families are able to 
 save nearly all their wages, and are thereby soon enabled 
 to purchase a'small farm ; and, from having labour within 
 themselves, very soon reach a state of great independence. 
 
 The able-bodied labourer has a good field for his labour, 
 eitheruipon the roads or public works, at about 12s. per 
 day, or at the gold-fields, where, if steady and industrious, 
 he may calculate, on an average, of obtaining 1 worth 
 of gold per day. 
 
 The skilful mechanic gets much higher wages, the rate 
 of which fluctuates with the extent of building operations
 
 58 
 
 in progress, now much reduced through commercial diffi- 
 culties. The great glut of merchandise, blindly poured 
 into Australia, has nominally damaged the reputation of 
 it as a field for emigration; though really such commercial 
 losses are a profit to the emigrant, who can get supplies 
 and accommodation on reasonable terms now ; and al- 
 though building operations may be suspended in Mel- 
 bourne for a temporary time, the railways and water 
 works in progress, and the average yield of gold, will 
 prevent wages from falling much ; indeed, the emigrant's 
 prospects are better than ever. 
 
 Provisions are much cheaper at Melbourne than at the 
 gold fields, where the prices depend upon the state of the 
 roads, and upon the rate of carriage. In summer, goods 
 are carried from Melbourne to the gold fields for about 10 
 per ton ; in winter the rate is about 40; it even reached 
 100 per ton before the roads were made. Butcher meat 
 is about the same price both at Melbourne, Geelong, and 
 the gold fields, recently about 9d. per lb. From the 
 great glut of goods now in the Australian market, clothing 
 must be obtainable on very reasonable terms. 
 
 New arrivals cannot expect such high wages at Mel- 
 bourne or Geelong as are given up the country, because 
 it is better for the employer to give a higher rate to men 
 upon the ground, than to be at the expense and risk of 
 carrying new arrivals up the country. The following 
 quotation from the " Geelong Advertiser," of the 23d 
 Sept. 1854, may be considered correct, and new arrivals 
 may expect such rates at Melbourne or Geelong. 
 
 " Attstrat.tatt Laboub Mabket. Geelong, Sept. 23. Instead of an 
 increasing demand for hands, as was anticipated from the advanced sea- 
 son of the year, engagements have been fewer than during the preceding 
 week, and both the mechanic and the labourer now reluctantly admit
 
 59 
 
 wages must inevitably fall, and the more reasonable consider that 
 reduced wages, with diminished prices for rent and food, and more con- 
 stant and certain employment, would be to their advantage. "Wages are 
 as under : viz. Married couples for home stations, with rations, per 
 annum, 80?. to 90?. ; ditto, for out stations, ditto, 65?. to 75?. ; ditto, with 
 two flocks, ditto, 80?. to 100?.; shepherds, 40?. to 50?.; hut-keepers, 30?. 
 to 40?. ; married couples for hotels, 90?. to 100?. ; ditto for private fami- 
 lies man as groom, woman as house-servant, with rations 80?. to 90?. ; 
 labourers on the roads and other works, 10s. to 13s. per day, without 
 rations ; carters for town, without rations, 3?. to 4?. per week ; carters 
 for ditto, with rations, 35s. to 50s. per week; ditto for roads, with 
 rations, 21. to 3?. per week; shearers, 1?. per 100, with rations; bullock 
 drivers for the roads, with rations, 50s. to 3?. per week; ditto for stations, 
 30s. to 2?. per week ; gardeners, with rations, 60?. to 80?. per annum ; 
 grooms, ditto, 70?. to 90?. ditto ; farm servants, 20s. to 30s. per week ; 
 ploughmen, 30s. to 35s. per week ; general useful station servants, 20s. 
 to 25s. per week; bush carpenters, with rations, 2?. 10s. to 3?. per 
 week ; carpenters for town work, best hands, 20s. to 22s. 6d. per day, 
 without rations ; slaters and plasterers, 30s. to 35s. per day, good hands, 
 ditto ; men cooks for hotels, 2?. to 4?. per week, with rations ; waiters 
 for hotels, with rations, 1?. 10s. to 2?. ; seamen, for the run to London, 
 30?. to 40?. ; ditto, Madfas, Singapore, Callao, Mauritius, 25?. to 30?. ; 
 coasting (A. B.) per month, 8?. ; ditto (O. S.) ditto, 6?. 10s. ; monthly 
 wages to India, London, &c. 6?. to 71. 10s. ; bay labourers, with rations, 
 10s. to 13s. per day; female servants, thorough general servants, 25?. to 
 30?. ; housemaids, 25?. ; laundresses, 30?. ; cooks, 30?. to 35?. ; nurse- 
 maids, 18?. to 20?. Geelong Advertiser." 
 
 The winter is so mild that the live stock require no ar- 
 tificial feeding ; and both sheep and cattle fatten on the 
 natural herbage. The only demand for fodder is within 
 the towns, and upon the thoroughfares, where working 
 cattle and horses require to be kept. 
 
 Melbourne and Geelong are the best ports to disembark 
 at, on account of the proximity of the gold fields and the 
 public works in progress. And Victoria is unquestionably 
 the best field for the emigrant, as wages are about 30 per 
 cent, higher than in the neighbouring colonies of New
 
 60 
 
 South Wales and South Australia, but where there is also 
 a fine field for the emigrant, though far inferior to 
 Victoria. 
 
 Western Australia is a poor miserable place, with a 
 hungry sandy soil, ill adapted for either pasture or culti- 
 vation; and it is much to be regretted that a British 
 community should be left to pine in such a place, when 
 there are millions of acres of rich lands on the same con- 
 tinent lying waste for the lack of occupants. If punish- 
 ment was the only object in transporting offenders there, 
 it would certainly be attained with a vengeance. The 
 emigrant will do well to avoid such a place, both on ac- 
 count of the poverty of the soil, and of its being a penal 
 settlement. 
 
 The rate of labour in Victoria is regulated by the yield 
 of the gold fields, though it is generally cheaper in winter 
 than in summer. Hitherto the yield of gold has been, 
 upon the whole, very steady in Victeria; and, from the 
 great extent of auriferous ground already discovered, there 
 is no risk of its being exhausted for many generations to 
 come : besides, more discoveries are sure to follow. The 
 writer, from his knowledge of the country, both in New 
 South Wales and Victoria, is convinced, from the geolo- 
 gical features of both colonies, that one tithe of the gold 
 deposits in Australia are not yet discovered. And the 
 writer, as the original discoverer of the Victorian gold 
 fields, may be presumed to be somewhat of an authority 
 upon that subject. His claim to the discovery was proved 
 before a Select Committee of the Legislative Council of 
 Victoria last session. 
 
 The emigrant, unless he has the means of supporting 
 himself for a few months at the diggings, had better ac- 
 cept employment at once on landing. Let him avoid en-
 
 61 
 
 cumbering himself with more things than he requires on 
 the voyage. 
 
 In Victoria there is a first-rate field for the investment 
 of capital, either in the purchase of land, of stock and 
 stations, of bank stock, of mortgages, and in various other 
 ways. Ten per cent, is considered a very moderate 
 return, and, under judicious management, a much higher 
 rate may be calculated on. 
 
 Fifteen years' practical experience in Australia has 
 enabled the writer to offer these few observations, which 
 he trusts may be useful to intending emigrants.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 PART T. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 CROWN LAND (Sale.) 
 
 5 & 6 VlCTOBU, c. 36. An Act for regulating the sale of waste land 
 belonging to the Crown in the Australian Colonies. [22d June, 1842.] 
 
 Whereas it is expedient that an uniform system of disposing of 
 the waste lands of the crown in the Australian Colonies should be 
 established : Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, 
 by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and 
 Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, 
 and by the authority of the same, that within the Australian 
 Colonies the waste lands of the crown should be disposed of in the 
 manner and according to the regulations hereinafter prescribed, 
 and not otherwise. 
 
 II. And be it enacted, that the waste lands of the Crown in the 
 Australian Colonies shall not, save as hereinafter is excepted, be 
 conveyed or alienated by Her Majesty, or by any person or 
 persons acting on the behalf or under the authority of Her 
 Majesty, either in fee-simple or for any less estate or interest, 
 unless such conveyance or alienation be made by way of sale, nor 
 unless such sales be conducted in the manner and according to 
 the regulations hereinafter prescribed. 
 
 III. Provided always, and be it enacted, That nothing in 
 this Act contained shall extend or be construed to extend to pre- 
 vent Her Majesty, or any person or persons acting on the behalf 
 or under the authority of Her Majesty, from, excepting from sale, 
 and either reserving to Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successes, 
 or disposing of in such other manner as for the public interests 
 may seem best, such lands as may be required for public roads 
 or other internal communications, whether by land or water, or 
 
 A
 
 for the use or benefit of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country, 
 or for purposes of military defence, or as the sites of places of 
 public worship, schools, or other public buildings, or as places 
 for the interment of the dead, or places for the recreation and 
 amusement of the inhabitants of any town or village, or as the 
 sites of public quays or landing places on the sea coast or slwres 
 of navigable streams, or for any other purpose of public safety, 
 convenience, health, or enjoyment; and provided also, that 
 nothing in this Act contained shall extend or be construed to ex- 
 tend to prevent Her Majesty, or any person or persons acting on 
 her behalf, or under the authority of Her Majesty, from fulfill- 
 ing any promise or engagement made or hereafter to be made by 
 or on the behalf of Her Majesty in favour of any military or 
 naval settlers in the said Colonies respectively, in pursuance of 
 any regulations made by Her Majesty's authority in favour or 
 for the benefit of any such settlers. 
 
 IV. And be it enacted, That save as hereinafter is excepted in 
 reference to blocks of twenty thousand acres of land or upwards, 
 no waste lands of the crown in any of the said Colonies shall be so 
 conveyed or alienated as aforesaid until the same shall have been 
 surveyed, and shall have been delineated in the public charts of 
 such Colony, in such lots as shall be subsequently offered and put 
 up for sale, which lots shall in no case, save as aforesaid, contain 
 an area exceeding one superficial square mile. 
 
 V. And be it enacted, That, under and subject to the various 
 provisions and regulations hereinafter contained, the Governor for 
 the time being of each of the said Colonies is hereby authorised 
 and required, in the name and on the behalf of Her Majesty, to 
 convey and alienate in fee simple, or for any less estate or interest, 
 to the purchaser or purchasers thereof, any waste lands of the 
 Crown in any such Colony, which conveyances or alienations shall 
 be made in such forms and with such solemnities as shall from 
 time to time be prescribed by Her Majesty ; and being so made, 
 shall be valid and effectual in the law to transfer to and to vest in 
 possession in any such purchaser or purchasers any such lands as 
 aforesaid, for any such estate or interest as by any such convey- 
 ance as aforesaid shall be granted to him, her, or them. 
 
 VI. And be it enacted, That once at the least in each of the four 
 usual quarters of the year, and on as many other occasions as to 
 the Governor for the time being of any such Colony shall seem
 
 meet, there shall be holden one or more public sales by auction of 
 the waste lands of the Crown within such Colony; and that every 
 such Governor shall, by proclamation or proclamations, to be from 
 time to time by him for that purpose made in manner hereinafter 
 mentioned, declare with all practical precision the times and the 
 places at which such auctions will be holden, and what are the 
 lands to be offered for sale at each of such auctions, and what are 
 the upset prices at which they will be offered for sale; and it shall 
 not be lawful for any such Governor to sell or cause to be 
 sold any such lands, unless they shall have been specified as about 
 to be offered for sale by such proclamation as aforesaid, issued at 
 some time within three calendar months next preceding the actual 
 sale thereof. 
 
 VII. And be it enacted, That in every such proclamation as 
 aforesaid the lands specified therein as about to be offered for sale 
 shall be distinguished into three separate classes, the first of which 
 shall be described as town lots, the second of which shall be des- 
 cribed as suburban lots, and the third of which shall be described 
 as country lots ; and within the first of the said classes shall be com- 
 prised all lands situate within the limits of any existing town to 
 be in that behalf especially named and described by the Governor, 
 or within any locality to be designated by the Governor as the 
 site of any town to be thereon erected ; and within the second of 
 the said classes shall be comprised all lands situate within the dis- 
 tance of five miles from the nearest point of any existing or con- 
 templated town, unless in any case the Governor for the time 
 being of any such colony shall see fit to exclude any such last men- 
 tioned lands from the said class of suburban lots, on the ground that 
 they will not in his judgment derive any increased value from their 
 vicinity to any such town ; and within the third of the said classes 
 shall be comprised all lands not comprised within the said first and 
 second classes : Provided, nevertheless, that nothing herein con- 
 tained shall extend or be construed to extend to prevent the put- 
 ting up for sale of lands of any one or more of the said classes 
 apart from lands of both or either of the other classes. 
 
 VIII. And be it enacted, That none of the waste lands of the 
 crown shall be sold at any such auction in any of the said Colonies 
 unless the sum of one pound at the least for each acre of such 
 land be then and there offered for the same, which sum of one 
 pound per acre shall be the lowest upset price of any of the waste
 
 lands of the crown in any of the said Colonies, but which lowest 
 upset price shall be liable to be from time to time raised in any 
 such Colony in manner hereinafter mentioned. 
 
 IX. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Governor 
 of any such Colony, at his discretion, by any such proclamation 
 or proclamations as aforesaid, to raise the lowest upset price of 
 the waste lands of the Crown in any such Colony ; and it shall 
 be lawful for Her Majesty, by any instructions addressed to any 
 such Governor, under Her Majesty's Signet and Sign Manual, 
 with the advice of Her Majesty's Privy Council, either to raise 
 the lowest upset price of the waste lands of the crown in any such 
 Colony, or to disallow and reduce back, either wholly or in part, 
 any increase of the said upset price which, in exercise of the 
 authority hereby vested in him, any such Governor may, in 
 manner aforesaid, have made of the said upset price, by any such 
 proclamation or proclamations as aforesaid : Provided always, that 
 no such instructions reducing the lowest upset price of land, as 
 raised by any such proclamation or proclamations, shall be so 
 issued as aforesaid, by Her Majesty, after the lapse of six months 
 from the receipt by one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of 
 State from such Governor of a transcript of any such proclama- 
 tion : Provided also, that if such upset price be so reduced by Her 
 Majesty as aforesaid, and if any person shall in the meanwhile 
 have purchased of the Crown any lands, not being town or subur- 
 ban lots or special lots, it shall be lawful for the Governor 
 either to return to such person the difference between the lowest 
 upset price named by the Governor and the amount to which 
 such lowest upset price shall have been reduced by Her Majesty, 
 or to grant to such person or persons lands equal in value to the 
 said difference. 
 
 X. And be it enacted, That it shall not be competent to the 
 Governor of any such Colony, nor, save as aforesaid, to Her 
 Majesty, to reduce the amount to which, in manner aforesaid, the 
 lowest upset price of lands within such Colony may at any time 
 have been so increased by such Governor or by Her Majesty. 
 
 XI. And be it enacted, That in respect of any part not exceed- 
 ing one tenth of the whole of the lands of the third class for the 
 first time offered for sale at any such auction as aforesaid, it shall 
 be lawful for any such Governor, by any such proclamation or 
 proclamations as aforesaid, to name an upset price higher than the
 
 lowest upset price of waste lands in the Colony, and such excepted 
 lands of the third class shall be designated as special country lots ; 
 and that in respect of any lot or lots consisting of lands either of 
 the first or of the second classes, to be comprised in any such 
 gales, it shall be lawful for the Governor for the time being to fix 
 the upset price of any such lot or lots at any sum exceeding the 
 lowest upset price of waste lands within the Colony in which the 
 same may be situated, and from time to time to raise or lower, as 
 to him may seem requisite for the public interests, the price of 
 such lots, consisting of lands of the first or the second class, so 
 always that such upset price shall never be less than the lowest 
 upset price of waste lands within the said Colony. 
 
 XII. And be it enacted, That no land comprised in the said 
 first or second classes shall be sold in any of the said Colonies 
 otherwise than by public auction ; but that any lands comprised 
 in the third of the said classes shall and may be sold by the 
 Governor for the time being of the Colony, within which tho 
 same are situate, by private contract, if the same shall first have 
 been put up to public auction in manner aforesaid, and shall not 
 have been sold at such auction : Provided that no such land shall 
 be sold by any such private contract for less than the upset price 
 at which the same was last put up for sale by auction, or if any 
 bidding above that price was made for the same at such last pre- 
 ceding auction, then at less than the amount of such bidding, after 
 deducting the amount of any deposit that may have been paid 
 thereon : Provided also, that if between any two successive sales 
 by auction an increase shall, in manner aforesaid, have been made 
 of the upset price of lands, no land affected by such increase shall 
 subsequently be sold by. private contract until after the same shall 
 again have been put up to sale by auction at such increased upset 
 price. 
 
 XIII. And be it enacted, That no waste lands of the crown 
 shall be sold in any such Colony by any such private contract as 
 aforesaid except for ready money, to be paid at the signing of such 
 contract ; and that no waste lands of the crown shall be sold at 
 any such public auction as aforesaid, unless on condition of paying 
 at the time of the sale in ready money, a deposit, the amount of 
 which shall be fixed by any such proclamation or proclamations as 
 aforesaid, at not less than one tenth of the whole price, nor unless 
 the purchaser or purchasers shall contract to pay the residue of
 
 such price within one calendar month next after the time of such 
 sale by auction, and shall further contract, that on failure of such 
 payment the deposits shall be forfeited, and that the contract 
 shall be thenceforward null and void. 
 
 XIV. And be it enacted, That by any proclamation or pro- 
 clamations to be from time to time for that purpose issued by the 
 Governor of any such Colony, in the manner hereinafter men- 
 tioned, it shall be lawful for him to divide such Colony, for the 
 purposes hereinafter mentioned, into any number of territorial 
 divisions not exceeding four ; and for the purposes and within the 
 meaning of this present Act, but for no other purpose, each of 
 such territorial divisions shall be considered as a distinct and 
 separate colony, saving only that as regards the appropriation 
 hereinafter directed of a certain portion of the proceeds of sales 
 of land to the introduction of emigrants from the United King- 
 dom, it shall be sufficient that such emigrants be introduced into 
 any part of the entire Colony, without reference to the territorial 
 division in which such proceeds of sales may have accrued ; and 
 provided always, that it uhall be lawful for Her Majesty, by any in- 
 structions to be issued by Her Majesty in manner before mentioned, 
 to disallow and annul any such proclamation or proclamations : 
 Provided that such instructions be issued within six calendar months 
 next after the receipt by one of Her Majesty's Principal Secre- 
 taries of State, from such Governor, of the transcript of such 
 proclamation : Provided also, that such instructions shall take 
 effect within the said Colony, upon the receipt thereof by the 
 said Governor, and not before. 
 
 XV. And be it enacted, That if any person or persons shall 
 offer to purchase from the Governor of any such Colony by 
 private contract, any block of unsurveyed land, comprising twenty 
 thousand acres or more, and forming, as nearly as the natural 
 landmarks of the country will admit, a parallelogram, of which 
 no one side shall be more than twice the length of any other side, 
 it shall be lawful for the Governor, by any such private contract, 
 to effect any such sale, on such terms and conditions as to him 
 shall seem meet, provided that such lands be not sold for less than 
 the lowest upset price of lands per acre in the Colony in which 
 the same may be situated, and provided that the purchaser or 
 purchasers of any such lands shall not be entitled to any survey 
 thereof, except so far as may be necessary to ascertain the external 
 marks and bounds thereof.
 
 XVI. And whereas it may be convenient, that means should be 
 provided for the payment within the United Kingdom of the pur 
 chase money of waste lands of the Crown within the said Colonies ; 
 and whereas by a warrant under Her Majesty's sign manual, bear- 
 ing date on the tenth day of January, one thousand eight hun- 
 dred and forty, Her Majesty was pleased to appoint certain persons 
 therein named to be, during Her Majesty's pleasure, commis- 
 sioners in the United Kingdom, for the sale of the waste lands of 
 the Crown in Her Majesty's Colonies, and for superintending the 
 emigration of Her Majesty's subjects to such Colonies; Be it 
 therefore enacted, That if any person or persons shall pay, for 
 the purchase of waste lands of the crown in any of Her Majesty's 
 Australian Colonies, any sum or sums of money to the com- 
 missioners of Her Majesty's Treasury of the United Kingdom of 
 Great Britain or Ireland, or to any person or persons to be 
 appointed by the said commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, 
 or any three of them, to receive the same, the said commissioners 
 of Colonial lands and emigration for the time being, are hereby 
 authorised and required, subject to such rules as shall be pre- 
 scribed for their guidance in that respect by the commissioners of 
 Her Majesty's Treasury, to grant, under their hands and seal of 
 office, certificates to any such purchaser or purchasers of the 
 amount of any such payments, which certificates shall, on 
 production thereof to the Governor for the time being of any 
 such Colony, be received by him as equivalent to the amount of 
 money for which the same shall respectively be given, so far^and 
 only so far as the same may be tendered to such Government in 
 payment for the price of any waste lands of the crown to be 
 there purchased, either at public auction or by private contract, 
 in the manner and subject to the regulations by this present Act 
 prescribed in respect of such purchasers. 
 
 XVII. And be it enacted, That nothing herein contained shall 
 extend or be construed to extend to prevent the Governor of any 
 of the said Colonies from granting to any person or persons a 
 licence for the occupation, for any time not exceeding 12 calendar 
 months from the date thereof, of any waste lands of the Crown in 
 any such Colony, or a licence for felling, removing, and selling 
 the timber growing on any such lands ; and that no such lands 
 shall be sold until after the expiration of the licence for the 
 occupation of the same.
 
 8 
 
 XVIII. And be it enacted, That all charges which shall be 
 incurred in any of the Australian Colonies for the expense of the 
 survey and management of the waste lands of the Crown therein, 
 or for effecting such sales by auction, or by private contract, or 
 otherwise in carrying into effect the provisions of this present 
 Act, within any such Colony, shall, in the first instance, be 
 chargeable upon and defrayed from the proceeds of sales of waste 
 lands, unless provision shall otherwise be made for defraying 
 such charges, by any law or ordinance to be enacted by the local 
 legislature of any such Colony. 
 
 XIX. And be it enacted, That subject to the charge above 
 mentioned, the gross proceeds of the sales of the waste lands of 
 the Crown, in each of the said Colonies, shall be appropriated and 
 applied to the public service of the said Colonies respectively, in 
 such manner as Her Majesty, or the commissioners of Her 
 Majesty's Treasury, or any three of them, shall from time to 
 time direct : Provided always, that one equal half part at least 
 of such gross proceeds shall be, and the same is hereby appro- 
 priated, towards defraying the expense of the removal from the 
 United Kingdom to the Colony wherein such revenue accrued of 
 emigrants not possessing the means of defraying the expense of 
 their own emigration thither, which money shall be expended by 
 the commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, or by such person 
 or persons as shall be authorised by them to expend the same, 
 but subject to such regulations regarding the selection of 
 emigrants, the means to be provided for their conveyance, and 
 their superintendence during the voyage to the Colony to which 
 they are destined, and for their reception and settlement in that 
 Colony, as shall from time to time be prescribed by Her Majesty 
 in Privy Council, or through one of Her Majesty's Principal 
 Secretaries of State, to the Governor of such respective Colonies, 
 and to the Commissioners for the time being of Colonial lands 
 and emigration. 
 
 XX. Provided always and be it enacted, That nothing herein 
 contained shall affect or be construed to affect any contract, or 
 to prevent the fulfilment of any promise or engagement, made by 
 or on the behalf of Her Majesty, with respect to any lands 
 situate in any of the said Colonies, in cases where such contracts, 
 promises, or engagements, shall have been lawfully made before 
 the time at which this Act shall take effect in any such Colony.
 
 9 
 
 XXI. And be it enacted, That this Act shall take effect and 
 have the force of law in each of the Australian Colonies, from 
 the day of the receipt of a copy thereof by the Governor of 
 such Colony, which day such Governor shall certify and make 
 known to the inhabitants of such Colony by a proclamation, to be 
 by him for that purpose forthwith issued. 
 
 XXII. And be it enacted, That the words Australian Colonies, 
 as employed in this Act, are intended and described the Colonies 
 of New South Wales, Van Dieman's Land, South Australia, and 
 Western Australia, and New Zealand, with their respective 
 dependencies, as such Colonies are now or shall hereafter be 
 defined and limited, and also any other Colonies which may 
 hereafter be established within any of the existing limits of the 
 said five Colonies, unless it shall in any case seem fit to Her 
 Majesty, by any instrument under the Great Seal by which any 
 such new Colony may be founded, to postpone, either for any 
 period to be therein limited, or indefinitely, as to Her Majesty 
 shall seem meet, the time at which this Act shall take effect 
 within any such new Colony, in which case this Act shall take 
 effect therein from the time to be so limited by such commission, 
 and not before. 
 
 XXIII. And be it enacted, That by the word " Governor,' ' 
 as employed in the present Act, is intended and described the 
 person who for the time being shall be lawfully administering 
 the Government of any of the said Colonies respectively ; and 
 that the several "Proclamations" which the Governors of the 
 said respective Colonies are hereby authorised to issue, shall be 
 so issued by him, under the public seal of the Colony, and shall 
 be made public in the most authentic and formal manner in use 
 in any such Colony ; and that by the words " Waste Lands " of 
 the Crown, as used in the present Act, are intended and 
 described any lands situate therein, and which now are, or shall 
 hereafter be vested in Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, 
 and which have not been already granted or lawfully contracted 
 to be granted to any person or persons in fee-simple, or for an 
 estate of freehold, or for a term of years, and which have not 
 been dedicated and set apart for some public use. 
 
 XXIV. And be it enacted, That this Act may be altered or 
 amended during the present session of Parliament.
 
 10 
 
 No. 2. 
 CROWN LANDS (Occupation.) 
 
 11 ViCTOBlA, No 18. An Act to authorise, for a limited time, an assessment 
 upon Stock pastured beyond the Settled Districts of New South Wales. 
 [Assented to, 17 th September, 1847.] 
 
 Whereas it is necessary to make provision for the protection and 
 good government of all persons residing beyond the Settled Dis- 
 tricts of the Colony of New South Wales, and by reason thereof 
 it is expedient that an assessment should be raised and levied 
 upon all stock pastured beyond the said Settled Districts : Be it 
 therefore enacted, by His Excellency the Governor of New South 
 Wales, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council 
 thereof, That in each and every year, there shall be levied and 
 paid upon and in respect of the Stock of every person pasturing 
 or keeping the same, upon any lands situate beyond the Settled 
 Districts of the said Colony, as the same now are, or hereafter 
 may be, defined, the assessment following, that is to say : for 
 every sheep the sum of one halfpenny, for every head of cattle, 
 the sum of one penny halfpenny, and for every horse the sum of 
 threepence : which assessments respectively shall be paid by the 
 person assessed, before the first day of April in each year, at the 
 office of the Colonial Treasurer in Sydney, or Sub-Treasurer at 
 Melbourne, or to such other officer or officers, or at such other 
 place or places, as shall be appointed in that behalf, by the 
 Governor for the time being. 
 
 II. And be it enacted, that every person pasturing or keeping 
 stock as aforesaid, shall make, or cause to be made, to the Com- 
 missioner of the district wherein the said stock is pastured, a 
 Return, on the first day of January, or within fourteen days 
 thereafter, in each and every year, according to the form 
 contained in the Sehedule hereunto annexed, marked A, of 
 all sheep, cattle, and horses kept and pastured by him, as 
 aforesaid ; and if any such person shall fail or neglect to make, or 
 cause to be made, such Return at the time so appointed, or shall 
 omit to deposit the same with the said Commissioner, in manner
 
 11 
 
 hereby required, he shall, on conviction before any two or more 
 Justices of the Peace, forfeit and pay for every such offence, a 
 sum not less than forty shillings, nor exceeding fifty pounds. 
 
 III. And be it enacted, That after the first day of March in 
 each year, it shall and may be lawful for the Commissioner and 
 his assistants in each and every district (but subject to such 
 directions as the Governor may think proper to give in any case) 
 to seize and drive to the nearest or most convenient pound all 
 cattle and horses pasturing as aforesaid, whereof a Return shall 
 not by that time have been made by the person keeping or 
 pasturing the same, in conformity with the provisions in that 
 behalf hereinbefore contained, and the said cattle and horses to 
 sell and dispose of at such pound, according to the ordinary 
 course of sales of cattle and horses impounded for trespasses, 
 unless, in the meantime, the owner thereof shall have claimed the 
 same, and shall pay, by way of penalty, to the said Commissioner 
 or poundkeeper, the sum of two shillings and sixpence for every 
 head of such cattle and horses, together with the expenses 
 chargeable thereon for poundage and food, which penalty and 
 expenses the owner of such cattle and horses shall be liable to 
 pay : Provided always, that upon such claim being made by a 
 person who shall satisfy the said Commissioner or poundkeeper 
 that he is the lawful owner of any such cattle and horses so 
 impounded, and upon such payment as last aforesaid, the said 
 cattle and horses shall be restored to such owner : And provided 
 further that all moneys realised by any such sale as hereby 
 authorised, and all payments made as aforesaid, shall be forth- 
 with transmitted by or through the said Commissioner to the 
 Colonial Treasurer at Sydney, or the Sub-Treasurer at Mel- 
 bourne, or to such other officer as may in that behalf be appointed 
 by the Governor, and the surplus realised by any such sale as 
 aforesaid, over and above the amount of such penalty as last 
 aforesaid, and the expenses aforesaid, shall be paid to the owner 
 of any such cattle and horses so sold, upon a certificate from the 
 said Commissioner of his being such owner. 
 
 IV. And be it enacted, That the person making such Return 
 as aforesaid, shall verify the same by a declaration in the form or 
 to the effect prescribed in the said Schedule, (which declaration 
 any Justice of the Peace is hereby empowered to administer,) 
 that the several matters and things contained in such Return are
 
 12 
 
 true, to the best of his knowledge and belief ; and if any person 
 shall wilfully make therein any false statement as to any material 
 particular, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, 
 being" convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the 
 Court, to fine and imprisonment, or either. 
 
 V. And be it enacted, That the several Commissioners shall, 
 at the beginning of each and every year, make an assessment on 
 the stock pastured within their respective districts, and shall on 
 or before the first day of February then next ensuing, make a 
 Return thereof to the said Colonial Treasurer or Sub-Treasurer 
 or other person appointed as aforesaid, in the form, and con- 
 taining the several particulars, set forth in the Schedule to this 
 Act annexed, marked with the letter B, according to which 
 Return the assessment, hereinbefore mentioned, shall, upon notice 
 as hereinafter provided, be due and payable as aforesaid, by the 
 persons therein assessed, except in so far as the same may be 
 affected by any order made on appeal, under the provisions 
 hereinafter contained. 
 
 VI. And be it enacted, That the said several Commissioners 
 shall, not less than one calendar month previous to the time 
 hereinbefore appointed for the payment of the said assessment, 
 cause a notice in writing, in the form contained in the Schedule 
 hereunto annexed marked C, to be served upon each person 
 assessed, or to be left at the residence of such person (if within 
 the district), or with the superintendent or person having the 
 charge of his stock (if the owner thereof shall not reside within 
 the district), apprising him of the amount of the assessment with 
 which he is liable, and requiring him to pay the said amount at 
 the office of the said Colonial Treasurer, or of the said Sub- 
 Treasurer, or other place appointed as aforesaid, before the 
 first day of April next ensuing. 
 
 VII. And be it enacted, That any person assessed as afore- 
 said, who shall consider himself aggrieved by such assessment, 
 may appeal to the nearest court of Petty Sessions : Provided 
 that within ten days after the service of the said notice of assess- 
 ment, the person assessed, or some one on his behalf, shall give 
 to the said Commissioner a notice, in writing, of his intention to 
 make such appeal, upon some day to be therein mentioned, not 
 later than fourteen days after the date of such last mentioned 
 notice ; and tho Justices sitting in Petty Sessions shall hear and
 
 13 
 
 determine the matter of the said appeal in a summary way, and 
 shall make such order therein as to them shall seem meet, 
 according to the true intent and meaning of this Act; and in case 
 of the dismissal of the appeal, or the affirmance of the said 
 assessment, wholly or in part, or in case the party assessed, or 
 some person on his behalf, shall not appear to prosecute the 
 appeal, the Court shall order and adjudge the person so assessed 
 to pay, within ten days, the amount of such assessment, or of 
 such part thereof as they shall have determined to be payable, 
 into the office of the said Colonial Treasurer or Sub-Treasurer, 
 (or other place appointed as aforesaid,) and also such costs and 
 expenses as may be awarded to the said Commissioner by the 
 said Court ; and if such assessment, costs, and expenses be not 
 paid within such time, the said Court shall and may issue a 
 warrant to levy the amount thereof by a distress and sale of a 
 sufficient part of the stock, in respect of which such assessment 
 shall have been made as aforesaid, and the surplus, if any, after 
 payment of such assessment, costs, and expenses, shall be paid to 
 the owner of such stock. 
 
 VIII. And be it enacted, That in case any person liable to pay 
 any such assessment as aforesaid, or in case any person so 
 adjudged to be liable to payment of the said assessment, or any 
 part thereof, upon appeal or notice of appeal as aforesaid, shall 
 refuse or neglect to pay the same upon the day appointed by such 
 notice, or within the time appointed in cases of appeal as aforesaid, 
 as the case may be, it shall and may be lawful for the said Colo- 
 nial Treasurer, or Sub-Treasurer at Melbourne, or other person 
 appointed by the Governor in that behalf, and he is hereby re- 
 quired forthwith, after the expiration of one month from the day 
 or time so appointed, to issue a warrant, under his hand, to the 
 Commissioner in whose district any person so refusing or neglect- 
 ing to pay, as aforesaid, shall reside, directing the said Commis- 
 sioner and his assistants to levy the amount which such person is 
 so liable to pay, as aforesaid, together with an additional sum, 
 equal to one-fifth part of that for which he is so liable, by way of 
 penalty for such refusal or neglect, by a distress of a sufficient 
 part of the stock, in respect of which the assessment shall have 
 been made as aforesaid; and such Commissioner and his assistants 
 to whom such warrant shall be so directed, are hereby authorised, 
 under and by virtue thereof, to distrain, take, and drive to the
 
 14 
 
 nearest or most convenient pound, such and so many of the 
 stock of the party in said warrant mentioned, as shall be 
 sufficient (when sold) to pay the amount of such assessment and 
 penalty, and the costs and expenses of making such distress, and 
 the payment of the maintenance of such stock, till sold ; and the 
 said stock (or a sufficient part thereof) to sell and dispose of at 
 such pound, according to the ordinary course of sales of stock 
 impounded for trespasses (unless previously thereto the said 
 assessment, penalty, costs, and expenses shall be paid) ; and the 
 proceeds thereof shall be applied to the payment of the assess- 
 ment, penalty, costs, and expenses aforesaid, and the surplus (if 
 any) shall be paid to the owner or superintendent of the said 
 stock : Provided, however, that when such warrant shall be so 
 issued as aforesaid, in case the amount of the assessment and 
 penalty therein mentioned, shall be tendered to the person 
 charged with the execution of such warrant, then and in such 
 case the said person shall and he is hereby authorised to accept 
 and receive the said amount, and to give a receipt for the money 
 so received, and to refrain from making and executing the said 
 distress. 
 
 IX. And be it enacted, That all penalties, fines, and forfeitures, 
 incurred or imposed under this Act, shall and may be sued for and 
 recovered in a summary way, before any one or more Justice or 
 Justices of the Peace, under and according to the provisions of 
 an Act made and passed by the Governor of New South Wales, 
 with the advice of the Legislative Council thereof, in the fifth 
 year of the reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, 
 intituled, An Act to regulate summary proceedings before Jus- 
 tices of the Peace. 
 
 X. And for the protection of persons acting in execution of 
 this Act : Be it enacted that all actions for anything done under 
 this Act, shall be commenced within six calendar months after the 
 fact was committed, and not otherwise ; and notice in writing of 
 such action, and the cause thereof, shall be given to the defendant 
 one calendar month at least before the commencement of the 
 action ; and in every such action the defendant may plead the 
 general issue, and give this Act and the special matter in evidence 
 at any trial to be had thereupon ; and no plaintiff shall recover 
 in any such action if tender of sufficient amends shall have been 
 made before such action brought, or if a sufficient sum of money
 
 15 
 
 shall have been paid into Court, after such action brought, by or 
 on behalf of the defendant, together with costs incurred up to 
 that time ; and if a verdict shall pass for the defendant, or the 
 plaintiff become nonsuited, or discontinue such action after issue 
 joined, or if, upon demurrer or otherwise, judgment shall be given 
 against the plaintiff, the defendant shall recover his full costs as 
 between attorney and client, and have the like remedy for the 
 same as any defendant hath by law in other cases. 
 
 XI. And be it enacted, That all sums of money payable under 
 and by virtue of this Act, shall be paid to Her Majesty, Her 
 Heirs and Successors, for the maintenance of a Police force and 
 other local purposes beyond the said settled districts, and shall be 
 applied thereto, in such manner as may from time to time be 
 directed by any Acts to be passed by the Governor and Legisla- 
 tive Council of the said Colony. 
 
 XII. And be it enacted, That no order, judgment, or other 
 proceeding made touching and concerning any of the matters 
 aforesaid, or touching and concerning the conviction of any 
 offender against this Act, shall be quashed or vacated for want of 
 form only, or be removed or removable by certiorari, or by any 
 writ or process whatsoever, into Her Majesty's Supreme Court 
 of New South Wales. 
 
 XIII. And be it enacted, That all prosecutions, suits, actions, 
 informations, or complaints, to be brought under or by virtue of 
 this Act, or upon or by reason of the breach of any of the provi- 
 sions thereof, shall and may be brought by any Commissioner for 
 and on behalf of Her Majesty, Her Heirs, and Successors ; but 
 nevertheless such Commissioner shall and may be admitted to give 
 evidence in or upon any such prosecution, suit, action, informa- 
 tion, or complaint ; and that upon any proceeding before Justices 
 of the Peace under this Act, it shall not be necessary to have a 
 formal information, but it shall be sufficient that the cause of 
 complaint or proceeding shall be stated with reasonable distinct- 
 ness, by affidavit or deposition. 
 
 XIV. And be it enacted, That no prosecution, suit, or com- 
 plaint, shall be brought under or by virtue of this Act, by reason 
 of the breach of any of the provisions thereof, after the lapse of 
 twelve calendar months from the occurrence of the matter or 
 thing to which such prosecution, suit, or complaint may relate : 
 Provided nevertheless, that nothing herein contained shall be
 
 deemed to extend to any information or prosecution for the wil- 
 fully making and subscribing any false declaration. 
 
 XV. And be it enacted, That in the construction of this Act 
 the term " Commissioner " shall be deemed and taken to mean a 
 Commissioner of Crown Lands appointed by the Governor for 
 the time being ; and the term " District " shall be deemed and 
 taken to mean the limits within which a Commissioner of Crown 
 Lands has been, or may hereafter be appointed to act ; and the 
 term " stock " shall be deemed and taken to mean and include 
 sheep, cattle, and horses ; and the word " sheep," when specifi- 
 cally used in this Act, shall be deemed and taken to mean and to 
 include rams, ewes, wethers, and lambs; and the word "cattle," 
 when specifically used in this Act, shall mean and include bulls, 
 cows, oxen, heifers, steers, and calves; and the word " horses," 
 when specifically used in this Act, shall mean and include horses, 
 mares, geldings, colts, and fillies ; and unless there be something 
 in the subject or context repugnant to such construction, every 
 word importing the singular number or the masculine gender 
 only, shall be understood to include, and shall be applied to seve- 
 ral persons, matters, or things, as well as one person, matter, or 
 thing, and females as well as males respectively. 
 
 XVI. And be it enacted, That this Act shall commence from 
 and after the 31st day of December now next ensuing, and shall 
 thenceforth continue in full force and effect, for a period of five 
 years and no longer. 
 
 CHs. A. FITZ ROY, Governor.
 
 17 
 
 Schedules beferbed to. 
 
 A. 
 
 First day of January, 18 . 
 
 RETURN of Live Stock kept and pastured by Mr. , in 
 
 the District of , beyond the Settled Districts of the 
 
 Colony, rendered in conformity with the provisions of the Act of the 
 Governor and Council, Victoria, No. 
 
 STATION. 
 
 Person 
 Superintending, 
 
 Estimated 
 Extent 
 of Run. 
 
 Stock on Station belonging to, or in 
 charge of, Mr. 
 
 Horses, 
 and how 
 Branded. 
 
 Cattle, 
 and how- 
 Branded. 
 
 and how 
 Marked. 
 
 
 I, A. B., do solemnly declare that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, 
 the foregoing is a true and faithful account of all sheep, horses, and 
 cattle of every kind kept or pastured by me, or under my charge, 
 on the several stations above mentioned, within the District of 
 ; and I make this declaration by virtue of the Act of 
 the Governor and Council of New South Wales, Victoria, No. 
 
 A. B 
 
 Proprietor or Superintendent 
 (as the case may he.) 
 Declared before me, at f \ 
 
 this day of ,18 '.) 
 
 J. P.
 
 18 
 
 o 
 ^ 
 
 n . 
 
 is 
 
 fe b 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 p 
 
 A 
 
 -*-- 
 
 a 
 
 d 
 
 r^ 
 
 J 
 
 
 
 q 
 
 k 
 
 
 
 
 W 
 
 
 i j 
 
 ci 
 
 o 
 
 >3 
 
 EH 
 
 
 Ea 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 fa 
 
 i 
 
 fe 
 
 .5 
 
 W 
 
 ;9 aj3 
 
 $ 
 
 in' 
 
 wjg. 
 
 -s-2
 
 19 
 
 a 
 
 District of 
 No. .. I .. 
 
 Commissioner of Crown Lands Office, 
 
 ,18 . 
 The Amount with which you are assessed for the year from first January 
 to thirty-first December, 18 , under the provisions of the Act of the Governor 
 and Council, Victoria, No. , on the undermentioned Stock pastured 
 by you in this District, is as follows, viz. : 
 
 8. d. 
 
 Horses . . . . at 3d. per head 
 
 Head of Cattle ... . .. at l|d. per head 
 
 Sheep . . . . . . at $d. per head 
 
 
 
 which said sum of pounds, shillings, and 
 
 pence, you are hereby required to pay at the Office of the Honourable the 
 Colonial Treasurer, in Sydney, (or at , as the case 
 
 may be,) before the first day of April next. * 
 
 Or if you consider yourself as having any just cause for appealing against 
 
 the said assessment, you will please to observe that notice of such appeal 
 
 must be lodged with me within ten days from the date of the delivery of this 
 
 notice, in the manner prescribed by the said Act. As witness my hand at 
 
 , this day of , 18 . 
 
 To 
 
 Commissioner of Crown Lands. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 9 & 10 Victoria, c. 104. An Act to Amend an Act for regulating the Sale 
 of Waste Land belonging to the Crown in the Australian Colonies, 
 and to make further Provision for the Management thereof. [28^/1 
 August, 1846.] 
 
 Whereas it is expedient to make further Regulations respecting 
 the Occupation of the Waste Lands belonging to the Crown in 
 the Colonics of New South Wales, South Australia, and West- 
 ern Australia, and for that purpose to repeal so much of an Act 
 passed in the Session of Parliament holden in the fifth and sixth 
 year of her Majesty's Reign, intituled An Act for regulating the 
 Sale of Waste Lands belonging to the Crown in the Australian 
 Colonies, as would prevent such Regulations from taking effect :
 
 20 
 
 Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, 
 by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and 
 Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, 
 and by the authority of the same, That it shall and may be lawful 
 for Her Majesty to demise for any term of years not exceeding 
 fourteen, to any person or persons, any Waste Lands of the Crown 
 in the Colonies of New South Wales, South Australia, and 
 Western Australia, or to grant to any person or persons a licence 
 for the occupation, for any term of years not exceeding fourteen, 
 of any such Waste Lands, and to reserve upon such demise or 
 licence any such rent or pecuniary or other service, and to insert 
 therein such conditions and clauses of forfeiture, as shall in 
 manner hereinafter mentioned be prescribed and authorised, any- 
 thing in the said recited Act to the contrary in anywise notwith- 
 standing : Provided always, that every such demise or licence 
 shall be made or granted subject to the rules and regulations 
 hereinafter provided for. 
 
 II. And be it enacted, That the rent or pecuniary service so 
 reserved on any such demise or licence as aforesaid, shall be appli- 
 cable to such and the same purposes only, and shall be applied in 
 such and the same manner, as the sums produced by the sale of 
 lands effected under the authority and in pursuance of the said 
 recited Act. 
 
 III. And whereas it may be necessary that effectual provision 
 should be made for protecting such Waste Lands as aforesaid 
 from being occupied without authority, and also for dispossessing 
 any person in the occupation of any such Waste Lands as afore- 
 said, in case of the forfeiture of any such demise or licence, or in 
 case of the breach or non-performance of the conditions thereof, 
 or in case of the holding over by any such persons or person after 
 the expiration of any such demise or licence, or after the end of 
 the term for which the same may have been granted or made: Be 
 it enacted, That on information in writing for that purpose pre- 
 ferred by the Governor for the time being of any such Colony 
 as aforesaid, or by any person authorised by any such Governor 
 on that behalf, to any Justice of the Peace acting in and for any 
 of the Colonies aforesaid, or in and for any county or other 
 district thereof, setting forth that any person or persons is or are 
 in the unlawful occupation of any of the Waste Lands of the 
 Crown in any such Colony, or is or are in the occupation of any
 
 21 
 
 such lands in virtue or under colour of any such demise or licence 
 as aforesaid, although such demise or licence had been forfeited, 
 or although the conditions thereof had been broken or unful- 
 filled, or although such demise or licence had expired, or although 
 the term for which the same had been granted or made had 
 come to an end, it shall be the duty of such Justice to issue his 
 summons for the appearance before any two Justices of the 
 Peace, at a place and a time therein to be specified, of the person 
 or persons against whom any such complaint shall be so made, 
 and at the time and place so to be specified such two Justices (on 
 the appearance of the person or persons charged, or on due 
 proof of the service on him, her, or them, or at his, her, or their 
 usual place of abode, of any such summons,) shall proceed to 
 hear and inquire of the truth of the matter and things which 
 may be alleged in any such information, and on being satisfied 
 of the truth thereof, either by the admission of the person or 
 persons charged, or on other good and sufficient evidence, the 
 said Justices shall issue under their hand a warrant, addressed to 
 the Sheriff or Deputy Sheriff, or Commissioner, or other officer 
 of the Colony or District, acting for or on behalf of Her Majesty, 
 commanding and requiring him forthwith to dispossess and 
 remove any such person or persons from any such Waste Lands 
 of the Crown as aforesaid, and to take possession of the same for 
 and on behalf of Her Majesty ; and it shall be the duty of any 
 such Sheriff, Deputy-Sheriff, Commissioner, or other such Officer 
 as aforesaid, to carry such warrant forthwith into execution 
 according to the tenor and exigency thereof: Provided always, 
 that nothing hereinbefore contained shall extend to any person 
 having occupied Waste Lands within the boundary of location 
 without interruption for the space of twenty years next before 
 the passing of this Act. 
 
 IV. And be it enacted, That from and after the day when this 
 Act shall come into effect in the manner hereinafter mentioned, 
 any person, unless claiming under a sale or demise from Her 
 Majesty, or from some person acting in the name and on behalf 
 of Her Majesty, who shall be found occupying any Waste Lands 
 of the Crown in any of the Colonies aforesaid, either by residing 
 or by erecting any hut or building thereon, or by clearing, 
 inclosing, or cultivating any part thereof, or who shall depasture 
 any cattle thereon, and who shall not previously have obtained
 
 22 
 
 a licence from the said Governor for the occupation of such 
 lands, or who shall occupy or depasture as aforesaid after such 
 licence shall have been determined by forfeiture or otherwise, 
 shall be liable on conviction thereof to the penalties following ; 
 That is to say, for the first offence a sum not exceeding ten 
 pounds, for the second offence a sum not exceeding twenty 
 pounds nor less than ten pounds, and for the third or any sub- 
 sequent offence a sum not exceeding fifty pounds nor less than 
 twenty pounds : Provided always, that no information shall be 
 laid or brought for any second or subsequent offence until the 
 expiration of fourteen clear days from the date of the previous 
 conviction. 
 
 V. And be it enacted, That the penalties hereinbefore imposed 
 shall be recovered in a summary way before any one or more 
 Justice or Justices of the Peace, upon the information or com- 
 plaint on oath of the Governor for the time being of any such 
 Colony as aforesaid, or of any person authorised by any such 
 Governor on that behalf. 
 
