The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 95, 30 October 1852, Page 6

The Lyttelton Times.

October 30, 1852. It is hardly necessary to call the attention of our readers to a letter in another column, from Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakeh'eld to Mr. Godley. To a future generation this document will appear as a singularly curious an'l interesting narrative, by one of she most vigorous writers of his day. of the passing of the Constitutional law Co: our Colony. Writing from the scene

of his labours, in which his whole life seems for the time to be concentrated, he sketches vividly the recent history of colonial politics in England, and analyses the factions and parties in the midst, of which the New Zealand bill was passed. Upon such a subject and from such a man —the Father of New Zealand colonization—the slight tone of egotism which pervades this letter, is not only excusable but natural. No one who knows what Mr. Wakefield has done And can do, will doubt the value of the services which he has rendered to the Colony at this important juncture of its history : and we hope the inhabitants, both of this and of all the other Settlements in New Zealand, will take some fitting opportunity, by public meetings or otherwise, for conveying to all those who were engaged in this struggle, but above all to the Colonial Minister, the high sense which they cannot but entertain of the important services [rendered to the Colony. The burden of Mr. Wakefield's letter is a sort of apology that the bill is not much better than it is; and a justification of the policy of the members of the Association, and others who took apart in its enactment. Mr. Wakefield is over urgent on this point. He seems, as it were, to anticipate a hostile or ungrateful feeling, where the very contrary really exists. We believe the satisfaction expressed at the measure, has been general throughout the colony : that the faults in the new law which mar its integrity should escape our notice, was not to be expected ; but we are persuaded that the Colonists, in this as well as in other Settlements, have been far more inclined to dwell with satisfaction upon the large measure of real self-Government which it bestows, than to indulge in ungenerous complaint at what has been withheld. We cannot, however, regret the error into which Mr. Wakefield has fallen on this head, since it has elicited so peculiarly interesting a narrative of the political movements connected with the passing of the Act. But towards the conclusion of the letter we meet with some expressions which seem to account for the anticipated hostility on the part of the Colonists which Mr. Wakefield so earnestly deprecates. Me says " some of the Canterbury Settlers have repeatedly and vehemently urged the Association to make the transfer" [of their powers to the Colony] " without delay." And again, " They" [the Association] " needed no pressing on this point. They longed to be quit of a great trouble which brought them little thanks." And again, " letters from the Settlement urging them to abdicate any how, come what might, so worked upon them as to produce a feeling of disgust towards their work." With any private communications on this point which the members of the Association may have received, we have nothing to do. But, in so far as these remarks may apply to the strictures which we have thought it right from time to time to make on the policy of the Association, it becomes us to take some further notice of them. Certain we are, that in those strictures we have not misrepresented the general feeling of the Canterbury Settlers. If we have erved, it has been on the side of expressing too feebly the dissatisfaction which has prevailed. But we have always felt (and we think the most intelligent and considerate part of the community must have felt likewise) that the members oi' the Association were engaged in a purely disinterested and patriotic undertaking, "by which they entailed upon themselves, jrreat responsibility, th« most irksome labour, in many cases very heavy pecuniary responsibilities, and in some cases heavy pecuniary losses, -~ an undertaking from which they could not,

and did not hope or expect any sort of iecompence, other than that laudable feeling of gratification and pride which noble and generous minds experience from the consciousness of accomplishing- objects of great public utility. To such men as Lord Lyttelton, Mr. Adderly, Mr. Simeon, the Bishop of Norwich, the Duke of Newcastle, Sir Walter James, and, although he was not upon the committee, Mr. Wakefield...himself, and many others, we apply these remarks without the fear of contradiction. In opposing, as we have done, the, policy of the Association in some particulars, we felt it would have been most unworthy of ■ ny one in the Settlement to forget, that to the untiring labours of those noblemen and gentlemen, this Settlement owes its existence, and that whereinsoever disappointment has arisen, the cause has been the failure of funds, owing to the limited extent to which land sales have been effected. On the other hand, to have been silent when the Association, partly from original defects in the system which experience alone brought to light, partly, as we thought, from a mistaken policy, were pursuing courses plainly injurious to the interests of the settlers, would have been a very base and glaring betrayal of the duties of a public journalist. But we are not aware, mjr we should deeply regret to think, that the tone of the opposition which we offered to the Association was such as "to produce a feeling of disgust towards their work';" nor can we think that such has been ihe the character of the letters from the Settlement. Indeed, the letters which we have ourselves seen from various members of the Committee do not appear to us to breathe any such sentiments. But rather, in the midst of great pecuniary embarassments and personal sacrifices which have been occasioned -by over anxiety to push forward the work of emigration, we have been able to trace no other feeling than one of an earnest and cheerful anxiety to promote the further prosperity of the Settlement. We cannot help thinking that Mr. Wakefield has allowed himself to use an expression which will be disclaimed by the gentlemen to whom it refers, the moment it shall meet their eyes. The concluding sentences in Mr. Wakefield's letter recall us to the subject upon which we dwelt last Saturday. There is no time to be lost in bringing forward the names of the candidates for the offices to which we shall shortly.have to elect. The address to Mr. Godley, which we publish to-day, calling upon him to allow himself to he nominated to the office of our first Superintendant, requires no -comment. We can only add our most cordial sympathy with the wish expressed in the concluding paragraph that Mr. Godley maybe prevailed upon to postpone his return to England until the New Constitution shall be fully at work. The introduction of a new Constitution is a most critical period in the history of a country. There is great need for all ther wisdom and prudence and mutual forbearance which we can command, in order that the machine of Government may be brought into action steadily and smoothly. No doubt it will not work well at first; no new engine does : there is danger lest every hitch should produce fracture, or, lest all should catch fire from the uneasy friction of rude and preliminary adjustment. At such a period the loss of wise counsels is a very great loss indeed, one of which we cannot readily estimate the extent. If it be not presumptuous to suggest a policy at so early a period, we cannot refrain from expressing a hope, that the. colonists will banish from their minds any intention of exercising ia the first instance, those powers

which the law confers, of amending the Constitution itself. Let us^ rather apply ourselves, soberly and seriously, not to amend our Constitution, but to work it. In the course of a few sessions we shall discover the weak points—the real and practical difficulties, which stand in the way of its proper working; and then we shall be abl<^ to make alterations, which shall not only prove permanently beneficial to the colony, but which shall be so appaiantly and manifestly beneficial, as to secure the sanction of the Crown. We must remember that all Ordinances altering the Constitution we now receive, will have to be allowed or disallowed at home. Disallowance will produce irritation, and awake again that, hostile jealousy which is the natural offspring of such a Government as that under which we have hitherto lived, and which is we hope for the present allayed. Let us not risk that. The Bill, as we said before, is a good Bill. With all its faults it is workable. Let us set ourselves earnestly to give it a fair trial ; we need then have little fear but that any practical alterations we may suggest will be allowed in England.