THE ORDINANCE.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, 23 April 1842, Page 26

THE ORDINANCE.

The Government representative has re* I ceived copies of the ordinances, which passed the Council in "jthe lasty session. Through the kindness of Mr. Thompson we haw i beeitjallowed ttfr'iee them, and professional ' genfiMnen have- received the same permis- ?■ ww&J It would hare been evidenceftffaome

slight degree of consideration for the wellgoverning of the most numerously populated settlements of these islands, if the Governor had made arrangements for supplying us with copies from the Government printer, so that the legal profession, as well as private individuals, might have obtained possession of authorized editions of these Ordinances. ,The present inconvenience, arising from this want of consideration, is very great ; all who wish to get a sight of the laws being compelled to tax .Mr. Thompson's civility not only to be allowed to use his copies* but to do so in his tent (which is already Police Office and Post Office)^ for to lend them where so many would wish to borrow, would endanger the loss of the single copies which we haw been lucky enough to obtain. There would be something very amusing, if it were not so exceedingly inconvenient to us and so unjust in them, in the cool" complacency with which our Legislators, or Rulers, or whatever we are to call them, sit themselves down at Auckland, caring and thinking as much about the settlements in Cook's Straits as if they were not in existence ; and believing that " their choice " is in fact as. well as in name, the " capital." Of course this cannot last for ever. It is impossible that we should continue to suffer all the inconvenience and injustice which the perversity, ignorance, or indolence of those now in office at present inflict upon us. We have no fear of .that. We have too much confidence jn the eventual prevailing of the right. But why should we suffer it at all? Whatbive we done that for unknown sins we should be thus visited? True, the population of Port Nicholson is 5,000 and upwards, and the population of Nelson Haven is already, upwards of 1,700, though so recently settled, while the population of Auckland is, we believe (Maouries included), about 1,300. This may be looked upou as a great crime in us. What presumption ! Auckland is the capital, yet we dare to have a larger population. Auckland is the seat of Government ! — yet we have insolently presumed to be in a more, flourishing condition. Certainly it might appear to persons who had nothing to do with selecting the site of the capital, who were in no way interested in the "seat of Government," that the fact of our population being numerous, and of our possessing the energy and enterprize which is ensuring our prosperity, would have made it incumbent on the Government to treat us with the more consideration, and to make arrangements for intercourse with us, which should tend to encourage the signs of 'vigour already so promisingly displayed. It might appear to such persons that* a paternal Government had good reason to be proud of such healthy children. Mistaken individuals. The only real motto for " sucking sultans " is, " having made a mistake, stick to it." Weak parents love the pet child most, not because it is the best, or the handsomest, but because it is the pet, and sometimes because it is the most like themselves, which does not always prevent it from being the worst. The Town Ssections are now selected, and both resident proprietors and agents are busy in letting acres and portions of acres on all sorts of conditions, varying according to situation and capability. Very many important considerations naturally suggest themselves at this time, more especially with regard to the lands intrusted to agents by absentee proprietors. The very numerous instances in which agents have been intrusted alone with the power of selection, without any authority to letand the very short term for which agents arekirt. the majority of cases, authorized to;JR land, appear to us to require some comment. Thp natural tendency of these arrangements, or this want of arrangement, is unuecessarily to raise the rent of the land which, from belonging to resident proprietors, or to those wno ha^e intrtisted their agents with full powers, is open to

immediate occupation — to discourage any outlay of labour by those who, in -spite of their having no security for continuance, run up their warries on land which they cannot even for a, time look upon as their own — and, in the cases where agents' have power to grant leases for only a short terra, to prevent tenants from increasing the value of the land by the' outlay of either labour or capital. The absentee proprietors ought to take these matters into consideration. They are interested as well as we in the well doing of the settlement. Such a manage* ment of the land as shall interfere with the consciousness of possession in the tenant, and shall check the attachment to place which necessarily arises out of that consciousness, is injurious to their interest as well as to ours. Eventually it would, if continued, have a most pernicious effect upon the character of the mass ■of the labouring population. Fortunately it cannot continue long, even if the landowners were so blind to their own interest as to endeavour to make it do so, for the desire to have some* thing like a permanent interest in the land' one occupies is so strong, that nothing can wholly change it. Bat the immediate tendency is bad. Supposing, by any of the many accidents to which all new settlements ara liable, some apparently serious cause of discontent with this place were to arise — imaginary, but with the appearance of reality — what hold have you, when you have done all in your power to prevent the) settlers-, and more especially the most important class of settlers, from forming any of those ties, which, though described as cat-like, are also human, and in which tfys affections and the interests are so united, that they are perhaps the strongest by which men are bound ? We earnestly trust that this matter will not be overlooked. Certain we are, that it cannot be disregarded with impunity.

A meeting of the justices of the peace for this district was held on Tuesday, at the Police Office, for the purpose o£ granting publicans' licenses. An adjournment to the following day took place, in consequent of the applicants hot having obtained the attendance of their sureties. On the following morning, at ten the adjourned meeting was held, H. A. Thompson, Esq., police magistrate, Captain Wakefield, R.N., and Captain England,- on the bench, when licenses were granted to the following persons: — Richard Mills, Joseph Hoare, William Millar, John Collins," James Cockburn, Edward John Ellerm, William Wright, and Frederick Augustus Lloyd and Andrew Turner (one license).

\ s—^ m^mmm The barque Brilliant, Captain Ritchie, arrived here on Monday morning last, from Twofold Bay, in ten days. Dr. Imlay, by whom she was chartered, arrived in her. Her cargo was stock from" his well-known herds and flocks, consisting of 30 milch cows, 80 heifers, 17 bullocks, 4 bulls, 4 horses, 100 ewes, and 50 wethers. Universal admiration was expressed at the fine condition in which they were landed. Mr. Revans,' of Fort Nicholson, who was here on her arrival, purchased the whole, and has left them under the care of Mr. Drum? mond. It is Mr. Revans's intention to have a iifege dairy establishment here ; and he has left instructions with his agents to make the necessary arrangements. The Brilliant sails to-day.

Colonial Rifojuc. — The colonies of the Sooth are prating for that Englishman's birthright which i it was the boast of our ancestors to bestow, and is our own uniform practice to withhold from British emigrants settling in Anew country. These people are not in love with a theory: they want practical good government, which, if the British constitution, is not a mere pretence, it is utterly^ impossible they should obtain without some eon* trol over the management of their own affairs* As it is, they are ruled by power wholly irresponsible ! to them, and residing sixteen thousand miles i off. They get on, to be sure, by the aid of ths efr mediatrix which correc§i the follies of mttf but they never, cease complaining;, and thmf, is not one of them but -would rebel, if T. were strong enough to hope for succees. Ari. at all events, they, are a sad worry to every Colonial Minister, who, at a distance ofmore than half' the world, has to arbitrate between them and tfjpr irresponsible local rulers, and to check and aUBb ' gixeand provide for needless expenditure, wßtok the latter incur because theatre subject to n» check on the spot The Court of .Chaneesy- itself does not afford more room for " practical reforte" —Cokmial Outfit.