 VI. And whereas it may be expedient that various rules and 
 regulations should be made respecting the more effectually 
 making demises or licences for the term aforesaid of any such 
 Waste Lands as aforesaid, and respecting the reservation on such 
 demises or licences of any such rents or other pecuniary services, 
 and respecting the insertion therein of such conditions and clauses 
 of forfeiture as aforesaid, and respecting the division of the said 
 Colonies into districts, within which alone such demises or licences 
 may be made to take effect, and respecting the renewal of any 
 such demises or licences, and respecting the conflicting claims of 
 different persons to obtain any such demise or licence, and 
 respecting any right of pre emption which it may be proper to 
 give to the holders of any such demise or licence, and respecting 
 the forfeiture of any such demises or licences on the conviction 
 of any holders thereof of certain offences in any such Colony, 
 and respecting any other matters and things which may be 
 requisite, either for carrying into more complete effect the 
 occupation in manner aforesaid of such Waste Lands as aforesaid, 
 or for preventing the abuses incident thereto : Be it enacted, 
 That it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by any Order or Orders 
 in Council, to make and establish all such rules and regulations 
 as to Her Majesty shall seem meet for the purposes aforesaid,
 
 23 
 
 or for any of them, and any such rules and regulations again to 
 repeal, renew, alter, and amend, and that all such Orders in 
 Council shall have the force and effect of Law in the Colonies 
 aforesaid : Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall 
 be construed to authorise the sale of any Waste Land in the 
 said Colonies, otherwise than in conformity with the provisions 
 of the said Act, except to persons who shall be in actual occupa- 
 tion thereof under such demise or licence as aforesaid, or to 
 authorise the sale of any such lands for a lower price than the 
 minimum price at that time established therein by the authority 
 of the said recited Act : Provided also, that all such Orders in 
 Council shall be laid before Parliament within one month from 
 the day of the date thereof respectively, if Parliament shall then 
 be in Session, or if not, then within one month next after the 
 commencement of the then next ensuing Session of Parliament, 
 and that no such Order, repealing, renewing, altering, or 
 amending any such former Order, shall be of any force or effect 
 till the lapse of six months next after such repealing, renewing, 
 altering, or amending Order shall have been so laid before 
 Parliament ; and that all such Orders in Council shall be pub- 
 lished forthwith in the London Gazette. 
 
 VII. And for the protection of persons acting in execution of 
 this Act : Be it enacted, That all actions or other proceedings 
 for anything done under this Act shall be commenced within six 
 calendar months after the matter complained of was committed, 
 and not otherwise ; and notice in writing of such action, and the 
 cause thereof, shall be given to the defendant one calendar month 
 at least before the commencement of the action; and in every 
 such action the defendant may plead the general issue, and give 
 this Act and the special matter in evidence at any trial to be had 
 thereupon ; and no plaintiff shall recover in any such action if 
 tender of sufficient amends shall have been made before such 
 action was brought, or if a sufficient sum of money shall have 
 been paid into Court after such action brought by or on behalf 
 of the defendant, together with costs incurred up to that time ; 
 and if a verdict shall pass for the defendant or the plaintiff 
 become nonsuited, or discontinue such action after issue joined, 
 or if, upon demurrer, or otherwise, judgment shall be given against 
 the plaintiff, the defendant shall recover his full cost, as between 
 attorney and client, and have the like remedy for the same as
 
 24 
 
 any defendant hath by law in other cases ; and although a 
 verdict shall be given for the plaintiff in such action, such 
 plaintiff shall not have costs against the defendant, unless the 
 judge before whom the trial shall be shall certify his approbation 
 of the action, and of the verdict obtained thereon. 
 
 VIII. And be it enacted, That no order, judgment, or other 
 proceeding made touching or concerning the matters aforesaid, 
 or touching and concerning the conviction of any offender or 
 offenders against this Act, shall be quashed or vacated for want 
 of form only, or be removed or removable by certiorari, or any 
 writ or process whatsoever, into any superior Court of Jurisdic- 
 tion in any such Colony. 
 
 IX. And be it enacted, That the word " Governor," as em- 
 ployed in this^Act, is intended to describe the officer for the time 
 being administering the Government of any of the Colonies afore- 
 said ; and the words " Waste Lands of the Crown," as employed 
 in this Act, are intended to describe any lands in the said Colonies, 
 whether within or without the limits allotted to settlers for loca- 
 tion, and which now are, or hereafter shall be vested in Her 
 Majesty, Her Heirs, and Successors, and which have not been 
 already granted, or lawfully contracted to be granted, by Her 
 Majesty, Her Heirs, and Successors, to any other person or 
 persons in fee simple, and which have not been dedicated or set 
 apart for some public use. 
 
 X. And be it enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for Her 
 Majesty, by any such order in Council as aforesaid, to delegate to 
 the Governor of any of the Colonies aforesaid (on such conditions 
 as Her Majesty shall see fit to impose) all or any of the powers 
 hereby vested in Her Majesty, save only so far as respects the 
 powers so to be exercised by Her Majesty as aforesaid, by and 
 with the advice of her Privy Council. 
 
 XI. And be it enacted, That from and after the passing of this 
 Act, the said recited Act shall not apply to land situate in the 
 Colony of New Zealand: Provided nevertheless, that nothing 
 herein contained shall extend to invalidate any act done in the 
 said Colony, in pursuance of the said recited Act, before or within 
 one month after the passing of this Act shall have been made 
 known by Proclamation by the Governor of the said Colony to 
 the inhabitants thereof. 
 
 XII. And be it enacted, That the said recited Act, so far as it is
 
 25 
 
 repugnant to this present Act or would prevent the execution 
 thereof, shall be, and the same is hereby repealed. 
 
 XIII. And be it enacted, That this Act, shall take effect and 
 have the force of law in each of the said Colonies of New South 
 Wales, Southern Australia, and Western Australia, from and after 
 a day to be specified by the Governor of each of such Colonies in 
 some proclamation to be issued by him for that purpose. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 At the Court at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, the 9th day 
 of March, 1847. 
 
 PRESENT: 
 
 The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, 
 His Royal Highness Prince Albert, 
 
 Viscount Palmerston, 
 BisHOP of London, 
 Lord Campbell. 
 
 Lord President, 
 Lord Privy Seal, 
 Lord Chamberlain, 
 Earl of Auckland, 
 
 Whereas by an Act passed in the present year of Her Majesty, 
 intituled, An Act to amend an Act for regulating the Sale of 
 Waste Land belonging to the Crown in the Australian Colonies, 
 and to make further provision for the management thereof, after 
 reciting that it might be expedient that various rules and regula- 
 tions should be made, respecting the more effectually making 
 demises or licences, for any term of years not exceeding four- 
 teen, of any such Waste Lands as therein mentioned, and respect- 
 ing the reservation on such demises or licences, or any such rents 
 or other pecuniary services, and respecting the insertion therein 
 of such conditions and clauses of forfeiture as are therein men- 
 tioned, and respecting the division of the said Colonies into dis- 
 tricts, within which alone such demises or licences might be made 
 to take effect, and respecting the renewal of any such demises or 
 licences, and respecting the conflicting claims of different persons- 
 to obtain any such demise or licence, and respecting any right of 
 pre-emption which it might be proper to give to the holders of any 
 such demise or licence, and respecting the forfeiture of any such 
 demises or licences, on the conviction of any holders thereof, of
 
 26 
 
 certain offences in any such Colony, and respecting any other 
 matters and things which might be requisite, either for carrying 
 into more complete effect the occupation, in manner therein men- 
 tioned, of such Waste Lands as aforesaid, or for preventing the 
 abuses incident thereto ; it was enacted, that it should be lawful 
 for Her Majesty, by any Order in Council, to make and establish 
 all such rules and regulations as to Her Majesty should seem 
 meet for the purposes aforesaid, or for any of them, and any such 
 rules and regulations, again to repeal, renew, alter, and amend ; 
 and that all such orders in Council should have the force and 
 effect of law in the Colonies aforesaid : and whereas it is expe- 
 dient that the rules and regulations hereinafter contained should 
 now be made and established, for regulating the occupation of the 
 Waste Lands of the Crown in the Colony of New South Wales, 
 it is hereby ordered by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by 
 and with the advice of the Privy Council, that within the said 
 Colony of New South Wales, the rules and regulations comprised 
 in the following chapters shall henceforth be observed, and have 
 the force and effect of law. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 AS TO THE DIVISION OF THE LANDS IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 Sect. 1. The lands in the Colony of New South Wales shall, 
 for the purposes of the present Order, be considered as divided 
 into three classes, and be dealt with accordingly, as they may 
 be situated in districts to be denominated respectively as the set- 
 tled, the intermediate, and the unsettled districts. 
 
 Sect. 2. The settled districts of the Colony shall compre- 
 hend 
 
 First The nineteen contiguous counties, the boundaries of 
 which were settled and proclaimed before the 1st January, 1838. 
 
 Second The counties or reputed counties of Macquarie and 
 Stanley. 
 
 Third The lands which may be within a distance of twenty- 
 five miles, to be measured or reckoned from any point of the 
 corporate limits of the Town of Melbourne, in the county of 
 Bourke. 
 
 Fourth The lands, which may be within the distance of fifteen
 
 27 
 
 miles from any point of the outward limits of the Town of 
 Geelong, in the County of Grant. 
 
 Fifth The lands which may lie within the distance of ten miles 
 from any point of the outward limits of each of the following 
 towns or townships, viz. : 
 
 Portland, in the County of Normanby ; Alberton, in the dis- 
 trict of Gipps Land ; Eden, in the County of Auckland ; Bathurst, 
 in the County of Roxburgh ; Wellington, in the County of the 
 same name. 
 
 The town which has been established at the head of the navi- 
 gation of the River Clarence. 
 
 The Town of Macquarie, in the County of Macquarie. 
 The Town of Ipswich, in the County of Stanley. 
 Sixth The lands which may lie within the distance of three 
 miles from any part of the sea, throughout the extent of the 
 Colony, measured in a straight line. 
 
 Seventh The lands which may lie within the distance of two 
 miles from either of the two opposite banks of any of the 
 following rivers, viz. : 
 
 The Glenelg, from a point to be fixed by the Governor, not 
 lower than where the Glenelg receives the waters of the Crawford, 
 nor higher than where it receives the waters of the Wannon. 
 
 The Clarence, from a point to be fixed by the Governor, at a 
 distance not less than ten miles above the Government township, 
 at the head of the navigation, and not less than fifty miles from 
 the sea, measured in a straight line. 
 
 The river now known by the name of the Richmond, from a 
 point to be fixed by the Governor, at a distance not less than 
 twenty miles from the sea, measured along the course of the river. 
 Sect. 3. As to the intermediate districts. 
 The intermediate districts shall comprehend the lands lying 
 within the counties or reputed counties of Bourke, Grant, and 
 Normanby, in the district of Port-Phillip, which are not herein- 
 bore directed to be included in the settled lands ; also all the 
 lands in the county or reputed county of Auckland, which are not 
 included in the settled lands as hereinbefore mentioned ; also the 
 entire district of Gipps Land, except the parts included in the 
 settled lands as hereinbefore mentioned ; also the counties, either 
 already formed or intended to be formed, between the County of 
 Auckland and the County of St. Vincent; also any county or
 
 28 
 
 counties of which the boundaries may be fixed and proclaimed 
 on or before the 31st December, 1848. 
 
 Sect. 4. As to the unsettled districts. 
 
 The unsettled districts shall comprehend all the lands of New 
 South Wales, excepting such lands as are now, or hereafter law- 
 fully may be, comprehended within the limits of the settled and 
 intermediate lands within the said colony. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 RULES TO BE ENFORCED WITHIN THE UNSETTLED DISTRICTS. 
 
 Sect. 1. It shall be lawful for the Governor for the time 
 being of the said Colony, or the officer for the time being 
 administering the Government of the Colony, and he is hereby 
 empowered to grant leases of runs of land within the unsettled 
 districts, to such person or persons as he shall think fit, for any 
 term or terms of years, not exceeding fourteen years in dura- 
 tion, for pastoral purposes, with permission, nevertheless, for the 
 lessee to cultivate so much of the lands respectively comprised 
 in the said runs as may be necessary to provide such grain, hay, 
 vegetables, or fruit, for the use and supply of the family and 
 establishment of such lessee, but not for the purpose of sale or 
 barter; and so, nevertheless, that such leases shall in no case 
 prejudice, interrupt, or interfere with the right of the Governor 
 or other officer for the time being administering the Government 
 of the said Colony, to enter upon any of the lands comprised in 
 the said leases, for any purpose of public defence, safety, im- 
 provement, convenience, utility, or enjoyment, agreeably to the 
 provisions for those purposes contained in the 9th section of the 
 second chapter of this Order in Council, or otherwise. 
 
 Sect. 2. The rent to be paid for each several run of land 
 shall be proportioned to the number of sheep, or equivalent 
 number of cattle, which the run shall be estimated as capable 
 of carrying, according to a scale to be established for the purpose 
 by authority of the Governor. Each run shall be capable of 
 carrying, at least, four thousand sheep, or equivalent number of 
 cattle, according to the scale aforesaid, and not in any case to be 
 let at a lower rent than ten pounds per annum, to which two 
 pounds ten shillings per annum shall be added for every
 
 29 
 
 additional thousand sheep, or equivalent number of cattle, which 
 the run shall be estimated as capable of carrying. 
 
 Sect 3. In order to estimate the number of sheep or cattle 
 which each run will carry, before the granting of the said lease 
 as hereinbefore mentioned, the intended lessee or occupier shall 
 name a valuer, and the Commissioner of Crown Lands shall 
 either act as valuer, or name one to act for him ; and these two 
 valuers shall have power to choose, if necessary, an umpire ; but 
 if they cannot agree in the choice of an umpire, he shall be 
 appointed by the Governor or the officer for the time being 
 administering the Government of the said Colony. 
 
 Sect. 4. The rents to be paid, according to the scale above 
 mentioned, are to be reserved exclusively of any existing assess- 
 ments of taxes or rates on sheep and cattle, and are to be paid 
 without abatement on account of the existing or any future 
 assessments of taxes or rates on sheep and cattle, and in no way 
 to interfere with the right of the Colonial Legislature to impose, 
 from time to time, such assessments as may be deemed advisable. 
 
 Sect. 5. The rent for each run shall be payable yearly in 
 advance, at such time and place as shall be respectively specified 
 in the lease of the said run of land. In the event of default 
 being made in the payment of the rent, the lease shall be for- 
 feited, but the lessee shall be permitted to defeat the forfeiture, 
 and prevent its becoming absolute and indefeasible, by payment, 
 within sixty days from the date of the original rent day, of the 
 full annual rent, with the addition of a sum equal to one equal 
 fourth part of the yearly rent so due from him, by way of 
 penalty ; but unless the whole of the said yearly rent, with such 
 penalty as aforesaid, shall be duly paid within the term of sixty 
 days, counting from the original rent day inclusive, the lease 
 shall be absolutely and indefeasibly forfeited. And it shall be 
 competent to any individual to demand of the Governor, or of 
 the officer for the time being administering the Government of 
 the Colony, or of any officer or officers acting by his authority 
 for the present purpose, that a fresh lease of the run so forfeited 
 be offered to sale, under the general rule hereinafter provided for 
 that purpose, in section 12 of this chapter. 
 
 Sect. 6. During the continuance of any lease of lands 
 occupied as a run, the same shall not be open to purchase by any 
 other person or persons except the lessee thereof. But it shall
 
 30 
 
 bo lawful for the Governor, or the officer for the time being 
 administering the Government of the said Colony, to sell to such 
 lessee any of the lands comprised in the lease granted to such 
 lessee, provided that the quantity of the lands sold to such lessee 
 shall not be less than one hundred and sixty acres, and that the 
 price to be paid for the same shall not be below the general 
 minimum price of one pound for each acre : Provided also, that 
 if the portion or lot of any such run sold to such lessee be less 
 in extent than three hundred and twenty acres, the expenses of 
 the survey of the portion so sold shall be paid by the purchaser. 
 
 Sect. 7. Every lot to be sold under the provisions before 
 mentioned shall be subject to the following conditions : 
 
 First Each lot must be rectangular, unless the features of the 
 country, or the course of any river or stream, render a deviation 
 from the rectangular course necessary ; and, in every case, two 
 sides at least of the lot must be directed to the cardinal points of 
 the compass. 
 
 Second The two opposite sides of any stream or watercourse 
 which, according to the practice of the department of the Sur- 
 veyor General, ought to form a boundary between different 
 sections or lots, shall in no case be included in the same lot. 
 
 Third No single lot shall have more than four hundred and 
 forty yards of water frontage for one hundred and sixty acres, 
 or more than a like proportion of water frontage for any quantity 
 greater than one hundred and sixty acres, but the water frontage 
 shall be reckoned according to the distance from one extreme 
 point thereof to the other in a right line, and not according 
 to the bendings of the watercourse or river ; and the Governor, 
 or Officer for the time being administering the Government of 
 the said Colony, shall have the right of refusing to sell any lot or 
 lots, in every case where it may appear to him that the sale of 
 such lot or lots respectively might give an undue command over 
 water required for the beneficial occupation and cultivation of the 
 lands adjoining either side of any stream or watercourse. 
 
 Sect. 8. It shall be lawful for the Governor, or Officer for 
 the time being administering the Government of the said Colony, 
 to except, out of any such sale or sales as aforesaid, all such lands 
 as it may appear to him expedient to reserve for any of the public 
 uses for which it is enacted, by the third clause of the Act passed 
 in the fifth and sixth years of Her Majesty, chapter 36, intituled
 
 31 
 
 An Act for regulating the Sale of Waste Lands belonging to the 
 Crown in the Australian Colonies, that lands required for public 
 uses may be excepted from sales authorised by that Act, and if 
 there be reason to suppose that any of the lands applied for 
 under the regulations hereby expressed possess peculiar advan- 
 tages, whether of water frontage or otherwise, which would 
 render it fit that a higher price should be paid for such lands, the 
 Governor, or the Officer for the time being administering the 
 Government of the said Colony, or any Officer authorised by him 
 for the purpose, may require the said lands to be assessed by 
 valuers appointed, in manner provided in section 3 of the second 
 chapter of this Order in Council, in order that the value, if esti- 
 mated by them or their umpire at more than one pound per acre, 
 the higher amount may be paid for such lands accordingly. 
 
 Sect. 9.. That nothing in these regulations, or in any lease to 
 be granted under the powers hereby vested in the Governor, 
 shall prevent the said Governor, or Officer for the time being 
 administering the Government of the said Colony, from making 
 grants or sales of any lands within the limits of the run or lands I 
 comprised in such lease for public purposes, or disposing of, in 
 such other manner as for the public interest may seem best, such 
 lands as may be required for the sites of churches, schools, or 
 parsonages, or for the construction of highroads or railways and 
 railway stations, or other internal communications, whether by 
 land or water, or for the use or benefit of the aboriginal inhabi- 
 tants of the country, or for public buildings, or as places for the 
 interment of the dead, or places for the recreation and amuse- 
 ment of the inhabitants of any town or village, or as the sites of 
 public quays, or landing places on the sea coast or shores of navi- 
 gable streams, or for the purpose of sinking shafts and digging for 
 coal, iron, copper, lead, or other minerals, and effectually working 
 coal, or iron, or copper, lead, or other minerals, or for any other 
 purpose of public defence, safety, utility, convenience, or enjoy- 
 ment, or for otherwise facilitating the improvement and settlement 
 of the Colony ; but so that the quantity of land which may be 
 granted or sold to any railway company shall not exceed in all 
 the rate of one hundred acres for every mile thereof in length. 
 
 Sect. 10. That if at any future period a railroad be made 
 through or near to the districts comprising unsettled lands, all 
 lands within the distance of two miles of the railroad shall, not-
 
 32 
 
 withstanding any lease of the run within which such lands shall 
 be situated, be liable to be sold at the end of each successive 
 year from the date of the said lease : Provided that at least sixty 
 days previous notice shall have been given to the lessee, and so 
 that such lessee shall be entitled to all the same conditions, 
 reserving to the previous lessee the right of pre-emption, and the 
 value of improvements as are hereinafter mentioned with reference 
 to the case of a sale at the expiration of the full term of such 
 lease. 
 
 Sect. 11. All occupants of Crown Lands, who shall have been 
 in licensed occupation of the same for at least one year at the time 
 when this Order in Council shall come into effect, are to be 
 entitled to demand leases of their respective runs under the pre- 
 sent regulations, within six months from the date of the publica- 
 cation of this Order in Council by the Governor, or other Officer 
 administering the Government of the said Colony, but not after- 
 wards ; and all occupants who have been in licensed occupation of 
 their lands for a shorter period than the term of one year, shall be 
 entitled, upon the expiration of the same term of one year, 
 without having forfeited their respective licences, to demand leases 
 of their respective runs, under the regulations herein contained : 
 Provided such lease shall be lawfully demanded within six months 
 after the expiration of the said term of one year, but not after- 
 wards. 
 
 Sect. 12. When any run of lands, after being occupied, shall 
 be forfeited, or become vacant without the previous occupant's 
 having exercised his right of renewal hereinafter reserved, it shall 
 be competent for any person desirous of acquiring a lease of such 
 run of lands, to give notice to the Governor, or Officer for the 
 time being administering the Government of the said Colony, of 
 his, her, or their desire to purchase anew the lease of such run of 
 lands, and immediately after such notice the Governor, or Officer 
 administering the Government of the said Colony, shall direct 
 sealed tenders to be sent in at such time and place, and in such 
 form as he shall think fit, by the person giving such notice as 
 aforesaid ; and also by such other person (if any) as may be dis- 
 posed to enter into competition for the said lease; and every 
 tender so to be made shall state the term of years for which it is 
 proposed to take the said run, and whether, in addition to the 
 minimum rents required agreeably to the provisions contained in
 
 sections 2 and 3 of the second chapter of this Order in Council, 
 it is proposed to offer any, and, if any, what amount of premium 
 for the lease ; and the said tender or tenders shall be opened in 
 the presence of two or more persons authorised by the Governor, 
 or Officer for the time being administering the Government of the 
 said Colony for that purpose ; and if there shall be more than one 
 tender, the tenders shall be opened at the same time, and if there 
 shall be only one tender, the lease of the run shall be given to the 
 person making such tender, provided the rent offered shall be 
 admissible under the provisions contained in sections 2 and 3 of 
 this chapter of the Order in Council; but if there shall be more 
 competitors than one, the lease of the run shall be given to such 
 person or persons as shall tender the highest amount of premium 
 for the same ; but if two or more tenders shall be made for the 
 same run, and no one of them be higher than all the rest, a future 
 day shall be announced by the persons who open the tenders, on 
 which day it shall again be competent to all persons to offer fresh 
 tenders, in the same manner as hereinbefore provided in regard to 
 the first tenders. 
 
 Sect. 13. If any individual be desirous to acquire a new run 
 of land which has never been occupied before, he shall be at 
 liberty to send in a sealed tender, at such time and place, and in 
 such form, as may be appointed by the Governor, or Officer 
 administering the Government of the said Colony, for receiving 
 tenders for new runs, and shall set forth in his tender a clear 
 description of the run for which he applies, and of the boundaries 
 of the same, and shall state whether, beyond the amount of rent 
 to be ascertained, as hereinbefore provided, he is willing to offer 
 any, and if any, what amount of premium for the lease, and such 
 tenders shall be in all respects dealt with as hereinbefore provided 
 in section 12 of this Order in Council for tenders for runs which 
 have been forfeited or fallen vacant, save and except that if it 
 shall occur that two or more persons have thus applied for different 
 runs, of which part of one run would include part or the whole 
 of another run, the Governor, or Officer for the time being admi- 
 nistering the Government of the said Colony, or the person or 
 persons authorised by him to act in this behalf, shall declare what 
 shall be the several runs for which it shall be competent to parties 
 to tender, and another day shall then be named, at which the pre-
 
 34 
 
 vious applicants, and all other persons, shall be at liberty to offer 
 fresh tenders for the runs so delivered. 
 
 Sect. 14. A lease shall be liable to forfeiture in three modes : 
 
 First It shall be forfeited^for non-payment of rent, as provided 
 in section 5 of the 2d chapter of this Order in Council. 
 
 Second It shall be forfeited absolutely immediately upon any 
 conviction for felony against the lessee ; and 
 
 Third In the event of his conviction by a Justice of the dis- 
 trict for any offence against the law, the case may be inquired 
 into within three months after the conviction, by two or more 
 Justices, who, if thoy think lit, may adjudge the lease to be for- 
 feited, with or without compensation for the value of the improve- 
 ments, according to the nature of the offence : Provided always, 
 that no such adjudication of forfeiture pronounced by the Justices 
 shall take effect until confirmed by the Governor, or Officer 
 administering the Government of the said Colony. 
 
 Sect. 15. Upon the expiration of a lease, it shall be competent 
 for the Governor, or Officer administering the Government of the 
 said Colony, to put up all or any part of the lands included in a 
 run for sale, subject to the following conditions : 
 
 First The previous lessee shall have the option of purchasing 
 the land for its fair value in an unimproved state, which shall 
 never be cstimited at less than 1 per acre. 
 
 Second If declined by the previous lessee, the value of any 
 improvements on the land offered for sale shall be ascertained by 
 valuers appointed under the provisions contained in section 3 of 
 the second chapter of this Order in Council : Provided neverthe- 
 less, that the sum so to be estimated and allowed for, is in no case 
 to exceed the amount of the actual outlay made by the lessee. 
 
 Third The upset price shall then consist of the joint value of 
 the land and the improvements, and, if the land be sold, the amount 
 of the improvements shall be paid over to the previous lessee, and 
 only the balance be retained by the Government. 
 
 Sect. 16. If no part of the run be sold, the previous lessee 
 shall be entitled to a renewal of the lease of the whole, or if any 
 part of the run, not amounting in all to one equal fourth thereof, 
 be sold, such lessee shall be entitled to a renewal of the lease for 
 the remaining parts of the land comprised in his run, subject to the 
 reservation of an increased rent described in the next hereinafter 
 following section of these rules and regulations; and provided,
 
 35 
 
 nevertheless, that the boundaries of the different classes of land 
 in the Colony shall not in the meanwhile have been so far extended 
 as to bring the said run within the class of settled lands ; and 
 provided also, that if brought within the class of intermediate 
 lands, the lessee shall only obtain a renewed lease of the said run 
 under the rules hereinafter laid down as applicable to that class of 
 lands. 
 
 Sect. 18. The rent of every lease of a run of land, after the 
 expiration of the first lease granted under this Order in Council, 
 is to be paid by any new lessee on the number of sheep and 
 cattle which the run shall be estimated to carry in its improved, 
 instead of its unimproved state, in the same manner as provided 
 for in sect. 3 of the second chapter of this Order in Council ; 
 but, as an encouragement to improve, the lessee whose lease 
 shall be renewed is to be exempt from paying any increase 
 beyond fifty per cent, upon the amount of rent reserved under 
 the expired lease. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 RULES APPLICABLE TO INTERMEDIATE LANDS. 
 
 Sect. 1. Within lands coming under the description of in- 
 termediate lands the interests in runs shall be acquired, held, 
 and determined upon the same terms and conditions as above 
 laid down for unsettled lands, excepting that the leases shall 
 not be made for more than eight years in duration, and that 
 at the end of each successive year from the date of the lease, it 
 shall be competent for the Governor, or Officer for the time 
 being administering the Government of the said Colony, pro- 
 vided he shall have given sixty days previous notice, to offer 
 for sale all or any part of the lands within any such run, 
 subject to the same conditions in favour of the lessee as are 
 above laid down in case of a sale at the expiration of the full 
 term of a lease of unsettled lands. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 RULES APPLICABLE TO SETTLED LANDS. 
 
 Sect. 1. Within the boundaries of the settled lands, it shall 
 be competent for the Governor or Officer for the time being 
 administering the Government of tho said Colony, to grant
 
 36 
 
 leases of lands exclusively for pastoral purposes, for terms not 
 exceeding one year ; and it shall further be competent for the 
 Governor, or Officer for the time being administering the 
 Government of the said Colony, if he deem it expedient, to 
 make general rules, under which the holders of purchased lands 
 within such districts of settled lands may be permitted to 
 depasture, free of charge, any adjacent Crown Lands: Pro- 
 vided that the depasturage of such unsettled lands, free of 
 charge, shall in no way interfere with the right of the Govern- 
 ment at any time to dispose of the same, either by sale or by 
 lease for one year as above mentioned. 
 
 And the Eight Honourable Earl Grey, one of Her Majesty's 
 Principal Secretaries of State, shall give the necessary directions 
 herein accordingly. 
 
 Wm. L. BATHURST. 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 11 VICTORIA, No. 61. An Act for appointing Commissioners to examine 
 and report upon disputes respecting boundaries of Huns between the 
 Claimants of Leases under Her Majesty's Order in Council of the 
 Ninth March, One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven. 
 [Assented to, 17th June, 1848.] 
 
 Whereas by an Act of the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain 
 and Ireland, passed in the ninth and tenth year of the reign of 
 Her present Majesty Queen Victoria, intituled An Act to amend 
 an Act for regulating the Sale of Waste Lands belonging to 
 the Crown in the Australian Colonies, and to make further pro- 
 vision for the management thereof, it was amongst other things 
 enacted, that it should be lawful for Her Majesty, by any Order 
 in Council, to make and stablish all such rules and regulations 
 as to Her Majesty should seem meet, for the purposes therein 
 recited, and any such rules and regulations again to repeal, 
 renew, alter, and amend, and that all such Orders in Council 
 should have the force and effect of law in the Colonies aforesaid ; 
 and whereas certain rules and regulations were accordingly made 
 and established by Her Majesty, by and with the advice of Her
 
 37 
 
 Privy Council, on the ninth day of March, in the year of Our 
 Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, to be thence- 
 forth observed, and to have the force and effect of law : And 
 whereas the said rules and regulations were promulgated in the 
 New South Wales Government Gazette, on the seventh day of 
 October, one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven : And 
 whereas it is expedient and necessary, for the information of the 
 Governor for the time being, to provide a mode of investigating 
 and reporting on disputes respecting boundaries of Runs between 
 the Claimants of Leases under the above recited Order in 
 Council : Be it therefore enacted, By his Excellency the Governor 
 of New South Wales, with the advice and consent of the Legis- 
 lative Council thereof, That it shall and may be lawful for the 
 Governor of New South Wales, to appoint from time to time any 
 number of fit and proper persons (not being Commissioners of 
 Crown Lands) to be Commissioners for investigating and report- 
 ing on such disputes as aforesaid ; and each such Commissioner 
 shall have full power and authority to hear, examine, and report 
 on all disputes between Claimants of Leases under Her Majesty's 
 said Order in Council respecting boundaries of Runs beyond the 
 Settled Districts of the Colony : Provided always, that it shall 
 be lawful for the said Governor to remove any such Commis- 
 sioner, and appoint another in his stead, as to His Excellency may 
 seem meet. 
 
 II. And be it enacted, That every such Commissioner shall, 
 before proceeding to act as such, take and subscribe, before any 
 Bench of Magistrates sitting in Petty Sessions, the oath set forth 
 in the Schedule to this Act annexed, marked A, which oath, when 
 so taken and subscribed, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of 
 such Petty Sessions to the Office of the Colonial Secretary, in 
 Sydney, or of the Superintendent at Melbourne, as the case may 
 be, there to be filed and kept on record. 
 
 III. And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Governor 
 of the said Colony, as often as Efo Excellency shall see fit, to 
 refer any such disputed claims as aforesaid to any one of the 
 said Commissioners, to the end that all such claims may be duly 
 examined and reported on for the information and guidance of 
 the Governor for the time being ; and the said Commissioner 
 shall proceed to hear, examine, and report on such disputed 
 claims in manner hereinafter mentioned : Provided that nothing
 
 38 
 
 herein contained shall authorise any such Commissioner to receive 
 or report on any such disputed claims, but such as shall be re- 
 ferred to him by the Governor as aforesaid. 
 
 IV. And be it enacted, That whenever and so often as any 
 disputed claim shall have been referred as aforesaid, public 
 notification thereof shall be made in the New South "Wales 
 Government Gazette, or in the Port-Phillip Government Gazette, 
 if the land in dispute be situated in the Port-Phillip District, and 
 within sixty days from the date of such notification it shall be 
 incumbent on the respective claimants to lodge with the Commis- 
 sioner to whom such disputed claim has been so referred, a 
 memorial, signed by the party lodging the same, which memorial 
 shall set forth a true description of the party claiming, and of 
 his usual residence, and of the land in respect of which a lease 
 is claimed, and a true statement of the circumstances under 
 which such claim is made : Provided always, that such memorial 
 may at any time thereafter be amended by leave of the said 
 Commissioner. 
 
 V. And be it enacted, That at any time after the expiration 
 of the period for lodging the memorials as aforesaid, it shall be 
 lawful for the Commissioner to appoint the time and place at 
 which he will proceed to hear the case so in dispute : Provided 
 always, that the place of hearing shall be within the limits of 
 the district where the land in dispute shall be situated ; and pro- 
 vided further, that the said Commissioner shall cause a notice in 
 writing to be left at or directed to the usual place of residence of 
 each claimant who, by his memorial, shall have signed the same, at 
 least one calendar month previous to the day fixed for the hearing 
 of the case, apprising him or her of the time and place so fixed ; 
 Provided also, that the said Commissioner shall have power to 
 enlarge the period so fixed, and to adjourn any such hearing 
 from time to time as the justice of the case may seem to him to 
 require. 
 
 VI. And be it enacted, 'Hiat in hearing and inquiring into all 
 claims to leases or runs, or any part of a run as aforesaid, every 
 such Commissioner shall be guided by the real justice and good 
 conscience of the case, without regard to legal forms and solem- 
 nities, and shall direct himself by the best evidence that he can 
 procure, or that is laid before him, whether the same be such evi- 
 dence as the law would require in other cases or not; and in case
 
 39 
 
 he shall be satisfied that the person or persons so claiming a lease 
 of the land in dispute, is or are entitled in equity and good con- 
 science thereto, or to any portion thereof, he shall report the same 
 to the Governor accordingly, and shall set forth the boundaries 
 by which the said lands may be described in every such lease ; 
 Provided always, that a view may be taken by the said Com- 
 missioner of the land in dispute, at the instance of either party : 
 Provided also, that nothing herein contained shall be held to 
 oblige the Governor to make and deliver any such lease as afore- 
 said, unless His Excellency shall deem it proper to do so. 
 
 VII. And the better to enable the said Commissioners, or any 
 of them, to set forth the boundaries of any lands so in dispute : 
 Be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for every such Commissioner 
 to call to his assistance any Surveyor duly appointed by His 
 Excellency the Governer in that behalf ; and it shall be the duty 
 of such Surveyor to survey, mark, and describe the boundaries 
 of the said lands, according to the direction of the said Com- 
 missioner : Provided always, that the expense of any such sur- 
 vey, marking, and description of such boundaries, shall be paid 
 by the party against whom the said Commissioner shall report ; 
 and in default of such payment, within twenty days from the date 
 of an order to be made by the said Commissioner in that behalf, 
 the amount so directed to be paid shall be levied by warrant, 
 under the hand of the said Commissioner, by distress and sale of 
 so much of the goods and effects of the party so failing to pay as 
 may be necessary to satisfy the same. 
 
 VIII. And be it enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for 
 every such Commissioner to issue summonses requiring all such 
 persons as shall therein be named to appear before him at a place 
 and time to be therein appointed, to give evidence as to all mat- 
 ters and things known to any such person respecting any claim as 
 aforesaid, and to produce in evidence all deeds, instruments, or 
 writings in the possession or control of any such persons, which 
 they might by law be required and cojj^elled to give evidence of, 
 or to produce in evidence in any cause respecting the like matters 
 depending in the Supreme Court of this Colony, in so far as the 
 evidence of such persons, and the production of such deeds, 
 instruments, and writings shall be necessary for the due investiga- 
 tion of any such claims as aforesaid, depending before the said 
 Commissioner, and that all such evidence shall be taken down in
 
 40 
 
 writing, in presence of the witnesses respectively giving the same, 
 and shall at the time be signed by them, or, in case of their 
 refusing or being unable to sign, by some competent witness ; and 
 that all such evidence shall be given on oath or affirmation, which 
 oath or affirmation it shall and may be lawful for every such 
 Commissioner to administer to every person appearing before him 
 to give evidence ; and that any person taking a false oath or 
 making a false affirmation, in any case wherein an oath or affirma- 
 tion is required to be taken by this Act, shall be deemed guilty of 
 wilful and corrupt perjury, and, being thereof duly convicted, 
 shall be liable to such pains and penalties as, by any laws now or 
 hereafter in force, any person convicted of wilful and corrupt 
 perjury are or shall be subject and liable to. 
 
 IX. And be it enacted, That whenever any person who being 
 duly summoned to give evidence before any such Commissioner as 
 aforesaid, his or her reasonable expenses having been paid or ten- 
 dered, and not having any lawful impediment allowed by the said 
 Commissioner, shall fail to appear at the time and place specified 
 in such summons, or after appearing shall refuse to be sworn, or 
 make affirmation, as the law in each case may require, and to 
 answer any lawful question, or to produce any deed, instrument, 
 or writing, which he or she may lawfully be required to produce, 
 or, without leave obtained from the said Commissioner, shall wil- 
 fully withdraw from further examination, then, and in every such 
 case, the said Commissioner shall certify, in writing under his 
 hand, such default, or refusal, or wilful withdrawing, and there- 
 upon it shall and may be lawful for the person at whose instance, 
 or on whose behalf such summons as aforesaid was issued, to take 
 out the process of the Supreme Court at Sydney or Melbourne, 
 as the case may be, for summoning such last mentioned person to 
 appear before the Court from which such process shall issue, at 
 the time therein specified, summarily to show cause why he or she 
 should not be attached, fined, or imprisoned for such default, 
 refusal, or wilful withdrawing as aforesaid ; and if such person, 
 having such last mentioned summons duly served upon him or her, 
 shall at the time therein specified fail to show cause for his or her 
 said default, refusal, or withdrawing, to the satisfaction of such 
 Court, it shall and may be lawful for such Court, on proof by the 
 return of the Officer serving the same, or by affidavit of the due 
 service of the said summons to give evidence, and of the said sum-
 
 41 
 
 mons to show cause, and, on production of a copy of the said cer- 
 tificate under the hand of the said Commissioner, to grant a 
 warrant to apprehend the person so failing to show cause, and to 
 commit him or her to prison, there to remain without bail, until 
 he or she shall submit to be sworn, or to make affirmation as afore- 
 said, and to answer all such questions, and to produce all such 
 deeds, instruments, or writings as aforesaid, in so far as shall 
 lawfully be required of him or her, and further to set such fine 
 upon such person as the Court shall think meet ; and, unless the 
 same shall be forthwith paid, to grant process for levying the 
 amount thereof upon the property of such person ; and every 
 such fine, or the amount thereof, which shall be levied, shall 
 forthwith be paid to the Prothonotary of the said Court, at 
 Sydney, or Deputy-Registrar of the Supreme Court at Port 
 Phillip, as the case may be, and the said Prothonotary or Deputy- 
 Registrar shall forthwith, out of the amount of such fine, pay to 
 the person at whose instance the sentence imposing the fine was 
 obtained, the expenses incurred in summoning the person so 
 fined, as aforesaid, and in obtaining such sentence, as taxed by the 
 said Prothonotary, or Deputy-Registrar, and shall account for and 
 pay over the residue of such fine, in like manner as he is by law 
 required and directed to account for and pay over fees or fines 
 received by him as Prothonotary or Deputy-Registrar of the said 
 Courts respectively. 
 
 X. And be it enacted, That there shall be paid to the Com- 
 missioners, for and on behalf of Her Majesty, Her Heirs, and 
 Successors, by every claimant, and opposing claimant as aforesaid, 
 before the case is heard, the several fees specified in the Schedule 
 hereunto annexed, marked B, and the said Commissioners shall 
 duly account for all fees so paid to them as aforesaid, and shall 
 pay the same into the Colonial Treasury at Sydney, or Melbourne, 
 as the case may be, at such times and in such manner as the 
 Governor may by any regulations in that behalf appoint ; and all 
 such sums so received shall be applied as hereafter directed to the 
 purposes of this Act, and the overplus, if any, to the public uses 
 of the said Colony, and in support of the Government thereof, as 
 by an Act of the Governor and Legislative Council may be directed. 
 
 XI. And be it enacted, That each of the said Commissioners 
 shall and may receive for his own use, for every final report made 
 by him in manner aforesaid, upon a disputed claim to a lease, the
 
 42 
 
 sum of fifteen pounds ; and it shall be lawful for His Excellency 
 the Governor to order and direct, by warrant under his hand, 
 that every such sum shall be paid from and out of the Public 
 Treasury of the said Colony. 
 
 CHs. A. FITZ ROY, Governor. 
 
 Schedules referred to. 
 
 A. 
 
 COMMISSIONER'S OATH. 
 
 I, do solemnly swear that 
 
 faithfully, diligently, and impartially, to the best of my ability, I will execute 
 the duties appointed under and by virtue of a certain Act of the Governor of 
 New South Wales, with the advice of the Legislative Conncil of the said 
 Colony, made and passed in the eleventh year of the reign of Her Majesty 
 Queen Victoria, intituled, An Act for appointing Commissioners to examine 
 and report upon disputes respecting boundaries of Runs between the claimants 
 of Leases under Her Majesty's Order in Council of the ninth March, One 
 thousand eight hundred and forty seven, and that I will not myself, directly 
 or indirectly, take or receive, or knowingly permit any other to take or 
 receive, any fee or reward for anything done or performed under and by virtue 
 of any of the provisions of the said Act, other than and except such as is 
 authorised by the said Act. So help me God, A. B. 
 
 Sworn before us, this day of , 184 . 
 
 J. P. 
 J. P. 
 
 B. 
 FEES TO BE PAID BY CLAIMANTS. 
 
 Amount to be paid by each of the claimants before the case is 
 
 heard 7 10 
 
 For every Summons for Witness, each Summons containing not 
 
 more than four names, by the party requiring the same 2 6 
 
 For every Witness examined, or document or voucher produced 
 in evidence, by the party on whose behalf examined or 
 
 produced 2 6 
 
 For taking down the examination of any Witness 2 6 
 
 For every 100 words, after the first 100, additional . .' 1 
 
 For every certificate granted by a Commissioner, of default, 
 
 refusal to answer, or wilful withdrawing of any Witness . . 5
 
 43 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 7th October, 1847. 
 LEASES OF CROWN LANDS BEYOND THE SETTLED DISTRICTS. 
 
 1. His Excellency the Governor, in reference to his Procla- 
 mation of this date, publishing her Majesty's Order in Council, 
 regulating the occupation of Waste Lands of the Crown within 
 this Colony, deems it proper to caution the Licensed Occupants 
 of Waste Lands of the Crown beyond the settled districts, that the 
 rights conferred on them by the 11th section of cap. II. of the 
 Regulations, must be exercised within the periods in that section 
 prescribed, by relation to the date of the Proclamation above 
 referred to, publishing the said Order in Council. 
 
 2. The applications must be lodged in the Office of the Co- 
 lonial Secretary, in Sydney, if the Lands for which the lease is 
 applied for be situated within the Sydney or Middle District, or 
 of His Honour the Superintendent at Melbourne, if within the 
 Southern or Port Phillip District ; and, in order to preserve uni- 
 formity, the applicants will be required to use the printed forms 
 copies of which may be obtained from the Commissioners of 
 Crown Lands beyond the Settled Districts, as well as at the Office 
 of the Superintendent at Melbourne, and at this Office. 
 
 3. All such applications must set forth the names and clear 
 descriptions of the runs applied for, and of the boundaries of the 
 same, as prescribed with respect to new runs, by the 13th section 
 of chap II. of the Order in Council. In such descriptions it will 
 be necessary to refer to leading geographical features, and marked 
 or determined boundary lines, as well as to the names of the 
 occupants of adjacent lands, and to give the length and general 
 direction of the several boundary lines with reasonable certainty ; 
 and also to state the supposed extent of the runs, and the number 
 of sheep, or equivalent number of cattle, which each run may be 
 estimated as capable of carrying. 
 
 4 - An abstract of all applications received will, from time to 
 time, be published in the New South Wales Government Gazette 
 or Port Philip Government Gazette, for the information of all 
 parties concerned. 
 
 5. Persons who object to the claims of others, either wholly 
 or in part, as comprising lands to the lease of which they may
 
 44 
 
 conceive themselves entitled, are recommended to lodge in the 
 Office of the Colonial Secretary, or Superintendent of Port Philip, 
 caveats referring to such claims, and specifying the lands to which 
 their objections extend, and the grounds on which they prefer 
 their claims to the same. 
 
 6. It will be impossible that the issue of leases should take 
 place immediately on demands being made for them. In many 
 cases the Government may not be able, until the end of the year 
 1848, to determine whether the particular runs applied for will 
 be included in the intermediate or unsettled districts, and in all 
 cases it will be necessary to consider and decide on the claims of 
 applicants to verify the descriptions of the runs and to esti- 
 mate the number of sheep or cattle which each run will carry 
 and the rent accordingly to be paid. His Excellency, however, 
 desires at the same time to intimate, that all practicable despatch 
 will be used for the purpose of putting the occupants of Crown 
 Lands in possession of the leases to which they may be entitled 
 under Her Majesty's Regulations. 
 
 By His Excellency's Command, 
 
 E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 1st January, 1848. 
 
 (Tenders for Runs.) 
 
 His Excellency the Governor, in pursuance of Her Majesty's 
 Order in Council, bearing date the 9th day of March, 1847, has 
 been pleased, with the advice of the Executive Council, to estab- 
 lish the following Regulations for the receipt and disposal of 
 Tenders, as well for forfeited or vacated runs as for new runs. 
 
 I. Forfeited or Vacated Runs. 
 
 1. On the receipt of a notice from any person of his desire to 
 purchase the lease of a run, which, after having been occupied, 
 may have fallen vacant, either by forfeiture or surrender, and to 
 the leasing anew of which no objection shall arise, a notice will be
 
 45 
 
 issued in the Government Gazette, describing the boundaries and 
 grazing capability of the run applied for, stating the maximum 
 number of years for which a lease thereof will be granted, and 
 fixing a time and place at which sealed tenders, in a prescribed 
 form, will be received from the applicant, and from any other 
 persons desirous to enter into competition with him, for the pur- 
 chase of the lease of the described run. 
 
 2. Every such tender must state the term of years within the 
 limit mentioned in the notice for which it is proposed to take the 
 run, and whether, in addition to the rent required by the Order 
 in Council, it is intended to offer any, and, if any, what amount of 
 premium for the lease. 
 
 3. The tenders will be opened in the presence of a Board of 
 officers appointed by the Governor, and will be disposed of in the 
 manner directed in the 12th section of chapter II. of her Majesty's 
 Order in Council, a copy of which is annexed to this notice for 
 more easy reference. 
 
 4. The lease will be made out as soon after the acceptance of 
 the tender as may be practicable ; and the intending lessee will be 
 required to take up the lease by payment of the first year's rent, 
 and the premium (if any) within sixty days from the date of the 
 notification of the acceptance of his tender; in default of which, 
 the run will be again declared open to public competition. 
 
 5. Until the lease has been actually taken out, the intending 
 lessee will acquire no title whatsoever to the occupation of the 
 land tendered for. 
 
 II. Tenders for New Runs. 
 
 1. Sealed tenders for new runs will be received on the first 
 Monday in every month commencing on Monday the 7th day 
 of February next. 
 
 2. The tenders in the prescribed form are to be addressed to 
 this office, if the land be situated in the Middle District, or to the 
 office of His Honour the Superintendent at Melbourne, if situated 
 in the Port Phillip District. 
 
 3. The tenders will be opened in the presence of a Board of 
 Officers appointed by the Governor, and a record will be made in 
 each case of the name of the highest tenderer, so as to secure him 
 the lease, in the event of the land applied for proving to be 
 available.
 
 46 
 
 4. The description of each run tendered for will then be for- 
 warded to the Commissioner of the district in which it is situated, 
 with instructions to report whether it comprises any land leased 
 or under promise of lease, or applied for in any other tender, and, 
 if it does not comprise any such land, that he shall state what 
 should be the run for which it shall bo declared competent to 
 parties to tender. 
 
 5. If. the run applied for be available, the acceptance of the 
 tender will be duly notified to the applicant ; and the premium 
 (if any) and first year's rent, computed in the manner hereinafter 
 described, will require to be paid within sixty days from the date 
 of such notification ; in default whereof, the run will be declared, 
 by advertisement in the Government Gazette, to be open for 
 selection, and a day for the receipt of fresh tenders for it will at 
 the same time be announced. 
 
 6. Until the first year's rent and premium (if any) shall have 
 been actually paid, the intending lessee will acquire no right what- 
 ever to the occupation of the land tendered for. 
 
 7. It is also to be distinctly understood, that the Government 
 reserves to itself the right of excluding from any such run, any 
 lands which it may be deemed proper to reserve for any of the 
 purposes referred to in the 9th section of chapter II. of the Order 
 in Council. 
 
