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(From the AVSTHAT.IAN, Feb. 17.)
In another column will be found a report
of the extraordinary trial of'the King v.
Cooper, on an Information of Intrusion ir'to
the piece of ground called the Black Wattle
Swamp. We cannot but look upon the at-
tempt which was thus made to regain pos-
session of this land by the Crown as most un-
just and impolitic-unjust, because if it were
even true that a mistake had been made by
the Assistant Surveyor in measuring this land
to Mr. Cooper, still it was more fitting that
the Government itself should suffer from the
errors of its own officer, than that the con»
seqo «tices of that error should fall on an in*
dividual :-impolitic, because the. larger por-
tion of the community hold their landed
possessions precisely on the same tenure as
Mr. Cooper, and a question therefore striking
so directly at the root of the real property
of the Colonists, should not, as li appears to
us,-have been mooted to accomplish so pal-
try au object, as the recovery of two or three
acres of land, however beneficial it might
hereafter prove to the town or the Govern-
ment. It strikes us that it would have been
infinitely wiser to have purchased this land
at any price, than to have had recourse to
that mode of regaining it, which was resort-
ed to. It is, however, but candid to admit,
that the right to this land could not have
been tried in a fairer way than it was. The
Attorney General, under the express sanc-
tion of His Excellency, consented to submit
the question to a jury ; the first jury which
has yet been assembled in this Colony to de-
termine on a matter of mere civil right. A
most respectable and intelligent jury was
convened, consisting of some of the first mer-
chants of the town ; and, after a trial of five
hours, they found specially the following fact,
-'I hat Mr. Cooper obtained possession of the
land in question, in the manner hitherto
practised in this Colony." Thus completely
negativing the " fraud and falsehood," which
the information charged on him, and which
were part of the issue the jury had to try.
Since the facts, constituting the manner in
which land has hitherto been obtained from
Government in this Colony, are not specially
set forth in the above verdict, it may be con-
tended on behalf of the Crown, if the Govern-
ment should think it adviseable to moot the
question any further, that it possesses no le-
gal effect ; that it is a mere nullity. We have
ho doubt, however, that the jury themselves
meant it to be taken as a verdict of not
guilty. We are in hopes that the Govern-
ment, therefore, will consider it in this light,
and not seek to agitate the question cc novo.
What object, indeed, have the Government
in view that can at all compensate for the
alarms which such a step is calculated to ex-
cite in flip public mind, and for the injus-
tice which such a precedent may hereafter
lead to ? Of what public importance is it,
whether Mr. Cooper's distillery stand on the
Eastern side or the Western of the stream at
Black Wattle Swamp ? Mr. Cooper, in either
caso, would consume the same quantity o(
water, and so long as the Government re-
serve for the use of the public the surplus
water, so long as they letain a right of erect-
ing at Mr. Cooper's dam-head whatever
works may be necessary to convey this sur-
plus water into the town, or wherever else it
may be thought advisable to conduct it ; in
what respect are the public, interests im-
paired ? It strikes us that far too much im-
portance has been attached by Government
to the stream of water in question. At best,
it is but an inconsiderable stream, not at all
calculated to afford an adequate supply of
water to the town of Sydney, even in the
present state of its population. As a reser-
voir then for future consumption, it will be-
come every year more scanty. Another and
more abundant source of supply, therefore,
must at length be sought. And, why not do
that at once, which must be done eventually ?
No question can exist that the water of
George's River must of necessity, before the
expiration of many years, be brought into
the town. At this moment even a greater
accommodation could not be conferred on the
inhabitants ; nor a greater ¡improvement ef-
fected in the metropolis. And certainly, if
the Government of the day were desirous of
entitling itself to the gratitude of the present
generation, and of living also in the memory
of future times; of all the public undertak-
ings that could be entered upon, what so
likely to attain these ends as a Canal to con-
vey the water of George's River into the
heart of Sydney ? A Canal, which might at
one end the same time afford the inhabitants
of the town a sufficiency of the most neces-
sary perhaps of all elements ; and serve to
establish an inland navigation with the valu-
able and extensive districts in the vicinity
of that river. The advantages that would
result from such an undertaking, are beyond
all comparison with the probable cost. Go-
vernment have ample means too of effecting
it, in the immense mass of disposeable labour
which they possess in the public gangs. A
work of this sort would supply the town with
water for ages, and would consequently ren-
der the Black Wattle and other inconsidera-
ble runs of water in the neighbourhood, no
longer an object of public consideration. We
trust, therefore, that the Government will at
once turn its attention to the only quarter
from which a sufficient supply of water can
be obtained. At all events, it is to be hoped
that the rights of an individual will not be
sacrificed oh the altar of public convenience.
If an error have been committed in putting
Mr. Cooper into possession of the piece of
land which was measured to him by a pub-
lic officer ; if that land, or the water flowing
through it, be required for the use of the
public, let the public pay for it. Let an act
be »passed through the Council, to declare
that this water is necessary for the use of the
town ; and let a jury be assembled to award
to Mr. Cooper the full value not only of the
stream itself, but of the works which he has
erected on it. Private right will then be re-
spected ; or? at least, if it yield to the public
good, the individual himself will suffer as
little damnification as possible. In no other
way can Mr. Cooper be fairly deprived of
this possession. The verdict of the jury has
established that he possesses an equal right
with every other grantee in the Colony.
More than one half of the landed property in
all the towns throughout the Colony is held
on no other tenure. If Mr. Cooper, therefore,
can be ejected-who is safe ? The legal
doctrine, indeed, which proceeded from the
Bench, on Saturday last, impugns the title
as it seems to us,-not only to all lands held
here without grant or lease, but to every
acre which every Governor has granted since
the foundation of the Colony. His Honor in
his charge to the Jury, laid it down asan in-
disputable proposition of law, that no grant
from the Crowu is good, unless " the Great
Seal be affixed to it, and it be also entered
of record." Whether His Honor meant the
Seal of the Colony, or the Great Seal of En-
gland, we could' not collect. Admitting,
however, that by u the Great Seal," he meant
the Seal of the Colony,-still the grants
hitherto made would, according to this doc-
trine, want one essential to their validity ;
they would require to be u of record,'*
terms which, it seems to us, mere registry in
the Office of the Secretary, or Surveyor Ge-
neral,-will not satisfy. If this be so,-it is
evident that something must be done some-
where to ratify all the grants and leases
which the Crown has hitherto made. Till
this be done, it strikes us, (assuming the dic-
tum of the Chief Justice tothe law) that there
is no legal title to a foot of land in the Colo-
ny ; a very pleasant discovery for those who
likve invested the fruits of a life of industry
in this species of property.
$