Auckland Times. Tuesday, Jan. 16th, 1844.

Auckland Times, Volume 2, Issue 53, 16 January 1844, Page 2

Auckland Times. Tuesday, Jan. 16th, 1844.

The necessary length of our report of the Council proceedings must plead our fe&cuse for the delay of correspondence and the customary domestic notices. The debates contain matter of great interest, especially to the Land Claimants, and the result of a cautions perusal will afford to them this one decisive satisfaction —their suspense is over! The British Government do not contemplate any compensation for their wrongs—the authorized establishment of British dominion here had a higher motive—the protection of the Natives ! It is a specious manifestation; we do not question the sincerity of its agents, but experience alone can instruct the i Footsteps of legislation. Many of the Ultra notions, in respect of the Natives, now floating uppermost; will be washed away in the tide of flowing events : in the mean time, we do think that the essential interests of our proper coun-try-men are deserving of some share of Her Majesty’s consideration. We hope this is a British Colony —not exclusively a Maorie preserve. We shall follow the fashion of the day, and wait, yet awhile, before we—say more. The Maorie Jury plan is not worth much notice, because, in the bill, it is only directed to Maori trials, and is only to come into effect upon certificates yet to be adjusted, and attainments yet to be acquired : it is in fact a “ promissory bill,”—and we have no right to sue for judgment upon it ti l it has become dueThe scheme of making Maori magistrates is an amusing piece of finesse—we doubt its success. The Maori chiefs will probably be found too conscious of their natural power 'among their tribes, to put much value upon any nominal authority we can clothe them with: they will pocket the utu, with a tongue in their cheek, and the cleverness of the manoeuvre will recoil with a Sneer. We trust that Captain Fitzroy will Soon discover that the British minister, taking the high ground he has done in respect of the Colonists, ought to, and must, do something towards the Support of his Government. The revenue schemes propounded show for themselves that they are the offspring of lamentable inexperience.—We regretted more than any thing else to hear His Excellency observe, that the English Government derive and desire no advantage from this place. We might have expected this remark from Mr. Cobden, —but a man with Captain Fitzroy’s Statesmanlike views cannot be ignorant of the absolute necessity, impending over the head of every British minister, to cultivate a national system of emigration.—New Zealand will in & very few years become one of the Jnost essential elements of Great Britain’s power of self-preservation. We take an exception at once to the argument, that the sagacity and dictates of Downing-street should be paramount to the suggestions of local experience. We most sincerely hope that Captain Fitzroy Will instruct the measures of the British Government, in respect to the policies of this Colony—and not subserviently follow their dictates.