 8. In any case in which the boundaries of the run tendered for 
 may require to be adjusted, so as to exclude from it any land 
 leased, or under promise of lease, or applied for by another party, 
 the amended description of the run, and the day on which fresh 
 tenders will be received for it, will be publicly notified, in con- 
 formity with the provisions in that behalf contained in the 13th 
 section of chapter II. of the Order in Council, a copy of which is 
 annexed to the notice for more easy reference. The interval 
 between such notification, and the day on which the tenders will 
 be received, will not be less than one calendar month. 
 
 9. As a considerable interval must be expected to occur in every 
 case between the acceptance of a tender for a new run, and the 
 survey of its boundaries, and the valuation of its grazing capabili- 
 ties, which will be requisite for the purposes of a formal lease and 
 the final adjustment of the rent, the following general rules have 
 been laid down, under which the occupancy of the run during such
 
 47 
 
 interval may be granted to the successful tenderer, and the receipt 
 of rent secured to the public. 
 
 (1.) Tenders for new runs must contain not only "a clear 
 description of the run applied for, and the boundaries of the same," 
 but also an estimate of its grazing capabilities; and the tenderer 
 should state that, in addition to any premium which he may offer, 
 he will be prepared to pay a yearly rent of ten pounds, with two 
 pounds ten shillings added for every thousand sheep, or their 
 equivalent in cattle, above four thousand sheep, or their equivalent, 
 which the run shall be estimated as capable of carrying. 
 
 (2.) Until the number of sheep or cattle which the run can 
 carry shall have been determined by valuation, in the manner 
 prescribed in Her Majesty's Order in Council, the intendiug lessee 
 will be required to pay according to his own estimate, as given in 
 his tender; and in the event of the rent so paid, according to his 
 own estimate, proving to have been less than that determined by 
 valuation, he will be required to make up the difference previously 
 to the execution of the lease. 
 
 10. Printed forms of tender for forfeited or vacated runs, and 
 for new runs respectively, may be obtained from the several Com- 
 missioners of Crown Lands beyond the Settled Districts, as well 
 as at the Office of the Superintendent of Port-Philip, and at this 
 office. By His Excellency's Command, 
 
 E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 21st February, 1848. 
 TENDERS FOR RUNS. 
 
 Referring to the notice, dated 1st January last, relative to ten- 
 ders for runs of Crown Lands, His Excellency the Governor 
 directs it to be notified, that in the receipt of future tenders the 
 following rules must be strictly attended to : viz. 
 
 1. The tenders will be opened at noon of the day appointed for 
 their receipt namely, the first Monday in each month. Any 
 tender received after that hour will remain over until the time
 
 48 
 
 appointed for opening tenders in the succeeding month, and will 
 be subject to any competition which may arise, by reason of any 
 tenders received up to that time. 
 
 2. No tender will be entertained in future, unless made in the 
 prescribed printed form, containing all the necessary particulars. 
 
 3. The tenders must be endorsed, " Tender for New Run," or 
 " Tender for Vacated Run," as the case may require. 
 
 4. As it is intended to act strictly on these rules, any person 
 failing to comply with them will, after this intimation, have no 
 reason to complain if he shall thereby lose any benefit which a 
 compliance with them would have secured to him. 
 
 By His Excellency's Command, 
 
 E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 31st March, 1848. 
 
 TENDEKS EOE NEW BUNS. 
 
 i In reference to the regulations of the 1st January, 1848, respect- 
 ing tenders for new runs, His Excellency the Governor, finding 
 that some misapprehension exists on the subject, has been pleased, 
 with the advice of the Executive Council, to direct that the fol- 
 lowing explanatory observations and additional rules should be 
 published for general information. 
 
 1. The rule laid down in the notice of the 10th July, 1845, 
 that no new run shall in ordinary cases consist of more than 
 twenty-five square miles, is still to be observed. Persons there- 
 fore tendering for new runs, must not apply for any larger quan- 
 tity than twenty -five square miles under a single lease, unless that 
 quantity shall be insufficient in ordinary seasons for the pasturage 
 of four thousand sheep, or their equivalent in cattle, in which case 
 the run may be enlarged to the area necessary for that purpose. 
 But if, on an estimate of its grazing capability, any run so 
 enlarged shall be found to be greatly in excess of the quantity 
 requisite for the pasturage of four thousand sheep, or their equiva- 
 lent in cattle, it will be liable to be curtailed to the regulated
 
 49 
 
 standard, and any further expense incurred, in surveys or other- 
 wise, will have to be defrayed by the party tendering. 
 
 2. Any person desiring to obtain a larger tract of country than 
 twenty-five square miles, will not be precluded from doing so by 
 the rule referred to in the foregoing paragraph; but he must 
 tender for it, not in one block, but in separate portions not 
 exceeding twenty -five square miles each in extent. 
 
 3. In accepting tenders for new runs, the Government will 
 reserve to itself the right in every case of modifying the boun- 
 daries proposed, so far as may be necessary to render them con- 
 formable to the undermentioned general rules; and the persons 
 employed in the survey and measurement thereof will be instructed 
 to adjust and describe the boundaries accordingly : viz. 
 
 Subject to such deviations as the general features of the country, 
 and the adoption of natural boundaries may require, every run 
 must be in a compact block of rectangular form, in which the 
 external lines shall run east and west, and north and south. 
 
 No person will be allowed so to shape his run as to secure to 
 himself the exclusive use of water necessary to render any adjoin- 
 ing lands available. 
 
 4. No tenders already sent in will be rejected because of the 
 quantity applied for as one run being in excess of the regulated 
 area ; but on the acceptance of any such tender, the applicant 
 will be required to propose a subdivision of the land into separate 
 holdings, so as to bring the area held under each lease within the 
 prescribed limit, and to make it conformable in other respects to 
 the general rules above laid down. 
 
 5. The regulations set forth in the above mentioned notice., of 
 the 1st January, 1848, in respect to tenders for new runs, are 
 manifestly inapplicable to parts of the Colony which are situated 
 beyond the reach of the protection and control of the Com- 
 missioners of Crown Lands. The said regulations do not extend 
 to such parts of the Colony, and tenders for runs so situated 
 cannot therefore be entertained. 
 
 By His Excellency's Command, 
 
 E. DEAS THOMSON.
 
 50 
 
 No. 10. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 1st January, 1848. 
 
 His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive 
 Council, has been pleased to establish the following rules respect- 
 ing the transfer of runs beyond the Settled Districts, previously 
 to the issue of leases, under Her Majesty's Order in Council, dated 
 9th March, 1847. 
 
 1. Demands for leases of runs under the 11th section of chapter 
 2 of the Order in Council, will (with the exceptions mentioned in 
 the 2d paragraph of this notice) be received from those persons 
 only who were the licensed occupants of the runs at the date of 
 the publication of the Order in Council by the Governor. But 
 in consideration of the delay that must necessarily take place in 
 the issue of the leases, any licensed occupant, who, after having 
 demanded his lease, may desire to part with his interest in the 
 same, will be allowed to have the lease made out in favour of 
 any person recommended by the Commissioner of the District, on 
 making written application to that effect to the Colonial Secretary, 
 in Sydney, or to the Superintendent of Port Phillip, at Mel- 
 bourne, as the case may be, such application to bear the appli- 
 cant's own signature, attested by a magistrate or a Commissioner 
 of the Supreme Court. In this case the original applicant will 
 be debarred from all further claim to the lease, the right of ivhich 
 will be thenceforth held to be vested in the person in whose favour 
 he requested that it should issue. 
 
 2. If, however, a person who had a right to demand a lease of 
 a run in his occupation, under the terms of the 11th section of 
 chapter 2 of the Order in Council, shall have died or become 
 insolvent without having exercised such right, the demand for the 
 lease will be received by the Government from his representative, 
 or from any one coming forward on his representative's behalf. 
 The issue of the lease, however, will, in such case, be sus- 
 pended, until the claimant thereof shall have satisfactorily proved 
 himself to be the legal representative of the deceased or insolvent 
 person ; and, in the meantime, the rent must be regularly paid, in 
 default whereof, the run will be held to have become vacant, and 
 the lease of it will be exposed to sale. 
 
 3. The transfer of portions of existing runs will, in no way, be
 
 51 
 
 allowed by the Government. For each run, now recognised as 
 such, but one lease will issue ; and any portion of such run which 
 may not be demised to the lessee of the remainder, will be held 
 to have become vacaut, and to be at the disposal of the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 By His Excellency's Command, 
 
 E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 No. 11. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 30th June, 1848. 
 With reference to the Notice of the 1st January, 1848, headed 
 ' Transfer of Runs," in which it is provided, that, in conside- 
 ration of the delay that must necessarily take place in the issue 
 ot leases of runs demanded under the 11th section of chapter 2 
 oi Her Majesty's Order in Council, of the 9th March, 1847 any 
 licensed occupant who, after having demanded his lease, may 
 desire to part with his interest in the same, will be allowed to have 
 the lease made out in favour of any person recommended by the 
 Commissioner of the District, on making written application, in 
 the manner m the said notice prescribed, but that, in this case, 
 the original applicant will be debarred from all further claim to 
 the lease, the right of which will be thenceforth held to be vested 
 m the person m whose favour he requested that it should issue:" 
 His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive 
 Council, directs it to be notified, that in all cases in which claim- 
 ants of leases of runs shall have alienated their right thereto, 
 under the provisions of the notice above cited, the licences for such 
 ruitt for the ensuing year will be issued, not to the persons who 
 previously held them, but to the proposed transferees. 
 By His Excellency's Command, 
 
 E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 1st January, 1848 
 Her Majesty, by Order in Council, dated the 9th March, 1847 
 having determined that the rent to be paid for each several run
 
 52 
 
 of crown land, beyond the settled districts of New South Wales, 
 shall be proportioned to the number of sheep, or equivalent num- 
 ber of cattle, which the run shall be estimated as capable of car- 
 rying, according to a scale to be established for the purpose, by 
 authority of the Governor, His Excellency directs it to be noti- 
 fied that he has, with the advice of the Executive Council, esta- 
 blished the following scale for such purpose : that is to say, 
 
 Six hundred and forty head of cattle shall be considered equal 
 to four thousand sheep ; and in cases in which the stock upon a 
 run may consist of sheep and cattle, the amount of mixed stock 
 (horses being reckoned as cattle) shall be calculated in the propor- 
 tion of six hundred and forty head of cattle to four thousand 
 sheep. 
 
 By His Excellency's Command, 
 
 E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 No. 13. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 4th February, 1848. 
 
 His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Execu- 
 tive Council, has directed it to be notified, that several applica- 
 tions having been made to the Government by parties who have, 
 from various causes, failed or omitted, within the time prescribed, 
 to take out their licences for the current year, for the occupation 
 of runs beyond the settled districts, but are now desirous to do 
 so ; His Excellency has been pleased to lay down the following 
 rules, under which they will still be permitted to obtain licences, 
 on payment of a fine for their default : namely, 
 
 1. All persons who held licences for their runs for the year 
 ended on the 30th of June last, but who have failed to renew them 
 for the present year, may now be allowed to do so, on payment of 
 a fine, in addition to the price of the licence, at the rate of one 
 pound for every month, or part of a month, which will have 
 elapsed between the 30th of September last and the taking out of 
 the licence. 
 
 2. It is to be clearly understood, that if, on or before the 6th of 
 April next, being the day on which the period of six months will
 
 53 
 
 expire within which certain licensed occupants of runs are entitled 
 to demand leases, any person occupying Crown Lands beyond the 
 Settled Districts shall not have taken out a licence for the current 
 year, such person must be held not to have been in licensed occu- 
 pation within the meaning of the 11th section of chapter II. of the 
 Order in Council, and his demand for a new lease cannot, there- 
 fore, be entertained; his run will, accordingly, be declared to be 
 forfeited, and the lease of it open for sale, in the manner prescribed 
 by the 12th section of chapter II. of the Order in Council. 
 
 3. It is further to be understood that this notice does not apply 
 to parties, if any, who, notwithstanding they have failed to take 
 out their licences for the past, as well as the current year, have 
 continued in occupation of Crown Lands ; and who, according to 
 the declaration contained in the notice of 30th June, 1846, have 
 thus been holding against the will of the Crown. Their runs are 
 therefore now conuidered to have become forfeited, and liable to 
 be dealt with accordingly. 
 
 By His Excellency's Command, 
 
 E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 No. 14. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 1st June, 1848. 
 
 His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive 
 Council, directs it to be notified for general information, that the 
 state of the Survey not yet admitting of the issue of leases for 
 runs beyond the Settled Districts, all existing licences for the 
 occupation of Crown Lands so situated will bo renewed for the 
 ensuing year, commencing on the 1st July next, on the same terms 
 as licences have been granted for the now current year, subject, 
 of course, to the adjustment of the licence fee, according to the 
 quantity of stock returned by the Commissioner as depastured on 
 every such run. 
 
 2. Adverting to the 5th section of chapter II. of Her Majesty's 
 Order in Council, dated 9th March, 1847, which declares that 
 leases of runs issued thereunder will be absolutely and indefeasibly
 
 54 
 
 forfeited if the stipulated rent be not paid within the time therein 
 prescribed, His Excellency the Governor desires it to be distinctly 
 understood that claims to leases will, in like manner, be held to 
 have become forfeited and void, if the licences for the continued 
 occupation for the ensuing year of the lands for which leases are 
 sought, shall not have been taken out within the time fixed by the 
 present notice, namely, between the 1st day of July and the 30th 
 day of September next. 
 
 3. If within the year commencing the 1st July next, the Go- 
 vernment shall be in a position to grant leases of runs under Her 
 Majesty's Order in Council, any licencee under this notice who may 
 obtain a lease, will receive credit, in the payment of his first year's 
 rent, for so much of the amount paid for his licence as may be 
 proportionate to the unexpired part of the term for which the 
 licence was granted. 
 
 4. The present regulation does not, however, extend to lands 
 which have been brought by the Order in Council within the 
 settled class, but which have hitherto been held under squatting 
 licenses for pastoral purposes. The occupants of such lands will 
 be enabled to obtain leases for the same on the terms prescribed 
 in sections 22, 23, and 24 of the notice of 29th March last. 
 
 By His Excellency's Command, 
 
 E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 No. 15. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 8th August, 1848. 
 
 His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive 
 Council, has been pleased to direct the publication of the following 
 regulation, limiting the time within which certain claims to leases 
 of runs beyond the Settled Districts will be entertained by His 
 Excellency. 
 
 By the 11th section of chapter II. of Her Majesty's Order in 
 Council, of the 9th March, 1847, it is provided, " That all occu- 
 pants of Crown Lands who shall have been in licensed occupation 
 of the same for at least one year at the time when this Order shall
 
 00 
 
 come into effect, are to be entitled to demand leases of their respec- 
 tive runs under the present regulations, within six months from 
 the date of the publication of this Order in Council by the Go- 
 vernor, but not afterwards.." 
 
 The said Order in Council haying been published and brought 
 into effect in the Colony on the 7th October, 1847, the period 
 allowed for preferring claims to leases expired on the 6th April 
 last, as respects those persons who, on the 7th October last, had 
 been in licensed occupation of their runs for one year or more. 
 All such persons, therefore, who failed to demand leases on or 
 before the 6th April last, have lost the right of so doing conferred 
 by the Order in Council. As a matter of grace, however, the 
 Governor has not, up to the present time, refused to entertain 
 applications for leases on the ground of their having been sent in 
 subsequently to the expiration of the time prescribed by the 
 Order in Council, nor will his Excellency do so as respects any 
 further applicatious which may be received before the 30 th 
 September next, when the time allowed for taking out licences 
 for the current year will expire; but after that date the Governor 
 will not, under any circumstances whatever, entertain a demand 
 for a lease of a run, from any person whose licensed occupancy 
 of the run had, on the 7th October, 1847, been of not less than 
 one year's duration. 
 
 It will of course be understood that this notice does not apply 
 to parties who, having failed to take out their licences for the past 
 year, are not entitled to demand leases under the provisions of 
 Her Majesty's Order in Council above referred to. 
 By His Excellency's Command, 
 
 E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 No. 16. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 29th March, 1848. 
 
 Within the Settled Districts. 
 
 In pursuance of Her Majesty's Order in Council, of 9th March 
 1847, His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Execu- 
 tive Council, has been pleased to establish, subject to the approval 
 of the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies,
 
 56 
 
 the following regulations for the occupation of Crown Lands 
 within the Settled Districts of the Colony, as they are now or 
 may hereafter be defined. 
 
 2. The holders of purchased lands within the settled districts 
 will be permitted to pasture their stock, free of charge, on any 
 vacant crown lands, immediately contiguous to their respective 
 properties, provided they do not erect any hut or building thereon, 
 or clear, inclose, or cultivate any portion thereof ; but it is to be 
 distinctly understood, that such permission will in no way inter- 
 fere with the right of the Government at any time to dispose of 
 the lands either by sale or by lease. 
 
 3. The permission to pasture stock on vacant crown lands, free 
 of charge, will not carry with it any other than a commonage 
 right, to be enjoyed alike by all the holders of adjacent purchased 
 lands. Persons desiring to secure the exclusive right of pastu- 
 rage over any particular Crown lands, must obtain a lease by pur- 
 chase, in one or other of the modes hereinafter described. 
 
 4. Within the settled districts lands will be let, for pastoral 
 purposes only, on annual lease, in sections of six hundred and 
 forty acres each, as charted in the Surveyor General's office, and 
 at a yearly rent not lower than ten shillings per section. 
 
 5. No portion of land, consisting of less than six hundred and 
 forty acres, or one square mile, will be let on lease, except in spe- 
 cial cases, which may render expedient a departure from this 
 rule ; and in any case where there is a broken section, with water 
 frontage, the section behind will be added to the lot. 
 
 6. No sections lying, either in whole or in part, within the dis- 
 tance of five miles of either of the cities of Sydney or Melbourne, 
 or within the distance of two miles from any town shown by the 
 last census for the time being to contain more than one thousand 
 inhabitants, nor any land set apart as the sites of towns or vil- 
 lages, or measured for sale as " Special Country Lots," nor any of 
 the lands comprised within the Church and School Estates, will be 
 open to lease under these regulations. 
 
 7. The annual leases issued under these regulutions will be 
 for the calendar year commencing on the first day of January; 
 and all leases granted, whether taking effect from the first day of 
 the leasing year, or from any subsequent date, will alike expire 
 on the 31st December. 
 
 7. The leases will carry with them the exclusive right of occu-
 
 57 
 
 pancy of the land for pastoral purposes only, during the period 
 they shall remain in force; but a clause will be inserted in each 
 lease, permitting the lessee to cut such timber, with the exception 
 of cedar, as may be required for domestic uses, for firebote, fencing, 
 stockyards, or other conveniences for the use of the land, for the 
 purposes specified. 
 
 9. The leases will not be assignable, nor shall any portion of 
 the lands held thereunder be assigned or sublet, under penalty 
 of absolute forfeiture of the lease. 
 
 10. Lessees of lands under these regulations will not be entitled 
 to any compensation whatsoever for any improvements they may 
 effect on the lands. 
 
 11. The lands included in any lease will be open to purchase 
 under the ordinary regulations, and, in the event of their being 
 sold, or required for any public purpose, must be surrendered, as 
 heretofore, by the lessee, upon his receiving one month's notice ; 
 but, in such case, the balance of the price of the lease for the time 
 it has to run will be refunded to him. 
 
 12. Subject to the approval of His Excellency the Governor in 
 each case, the leases held under these regulations may be renewed 
 at the same yearly rent as that paid for the preceding year. Such 
 renewals will be ordinarily sanctioned by the Governor, unless the 
 lands be required for sale, or for any public purpose, or for the 
 satisfaction of any new claims which may arise under the pre- 
 emptive right hereinafter conferred on purchasers of crown lands. 
 It is, however, to be distinctly understood that His Excellency 
 reserves to himself the full power of periodically revising and 
 altering the terms on which the leases will be granted or renewed, 
 as the public interests may from time to time appear to him to 
 require. 
 
 13. Persons desiring to renew their leases under the preceding 
 clause, must make application to the Colonial Secretary, at Sydney, 
 or to the Superintendent of Port Phillip, at Melbourne, if the lands 
 be situated in that district, not later than the 31st August, in the 
 year preceding that for which the leases will have effect, and, if 
 allowed to do so, must pay the rent into the Colonial Treasury, 
 not later than the 30th day of September in the same year. 
 
 14. All leases for the ensuing year, which shall not be renewed 
 by the 30th of September preceding, will, whether applied for or 
 not, be put up to auction, in or about the last week in the month
 
 58 
 
 of November in each year, in the manner described in a subsequent 
 part of these regulations. 
 
 15. No lease which has once been advertised for sale can be 
 obtained by any person until it has been submitted to competition. 
 
 16. The holders in fee simple of any lands within the settled 
 districts, whether acquired by purchase or grant, will be allowed, 
 subject to the conditions hereinafter prescribed, to obtain leases of 
 any vacant Crown lands adjacent to their respective properties, 
 without competition, at the fixed price of ten shillings per section 
 of 640 acres, and to the extent of three times their own purchased 
 or granted lands, if there be so much vacant Crown land available. 
 It is however to be understood, that the rule above laid down, 
 that land will not be let in portions less than six hundred and 
 forty acres, will not be departed from, in order to make up the 
 exact quantity which an individual may be entitled to claim under 
 this clause. And no person will be deemed entitled to the pre- 
 emptive right hereby conferred, who does not hold purchased or 
 granted lands in one block to the extent of, at least, one section. 
 
 17. If the holders of land in fee simple desire to lease a greater 
 number of sections than they are entitled to claim under the pre- 
 emptive right conferred by the preceding clause, they can only 
 do so by purchase at auction. 
 
 18. In cases in which the same portions of land may be claimed 
 by more than one party under the pre-emptive right conferred by 
 clause 16, the Government will, at the expiration of the term 
 allowed for preferring such claims, announce to each claimant the 
 names of his competitors, in order that he may arrange with them 
 respecting the division of the lands, in the manner pointed out in 
 the next clause. 
 
 19. If there be more than two claimants, the division of the 
 lands amongst them may be settled by private arrangement ; and 
 on the result of such arrangement being communicated to the 
 Government, within the time prescribed in the following clause, in 
 a document signed by all the contending parties, the lands will 
 be apportioned and let accordingly; but if there be only two 
 claimants, the question at issue between them may be determined 
 by arbitration in the manner following : Each party shall name 
 an arbitrator, and the two arbitrators shall have power, if neces- 
 sary, to elect an umpire, and, according to the award of such 
 arbitrators or umpire, the land in dispute will be apportioned and
 
 59 
 
 let. In considering the respective claims of the contending par- 
 ties, it is desirable that the arbitrators and umpire should be 
 guided by the extent of purchased or granted land held by each, 
 so as to apportion the vacant Crown land in reference to such 
 extent, by the previous occupation of the land in dispute, 
 according to the usage of the Colony, as part of the run of either 
 of the parties and the access to water for its beneficial occupa- 
 tion. 
 
 20. If, at the end of one month from the date of the letter 
 announcing to the several claimants the names of their competi- 
 tors, the Government shall be uninformed of a division of the lands 
 having been made, either by agreement or by arbitration, the leases 
 of the lands so circumstanced will be offered for sale by auction, 
 and the public admitted as competitors for the same. 
 
 21. The holders of granted lands within the settled districts, 
 on which the quit-rent has been redeemed, will, for the purposes 
 of these regulations, be placed on the same footing in all respects 
 as the holders of purchased lands. The holders of granted lands 
 on which the quit-rent has not been redeemed, are not considered 
 admissible, under the terms of the Order in Council, to the pri- 
 vilege of pasturing their stock on Crown lands free of charge, as 
 above described, but they will be allowed to exercise the pre- 
 emptive right mentioned in clause 16. 
 
 22. Lands which have been brought by the Order in Council 
 within the settled class, but which have been hitherto held under 
 squatting licences for pastoral purposes, will be let to the present 
 licensed occupants thereof, on yearly lease, at the fixed rent of 
 one pound per section, so long as they shall not be required for 
 sale or for any public purpose, or be applied for on lease by any 
 holder of purchased lands in the immediate neighbourhood. But 
 whenever any holder of purchased land in the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood, shall either put forward his claim to the number of sec- 
 tions which he may be entitled to rent under the pre-emptive 
 right conferred by clause 16 of these regulations, or shall make 
 application for a lease of any additional sections to be offered for 
 sale by auction, such sections will not be re-let to the previous 
 occupant, but will be withdrawn from his holding, in order that 
 they may be demised to the person claiming the exercise of his 
 pre-emptive right respecting them, or be let by auction, as the 
 case may be. In respect, however, to any sections thus taken
 
 60 
 
 out of the previous occupant's holding, in order that the leases of 
 them may be offered for sale, such previous occupant will be 
 allowed to continue to use them for pastoral purposes until the 
 day of sale, and, in the event of their not being then purchased, 
 to renew his lease for the current year at the rate above men- 
 tioned. 
 
 23. Any lot of land within the meaning of the preceding clause, 
 which may not have been charted in sections in the Surveyor 
 General's Office, will be let, until so charted, to the present 
 licensed occupant thereof in one block, the amount of rent being 
 determined by the computed number of sections therein contained, 
 according to an estimate to be submitted by the occupant, and ap- 
 proved by the Surveyor-General, or the Surveyor in charge at 
 Melbourne, according as the lands may be situated in the Sydney 
 or the Port Phillip District. 
 
 24. Of the class of lands referred to in clause 22, no section 
 containing valuable improvements, nor any of the sections con- 
 tiguous thereto, will, for the present, be open to lease under these 
 regulations, to any other persons than the present licensed occu- 
 pants thereof. 
 
 25. Persons desirous of exercising either of the pre-emptive 
 rights conferred by clauses 16 and 22 of these regulations, will 
 be required to make application accordingly, in the one or other 
 of the forms annexed, (A or B,) as the lands may be of the one 
 or other of the classes referred to, describing as accurately as 
 possible the sections which they desire to rent, and also specifying 
 the purchased or granted lands, or the licensed runs, in respect of 
 which they claim to exercise the pre-emptive right. These appli- 
 cations must be lodged at the Surveyor -General's Office, in Syd- 
 ney, or at the office of the Surveyor in charge at Melbourne, on 
 or before the 31st day of August in the year preceding that for 
 which the desired leases will have effect. 
 
 26. All leases accorded by the Government under the pre- 
 emptive rights conferred by clauses 16 and 22 of these regula- 
 tions, will be notified in the Government Gazette; and if, within 
 one month from the date of such notification, the rent for the 
 same shall not have been paid into the Treasury, the leases will 
 be offered for sale by auction. 
 
 27. All lands, to the leases of which no pre-emptive right shall 
 have been exercised within the periods above specified, will be
 
 61 
 
 open to lease, and be offered for sale by auction, on tbe applica- 
 tion of any person requiring the same. 
 
 28. Applications for the lease, at auction, of particular portions 
 of Crown Lands, are to be addressed as heretofore to the Sur- 
 veyor-General in Sydney, or to the Surveyor in charge at Mel- 
 bourne, in the form annexed, marked C. 
 
 In or about the last week in the month of November in each 
 year, there will be a general sale by auction, at which will be put 
 up all leases for the ensuing year which may have been applied 
 for under the preceding clause, or which may have been claimed 
 but not obtained under the pre-emptive right, or of which a right 
 of renewal may have been granted but not exercised, as well as 
 any leases which the Government may think it expedient to bring 
 forward at its own instance. 
 
 30. Leases applied for under clause 28, subsequently to the 
 general sale, will be put up at auction as demanded, the term of 
 the lease in every such case being the unexpired portion of the 
 calendar year, as explained in clause 7. 
 
 31. No sale of leases under these regulations will take place 
 without one month's notice thereof having been given by adver- 
 tisement in the Government Gazette. 
 
 32. The sales will be held at the principal places of Petty 
 Sessions of the Police Districts in which the lands may be re- 
 spectively situated. 
 
 33. The upset price of each lot will be ten shillings per section 
 of six hundred and forty acres; or five shillings, if half the cur- 
 rent year shall have expired. 
 
 34. The Government reserves to itself the right to refuse the 
 bidding of any one, as well as to withdraw any lot from sale. But 
 this right will never be exercised, except for a sufficient and assign- 
 able cause. 
 
 35. The full price bid for each lot must be paid down on the 
 day of sale ; failing which, the land will be leased on application, 
 as described in clause 38. 
 
 36. As early as possible after the day of sale, leases will be 
 issued from the Colonial Treasury, at Sydney or Melbourne > 
 accordingly as the lands may be situated in the one or the other 
 of those Districts, to those persons who have duly paid their 
 purchase money. 
 
 37. Any lot of land, the lease of which may have been offered
 
 62 
 
 for sale at auction and not bid for, may be obtained on lease by 
 any person of approved character, on payment at the Colonial 
 Treasury of the upset price of ten shillings per section, or of half 
 that price, if half the current year has expired. 
 
 38. The foregoing rule will also apply to those lands, the leases 
 of which have been bid for, but the price of which has not been 
 paid on the day of sale. In such case, however, the sum to be 
 paid for the lease will be, not the upset price, or its half, but the 
 highest price bid for the lot at the sale, or its half, if half 
 year shall have expired. 
 
 39. Lots open to purchase under either of the two preceding 
 clauses, but not taken, may be put up again at auction, either on 
 the application of individuals, or at the instance of the Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 40. The first Leases issued under these Regulations, will be for 
 the year commencing on the 1st January, 1849. 
 
 41. All Licences now held, in terms of the Regulation of the 
 21st August, 1841, which will expire during the present year, 
 may be renewed for the remainder thereof, on payment of rent 
 at the same rate as that paid for the existing Licences, such pay- 
 ment to be made on taking the Licences up at the Treasury. 
 
 42. It is distinctly to be understood, that as soon as these Regu- 
 lations shall have been brought into effect, all persons who may be 
 found in occupation of Crown Lands within the settled districts, con- 
 trary to the plain intent and meaning of these Regulations, will be 
 immediately proceeded against under the provisions of the Act of 
 Parliment, 9 and 10 Vict. cap. 104. 
 
 43. The Regulations for the occupation of Crown Lands within 
 the boundaries of location, dated 21st August, 1841, are hereby 
 cancelled. By His Excellency's command, 
 
 E. DEAS THOMSON.
 
 63 
 
 No. 17. 
 
 (Schedule A.) 
 
 Form of Application to be used by the holder of purchased or granted Lands 
 
 in the Settled Districts, when claiming to exercise the pre-emptive right. 
 
 Place 1 
 Sib, Date 
 
 In pursuance of the Regulations of the 29th March, 1848, respecting the 
 occupation of Crown Lands within the Settled Districts, I do hereby apply to 
 be allowed Leases of the several sections of Crown Land hereunder described, 
 at the fixed rent often shillings per section. 
 
 The Land in virtue of which I claim to exercise a right of pre-emption, 
 is situated as follows, and is now in my possession, namely : 
 County of parish of situated 2 
 
 containing acres, being the Land 3 to 4 and for 
 
 which a deed of Grant has isaued in favor of 5 
 
 I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient servant, 
 To 6 
 
 Description of the Sections applied for. 
 
 No. 18. 
 
 (Schedule B.) 
 Application to be used by the holder of a Squatting Licence in respect to por- 
 tions of his Run situated in Settled Districts. 
 Place 1 
 Sib, Date 
 
 In pursuance of the Regulations of 29th March, 1848, respecting the 
 occupation of Crown Lands within the Settled Districts, I do hereby apply 
 to be allowed leases of the several sections of Crown Lands hereunder described, 
 at the fixed rent of One pound per section. 
 
 The Run in virtue of which I claim to exercise a right of pre-emption is 
 as follows, and is now in my Licensed Occupation, namely : 
 Commissioner's District 
 Name of Run 
 General Locality 
 
 I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient servant, 
 To 8 
 
 State as accurately as possible the sections required according to the chart- 
 ing in the Survey Office. 
 
 If the landa be not charted in sections, the boundaries of the entire extent 
 of land claimed should be given, with an Estimate of its area, in sections or 
 square miles. 
 
 1 State nearest Post Town. 2 State general situation of Land. 
 
 3 " Sold," or Granted," as the case may be. 4 State name of Purchaser or Promisee. 
 
 5 State name of Grantee. 
 
 6 To the Surveyor General in Sydney, or to the Surveyor in charge at Melbourne. 
 
 7 State nearest Post Town. 
 
 8 To the Surveyor General in Sydney, or to the Surveyor in charge at Melbourne.
 
 64 
 
 No. 19. 
 
 (Schedule C.) 
 
 Form of ordinary Application for a Lease of Crown Lands within the Settled 
 
 Districts. 
 
 Place* 
 Sib, Date 
 
 In pursuance of the Regulation of 29th March, 1848, respecting the 
 occupation of Crown Lands within the Settled Districts, I have the honour to 
 request that the Leases of the portions of Crown Lands hereunder described 
 may be put up to public auction. 
 
 I hare the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient servant, 
 To a 
 
 Description of the Lands referred to. 
 County of 
 
 Parish of 
 Situated 3 
 and Bounded, &c. 4 
 
 No. 20. 
 
 COMMENCEMENT OF PASTOKAL LEASES. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 28th October, 1851. 
 
 His Excellency the Governor-General, with the advice of the 
 Executive Council, has been pleased to establish the following 
 regulations with respect to the dates from which are to be com- 
 puted the terms of the leases to be issued for Crown lands in 
 the intermediate and unsettled districts, under Her Majesty's Order 
 in Council of the 9th March, 1847. 
 
 2. As in consequence of the unavoidable delay that has occurred 
 in the intended issue of pastoral leases, the licensed occupants of 
 Crown lands have not hitherto been in the enjoyment of all the 
 advantages which would have accrued to them from the possession 
 of such leases, and as, moreover, it is known that many persons, 
 in the full conviction that the terms of the leases would be com- 
 puted from the date of issue, have disposed of their interest in 
 pastoral runs subject to that condition, His Excellency, with the 
 advice of the Executive Council, has been pleased to direct, that 
 
 1 State nearest Post Town. 
 
 2 To the Surveyor General in Sydney, or to the Surveyor in charge at Melbourne. 
 
 3 State general locality. 
 
 i State the boundaries as accurately as possible, with reference to section lines.
 
 C5 
 
 in regard to all leases to be issued, both for lands held under 
 licensed occupation previously to the promulgation of the Order 
 in Council above referred to, and for runs hitherto acquired by 
 tender, the maximum term of eight years and fourteen years, as the 
 case may be, shall commence from a future certain day, namely, 
 1st January, 1852, without reference to the actual date on which 
 the leases may issue, but that with respect to all runs hereafter 
 taken up by tender, the duration of the lease shall be computed 
 from the date of the first payment of rent under the accepted 
 tender. By His Excellency's Command, 
 
 (Signed) E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 No. 21. 
 
 CROWN LANDS BEYOND THE SETTLED DISTRICT. 
 Reserves from Lease. 
 Crown Lands Office, Sydney, 11th March, 1852. 
 
 It is hereby notified, for general information, that His Excel- 
 lency the Governor-General has been pleased, with the advice of 
 the Executive Council, to direct that the several portions of Crown 
 Lands hereunder described shall be reserved from lease, under 
 Her Majesty's Order in Council of 9th March, 1847, subject to 
 tho following limitations in favour of the licensed occupants thereby 
 affected. 
 
 2. The formation of the intended reserve may in any case be 
 defeated wholly or in part by the licensed occupant, whose run is 
 thereby affected, exercising, within twelve months from the present 
 date, the pre-emptive right conferred on him by Her Majesty's 
 Order in Council of 9th March, 1847, in respect of the whole or 
 any portion of the land proposed to be reserved. 
 
 3. No such pre-emption can be of less extent than 160 acres, 
 and if less than 320 acres, the cost of measurement will have to be 
 borne by the purchaser. 
 
 4. The price at which the licensed occupant of the run will be 
 allowed thus to purchase without competition will be one pound 
 per acre, or such higher price as may be fixed by valuers ap- 
 pointed under section 8 of Chapter II. of the Order in Council.
 
 66 
 
 5. Every lot of land to be selected must be measured in accor- 
 dance with the general rules laid down in section 7 of Chapter 
 II. of the same Order in Council. 
 
 6. Should the licensed occupant fail to exercise his pre-emptive 
 right, in respect of the whole or any part of the land proposed to 
 be reserved, within twelve months from the present date, the re- 
 servation of the whole or the remainder, as the case may be, will 
 then become absolute and indefeasible. 
 
 7. It is of course distinctly to be understood that, by this general 
 formation of reserves, the Government does not in any way divest 
 itself of the right of making hereafter such further reserves, whether 
 before or after the issue of leases, as the public interests may 
 dictate. 
 
 8. The foregoing regulations are intended to apply to runs, 
 out of which reserves are now for the first time about to be made. 
 
 (Signed) GEO. BARNEY, 
 
 Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands. 
 
 No. 22. 
 
 EXTKACTS FEOM THE DESPATCH OF LOED GKEY, 
 Secretary of State for the Colonies, dated 29th November, 1846. 
 
 " There is, as you will observe, a very material difference between 
 the conditions on which it is proposed that land should be held in 
 the three different classes of districts which it is intended to esta- 
 blish, and the nature of this difference is such as would make it 
 necessary that you should act with extreme caution in classing 
 the lands of the Colony in one or the other of these districts. 
 Land in the unsettled districts, according to these regulations, 
 would be put absolutely out of the power of the Crown, and be 
 rendered unavailable for settlement, for the long period of four- 
 teen years. It would therefore be absolutely necessary that no 
 lands should be so classed except those which, from the remote- 
 ness of their situation, you have reason to feel assured will not be 
 required for sale to the public, for the purpose of permanent occu- 
 pation, during the term for which the leases will be granted." 
 
 In the concluding paragraph, His Lordship writes, " I have to 
 instruct you to be most careful on this point, since it would be
 
 67 
 
 a source of very serious injury, both to the Colony and the 
 mother country, if, at the end of eight or ten years, it should 
 be found that the progress of emigration was checked, by the 
 inability of the Crown to find lands to intending emigrants. Tou 
 will recollect also, that as the proposed regulations with regard 
 to intermediate lands will secure to the actual holder a right of 
 occupation for eight years, unless they are previously required for 
 purchase, and will also assure to him, on giving up possession, a 
 right to the value of his improvements, there would also be the 
 less occasion for placing in the class of Unsettled Districts any 
 lands as to which even a doubt can be entertained." 
 
 No. 23. 
 
 EXTEACT FROM LORD GREY'S DESPATCH TO SIR OHAS. FITZROY, 
 Transmitting the "Order in Council," of date ZOth March, 1847. / 
 
 " I have in my former despatch explained to you the great im- 
 portance which I attach to avoiding an error of this kind, with a 
 view to the interests of future settlers, and how great my anxiety 
 is that no undue extension should be given to the lands to be defined 
 as unsettled, and which would thus be put out of the power of 
 the Crown, and rendered unavailable to the public by purchase, 
 for the long period of fourteen years." 
 
 No. 24. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM "ORDER IN COUNCIL," 
 Dated \th July, 1849. 
 
 " Provided always that no such condition, or claim of forfeiture, 
 exemption, or reservation, shall entitle any person, other than the 
 holder of such lease, to use the lands comprised therein for the 
 purpose of pasture or cultivation."
 
 08 
 
 PART IT. 
 
 No. 25. 
 
 Bacchus Marsh, 13th November, 1847. 
 
 Sir, We beg to call your Honour's attention to the following 
 statement of facts, with reference to two of the lots of land adver- 
 tised for sale by the Governor's proclamation of the 23d October 
 last. The lots alluded to are styled, 
 
 90, Grant 229, Parish of Parwan, per No. 28. 
 
 91, Grant 229, Parish of Parwan, per No. 29. 
 
 Now these portions of land are comprised in the run of which 
 we are the licensed occupiers, and fall within the division of Inter- 
 mediate Lands, made by the Order in Council of the 9th March ; 
 under that Order in Council we, as such licensed occupiers, are 
 entitled to claim from the Crown a lease of the land comprised in 
 our run, which lands could not be put up for sale save under 
 certain conditions with respect to notice, &c. which have not been 
 complied with in the present instance. Had we been in possession 
 of our lease, there could be no doubt that any grant made by the 
 Crown of such lands would be bad, if the condition imposed by 
 the Order in Council were not complied with by the authorities 
 here ; and our position now is this : we have been given, by the 
 Act of Parliament, and the Order in Council made pursuant to it, 
 a right to claim a lease ; this right is such an one as a Court of 
 Equity would enforce in the case of individuals : and, in so doing, 
 would place persons entitled to a lease in the same position as if 
 the lease had been actually granted at the time when their right 
 accrued. We feel that it cannot be the wish of the authorities 
 here to encroach on the rights of individuals ; and we hope that 
 our drawing your Honour's attention to the circumstances, will be 
 sufficient to have these sections omitted from the sale of December 
 8th. We should, however, feel obliged by the earliest notification 
 of the course to be pursued by the Government, as it is of course
 
 69 
 
 important to us to know whether it will be necessary for us to take 
 any further steps for the protection of our rights. We have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) JAMES MOORE. 
 
 CHARLES GRIFFITHS. 
 
 His Honour the Superintendent of Port Phillip, &c. &c.[&c. 
 
 Superintendent's Office, Melbourne, 22nd November, 1847. 
 Sir, I beg leave to forward to you, with a request that the sub- 
 ject may be brought at once under his Excellency's notice, a copy 
 of a letter which I have received from Messrs. Moore & Griffiths, 
 adducing reasons why they consider that certain portions of land, 
 noted in the margin, ought to be withdrawn from the sale to take 
 place under His Excellency's proclamation on the 9th December 
 next, together with a copy of memorandum, exhibiting my view 
 of the case, which it appears is coincided in by the Crown Prose- 
 cutor, and under which I feel it my duty to notify Messrs. Moore 
 and Griffiths, that I do not consider myself justified to direct the 
 withdrawal in question, for the reasons which they adduce, but as 
 there still remained time for the submission of the case to the 
 Governor, I would take advantage of the present mail to forward 
 a copy of it for His Excellency's consideration. I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) C. J. LA TROBE. 
 
 The Hon. the Colonial Secretary. 
 
 Melbourne, 22nd November, 1847. 
 Sir, Having perused Messrs. Moore and Griffiths' letter of the 
 13th inst. and your Honour's memorandum accompanying the same, 
 I do myself the honour to state, that I am of opinion your Honour's 
 memorandum is a full answer to tho complaint of these gentlemen. 
 I cannot see that any condition or terms appertaining to the re- 
 lation in which these gentlemen stand to the Crown, as the licensed 
 occupiers of their run, have been violated. Surely they cannot 
 think that the Government should give them personal notice. 
 The notice in my mind Messrs. Moore and Griffiths are entitled 
 to, is the usual notice given upon any public sale of land in the 
 Gazette. In fact, I cannot see anything in the Order in Council 
 of the 9th March, 1847, giving squatters the right of pre-emption 
 under tenure, under which they, the squatters, are at present in
 
 70 
 
 occupation of their runs. The only right the first of the conditions 
 annexed to the 15th section, alluded to by Messrs. Moore and 
 Griffiths, confers on them, is to give the option of purchasing 
 land for its fair value. I can see nothing, either in the 1st or 15th 
 section, chapter 2, nor in the 1st section, chapter 3, disabling his 
 Excellency the Governor from disposing of the two sections al- 
 luded to in the letter of Messrs. Moore and Griffiths of the 13th 
 instant. I further think those gentlemen have got the only notice 
 they can consider themselves entitled to. I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) JAMES CROKE, 
 
 The Hon. the Superintendent. Crown Prosecutor. 
 
 No. 26. 
 
 Superintendent's Office, Melbourne, 23d December, 1847. 
 
 Sir, Reverting to the correspondence which I had the honour 
 to forward to you on the 22d November, on the subject of certain 
 sections included in the licensed run of Messrs. Moore and Griffiths, 
 in the parish of Parwan, which were advertised for sale by His 
 Excellency's proclamation of the 23rd October last, and to which 
 sale the gentlemen in question objected, for reasons given in their 
 letter of the 13th of November, and to your acknowledgment of 
 the receipt of the same by your communication of the 4th December, 
 No. 673, informing me that it had been found necessary to refer it 
 to the law officers, I have the honour to state that, having received 
 no further information at the date the sale took place, I was unable 
 to give any directions to the sub-treasurer for the withdrawal of 
 the lots in question. 
 
 I have since received a communication from that officer, informing 
 me of the course pursued by these gentlemen in reference to the 
 sale of the lots in question, by which it appears they were prepared 
 to contest the validity of the sale by the interposition of a caution, 
 to be publicly given in the auction room, in order to deter pur- 
 chasers, and stating the circumstance and considerations under 
 which the sub-treasurer considered himself justified in withdrawing 
 the lots from sale. 
 
 I consider the course of proceeding adopted by Messrs. Moore 
 and Griffiths of such an unusual character, that it should be 
 brought under His Excellency's notice. I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) C. J. LA TROBE. 
 
 The Hon. the Colonial Secretary.
 
 71 
 
 No. 27. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 3rd January, 1848. 
 
 Sir, In referring to my letter of the 4th ultimo, I do myself 
 the honour, by the direction of His Excellency the Governor, to 
 transmit to you the accompanying opinion of the Attorney-General 
 and Solicitor- General, on the claim made by Messrs. Moore and 
 Griffiths to have certain lands, licensed to them in the county of 
 Grant, withdrawn from the intended sale on the 9th ultimo, as 
 coming within the denomination of Intermediate Lands, under the 
 Order in Council of the 9th March last, by which you will perceive 
 that those officers consider that the lands in question can be sold 
 as proclaimed. I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 The Hon. Superintendent of Port Phillip. 
 
 OPINION. 
 
 I have conferred with the Solicitor General on this matter, and 
 we are of opinion that the land in question can be sold under the 
 Governor's proclamation, but not exactly upon the ground upon 
 which Mr. La Trobe and the Crown Prosecutor of Port Phillip 
 rest that opinion, because it seems to us that, so far from the right 
 of claim of lease not being given till after the expiration of six 
 months from the publication of the land order, the correct con- 
 struction of section 11 of chapter 2 of the order is, that the de- 
 mand is to be made at some time before the end of six months. 
 
 The terms of the regulations restraining the sale of land, except 
 in the manner provided by the Order, apply only to the time when 
 the lands are actually under lease (sections 6, 9, and 15); and such 
 is not the present position of these lands, for it does not seem 
 that as yet Messrs. Moore and Griffiths have ever made the de- 
 mand, which must be the first step towards obtaining a lease. 
 
 It is not to be denied that an indiscriminate sale of lands under 
 licensed occupation within the Intermediate and Unsettled Dis- 
 tricts, between the publication of the Order and the demand of the 
 lease, would be open to much objection. But hero it seems that 
 the sections were applied for, and such application approved of by 
 the Government, before the publication ; and from the position of 
 the lands it is not perhaps unreasonable to surmise that they should 
 (under section 9 of chapter 2) be left open for purchase on grounds
 
 72 
 
 of public " utility" or " convenience," or for facilitating the im- 
 provement and settlement of the Colony. 
 
 Care should be taken, when the lease to Messrs. Moore and 
 Griffiths is prepared, that those sections be specially excluded. 
 
 (Signed) J. H. PLUNKETT. 
 
 No. 28. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 22nd March, 1848. 
 
 Sir, Referring to your Honour's letter of the 23rd December 
 last, No. 1377, relative to the withdrawal from sale of two por- 
 tions of land at Port Philip, in consequence of the proceedings of 
 Messrs. Moore and Griffiths, within whose licensed run the lands 
 are situated, I am instructed to transmit, for your Honour's infor- 
 mation, a copy of the minutes of the proceedings of the Executive 
 Council on this subject. 
 
 I have referred to the Crown law officers on the two points on 
 which the Council desired legal advice, and I am now to request 
 that your Honour will report, in accordance with the suggestion 
 of the Council, 
 
 1. Whether there are any lands adjoining those referred to 
 which it would be specially desirable to include in a reserve to be 
 formed in that locality ; 
 
 2. As to the expediency of establishing a general rule, that all 
 measured lands, situated within any part of the Intermediate Dis- 
 tricts, which, previously to the publication of the Order in Council, 
 were within the boundaries of location, should be expressly re- 
 served from lease, in order that they may be immediately avail- 
 able for settlement whenever a demand for them may arrive ; 
 and 
 
 3. That your Honour will furnish a return, showing the posi- 
 tion and extent of the several lands in the Port Phillip District 
 which would be reserved from lease if this principle were adopted. 
 I have &c. 
 
 (Signed) E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 The Hon. Superintendent of Port Phillip.
 
 73 
 
 Proceedings of the Executive Council on the 3rd February, 1848, 
 relative to the withdrawal of certain lands from sale at Port- 
 Phillip, in consequence of the proceedings of Messrs. Moore 
 and Griffiths, the present licensed occupants thereof. Min- 
 ute No. 48 | 4 E, confirmed 9th March, 1848. 
 
