ABSTRACT
Squatter's Position (1847-1854) THE SQUATTERS had obtained security by the Order-in-Council of March 1847 but the interpretation of that Order,l both as it affected the squatters and the Government, provided the leading issue in the early fifties. It was a struggle between two interests which could not be reconciled and each of which was supported by quite logical arguments. On the one hand, the stockmen held that the Order promised leases for a fixed period (1, 8, or 14 years) with rights of pre-emption and compensation for improvements. On the other, the Government maintained that this was conditional and that the privileges should not accrue to the squatters if they stood 'in the way of the development of general population and industry'. The issue in short was between a rigidly legal interpretation and social arguments, and was aggravated because both sides approached it from different standpoints.
