Crown Leases have been exceeded, and encroachments allowed on Crown Lands for which encroachments have been paid.
As an illustration of this, I enclose some recent correspondence and minutes respecting the former property of Gibb, Livingston & Co.
Your Lordship will see that, in this case, no rent has been paid.
I have been unable to ascertain how Messrs Gibb, Livingston & Co. obtained this land thirty-nine years ago without paying any premium to the Crown for it, whilst they now sell it to Chinese.
Acting on the Surveyor-General's suggestion and the usual practice, I have increased the Crown rent from $779.14 to $795.31, being the rate that should have been paid in 1841. However, I have caused it to be publicly notified that in all future cases of the kind, I shall expect a premium or a higher proportional rent. A gentleman would be charged a premium seven times the total sum greater than they paid the Crown in the shape of annual rents for the last thirty-nine years.
The transaction is, however, a good proof of the prosperity of the Colony.