 Executive Council Office, 13th March, 1848, No. 48 | 89. 
 
 Referring to their proceedings on the 18th January last, when 
 the papers in the case were laid before them, the Council resume 
 the consideration of the measures which it will be expedient to 
 take in respect to the land withdrawn from sale by the sub-trea- 
 surer at Melbourne, in consequence of the proceedings of Messrs. 
 Moore and Griffiths. 
 
 The Council think it highly expedient, for the maintenance of 
 the rights of the Crown, that the lands in question should be early 
 offered again for sale, but the manner of doing so appears to 
 require serious consideration. 
 
 In the first place, the Council advise that the following ques- 
 tions should be submitted to the Crown law officers for their 
 opinion : 
 
 1. By the 17th section of the Crown Lands Sales Act, 5 and 
 6 Vict., c. 36, the Governor is empowered to grant licences for 
 the occupation of the waste lands of the Crown in the Colony ; 
 and it is enacted by the same clause, that no such lands shall be 
 sold until after the expiration of the licence for the occupation of 
 the same. Can the Governor, consistently with the provisions of 
 this clause, offer for sale any lands comprised within the recog- 
 nised boundaries of a run occupied under an ordinary pasturage 
 licence, or must he await the expiration of the licence before pro- 
 ceeding with the sale ? 
 
 2. Messrs. Moore and Griffiths are in licensed occupation of 
 lands situated within the Intermediate districts, as defined by her 
 Majesty's Order in Council of the 9th March, 1847, and are en- 
 titled to demand a lease of those lands accordingly, under the 11th 
 section of Chapter II. of the said Order. Two sections of those 
 lands were applied for, for purchase, in 1847. In a proclamation, 
 dated the 7th October, 1847, they were advertised for sale on the 
 9th December, 1847, but were then withdrawn by the officer 
 conducting the sale, in consequence of the proceedings taken by 
 Messrs. Moore and Griffiths, as explained in the correspondence 
 on the case. The Government now desire again to offer the same
 
 74 
 
 sections for sale, before the expiration of the existing licence, if 
 the law will allow it ; but if not, immediately on its expiration 
 shall the Governor proclaim the intended sale, without any refer- 
 ence to the Order in Council ; or is it necessary or expedient that 
 he should first declare that, by virtue of the powers vested in him 
 by the 9th section of Chapter II. of that Order, he intends to re- 
 serve these particular lands from the lease which will be issued to 
 Messrs. Moore and Griffiths ? 
 
 The Council next advise, that when the time and manner of 
 proceeding with the sale shall have been determined by the Crown 
 law officer's opinion on the foregoing questions, those officers 
 should be further instructed to prepare the form of proclamation 
 to be used in notifying the intended sale. It may also be desir- 
 able that they should draw up a document, to be read, if neces- 
 sary, at the sale, guaranteeing on the part of the Crown that the 
 purchasers will be maintained in possession of the lands, notwith- 
 standing any proceedings adopted by the present licensed occu- 
 pants. 
 
 The Council further suggests that, subject to the opinion of the 
 Crown law officers, a communication should be made to Messrs. 
 Moore and Griffiths, that they will be proceeded against by the 
 Government for damages, should the sale be prejudiced by any 
 proceedings on their part. 
 
 The Superintendent of Port-Philip should be requested to report 
 whether there are any adjoining lands which it would be specially 
 desirable to include in a reserve to be formed in that locality. 
 
 This case has suggested to the Council the possible expediency 
 of establishing a general rule, that all measured lands situated 
 within any part of the Intermediate Districts, which, previous to 
 the publication of the Order in Council, were within the boundaries 
 of location, should be expressly reserved from lease, in order that 
 they may be immediately available for settlement whenever a de- 
 mand for them may arrive. But before pronouncing a decided 
 opinion in respect to the expediency of such a rule, the Council 
 desire to receive the opinion and report of the Superintendent of 
 Port Phillip as to the probable practical working of it in his district. 
 
 The Council would further desire to receive a return, showing 
 the position and extent of the several lands in that district which 
 would be reserved from lease if this principle were adopted. 
 
 (Signed) FRANCIS L, S. MEREWETHER, 
 
 Clerk of the Council.
 
 75 
 
 Superintendent's Office, Melbourne, 22 nd April, 1848. 
 
 Sir, I take leave to acknowledge your letter of the 22nd March, 
 No. 48 | 177, referring to the withdrawal from sale of two portions 
 of land cited, in the margin, in consequence of the proceedings of 
 Messrs. Moore and Griffiths, within whose licensed run the lands 
 are situated, transmitting for my information a copy of the minutes 
 of the proceedings of the Executive Council on this subject, and 
 requesting my report on certain points. 
 
 In reply to the first inquiry, whether there are any lands ad- 
 joining those referred to which it would be specially desirable to 
 include in a reserve to be formed in that locality, 
 
 I beg to state, that the sections in question form part of certain 
 subdivided sections in the parishes of Merrima, Parwan, and Kor- 
 kuperrimul, within the counties of Grant and Bourke, in the vi- 
 cinity of the Werribee River. Of these, whether sold or unsold, 
 I beg to forward a return, and to add, that I think it will be well 
 to exempt the whole of the latter from lease. They lie without 
 the Settled District, and of course are comprised within the inter- 
 mediate land. 
 
 The second inquiry is as to the expediency of establishing a 
 general rule that all measured lands, situated within any part of 
 the Intermediate Districts, which, previously to the publication of 
 the Orders in Council, were within the boundaries of location, 
 should be expressly reserved from lease, in order that they may 
 be immediately available for settlement, whenever a demand for 
 them may arise. 
 
 With reference to the inquiry, and the following instructions 
 (3), I beg to inclose, 
 
 1. A return of all measured lands, both of sold and of Unsold, at 
 this date, within the counties of Bourke, Grant, and Normanby, 
 which may be beyond the limits of the respective Settled Districts, 
 showing the position and contents, and whether now considered 
 open to selection at upset price ; and, further, 
 
 A return of all measured lands, sold or unsold, at this date, 
 without the boundaries of the three counties, in the same form, 
 specifying the quarter in which they lay, &c. &c. 
 
 There are no measured lands of the above description at this 
 time without the boundaries of the "Settled District around Al- 
 berton. 
 
 I have here to remark, as to the unsold Crown lands within the
 
 76 
 
 Settled District, the regulations recently issued from your office, 
 of the 29th March, interpose no hindrance to their being brought 
 forward for sale whenever required ; and it might appear that the 
 Government would be therefore at this date at liberty, either at 
 its own pleasure or on the application of individuals, to take mea- 
 sures for such sale. Nevertheless, by the decision of the Gover- 
 nor and Executive Council, of the 27th October, 1847, communi- 
 cated to me in your letter of the 17th November last, No. 629, 
 the improved portion of all runs within the Settled Districts are 
 for the present reserved from sale, pending the decision of the 
 Home Government ; the quantity of land at the disposal of the 
 Government for sale within the Settled District even is, to a cer- 
 tain degree, in consequence restricted. 
 
 In the Intermediate District 1 have gathered, from recent cor- 
 respondence, that the Government would not consider itself justi- 
 fied to proclaim for sale lands held at this time under licence, and 
 for which application for lease had been made. 
 
 Now if this be the case, no land whatever of this class can be 
 with propriety brought forward for immediate sale, seeing that 
 all these lands are at present occupied in the above manner ; and 
 it may be presumed that for the greater portion applications for 
 lease have been sent in. 
 
 I presume that, nevertheless, however subject, as they necessa- 
 rily have been and are, to temporary occupation, in common with 
 other measured sections in the immediate vicinity not so situated, 
 sections in the Intermediate District which have been already put 
 up for sale by auction, and remain unsold, may even at this date 
 be held to be open to selection at upset price, under the 11th 
 clause of the regulations of the 1st March, 1843, and that the 
 same is the case with measured sections similarly situated in the 
 Unsettled District, of which it will be seen there are a consider- 
 able number. 
 
 If the power of the Government in bringing forward land for 
 sale is so far restricted, both in the Settled and the Intermediate 
 District, its hands are equally tied within the Unsettled, whether 
 within or beyond the limits of the proposed new counties ; and 
 this is clear from the decision in the case of Mr. Clarke's appli- 
 cation for sale of 10,000 acres, at present in the licensed occu- 
 pation of Mr. Coghill, which shows that, until the decision of the 
 Home Government upon the the various points referred to it is
 
 77 
 
 known, no application for the sale of the lands so situated and so 
 circumstanced will be entertained. 
 
 I have made the above observations, to show that the power of 
 Government to sell country land, wherever situated, until the 
 questions adverted to are decided, the proper reserves made, and 
 the system has come a little more into operation, is almost done 
 away with in this district ; and to point out that in this portion of 
 New South Wales, where the quantity of land comprised within 
 the Settled Districts, exclusive of the extended and almost barren 
 coast line, is so limited, very little country land whatever can be 
 for the present brought forward for sale to meet the public re- 
 quirements. 
 
 Under these circumstances, I certainly think that all the mea- 
 sured lands within the three counties, which with Gipps Land 
 form the whole of the present Intermediate District, and may be 
 considered identical with the country within the boundaries of 
 location, should be specially reserved from lease, as suggested by 
 His Excellency the Governor and the Executive Council. 
 
 The return No. 2. shows the amount of such unsold land so 
 situated, as well as the lands sold at this date. 
 
 I may remark that no provision has been made, or apparently 
 contemplated to be made, for the extension of the privileges of 
 the occupation of the neighbouring unsold sections, to the pur- 
 chasers of the Crown lands in the Intermediate and Unsettled 
 Districts ; and yet it appears to me to be difficult to assign a rea- 
 son why such privilege should be exclusively assigned to the pur- 
 chaser of Crown lands within a certain limit only. A glance at 
 the chart of this district, and the return No. 2, will show, especially 
 in the case of the Colac District, now supposed to lie within the 
 unsettled lands, how reasonably a claim for such privilege might 
 be preferred by occupants of purchased sections in that vicinity, 
 particularly if it be decided that many of the unsold measured 
 sections in their vicinity at this very time are open to selection at 
 upset price, under the 11th section of the regulations of 1st March, 
 1843. 
 
 In conclusion, and with special reference to the information 
 given by return No. 3, of all measured lands without the limits of 
 the boundaries of the three counties, my own impression is, that it 
 is advisable that none of these measured lands should be included 
 in any lease to be issued. It appears to me that the quantity
 
 78 
 
 of measured land in the district is not much greater than ought 
 to be kept available, and open for purchase if required, the rather 
 as it is certain, that, viewing the absolute necessity of following 
 up the general survey of the district, and the laying out the main 
 lines of road, and the reserves, that the survey departments will 
 have little or no time to attend to special applications for the sur- 
 vey of fresh portions for purchase for some time to come, unless 
 its strength be very considerably increased expressly to this end. 
 But in making this suggestion I am aware that difficulties stand 
 in the way, and am not clear that His Excellency will feel himself 
 at liberty to act in accordance with it at this time. I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) C. J. LA TROBE. 
 
 The Hon the Colonial Secretary, Sydney, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 No. 29. 
 
 Attorney-General's Office, 8th November, 1848. 
 
 Sir, We have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 letter of the 22nd March last, referring to the opinion given by 
 the Attorney-General in December last, as to the power of the 
 Government to offer for sale certain portions of land at Port 
 Phillip, comprised within the licensed run of Messrs. Moore and 
 Griffiths, and requesting our further opinion on the matter. 
 
 In reply, we beg to apologise for the great delay that has taken 
 place in answering your letter, but it was owing to a difference of 
 opinion that you will perceive exists in the case between us. 
 
 We have the honour to transmit our separate opinions herewith. 
 We have, &c (Signed) J. H. PLUNKETT, 
 
 The Hon. the Colonial Secretary. Attorney General. 
 
 I retain the opinion expressed by me before, in conjunction 
 with the late Solicitor- General. 
 
 Of the power of the Crown to sell and give a good title I en- 
 tertain no doubt; and as the application to purchase was made 
 and approved before the claim of Messrs. Moore and Griffiths to 
 a lease came into existence, I conceive that the Government is 
 pledged to give the applicant the opportunity to purchase which 
 he sought, and which was virtually, if not actually promised, 
 when no claims whatever interfered with the rights of the Crown.
 
 79 
 
 I cannot help thinking that the effect of the Land Orders in 
 Council has been very considerably and generally misunderstood, 
 because it does not appear to me that the 11th section of Chapter 
 II. gives an absolute right to a lease at all, and certainly not to 
 an eight or fourteen years' lease. 
 
 That section certainly is couched in very positive terms as to 
 the right to " demand " leases; but it must be read in connection 
 with the first section of the same chapter, which purports to give 
 the Governor some discretion as to the persons to whom he shall 
 " grant" leases, and an unfettered authority as to the duration of 
 the lease within the maximum limits specified. If the 11th section 
 were construed as giving to the licensed occupant a pre-emptory 
 right to a lease, it would be thereby made irreconcilable with the 
 first section ; but, if possible, it is the duty of those who may have 
 to interpret the rules to give effect, even to apparently discordant 
 provisions, by making each operate as a qualification of the other, 
 so that both may be made to speak in unison. Taking the two 
 sections together, I do not think that the 11th section gives to the 
 licensed occupant such an absolute right to the land for any 
 definite period as could be recognised as a legal bar to the sale. 
 If, under any conceivable circumstances, the Governor has a dis- 
 cretionary power of withholding a lease, no man can assert a right 
 to one until the discretion has been determined in his favour ; and 
 until the Governor has irrevocably fixed the duration of a lease, 
 no man can say as matter of law that he is in the virtual position 
 of a lessee for a definite term, and that at the particular moment 
 at which a sale takes place he was possessed of rights paramount 
 to that of the vender. 
 
 The clause which prohibits the sale of leased land during the 
 continuance of the lease does not in terms apply to the case of 
 Messrs. Moore and Griffiths, inasmuch as there is no lease in ex- 
 istence, and therefore it does not operate as an actual prohibition 
 of this sale. 
 
 In ordinary cases, it would and ought to be so considered by 
 the Government that a licensed occupant, to whose demand of a 
 lease there is really no objection, is entitled to have the lands in 
 his occupation withheld from sale during the period for which it 
 is really in contemplation as a general measure to grant leases, 
 subject only to the express provisions of sections 6 and 9 of chapter 
 2, and section 1 of chapter 3 ; but as in this case the Crown was
 
 80 
 
 pledged to give the applicant for purchase an opportunity to buy 
 the land before the proclamation of the Queen's Order in Council, 
 it would seem to be the duty of the Government to stand upon 
 its strict legal rights, in order to protect its honour. 
 
 It does not appear to admit of question that the Governor may 
 make sale of these lands, if they are required "for facilitating the 
 settlement of the Colony." But if the lease had been issued there 
 would a difficulty arise under the word " required," there being 
 no express provision made by means of which it can be determined 
 what lands are so required, and it requiring a clear case to divest 
 an interest once formally given ; and both before as well as after 
 lease a question arises upon the words " for facilitating the settle- 
 ment of the Colony." These words, as I understand them, are 
 not intended to give a power to sell any particular sections to a 
 private applicant for purchase, but must either refer to spots re- 
 quired as townships, or to tracks of land adapted for general 
 settlement. The whole clause has reference to public interest only, 
 and if the words were understood so as to authorise the sale of 
 the two sections in question independently of any other ground, 
 the effect of the conditions granted by section 15 in favour of the 
 lessee might be arbitrarily avoided in any case. 
 
 I think, therefore, that if the sale were proposed to be effected 
 for facilitating the settlement of the Colony, these particular 
 sections should be included in a larger reservation of land available 
 for settlement as contra-distinguished from squatting. 
 
 If the fact be that these lands and others in the neighbourhood 
 are so available, and the settlement would be retarded by allowing 
 them to be put under lease, it appears to me desirable that public 
 notification should be given of their being reserved for settlement, 
 and that the sale of these sections should be made after and with 
 reference to this notification. 
 
 This last remark is in reply to the inquiry submitted to the 
 law officers as to the expediency as well as necessity of making a 
 declaration under section 9 before the sale is effected. 
 
 I have now only further to state, that in my opinion the lands 
 cannot be sold during the continuance of Messrs. Moore and 
 Griffith's occupation licence. 
 
 (Signed) J. H. PLUNKETT, Attorney-General.
 
 81 
 
 No. 30. 
 
 It appears to me that Messrs. Moore and -Griffiths are, under 
 the circumstances here stated, entitled to a lease of the lands men- 
 tioned in the accompanying case, if they have applied, or do duly 
 apply for the same. 
 
 It is admitted that at the time when the Order in Council came 
 into eiFect, they were in licensed occupation of these lands so as to 
 entitle them to demand a lease of them, under the eleventh section 
 of Chapter II. of such Order ; and, these being intermediate lands, 
 under Chapter III. of such Order the duration of such lease is 
 directed to be eight years. 
 
 No doubt there is a provision in the said last mentioned chapter, 
 that the Governor may, at the expiration of each successive year 
 from the date of the lease, offer the land for sale, but still giving 
 to the lessees a right of pre-emption. 
 
 But it is here proposed, before such lease has been granted (and 
 after Messrs. Moore and Griffiths have, under the aforesaid Order 
 in Council, become entitled to the same), to offer this land for 
 public sale, and sell the same ; not that it is required for any of 
 the purposes mentioned in the third section of 5 & 6 Vict. Chap- 
 ter XXXVI. or the ninth section of Chapter II. of the aforesaid 
 Order in Council, but merely because some private individual has 
 applied to purchase the same, and may be expected to give a good 
 price for the same, to answer his own individual purposes. I 
 have &c. (Signed) W. FOSTER, Solicitor-General. 
 
 The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 No. 31. 
 
 Attorney General's Office, Sydney, 12th December, 1848. 
 Sir, We beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 
 the 4th instant, stating that his Excellency the Governor having 
 laid before the Executive Council our letter of the 8th ultimo, 
 submitting our separate opinions with respect to the power of the 
 Governor to offer for sale certain portions of land comprised within 
 a licensed run in the district of Port Phillip, you are now desired 
 by His Excellency to inform us, that before giving any advice as 
 to the course to be pursued in respect to the sale of the land in 
 question, the Council desire to receive our opinion on the following 
 further question. The run of Messrs. Moore and Griffiths (in
 
 82 
 
 which the land is comprised) being situated in an Intermediate 
 District, the Governor would be empowered, if a lease of it had 
 been issued, to offer any portion of the run for sale at the end of 
 any year from the date of the lease, upon giving sixty days' notice 
 to the lessee, and subject to the conditions in favour of the lessee 
 which are specified in Chapter II., section 15, of the Order in 
 Council. Can the Governor offer any portion of the run for sale, 
 upon these same terms and conditions, whilst it remains held, under 
 a yearly licence ? 
 
 In reply, we have the honour to state, that we are of opinion 
 that, until a lease of this land has been issued under the first sec- 
 tion of Chapter III. of the Rules and Regulations made by Her 
 Majesty in Council, on the 9th day of March, 1847, and has either 
 expired by lapse of time, or been determined by a notice, as is 
 therein provided, no portion of it could be legally put up for sale 
 in the way suggested. We have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) J. H. PLUNKETT, Attorney-General. 
 
 W. FOSTER, Solicitor-General. 
 
 The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 No. 32. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 22nd March, 1848. 
 
 Sir, I duly received and submitted to the Governor your 
 Honour's letter of the 31st December last, No. 1399, on the subject 
 of the application of Mr. W. J. T. Clarke to purchase at auction a 
 large portion of the licensed run of Mr. Wm. Coghill ; and His 
 Excellency, with the advice of the Executive Council, instructed 
 me to make your Honour the following communication in reply. 
 
 Mr. Coghill, as the present licensed occupant, is entitled to de- 
 mand a lease of his run, under the Order in Council, Chapter II. 
 section 11. 
 
 The Government will be bound to grant to Mr. Coghill, on his 
 demand, a lease of his run, with the exception of such portions (if 
 any) as it may be thought expedient to reserve for any of the 
 purposes referred to in section 9 of Chapter II. of the Order in 
 Council. 
 
 If Mr. Coghill's run be not withdrawn from the class of unset- 
 tled lands, by the proclamation of a new county in that locality, 
 the Government will be precluded, during the continuance of his
 
 83 
 
 lease, from selling any portion of the run to any other person than 
 Mr. Coghill himself, or of disposing of it in any manner, unless it 
 be required for any of the purposes referred to in section 9 of 
 Chapter II. of the Order in Council, or be within the distance of 
 two miles from a railroad. 
 
 If Mr. Coghill's run be brought within the class of intermediate 
 lands, the Governor may sell anyjportion of it at the end of each 
 year, during the continuance of the lease, on giving sixty days' 
 notice; but Mr. Coghill will be entitled to exercise the pre- 
 emptive right conferred on lessees of intermediate lands in such 
 cases by the Order in Council. 
 
 It thus appears that Mr. Clarke's application for purchase 
 cannot be entertained at all until it shall be decided within what 
 class of lands Mr. Coghill's run will be placed. 
 
 In answer to the general inquiry in your Honour's letter of 
 the 27th December last, No. 47 | 1398, 1 am directed to observe, 
 that during the present year no lands but such as are in the set- 
 tled districts, or such as it may be expedient to reserve under the 
 9th clause of Chapter II. of the Order in Council, should be 
 offered for sale. At the end of this year it will be open to the 
 Government to bring forward for sale land comprised within the 
 intermediate districts, as they may then be defined, subject to the 
 conditions in favour of the lessees which are specified in the Order 
 in Council. I have, &c. (Signed) For the Colonial Secretary, 
 
 W. ELYARD, Junr. 
 
 His Honour the Superintendent of Port Phillip. 
 
 No. 33. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 14th September, 1850. 
 Sir, In acknowledging the receipt of your Honour's letter of 
 the 9th ultimo, respecting the application made by Messrs. 
 Rogers, Lamb, and McGaa, to have the Kilmoro estate brought 
 within the settled districts, I do myself the honour to inform you 
 that the gentlemen in question have been apprised that the 
 Executive Council cannot advise His Excellency the Governor to 
 propose any further extension of the settled district. I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 His Honour the Superintendent, Port Phillip.
 
 84 
 
 No. 34. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 28th December, 1850. 
 
 Sir, 1. Referring to your Honour's letter of the 31st October 
 last, No. 220, relative to the power of the Government to offer 
 for sale portions of runs in the Intermediate Districts, before the 
 issue of the leases to the occupants thereof, I have the honour to 
 inclose a copy of the report from the Crown law officers, from 
 which your Honour will perceive that in their opinion the right of 
 the Government, under Chapter III. of the Order in Council, to 
 offer for sale portions of runs in the Intermediate Districts, before 
 the issue of leases thereof to the present occupants, is at least too 
 questionable to be asserted. 
 
 2. Whilst however communicating to your Honour this opinion, 
 His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive 
 Council, directs me to point out to your Honour, that although, 
 until the issue of the leases, the Government will not be able, 
 under Chapter III. of the Order in Council, to sell to any other 
 persons than the occupants lands forming portions of runs situated 
 in the Intermediate Districts, it is open to the Government at 
 any time to bring forward for sale the lands contained in reserves 
 formed under section 9 of Chapter II. of the Order in Council, 
 and the rules laid down by the local Government on the subject. 
 Whenever, therefore, any reserve shall have been made either in 
 the Intermediate or Unsettled Districts, the land comprised in it, 
 being thus withdrawn from the operation of the provisions re- 
 garding leased lands, can be brought forward for sale by auction 
 in the usual way. I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 His Honour the Superintendent of Port Phillip. 
 
 Attorney General's Office, Sydney, 27th September, 1850. 
 
 Sir, 1. We have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 letter of the 5th instant, No. 50 | 476, referring for our con- 
 sideration the accompanying communication from the Superinten- 
 dent of Port-Phillip, relative to the power of the Government to 
 offer for sale portions of runs in the " Intermediate Districts," 
 before the issue of the leases thereof to the occupants. 
 
 2. In reply, we have the honour to state, that we think the right
 
 85 
 
 of the Government to sell portions of runs on the " Intermediate 
 Districts," in the present state of things, is at least too questionable 
 to be asserted. 
 
 3. The present question is not the converse in all respects of 
 that which was submitted to us in your letter of the 9th April 
 last, and wherein we advised, on the 20th of that month, in favour 
 of the power of the Government to allow purchases by parties 
 entitled to leases of Crown lands. 
 
 4. We did not indeed, ever in that case, advise that the virtual 
 lessees could claim a right to make such purchases, but merely 
 that the Governor had power to make sales with the concurrence 
 (which was necessarily implied) ; now the question is, as to the 
 power of His Excellency to do an act in which he cannot expect 
 to have the virtual lessees' concurrence, namely, the putting up 
 of portions of their runs to public competition. The one might 
 be done by the mutual consent of all parties concerned, but it 
 does not follow that the other can be done at the will of the 
 Crown only. 
 
 5. But we think there is this further difference, viz. that the 
 privilege intended, by the Order in Council to be speedily con- 
 ferred on the licensed occupants of Crown lands, might not with 
 propriety be withheld by reason of the delay on the part of the 
 Government in issuing the formal leases to which the parties are 
 entitled, and yet on the other hand the Crown and public may 
 be strictly bound by the consequences of such delay. 
 
 6. Further, we observe that the express words of Chapter III. 
 section 1 of the Order in Council, present a difficulty which we 
 see no way of overcoming, except, of course, by the actual issue 
 of the leases. These words authorise the Governor to offer por- 
 tions of " Intermediate runs" for sale only " at the end of each 
 successive year from the date of the lease." Now, although we 
 may consider a term, with its accompanying rights, which is the 
 meaning of the word lease in the section 6 of Chapter II., to be 
 virtually subsisting at the time, we cannot point to any precise 
 date of commencement : nor would an implied or virtual lease be 
 within the meaning of the word as used in the above extract from 
 Chapter III. We have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) J. H. PLUNKETT, Attorney-General. 
 
 W. M. MANNING, Solicitor-General. 
 
 The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, &c. &c. &c.
 
 86 
 
 No. 35. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 26th July, 1847. 
 Sir, Adverting to the preparatory measures to be taken for 
 giving effect to the expected Order of Her Majesty in Council, 
 respecting the occupancy of Crown lands, I have the honour, by 
 the desire of His Excellency the Governor, to transmit for your 
 information copies of a circular letter which has been addressed 
 to the respective Coirtmissioners of Crown Lands, and of a letter 
 to the Deputy Surveyor-General upon the subject ; and I am to 
 request that your Honour will be good enough to cause measures 
 for the attainment of the objects proposed by these communica- 
 tions to be taken in respect of the District of Port Phillip. I 
 have, &c. (Signed) E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 His Honour the Superintendent of Port Phillip. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 26th July, 1847. 
 Sir, With reference to the evidence given by you before the 
 Executive Council, on the 15th of last month, on the subject of 
 the preparatory measures to be taken for giving effect to the 
 expected Order of Her Majesty in Council, with respect to the 
 occupation of Crown lands beyond the boundaries, I have the 
 honour to inform you, that, with the advice of the Council, His 
 Excellency the Governor is pleased to request your compliance 
 with the following instructions : viz. 
 
 1. That you will propose, with the least possible delay, 
 arrangements for the speedy completion of the surveys of the 
 general features in the squatting districts, with a view to the set- 
 tlement, by triangulation or otherwise, of points throughout those 
 districts, which would facilitate the surveys of the boundaries of 
 runs. 
 
 2. That you will state, in what manner, and to what extent, 
 the survey department should in your opinion be increased, in 
 order to accomplish, with all practicable expedition, the above- 
 mentioned survey of the general features, and the further more 
 detailed survey which would be necessary for the purpose of 
 enabling the Government to describe with precision the bounda- 
 ries of runs ; and, 
 
 3. That with reference to the statement made in your evidence, 
 that you are sufficiently informed " to lay down general lines of 
 thoroughfare, and sites of towns in all the country, at present
 
 87 
 
 occupied by licensed squatters," you will be good enough to lay 
 down on maps, and submit for the consideration of the Govern- 
 ment, such lines of thoroughfare and sites of towns, making about 
 each town a reserve of suitable extent for suburban and cultiva- 
 tion allotments. 
 
 I beg to add, that a copy of this communication has been 
 transmitted to his Honour the Superintendent of Port Phillip, 
 with a request that he will cause similar steps to be taken in res- 
 pect to that district ; and that the several Commissioners of Crown 
 lands beyond the limits have been instructed to furnish, in refer- 
 ence to their respective districts, "A nominal return of all licences 
 of runs in each district, showing the separate runs occupied by each 
 licensee, the name by which each run is known, the approximately 
 estimated number of acres comprised in each run, and a general 
 description, so far as may be practicable, of the boundaries of 
 each run ;" also, " A return of all lands within each district 
 which are not yet occupied under licence." I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 The Deputy Surveyor-General. 
 
 No. 36. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 15th October, 1347. 
 Sir, Referring to my letter of the 4th September, No. 47 | 
 452, containing directions for laying down the boundary lines of 
 the Settled and Intermediate districts therein mentioned, I am 
 now desired to inform your Honour that His Excellency the 
 Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, has been 
 pleased to determine, 
 
 1. That it will not be necessary to lay down at once by actual 
 survey on the ground those lines, at stated distances from certain 
 towns and rivers, which are to divide the settled from the inter- 
 mediate or unsettled districts ; but that it will be sufficient for 
 present purposes to lay them down on the charts, leaving their 
 actual survey on the ground until the arrival of the time when 
 they must be fixed for the purpose of defining the boundaries of 
 the holdings on either side of them ; and, 
 
 2. That the reserves to be laid out for villages and cultivation 
 lands on the great lines of thoroughfare in the squatting districts 
 shall consist of not less than 9, nor more than 25, square miles. 
 I have, &c. (Signed) W. ELYARD, Junr. 
 
 Hia Honour the Superintendent of Port Phillip.
 
 88 
 No. 37. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 12th November, 1847. 
 
 Sir, I do myself the honour to inform you that the Governor 
 has submitted to the Executive Council your Honour's letter of 
 the 2d September last, No. 47 | 947, with the reports from Mr. 
 Surveyor Hoddle therein inclosed, respecting the arrangements 
 to be made for effecting the surveys requisite for the bringing 
 into effect of the Order in Council of 9th March, 1847, and the 
 laying down of main lines of thoroughfare and town and cultiva- 
 tion reserves in the unsettled and intermediate districts of Port 
 Phillip. 
 
 With reference to the subject of the first of Mr. Hoddle's re- 
 ports, his Excellency has been pleased, with the advice of the 
 Council, to direct the transmission to your Honour, for your 
 guidance, of a copy of the instructions given to the Deputy Sur- 
 veyor-General on the 1st October last, and at the same time 
 desires me to state that he approves of your making such ar- 
 rangements, on the general principle of those instructions, as shall 
 appear to you best calculated to effect the requisite surveys with 
 as much expedition and economy as the circumstances will allow. 
 
 With reference to the subject of Mr. Hoddle's second letter, 
 His Excellency has desired me to forward to you the copy of the 
 instructions which have been this day issued to the Deputy Sur- 
 veyor-General, and to request that you will take measures, similar 
 to those therein mentioned, for the laying down of lines of 
 throrougfare, and town and cultivation reserves, by the surveyors 
 appointed to conduct the feature surveys in the unsettled and 
 intermediate lands of your district. I have, &c. 
 
 For the Colonial Secretary, 
 
 (Signed) W. ELYARD, Jun. 
 
 The Superintendent of Port Phillip. 
 
 No. 38. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 1st October, 1847. 
 
 Sir, With reference to what passed during your attendance 
 
 on the Executive Council, on the 18th ultimo, relative to the 
 
 measures to be taken for the survey of the squatting districts, 
 
 with a view to the issue of leases, T am directed by His Excel-
 
 89 
 
 lency the Governor to request that you will bring forward a 
 specific proposition with respect to each Commissioner's District, 
 for the conduct of the requisite surveys therein, under the follow- 
 ing general arrangement : namely, 
 
 To each Commissioner's District (or to two districts combined, 
 if in any case such an arrangement should be practicable and ex- 
 pedient), there shall be assigned a properly qualified ofiicer of the 
 Survey Department, whose own surveying operations shall be 
 limited to the general features of the country, and to the fixing 
 of principal points in connexion with the general trigonometrical 
 survey of the Colony, but whose duty it shall also be to supervise 
 and check the work of the contract surveyors, by whom it is in- 
 tended that the detailed survey of the boundaries of runs shall be 
 carried out. I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) W. ELTARD, Jun. 
 
 The Deputy Surveyor-General. 
 
 No. 39. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 12th November, 1847. 
 
 Sir, I do myself the honour to inform you, that His Excel- 
 lency the Governor has submitted to the Executive Council your 
 letter of the 30th September last, No. 47 | 318, relative to the 
 laying down of lines of thoroughfare, and town and cultivation 
 reserves, in the unsettled and intermediate districts. 
 
 As it appeared, from your communication, that you had not 
 the information on the subject which your evidence of the 15th 
 Juno last led them to suppose that you possessed, the Council 
 advised that one of the first and principal duties to be undertaken 
 by the officers charged with the feature surveys, should be the 
 selection of leading lines of thoroughfare, with agricultural 
 reserves about them. By leading lines of thoroughfare, the 
 Council did not mean the roads or tracks from one station to 
 another which are now in use, but lines so selected as that they 
 may be confidently expected to continue main roads of the coun- 
 try as its settlement advances. 
 
 The resorves should be chosen on these lines in such spots as 
 will afford the greatest advantages of situation, soil, building ma- 
 terials, water, and other elements of the prosperity of inland 
 settlements, and at the same time will interfere as little as pos- 
 sible with the improvements of neighbouring occupants. I have, 
 &c. (Signed) W. ELYAttD, Jun. 
 
 Th Deputy Surveyor-General.
 
 90 
 
 No. 40. 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 5th March, 1850. 
 
 Sir, 1. Your letter of the 9th January last, No. 50 | 6, request- 
 ing to be informed whether the area of twenty-five square miles, 
 which is fixed as the maximum extent of the reserves to be made 
 beyond the Settled Districts, can in some cases be increased, and 
 representing that it is proposed to extend the reserve at Armidale 
 to thirty-six square miles, and that the reserve at Deniliquin, 
 which has been approved by the Council, embraces thirty-five 
 square miles, having been laid by the Governor before the Execu- 
 tive Council, I am now directed by His Excellency to inform you, 
 that the Council cannot recommend that any reserve should ex- 
 ceed the area of twenty-five square miles, which has been approved 
 by the Secretary of State as the maximum. 
 
 2. As respects Deniliquin, I am to observe that the approval of 
 the Council was limited to the town, and that they did not record 
 my opinion respecting the adjoining reserve for cultivation ; as, 
 however, you report that the reserve laid out by you contains 
 more than twenty-five square miles, the Council advised that it 
 should be reduced to the regulated extent. I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 The Surveyor-General. 
 
 No. 41 A. 
 
 Mount Macedon, 7 th September, 1850. 
 Sir, I beg leave to apply, on behalf of myself and my broth- 
 ers, for a sale to us from the Crown of the following lands, of 
 which we are at present the licensed occupants, situated in the 
 parish of Lauriston, county of Dalhousie namely, those sections 
 marked upon the Government map 
 
 No. 48, - containing 230 acres. 
 
 49, :: 329 :: 
 
 52, :: 301 
 
 53, - - - :: 260 
 56, :: 176 
 
 I would take the liberty of pointing out to your Honour 
 two distinct grounds on which I rest my claim to such sale. As 
 expectant lessees of waste lands of the Crown in the Intermediate 
 Districts, 1 would respectfully submit that we are entitled to the
 
 91 
 
 same rights as if we were actual lessees, and that we are there- 
 fore entitled to demand the sale, under section 6 of the first chap- 
 ter of the Orders in Council. 
 
 By section 8th of the Orders in Council the Governor is em- 
 powered to make reserves of land for certain public purposes spe- 
 cified in the 5th and 6th Vict. chap. 36. Now I beg to observe 
 that notice was given in the Government Gazette that the sections 
 above named would be sold by public auction at the upset price 
 of 1 per acre. They were withdrawn on the morning of the 
 day appointed for the sale, in consequence of an application made 
 by myself. It cannot, therefore, be deemed an assumption on 
 my part, that the Crown was prepared to sell the lands by public 
 auction to any purchasers for their own private purposes. 
 
 I would most respectfully contend that such a sale cannot be 
 a disposing of Crown lands for any of the public purposes men- 
 tioned in the statute or Orders in Council; and I would take the 
 liberty to observe, that privileges which are given to us, as lessees 
 of the Crown, by the express words of an Order in Council, can- 
 not be taken away except by the like express words, nor can ge- 
 neral words be so construed as to deprive us, by implication, of 
 rights which it was the express object of the Orders in Council to 
 give. Therefore, sir, I contend that we are entitled, under sec- 
 tion 6 of the said Orders, to a sale of the above named lands at 
 the price of 1 per acre. As that value has been put upon these 
 lands by the Crown, there can be no reason to suppose that a 
 higher price should be paid for them. 
 
 The second ground on which I rest my claim is this : if the Go- 
 vernment proposed to offer for sale the said lands, under the 
 powers conferred by chapter 3d of the Orders in Council, I would 
 then claim, under the section 15th, chapter 1st, to exercise our 
 right to " the option of purchasing the land for its fair value in 
 an unimproved state," which has already been determined by the 
 Government at 1 per acre. I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) EDWARD WM. JEFFREYS, 
 
 The Superintendent of Port-Phillip. Fob JEFFREYS BROTHERS. 
 
 B 
 
 The Superintendent to the Colonial Secretary, respecting the claim of 
 
 Messrs. Jeffreys. 
 
 17th September, 1850. 
 
 I would request his Excellency's perusal of the inclosed copy of
 
 92 
 
 a letter addressed to me by Mr. Jeffreys, applying, on behalf of 
 himself and brother, to purchase certain land of which they are 
 at present the licensed occupants. I also inclose a similar appli- 
 cation from Messrs. Booth and Argyle to purchase certain lots at 
 the upset price ; all of which lands were proclaimed for sale on 
 the 6th instant. 
 
 1. The object of both the communications, and the cases of 
 Messrs. Jeffreys and Booth and Argyle, are similar, and I beg 
 leave to offer the following general remarks upon them. 
 
 2. It is true that the lands in question have been occupied by 
 them respectively, and that they are comprised within the limits 
 of runs, for which applications for lease were duly sent in under 
 the Order in Council. 
 
 These lands, nevertheless, lying adjacent to the new township 
 of Kyneton, also originally so comprised in the application for 
 lease of Messrs. Jeffreys, have been recently surveyed and re- 
 commended for sale, and in fine duly proclaimed for sale by his 
 Excellency in the New South Wales Government Gazette as 
 country lots at an upset price of 1 per acre. 
 
 3. At the time of sale, Messrs. Jeffreys on the one hand, and 
 Messrs. Booth and Argyle on the other, advanced claim to the 
 pre-emptive purchase of the lots of land respectively enumerated 
 by them at the upset price, under the plea that by the tenor of 
 the regulations, and on the ground they have since advanced more 
 in detail, they are entitled to such selection. 
 
 4. Under the circumstances it was judged better to withdraw 
 the portions so claimed in both instances, in order that, if there 
 were any reasonable doubt upon the matter, it might be set aside 
 in a proper manner. 
 
 5. In sanctioning this withdrawal, however, I intimated my 
 strong conviction, admitting the validity of the act of sale on the 
 part of Government, under the circumstances of the case, that the 
 said claims were groundless, and not to be conceded. 
 
 6. The validity of the act of sale must depend on the decision 
 of the law officers. 
 
 The lands in question, as before stated, have been covered by 
 the application for lease of the respective parties ; and, according 
 to the decision of the law officer in the case of Messrs. Moore and 
 Griffiths, it would not be competent for the Government to dispose 
 of them to the public, in the event of such an act of disposal being
 
 93 
 
 contested, before the issue of leases had placed the withdrawal of 
 these lands from the occupancy of the parties, and the sale clearly 
 within its power. 
 
 7. However, no opposition having been raised in any form to 
 the sale of these particular lands, it may therefore be assumed 
 that they are, to all intents and purposes, withdrawn from the 
 occupation of the claimants, and reserved from being compre- 
 hended in any lease issued to them hereafter. 
 
 8. To lands so situated it appears to me that the applicants 
 even now put forth no valid claim to a pre-emptive right of 
 purchase under the provisions of an Order in Council. 
 
 Had they at an earlier date even advanced their claim, there 
 might have been no difficulty, under His Excellency's notice of 
 the 28th June, 1850, to have allowed them to purchase ; but 
 even in that case certain specified conditions must have been com- 
 plied with, and Government was by no means bound to concede 
 them pre-emption at a minimum price, which, however properly 
 fixed upon when the land was to be exposed to public competition, 
 might not have been held a sufficient equivalent if sale were to be 
 effected without such competition. 
 
 With these observations I submit the case to His Excellency's 
 consideration. (Signed) C. J. LA TROBE. 
 
 c 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 17th December, 1850. 
 
 Sir, 1. I had the honour duly to receive your Honour's letter 
 of the 17th September last, No 50 | 288, respecting the claims of 
 Messrs. Jeffreys and Messrs. Booth and Argyle to purchase cer- 
 tain portions of Crown land by pre-emption at the upset price. 
 
 2. The circumstances affecting the lands in question I gather 
 from your Honour's letter to be, that they are situated in an In- 
 termediate District, that they are included in the licensed runs of 
 the above-named gentlemen respectively, and are covered by 
 their demands for lease ; but that, being in the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood of a Government township, equally included in their 
 demands for leases, they were proclaimed for sale by public 
 auction as country lots, before any claim to pre-emption was 
 attempted to be asserted, but afterwards- withdrawn. Messrs, 
 Jeffreys and Messrs Booth and Argyle now claim to exercise a
 
 94 
 
 pre-emptive right in respect to these lands, and to obtain them at 
 the upset price named in the proclamation for sale. 
 
 3. For reasons assigned in your Honour's letter above quoted, 
 and which it is not necessary here to repeat, your Honour sees 
 cause to question the right of these gentlemen, not only to the 
 obtaining of the lands at the upset price, but to the exercise of 
 any pre-emptive right whatever in respect to them. 
 
 4. As a similar question was at the time under the considera- 
 tion of the Crown law officers, that letter was also referred to 
 them, and I am now enabled to transmit, for your Honour's in- 
 formation, a copy of their reply. 
 
 5. Without quoting at length the arguments adduced in the 
 report of the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General, it may be 
 sufficient to state that those officers, whilst admitting the actual 
 power of the Government to sell the land in question to the 
 highest bidder, are yet of opinion that such sale would not be in 
 accordance with the " spirit of Her Majesty's Order in Council ;" 
 and as the Government can have no desire to assert extreme 
 rights, but, on the contrary, has every disposition to act up to 
 the spirit of the Order in Council, his Excellency conceives that 
 the claims of the gentlemen referred to, and every other pre- 
 emptive claim of the kind which is not overruled by a strong 
 public necessity, should be conceded. 
 
 6. As is to be inferred from the concluding portion of your 
 Honour's letter, that the lands in question are really above the 
 minimum value, I may remark, that the Order in Council of 
 March, 1847, not less than the local regulations of 28th June 
 last, provide in such a case for the assessment of the value of the 
 land, and his Excellency agrees with the law officers in thinking 
 that the claimants in this case are not entitled to the land at 
 1 per acre, simply because it was proclaimed for sale by auction 
 at an upset price of 1, but the price should rather be what the 
 Government might reasonably expect to realise by a sale with 
 public competition. I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) E. DEAS THOMSON. 
 
 The Superintendent of Port Phillip. 
 
 D 
 
 Attorney-General's Office, Sydney, 24th October, 1850. 
 Sir, We have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your
 
 95 
 
 letter of the 17th instant, No. 50 | 871, requesting our report 
 upon the respective applications of the Messrs. Jeffreys and Messrs. 
 Booth and Argyle, which were transmitted in the accompanying 
 communication from His Honour the Superintendent of Port 
 Phillip, to be allowed to purchase at the upset price Crown 
 lands of which they are at present the licensed occupants. 
 
 In reply, we have the honour to state, that the question in- 
 volved in this correspondence is one of considerable difficulty and 
 doubt. It is, therefore, not without hesitation that we express 
 our opinion, which is, that although the Governor has the actual 
 power to cause these lands to be sold to the highest bidder, yet 
 that such sale would not be in accordance with the spirit of Her 
 Majesty's Order in Council. 
 
 The proposed sale would not be such as is contemplated by 
 Chapter III. because it cannot be said to occur at the end of any 
 year of the lease; because sixty days' notice have not been given; 
 and because it is not in contemplation to give the party entitled 
 to the lease the right of pre-emption. 
 
 The justification of such sale would therefore seem to depend 
 upon section 9 of chapter 2. The only words in that section 
 which could possibly apply to this case, are those which authorise 
 the sale of lands comprised in any run for any other purposes of 
 public defence, safety, utility, convenience, or enjoyment, or for 
 otherwise facilitating the improvement and settlement of the Co- 
 lony. These general words must be construed with reference to 
 the specific enumeration of the purposes which they follow; and 
 as all of these, with one exception, resting upon peculiar grounds, 
 (that relating to the working of mines, which of course are not 
 comprised in a pastoral lease,) are of a general public character, 
 we are strongly inclined to think these words can neither in law, 
 nor by the ordinary rules of criticism, be held to authorise the 
 reservation of an extensive track of land for sale as Country Lots. 
 Indeed, it is only the words " for otherwise facilitating the im- 
 provement and settlement of the Colony " that are at all capable 
 of any other interpretation. Under these words we think it is 
 competent to the Governor to reserve sites for townships and vil- 
 lages, which are absolutely essential to the settlement of the Co- 
 lony, and to the general convenience of a surrounding district ; 
 but there does not appear to be the same public necessity for with- 
 holding adjacent country lands from lease in the Intermediate
 
 96 
 
 Districts. The power to offer for sale at the end of each year of 
 such leases (the early issue of which is contemplated by the Order 
 in Council), the whole or any part of the lands comprised in them, 
 is amply sufficient to enable the Governor to supply the demand 
 for cultivation lands in the neighbourhood of such towns and vil- 
 lages, and is little affected by the lessee's right of pre-emption 
 at the fair value. In the Unsettled Districts the case might be 
 different, for it may concern the public materially not to have all 
 the lands near inland towns and villages so completely locked up 
 from purchase, during a lengthened period, as they would be by 
 being comprised in the lease appropriate to those districts. It 
 follows, from what we have said, that the strong inclination of 
 our opinion is in favour of the claims to pre-emption by Messrs. 
 Jeffery, and Messrs. Booth and Argyle ; but we think the claim to 
 purchase at the upset price declared for the intended public sale 
 clearly unfounded. They must pay " the fair value of the land 
 in an unoccupied state," for the ascertainment of which, the 
 Government should require a valuer to be appointed according to 
 section 3 of Chapter II. The price would, therefore, rather be 
 what the Government might reasonably expect to realise by a 
 sale with public competition, than the minimum price named for 
 such a sale. We have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) J. H. PLUNKETT, Attorney- General. 
 W. M. MANNING, Solicitor-General. 
 
 E 
 
 Superintendent's Office, Melbourne, 20th January, 1851. 
 
 Sir, 1. I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 letter, dated the 17th ultimo, No. 50 | 800, in reply to my letter 
 of the 17th September last, No. 189, respecting the claims of 
 Messrs. Jeffries and Messrs. Booth and Arglye to purchase cer- 
 tain portions of Crown lands, by pre-emption, at the upset price, 
 as set forth and objected to by me in my letter to you of the 17th 
 September last, on the ground that these particular lands were 
 not open to pre-emption, but should be disposed of by auction. 
 
 2. Reference having been made to the law officers of the 
 Crown in this matter, and an opinion reeeived, of which a copy is 
 inclosed to me, I am instructed that, inasmuch as it is held that 
 such sale would not be in accordance with the spirit of Her Ma- 
 jesty's Order in Council, and as the Government can have no
 
 97 
 
 desire to assert extreme rights, but, on the contrary, to act up to 
 that spirit, the claim put forth by Messrs. Jeffries and Messrs. 
 Booth and Argyle, and every other pre-emptive claim of the kind 
 which is not overruled by a strong public necessity, should be 
 conceded. 
 
 3. I must at once state, that I have been totally unprepared 
 for this decision, and entertaining, as I do, so different an impres- 
 sion of the spirit and intention of the Orders in Council, and of 
 the consequences of any such construction as that given to them 
 in this instance by the law officers of the Crown to the welfare of 
 the district, I am justified in hesitating to carry this decision into 
 effect, and urging upon his Excellency the propriety of a recon- 
 sideration of the question. 
 
