THE PRIME MINISTER AT FAULT.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 56, 24 July 1862, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE PRIME MINISTER AT FAULT.

(From.the Southern (Aw?.?,.July 8.) By the arrival of the lon I j l Horsl e y yesterday ■we were placed in possession of our Southern files, together with news from Sydney to the 27th June inclusive. The most important intelligence it is in our power to communicate is the loss of the White Swan mail steamer, a short distance from Wellington, and with her the records of the Colony of New Zealand. The particulars so far ns wc can learn them, will be found in a letter published elsewhere, written by Mr. Robert Graham, of Ellerslie, to the Wellington Independent. No lives have been lost. The most unpleasant part of this intelligence is that they are the original documents, and not copies, that have been destroyed. In spite of warnings as to the danger of the step he was taking, Mr. Fox preferred the risk to having copies made, and now he has reaped the reward of his folly. The Prime Minister of New Zealand should be called upon to answer why this loss of the public records was brought about. Ordinary mortals would have deemed copies of original documents sufficient for the purpose ; but the Horn Win. Fox, author of “The Six Colonics of New Zealand,” and by virtue of a majority of One, Colonial Secretary is an extraordinary man. And in this lamentable affair he has shewn his extraordinary wisdom. M e do not blame him for the accident. M ith that he had nothing to do ; but we do say (hat the original records of the Colony should not have been in the While Swan. It was not impossible to have procured clerical assistance in Auckland sufficient to have made copies of the original documents in sufficient time for the meeting of (lie Assembly ; but Mr. Fox must have the originals, and no mistake. This was the first step towards removing the seat of Government to the Empire city ; and it was requisite to have (lie originals at all risks. Mr. Fox bad a reasonable hope, no doubt, of landing them safely on V\ ellinghm beach. In ninety-nine cases out ot every hundred, steam-bouts arrive at their destination without a hitch, but at any moment a casualty may occur, baffling the wisest calculations. Such lias been the case in the instance before us. M c are anxious to know for how many years Mr. box thought proper to strip the government offices ol their records, and whether he lias even had the precaution to have them classified and catalogued, so that the Colony may eventually know the extent of their obligations to the honourable gentleman. Perhaps a lew original documents have been leit in Auckland ; but it is now possible Mr. Fox may recommend that these be treated as waste paper, and that the official records of the Colony be commenced anew. It may be said by his admirers that New Zealand was not a Colonv until Mr. Fox became Prime Minister, and that (he history of the past is merely a record of blunders ; that it is quite as well as it is; and that wc can now have a fair start. But the general public wfil agree with ns that the official papers of the Colony are of some importance, and that the reckless or culpable negligence which resulted in their destruction or the destruction of any portion of them, is deserving of the severest censure. Mr. Fox offered £l5O, writes Mr. Graham, to any one who would bring the records of the Colony on deck, when the steamer was settling down. The money was earned ; and a lei ter to a gentleman in Auckland, from another source, states that the Colonial Secretary offered £2OO to any one who would save them after they were put on deck, when lo ! a wave came and they were swept overboard. “But they are packed in zinc cases,” exclaimed an admirer of Mr. Fox, on learning this fact: “they’ll lake no harm.” Supposing that the cases are uninjured, how are they to be recovered ? If they had been allowed to remain in the bold there would have been a chance of their recovery : but that thoughtless impetuosity, which is so characteristic of Mr. I ox. has defeated his best intentions. Has this finally settled the question of the seat of Government ? Does it show the absurdity of a peripatetic Parliament; is i( a reproof to the common sense and intelligence of the Colony for sanctioning the return of a class of men who bow before Hie genius of Mr. I ox? We ask these questions seriously, for the injury inflicted on the public may be incalculable. And it is an injury clearly traceable to causes, over which Mr. Fox had absolute control. Another question or two, and we have done. M ill the session be indefinitely prorogued, or will Mr. Fox meet the representatives of (lie people, and tell (hem, when information is demanded, that “in consequence of the late unhappy accident, he is unable to answer the lion, gentleman's question ?' If that is to be the course events will take we think our Auckland members would be bettor engaged taking their share in directing the energies of this flourishing community, than in listening to explanations and statements from Ministers, which they have no means of checking by documentary evidence. Every man of capital and position belonging to Auckland has heavy responsibilities devolving upon him at this juncture ; and the future of the province in a great measure depends upon the manner in which these duties are discharged. We find by the Wellington papers that li e General Assembly was opened on the Ist of July, although from the subsequent prorogation of bis Excellency the proceeding was wholly illegal. This is only one among many inconveniences arising from holding the Assembly at a distance from the seat of Government. Since writing the above we-learn that what are technically called the records of the Colony—that

is, letters received—are safe, having been sent down m cl large of a clerk by the Lord Worsley, last month from the Manukau ; but all the letter books in use, all the patent books since the foundation of the Colony, and the Public Seal of the Colony of Zealand have been lost; The letter books include the correspondence covering the last three years, which is about the mist important period of our history. In addition to this all, or great part of the printed matter required for the Session, which was executed in Auckland for the Government, owing to the inability of the printers in Wellington to do the work, has gone down with the While Swan. The magnitude of the loss will be apparent to all. \V e congratulate our Auckland members on their escape from drowning ; and we wish them all saiely back from their Southern tour. We are not aware whether any personal effects have been saved from the wreck. The vessel is insured for £3,750, done at a Melbourne office.