Discourse and rhetoric : the case of the New Zealand Native Land Company

Considers rhetoric and discourse in financial accounting and how rhetoric/discourse was employed by the directors of a New Zealand property company. The particular case cited is that of the New Zealand Land Company 1882‐1890. Shows how land may be transferred from indigenous owners and redistributed by means of various discursive and accounting techniques. The sources used include archival records, parliamentary reports and articles from contemporary colonial ewspapers. Concludes that the accounting information available provided a legitimizing discourse, which enabled some to benefit at the expense of others. Many of these observations are believed to be timeless.