 4. I would at once admit, that the justification for such sale 
 must depend upon the ninth section of the second chapter of the 
 Orders in Council, and upon the authority given to the Governor 
 in the clause which empowers him to make reserves for certain 
 specific purposes, or such as public defence, safety, utility, con- 
 venience, or enjoyment, or for otherwise facilitating the improve- 
 ment or settlement of the Colony. 
 
 5. The law officers of the Crown do not appear to entertain an 
 opinion that the right of the Governor, under this clause, to make 
 town or village reserves (either in the intermediate or unsettled 
 district, or, indeed, reserves of any character, within the limits of 
 the authority given) is set aside by the fact, that the lands on 
 which such reserves are made, may have been covered by the 
 licence of the claimant for lease at the time of the promulgation of 
 the Orders in Council, and, as a matter of course, included in his 
 application for a lease formally handed in, in accordance with the 
 local regulations framed in consequence, in the great majority of 
 instances within six months. 
 
 6. It is clear that a determination and notification of all such 
 reserves, throughout the widely extended and only partially sur- 
 veyed district, in time to admit of formal exclusion from such 
 application within this interval, was quite impossible. I presume 
 that, therefore, it is allowed, that until the actual issue of leases, 
 it is in the power of the Governor to make such reserves, and that 
 such reserves shall bo held withdrawn from the provisions regard- 
 ing lands covered by such leases, when issued. 
 
 7. The main point to be determined may be, therefore, in how 
 
 G
 
 98 
 
 far it may be expedient or inexpedient, on public grounds, and con- 
 sonant with both the letter and spirit of the Orders in Council, to 
 exercise the power to make such reserves, and thereby withdraw 
 lands of greater or less extent from the provisions in favour of fu- 
 ture lessees, whether in the unsettled or intermediate districts. 
 
 8. It is urged, in the paper before me, that, however competent 
 it may be for the Governor to reserve sites for townships and 
 villages, which are absolutely essential to the settlement of the 
 Colony, and to the general convenience of a surrounding district, 
 that the words " for otherwise facilitating the improvement 
 and settlement of the Colony" would scarcely be held to justify 
 the Governor from authorising the reservation of an extensive 
 track of land as country lots; and, moreover, that there does not 
 appear to be the same public necessity for the withholding 
 country or agricultural lands from the lease in the intermediate 
 districts, viewing the power conferred upon the Governor with 
 respect to the withdrawal and sale of land under lease, as in 
 the "unsettled district," where, for obvious reasons, extended re- 
 serves may be called for. 
 
 9. With regard to the proposed limitation of the reserves in 
 the intermediate districts to town and village reserves, I think I 
 am justified in saying, that up to this time no such limitation has 
 been contemplated by the Council. 
 
 A reference to past correspondence will show, that the forma- 
 tion of country or agricultural as well as town and village reserves 
 throughout the country, lying beyond the settled districts, whether 
 strictly intermediate or unsettled, has been always contemplated 
 that frequent reference has been made to them, and rules laid 
 down for the guidance of the Superintendent and of the Survey 
 Department, both in this and the middle district, in forming them. 
 
 10. I must state freely, that I have always regarded the for- 
 mation of these reserves, wherever the public requirements might 
 call for their formation, and thereby providing, as far as our par- 
 tial knowledge of the superficial details of the district, and 
 foresight, might enable us to do, for the public benefit and real 
 interests, was an imperative duty. I have never supposed that 
 by so doing we could be setting aside any real or just claim of 
 the original occupant of such lands for depasturing purposes only, 
 his occupancy having hitherto been solely authorised and con- 
 sidered admissible for that particular purpose.
 
 99 
 
 11. Neither the letter nor the spirit of the Act of Parliament, 
 and the Orders in Council founded upon it, seemed to me to hold 
 out to such licensee any advantage beyond that which he might 
 justly and fairly claim assured occupation for depasturing pur- 
 poses solely for a certain term a proper degree of encourage- 
 ment to aid in the settlement and more fixed occupation and 
 improvement of the District, by the offer of a reasonable induce- 
 ment to become the purchaser of the land, on favourable terms 
 and compensation for improvements, in the event of the improved 
 land being brought into the market, and falling into other hands. 
 To secure him these advantages, a departure from the established 
 system of the sale of Crown lands within the Colonies, by public 
 auction, is to a limited extent sanctioned. And here I may be 
 permitted to observe, that the experience of many years would 
 appear to have so fully indicated the wisdom of the adoption of 
 the system of sale by auction, that any unnecessary departure 
 from it would be deprecated on all hands. It has generally been 
 acknowledged to secure to the public what may in the aggregate 
 be considered the fairest value for land sold at any time and 
 under ordinary circumstances, at the same time that it relieves 
 the Executive Government from the weight of responsibility, if 
 not odium, which must be entailed by any other system less open 
 and public in its operations. 
 
 \. I think that the public, on the one hand, have a right to 
 evince extreme jealousy on this point, and to require that the 
 system should not be unnecessarily set aside ; and that, on the 
 other, the Government, for its own sake, should not lightly admit 
 of such departure. 
 
 13. To act upon the construction now put upon the spirit, if 
 not the letter, of the Orders in Council, and upon the claims of 
 the future lessees of Crown lands beyond the settled district of 
 this portion of the Colony, would be, in my view, neither more 
 nor less than to relinquish and set aside that just and open system 
 of sale, by public auction, in the case of the large majority of 
 lands, the value of which would be above the average value of 
 such as might be occupied for depasturing purposes solely, and to 
 substitute in its place a system of sale, by private valuation, 
 which, however conducted, may be held open to certain objection, 
 and which must be regarded as an expedient evidently only in-
 
 100 
 
 tended to be had recourse to to a limited extent, and under very 
 peculiar and difficult circumstances. 
 
 14. My view is, that it is both in the power and the duty of 
 the Government to use timely foresight, as far as may be, under 
 circumstances of obvious disadvantage, and in the intermediate 
 districts, comprising as they do lands within from fifteen to 
 twenty-five miles of most of the principal townships, as well as in 
 the " unsettled," to remove from future occupation under lease 
 for pastoral purposes, and from the operation of the provisions in 
 favour of the lessees, inclusive of the right of pre-emptive pur- 
 chase at a valuation, such portions of land, whether large or 
 small, whether adapted to the formation of towns and villages 
 only, or suitable for agricultural improvements, as the public may 
 have a just claim to see brought into the general market, to have 
 thrown open to public competition when required, and to hold 
 when purchased under grant from the Crown. 
 
 In no other way and by no other measures can the proper 
 settlement and improvement of the country be with certainty 
 facilitated and promoted. 
 
 15. His Excellency and the Executive Council may rest 
 assured, that to adopt the alternative proposed, and to decide 
 that in this district " reserves in the intermediate districts" are to 
 be confined to a bare section, more or less, here or there, for a 
 township or village, all other lands, however valuable before as 
 well as after the issue of leases, being held subject to the pre- 
 emptive right of purchase of the original applicant for lease, and 
 obtainable whenever disposed of by the Government at an evalua- 
 tion, will be to cripple the steady occupancy and proper advance- 
 ment of the Colony, and to render the agricultural improvement 
 of the country subordinate to and dependent upon the will of the 
 lessees of Crown lands, and of those who are sure to enter into 
 speculation with them. Money is plentiful in the Port Phillip 
 district, and I am well assured, that if the decision recently 
 arrived at is confirmed, that in the multitude of instances mea- 
 sures will be taken to secure, by the exercise of the conceded 
 pre-emptive right, lands in every quarter which ought, by timely 
 reserve from the operation of the provisions in favour of such 
 licences, under the eleventh chapter of the Orders in Council, to 
 have remained in the hands of the Government to be brought
 
 101 
 
 into the market, and disposed of at public auction, whenever the 
 public requirements might call for that measure. 
 
 16. The Government may, it is true, decline to bring such 
 lands into the market or dispose of them. 
 
 It must, therefore, risk the alternative, either of refusing to 
 sell, although the sale of land in such or such quarter appears 
 really called for by the public, because the public may obviously 
 be defeated by the unexpected advance, in the sale room, of a 
 claim to the pre-emptive purchase, as in the instance which has 
 given rise to this correspondence, or it may, in the absence of any 
 assignable ground for refusal, consent to such sale, however con- 
 vinced that the public requirements are not directly promoted 
 thereby. 
 
 17. Before I conclude these remarks, I would refer to your 
 letter of the 28th of December, 50 | 823, received since that 
 which I have now the honour of acknowledging came to hand. 
 
 I am in that letter instructed that, under the opinion of the 
 Crown law officers, the right of the Governor, under Chapter III. 
 of the Orders in Council, to offer for sale portions of runs in the 
 intermediate districts, before the issue of the lease thereof to the 
 present occupant, is at least too questionable to be asserted : but 
 I am advised that, although this is the case, it is open to the 
 Government, at any time, to bring forward for sale the land con- 
 tained in reserves formed under section 9 of Chapter II. of the 
 Order in Council, and the rules laid down by the local Govern- 
 ment on the subject. Whenever, therefore, any reserve shall 
 have been made, either in the intermediate or unsettled districts, 
 the land comprised within it being thus withdrawn from tho 
 operation of the provisions regarding leased lands, can be brought 
 forward for sale, by auction, in tho usual way. 
 
 I cannot reconcile this instruction with tho opinion and decision 
 in your letter of the 17th December last, 50 | 800, and its in- 
 closure ; and I would gladly think that I am under some 
 misconception in relation to these matters, which further con- 
 sideration and explanation may remove, and that I may be 
 relieved from the difficulty in which I find myself placed. 
 
 I would earnestly request his Excellency to allow the statement 
 I have felt it my duty to make to receive such consideration as 
 it may appear entitled to. I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) C. J. LA TROBE. 
 
 The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Sydney.
 
 102 
 F 
 
 Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 10th March, 1851. 
 Sir, In reply to your Honour's further letter, No. 51 | 16, 
 of the 20th January last, on the subject of the right of pre- 
 emptive purchase claimed by Messrs. Jeffries and Booth and 
 Argyle, over land now in their occupation in the Intermediate 
 Districts of Port-Phillip, I do myself the honour, by direction of 
 his Excellency, to transmit to you the annexed copy of the 
 opinion of the Crown law officers, recommending that the matter 
 be postponed for the determination of the Governor and Executive 
 Council of Victoria. I have, &c. For the Colonial Secretary, 
 
 (Signed) W. ELYARD, Jun. 
 His Honour the Superintendent of Port Phillip. 
 
 Attorney General's Office, Sydney, 1st March, 1851. 
 Sir, 1. We have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 letter of the 7th ultimo, 51 | 98, referring to ours of the 24th 
 October last, on the subject of the application of Messrs. Jeffries, 
 and Messrs. Booth and Argyle, to purchase at the upset price 
 certain portions of Crown lands at Port-Phillip, and inclosing a 
 further letter from the Superintendent of Port Phillip, soliciting 
 a reconsideration of the decision arrived at in the case. 
 
 2. In reply, we have the honour to state that the further letter of 
 the Superintendent of Port Phillip has added to the doubts which 
 we expressed in our former communication on the subject; but 
 we are more particularly struck with this consideration, that his 
 Honour's local knowledge appears to have produced in his mind 
 an opinion to the effect, that the claims of Messrs. Jeffries, &c. 
 are, in fact, " overruled by a strong public necessity." 
 
 3. Under these circumstances we would suggest, that, as the 
 district of Port Phillip is about to be completely separated from 
 this territory, and withdrawn from the jurisdiction of New South 
 Wales, it will be proper that his Excellency and the Executive 
 Council should abstain from coming to any final decision upon the 
 point, and should leave it to be disposed of by the future Govern- 
 ment of Victoria, in such manner as local circumstances and consi- 
 derations, or the peculiar views of that Government, may require. 
 
 4. It may be desirable that, in the meantime, the leases of these 
 claimants, and of others whose licensed occupation extends over
 
 103 
 
 lands which the Superintendent of Port Phillip may think it ad- 
 visable to exclude from their leases, should be withheld. But 
 probably none of the Port Phillip leases will, in fact, be issued 
 before the separation of the Colonies. 
 
 5. It would perhaps not be proper for us to accompany the 
 above suggestions with any further general observations upon the 
 construction of the Order in Council; but we may remark that, 
 in preparing the drafts of the leases, we have inserted an express 
 reservation of power to sell, not only towns and villages, but also 
 adjacent cultivation allotments, which we did because we thought 
 the power of great importance to the public welfare, but not so 
 clearly within the words of the 9th section of chapter 2d as was 
 to be desired. We have, &c. (Signed) * 
 
 The Hon. the Colonial Secretary. 
 
 G 
 
 Crown Solicitor's Office, Melbourne, 12th January, 1852. 
 
 Sir, In reply to your letter of the 1st day of October, 1851, 
 inclosing certain documents for the perusal and opinion of the 
 Law officers of the Crown, with his Excellency the Lieutenant 
 Governor's minute thereon, I have the honour to transmit the 
 opinion asked for. I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) HENRY F. GURNER, 
 
 The Hon. the Colonial Secretary. Crown Solicitor. 
 
 We have perused the correspondence submitted to us by his 
 Kxcellency. As the subject is one of no small difficulty, affecting 
 a variety of private rights, and involving matters of extreme im- 
 portance to the public interest, we deem it necessary to premise 
 some general observations. 
 
 The Orders in Council have the same effect as the statute on 
 which they are founded. 
 
 The general words, " or for any other purpose of public de- 
 fence, safety, utility, convenience, and enjoyment," occurring in 
 the 9 th section of the second chapter, must, according to the 
 ordinary rules of construction, be interpreted with reference to 
 the preceding particular instances. 
 
 Lands, the subjects of those instances, are all to be appropriated 
 to public purposes, in the enjoyment of which every person may
 
 104 
 
 participate. They are converted, by the "grant, sale, or other 
 disposal," mentioned in that section, as it were, into public pro- 
 perty, and dedicated to the use of the inhabitants generally. 
 
 So far the provisions of this section resemble those of the sta- 
 tute relating to the sale of Crown lands, but other and more com- 
 prehensive terms have been inserted, to meet, as it would appear, 
 the progressive expansion of the Colony. The former provisions 
 relate to objects of a particular nature ; the latter terms, ob- 
 viously introduced with a view of providing for a class of wants 
 of no less public concern, and which circumstances may render 
 more or less extensive, contain a power of a different nature, un- 
 connected with, and to be construed independently of, those pro- 
 visions. 
 
 We may reasonably suppose that the framers of these Orders 
 anticipated the inconvenience to the public likely to arise from so 
 large a portion of the country as the Unsettled Districts being 
 locked up for sale for many years, and that demandsjvould ^be 
 made for lands to be applied to purposes different to those 
 merely pastoral. 
 
 To obviate this inconvenience, and~meet~ these demands, it ap- 
 pears to us that the Governor has been authorised to dispose of 
 such portions as may be required " for the settlement and improve- 
 ment of the Colony." The general wants of the community may 
 call for the establishment of inland towns and villages, and the 
 necessities of their inhabitants may absolutely require that the 
 agricultural land immediately adjacent should be sold. We con- 
 sider that the Governor, when convinced of an absolute necessity, 
 would be justified in selling, or reserving for immediate sale, such 
 portions of the lands in the Intermediate or Unsettled Districts as 
 may be required for the formation and support of these towns or 
 villages. But we are of opinion that it would not be in accord- 
 ance with the correct interpretation of this section, nor within 
 the spirit of the Orders in Council, were the Governor, without 
 reference to the sites of towns or villages, or present and pressing 
 public requirements, to reserve for sale portions of lands in these 
 districts, with a view of meeting the prospective wants of the com- 
 munity. Power to make such reserves would, as it appears to us, 
 in effect, place merely at discretion the right of the occupant to a 
 lease for a certain number of years, so clearly recognised by the
 
 105 
 
 Orders in Council, and thereby frustrate the principal object for 
 which those Orders were framed. 
 
 We are clearly of opinion that the lands to which we have al- 
 luded are not subject to the pre-emptive right of the occupant, 
 nor should they be included in a lease; but until an actual sale 
 the possession of such occupant should not, as we conceive, be dis- 
 turbed. He is entitled to a lease, subject to the conditions con- 
 tained in the 9th section ; and, until the enforcement of those 
 conditions render an interference necessary, he should be per- 
 mitted to exercise any former rights he may have enjoyed. 
 (Signed) WILLIAM F. STAWELL, 
 
 Attorney-General. 
 
 REDMOND BARRY, 
 
 12th January, 1852. Solicitor-General. 
 
 H. OPINION. 
 
 We have considered the subject of Her Majesty's Orders in 
 Council, 9th March, 1847, submitted to us by order of His Ex- 
 cellency, with reference to 
 
 I. The mode in which lands should be described in leases to be 
 
 issued under these Orders. 
 
 II. The power of the Governor, after the date or issue of a 
 
 lease, to reserve and dispose of any land comprised in such 
 lease, for the purpose mentioned in sec. 9, c. 2. 
 
 III. The right of the lessee to claim the option of purchasing 
 any such land at its fair value in an unimproved state 
 previous to its being disposed of. 
 
 1. We can foresee the probability of much inconvenience arising 
 to the lessee, if the lands are described generally as lands known by 
 a particular name, and in the actual occupation of a particular per- 
 son. The lessee might experience great difficulty in proving the 
 precise limits, were he compelled to remove a trespasser. But 
 we are of opinion that such a description, if the land can be 
 thereby identified, is sufficiently legal. The rights of the Crown 
 might be protected, and any difficulties of determining in what 
 lease particular lands were contained might be obviated, by in- 
 serting in the lease a proviso as to the mode by which, as between 
 the Crown and the lessee, such limits should be ascertained. 
 
 2. We are of opinion that lands comprised in a lease may, alter 
 the date or issue of such lease, be disposed of by the Governor
 
 106 
 
 for any of the purposes mentioned in sec. 9, cap. 2. The position 
 or extent of lands required for some of those purposes railroads, 
 for instance could not be anticipated, or the necessary reserves 
 made, previous to the issue of the leases. The power contained 
 in this section was conferred on the Governor, to enable him, dur- 
 ing the currency of the lease, to dispose of any lands required 
 for such purposes.* 
 
 3. We think that such lands are not subject to the pre-emptive 
 right of the occupant. To admit such a right would defeat the 
 obvious object of the section. 
 
 (Signed) WILLIAM F. STAWELL, 
 
 Attorney-General. 
 
 JAMES CROKE, 
 
 18th August, 1852. Solicitor-General. 
 
 No. 42. 
 
 To His Excellency Chaeles Joseph LaTeobk, Esq. Lieutenant-Governor 
 of the Colony of Victoria and its Dependencies, fyc. 8fc. 
 
 Memorial of the undersigned licensed occupiers of Crown 
 lands in the Colony of Victoria, 
 
 Sheweth, 1. That the tenure by which your Memorialists hold 
 the right of depasturage of the waste lands of the Crown does not 
 possess the same fixity of character which belongs to other species 
 of property, in consequence of which doubt and incertitude are 
 introduced, and improvements are arrested. 
 
 2. That the Act of Parliament 9 and 10 Vict. c. 104, which 
 authorises Her Majesty to demise the waste lands of the Crown 
 for any term of years not exceeding fourteen years, and also the 
 Orders in Council founded thereon, bearing date the 9th day of 
 March, 1847, have not yet been acted upon. 
 
 3. That your memorialists cannot avoid the apprehension that 
 the difficulties (of whatsoever nature they may be) which have de- 
 layed the execution of these Orders, may be of a permanent char- 
 acter, so as virtually to defeat the benefits intended to be con- 
 veyed to your memorialists by the Imperial Parliament, and by 
 Her Majesty in Council. 
 
 4. That as it is of the utmost importance to the pastoral inte- 
 
 * The above refers only to public purposes.
 
 107 
 
 rests that substantial effect should be given to the above Act of 
 Parliament and Orders in Council, your memorialists respectfully 
 submit that leases should be issued in which the reputed bounda- 
 ries of each respective run should constitute the description of 
 property intended to be demised, reserving however the right and 
 claims of adjacent settlers inter se, which should not be compro- 
 mised by any such descriptions contained in any such leases, but 
 be determinable by law in the regular courts of the Colony. 
 
 5. That as it is impracticable to ascertain with any certainty 
 the capacity of particular stations to carry any specified amounts 
 of stock, and as every method of computation must be liable to 
 various sources of error, which might hereafter impeach the accu- 
 racy of those concerned, and lead to many discrepancies, your 
 memorialists suggest that the rent to be reserved should not in 
 any case be a fixed rent, but be determinable for each ensuing 
 year in manner following : viz. Every settler should be obliged to 
 render half-yearly returns of stock to the Treasury, and the ave- 
 rage of such half-yearly returns should constitute the basis on 
 which to compute the rent for the year ensuing. 
 
 6. That believing the immediate issue of leases to be both 
 practicable and beneficial, your memorialists respectfully urge on 
 your Excellency that measures may be taken to carry the same 
 into effect. And your memorialists, &c. &c. 
 
 (Signed) J. F. PALMER, Bonigalla, 
 
 And 85 other signatures of individuals and firms. 
 
 To His Excellency Charles Joseph La Trobe, Esquire, Lieutenant-Governor. 
 
 The Memorial of the undersigned licensed occupants of Crown 
 
 lands in the Unsettled District of Murray, 
 Respectfully sheweth, 
 
 1. That the Orders in Council under which your memorialists 
 now hold their licensed runs came into force, and have had the 
 effect of law, since the 7th October, 1847. 
 
 2. That by the 3rd section of Chapter I. of the said Orders in 
 Council, the local Government had the power, at any time previous 
 to the 31st December, 1848, to proclaim and fix the boundaries 
 of any county or counties, and that such county or counties 
 should come under the regulations applicable to land situated in 
 the Intermediate Districts.
 
 108 
 
 3. That in accordance with the power so vested in the Local 
 Government, certain counties were proclaimed and their bounda- 
 ries denned. The remainder of the waste lands of the Crown 
 (save the Settled Districts) consequently came under the rules 
 and regulations applicable to the Unsettled Districts. 
 
 4. That by the 11th section, Chapter II. of the said Orders in 
 Council, your memorialists were entitled to demand leases for 
 fourteen years of their respective licensed runs. 
 
 5. That your memorialists have, in accordance with the 
 Government notice, bearing date 7th October, 1847, demanded 
 leases of their respective licensed runs accordingly. 
 
 6. That your memorialists have patiently waited since that 
 time the issuing of their leases, in accordance with the said Orders 
 in Council, but the Government have from time to time delayed 
 issuing the same, notwithstanding the pledge of his Excellency 
 the Governor, as contained in the concluding paragraph of the 
 Government notice of the 7th October, 1847, which runs thus : 
 " His Excellency, however, desires at the same time to intimate, 
 that all practicable despatch will be used for the purpose of 
 putting occupants of Crown lands in possession of the leases to 
 which they may be entitled under Her Majesty's regulations." 
 
 7. That your memorialists have learned, from a letter addressed 
 by the Colonial Secretary to Mr. William Forlonge, of Euroa, 
 that your Excellency assumes to the Lieutenant-Governor the 
 right of offering for sale any portion of a squatter's run in the 
 Unsettled District which your Excellency may consider fit for 
 agricultural or other purposes. 
 
 8. That your memorialists earnestly, yet respectfully, protest 
 against such an assumption of power on the part of the Lieutenant- 
 Governor, as being an infringement of rights conceded to the 
 squatter by the Orders in Council, and a direct violation of the 
 pledge of our most Gracious Queen, conveyed as that pledge is 
 to the licensed occupants of Crown lands in the Unsettled Dis- 
 tricts, by Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies. 
 
 9. That if any doubt as to the true intent and meaning of the 
 Orders in Council (in so far as the Unsettled Districts are con- 
 cerned) could exist, it is most unequivocally set at rest by the 
 following extract from a Despatch from Her Majesty's Secretary 
 of State to the Governor of New South Wales, when calling His 
 Excellency's attention to the power given to the Local Govern-
 
 109 
 
 inent by section 3, Chapter 1. of the said Orders : " Lands in the 
 Unsettled Districts, according to these regulations, would be abso- 
 lutely out of the power of the Crown, and be rendered unavailable 
 for settlement, for the long period of fourteen years : it would 
 therefore be absolutely necessary that no lands should be 
 classed except those which, from the remoteness of their situation, 
 you have reason to feel assured will not be required for sale to 
 the public for the purpose of permanent occupation during the 
 time for which the lease will be granted. I have to instruct you 
 to be most particular on this point." 
 
 10. That your memorialists would respectfully impress on your 
 Excellency the justice, policy, and expediency of at one causing 
 the leases to issue in the Unsettled Districts, in conformity with 
 the pledge of Her Majesty's Secretary of State to the licensed 
 occupant of lands in those districts. 
 
 11. That your memorialists would further state they are wil- 
 ling to receive their leases as binding on the Crown only, leaving 
 the lessee to establish his claim to his run against any other 
 intruder in the law courts of the Colony. At the same time, if it 
 is practicable to establish any competent tribunal to which to 
 refer any disputed boundaries, your memorialists would give their 
 most favourable attention to any suggestion on this point which 
 might emanate from your Excellency. 
 
 And your memorialists, as in duty bound, will ever pray. 
 
 (Signed) W. FURLONGE, 
 
 And 18 others. 
 
 No. 43. 
 
 Minute of Arguments addressed to His Excellency the Lieutenant 
 Governor, on the following points, at an audience afforded 
 to a number of squatters, on the 3d of August, 1852 : 
 
 I. That the leases of runs should date from the time of their 
 issue. 
 
 II. Or, if that should not be conceded, that they may bear 
 even date with leases issued by the New South Wales Government. 
 
 III. Or, that at least the question should be referred to the 
 Governor-General before any steps are taken in the matter, that 
 the rights of this class of the community may receive the fullest 
 consideration.
 
 110 
 
 IV. That it is an infraction of the Orders in Council to make 
 agricultural reserves, particularly in the Unsettled Districts. 
 
 1. That the leases of runs should date from the time of their 
 issue. 
 
 Although it should be legally untrue that the squatter has 
 possessed a lease since the proclamation of the Orders in Council, 
 it is contended that he has virtually enjoyed every benefit intended 
 to bo conferred by that instrument, and that equitably the leases 
 should bear even date with the proclamation of the Orders in 
 Council, or, at least, from the 31st of December, 1848, which 
 defined the period within which the distribution of districts was to 
 be made. 
 
 But in order to arrive at a just opinion on this subject, it is 
 necessary to consider what effects have followed from the delay 
 in the issue of leases, a delay in no respect attributable to any 
 laches on the part of the squatter. These effects are of two 
 kinds, directly diverse from each other. 
 
 By reference to Lord Grey's Despatch, dated 29th November, 
 1846, it will be seen that the special object contemplated by the 
 new Orders in Council was to present inducements to the settler 
 to make permanent improvements on his run, so as to accommo- 
 date a larger amount of stock ; but it is notorious that few per- 
 sons have engaged in such enterprises, from the uncertainty of 
 their position, and the doubts which they have j ustly entertained 
 as to the issue of leases, and consequently they cannot be said to 
 have enjoyed all the privileges intended to have been conferred 
 upon them ; neither have they been able to dispose of their stock 
 and stations to the same advantage, in the public market of the 
 Colony, as they would have done had the faith of the Government 
 been fulfilled. 
 
 2. On the other hand, there are persons who have placed a 
 more unlimited faith in the pledges of the Government, and have 
 made improvements on their runs, or purchased new runs, on the 
 expectation of a definite and guaranteed enjoyment for a number 
 of years. Such cases present examples of vested interests created 
 on the faith of the Crown, and ought not to be disturbed on any 
 consideration of mere expediency, without an equivalent compen- 
 sation. 
 
 The title to land in fee under the pre-emptive right, and the 
 title to leases, rests on the same authority ; from whence it follows,
 
 Ill 
 
 that the latter may not be disturbed or overborne from considera- 
 tions of public conveniency, without the admission of an equal 
 power to interfere with the titles given by the Crown to the 
 former. 
 
 II. Or, if that should not be conceded, that they bear even 
 date with leases issued by the New South Wales Government. 
 
 The Orders in Council apply equally to the two Colonies, and 
 it seems only reasonable that the older and superior Government, 
 under which the Orders themselves were issued, should take the 
 lead in this question. There would be an obvious inconsistency, 
 and it would afford, moreover, a fruitful source of disputation 
 hereafter, if different dates were adopted in the two Colonies, as 
 it would be impossible, in such a contingency, to deny either that 
 one had been unjustly favoured, or the other unjustly treated. 
 The circumstances of the two Colonies, although they should be 
 much more different than they are, cannot be allowed to modify 
 an abstract right. 
 
 III. Or, that at least the question should be referred to the 
 Governor-General before any steps are taken in the matter, that 
 the rights of this class of the community may receive the fullest 
 consideration. 
 
 The blame, if blame there be, of the delay in the issue of leases, 
 rests with the superior Government, on which account it seems 
 proper that the Government should first be consulted, that the 
 squatter may receive such just consideration as the circumstances 
 of the case may seem to demand, and that he may, after having 
 exhausted all other resources, pursue his claim before the Queen 
 in Council. 
 
 IV. That it is an infraction of the Orders in Council to make 
 agricultural reserves, particularly in the Unsettled Districts. 
 
 This proposition may be considered under two aspects. 
 
 1. As to the legality of making such reserves. 
 
 2. As to the policy of doing so. 
 
 I. The legality of making agricultural reserves involves also 
 two questions. 
 
 1. As to the legality of so doing before the issue of leases. 
 
 2. As to the legality after the issue of leases. 
 
 1. Before the issue of leases. 
 The Act of 9 and 10 Vict. c. 104, came into operation in this 
 Colony on 1st May, 1847. Section 10 of this Act restricts Her
 
 112 
 
 Majesty from delegating any power to Governors of Colonies to 
 alter the rules and regulations respecting the occupation of waste 
 lands of the Crown, referred to in section 6. 
 
 The Orders in Council, made in pursuance of Section 6 of the 
 above Act, came into operation in this Colony on 7th October, 
 1847. 
 
 Chapter I. section 3 of these Orders limits the time within 
 which any other county or counties may be fixed and proclaimed 
 to 31st December, 1848. 
 
 It is observable that nothing whatever is said respecting 
 agricultural reserves ; and it is further observable, and it is a 
 remarkable circumstance, that the power proposed to be conferred 
 on the Legislative Council, in the first draft of these Orders, to 
 alter these divisions, was in the second draft revoked (Chapter 1, 
 Section 3, Draft Orders). Thus evincing a great anxiety to 
 render irrevocable the pledge when once given, and to render 
 any future interference with it impossible. The same authority 
 also expressly prohibits the Governor's interference in the altera- 
 tion of the boundaries after they are once fixed. 
 
 Lord Grey's Despatches afford a full and complete interpreta- 
 tion of the intention of the framers of these Orders. In his first 
 Despatch, dated the 29th November, 1846, accompanying the 
 Draft Rules, when it was proposed to impose on the Governor 
 the task of classifying the lands of the Colony, he writes 
 " There is, as you will observe, a very material difference between 
 the conditions on which it is proposed that land should be held in 
 the three different classes of districts which it is intended to 
 establish, and the nature of this difference is such as would make 
 it necessary .that you should act with ' extreme caution' in classing 
 the lands of the Colony in one or the other of these districts. 
 Land in the Unsettled Districts, according to these regulations, 
 would be put absolutely out of the power of the Crown, and be 
 rendered unavailable for settlement, for the long period of four- 
 teen years. It would therefore be absolutely necessary that no 
 lands should be so classed except those which, from the remote- 
 ness of their situation, you have reason to feel assured will not be 
 required for sale to the public for the purpose of permanent occu- 
 pation during the term for which the leases will be granted." 
 
 And that this was the view of the Secretary of State for the 
 Colonies appears beyond doubt from the concluding paragraph of
 
 113 
 
 the same Despatch, which evidently regards the Settled and 
 Intermediate Districts as the only ones available for public sale. 
 
 " I have to instruct you to be most careful on this point, since 
 it would be a source of very serious injury, both to the Colony 
 and to the Mother Country, if at the end of eight or ten years it 
 should be found that the progress of emigration were checked by 
 the inability of the Crown to find lands to sell to intending emi- 
 grants. You will recollect, also, that as the proposed regulations 
 with regard to Intermediate lands will secure to the actual holder 
 a right of occupation for eight years, unless they are previously 
 required for purchase, and will also assure to him, on giving up 
 possession, a right to the value of his improvements, there would 
 be the less occasion for placing in the class of Unsettled Districts 
 any lands as to which even a doubt can be entertained." 
 
 The same Minister, in his Despatch, dated the 30th March, 
 1847, accompanying the amended rules, after therefore mature 
 reflection, and after an interval of four months, writes, " I have 
 in my former Despatch explained to you the great importance 
 which I attach to avoiding an error of this kind, with a view to 
 the interests of future settlers, and how great my anxiety, that 
 no undue extension should be given to the lands to be defined as 
 Unsettled, and which would thus be put out of the power of the 
 Crown, and rendered unavailable to the public by purchase, for 
 the long period of fourteen years." 
 
 This receives further confirmation from a subsequent paragraph, 
 which relies on the sufficiency of the Intermediate lands to meet 
 the public exigencies during the continuance of the leases, 
 " You will perceive that the intermediate lands have been so de- 
 scribed as to provide for the probable course of settlement along 
 the banks of navigable rivers, and also for the improvements 
 which may hereafter arise, of any railways constructed in the 
 Colonies," where, in the concluding words, especial reference is 
 made to Chapter I. Section 10 of the rules and regulations. 
 
 The " extreme caution " enjoined by the Colonial Minister on 
 Sir Charles Fitz Roy, evinces, as strongly as it is in the power of 
 language to do, the inviolability attached to the public faith when 
 once pledged. From the foregoing observations may also be de- 
 duced the following conclusions : 
 
 1. That the Queen, as contradistinguished from the Queen in 
 Council, possesses no power to alter the distribution of Districts 
 
 H
 
 114 
 
 when once fixed and proclaimed, or to delegate such power to 
 others; and that such power (although conferred in the first 
 draft) has been deliberately withheld from the Legislative Council 
 of the Colony. 
 
 2. That the power of the Governor to class the Intermediate 
 and Unsettled lands, extended only to counties, and that such 
 counties could not be proclaimed after the 31st December, 1848. 
 
 3. That not one word is said, nor may anything be inferred 
 from incidental expressions, of village or agricultural reserves ; 
 but, on the contrary, every supposable exigency is presumed to 
 be provided for by the Settled and Intermediate lands, and, after 
 the issue of leases, by the ninth and tenth sections of the rules 
 and regulations. 
 
 4. That this restriction of power to make village and agricul- 
 tural reserves, applies equally to the Intermediate and Unsettled 
 Districts, but in a particular manner to the latter ; for, as it is 
 competent, at the end of any given year, to put up the whole or 
 part of any run comprised in the Intermediate Districts, no injury 
 is virtually inflicted by proclaiming such reserves by anticipation, 
 except such as arises from the withdrawal of the best lands from 
 the pre-emptive right. 
 
 5. That on the supposition of this power being exercised, it is 
 clearly limited to the time antecedent to the issue of leases, so 
 that the leases must bear date, even on this unfavourable hypo- 
 thesis, subsequent to the proclamation of such reserves. 
 
 2. After the issue of leases. 
 
 It is evident that every argument drawn from the tenor of 
 Lord Grey's Despatch, in connexion with the Orders in Council, 
 have a more cogent application in reference to the power now 
 claimed to make agricultural reserves after the issue of leases. 
 Such a power, claimed, as it is understood to be, under the ninth 
 section of the second chapter of the Orders in Council, would in- 
 validate his Lordship's reasoning altogether, and condemn the 
 extreme solicitude evinced by that Minister, in his Depatches on 
 the subject, as absolutely superfluous. Neither does a considera- 
 tion of the Orders in Council themselves, apart from these 
 Despatches, lead to a different conclusion. The ninth section 
 reserves to the Governor the right to grant and sell any lands 
 during the currency of the leases for " public," as contradistin-
 
 115 
 
 guished from private purposes, such private purposes being, by 
 possibility, only such as may be comprised in the possession of 
 the fee simple directed to private objects. 
 
 On the other hand, what is meant by public purposes, may be 
 collected from the specialities enumerated in the ninth section, 
 which are all for the general advantage, and also by reference to 
 the third clause of the 5th and 6th Vict. c. 36, quoted in Chapter 
 II. Section 8 of the Orders in Council, as declaratory of the ob- 
 jects contemplated in that and the following clauses : viz. 
 
 " For public roads and other internal communications, whether 
 by land or water, or for the use and benefit of the aboriginal in- 
 habitants of the country, or for the purposes of military defence, 
 or as the sites of places of public worship, schools, and other pub- 
 lic buildings, or as places for the interment of the dead, or places 
 for the recreation aud amusement of the inhabitants of any town 
 or village, or as the sites of public quays or landing places on the 
 sea coast or shores of navigable streams, or for any other purpose 
 of public safety, convenience, health, or enjoyment." 
 
 Such an enumeration of specialities as is contained in the 9th 
 section of the Orders in Council, and such a provision for rail- 
 roads, as is the express and special object of the 10th section, 
 would be absolutely superfluous, if a general power to make 
 agricultural and other reserves previously and independently 
 existed ; nor does it appear possible, under the largest interpre- 
 tation, for the Crown to set aside the express words of the 6th 
 section, which states that " During the continuance of any lease 
 of lands occupied as a run, the same shall not be open to pur- 
 chase by any other person or persons except the lessee thereof;" 
 for if the Crown may come in upon the lessee's estate, for any 
 and every purpose, the guarantee of the 6th section is rendered 
 absolutely nugatory. 
 
 The same point is asserted in the Order of Council, dated 18th 
 July, 1849, viz. (New South Wales Gazette, 1850, vol. i. p. 686), 
 
 " Provided always, that no such condition or clauses of forfei- 
 ture, exception, or reservation, shall entitle any person, other 
 than the holder of such lease, to use the lands comprised therein 
 for the purpose of pasture or cultivation." 
 
 And indirectly, by the 15th section of the Orders in Council, 
 viz. that, 
 
 " Upon the expiration of a lease, it shall be competent for the
 
 116 
 
 Governor to put up all or any part of the lands included in a run 
 for sale." 
 
 From which it may clearly be inferred that, until such expira- 
 tion comes about, no such power is conferred. 
 
 II. As to the policy of making agricultural reserves, &c. 
 
 The impolicy of an undue dispersion of the inhabitants, is so 
 strongly and fully argued by Earl Grey, in his Despatch already 
 referred to, dated the 29th November, 1846, that it is unneces- 
 sary to enlarge further on this subject, except to remark, that the 
 rapid augmentation of the population of this Colony, taken in 
 connection with the probable advance in the price of animal food, 
 would seem to render it eminently unwise to place any unneces- 
 sary drawback upon the pastoral interests. Already the dearth 
 of labour is restricting the operations of this class of capitalists, 
 while the effect of opening agricultural reserves in the "Unsettled" 
 districts, would obviously and unavoidably be to convert a large 
 portion of these lands into a right of commonage, from whence 
 would spring innumerable trespasses on the legitimate settler, 
 with all the concomitant evils of cattle-stealing and heart-burnings, 
 and an amount of obstruction to the due pursuit of pastoral ob- 
 jects, as would seriously impede and fetter these operations, and 
 thereby prove detrimental to the public interests. 
 
 The settler has no desire to impede the progress of the Colony, 
 nor ought he so to be charged if, in a legitimate manner, he 
 pursues his just claims. The inviolability of public faith is pecu- 
 liarly a British sentiment, and constitutes the broadest and safest 
 basis of national prosperity. 
 
 (Signed) J. F. PALMER.
 
 117 
 
 PART IT. 
 
 No. 44. 
 
 Extract from the Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Council of 
 Victoria: 20th July, 1852. 
 
 " Mr. Johnston moved, pursuant to notice, That an address be 
 presented to his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, requesting 
 his Excellency to cause measures to be taken for bringing into 
 the market a large extent of land, suitable for agricultural pur- 
 poses, in the immediate vicinity of the Mount Alexander and Bal- 
 larat gold fields. Debate ensued. Mr. Murphy moved, as an 
 amendment, that the following words be added after the word 
 ' fields/ ' in accordance with the provisions of the Orders in 
 Council, a due regard at the same time being had to the rights 
 and interests of the occupiers of the land.' Debate ensued. Ques- 
 tion that the words proposed to be added be so added put. 
 
 " Council divided. Ayes, 14. Noes, 11. 
 
 " Question, as amended, put and passed." 
 
 No. 45. 
 
 AGEICULTUKAL CKOWN LANDS. 
 Report of the "Argus" of the 1\st July, 1852. 
 Alderman Johnston, pursuant to notice, rose to move, " That 
 an Address be presented to his Excellency the Lieutenant-Gover- 
 nor, requesting his Excellency to cause measures to be taken for 
 bringing into the market a large extent of land, rentable for agri- 
 cultural purposes, in the immediate vicinity of the Mount Alexan- 
 der and Ballarat gold fields." He said there was one word in the 
 motion, as printed, which was in error, and as it might lead to a 
 misapprehension of his object, it would be as well to explain it. 
 He wished that land " suitable " for agricultural purposes should 
 be put up for sale, not lands " rentable," as printed on the notice
 
 118 
 
 paper. His object was to get the land sold, not rented. In a 
 country like this, where there was so much agricultural land, more 
 of it ought to be brought into cultivation, for unquestionably it 
 was the means of great injury to the labourers at the gold fields, 
 that they had to cart all their flour from Melbourne, while, under 
 proper management, wheat might be grown in their immediate 
 neighbourhood. It was not only wheat in which the hardship was 
 felt, but in other produce, as oats and hay, which latter article it 
 was impossible to obtain at the diggings in sufficient quantity. 
 Government should therefore bring into the market all the avail- 
 able land in the vicinity, as when men who had got gold found 
 there were no means here for investing it, they in most cases went 
 back again to where they came from, and many successful diggers 
 went away to the neighbouring colonies, from the impossibility of 
 finding means for the investment of their capital here. J It was in 
 the same spirit as that in which the motions of the hon. members 
 for Melbourne and North Bourke (Messrs. O'Shanassy & Smith) 
 on the same subject, had been brought forward, that he now urged 
 on the Government to bring into the market land in large quan- 
 tities. It might be said that labour could not be found to culti- 
 vate this land ; but he really believed labour, if to be obtained 
 anywhere, was to be obtained at the diggings. Many men arrived 
 there with limited funds; many more were unfortunate in pursuit 
 of their object; and a proof that labour was to be found at the 
 gold fields might be derived from the fact, that last season the 
 settlers brought their sheep in flocks to the diggings, and there 
 found shearers, which they could not procure at home. There 
 were many men at the diggings anxious to obtain labour, in order 
 to procure the money for licences, and he believed that, at alJ 
 times, there would be abundance of labour in that locality. He 
 was told there was no land in the immediate vicinity of the gold 
 fields suitable for agricultural purposes, but he did not insist on 
 the necessity of immediate vicinity ; on the contrary, he believed 
 that if land for the purpose could be found within a distance of 
 ten miles, a great object would be gained, and there could surely 
 be no difficulty in that. The advantages of producing articles of 
 consumption, near to where they were to be used, was so obvious, 
 so self-evident, that it would be unnecessary to trouble the House 
 with any remarks on the subject ; ho would, however, reserve to 
 himself the right of replying to any objections that might be
 
 119 
 
 raised, though, he hoped, none would be made, where so evident 
 an advantage was apparent. 
 
 Mr. 0' Shanassy seconded the motion. The great evil of the 
 system was, the laying out of small townships, and selling only 
 small town and suburban allotments, offering no inducement what- 
 ever to the settler, which ought to be done by putting up at the 
 same time large quantities of agricultural land. The vicinity of 
 our gold fields was very suitable for this purpose, but the Govern- 
 ment had not brought any land there into the market. At Ky ne 
 ton, small allotments were sold at 180 the half acre, but as no 
 land in quantity was offered at the same time, the suburban allot- 
 ments fetched almost as high a price as those in the township. 
 There could be no difficulty in putting up such land. He knew it 
 was a general feeling amongst the gold diggers, delighted with 
 the beauty and variety of the country through which they con- 
 stantly passed, that they would like to invest the proceeds of their 
 labour in purchasing parts of it. There was every reason for the 
 Government adopting such a course, and in every locality where 
 allotments were sold, putting up large quantities of agricultural 
 land, and such he was persuaded would be found one of the most 
 powerful means for advancing the prosperity of the Colony. 
 
 Mr. Fawkner supported the motion. He quoted from the waste 
 lands Act, to show that in selecting lands for sale, among other 
 reasons given for making selections, were the " attaining the im- 
 provement and settlement of the Colony." It was the opinion of 
 the Executive, at the time that Act was framed, that those should 
 be the grounds on which land should be selected for sale, and, in 
 accordance with that opinion, lands had been surveyed in the 
 neighbourhood of Kyneton, and put up for sale, and part of it 
 had been sold as town and suburban allotments. Portions of this 
 land had been advertised in different successive sales, but on the 
 last occasion some gentlemen belonging to the district interfered, 
 and prevented the Government from selling that land which they 
 had already advertised. This reflected strongly on the conduct 
 of the Executive, who either had power to sell, or they had not. 
 If they had not that power, they failed in their duty in inducing 
 persons to come from Kyneton, Carisbrook, and elsewhere, to bid 
 for these allotments, but only to be disappointed by finding the 
 squatters had prevented the Government from selling them. They 
 had all the risk and trouble of coming to town to find that the
 
 120 
 
 Government had, at the instance of the squatters, withdrawn the 
 land. If, on the other hand, the Executive had the power, they 
 should have sold the lots, or, if they felt any doubt on the subject, 
 they might have appiled to Her Majesty in Council to give them 
 the power. No fewer than three individuals had told him they 
 would have given 4 per acre for the land in that vicinity ; but it 
 was not put up, to the injury of the emigration fund and of the 
 Colony at large. The sale of this very land had been prevented 
 by one particular squatter, who interfered with the Government, 
 and prevented them from selling it. Again, by section 6 of the 
 same Act, it was enacted, that it was lawful for Her Majesty to 
 make and enact all such rules and regulations, for the purposes 
 aforesaid, as might be deemed necessary, and any such regulations 
 again to repeal, alter, and amend, if it should appear to be advisa- 
 ble so to do. If then the law-officers of the Colony were of opin- 
 ion that the Government could not sell this land, they might still 
 have appealed to Her Majesty in Council, and so set the matter at 
 rest. If they found their hands so tied up, that they could not 
 sell, they should at once have applied to the Home Government 
 to remedy the evil. There was abundance of good land around 
 the gold fields, fit for cultivation ; he said so from his own know- 
 ledge, and he knew many men ready to purchase lots from 100 
 to 1000 acres. Despite the gold mines, he was certain as much 
 land might be brought into cultivation as to relieve the population 
 of the gold fields by its produce. 
 
 The Colonial Secretary thought that, before deciding on this 
 motion, the Council should take into consideration the position of 
 the Crown lands, according to the Waste Lands Act. By that 
 Act the land was divided into three descriptions, the Settled Dis- 
 tricts, the Intermediate Districts, and the Unsettled Districts. It 
 was in the Settled Districts alone that the whole of the land was 
 open for sale. In the Intermediate Districts, the land that could 
 be sold was but of moderate extent. The lands in question were 
 all situated in Intermediate districts, so that they were not open 
 to sale, except to a certain extent, and under certain regulations. 
 The extent to which land was open for sale in the intermediate 
 districts, was described in reserves made by the Executive for the 
 purpose of sale and for the advantage of the Colony. Wherever 
 it had been found convenient to fix the sites, as on the chief roads 
 and lines of communication, townships had been laid out, and at-
 
 121 
 
 tached to these townships were reserves of land for agricultural 
 purposes, these varying in extent according to the situation of 
 the townships, some requiring larger reserves than others. These 
 reserves were the only lands available for sale in the districts 
 spoken of, and it was remarkable that, between Melbourne and 
 the gold fields, there was more land of this description than in 
 any other direction. There could be no doubt that it would be 
 very convenient if agricultural produce could be raised nearer to 
 the gold fields, and he thought the reserves he had alluded to, if 
 brought into cultivation, would meet the object of the honourable 
 mover. With regard to the land withdrawn at the last sale, and 
 alluded to by the honourable member for Talbot, such a circum- 
 stance did occur. The lands in question were not comprised 
 within the reserves, but had been put up by the Surveyor- 
 General. The fact that they ought not to have been so put up, 
 according to the provisions of the Act, was brought under the 
 notice of the Government by the lessee of the run in which they 
 were situated, and the lots were consequently withdrawn. These 
 lands could be put up on a future occasion, when a certain notice 
 might be given to the squatter, that a part of his run would be 
 offered for sale, and the squatter could then, if he chose, claim 
 the privilege of purchasing such part. At present there were no 
 means of putting additional lands in the market, beyond the re- 
 serves which had been retained by the Government for the 
 advantage of the Colony, and they had been made of as "great 
 extent as possible. If the object of the honourable mover went 
 further than this, he must oppose it as being impracticable/^but if 
 his object was limited to the putting up more land from the re- 
 serves, or in the more distant settled parts of the Colony, he (the 
 Colonial Secretary) saw no objection to it, as that could be effected, 
 but if the object went further, he must oppose it. 
 
 Dr. Murphy thought that the motion went further than it ap- 
 peared to do. It must be considered that there were other 
 parties besides purchasers who had an interest in this question. 
 There were the rights of the present occupiers, who had an 
 interest granted by the Crown and guaranteed by the laws. He 
 denied, however, that the occupiers wished to stand in the way of 
 improvement. For himself, and for that body with which he was 
 generally .supposed to be connected, he denied that there was 
 any desire on the part of the squatters to afford any hindrance or
 
 122 
 
 impediment to the advance of improvement ; but in a question of 
 this sort, directly affecting their interests, he thought they ought 
 to be considered both by the country and the House. By the 
 old Crown land sales Act, 5 and 6 Victoria, cap. 36, the Govern- 
 ment were empowered to sell all lands, which were, however, first 
 to be proclaimed as being for sale. In 1844, Sir George Gipps 
 issued a proclamation, which, to this day, remains unaltered. By 
 it, the Counties of Bourke, Grant, and Mornington, were pro- 
 claimed as being saleable, and no other land could be sold, except 
 under special conditions, in 20,000 acre blocks. No land could 
 be sold except under that Act, or under the new Act to regulate 
 the Orders in Council. Now the Orders in Council had not been 
 entirely put in force, and it was to be presumed that a law not in 
 entire force was not a law at all. The Government then were 
 not allowed to sell under the new Act, but must fall back on the 
 old law, which allowed the squatters their rights. But again he 
 would say, that there existed no desire whatever on the part of 
 the squatters to prevent the occupation of land, but that they 
 were willing that as much land should be taken for agricultural 
 purposes as was wanted. He had, however, an opinion of his 
 own, that as the course wished to be pursued would cause the 
 land to be deserted ; that by it they would get rid of the class 
 of men to whom the Colony owed everything, for the sake of a 
 new class of whom they knew nothing ; supplanting Victoria's 
 old race of colonists, who had borne the sweat and the toil, and 
 stood in the heat and the brunt of the battle, for the sake of a 
 new and ephemeral class, whose only stake in the country was a 
 few acres of land. (Oh). Yes, honourable members may say 
 " oh," but if a new gold field of greater attractions were discovered 
 at Sydney or elsewhere, would not this new class be off again as 
 quickly as they came ? Did not this new class consist of men 
 who would not be fixed, but who were to be drawn away by the 
 first attraction that offered ? The squatters did not wish to stop 
 progress; all that they required was, that in anything that 
 might be done, due regard should be had to the interests of all 
 parties. He moved an amendment, that the following words 
 should be added : " due regard, at the same time, being had to 
 the rights of the present occupiers."
 
 123 
 
 Message from His Excellency. 
 
 A message from His Excellency being announced, and the Pri- 
 vate Secretary having delivered it to the Speaker, 
 
 The Speaker announced that he had received a message from 
 His Excellency, No. 9, inclosing a copy of a despatch received 
 from the Secretary of State, respecting the subject of emigration. 
 
 On the motion of the Colonial Secretary, the Message, with its 
 inclosures, was ordered to be printed. 
 
 The Speaker also announced the receipt of another Message, 
 No. 10, containing the draft of a bill for the confirmation of the 
 use and adoption of the Seal of Victoria. 
 
 The Attorney-General moved that the bill be read a first time 
 and printed, and would fix the second reading for to-morrow, 
 (this day). The circumstances requiring the introduction of the 
 bill were these : when the Act of Separation took place, no Seal 
 had been sent out for the use of the Colony, and His Excellency 
 had therefore adopted one which had been in use till a few days 
 ago, when it was destroyed, a new Seal having been sent. The 
 object of this Bill was to indemnify all persons from any conse- 
 quences that might arise from having acted under the authority 
 of the old Seal. 
 
 The motion was seconded by the Solicitor-General, and carried. 
 
 Debate Resumed. 
 Mr. Rutledge seconded the amendment of the honourable 
 member for the Murray. The motion appeared to him to be 
 very obscure, unless the purport of it was to call on the House to 
 address His Excellency to set aside a law of the land, and destroy 
 an important interest which existed under protection of that law. 
 It must be obvious to any one, on reading the Crown Lands Act, 
 or the Order in Council, that the lands in the intermediate dis- 
 tricts could not be put up for sale as persons might desire, for 
 their own advantage. If the motion had been one calling on the 
 Government to define the lands set down as reserved, he would 
 have supported it ; but when it was of so vague a description, as. 
 merely to suggest the idea of setting aside the law, with regard 
 to the intermediate districts, he could not do so. If the honour- 
 able member for Talbot had gone a little further in his reading 
 of the Act, ho would have seen that it was not competent for the 
 Government to infringe the leases of occupants, either before or
 
 124 
 
 after the granting of their licences ; and it would be only justice 
 as well as law to carry out the Orders of Council in the spirit, as 
 well as in the letter. It was true that such reserves should be 
 made as exigency might require, but they should be maintained 
 in good faith with the squatters. He for one would never consent 
 to ask His Excellency to infringe an Order of Council, which had 
 been framed for the benefit of the Colony at large ; as well might 
 it be attempted to disturb grants of land that had been made 
 years ago. As long as the law existed it would be law, and 
 could not be interfered with ; but if, from changes and other cir- 
 cumstances, pastoral leases were found to press unduly on the 
 other interests of the Colony, let the Act of Parliament be 
 altered, but, at the same time, let there be some compensation 
 allowed for injury done to fair and vested interests. 
 
 Mr. Strachan wished the honourable member for Villiers had 
 gone a little further in his explanation of the Act. His (Mr. 
 Strachan's) reading of it was, that the Governor had power to re- 
 lease the intermediate districts, after a period of eight years. 
 That was his view, but till the Executive should speak out as to 
 their intentions respecting the issue of new leases, both the House 
 and the public were totally in the dark on the subject. He agreed 
 with the honourable mover as to the importance of putting up 
 land for sale at the gold fields. There was no obstruction to in- 
 duce the Government to withhold those lands, but, as he said 
 before, until the Government stated their intentions as to the 
 leases, the House must remain in ignorance on the subject. 
 
 Mr. Fawkner would not have opposed the amendment, but that 
 he thought the words were a trap laid to catch the unwary. The 
 honourable member for the Murray talked about the just rights 
 of the squatters. He (Mr. Fawkner) asserted that those just 
 rights were based on robbery (a laugh), and he would, on Friday 
 next, show it distinctly to the House. 
 
 Mr. Rutledge rose to order, but 
 
 The Speaker ruled in favour of 
 
 Mr. Fawkner, who proceeded to read from the Crown lands Act, 
 to show that it gave power to Her Majesty in Council to ' renew, 
 repeal, and alter" any of its provisions. The hon. member for 
 Villiers might therefore, had he possessed sufficient mental dis- 
 cernment (a laugh) have seen that the power which he denied did 
 exist under the Act. It appeared to be the wish of some hon.
 
 125 
 
 members, that the whole Colony, with its population of 120,000 
 or 130,000, should succumb to 600 or 700 squatters. They did 
 not wish to see here the men of a few paltry acres the men who 
 were the mainstay of every country the men who formed a bold 
 yeomanry it was not their wish to see such men as these come 
 and settle, but they would rather see the whole country occupied 
 by some six hundred or seven hundred sheep-farmers, and the 
 Executive was in league with them. The Colonial Secretary had 
 said that the townships had been laid out for the convenience of 
 the squatters. They did not want storekeepers and tradesmen, 
 and mechanics in the townships, with cultivated land around, but 
 only a hoard of sheep-farmers. They did not want to get 80 per 
 acre for the land, put preferred letting it to the squatter, who 
 paid a quarter of a farthing an acre for it, on leases obtained by 
 misrepresentation sent from Sydney He denied the right of the 
 squatters these rights were a violent wrong to the whole com- 
 munity. (Hear from Mr.Rutledge). Oh, (continued the honourable 
 member, turning sharply round), gentlemen were for altering the 
 law the other day, when it trod on their toes a little, but where it 
 put a little money into their pockets, or enabled them to enrich 
 themselves to the injury of the rest of the community, they were 
 great sticklers for upholding it inviolate. It would be like coming 
 back to the old times, when biscuit was 20s. a lb. and flour not to 
 be had ; tobacco, 5s. a quarter of an oz. and Indian corn half a 
 guinea per lb. He did not wish to dispossess the squatters 
 
 Mr. Rutledge Beef and Mutton. 
 
 Mr. Fawkner They might continue to sell their beef and 
 mutton, and at a high price too. He had no wish to prevent 
 them from doing that. He would ask the Executive, and it was 
 a request they must grant, though they might delay it for a 
 time, to put up lands for sale that might be cultivated, and that 
 would produce from fifty to seventy bushels of wheat per acre 
 such as that land at Kyneton. There were persons who would 
 give i per acre for it. At present, 30,000,000 of acres were 
 divided among some 660 persons. Suppose that from each were 
 taken 2000 or 3000 acres, for agricultural purposes, there would 
 still remain to them 27,000,000 or 28,000,000. He did not want 
 to disturb the squatters ; but let not that land, which would fetch 
 10, 20, 30, or 40, an acre in the market, be leased out at 
 the rate of a quarter of a farthing an acre.
 
 126 
 
 Mr. A'Beckett said, that it was his intention to vote for the 
 amendment, but he hoped thereby that he should not be deemed 
 not to be a " true man." When he first saw the notice of the 
 present motion on the Paper, and had read it, it seemed to him 
 that there must of necessity be perfect unanimity on the subject. 
 He dare say, that if he had expressed such an opinion, many 
 honourable members would have smiled at his simplicity, for he 
 was certainly not aware that such a discussion as the present one 
 would have arisen. The only difficulty in the matter appeared 
 to him to be, whether a certain measure would be carried out in 
 accordance with the law, or in opposition to the law : that ap- 
 peared to be the point at issue. The measure proposed that land 
 should be put up for sale in larger quantities than at present, and 
 to that he fully assented. He should be glad to see large quan- 
 tities of land rendered available for agricultural purposes, but he 
 should also be glad to see the exercise of a due respect for the 
 rights of subjects ; nor did he think that any good result would 
 be obtained by setting aside any rights which had been conferred 
 on any portion of the community. He had looked carefully into 
 the Orders in Council, and found that, with reference to the lands 
 which it was now sought to bring to a public market, the difficul- 
 ties were very slight ; it was only required that due notice should 
 be given to the squatters that the lands they occupied would be 
 required for sale, and prepared to receive the " bold yeomanry," 
 of whom the honourable member for Talbot had been speaking. 
 He certainly should deeply grieve that the rights of any body of 
 men should not be preserved, and had hoped that when the 
 honourable mover was shown the amendment, he would at once 
 have assented to it. Had he done so, the House would have been 
 spared this discussion, for he thought it a sad thing that the pas- 
 toral interest of the Colony should have an ill feeling manifested 
 against it by the commercial interest. Such a state of things 
 was much to be lamented, for the interests of each were of equal 
 importance ; and it should ever be borne in mind, that to the in- 
 ducements that had been formerly held out to persons engaged in 
 pastoral pursuits, the existence of the Colony was owing. No one 
 was more aware of the jealousy that existed between the two op- 
 posite interests, than the honourable member for Talbot, who had 
 himself taken such an interesting part in the establishment of the 
 Colony. (The honourable member here read an extract from a
 
 127 
 
 work on the subject.) For himself, he should vote for the amend- 
 ment, as recognising a principle which he conceived it would be 
 very dangerous for that House or for any Legislative Assembly 
 to disavow. 
 
 Mr. Smith thought that the honourable mover had not been 
 sufficiently explicit. What was the motion? Did it call upon 
 Government to violate the law ? No. It was not depriving the 
 squatter of his just rights, but simply following up the resolutions 
 previously arrived at by that House regarding the vacant Crown 
 lands. He was certainly surprised to hear the honourable mem- 
 ber for Villiers state that the resolution was so vague as to induce 
 the belief that its object was to set aside the Orders in Council. He 
 would read the motion again ; it merely requested His Excellency 
 to cause measures to be taken for bringing into the market a 
 large extent of land, suitable for agricultural purposes, in the 
 neighbourhood of the gold fields. He should have been gratified 
 if the Colonial Secretary had stated that he was prepared to tell 
 the House that the lands should be immediately brought into the 
 market, to meet the requirements of the Colony. What was the 
 object of the amendment, but to stultify the character of every 
 member of that House ? It stated that they were to ask the 
 Government to do this, and at the same time put in a promise 
 that it was to be done according to law. He for one would 
 oppose the amendment, but would at the same time say, that if 
 the squatter had any claims according to law, those claims should 
 be held sacred. Honourable members would do wrong 
 
 Mr. Rutledge rose to order, saying that the previous speaker 
 ought to address his remarks to the chair. 
 
 Mr. Smith continued, that he would submit to the House that 
 the motion should not be taken to mean more than it expressed ; 
 it simply required that the land should be made available for the 
 public, and that such ought to be the case, he did not think any 
 honourable member would for one moment gainsay. He hoped 
 the House would carry the motion ; it was perfectly good as it 
 stood, and was one that he should cordially support. 
 
 Mr. O'Shanassy was unwilling to speak again on that subject ; 
 but the honourable member for the Murray had taken the alarm, 
 and attached to the motion a latitude ho was not justified in doing, 
 by any remarks which had been made either by the mover or se- 
 conder. He (Dr. Murphy) had feared that there was an intention
 
 128 
 
 of invading the just rights of the squatters, that is, if they had any- 
 just rights; and if they had, the mode that had been adopted by 
 the proposer of the amendment, was calculated to injure them 
 materially. He was surprised that the amendment had met with 
 any support from either side of the House ; as, were it not for the 
 gold discovery, this would have been the leading question of the 
 day ; and the motion did not contemplate doing anything in other 
 than a legal manner. They had been told a great deal about the 
 gold fields absorbing so much labour that the crops would remain 
 uncut? But had anybody heard of a single sheaf of wheat which 
 had remained uncut ? People, in fact, were desirous of purchasing 
 land, and engaging in agricultural pursuits ; and such remarks 
 as had been made came with a very bad grace from persons who 
 had occupied the waste lands for sO long a time. 
 
 Mr. Snodgrass was of the same opinion as Mr. O'Shanassy ; 
 but would, at the same time, remark, that the honourable member 
 for the Murray, in bringing forward his amendment, had evinced 
 much unnecessary alarm. 
 
 Mr. Johnston said, that the honourable member from William- 
 street had expressed a degree of surprise that the present discus- 
 sion had arisen. The honourable member was, perhaps, not yet 
 acquainted with the fact, that a certain class of persons were 
 haunted by spectral illusions, and that there was never any notice 
 of motion placed on the paper without their discovering in it a hid- 
 den meaning of doing them some serious injury. These gentlemen 
 were the squatters. The honourable member (Mr. A'Beckett) had 
 also expressed his surprise that he (Mr. Johnston) had not assent- 
 ed at once to the amendment. He was astonished that it had 
 been moved at all, and hoped that it would be withdrawn, 
 as being perfectly unnecessary. The honourable member for 
 Talbot had said that the squatters had done all in their power to 
 prevent the sale of lands, and he was perfectly right, and the 
 Colonial Secretary had informed the House that what he (Mr. 
 Johnston) had asked for was impracticable. People might ask 
 the Government what they pleased, and the answer was sure to 
 be " its impossible ; " but he was perfectly convinced that what 
 he now asked was quite possible, and could easily be carried out 
 in accordance with the Orders in Council. It had also been said 
 that the motion was in opposition to the law of the land, but this 
 he denied, as Government had power, after sixty days' notice, to
 
 129 
 
 the holder of any run, to offer for sale part of any such run. The 
 honourable member, Mr. A'Beckett, had stated that all that was 
 necessary was to give notice at the end of the year that a sale 
 would take place. He was rather surprised that a gentleman of 
 his legal sharpness should have overlookod one point. The Act 
 said, "from the date of his lease," while in fact there was no lease; 
 and why ? If the squatter did not choose to take the land at a 
 fair valuation, and when Government had the power of appointing 
 two valuators out of three if the valuation was then incorrect, it 
 was not the fault of the law, but of this impracticable Government. 
 The honourable mover of the amendment was anxious that the 
 rights of the squatter should not be interfered with. He had no 
 intention of interfering with them, as he was opposed to every 
 description of class legislation, and should not interfere with the 
 squatters as a class ; but in bringing forward the amendment he 
 thought they had shown their own ridiculous fears. An honour- 
 able member had also termed the present discussion a useless one. 
 This he denied, as it would show the House that they ought not 
 to be alarmed at the outcry of these unreasonable people. It 
 was well known what description of mind suspicion haunted, and 
 he would not apply the quotation further. It had also been said 
 that it was not right to displace the present occupiers of the land, 
 and allow the owners of a few paltry acres to come in ; but he 
 looked upon the owner of these few acres as equally as important 
 as the others. Even if he ran away, his money went to bring out 
 emigrants, and they do not run away, so the small owner of land 
 benefitted the Colony much more than the squatter did. The 
 honourable member who had seconded the amendment, had accused 
 the supporters of the resolution of a desire to set aside the law, 
 and had said that those squatters who were deprived of their runs 
 ought to have compensation. Now, if it could be shown that they 
 had any lawful claim on the land, he should be willing to give 
 them this compensation ; but when Government had a difficulty to 
 contend with, and saw that it was a difficulty, they shut their eyes 
 to it, and tried to forget it. They had even tried to forget these 
 Orders in Council, and were in hopes that if they left them alone 
 everybody else would do so too. He thought, therefore, that the 
 discussion was useful, especially if it had the effect of having the 
 squatters' leases dated at the time they ought to be not letting 
 land for four years and giving them eight. He very much object
 
 130 
 
 ed to 60,000 men being starved, in order to suit the convenience 
 of three or four squatters, and hoped that the amendment would 
 be withdrawn. He had also hoped that the Colonial Secretary 
 would have been able to come to the House, and give a more 
 satisfactory answer than he gave a short time ago to the honour- 
 able member for Talbot, by saying that the leases were in course 
 of preparation. 
 
 Dr. Murphy had not the least wish to divide the House, or 
 press his amendment, if the House were opposed to it. If, there- 
 fore, the seconder would permit him, he would withdraw it. 
 
 Mr. Rutledge acceded, but 
 
 Mr. Campbell objected to the withdrawal; and the question 
 being put, the amendment was carried. The following was the 
 division : 
 
 Ayes, 14. The Colonial Secretary ; the Auditor-General ; the 
 Chairman of Quarter Sessions ; the Attorney-General ; the Soli- 
 citor-General ; Messrs. A'Beckett, Anderson, Riddell, Russell, 
 Campbell, Murphy, Rutledge, Wilkinson, Splatt (Teller). 
 
 Noes, 11. Messrs. Westgarth, Johnston, O'Shanassy, Strachan, 
 Miller, Dight, Fawkner, Snodgrass, Turnbull, Goldsmith, Smith, 
 (Teller). The motion, as amended, was then carried. 
 
 No. 46. 
 
 Extract from Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Council of 
 28*A July, 1852. 
 
 EXTENSION OP THE SETTLED DISTKICTS. 
 
 Mr. Fawkner moved, pursuant to notice, That an Address be 
 presented by this Council, requesting His Excellency the Lieute- 
 nant-Governor to represent to the Queen in Council the urgent 
 necessity for extending the area of the settled districts in Victoria, 
 and that His Excellency will be pleased to strenuously urge upon 
 the home authorities the vast importance of this extension, and 
 the necessity for its instant adoption ; and that such a large addi- 
 tion has been and is daily being made to the population of this 
 province, in consequence of the gold found here, that not less than 
 the whole of the intermediate district, together with all that 
 extent of country in which gold can be profitably worked, ought 
 to be included in and under the title of settled districts.
 
 131 
 
 Mr. Rutledge moved, as an amendment, That all the words 
 after " That " be omitted, with a view to insert the words, " leases 
 be immediately issued to the occupants of Crown ' lands,' to bear 
 date on the 7th April, 1848, in order that the lands may be 
 opened for sale, under the Orders in Council of the 9th March, 
 1847, in quantities to meet the demand of the increasing popula- 
 tion of the Colony." 
 
 Debate ensued. 
 
 Mr. Johnston moved, as an amendment to the amendment 
 proposed by Mr. Rutledge, That the following words be inserted 
 after the word " lands," viz. " in the intermediate districts." 
 
 Debate ensued. 
 
 Question That the words of the original motion, proposed to 
 be omitted, stand part of the question put and negatived. 
 
 Question That the words proposed to be inserted in the 
 amendment first proposed, be so inserted put. 
 
 Council divided. 
 
 Ayes, 9. Messrs. Smith, Miller, Westgarth, Johnston ; Dr. 
 Thomson; Messrs. Fawkner, Strachan, Dight, O'Shanassy (Teller). 
 
 Noes, 18. The Colonial Secretary; the Attorney-General; 
 the Auditor-General ; the Chairman of Quarter Sessions ; Mr. 
 A'Beckett; Lieut. Col. Anderson; Messrs. Campbell, Riddell, 
 Turnbull; the Solicitor- General; Messrs. Goldsmith, Russell, 
 Snodgrass, Wilkinson, Rutledge, Mercer, Murphy, Splatt (Teller). 
 
 Question That the words proposed to be inserted in the place 
 of the words of the original motion, be so inserted put. 
 
 Council divided. 
 
 Ayes, 18. Mr. Murphy; the Colonial Secretary; the Attor- 
 ney-General; the Solicitor-General; the Auditor- General ; Lieut 
 Col. Anderson; Messrs. A'Beckett, Russell, Campbell, Riddell 
 Chairman of Quarter Sessions : Messrs. Splatt, Wilkinson, Turn- 
 bull, Snodgrass, Goldsmith, Rutledge, Mercer (Teller). 
 
 Noes, 9. Messrs. Smith, Miller; Dr. Thomson; Messrs. 
 Fawkner, Johnston, Strachan, Westgarth, Dight, O'Shanassy 
 (Teller). 
 
 Question That leases be immediately issued to the occupants 
 of Crown lands, to bear date on the 7th April, 1848, in order 
 that the lands may be opened for sale under the Orders in Coun- 
 cil of the 9th March, 1847, in quantities to meet the demand of 
 the increasing population of this Colony put and passed.
 
 132 
 No. 47. 
 
 PKE-EMPTIVE EIGHT TO CROWN LANDS. 
 
 Mr. Fawkner moved, pursuant to notice, That an Address be 
 presented to His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, that he 
 will be pleased to withhold the granting of all " lands" to all per- 
 sons who have claimed, or may claim, lands under the so-called 
 pre-emptive right, conferred, or supposed to be conferred, by the 
 Orders in Council, dated England in 1847, until this matter shall 
 have been brought under the notice of Her Majesty in Council. 
 
 Debate ensued. 
 
 Mr. Folman moved, as an amendment, the insertion after the 
 word " lands " of the words, "beyond the homesteads, or such 
 quantity of land as to His Excellency may appear proper in each 
 particular case, to all persons who have claimed, or may claim, 
 lands under the so-called pre-emptive right, conferred, or supposed 
 to be conferred, by the Orders in Council, dated England in 
 1847, until this matter shall have been brought under the notice 
 of Her Majesty and Council" put and passed. 
 
 No. 48. 
 
 No. 32. Pre-emptive right to Crown lands adopted on the 
 17th August, 1852, on the motion of Mr. Fawkner; and 
 that His Execellency had to such address been pleased to 
 reply as follows : 
 
 " In replying to this address, would take occasion to advert to 
 the expression of opinion, on the part of the Council, which I find 
 has been recorded at an earlier period of the session (July 28th), 
 relative to the propriety of the immediate issuing leases, bearing 
 a specified date, under the Orders in Council of the 9th March, 
 1847, to the occupants of Crown lands, in order that the land 
 may be thrown open for sale in quantities to meet the demands of 
 the increasing population of the Colony. 
 
 " I may remark, that it does not appear to be in my power to 
 direct the definite issue of these leases without very considerable 
 further delay. The whole question which this issue involves is 
 one, I conceive, to be of the greatest importance to the Colony. 
 
 "While, therefore, I consider it my duty to make every effort 
 to comply with the main provisions of the Orders referred to, 
 and to proceed with the measures preparatory to such issue,
 
 133 
 
 and further hold that it is both just and reasonable that the au- 
 thorised occupant of the waste lands of the Crown, for pastoral 
 purposes, should feel himself secure in the undisturbed occupation 
 of those lands, so long as the general interests may not demand 
 their final appropriation, by sale, or otherwise, for other purposes, 
 I am fully disposed to yield to what appears to be the wish of 
 the Council, and to bring the whole subject under the attention of 
 the Home Government, in order that, before leases finally issue, 
 some of the subordinate provisions of the above Orders, and cer- 
 tain points upon which there exists a grave discrepancy of opinion, 
 may be duly weighed, explained, and disposed of under Her 
 Majesty's authority, full assurance being attained that, while the 
 interests of one most important class of colonists are suitably 
 provided for, the general welfare of the Colony is in nowise 
 perilled. I shall take an early opportunity of communicating 
 upon the subject with the Secretary of State. 
 
 " In the interval, the claimants for leases will be enabled to 
 take advantage of the privilege conceded by the Government 
 notice of the 28th June, 1850, to purchase, under pre-emptive 
 right, their homestead section or other limited portion of their runs. 
 
 " Due notice will be given of the portions of land which it may 
 be proposed formally to exclude, on broad public grounds, from 
 lease when issued, though, until finally withdrawn from occupa- 
 tion by sale or grant, the right of the present licensee to exclusive 
 occupation of the same will remain unquestioned. And, lastly, in 
 conformity with the powers which the Lieutenant-Governor is 
 held to possess, and has already exercised, such portions of the 
 Crown lands comprised within those reserves as may be clearly 
 required for the public and general advantage of the Colony, may 
 be brought into the market, without being held subject to pre- 
 emptive right." (Signed) C. J. LA TROBE. 
 
 No. 49. 
 
 Return showing the Number of Applications to purchase Lands 
 within the Settled Districts under Pre-emptive Right, in ac- 
 cordance with the Regulations of the 8th December, 1851, 
 which have been laid before the Land Board, distinguishing 
 the Numbers and Quantities of those allowed and awaiting
 
 134 
 
 Decision, together with the average Price, as far as can be 
 ascertained. 
 
 District. 
 
 Applications dealt with 
 
 Allowances. 
 
 Average 
 
 Price per 
 
 Acre. 
 
 Awaiting Decisions. 
 
 Numbers. 
 
 Quantities. 
 
 Numbers. 
 
 Quantities. 
 
 Numbers. 
 
 Quantities, 
 
 Settled Dis- 
 tricts of the 
 Colony . . 
 
 149 
 
 Acres. 
 101032 
 
 133 
 
 Acres. 
 36480 
 
 s. d. 
 10 7 
 
 19 
 
 Acres. 
 9100 
 
 The total quantity of Crown Lands held under lease within the 
 settled districts under the 22d clause is 1,384,507 acres. 
 
 The award of the board has never exceeded the extent of 640 
 acres on each run. (Signed) R. HODDLE, Surveyor-General. 
 
 Note. It may be remarked, that, in addition to the above purchases under the 
 system of valuation, the large purchase of W. J. T. Clarke, to the extent of 
 31,375 acres, county of Bourke, sanctioned by the Governor-General, under the 
 25th clause of the Regulations of the 1st March, 1843, based upon the Imperial 
 Act 6 Victoria, c. 26, previous to the separation of the Colonies, was effected in 
 the same manner, and was allowed at the upset price of 1 per acre. 
 
 No. 50. 
 
 Return showing the Number of Applications to purchase Lands 
 in the Intermediate and Unsettled Districts under Pre- 
 emptive Right, in accordance with the Regulations of the 
 28th June, 1850, which have been laid before the Land 
 Board, distinguishing the Quantities so allowed and awaiting 
 Decision, together with the average Price, so far as can be 
 ascertained. 
 
 District. 
 
 Applications dealt with 
 
 Allowances. 
 
 Average 
 
 Price per 
 
 Acre. 
 
 Awaiting Decisions. 
 
 Numbers. 
 
 Quantities. 
 
 Numbers. 
 
 Quantities. 
 
 [Numbers. 
 
 Quantities. 
 
 Portland Bay 
 Western Port 
 Murray . . . 
 Gipp's Land . 
 Wimmera . . 
 
 Totals . . 
 
 68 
 
 36 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 Acres. 
 
 94677 
 
 32107 
 
 2447 
 
 486 
 
 320 
 
 47 
 
 ai 
 
 5 
 
 i 
 l 
 
 Acres. 
 
 22719 
 
 14683 
 
 2138 
 
 160 
 
 320 
 
 s. d. 
 [l 8* 
 
 49 
 
 Acres. 
 19672 
 
 114 
 
 130037 
 
 85 
 
 40020 
 
 49 
 
 19672 
 
 The award of the board has not exceeded the extent of 640 
 acres on each run. (Signed) R. Hoddle, Surveyor-General.
 
 135 
 
 No. 51. 
 
 At a large and most influential Meeting of the licensed occupants 
 of Crown lands, held this 2nd day of September, 1852, at the 
 " Prince of Wales" Hotel, Melbourne, Victoria, for the pur- 
 pose of preparing a Petition to Her Majesty in reference to 
 the Rights of the Petitioners arising under the Orders in 
 Council ; John Carre Riddell, Esq., M.L.C., in the chair ; 
 
 1. It was proposed by Mr. John Goodman, J.P., and seconded 
 by Mr. Alexander Cunningham, J. P., and carried unanimously : 
 
 " That the pastoral tenants of the Crown in the Colony of Vic- 
 toria, having been assured of the possession of leases, for one, eight, 
 or fourteen years respectively, in the settled, intermediate, and 
 unsettled districts, by Her Majesty's Orders in Council, dated 8th 
 March, 1847, founded on an Act of the Imperial Parliament, have 
 a just claim to have those Orders, which came into operation on 
 the 7th October, 1847, carried out according to their spirit and 
 real intention, as more fully explained in Lord Grey's despatches 
 of 20th November, 1846, and 20th March, 1847." 
 
 2. Proposed by Mr. William Campbell, M L.C., and seconded 
 by Mr. W. F. Splatt, M.L.C., and carried unanimously : 
 
 " That claims to leases, with the privilege of purchasing at a 
 valuation, became marketable through the sanction of Government, 
 by the proclamation of 1st January, 1848, and that a very large 
 proportion of the present holders have purchased their claims at 
 a high value, so that property to a large amount has changed hands 
 under such pledges of public faith, and in the fullest confidence 
 that the law affecting so great an interest would be held sacred 
 by the British Parliament." 
 
 3. Proposed by Mr. William Forlonge, and seconded by Mr. A. 
 Campbell, and carried unanimously : 
 
 " That the demand for land is fully provided for by many mil- 
 lions of acres within the settled and intermediate districts, which 
 under the Orders in Council may be made available for sale for 
 agricultural purposes." 
 
 4. Proposed by Mr. Colin Campbell, and seconded by Mr. 
 Horace Wills, and carried unanimously : 
 
 " That the squatters of this Colony, while they admit that 
 the agricultural wants of the community should be amply provided
 
 136 
 
 for, are also of opinion, that the maintenance of the pastoral inte- 
 rests is of still greater importance, as they supply a large export 
 of wool required at home for manufacturing purposes, and at the 
 same time provide a sufficient supply of animal food, which can- 
 not be imported, for the use of a rapidly increasing population, 
 and that a system of long leases for pastoral purposes, is calcu- 
 lated greatly to develop the resources of the Colony, by justifying 
 the expenditure of capital on valuable improvements." 
 
 5. Proposed by Mr. W. F. Splatt, M.L.C., and seconded by 
 Mr. Compton Ferrers, J. P., and carried unanimously : 
 
 " That while the pastoral tenants of the Crown are denounced 
 as conspirators against the peace and prosperity of the Colony, 
 by men who advocate the subdivision of the public lands among 
 the people at large, and the confiscation of existing interests, they 
 have ever occupied the position assigned to them by the Crown, 
 and discharged its obligations with loyal submission, as colonists 
 and British subjects, and that they now believe that those who 
 combine the possession of property and intelligence, both in town 
 and country, are favourable to the maintenance of that pastoral 
 system which has proved so beneficial to all classes of the Colony." 
 
 6. Proposed by Mr. W. F. Splatt, M.L.C., and seconded by 
 Mr. Adolphus Goldsmith, M.L.C., and carried unanimously : 
 
 " That the following gentlemen, J. C. Riddell, Esq., M.L.C., 
 W. Campbell, Esq., M.L.C., John Goodman, Esq., M.L.C., William 
 Forlonge, Esq., and Colin Campbell, Esq., be appointed a com- 
 mittee to transmit a copy of the foregoing resolutions to his Excel- 
 lency the Lieutenant-Governor, in time to go home by the Chusan 
 steamer." 
 
 A vote of thanks to the chairman being passed, the meeting 
 separated. (Signed) J. CARRE RIDDELL, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 No. 52. 
 
 Copy of a Despatch from Lieutenant-Governor La Trobe to Sir John 
 S. Parkington, Bart. 
 
 (No. 132.) Melbourne, September 25th 1852. (Received December 28, 1852.) 
 Sir, 1. Referring to my Despatch, No. Ill, of the 3rd Dec. 
 1852, with its important inclosures, 1 have now the honour to 
 transmit a petition addressed to Her Majesty by certain licensed
 
 137 
 
 occupiers of waste lanJs of the Crown, in the Colony of Victoria, 
 on behalf of themselves and other licensed occupants, which I 
 would request you to take a suitable opportunity of laying before 
 Her Majesty. 
 
 2. This document has come into my hands at so late an hour 
 before the sailing of the Australian, that it is quite impossible for 
 me to accompany it with any detailed remarks, and yet to with- 
 hold its transmission might occasion great disappointment to the 
 important section of the colonists whose views and interests it is 
 intended to advocate. However I may be held, in one or other 
 section of the Despatch cited above, to have anticipated the more 
 important statements and comments which it might otherwise have 
 been my duty to have accompanied it. 
 
 3. My wish is, that the whole of this important question, which 
 the case brought under your notice involves, should be weighed in 
 all its bearings, and I can take no grave exception to the view 
 taken by the gentlemen who have signed the petition of what they 
 conceive to be their claims as a body, and of the rights which they 
 have acquired under the Orders in Council. It may be held to be 
 a natural if not a sound one in all respects. I have, &c. 
 
 (Signed) C. J. LA TROBE. 
 
 The Eight Hon. Sir John S. Parkington, Bart. &c. &c. &c. 
 
 P.S. I likewise transmit a letter which accompanied the petition. 
 
 (Signed) C. J. L. 
 
 Melbourne, 25th September, 1852. 
 
 Sir, Referring to the letter which I had the honour to address 
 to your Excellency, inclosing certain resolutions (adopted at a 
 meeting of Crown tenants, of which 1 was chairman, in reference 
 to their rights under the Orders in Council), to be forwarded to 
 Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies, I have now 
 the honour to forward the memorial based on these resolutions. 
 
 I beg to state, for your Excellency's information, as well as that 
 of the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 
 that the memorial contains a simple statement of facts of memorial- 
 ists' case, and would have been signed by almost every tenant of 
 the Crown, had time permitted of its being sent into the interior. 
 As it is, the memorial is agreed to by all that are resident within, 
 reach of Melbourne
 
 138 
 
 Understanding that your Excellency is forwarding by the steamer 
 Australia, Despatches in reference to these Orders in Council, 
 the memorialists feel it their duty to forward their memorial with 
 such signatures as they have been enabled to get to it. 
 
 To your Excelleney it may be unnecessary to mention, that 
 were the memorialists to delay forwarding the memorial until 
 time admitted of its being sent into the interior for signature, 
 many months would be consumed, from the impassable state of 
 the country at this period of the year. Under these circumstances, 
 the memorialists consider they will be best consulting the interests 
 of the Colony and the Government, by forwarding the memorial 
 at once, with such signatures as have been obtained to it ; and 
 they trust that your Excellency will, in forwarding the memorial, 
 be pleased to bring under the notice of the Secretary of State for 
 the Colonies, the feelings that have induced them to adopt such a 
 course. I have, &c. (Signed) J. CARRE RIDDELL. 
 His Excellency C. J. La Trobe. 
 
 No. 53. 
 
 To the Queen's most Excellent Majesty. 
 
 The humble Petition of the undersigned licensed occupiers of waste 
 lands of the Crown, in the Colony of Victoria, on behalf of 
 themselves, and the other licensed occupiers, 
 
 Sheweth, That the great bulk of the waste lands of the Crown 
 in this Colony, was first discovered and occupied by the present 
 licensed occupants, or by their predecessors, whose interests in 
 such waste lands, as conferred by the Crown, they purchased, and 
 whom they now represent. 
 
 That the flocks and herds, introduced by your Majesty's peti- 
 tioners and their predecessors, have given a value to the land 
 which could have been imparted to it in no other way, and have 
 been the means of creating an export of wool and tallow, which 
 has been hitherto the chief cause of the prosperity of this Colony, 
 and proved of vast importance to the Mother Country ; the trade 
 of the merchant, the shopkeeper, the artisan, and agriculturist, 
 each receiving a stimulus from the large amount of money and 
 merchandise, introduced in exchange for this export, and dissemi 
 nated in the shape of high wages and other expenditure through 
 the entire community.
 
 139 
 
 That the value of this export of wool and tallow amounted in 
 1850 to upwards of one million pounds sterling. 
 
 That in the discovery and settlement of this country Your 
 Majesty's petitioners, and those whom they represent, expended 
 much capital, experienced great personal hardships, and made 
 great social sacrifices; were continually exposed to great risk of 
 life and property, passing a life of great hardship and privation ; 
 and for many years, owing to the high price of labour, to the losses 
 consequent on a new settlement, and other causes, the profits of 
 your petitioners were so small and precarious, that many of the 
 first settlers became insolvent. 
 
 That in consideration of the causes shortly stated above, and 
 for divers other good reasons, an Act was passed by the Imperial 
 Parliament, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty- six, 
 empowering Your Majesty to grant leases of eight and fourteen 
 years to your petitioners, and to make regulations, by Order in 
 Council, as to the terms on which such leases should be granted, 
 and for other matters connected therewith, as more fully alluded 
 to in the explanatory Despatches of Your Majesty's Secretary of 
 State to the Governor of New South Wales, accompanying the 
 Order in Council. 
 
 That in pursuance of the authority thus vested in Your Majesty , 
 Your Majesty did, on the eighth day of March, one thousand 
 eight hundred and forty-seven, by Order in Council, divide the 
 lands of this Colony into three classes, called respectively the set- 
 tled, intermediate, and unsettled districts. 
 
 That by these Orders Your Majesty declared that the occu- 
 pants of land in the unsettled districts should ~be entitled to 
 demand leases of their respective runs, and the Governor was 
 empowered to grant such leases for fourteen years, subject to 
 certain reservations for public purposes therein specified. 
 
 That within lands coming under the description of intermediate 
 lands, Your Majesty further declared that leases should be ac- 
 quired on similar conditions, but that they should only last for 
 eight years ; and that, at the expiration of each year of the lease, 
 the Governor, on giving to the lessee sixty days' notice, might 
 offer the whole or any part of such lands for sale by auction, 
 subject to the right of the lessee to purchase any portion of them 
 at their fair value, ascertained by arbitration, in the mode pointed 
 out by such Orders.
 
 140 
 
 That in the settled district, leases for exclusively pastoral pur- 
 poses should be granted for one year, but revocable should the 
 land be required for sale. 
 
 That the settled district comprises all lands within twenty-five 
 miles of Melbourne, fifteen of Geelong, ten of Portland, Alberton, 
 and Belfast, and within two miles of the sea coast of the whole 
 Colony. This is computed to contain about an area of three mil- 
 lions of acres. 
 
 That the intermediate district comprises the sixteen counties of 
 Victoria, and the whole of Gipp's Land not contained in the 
 settled district, and is computed to contain about twenty millions 
 of acres. 
 
 That the purchased land amounts to about four hundred thou- 
 sand acres, not one-tenth part of which has ever as yet been 
 brought under the plough ; while the cultivation of the arable 
 lands, which were under tillage previous to the discovery of the 
 gold, has been since then in a great measure abandoned for the 
 more lucrative pursuit of gold digging, and that there are 
 upwards of two millions and a half of acres which may be put up 
 for sale, by public competition, as soon as the surveys of them 
 are complete, and twenty millions which may be put up for sale 
 at the expiration of each year of lease, subject to the proviso per- 
 mitting the lessee to purchase such portion as he may require at 
 its fair value. So that, with a population of one hundred and 
 twenty thousand, or even if it amounted to many millions, there 
 is no just pretence for saying that there is not sufficient land at 
 present attainable for all agricultural purposes required by the 
 Colony, or that the lands of the Colony would be confiscated, or 
 occupied prejudicially to the general interests of the Colony, if 
 leases for the limited terms contemplated by the Orders in Coun- 
 cil were issued to the licensed occupants, the public interest being 
 protected by the proviso above cited. 
 
 That your petitioners have made their claims for leases within 
 the time prescribed by the Orders in Council ; but that, owing to 
 some cause with which your petitioners are not acquainted, the 
 Lieutenant-Governor of this Colony has not issued any leases 
 to your petitioners, nor has he declared when they are to issue, 
 nor the time from which they are to date, although frequently 
 requested so to do, and although the Governor- General in the 
 neighbouring Colony of New South Wales has declared that, in
 
 141 
 
 that Colony, leases under these Orders are to issue and bear date 
 the 1st of January, 1852. 
 
 That on the faith of these Orders in Council, many persons 
 have invested their entire capital in the purchase of runs, and 
 that claims to leases, with the privilege of purchasing at a valua- 
 tion, were made transferable, through the sanction of Government, 
 by the proclamation of the 30th of June, 1848, the language of 
 which is so clear and expressed as to the right to sell leases which 
 many of Your Majesty's petitioners have bought, that they cannot 
 but consider that it will be impossible to deprive Your Majesty's 
 petitioners of the rights acquired by them under so express a 
 sanction, without disregarding entirely those principles which are 
 essential to the protection of property and of public faith. 
 
 That very large sums of money have, upon the faith of the 
 above proclamation, been paid by persons settling in this Colony 
 in the purchase of leases, by such proclamation authorised to be 
 sold, believing that the capital brought over by them for the pur- 
 pose of investment and enterprise could not be more securely laid 
 out, or more beneficially employed, than in the acquiring of an 
 interest guaranteed by the Crown, in connection with an occupa- 
 tion to which the Colony owed its progress, and by which the 
 Mother Country had been and still is immensely benefited. 
 
 That, about ten months ago, gold in large quantities began to 
 be discovered in this Colony, and that every succeeding month 
 has shown the exclusive richness of the deposits of this metal. 
 That, in consequence of this discovery, there has been a large 
 influx of gold seekers from the neighbouring colonies, the popula- 
 tion of Victoria having increased, in a few months, from seventy- 
 seven thousand souls to about one hundred and twenty thousand. 
 
 That the wealth derived from the gold fields has more than 
 kept pace with the increase of population, upwards of four mil- 
 lions of pounds sterling in value having been raised in the short 
 time mentioned ; and that, from these causes, all property in the 
 Colony, with the exception of sheep, has risen in value ; but that, 
 as yet, owing to the difficulties of procuring labour, the effects of 
 the gold discovery have been most disastrous to the sheep farmer, 
 the increased demand for the carcase being not more than equi- 
 valent for the stoppage of the export of tallow consequent on the 
 want of hands at the melting establishments ; while the expense
 
 142 
 
 of rearing stock is greatly increased by the want of labour 
 before alluded to. 
 
 That the withholding of leases, on the part of the Government, 
 has discouraged your petitioners from taking those steps for dis- 
 pensing with labour which they might otherwise have taken, by 
 fencing in the same, and procuring permanent water by artificial 
 means. The present great want of manual labour in the Colony, 
 joined with the before-mentioned withholding of the leases, is 
 certain materially to impair, both in quality and quantity, that 
 export of wool which has conduced so much to the past prosperity 
 of this Colony, and has at the same time promoted the manufac- 
 turing interests of the Mother Country. 
 
 That a party in this Colony look with jealousy at the increased 
 value which the holdings of your petitioners, in common with all 
 other property, are likely to derive from the discovery of gold, 
 and, as your petitioners are informed, have petitioned your Ma- 
 jesty to revoke the Orders in Council, and to break your Majesty's 
 promise, and the good faith of Parliament, pledged to your peti- 
 tioners. 
 
 That your petitioners feel that it might be considered an insult 
 to your Majesty to conclude with a prayer that your Majesty 
 would preserve inviolate a pledge solemnly given ; it is, therefore, 
 from no distrust in your Majesty's good faith that they now ap- 
 proach your Majesty on this subject, which they would not have 
 done, did they not fear that their silence might be construed into 
 an approval of the proceedings of these persons before mentioned, 
 and an indifference to their own rights. 
 
 Your petitioners, therefore, pray that your Majesty will give 
 directions to the Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria to carry out the 
 Orders in Council, in the spirit in which they were made, by 
 issuing leases to your petitioners, dated, as proposed by the 
 Governor-General in New South Wales, from the first day of 
 January, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, and securing 
 to them the rights guaranteed by those Orders. 
 
 And your petitioners will ever pray, &c. 
 
 (Signed) W. F. SPLATT, M.L.C. 
 
 And 66 other Signatures.
 
 143 
 
 No. 54. 
 
 Downing Street, 29th November, 1853. 
 
 Sir, 1. 1 have to acknowledge your Despatches of the numbers 
 and dates specified in the margin, on the subject of the questions 
 which have been raised relative to the extent of the Rights of 
 Licensed Occupants of Crown Lands in Victoria, under the Order 
 in Council of 9th March, 1847, and subsequent Orders and Regu- 
 lations. 
 
 2. In the first of these Despatches you inform me (paragraph 
 61), that you have brought the whole of this very complicated 
 subject under the attention of the Home Government, in compli- 
 ance with the wishes of the Legislative Council, as expressed in 
 their Address, voted on the 17th August, 1852, in the manner 
 explained in your Despatch. 
 
 3. In giving you the Directions which the present Despatch 
 contains, I am actuated by the desire to satisfy, as far as in my 
 power, what appears to be the deliberate wish of the Legislative 
 body, as well as your own. It would, undoubtedly, have been a 
 far easier course for Her Majesty's Government to decline this 
 responsibility, and to leave the entire charge of future regulations, 
 and the decision of questions of vested rights, now actually in dis- 
 pute, to the Local Legislature, and to the local tribunals respec- 
 tively ; especially as, under the engagement of Her Majesty's 
 late and present advisers to the Colonists, there is every reason 
 to expect that the general control of the Waste Lands will soon 
 be transferred from the Home to the Local Government. But I 
 am compelled to recognise the strong grounds on which your ap- 
 plication and that of the Legislative Council rests, and the justice 
 of the appeal, on the part of the occupants themselves, to the 
 Home Government, for its assistance in defining and securing 
 those rights which they have acquired under its own acts. 
 
 4. Still the difficulty of decision on such a subject, with the 
 materials in possession of Her Majesty's Government, is very 
 great. Even the substantial facts on which the decision is to rest 
 are by no means fully before me. I say this with no view of imputing 
 blame to yourself or the local authorities, who have supplied me, 
 no doubt to the full, with such information as they deemed requi- 
 site ; but I am left ignorant of many things which aro probably
 
 144 
 
 so familiar in the Colony that they have not been thought to re- 
 quire specific notice. For instance, while I should rather have 
 inferred from your despatch that the majority of stockholders in 
 the Intermediate, as well as in the Unsettled districts, were still 
 without leases, I consider it doubtful, from other statements in 
 these papers, whether some leases for eight years may not have 
 been actually given in the former districts. Again : I am alto- 
 gether without information how the very important clauses in the 
 Order in Council, which give the occupants in certain cases the 
 right of exclusive purchase, and the right of pre-emption, are 
 practically worked in the Colony: whether, for instance, the 
 lessee has been held entitled, on any occasion, to demand the sale 
 of land on valuation, or it has been always considered com- 
 petent to the Governor to decline to accede to such demand. Yet 
 these are important points, with a view to understanding the 
 equitable relation which now subsists between the Government 
 and the occupants, and without a fuller knowledge of these and 
 other particulars than I possess, I feel that any adjustment pro- 
 posed by Her Majesty's Government runs the risk of being 
 founded on mistaken data. 
 
 5. I have done my best to remedy this deficiency by conversa 
 tion with such persons, well acquainted with the Colony, as I could 
 from time to time consult; and I have postponed taking any 
 steps on your Despatches for a time, far longer than I should 
 have otherwise judged advisable, partly in the expectation that 
 further incidental intelligence from yourself might assist me, and 
 not without hope, also, that some progress might be made towards 
 adjustment, by further discussion and comparison of views in the 
 Colony itself. I feel, however, that it is due to the important 
 interest concerned that this delay should last no longer. 
 
 6. It is necessary that I should commence by stating, that Her 
 Majesty's Government are perfectly satisfied with the reasons 
 which you have adduced, why the portion of the Order in Coun- 
 cil, which declares that actual leases shall be granted on demand, 
 has hitherto remained a dead letter, and must probably long 
 remain so, unless some equitable adjustment intervenes. They 
 are satisfied that the circumstances of the Colony have rendered 
 the Surveys, which were considered essential preliminaries to the 
 execution of the leases, impracticable ; and that such extensive 
 Surveys will long be impracticable. This is an obstacle which no
 
 145 
 
 one fully appreciated beforehand, and for which no one is justly- 
 responsible. But the occupants have, in addition, no ground, in 
 my judgment, to complain of this delay ; because, in fact, the 
 burden lay on them, and not on the Local Government, under 
 the terms of the Order in Council, and Regulations subsequently 
 issued : as I understand them, to furnish such descriptions of their 
 runs as might render it possible to grant a lease, and the assist- 
 ance of surveys was a benefit offered them by the Local Govern- 
 ment, and no part of their rights : and still more, because, in the 
 absence of the leases, they seem to have enjoyed up to this time 
 the full practical benefit of leases (except so far as regarded a 
 sense of security for the future), and the various privileges which 
 the Order in Council conferred nominally on leases only. 
 
 7. It must be farther stated, that it is perfectly clear that the 
 real purpose of the Order in Council, was that fairly represented in 
 paragraph 63 of your Despatch : namely to give encouragement 
 to those engaged in pastoral pursuits, the value of which to the 
 Colony is fully explained in your Despatches, and fully recognised 
 by Her Majesty's Government. It was intended to give them 
 adequate use of the land for the purpose of their particular 
 industry, and adequate protection against disturbance in it. It 
 was not intended to give them advantages beyond other members 
 of the community, towards becoming purchasers of Crown land, 
 except to the very limited extent required for their actual accom- 
 modation : still less was it intended to enable them to become 
 speculators in land, purchasing on terms peculiar to themselves, 
 in order to sell again in the general market. And least of all 
 was it intended that their pastoral occupation should stand in the 
 way of the development of general population and industry, and 
 of those facilities for the acquisition of land by the public at 
 large which are essential to that development. 
 
 8. If the language of the Order in Council goes beyond these 
 intentions, and if that language, coupled with the acts done under 
 it, has conferred vested rights to an extent beyond what was at 
 all foreseen, and now felt as a practical inconvenience, a very 
 serious question undoubtedly arises between private claims and 
 the general interest. I will not say that, in an extreme case, 
 the latter must not prevail, and that vested rights must not 
 give way, subject to such compensation as it may be practicable 
 to give. 
 
 K
 
 146 
 
 9. But I am not satisfied that it is necessary to resort to mea- 
 sures of this nature. It requires to be first considered whether 
 the existing powers of Government will not suffice at once to 
 maintain the intended principle, and to repress the abuse. 
 
 If the occupants insist on the extreme view of their rights, as 
 controlling the obvious meaning of the concessions made to them, 
 it becomes incumbent on Government to protect the public, by 
 insisting also on the rigorous interpretation of the Order in Coun- 
 cil, when its provisions may seem to clash with the public interests. 
 
 10. Now, the equitable rights of the occupants, on the strictest 
 view, are also I think fully stated in your Despatch. I need 
 only very briefly recapitulate those on which the questions now 
 submitted to me turn. They appear to be entitled to demand 
 leases, under the conditions respectively specified as to interme- 
 diate and unsettled lands, to be executed whenever it is possible 
 for Government to take the necessary measures, for terms not 
 exceeding eight and fourteen years respectively. They are 
 entitled to a right of pre-emption when lands are put up for sale, 
 at the end of each year of lease in the intermediate, of the last 
 year in the unsettled district. They are entitled to an exclusive 
 right of purchase in the unsettled districts, whenever Government 
 thinks fit to sell them land during the currency of the lease. And 
 they are entitled to renewal, under the conditions specified in 
 section 16 of the Order in Council. 
 
 11. The limits to those rights, on the other hand, appear to be 
 these, judging, as I am compelled to judge, only from the Order 
 in Council itself, and subsequent legal documents issued by the 
 Local Government; for it is impossible that I can fully appreciate 
 the modifications which usage or understanding, recognised both 
 by Government and the occupants, may have introduced in the 
 Colony. 
 
 12. In the first place, as the occupants have been treated in all 
 respects as lessees since the Order in Council was acted on in the 
 Colony, any lease granted must fairly be considered as dated 
 only from that period. This I understand to be the view of the 
 Legislative Council, in which I fully concur. The date on which 
 I understand them to have fixed, is the 7th April. 1848, to which 
 I see no objection. 
 
 13. In the next place, the Order in Council promises these 
 leases only for terms " not exceeding " eight and fourteen years
 
 147 
 
 respectively. The squatters, indeed, appear to contend that these 
 words are to be taken contrary to their plain import, as convey- 
 ing a promise for the full extent of those terms, and I do not col- 
 lect from any of your Despatches the impression of your own 
 views on this very essential point. Mr. Forlonge. I observe^ 
 contends that the claimants in the unsettled districts have a posi- 
 tive " guarantee " for fourteen years, absolute. I can only say, 
 that the most diligent examination of the papers has failed to 
 show me any such guarantee. It cannot be seriously contended, 
 for a moment, that a casual expression in the Despatch of Lord 
 Grey, transmitting the Order in Council (on which I see some 
 reliance is placed), taken also apart from its context, had 
 the effect of adding to or altering the definite words of 
 an Order in Council. And could this be maintained, it would 
 be easy to show, from Jiis Lordship's own subsequent Des- 
 patches, that he did. not himself so interpret the Order. In a 
 Despatch addressed to Sir Charles Fitz Roy, on the 6th August, 
 1849, he says : " But inasmuch as the Order of the 9th March 
 leaves the length of the term of years to be granted entirely at 
 your discretion, you will be able and justly entitled to refuse to 
 such persons any lease for more than a year, unless they are 
 willing to accede to the insertion of the conditions which you 
 may require." 
 
 14. It is hardly necessary to add, that as the occupants are now 
 in the enjoyment of tho full benefit of leases, without possessing 
 them, so they cannot justly claim that the term of lease to be ul- 
 timately allotted to each, whether fourteen years or less, must 
 run from the actual issue of such lease. The antedating of the 
 lease will be strictly equitable, inasmuch as they have hitherto 
 had the same equitable advantage as if it had so been issued. 
 
 15. In the next place, although the lessee in an unsettled dis- 
 trict has an exclusive right of purchase (subject to what I shall 
 have presently to say on the head of reserves), during the cur- 
 rency of his actual or assumed lease, I find no provision in Section 
 6 compelling the Governor to sell such lessee any land on his 
 demanding it. 
 
 16. Nor do I find any provision in Section 15, or elsewhere, 
 compelling the Governor to put up land for sale at the expiration 
 of each year in the Intermediate Districts : or of the lease in the 
 unsettled districts ; nor any provision continuing the right of pre-;
 
 148 
 
 emption to the occupant at any future sale, when the Governor 
 shall not have sold immediately on the expiration of the lease, and 
 the lessee shall not have renewed, or shall have been prevented 
 from renewing, by an alteration in the class of his land. And it 
 must be added, that, considering the great difficulties which you 
 point out as attaching to the system of sale by valuation, it would 
 be obviously unreasonable to suppose that the Governor was com- 
 pellable to exercise these powers of sale, when the public interest 
 did not require it, merely in order to enable the lessee to exercise 
 his exclusive or pre-emptive rights those rights having really 
 been given him only with a view to prevent interruption by others, 
 not as a means of gain to himself. 
 
 17. In the next place, Section 9 of the Order in Council gives 
 the power of making grants, or sales within the runs, and with- 
 out any regard to exclusive or pre-enjptive rights in the lessee, 
 for many specified public purposes, including the purpose of dig- 
 ging for minerals, which may be of great importance in the present 
 situation of the Colony: and, lastly, "for otherwise facilitating 
 the Government and Settlement of the Colony." Without enter- 
 ing at length into the controversy to which these words have 
 given rise, it is enough for me to say that the very differences of 
 opinion which have existed among Lawyers, as to their exact con- 
 struction, entitle you, in my opinion, to put on them the more 
 liberal one, as regards the requirements of the public. If this 
 construction be legal, and I have no reason to doubt it, it is plainly 
 that which ought to be adopted, both for the public advantage, 
 and also with a view to the equitable redemption of the promises, 
 and no more than the promises, intended to be made to the occu- 
 pants themselves. It was intended to prevent land comprised, in 
 their runs from being sold by Government to parties purchasing 
 for mere speculative purposes, and at the same time to enable it 
 to be so sold (without regard to the lessees' right of exclusive pur, 
 chase) where the public necessities of the Colony were such as to 
 require it. When, therefore, you are of opinion that the progress 
 of population and settlement in a particular quarter, has rendered 
 it matter of public importance that enough land should be made 
 available for the Agricultural supply of the wants thus created, 
 you may, in my opinion, sell land to that extent, under the gene- 
 ral sale regulations of the Colony, though situated within a run. 
 
 18. And, lastly, I consider it plain that Her Majesty's Govern-
 
 149 
 
 ment have the power to make rules respecting the division, from 
 time to time, of the land into Settled, Intermediate, and Unset- 
 tled Districts, by Order in Council. And considering the great 
 change in the circumstances of Victoria, it is obvious that the time 
 has arrived for a liberal exercise of that power. I am not indeed 
 certain (but prefer on such a point to be guided by local experience), 
 whether an entire abolition of the " Unsettled Class," and a very 
 wide extension of the " Settled," leaving only the more distant 
 portions as " Intermediate," would not be the best course. I shall 
 therefore so delegate the necessary powers to the Governor, as to 
 leave him absolutely free in this respect. The effect of such an 
 extension would of course not be to interfere with subsisting leases, 
 (whether actually granted or promised, and therefore assumed to 
 exist). But it would, as it appears to me, destroy all right of 
 renewal, except subject to the terms applicable to the class in 
 which any run might by the change become included. 
 
 19. These are the powers which appear to me to be vested in 
 Government, consistently with the equitable and literal engage- 
 ment to the occupants, as far as they are to be collected from the 
 Order in Council. But here the great difficulty to which I have 
 referred at the outset of this Despatch meets me at once. I cannot 
 collect, even from the mass of documents before me, how far the 
 interpretation which I have put on these powers may be modified 
 by the subsequent Acts, or declarations, or tacit assent of the 
 Local Government, so as to give place to an interpretation more fa- 
 vourable to the squatters. The mere assertion of the latter I can- 
 not of course take for granted. And I am fully aware, in cases 
 of contract between Government and individuals, or classes of 
 individuals, how easily a more favourable view of each provision 
 towards the private person, and less favourable to the Government, 
 becomes current in common expectation ; how watchful individuals 
 are in extending their rights, by implications and construction, 
 and how little interest, comparatively, those who represent the 
 Government have in resisting such extension. The only rule I 
 can furnish you with is this ; that where a construction more fa- 
 vourable than what I have laid down, rests only on some vague 
 and general understanding, current among the classes benefited, 
 it may be altogether disregarded, nor can any loss incurred by 
 individuals, through the non -recognition of such an understanding, 
 be considered as establishing a right to compensation. But where
 
 150 
 
 such construction is so far supported by acts or declarations of the 
 local Government, as to appear sanctioned by a pledge of the 
 public faith, these individuals are entitled either to its mainte- 
 nance, or (if this be impracticable) to reasonable compensation. 
 I am aware that in laying on you the duty of distinguishing between 
 these supposed cases, I impose a task of difficulty and delicacy, 
 but it is unavoidable. 
 
 20. With regard to the duration of leases in particular, I have 
 been led, partly by your silence on the subject, and partly by 
 other circumstances, to infer that the claim of the squatters for 
 leases of maximum duration, though contrary to the plain words 
 of the Order in Council, may, nevertheless, have derived some 
 force from the acquiescence of the local Government. If this is 
 really the case, although I think it much to be regretted, my in- 
 structions must be regarded as open to some modification, in par- 
 tial recognition of a claim thus substantiated. 
 
 21. Subject to these cautions, I have to authorise you to employ 
 the various powers which, according to these views, belong to the 
 local Government, as far as you may consider advisable; and I 
 cannot but consider them as amply sufficient to insure to the com- 
 munity at large an adequate supply of available land, without 
 infringing on the real rights of the squatters. 
 
 22. But with regard to these latter, it is by no means the wish 
 of Her Majesty's Government that they should be placed in real 
 difficulties, or their well founded expectations expectations, that 
 is, limited within the purpose for which these advantages were 
 first given them disappointed. I recognise to the fullest extent 
 the great value of which their industry has hitherto proved to the 
 community, and believe that, whatever may be the development 
 of the Colony, under its present altered circumstances, pastoral 
 pursuits will still furnish the most profitable and useful occupation 
 to a considerable portion of its inhabitants. My only object is, 
 that the extensive privileges which have been accorded them, may 
 not be perverted by too literal claims to purposes for which they 
 were not intended, and may also be exercised with manifest un- 
 fairness to other classes. It is to prevent this abuse that I have 
 thought it necessary to point out, that if the rights of the Crown 
 are insisted on with equal strictness, the use of those privileges 
 will be very materially curtailed. 
 
 23. If, therefore, any occupiers of runs should apply for leases,
 
 151 
 
 and should be content to receive leases exempt from those con- 
 ditions, which are at once injurious to the community, and useless 
 for merely pastoral purposes, you are fully authorised and desired 
 to grant them. Such leases should contain no power of exclusive 
 purchase during the term, or of pre-emption at the end of it, ex- 
 cept with such limitations as should clearly confine such power to 
 land really wanted by the lessee, for those purposes of homesteads 
 and bona fide improvements, which are specified in paragraph 65 
 of your Despatch, which appears to me to contain a reasonable 
 definition of pre-emptive right. They should also be subject to 
 the power of the Government to resume from time to time, and 
 offer for ordinary and open sale, after sufficient notice, land which 
 may be really wanted for that purpose, in the judgment of those 
 in whom the control of the public lands is vested. 
 
 24. To those who may prove willing to accept this offer, making 
 thereby a concession of extreme rights, I would authorise you, in 
 return, to make all reasonable concessions on the part of Govern- 
 ment. As to the duration of their leases, for instance, I would 
 leave you full discretion, to the extent of the maximum given by 
 the Orders in Council, but dating the lease from the 7th April, 
 1848, as recommended by the Legislative Council. As the diffi- 
 culties of accurate survey will no doubt continue for some time 
 longer, I would leave you at liberty either to issue leases, with 
 such general description of boundaries as the lessee may be con- 
 tent with, and (with the consent of the Legislative Council, if 
 necessary) so to confirm these boundaries as to secure the lessee 
 from any encroachment on the part of Government, leaving, of 
 course, the right of third parties inter se : or, if the lessee pre- 
 ferred it, he might be allowed still to remain on the footing of an 
 occupier, possessing an equitable title to a lease, until this could 
 be executed with the more absolute precision which a survey would 
 afford. I will not go farther into particulars, which must be far 
 better understood on the spot, but only repeat my general in- 
 struction, that additional security and advantage to those who are 
 willing to take these leases for bona fide pastoral purposes, and 
 free from the objectionable conditions, will be a very fair purchase 
 for the surrender of a portion of their present claims. 
 
 25. With regard to the substitution which you propose of an 
 assessment on stock for present rent, I entertain some doubts 
 whether much advantage will in reality be gained by such a mea-
 
 152 
 
 sure ; but it is one on which I am quite ready to adopt the views 
 to which your own local experience has led you. 
 
 26. Lastly : if there be any parties who would prefer to sur- 
 render the extreme rights of which I speak, for other compensation, 
 or to whom injury may really be done by the disappointment of 
 just expectations, which enforcing the powers of Government may 
 occasion, it appears to me that both the land of the Colony (should 
 the provisions of the present Waste Lands' Act be modified), and 
 its public funds, might be very fairly resorted to for the purpose 
 of affording such compensation; and Her Majesty's Government 
 would readily afford any assistance in their power towards it, on 
 being moved to do so by address from the Legislative Council. 
 
 27. As to the manner in which the necessary measures are to 
 be carried into effect, I have been reluctant to advise the exercise 
 of the Queen's power of legislation, by amending the present 
 Order in Council, because it appears to me desirable to try the 
 effect of further arrangement and mutual understanding, before 
 resorting to any measure which might be construed as a legislative 
 invasion of vested rights. I have also considered that, under the 
 engagements now subsisting between Her Majesty's Government 
 and the people of Victoria, all the provisions of the Waste Lands* 
 Act will (as before said) probably soon come under the revision 
 of Parliament, when this particular portion of the subject can be 
 more satisfactorily treated in connection with the rest. I prefer, 
 therefore, waiting for a farther report from yourself, and using 
 such power as may remain to the Crown, or be placed by Parlia- 
 ment at its disposal, to give validity to any measures which you 
 (with the advice of your executive Council) may have adopted 
 under those instructions. 
 
 28. I am ready, however, to cause to be prepared two short 
 Orders in Council, the one empowering the alteration of the 
 limits of the districts ; the other to enable you to substitute an 
 assessment of stock for rent; neither, however, to have any force 
 in the Colony until publication there, the time of which will be 
 left to your discretion. But, as these Orders must necessarily be 
 laid before Parliament, which is not yet in session, some time 
 must elapse before you can receive them, and it is possible that 
 some intervening information from yourself may render them un- 
 necessary. 
 
 29. I will not lengthen this Despatch farther than by expressing
 
 153 
 
 my sincere hope that this very difficult and pressing question will 
 be fairly adjusted, whether through the use of such means as are 
 here placed in your power, or (which would be more satisfactory 
 to myself) by mutual concessions and reasonable arrangement in 
 the Colony. In this way only can the necessary progress of set- 
 tlement, and the just demand of the increasing population for 
 facilities in acquiring land, be reconciled with the preservation of 
 that important interest whose claims are now under review. I 
 have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 NEWCASTLE. 
 
 No. 55. 
 
 Extract from an "Address to the Colonists of New South Wales, on the 
 proposed Land Orders," by Mr. R Lowe, in 1847. 
 
 These rules are in substance that the Governor shall divide the 
 lands of the Colony into three districts, to be called the "Settled," 
 " Intermediate," and " Unsettled." the Settled lands are to be 
 sold by auction at 1 an acre, upset price ; and the unsold parts 
 are to be leased for not more than one year, by auction. In the 
 Unsettled lands, every holder of a licence is entitled to demand a 
 lease for fourteen years. His rent is to be 2 : 10s. for every 
 thousand sheep or 640 cattle which the run will carry. During 
 the fourteen years nobody else can buy the run, but the lessee 
 can buy any portion, not less then 160 acres, at 1 per acre, 
 without competition. At the end of the lease, the lessee is entitled 
 to a renewal for another fourteen years, unless at least one-fourth 
 of the run be sold at auction, when the upset price will consist of 
 1 an acre, and the value of the improvements. In the Inter- 
 mediate Districts, the lease is to be for eight years only, and the 
 land is liable to be sold at the end of every year. 
 
 #####** 
 
 " Once grant these leases, and beyond the settled districts there 
 will be no land to be sold, the lessees will have a right to hold 
 their lands until some one will give 1 an acre for them." 
 
 " These leases cannot be sold, mortgaged, or sublet. Be the 
 capabilities of these lands what they may, they are to be a sheep 
 walk for ever. The Home Government, which raised the price of 
 land to enforce concentration, is now, in the sequel of its policy, 
 compelling dispersion.
 
 154 
 
 " The squatter may make sure of his run at the end his lease, by 
 buying up, in the exercise of his pre-emptive right, all the water 
 and all the water frontage, thus rendering valueless to any one 
 except himself. 
 
 " The price he is to pay for these privileges is, counting three 
 sheep to an acre, one-fifth of a penny per acre. Thus does a 
 Government, which is so niggard of its land that it will not part 
 with the fee-simple of the most barren rock for less than 1 per 
 acre, while that 1 an acre law remains in force, alienate millions 
 of acres, at one-tenth of the rent which it received on its free grants. 
 The system devised for the preservation of the waste lands will 
 end in their confiscation. 
 
 " Deal liberally with the squatters give them the most ample 
 compensation give them the land for nothing till it is wanted for 
 purchase comply with all their reasonable, nay more, with many 
 of their unreasonable demands, their present views have been 
 forced upon them by the folly of the Home Goverment, not ori- 
 ginated by themselves ; they are a great and growing interest, 
 producing the main export of the Colony : respectable for their 
 numbers, their intelligence, and their wealth. But we ought never 
 to forget, that if we give over to them their territory, we are 
 giving away what is not our own we are trustees for posterity." 
 
 No. 56. 
 
 Opinion of T. H. Fellows, Esq. Barrister 3d June, 1854. 
 
 " Holding as I do the opinion formed not by party influence 
 or feeling, but from a dispassionate consideration of the Order in 
 Council, of the 9th March, 1847 that there is an express con- 
 tract by the Crown, not only that the squatters shall have leases 
 of their runs, but shall also have the right of pre-emption of the 
 whole run upon the expiration of the leases, or at any time they 
 please during their continuance." 
 
 No. 57. 
 
 Opinion of Roundall Palmer, Esq. M.P. 
 
 " 1. I am of opinion that Mr. Forlonge has a clear and indisput- 
 able right to the leases ; but inasmuch as they are to be granted
 
 155 
 
 by the authority of the Governor, who represents the Crown, and 
 no form of judicial proceeding against the Governor is provided by 
 the Act of Parliament, or by the Regulations, I do not think he 
 has a specific remedy to compel the execution of such leases. At 
 present, however, he has a complete equitable title, which the 
 courts of justice in the Colony would, I conceive, be bound and 
 authorised to recognise, and protest against any illegal encroach- 
 ment, whether by the Executive Government or by private 
 persons. 
 
 "2. I am clearly of opinion, that neither of the sections re- 
 ferred to gives the Governor power to withdraw any part of the 
 runs in question (assuming as I do that no forfeiture has taken 
 place) for the purposes of sale to private persons. 
 
 " 3. I think Mr. Forlonge will be entitled to the right of pre- 
 emption, under the 6th section. 
 
 "4. There is no course open to Mr. Furlonge, that I am 
 aware of, except to appeal to the courts of justice in case of any 
 illegal disturbance of his possessions. 
 
 ROUND ALL PALMER. 
 
 " Lincoln's Inn, 26th July, 1853." 
 
 No. 58. 
 CHAMBER OP COMMERCE ON IMMIGRATION. 
 
 A special general meeting of the members of this body was held 
 on Tuesday, to receive the report of the sub-committee appointed 
 to consider the scheme proposed by the Chamber of Commerce 
 in Sydney, for the application of the system of " direct remission 
 for the purposes of immigration." 
 
 Mr. Hammill presided on the occasion. 
 
 Mr. Cruikshank, the chairman of the sub-committee, brought 
 up the report. He stated that he should wish to premise the 
 reading of the report by a few observations. The sub-committee, 
 before entering on the subject of the Sydney scheme, had felt it 
 their duty to enter previously into an inquiry on the tenure of 
 the public lands here, and he had to observe, that the result of 
 that inquiry was to stagger him, and he believed the rest of the 
 committee, not merely as commercial men, but as individual colo- 
 nists, either possessing or hoping to possess the fee-simple of the
 
 156 
 
 land. The result of their inquiry was that for the tenure of all 
 the lands in the Colony they were dependent on the forbearance 
 of the squatters. That the squatters might at any moment throw 
 the whole of the public lands into Chancery. Any discontented 
 or ill advised squatter, might at any moment apply to the Judges 
 of the Supreme Court for an injunction to restrain the Government 
 from alienating any of the Crown lands. What, he would ask, would 
 be the consequence of such a step, if taken ? The Judge would 
 not dare to refuse such an application, and what would be the 
 result? Simply, anarchy and confusion. If then the Direct 
 Remission scheme were ever so good, would they, under such 
 circumstances, be justified in recommending its adoption in reference 
 to this Colony ? The tenure of their land must be placed on a 
 firm basis, before they could venture to invite immigrants to these 
 shores. He then proceeded to read a Report, of which the following 
 are extracts : 
 
 Your committee, on perusing the Despatch of the Duke of 
 Newcastle on the subject of the Crown lands, regret that such an 
 unstatesmanlike document should ever have issued from the Colo- 
 nial Office, and have little hesitation in coming to the conclusion, 
 that while that despatch conveyed an implied censure on the late 
 Lieutenant-Governor, for his procrastination in not dealing with 
 the subject at an earlier period, the Colonial Minister availed 
 himself of the opportunity thus afforded him, to shrink from the 
 responsibility of deciding on the true construction of the Orders 
 in Council specially referred to him, and thereby, in the opinion 
 of your committee, lessened his dignity as a Minister of the Crown, 
 the special pleading in his despatch confirming your committee in 
 this opinion. 
 
 Your committee, in strongly urging the necessity for such a 
 compromise as would leave the Crown lands of the Colony, from 
 one extremity to the other, at once and for ever free, unfettered, 
 and available for sale by auction when required, are of opinion 
 that this would be best attained by compensating, to a moderate 
 extent, the squatters the present occupiers who claim certain 
 privileges under the Order in Council affecting these lands. And 
 your committee are warranted in concluding that these occupiers 
 consist principally of two classes, the one the original pioneers 
 and settlers on Crown lands, the other those who have purchased 
 stock on such lands on the faith of the Orders in Council being
 
 157 
 
 carried out, and that they alike are entitled to compensation the 
 former from having had no opportunity of acquiring the fee-simple 
 of such lands before they reached their present value, the latter 
 from relinquishing certain privileges, purchased in good faith, now 
 required for facilitating the " improvement and settlement of the 
 
 Colony." 
 
 Tour committee, assuming that all the squatters have exercised 
 their pre-emptive right to purchase their homsteads, are of 
 opinion that, in consideration of the relinquishment of the privi- 
 leges conveyed under the 9th and 10th Victoria, cap. 104, and 
 the Orders in Council based thereon, the squatters would be 
 amply indemnified for any depreciation in the value of their stock 
 agisted on Crown lands, by compensation at the rate of five shil- 
 lings each for sheep, and thirty shillings per head for cattle ; and 
 to arrive at the sum this compensation would amount to, your 
 committee avail themselves of the information contained in the 
 Government Gazette" of the 14th February, 1854, setting forth 
 the estimated grazing capabilities of the Crown lands of the 
 Colony, and this may be taken as a fair basis, being undisputed, 
 on which to calculate the amount of compensation. The quantity 
 of stock that can be agisted in each Commissioner's district we 
 
 we find to be for that of 
 
 Sheep. Cattle. 
 
 Portland Bay, - - 3,881,000 nil 
 
 Western Port, - - 1,738,000 58,680 
 
 Wimmera, - - - 1,677,000 19,360 
 
 Murray, - - - 1,311,000 600 
 
 GippsLand, - 220,500 27,920 
 
 Grant, County, - - 51,000 3,400 
 
 Bourke,do. - - 8,000 1,280 
 
 Total, - - - 8,916,500 111,330 
 which would require compensation, at the rate proposed, to the 
 sum of 2,305,175 sterling. 
 
 Your committee are well aware, that if this amount had to be 
 paid in money, it would prove an almost insurmountable obstacle 
 to the settlement of the question ; but, issued in the shape of 
 remission orders, not bearing interest, available only for the pur- 
 chase of Crown lands at auction, such a mode of liquidation would 
 neither place the Government in any difficulty, nor saddle it with
 
 158 
 
 any liability ; and, these orders being productive to the holders, 
 only after investment, would have such a favourable effect, 
 although doubtless temporary, on the value of land offered for 
 sale, from the avidity to invest, that the sale of a quantity, not 
 exceeding 300,000 to 500,000 acres, might cover the money 
 value of the compensation proposed ; thus leaving nearly the 
 whole of this vast territory free, unfettered, and available, both 
 for the introduction of population and as a source of revenue. 
 
 Your committee deem it almost unnecessary, as being matter 
 of detail, to enter upon the question of the re-adjustment of the 
 rental, consequent upon such compensation being granted, but 
 conceding to the present occupiers a right of tenure, terminable 
 on one month's notice after the alienation of the fee-simple, it 
 appears to your committee that an equitable revenue in the shape 
 of annual rent might be derived from the Crown lands, until such 
 alienation, equal to a fair interest on the money value of the 
 compensation proposed to be granted to the squatters. And your 
 committee assume eight per cent, per annum as a fair rate of in- 
 terest, which would give the sum of 2,395,175 on an annual revenue 
 of 191,614 sterling, subject only to a rateable deduction for the 
 lands annually sold, in lieu of 25,000 estimated as the present 
 rental. Furthermore, your committee, in suggesting a tenure not 
 obstructive to the progress of the Colony, beg distinctly to state, 
 that they cannot reconcile fixity of tenure with the squatting 
 system, which must evidently now give place to a more legitimate 
 alienation of the Crown lands. 
 
 Your committee, in concluding this portion of their report, 
 would submit that the foregoing suggestions recommend them- 
 selves for approval on the following grounds. First, from the 
 simplicity and economy with which they can be carried out. Se- 
 condly, whilst evincing sound financial policy, they prove a boon 
 to the community at large, a loss to no one, and reconcile con- 
 flicting interests ; and, thirdly, that on their adoption hinges the 
 practical carrying out of the true object of the Direct Remission 
 Scheme, as applicable to the Colony of Victoria, namely, the 
 introduction of population, not in manual labourers only. 
 
 Your committee, after mature consideration, concur with the 
 report of the sub-committee of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce 
 in recommending the scheme of a Money Value Remission, 
 available for the puchase of Crown lands at auction, in place of a
 
 159 
 
 territorial apportionment, as the most equitable and satisfactory- 
 mode of attracting immigrants to these colonies. But your com- 
 mittee are not blind to the fact, that in New South Wales the 
 system under consideration is practically inapplicable, as the Orders 
 in Council relative to Crown lands are being carried out, which 
 would deprive immigrants of the power to avail themselves of the 
 advantages held out by this scheme, and would tend to throw the 
 fee-simple of the bulk of the lands in that colony into the hands 
 of the squatters, inasmuch as the proposal that the remission orders 
 should bear a money value would render them available to the New 
 South Wales squatters, as paymentfor the lands held by them under 
 lease, when disposed to'exercise their pre-emptive right to purchase, 
 thus rendering the introduction of population comparatively use- 
 less, except as labourers only, and thereby enabling these squatters 
 to accumulate larger profits, by diverting a national fund from its 
 legitimate object, to the advantage almost solely of their own 
 class. Under these circumstances, they would become importers 
 of labour for their exclusive profit, and to this extent only would 
 the Direct Remission Scheme prove advantageous to the Colony 
 of New South Wales, the only attraction to emigrants being the 
 prospect of receiving higher wages in that colony as labourers than 
 in the mother country ; whilst in the Colony of Victoria, with the 
 land unlocked, and no class enjoying protective privileges, not only 
 would the labouring class be attracted, but it would hold out equal 
 inducement to every other class in the mother country to emigrate. 
 With these remarks your committee closo their notice of the 
 applicability of the scheme of direct remission for the purposes of 
 emigration to New South Wales, merely observing that a departure 
 from true principles, in the alienation of Crown lands available for 
 the purposes of immigration, perverts to the sole profit of a particular 
 class a scheme which would otherwise prove of inestimable value 
 in raising that colony, this, or any other similarly circumstanced, 
 to a prominent position amongst nations. Tour committee are, 
 therefore, of opinion that they have established the soundness of 
 the position they have taken in asserting that the true object of 
 the Direct Remission Scheme, namely, the introduction of popu- 
 lation, can only be practically carried out in a colony where Crown 
 lands are free, unfettered, and available for sale by auction only, 
 at any time, in any locality, and in any quantity, and that they 
 have proved the absolute necessity for acquiring, by such a com-
 
 160 
 
 promise as previously suggested, the cession of any vested rights 
 which the squatters in this colony may possess in the Crown lands, 
 obstructive to the improvement and settlement of the colony. 
 
 Your committee would recommend, that to encourage the ship- 
 owner to become the banker for the object contemplated, the 
 amount of remission should be liberal ; and are of opinion that 
 20, the rate named in the report of the sub-committee of the 
 Sydney Chamber of Commerce, is too low. Your committee 
 would suggest that the amount be 25, more particularly as the 
 profit to the shipowner, as such banker, would be self-adjusting ; 
 for in proportion to the demand for land would be the demand for 
 such remission orders, thereby regulating the influx of population, 
 as it is evident that any supply, exceeding the absorbing powers of 
 the Colony, would depreciate the value of such order to the ship- 
 owner ; but as the demand for remission orders revived, so would 
 their value in the money market, thereby inducing the shipowner, 
 as banker, to resume the speculation of advacing capital for the 
 introduction of labour, with which therefore the Colonial market 
 would never be glutted, but a regular supply be thus kept up. And 
 with reference to interest on these remission orders, your com- 
 mittee consider that five per cent, per annum, would be a rate 
 sufficiently high to protect the holder against any serious depre- 
 ciation in their value in a tight state of the money market. 
 
 Your committee, in concluding their report, beg to express 
 their appreciation of the ability displayed by the sub-committee 
 of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce, in their consideration of 
 the subject of Direct Remission for the purposes of immigration, 
 and concede to them the merit of taking steps to initiate the 
 practical working of the scheme. 
 
 By order of the sub-committee, 
 
 A. R. CRUIKSHANK, Chairman. 
 
 Chamber of Commerce, Melbourne, 31st July, 1854. 
 
 He concluded by moving the following resolution, which was 
 seconded by Mr. T. Dickson : 
 
 That the Report be received and printed for distribution, and 
 that its merits be discussed at an adjourned meeting, to be held 
 this day week, at the same time and place, on the motion to be then 
 submitted, namely, that this Report be adopted, and that the
 
 161 
 
 Legislative Committee be instructed to take the necessary steps to 
 brinp- the scheme and its details under the notice of the Government, 
 with the view to early legislation thereon. 
 
 The Chairman then observed that the report was of such an im- 
 portant character, in connection with the remarks of the Chairman 
 of the Sub-Committee, that he thought it would not be well to 
 enter into any discussion of it, until it had received the mature 
 deliberation of all the members of the Chamber a deliberation 
 which he trusted they would, one and all, not fail to give it, before 
 the meeting of this day week. He then signified that the business 
 of the meeting was closed, and it accordingly separated. 
 
 N.B. On the 10th August, Mr. T. Dickson moved, pursuant to 
 notice, " that the report be adopted, and that the Legislative 
 Committee be instructed to take the necessary steps to bring the 
 scheme and its details before the notice of the Government, with 
 the view to early legislation thereon, without pledging the 
 Chamber to any amount of compensation " which motion was 
 carried by a majority of 12 over 2. 
 
 No. 59. 
 
 Extract from the Draft of the proposed new Constitution of Victoria- 
 last clause. 
 
 " Provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent, or be 
 construed to prevent, the fulfilment of any contract, promise, or 
 engagement made by or on behalf of Her Majesty, with respect 
 to any lands situate within the said Colony, in any cases where 
 such contract, promise, or engagement shall have been lawfully 
 made before the time at which this Act shall take effect within 
 the said Colony." 
 
 No. 60. 
 
 28th August, 1851. 
 To Captain Lonsdale, The Honourable the Colonial Secretary. 
 
 SiR,_Whereas His Excellency Charles Joseph La Trobe, 
 Esquire, Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of Victoria and its 
 dependencies, &c. has notified by proclamation that the follow-
 
 162 
 
 ing portions of land, situated upon my licensed run of " Trio," 
 near Kyneton, in the county of Dalhousie, will be offered for sale 
 at Melbourne, on the 17th proximo : viz. portions 21, 22, 23, 
 and 41, containing about 345 acres ; and, whereas, by an Act 
 passed in August, 1846, " it was enacted that it should be lawful 
 for Her Majesty, by an Order in Council, to make and establish 
 all such Rules and Regulations as to Her Majesty should seem fit 
 for the purposes;" "respecting the more effectually making 
 demises or licences, for any term of years not exceeding fourteen, 
 and respecting any right of pre-emption which it might be proper 
 to give to the holders of any demise or licence within the Colony 
 of New South Wales." And whereas it was "ordered by the 
 Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice of the 
 Privy Council, that, within the said Colony of New South Wales, 
 the Rules and Regulations comprised in the following Chapters 
 shall henceforth be observed, and have the force and effect of the 
 law ;" and whereas, by the 9th Section, 2d Chapter, His Excel- 
 lency " is empowered to make grants or sales for public purposes, 
 or disposing of in such other manner as for the public interest 
 may seem best : " and whereas such section enumerates a detailed 
 description of such public purposes, I have to submit to His 
 Excellency, that the fact of enumerating such purposes in detail 
 shows clearly, were there nothing else in the Rules and Regulations 
 to provide against it, that it was never contemplated that such 
 land should be offered for sale to private individuals for speculative 
 purposes. 
 
 The 6th Section of the same Chapter provides, that " during 
 the continuance of any lease of lands occupied as a run, 
 the same shall not be open to purchase by any other person or 
 persons, except the lessee thereof." And the 1st Section, 3d 
 Chapter, provides that, " within lands coming under the description 
 of Intermediate lands, the interest in runs shall be acquired, held, 
 and determined upon the same terms and conditions as when laid 
 down for Unsettled lands, excepting that the leases shall not be 
 made for more than eight years in duration, and at the end of 
 each successive year from the date of the lease it shall be com- 
 petent for the Governor," " provided he shall have given 60 days, 
 previous notice, to offer for sale all or any part of the lands within 
 any such run, subject to the same conditions in favour of the lessee 
 as above laid down in the case of a sale at the expiration of the
 
 163 
 
 full term of a lease of unsettled lauds ;" and whereas such section 
 includes all the Rules and Regulation applicable to Intermediate 
 lands, and as no lease has been granted, no power to sell is yet 
 vested in the Governor, nor can be, until a year after a lease is 
 granted. 
 
 The Sixth of the above recited Act, to amend an Act, &c. enacts, 
 " That it shall be lawful for Her Majesty, by an Order or Orders 
 in Council, to make and establish all such Rules and Regulations, 
 provided always that nothing herein contained shall be construed 
 to authorise the sale of any waste lands in the said Colonies, other- 
 wise than in conformity with the provision of the said Act ; except 
 to persons who shall be in actual occupation thereof under such 
 demise or licence." From which provision it is evident, that any 
 lands beyond the bounds of location cannot be sold except to the 
 persons in actual occupation, and to them only at a fair value, 
 which value can be fixed by His Excellency, by the power he has 
 of appointing an umpire, and which power counteracts any undue 
 advantage there may be in the right of pre-emption : that I have 
 to submit to His Excellency's consideration, that a wrong con- 
 struction has been put upon the Rules and Regulations for the 
 sale of land in the Intermediate district, which are applied contrary 
 to the provisions in the Act of Parliament as above recited : that 
 taking the whole Act, and the whole of the Rules and Regulations, 
 as well as the Colonial proclamations sanctioning the transfer of 
 runs, there is nothing to warrant or authorise the sale of any land 
 beyond the bounds of location, except to persons in actual occupa- 
 tion : that as I have given a large consideration for the transfer 
 of the " Trio " run, under a belief that Imperial Acts and Orders 
 in Council would be held sacred, I feel it my duty to protest against 
 the sale of the aforesaid portions of land : that I must respectfuly 
 beg to draw His Excellency's attention to the above mentioned 
 Act, and to express a hope that His Excellency will be pleased to 
 cause the said portion of land to be withdrawn from the forth- 
 coming sale. 
 
 I may add, for His Excellency's information, that a considerable 
 portion of the lands already sold in the neighbourhood of Kyneton 
 has been bought on speculation : several lots have changed hands, 
 and more is offered for sale, and scarcely any is yet brought under 
 cultivation. I have the honour to be, &c. 
 
 W. CAMPBELL.
 
 164 
 
 No. 61. 
 
 Return of the Dates of the Discovery of the Gold Fields of 
 Victoria, laid upon the Council Table by the Colonial 
 Secretary, by command of His Excellency the Lieutenant- 
 Governor, and ordered by the Council to be printed, 18th 
 December, 1851. 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Date of Discovery. 
 
 Distance from 
 Melbourne. 
 
 Date when first 
 
 occupied under 
 
 the sanction of 
 
 Government. 
 
 
 Clunes, . . . . 
 Buninyong, . . . 
 Ballarat, . . . . 
 Mount Alexander, 
 Anderson's Creek, . 
 Broken Eiver, . . 
 
 8 July, 1851. 
 
 9 Aug. 1851. 
 8 Sept. 1851. 
 
 10 Sept. 1851. 
 
 11 Aug. 1851. 
 29 Sept. 1851. 
 
 100 Miles. 
 75 
 75 
 80 
 16 
 94 
 
 20 Sept. 1851. 
 20 Sept. 1851. 
 20 Sept. 1851. 
 
 8 Oct. 1851. 
 
 1 Sept. 1851. 
 16 Oct. 1851. 

 
 165 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 No. 62. 
 
 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PAPER CLAIMS TO LEASES OF RUNS. 
 Return to Address, Z\st August, 1852. Mr. Campbell. 
 
 Laid upon the Council Table by the Colonial Secretary, by 
 command of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, and ordered 
 by the Council to be printed, 18th January, 1853. 
 
 A Return of the number of Transfers of Runs beyond the Set- 
 tled Districts, acquired under the sanction of the Proclama- 
 tion of Sir Charles Fitzroy, dated 1st January, 1848. 
 
 Wimmera District, - 64 transfers. 
 
 Murray 
 Gipps Land 
 Western Port 
 Portland Bay 
 Bourke 
 Grant 
 
 112 
 
 46 
 
 119 
 
 168 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 Total, 514 transfers. 
 
 A Return of the number of Claims to Leases obtained by 
 Tender, from the 1st January, 1848, to the 1st July, 1852. 
 
 Wimmera District, 19 claims. 
 
 Murray " 11 " 
 
 Gipps Land " 16 " 
 
 Western Port " 8 
 
 Portland Bay " 7 " 
 
 Total, 61 claims. 
 
 Note. The estimated capabilities, and amount of premium paid in each 
 respective case, cannot be furnished by a Return framed according to the word- 
 ing of the motion.
 
 166 
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 No. 64. 
 
 From the Melbourne Morning Herald of lOth June, 1854. 
 
 GOVERNMENT LAND SALE. 
 
 A sale of country lots was held yesterday at Messrs. Tennent's 
 rooms. The competition was not equal to that of the previous 
 day, with some few exceptions. It will be seen that the trustees 
 of one of the land societies were purchasers of several lots. Seven 
 lots were withdrawn, and nine lots passed for want of a bidder, 
 leaving only 57 lots disposed of during the day. 
 
 COUNTRY LOTS. 
 
 At Maribyrnong, on and near the Mount Alexander road, and from 
 sixteen miles from Melbourne. Upset price, 1 per acre. 
 
 LOT 
 
 1 640a, 
 
 William Taylor, . 
 
 2 640a, 
 
 Do. 
 
 3 640a, 
 
 Do. 
 
 4 640a, 
 
 Do. 
 
 5 Withdrawn. 
 
 6 Withdrawn. 
 
 7 628a, 
 
 William Taylor, 
 
 8 628a, 
 
 Do; 
 
 9 628a, 
 
 Do. 
 
 10 611a, 
 
 J. Cantwell and P. Ryan, 
 
 11 628a, 
 
 William J. Clarke, 
 
 12 628a, 
 
 Peter Inglis, 
 
 13 622a, 
 
 John Mooney, 
 
 14 632a, 
 
 Do. 
 
 15 632a, 
 
 William J. Clarke, 
 
 eleven to 
 
 FEB 
 
 & 
 2 
 
 ACHE. 
 
 S. 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 1 
 
 16 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 15 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 At Kororoit, to the west of the Mount Alexander Road, and from seventeen to 
 twenty-one miles from Melbourne. 
 
 16 202a, Eli Smith, .... 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 17 620a, William J. Clarke, 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 18 193a 3r lOp, William Montgomery, 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 19 211a 3r 32p, Ditto, .... 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 20 21la3r 32p, A Fiskin, 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 21 214a, Ditto, ; 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 22 184a r William J. Clarke, 
 
 4 
 
 I
 
 168 
 
 23 171a, William Montgomery, 
 
 
 
 
 4 12 
 
 24 179a, Ditto, 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 4 12 
 
 25 161a, Ditto, 
 
 
 
 
 6 7 
 
 26 150a 16p, Fulton and others, 
 
 
 
 
 3 16 
 
 27 153a, Ditto, 
 
 
 
 
 3 14 
 
 28 169a, Ditto, 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 29 144a 2r, Alfred Langhorne, 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 30 614a 3r 9p, A. Fiskin, 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 31 620a, William J. Clarke, 
 
 
 
 
 1 11 
 
 32 624a, Ditto, 
 
 
 
 
 1 16 
 
 33 627a 2r 12p, Ditto, . 
 
 
 
 
 2 7 
 
 34 102a, William Montgomery, 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 35 159a 2r 8p, T. and J. Moylan, 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 36 158a, Ditto, 
 
 
 
 
 4 2 
 
 37 163a, Fulton and others, 
 
 
 
 
 4 8 
 
 Holden, on road from Melbourne to Mount Alexander, and from sixteen 
 
 twenty-one miles distant. Lots 38 to 42 withdrawn. 
 
 43 225a, William J. Clarke, ... 2 15 
 
 44 162a 3r 3p, Do. 
 
 
 . 
 
 2 1 
 
 46 553a, Michael Bourke, 
 
 
 . 
 
 3 10 
 
 47 624a, William J. Clarke, 
 
 
 . 
 
 2 8 
 
 48 600a, John Mooney, 
 
 
 . 
 
 6 
 
 49 632a, John Aitkin, 
 
 
 . 
 
 4 15 
 
 50 216a, Wm. John Clarke, 
 
 
 , . 
 
 4 1 
 
 51 147a, Fulton and others, 
 
 
 . 
 
 4 2 
 
 53 136a, James McCartney, 
 
 
 , 
 
 5 1 
 
 54 160a, Joseph Harper, 
 
 
 . 
 
 7 1 
 
 55 160a, Do. . . 
 
 
 . 
 
 7 1 
 
 56 160a, Edward Winter, 
 
 
 . 
 
 7 2 
 
 57 152a, Do. 
 
 
 . 
 
 7 6 
 
 58 584a, John Aitkin, 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 3 16 
 
 At Deutgam, near the Geelong Eoad, and about sixteen miles from Melbourne. 
 
 59 632a, T. Churnside, 10 
 
 60 612a 3r 16p, Do 15 
 
 At Warrandyte, on the Yarra River, above Bulleen, and from seventeen to 
 twenty-one miles from Melbourne. 
 
 61 640a, Thomson Bros. 2 
 
 62 640a, John Patterson, ....-11 
 
 63 640a, Edmund Hughes, 17 
 
 64 640a, E. H. Mochick, 10 
 
 65 to 73 (640 acres each) No offer.
 
 169 
 
 LIST OF PURCHASERS' NAMES AT THE GOVERNMENT LAND SALE, 
 GEELONG, June 29th, 1854. 
 
 Suburban Lot, Moolap. 
 
 1 Allot 10, sec. 1, 557a, or 34p, J. G. Carr, 5 18s. per acre. 
 
 Country Lots, Bellerine. 
 
 2 to 6, No offer. 
 
 7 Allot 10, sec. 3, 320a, Thomas Little, 1 per acre. 
 
 8 No offer. 
 
 9 Allot 13, sec. 3, 362a 3r 8p, Alexander Cameron M'Donald, 
 1 per acre. 
 
 10 Allot 14, sec. 3, 437a or 32p, J. B. Hutton, 1 7s. per acre. 
 
 11 and 12 Withdrawn. 
 
 13 Allot 19, sec. 3, 320a, James Marjerey, 1 5s. per acre. 
 
 14 Allot 20, sec. 3, 320a, John Guthrie, 1 3s. per acre. 
 
 15 Allot 21, sec. 3, 538a, James Marjerey, 1 lis. per acre. 
 
 16 Allot 1, sec, 4, 320a, William Rowe, 2 8s. per acre. 
 
 17 Allot 2, sec. 4, 320a, J. B. Hutton, 1 13s. per acre. 
 
 18 Allot 3, sec. 4, 328a, James Drummond, 1 per acre. 
 
 19 Allot 4, sec. 4, 312a, James Drummond, 1 9s. per acre. 
 
 20 Allot 6, sec. 4, 320a, Joseph Sutherland, 1 4s. per acre. 
 
 21 Allot 7, sec. 4, 328a, William Behan, 1 per acre. 
 
 22 No offer. 
 
 23 Allot 13, sec. 4, 320a, James Marjerey, 1 per acre. 
 
 24 Allot 14, sec. 4, 320a, James Marjerey, 1 per acre. 
 
 25 No offer. 
 
 26 Allot 16, sec. 4, 312a, William Harding, 1 per acre. 
 
 27 Allot 18, sec. 4, 320a, William Harding, 1 8s. per acre. 
 
 28 Allot 19, sec. 4, 328a, William Harding, 1 6s. per acre. 
 
 29 Allot 20, sec. 4, 312a, William Harding, 2 8s. per acre. 
 
 30 Withdrawn. 
 
 Patwit. 
 
 31 Allot 15, sec. 1, 324a, William Harding, 5 per acre. 
 
 32 Allot 16, sec. 1, 324a, William Harding, 2 19s. per acre. 
 
 33 Allot 17, sec. 1, 324a, William Harding, 1 lis. per acre. 
 
 34 Allot 18, sec. 1, 324a, William Harding, 1 4s. per acre. 
 
 35 Allot 22, sec. 1, 320a, William Harding, 2 12s. per acre. 
 
 36 Allot 23, sec. 1, 320a, William Harding, 1 lis. per acre. 
 
 37 Allot 24, sec. 1, 320a, William Harding, 1 per acre. 
 
 38 Allot 25, sec. 1, 320a, William Harding, 1 per acre. 
 
 39 Allot 28, sec. 1, 320a, J. & P. Manifold, 1 17s. per acre.
 
 170 
 
 40 Allot 29, sec. 1, 320a, J. & P. Manifold, 1 13s. per acre. 
 
 41 Allot 30, sec. 1, 320a, J. & P. Manifold, 1 10s. per acre. 
 
 42 Allot 31, sec. 1, 320a, William Harding, L Is. per acre. 
 
 43 Allot 32, sec. 1, 320a, William Harding, 1 9s. per acre. 
 
 44 Allot 35, sec. 1, 320a, J. L. Sprout, 1 4s. per acre. 
 
 45 Allot 36, sec. 1, 320a, J. L. Sprout, 1 Is. per acre. 
 
 46 Allot 37, sec. 1, 320a, J. L. Sprout, 1 10s. per acre. 
 
 47 Allot 38, sec. 1, 320a, J. L. Sprout, 2 5s. per acre. 
 
 48 Allot 39, sec. 1, 281a, William Harding, 4 per acre. 
 
 49 to 52 Withdrawn. 
 
 Suburban Lot, Corio. 
 53 Allot 1, sec. 1, la, Noble Keenan, 505 per acre. 
 
 No. 65. 
 
 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PAPER. 
 
 Return of the Quantity of Land alienated from the Crown, from 
 the 30th June, 1851, to the 1st July, 1852, showing the 
 number of Acres, the average Price per Acre, &c. &c. 
 
 
 Extent. 
 
 Average Price 
 per Acre. 
 
 Proceeds. 
 
 
 ACRES. R. P. 
 
 L. S. D. 
 
 L. S. D. 
 
 Town Lots, . . 
 
 512 1 10 
 
 159 17 7 
 
 81,909 1 
 
 Suburban, . . 
 
 13,956 1 
 
 4 5 1 
 
 59,452 13 6 
 
 Country, . . . 
 
 128,421 1 21 
 
 16 7 
 
 170,994 3 1 
 
 Special County, 
 
 6,388 3 17 
 
 2 7 7 
 
 15,209 4 4 
 
 
 149,278 3 8 
 
 
 327,565 1 11
 
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 No. 68. 
 
 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PAPER. 
 
 Return, under the heads of Town, Suburban, and Country, of 
 the Quantities of Waste Lands, in the Colony of Victoria, 
 Surveyed but not Alienated, showing the Counties or Dis- 
 tricts wherein such Lands are situate. 
 
 Counties or Districts. 
 
 Lands Surveyed 
 
 but Not Alienated. 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Town. 
 
 Suburban. 
 
 Country. 
 
 
 A. 
 
 R. P. 
 
 A. 
 
 R. P. 
 
 A. 
 
 R. P. 
 
 
 County of Follett, . . 
 
 36 
 
 2 
 
 115 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 do. Normanby, . 
 
 53 
 
 2 
 
 2,862 
 
 1 29 
 
 3,969 
 
 2 29 
 
 
 do. Dundas, . . 
 
 137 
 
 
 
 549 
 
 15 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 do. Villiers, . . 
 
 231 
 
 
 
 4,334 
 
 2 38 
 
 6,661 
 
 34 
 
 
 do. Eipon, . . 
 
 36 
 
 2 
 
 
 . . 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 do. Hampden, . 
 
 33 
 
 2 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 do. Heytesbury, . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 do. Polworth, 
 
 36 
 
 2 
 
 175 
 
 1 3 
 
 76,956 
 
 2 
 
 
 do. Grenville, . 
 
 81 
 
 
 
 310 
 
 1 37 
 
 35,469 
 
 
 
 
 do. Talbot, . . 
 
 101 
 
 
 
 2,405 
 
 2 18 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 do. Grant, . . 
 
 364 
 
 1 
 
 5,008 
 
 2 21 
 
 339,038 
 
 1 26 
 
 
 do. Bourke, . . 
 
 296 
 
 3 29 
 
 9,140 
 
 2 31 
 
 218,088 
 
 1 17 
 
 
 do. Dalhousie, . 
 
 170 
 
 2 
 
 6,227 
 
 2 31 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 do. Anglesey, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 do. Evelyn, . . 
 
 15 
 
 2 
 
 84 
 
 3 12 
 
 49,427 
 
 2 
 
 
 do. Mornington, 
 
 70 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 37,109 
 
 13 
 
 
 District of Murray, . . 
 
 293 
 
 
 
 4,431 
 
 3 89 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 do. Wimmera, . 
 
 74 
 
 
 
 326 
 
 1 18 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 Gipp's Land, .... 
 Totals, .... 
 
 141 
 
 2 
 
 1,509 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2171 
 
 29 
 
 37,481 
 
 3 1 
 
 766,719 
 
 2 39 
 
 (Signed) R. HODDLE, Surveyor-General. 
 
 Surveyor-General's Office, Melbourne, 10th May, 1852.
 
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 175 
 
 No. 70. 
 
 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PAPEK. 
 Rettjbn of Lands Applied foe under Pbe-Emptive Right, but Not Yet Gbanted. 
 
 Name of Applicant. 
 
 No. of 
 
 Acres 
 
 applied 
 
 for. 
 
 Local Description. 
 
 Cause of Delay. 
 
 5th Nov. 
 1850 
 
 18th Oct. 
 1850 
 
 6th Aug. 
 1850 
 
 4th Oct. 
 1850 
 
 Stewart Gibson, - 
 
 C.A.Von Steiglitz 
 
 Henry Gibb, - 
 Donald Cameron, 
 Donald Cameron, 
 T.H. Pyke, - 
 
 John Aitken, - 
 
 Chas. McLachlan 
 
 A. 
 
 160 
 
 200 
 
 320 
 160 
 120 
 640 
 
 2000 
 
 640 
 
 Broadhurst and 
 Tootal, - - 
 
 W.H.F. Mitchell, 
 J. Anthony Cowie 
 
 640 
 
 320 
 
 640 
 
 Situate on the east side of the Bullock 
 Creek, at Mount Alexander, on the 
 run known as " Mount Alexander," 
 so as to include the Home Station 
 on such run. 
 
 Situate on a chain of water holes, 
 about 16 miles from the Township 
 of Ballan, between the Werribee 
 and Moorabool Rivers. 
 
 Situated on the run known as Eilyer, 
 in the Portland Bay District, on the 
 Salt Creek below Lake Bolac. 
 
 Situated near to Mount Eckersley, on 
 the run known as " Oak Bank," in 
 the Portland Bay District. 
 
 Situated near to 5lount Eckersley on 
 the run known as "Hunter's Farm,' 
 in the Portland Bay District. 
 
 Situated near to the Township of 
 Ballan, on the run known as the 
 "Upper Werribee Run," in the 
 Western Port District. 
 
 Situated near the Township of Gis 
 bourne, on the run known as Messrs. 
 " Aitken and Emeline's," in the 
 Western Port District. 
 
 Situated on the Myrnong Creek, in 
 the parish of Korkuperrimul, in 
 the run kuown as Pentland Hills, 
 in the Western Port District. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 measurement, &c 
 
 Ditto, 
 
 Ditto, 
 
 ditto. 
 
 ditto. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 valuation. 
 
 Waiting valuation 
 to. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 measurement, &c. 
 
 Ditto, 
 
 ditto. 
 
 Situated ljf miles north of the top of 
 the Big Hill, about 4 miles south of 
 the Town of Kilmore, in the run 
 known as "Belle Vue," in the West 
 ern Port District. 
 
 Situated on the Campaspie River, 
 about 7 miles south of Farrell's Inn, 
 on the run known as " Barfold," in 
 the Western Port District. 
 
 Situated on the eastern Moorabool, 
 on the run known as " Bun jellap 
 West," in the Portland Bay District. 
 
 The portion being 
 included within a 
 proposed Reserve, 
 and to what ex- 
 tent the applica 
 tion shall be al- 
 lowed, being un 
 determined. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 measurement, &c 
 
 Ditto, 
 
 ditto. 
 
 Ditto, ditto.
 
 176 
 
 Date of 
 Application. 
 
 28th Aug. 
 1850 
 
 4th Sept. 
 1850 
 
 4th Sept. 
 1850 
 
 15th July, 
 1850 
 
 10th Sept. 
 1850 
 
 10th Sept. 
 1850 
 
 6th Aug. 
 1850 
 
 4th July, 
 1850 
 
 22nd July, 
 1850 
 
 17th Dec. 
 1850 
 
 Name of Applicant. 
 
 David Stead, - 
 John Winter, - 
 
 John Winter, - 
 
 Joseph Sutherland 
 
 R. V. Steiglitz, 
 
 John Von Steiglitz 
 
 George Russell, on 
 behalf of the 
 Clyde Company 
 
 Frederick Griffin 
 
 John Wallace, - 
 
 John Hepburn, - 
 
 No. of 
 
 Acres 
 
 applied 
 
 for. 
 
 Local Description. 
 
 30th June, 
 1850 
 
 8th Aug. 
 1850 
 
 8th Aug. 
 1850 
 
 S. and T. Austin, 
 
 R. Sutherland, 
 
 R. Sutherland, 
 
 A. 
 
 480 
 
 340 
 
 1,600 
 
 2,012 
 
 160 
 
 320 
 
 935 
 
 2000 to 
 4000 
 
 960 
 
 1,000 
 
 1,174 
 
 640 
 
 640 
 
 Situated on the eastern Moorabool, 
 on the run known as "Bunjellap 
 East," in the Portland Bay District. 
 Situate on the run known as " Bon- 
 shaw," Township of Buningyong, 
 at the junction of the Portland 
 Road from Melbourne with the 
 Burrambeet Road. 
 Situate on the River Leigh, about 20 
 chains below the crossing of the 
 Buningyong and Portland Roads, 
 on the run known as " Bonshaw," 
 in the Portland Bay District. 
 Situated adjoining the Northern 
 boundary of the Kilmore Special 
 Survey, on the run known as " Mor 
 anding," in the Western Port Dis- 
 trict. 
 
 Situated on the east side of the Werri- 
 bee River, adjoining the northern 
 boundary of the Ballan Township 
 Reserve, on the run known as "Bal- 
 lan," in the Portland Bay District. 
 Situated on the east side of theWerri- 
 bee River, north-west of the Ballan 
 Township Reserve, on the run known 
 as " Ballan," in the Western Port 
 District. 
 
 Situate on the right bank of the River 
 Leigh, being section No. 5, in the 
 Parish of Durocq. 
 
 Situate at the head of Sutherland's 
 Creek, on the run known as Anaki, 
 in the Portland Bay District. 
 Situated on the Moorabool River, on 
 the run known as Ballank, in the 
 Portland Bay District. 
 Situate on the run named " Smeaton," 
 in the Western Port District, having 
 frontage to a Creek, and including a 
 permanent Sheep yard. 
 
 Cause of Delay. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 measurement, & 
 
 Ditto, ditto. 
 
 Ditto, 
 
 Ditto, 
 
 Ditto, 
 
 Ditto, 
 
 Ditto, 
 
 Ditto, 
 
 ditto. 
 
 ditto. 
 
 ditto. 
 
 ditto. 
 
 ditto. 
 
 ditto. 
 
 Ditto, ditto. 
 
 Waitingfor the Re 
 port of the Land 
 Board, being inclu 
 ded within an Ag- 
 ricultural reserve. 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as t( 
 measurement, &c 
 
 Section 9 of the Parish of Lake Wol- 
 
 lard, situated at the eastern side of 
 
 the Barwon River, in the County of 
 
 Grant, and forming part of the run 
 
 known as " Waterloo Plains." 
 Situated on the Barghurg Creek, at 1 A Reserve being 
 
 Stewart's Inn, on the road from Gee-j recommended at 
 
 long to Boninyong,and formingpart this spot 
 
 of the run known as " Native Hut' 
 
 Creek," in the Portland Bay District. 1 
 Situated at the head of the Native Waiting further 
 
 Hut Creek, in the County of Grant, instructions as to 
 
 and forming part of the run known measurement, &c. 
 
 as " Native Hut Creek."
 
 177 
 
 Date of 
 Application. 
 
 10th July, 
 1850 
 
 13th Feb. 
 1849 
 
 5th Oct. 
 1850 
 
 26th Sept. 
 1850 
 
 22d Oct. 
 1850 
 
 17 th Dec. 
 1850 
 
 17 th Dec. 
 1850 
 
 23d Jan. 
 1851 
 
 25th Jan. 
 1851 
 
 25th Jan. 
 1851 
 
 5th Feb. 
 1851 
 
 Name of Applicant. 
 
 Peter Inglis, 
 
 E. D.Chamberlain 
 
 Riddell & HamiL 
 ton, 
 
 Riddell & Hamil 
 ton, 
 
 Charles Ryan, - 
 
 E. G. Bucknall, - 
 
 B. G. Bucknall, - 
 W. H. Bacchus, - 
 
 T. & S. Learmouth 
 T.&S. Learmouth 
 
 Whyte, Brothers, 
 M 
 
 No. of 
 
 Acres 
 
 applied 
 
 for. 
 
 A. 
 
 352 
 
 160 
 
 350 
 
 640 
 
 160 
 
 640 
 
 640 
 
 200 
 to 350 
 
 4,160 
 2,560 
 
 960 
 
 Local Description. 
 
 Situated on the Werribee River, the 
 western bounary line of the Parish 
 of Gorrochgap, being distant 1 mile 
 48 chains. It forms portion of the 
 run known as " Lai Lai," in the 
 Portland Bay District. 
 
 Situated on the right bank of the 
 Kiver Moyne, immediately outside 
 the boundary of the Settled District 
 at Belfast, and forming part of the 
 run known as " Yarram," in the 
 Portland Bay District. 
 
 Situated near the Township of Gis- 
 borne, having frontage to a Creek 
 which empties itself into the Salt 
 Water Kiver. It forms part of the 
 run known as " Cairn Hill," in the 
 Western Port District. 
 
 Situated adjoining to the eastern 
 boundary of the Police Paddock Re 
 serve at Gisborne, having frontage 
 to a Creek forming the western 
 branch of the Salt Water River. It 
 forms part of the run known as 
 " Cairn Hill," in the Western Port 
 District. 
 
 Situated between the Goulburn and 
 Murray Rivers, on the Nine Mile 
 Creek, which forms its eastern and 
 western boundaries. Upon it Mr. 
 R's homestead stands. 
 
 Situated on the Deep Creek in the 
 County of Talbot, and forming part 
 of the run known as " Rodborough 
 Vale," in the Western Port District. 
 
 Situated on the Deep Creek, and im- 
 mediately opposite the land last 
 described. 
 
 Situated on the east side of Lai Lai 
 Creek, and forming part of the run 
 known as " Peerewerrh,"in the Port- 
 land Bay District. 
 
 Situated about one mile north of the 
 most northerly point of Lako Bur 
 rumbeet. 
 
 Situated on the northern side of the 
 Maiden Hills, near the source of 
 Mount Greenock Creek. 
 
 Situated on the eastern and western 
 sides of the Water Holes at the Home 
 Station, at the run known as " Kon- 
 ongwootong," in the County of Dun- 
 das, and District of Portland Bay. 
 
 Cause of Delay. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 measurement, &c, 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 valuation, ike. 
 
 Waiting 
 tion, &c. 
 
 valua- 
 
 Ditto, ditto. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 measurement, &c. 
 
 Ditto, ditto. 
 
 Ditto, 
 
 ditto. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 valuation, &c. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 measurement, &c. 
 
 The land applied 
 for being lnolud- 
 ed within a Vil 
 lage Reserve re 
 commended by 
 Mr. Urquhart, in 
 April, 1849. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 measuremi i
 
 178 
 
 Name of Applicant. 
 
 No. of 
 
 Acres 
 
 applied 
 
 for. 
 
 Local Description. 
 
 Cause of Delay. 
 
 31st March, 
 1851 
 
 Whyte Brothers, 
 Whyte, Brothers, 
 Donald Cameron, 
 
 Donald Cameron, 
 Griffiths & Greene 
 
 Griffiths & Greene, 
 John Calvert ,- 
 
 John Calvert, 
 John Brock, - 
 
 John Wallace, - 
 
 William Campbell 
 
 Simon Staughton 
 S. & W. Jackson, 
 
 A. 
 
 80 
 
 640 
 
 320 
 
 160 
 
 450 
 
 600 
 
 881 
 
 389a. 
 38p. 
 
 800 to 
 1000 
 
 640 
 
 1,442 
 
 3,440 
 
 640 
 
 Situated one mile south of Water 
 Holes, mentioned in the land last 
 described. 
 
 Situated immediately opposite the 
 land last described. 
 
 Situated on the western side of the 
 Deep Creek, called the " Sullaroop 
 Creek," and near the Home Station 
 in the run known as " Clunes," in 
 the Western Port District. 
 
 Situated immediately opposite the 
 land last described. 
 
 Situated on the Kiver Werribee, in 
 the Parish of Parwan, comprising 
 part of the measured Sections 27,28, 
 29, and 33. 
 
 Part of Section 33, Parish of Parwan. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 measurement, &c. 
 
 Ditto, ditto. 
 
 Situated on the Lake Colac, being 
 portions of Section 19, of the Parish 
 of Irrewarra, and forming part of 
 the run known as " Irrewarra," in 
 the Portland Bay District. 
 
 Situated on the Lake Colac, and ad 
 joining to the land last described. 
 
 Situated on the Emu Creek, at a 
 point where it crosses the Twenty 
 Five-Mile boundary line, and form- 
 ing part of the run known as 
 " Bullanda Vale," in the County of 
 Bourke and District of Western 
 Port. 
 
 Situated near mount Wallace, on a 
 Creek at an Out Station called 
 "Bourke," lying about two miles 
 south-earterly from the Home Sta- 
 tion, on the run known as "Bal- 
 lank," in the Portland Bay District. 
 
 Situated on the Campaspie River, in 
 the Parish of Lauriston, and ad 
 joining to the Village Reserve of 
 Kyneton, and forming part of the 
 run known as " Trio," in the Port 
 land Bay District. 
 
 Situated on the south side of the 
 Little River, and forming part of 
 the run known as " Brisbane Ran. 
 ges," in the Portland Bay District. 
 
 Situated on the south side of the 
 River Wannon, and forming part 
 of the run known as " Sandford,' r 
 in the Portland Bay District. 
 
 Ditto, 
 
 Ditto, 
 
 ditto. 
 
 ditto. 
 
 Waiting the Re 
 port of the Land 
 Board. 
 
 Ditto, 
 
 ditto. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 measurement, &c 
 
 Waiting further 
 information and 
 instructions. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 measurement, &c. 
 
 Ditto, ditto. 
 
 These lands being 
 proclaimed for 
 sale at the time 
 claimed by Mr 
 Campbell, under 
 pre-emptive right 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 measurement, &c. 
 
 Ditto, ditto.
 
 179 
 
 Date of 
 Application. 
 
 Name of Applicant. 
 
 No. of I 
 Acres 
 applied 
 for. I 
 
 Local Description. 
 
 Cause of Delay. 
 
 14th April, 
 1851 
 
 19th April, 
 1851 
 
 2d May, 
 1851 
 
 Sept. 1850 
 
 27th March 
 1851 
 
 4th May, 
 1851 
 
 10th May, 
 1851 
 
 10th May, 
 1851 
 
 26th May, 
 1848 
 
 27th May, 
 1851 
 
 27th May, 
 1851 
 
 Addison & Murray 960 
 
 J. & P. Manifold, 
 
 W. H. Dunsford, 
 
 Booth and Argyle 
 
 William Campbell 
 
 James Webster, 
 
 J. G. Ware, 
 
 J. G. Ware, - 
 
 Robert Mailor, 
 
 G. F. Bead, jun. - 
 
 G. F. Read, jun. 
 
 640 
 
 640 
 
 1,334a. 
 2r.l6p. 
 
 1,600 
 
 160 
 
 320 
 
 960, or 
 1,280 
 
 160 
 
 640 
 
 640 
 
 Situated on the west side of the River 
 Glenelg, opposite to the point of 
 junction of that River with the 
 Wando, and forming part of the 
 run known as * Dunrobin," in the 
 Porland Bay District. 
 
 Situated on the north side of Lake 
 Purrumbete, so as to include the 
 Head Station on the run there held 
 by Messrs. Manifold, in the Portland 
 Bay District. 
 
 Situated so as to include the Home- 
 stead and improvements on the run 
 known as " Lancefield," in the West- 
 ern Port District. 
 
 Situated on the western side of the 
 Campaspie River, in the parish of 
 Lauriston, and forming part of the 
 run known as " St. Agues," in the 
 Western Port District. 
 
 Situated on the north side of the 
 Campaspie River near Carlsruhe, 
 the Parish of Lauriston being its 
 western boundary. It forms part 
 of the run known as " Trio," in the 
 Western Port District. 
 
 Situated on the Muddy Creek, so as 
 to include the Homestead and im 
 provements, on the run known as 
 "Burnanto," in the Western Port 
 District. 
 
 Situated on Lake Timboon, having 
 the Timboon Creek for its eastern 
 boundary. It forms part of the run 
 known as " Merdewarrook," in the 
 Portland Bay District. 
 
 Situated so as to include the Home- 
 stead and improvements, on the run 
 known as " Koort Koortnong," in 
 the Portland Bay District. 
 
 Situated on the western side of the 
 Merri River, near Warrnambool, so 
 as to include the Homestead and 
 improvements on Mr. Mailor'srun. 
 
 Situated so as to include the Home- 
 stead and improvements, on the run 
 known as " Borharyghark," in the 
 Portland Bay District. 
 
 Situated so as to include the Home-! 
 stead and improvements, on the run 
 known as " Cargerie," in the Port- 
 land Bay District. 
 
 Waiting further 
 information 
 specting a Re- 
 serve proposed in 
 this locality. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 a Reserve within 
 which this por- 
 tion is included. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 
 measurement, &c. 
 
 Waiting the deci- 
 sion of the Ex 
 ecutive Council ; 
 the lands claimed 
 having been pro 
 claimed for sale. 
 
 Waiting the deci- 
 cision of the Ex- 
 ecutive Council 
 The lands are in- 
 cluded in the 
 Carlsruhe Agri- 
 cultural Reserve 
 
 Waiting a correct- 
 ed description of 
 the land applied 
 for. 
 
 Waiting further 
 information as to 
 a Reserve pro- 
 posed in this lo 
 cality. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 measurement, &c 
 
 Waiting measure- 
 ment, &c. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 measurement, &c. 
 
 Ditto, 
 
 ditto.
 
 180 
 
 Date of 
 Application. 
 
 31st May, 
 1851 
 
 26th May, 
 1851 
 
 3d June, 
 1851 
 
 16th March 
 1850 
 
 16th June, 
 1851 
 
 26th June, 
 1851 
 
 27th June, 
 1851 
 
 19th June, 
 1851 
 
 19th June, 
 1851 
 
 30th June, 
 1851 
 
 19th Tune, 
 1851 
 
 Name of Applicant. 
 
 James and John 
 Thompson, 
 
 Frederick Griffin, 
 
 James Orr, - 
 William Huon, - 
 W. J. T. Clarke, - 
 
 Simon Staughton 
 J. R. Hopkins, 
 David Stead, - 
 
 D. C. Simson, 
 Chas. M'Lachlan, 
 
 R. W. Steiglitz, - 
 Total, . . 
 
 No. of 
 Acres | 
 applied i 
 for. I 
 
 Local Description. 
 
 A. 
 
 640 
 
 5,000 
 
 640 
 
 160 
 
 1,280 
 
 2,320 
 
 640 
 
 160 
 
 2,880 
 
 3,602 
 
 200 
 
 Situated on the north east side of 
 Lake Keilambeet, on the run known 
 as "Keilambeet," in the Portland 
 Bay District. 
 
 Situated at the head of the right 
 branch of Sutherland's Creek, and 
 adjoining the Twenty-Five Mile 
 boundary line, being part of the 
 run known as "Anaki," in the 
 Portland Bay District. 
 
 Situated on the Coliban River, so as 
 to include the Homestead and im- 
 provements, on the run known as 
 "Coliban," in the Western Port 
 District. 
 
 Situated on the Wodonga Creek, so 
 as to include the Homestead and 
 improvements, on the run known 
 as " Wodonga," in the Murray Dis- 
 trict. 
 
 Situated about two miles north-east 
 of the present road to Burn Bank, 
 so as to include the Homestead and 
 improvements, on the run known 
 as " Dowling Forest," in the Port 
 land Bay District. 
 
 Situated on the north side of the 
 Little River, on the run known as 
 " Brisbane Ranges," in the Portland 
 Bay District. 
 
 Section 21 of the Parish of Yan Yan 
 Ghurt, being part of the run known 
 as " Wormbete," in the County of 
 Grant. 
 
 Situated on the Eastern Woorabool 
 adjoining a portion of 480 acres 
 previously applied for. It forms 
 part of the run known as " Bunjel 
 lap East," in the Portland Bay 
 District. 
 
 Situated on the Deep Creek, and 
 forming part of the run known as 
 " Charlotte Plains," in the Western 
 Port District. 
 
 Situated on the Myrnong Creek,about 
 two miles above its junction with 
 the Werribee River. It forms part 
 of the run known as " Pentland 
 Hills," in Western Port District. 
 
 Situated opposite to Bradshaw's Sta- 
 tion, on the River Moorabool, which 
 forms its southern and western 
 boundary. 
 
 48,255 
 
 Cause of Delay. 
 
 Waiting further 
 instructions as to 
 measurement, &c 
 
 Ditto, ditto. 
 
 Ditto, ditto. 
 
 Ditto, ditto. 
 
 Ditto, ditto. 
 
 Ditto, ditto. 
 
 Ditto, ditto. 
 
 Ditto, ditto. 
 
 Ditto, ditto. 
 
 Ditto, ditto. 
 
 The portion form- 
 ing part of a Re- 
 serve of 1 square 
 mile, at the cros 
 sing place on the 
 Moorabool.
 
 181 
 
 No. 71. 
 
 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PAPEK. 
 RETURN of LANDS APPLIED FOR usder PRE-EMPTIVE RIGHT, but REFUSED. 
 
 Date of 
 Application. 
 
 26th Sept. and 
 28thOct.l850 
 
 1st Nov. 1850 
 25thNov.l850 
 
 26thFeb.l851 
 26thFeb.l851 
 
 Name of 
 Applicant. 
 
 Griffin and 
 Craig. 
 
 Thos. Bond, 
 
 Henry 
 
 Bun tine. 
 
 Simon 
 Staughton, 
 
 John 
 Pearson. 
 
 No. of 
 Acres 
 
 640 
 
 320 
 
 166 
 
 2100 
 
 160 
 
 Local Description. 
 
 Situated adjoining the Township 
 Reserve at the Grange, called 
 " Hamilton," on the run known 
 as " Grange Burn." 
 
 Situated about three miles from 
 the Township of Violet Town, 
 at Violet Creek. 
 
 Situated on the run known as 
 Bruthren Creek, in the Gipps 
 Land District, about ten miles 
 from the Township of Alberton. 
 
 Situated on the south side of the 
 Little River, and forming part 
 of the run known as "Brisbane 
 Ranges," in the County of Grant 
 and District of Portland Bay. 
 
 Situated on the eastern bank of 
 the Glenelg River, and forming 
 part of the run known as " Re 
 treat," in the Portland Baj 
 District. 
 
 Cause of Refusal. 
 
 Because part of it, fronting the 
 Grange Burn, has been marked 
 in small allotments by Mr. 
 Wade, and plan with descrip- 
 tions sent to Sydney. 
 
 Land being claimed by Mr, 
 Scobie. 
 
 A Township being recommended 
 at this spot, Mr. B. could, under 
 such circumstances, only be al- 
 lowed the land on which the 
 Homestead and improvements 
 are situated. 
 
 Application was for land of an 
 irregular form, contrary to the 
 Order in Council under which 
 claimed. 
 
 Portion applied for has a water 
 frontage of twice the extent al 
 lowed by the Regulations under 
 which it is claimed. 
 
 Surveyor-General's Office, 
 
 Melbourne, 10th May, 1852. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 R. HODDLE, 
 
 Surveyor-General. 
 
 STATISTICS. 
 
 No. 72. 
 
 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PAPERS. 
 
 Return of the Number of Acres of Land under Cultivation, in 
 the Year ended 31st March, 1851. 
 
 Wheat, . . . 28,567 \ acres. | Potatoes, . . . 2,837| acres. 
 
 Maize, 
 
 Barley, 
 
 Oats, 
 
 27 
 3,831 
 16,874 
 
 Sown Grasses, 
 Total, 
 
 40J 
 
 52,179 acres. 
 
 No. 73. 
 Return of Live Stock in Tort Phillip District, on 1st Jan. 1851 
 
 Sheep, .... 6,442,068. | Horses, 
 
 Cattle, 
 
 21,219. 
 378,806. | Pigs, . 9,260. 
 
 W. LONSDALE, Colonial Secretary. 
 
 Return of Live Stock within the Settled Districts, 1st Jan. 1851. 
 
 Sheep, .... 760,442. I Horses 8,704. 
 
 Cattle, .... 70,374. | Pigs, .... 7,322.
 
 182 
 
 No. 74. 
 Imports of Bread Stuffs during 1850. 
 
 Flour and Bread, 
 
 Wheat, 
 
 Oats, 
 
 14,360 cwt. 
 30,492 bushels. 
 24,261 " 
 
 Oatmeal & Pearl Barley, 142,560 lbs. 
 Potatoes and Yams, . 867 tons. 
 
 Eice, . . . 277,760 lbs. 
 
 No. 75. 
 
 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PAPER. 
 Abstract of the Population of Victoria, 2d March, 1851, 
 
 POLICE DISTRICTS. 
 
 Male. 
 
 Female. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Melbourne, .... 
 
 12,374 
 
 10,769 
 
 23,143 
 
 Bourke, 
 
 
 
 10,681 
 
 7,667 
 
 18,348 
 
 Grant, 
 
 
 
 
 7,333 
 
 5,451 
 
 12,784 
 
 Portland, 
 
 
 
 
 
 1,459 
 
 883 
 
 2,342 
 
 Belfast, 
 
 
 
 
 
 2,365 
 
 1.481 
 
 3,846 
 
 Kilmore, . 
 
 
 
 
 
 1,387 
 
 677 
 
 2,064 
 
 Alberton, 
 
 
 
 
 
 574 
 
 330 
 
 904 
 
 Total within the Settled Districts, 
 
 36,173 
 
 27,258 
 
 66,431 
 
 Males beyond the Settled Districts, 
 
 10,029 
 
 
 
 10,029 
 
 Married Females do. do. 
 
 
 
 1,708 
 
 
 
 Unmarried do. do. do. 
 Total Population, 
 
 
 
 2,177 
 
 3,885 
 
 46,202 
 
 31,143 
 
 77,345 
 
 The Popula 
 
 tion o 
 
 f 184 
 
 6 was 
 
 i 
 
 20,184 
 
 12,695 
 
 32,879 
 
 At the same time there were only 101 houses built of Stone or 
 Brick beyond the Settled Districts. 
 
 No. 76. 
 
 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PAPER. 
 
 Return of Reserves in the Intermediate and Unsettled Dis- 
 tricts, up to the 1st July, 1851. 
 
 No. 39. Murray District, . 80,000 acres. 
 
 " 31. Wimmera " . . 55,680 " 
 
 " 54. Western Port " . 215,040 " 
 
 " 80. Portland Bay " . 252,900 " 
 
 " 42. Gipps' Land, " . 78,080 " 
 
 246 Reserves. 
 
 Total, 681,700 acres.
 
 183 
 
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 185 
 
 No. 77. CONTINUED. 
 
 BETUKN, SHOWING THE GROSS AMOUNT OF SUBURBAN AND 
 COUNTRY LAND ACTUALLY AT THIS TIME ALIENATED FROM 
 THE CROWN AND IN THE HANDS OF THE PUBLIC. 
 30th Mat, 1853. 
 
 1863. 
 20th 
 May. 
 
 
 A. R. P. 
 
 640046 3 5 
 
 Sold by Public Auction, including 
 Lands that have been offered for 
 Sale and not Sold, but afterwards 
 selected. 
 
 A. 
 31329 
 
 Settled District. 
 
 Granted under 
 
 Pre-emptive 
 
 Right. 
 
 A. 
 47622 
 
 Intermediate Districts. 
 
 00 
 
 Unsettled Districts. 
 
 A. R. P. 
 
 726961 3 6 
 
 Total Amount of Suburban and 
 Country Land Alienated.
 
 INDEX TO APPENDIX. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 ACTS OF PARLIAMENT AND LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PROCLAMATIONS, 
 ORDERS IN COUNCIL, &c. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1. Act 5 & 6 Vict. C. 36, Regulating Sale of Waste Lands, 22d 
 
 June, 1842, ....... 1 
 
 2. Act 11 Vict. No. 18, Assessment upon Stock beyond the Settled Dis- 
 
 tricts, 17th September, 1847, - - - - - 10 
 
 3. Act 9 & 10 Vict. C. 104, Amending 5 & 6 Victoria, and authorising 
 
 the issue of Leases by an Order in Council, 28 th August, 1846, - 19 
 
 4. Order in Council, of the 9th March, 1847, - - - - 25 
 
 5. Act 11 Vict. No. 61, Appointing Commissioners to examine and re- 
 
 port upon Disputed Boundaries, - - - - 36 
 
 6. Proclamation, requiring Applications for Lease, 7th October, 1847, 43 
 
 7. Tenders for Runs, 1st January, 1848, - - - - 44 
 
 8. Tenders for Runs, 21st February, 1848, - - - - 47 
 
 9. Tenders for new Runs, 31st March, 1848, - - - - 48 
 
 10. Transfer of Runs, 1st January, 1848, - - - - 50 
 
 11. Transfer of Runs, 30th June, 1848, -:.- - - - 51 
 
 12. Proportion of Stock, 1st January, 1848, - - - - 51 
 
 13. Forfeiture of Lease, 4th February, 1848, - - - - 52 
 
 14. Delay of Leases, from state of Survey, 1st June, 1848, - - 53 
 
 15. Applications for Leases extended to the 30th September, 1848, - 54 
 
 16. Rules within the Settled Districts, 29th March, 1849, - - 55 
 
 17. Settled Districts, - - - - - - - 63 
 
 18. Ditto, - - - - - - - 63 
 
 19. Ditto, 64 
 
 20. Leases of 8 and 14 years, from 1st January, 1852 ; Proclamation 
 
 28th October, 1851, - - - - - - 64 
 
 21. Reserves defeated by application to purchase within a year, Procla- 
 
 mation 11th March, 1852, - - - - - 65 
 
 22. Extracts from Lord Grey's Despatch, 29th November, 1846, - 66 
 
 23. Extract from Lord Grey's Despatch, transmitting Order in Council, 
 
 30th March, 1847, - - - - - - 67 
 
 24. Extract from Order in Council, dated 18th July, 1849, - - 67 
 
 PART II. 
 
 SALE DISPUTED, CORRESPONDENCE, CROWN LAW OFFICERS' OPINIONS, 
 PETITIONS, AND ARGUMENTS. 
 
 25. Messrs. Moore and Griffith's Claim, and Crown Prosecutor's Opinion, 
 
 13th November, 1847, 68 
 
 26. Mr. La Trobe's Letter, - - - - - - 70
 
 187 
 
 PA OB 
 
 27. Attorney-General's Opinion, - - - - - 71 
 
 28. Minutes of the Executive Council, - - - - 72 
 
 29. Attorney-General's Opinion, 8th November, 1848, - - - 78 
 
 30. Solicitor-General's Opinion, 8th November, 1848, - - - 81 
 
 31. Opinion from both Attorney-General and Solicitor-General, 12th 
 
 December, 1848, - - - - - - 81 
 
 32. Colonial Secretary's Letter of 22d March, 1848, stating that Govern- 
 
 ment was precluded from selling to any other except the Lessee, 82 
 
 33. Executive Council refuse to advise Extension of Settled Districts, 
 
 14th September, 1850, - - - - - - 83 
 
 34. Opinion of Attorney-General and Solicitor-General, 27th Septem- 
 
 ber, 1850, 84 
 
 35. Colonial Secretary instructing the Superintendent to prepare for 
 
 carrying out the Order in Council, 26th July, 1847, - - 86 
 
 36. Colonial Secretary's Letter on extent of Reserves, 15th October, 1847, 87 
 
 37. Colonial Secretary's Letter, urging expedition in laying out the 
 
 Reserves, 12th November, 1847, - - - - 88 
 
 38. Survey of Squatting Districts, Colonial Secretary's Letter, 1st Octo- 
 
 ber, 1847, 88 
 
 39. Reserves, Colonial Secretary's Letter, 12th November, 1847, - 89 
 
 40. Extent of Reserves reduced, Colonial Secretary's Letter, 5th March, 
 
 1851, 90 
 
 41. Messrs. Jeffries' Claim to Purchase under the Pre-emptive Right, 
 
 7th November, 1850, with the Opinion of the Attorney-General 
 and Solicitor-General, and the Superintendent's Letter, urging 
 a reconsideration of the Case ; and also the Opinion of the new 
 Law Officers of Victoria, - - - - - - 90 
 
 42. Petitions of the Tenants of the Crown in Victoria, - - - 106 
 
 43. Mitutes of Agreements adduced by a deputation of Squatters, - 109 
 
 PAET III. 
 
 VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS OP THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, PETITIONS, 
 DESPATCHES TO AND FROM DOWNING STREET, OPINIONS OP BARRISTERS, 
 
 LETTERS, &c. 
 
 44. Administration of Crown Lands, Mr. Johnston's Motion negatived, 
 
 16th December, 1851, - - - - - 117 
 
 45. Occupiers' Right respected in the sale of the Lands in the neighbour- 
 
 hood of the Gold Fields ; Vote of the Legislative Council, 20th 
 July, 1852, 117 
 
 46. Legislative Council recommends an immediate Issue of the Leases, 
 
 in order that the Lands may be opened for Sale under the Order 
 
 in Council, 28th July, 1852, - - - - - 130 
 
 47. Legislature recommends delay in granting the Pre-emptive Right, 
 
 so that the matter can be brought under the notice of Her 
 Majesty in Council, 17th August, 1852, - 132 
 
 48/ Reply from the Lieutenant-Governor, .... 132 
 
 49. Return of Lands Sold in the Settled Districts under Pre-emptive 
 
 Right, - - - - - - - - 133
 
 188 
 
 PAGE 
 
 50. Return of Lands Sold beyond the Settled Districts under Pre-emp- 
 
 tive Right, - - - - - - - 134 
 
 51. Resolutions adopted at a Meeting of Occupants of Crown Lands, 2d 
 
 September, 1852, - - - - - - 135 
 
 52. Despatch from the Lieutenant-Governor, transmitting Resolutions 
 
 and Petition from 66 Licensed Occupiers of Crown Lands, 25th 
 September, 1852, - - - - - - 136 
 
 53. Petition from Crown Tenants, - - - - - 138 
 
 54. Despatch from the Duke of Newcastle to the Lieutenant-Governor, 
 
 29th November, 1853, - - - - - - 143 
 
 55. Opinion of Robert Lowe, Esq. in 1837, - - - - 153 
 
 56. Opinion of T.H. Fellows, Esq. in 1854, - - - -154 
 
 57. Opinion of Roundall Palmer, Esq. M.P. 1854, - - - 154 
 
 58. Report of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce, 1854, - - 155 
 
 59. Memorial in Course of Signature in June, 1854, ... 161 
 
 60. Protest against Sale of Lands on a Licensed Run, by W. Campbell, 
 
 28th August, 1854, - - - - - - 161 
 
 61. Opinions of Candidates in June, 1854, .... 164 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 RETURNS OF LAND, STOCK, IMPORTS, EXPORTS, POPULATION, RESERVES, &c. 
 
 62. Return of Claims to Leases acquired under the Proclamation of 1st 
 
 January, 1848, - - - - - - - 165 
 
 63. Synopsis of Trade and Customs, from 1844 to 1850, - - 166 
 
 64. Land Sales at Melbourne and Geelong, June, 1854, - - 167 
 
 65. Return of Land Sales, from 30th June, 1851, to 1st July, 1852, 
 
 showing the average price, - - - - - 170 
 
 66. Average Price and Quantity of Land Sold, from 1837 to 30th June, 
 
 1851, 171 
 
 67. Lands Sold by Public Auction and by Private Sale, from 1837 to 
 
 30th June, 1851, - - - - - - 172 
 
 68. Surveyed Lands unsold, 10th May, 1852, - - - - 173 
 
 69. Lands Sold under Pre-emptive Right, 10th May, 1852, - - 174 
 
 70. Applications to Purchase under the Pre-emptive Right, from 13th 
 
 February, 1849, to 30th June, 1851, - - - - 175 
 
 71. Refusal of Lands applied for under the Pre-emptive Right, 10th 
 
 May, 1852, - - - - - - - 181 
 
 72. Lands under Cultivation, 31st March, 1851, ... 181 
 
 73. Live Stock, 1st January, 1851, - 181 
 
 74. Imports of Breadstuffs in 1850, - - - - - 182 
 
 75. Population, 2d March, 1851, - - - - - 182 
 
 76. Reserves beyond the Settled Districts, 1st July, 1851, - -182 
 
 77. Returns from the Lieutenant-Governor, of Lands under Cultivation, 
 
 in 1852 and 1853, and of the total quantity of Land Sold up to 
 the 30th May, 1853, - - - - - - 183 
 
 WM. EADIE AND CO. PRINTERS, GLASGOW.
 
 SUPPLEMENT. 
 
 The arrival of the last mail furnished the following account of a 
 Land Sale, advertised under the signature of the Surveyor-General, 
 and there is no doubt but the description of the land given is 
 correct. It is as follows : 
 
 " Hamilton. On the 26th and 27th October, at the Police-office, 90 
 lots, varying from 5 to 156 acres, and from 1 to 2 : 10s. per acre, 
 upset price, situate in the parish of South Hamilton, on the Grange Burn 
 River, about 50 miles from Portland, on the Melbourne Road. The 
 whole of this land is of good quality, and well suited for agricultural 
 purposes, a large portion of it being of the richest description, lightly 
 timbered with gum, she-oak, banksia, and honeysuckle, and supplied 
 with water from the Grange Burn and Muddy Creek." 
 
 The sale took place on the appointed day, and the following 
 quotation, extracted from the "Geelong Advertiser" of the 3d 
 Nov. 1854, shows the result arrived at : 
 
 SALE OP CROWN LANDS AT HAMILTON, 
 On Thursday, 26th October. 
 
 Sububban Lots. In the Parish of South Hamilton, at the Grange Burn, 
 about fifty miles from Portland. 
 
 Upset price 2 : 10*. per acre. 
 
 1 10a 12p, Allot 1, no offer. 
 
 2 8a 3r lip, Allot 2, no offer. 
 
 3 9a 16p, Allot 3, no offer. 
 
 4 8a 17p, Allot 4, no offer. 
 
 5 7a 3r 17p, Allot 5, no offer. 
 
 6 8a 3r 37p, Allot 6, no offer. 
 
 7 10a 12p, Allot 7, no offer. 
 
 8 8a 3r lip, Allot 8, no offer. 
 
 9 9a 16p, Allot 9, no offer. 
 
 10 6a lr 8p, Allot 10, H. Withe, 15 15s. per lot. 
 
 11 6a 17p, Allot 11, G. Gale, 15 10s. per lot. 
 
 12 6a 3r 37p, Allot 12, no offer. 
 
 13 5a 6p, Allot 25, R. Bloomfield, 12 12s. per lot. 
 
 14 5a 15p, Allot 26, S. Keen, 12 14s. 9d. per lot. 
 
 15 8a 2r 27p, Allot 27, D. Henderson, 21 13s. 6d. per lot. 
 
 16 6a 3r 32p, Allot 28, no offer. 
 
 17 8a 2r 8p, Allot 29, A. French, 21 7s. 6d. per lot. 
 
 18 6a I6p, Allot 30, R. Corse, 15 5s. per lot. 
 
 19 5a 3r 24p, Allot 31, W. Wyatt, 15 per lot. 
 
 20 6a lr 36p, Allot 32, J. Caple, 30 5s. per lot.
 
 190 
 
 21 5a 3r 21p, Allot 33, W. Wyatt, 31 per lot. 
 
 22 8a 2r 38p, Allot 34, W. Wyatt, 21 17s. per lot. 
 
 23 6a 3r 32p, Allot 35, no offer. 
 
 24 9a 3r 26p, Allot 36, no offer. 
 
 25 7a 2r 12p, Allot 37, no offer. 
 
 26 6a lr lip, Allot 38, W. Wyatt, 30 per lot. 
 
 27 5a lr 29p, Allot 39, A. Thomson, 34 per lot. 
 
 28 9a 2r 26p, Allot 40, no offer. 
 
 29 9a lr 15p, Allot 41, no offer. 
 
 30 5a lr 24p, Allot 43, A. Thomson 13 10s. per lot. 
 
 31 9a 2r 16p, Allot 44, no offer. 
 
 32 18a 4p, Allot 45, no offer. 
 
 33 5a 2r 22p, Allot 46, W. Wyatt, 15 per lot. 
 
 34 5a 2r 22p, Allot 47, W. Wyatt, 17 10s. per lot. 
 
 35 10a 4p, Allot 48, no offer. 
 
 36 6a lr 36p, Allot 49, W. Carter, 16 3s. 9d. per lot. 
 
 37 7a 3r 27p, Allot 50, J. Robertson, 19 16s. per lot. 
 
 38 7a 2r 27p, Allot 51, no offer. 
 
 39 7a 2r 27p, Allot 52, no offer. 
 
 40 8a lr 2p, Allot 53, no offer. 
 
 41 8a 3r 16p, Allot 54, no offer. 
 
 42 9a lr 30p, Allot 55, no offer. 
 
 43 10a 4p, Allot 56, no offer. 
 
 44 8a 2r 22p, Allot 57, D. M'Kenzie, 31 per lot. 
 
 45 8a 2r 22p, Allot 58, J. Reutsch, 21 12s. per lot. 
 
 46 9a lr 17p, Allot 59, J. Reutsch, 23 7s. lOd. per lot. 
 
 47 9a lr 17p, Allot 60, no offer. 
 
 48 10a 4p, Allot 61, no offer. 
 
 49 10a lr 2p, Allot 62, no offer. 
 
 50 10a lr 20p, Allot 63, no offer. 
 
 The reader will observe that there was not a single offer for the 
 first 9 lots, and that, out of the whole day's sale of 50 lots, only 30 
 lots found purchasers. It certainly requires no demonstration to 
 prove, from the foregoing facts, that there is a glut of land "of the 
 richest description, lightly timbered, and supplied with water," in 
 the market, for sale, at moderate prices ; and that it is a gross 
 fallacy, on the part of the Government, to misconstrue such sales 
 to private speculators into "public purposes." 
 
 The following statement shows a very satisfactory state of 
 the Revenue; and as half of the territorial Revenue is re- 
 served for Emigration purposes, it will enable the Emigration 
 Commissioners to despatch a greater number of emigrants to Vic- 
 toria this year than they ever did in any year before ; and it is 
 necessary, both on account of the Colony and of the ill employed 
 poor people of the mother country who are desirous of emigrating, 
 that such ample funds should be appropriated as speedily as pos- 
 sible.
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 20m-7,'67(H3149s4)
 
 AA 000118 757 4 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES