CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 17, 2 July 1842, Page 67

CORRESPONDENCE.

Letter I. TO THE PEOPLE OF THIS COLONY. Countrymen— When we left the shores of that beloved and unforgotten land, where our cradles were rocked and where our fathers were buried, we felt that we abandoned neither home nor country — we felt that we departed not out from the pale of our ancient liberties, that we changed not the old familiar tongue for the language of strangers, that we should find no foreign manners to disgust, no unaccustomed dangers to appal us— we believed that in our new home we should be conforming to the old customs, listening to the old household words, surrounded by the old remembrances ; and, if we knew that we might be exposed to the old dangers and outraged by the old opprescions, we knew also that we should have the shield of our ancient laws to shelter us, and, failing that, that we might fearlessly rely on the unvanquished courage of a thousand years.

t In a word, countrymen, we are children of .the soil. It matters nothing that we have come lover the sea. The oak is transplanted to a far 'country — it is oak still. We are brethren who ihave come together over the wide world, fired by » common hope, moved by a common impulse, ihaving a common end, revering a common freedom, speaking a common language, and bound 'by common bonds. If we fail to effect our purpose, it can only be by ceasing to make a combined effort in the cause of all.

To the friends of union throughout these settlements, it is matter of regret that, in the prevailing tendencies of feeling and of action, there is too little unity of purpose, l'n the earliest stage of our progress, it was much hoped, and it was to be looked for, that, in labouring for common ends, people so placed in respect to their mutual relations would continue to work in combination. Interest, no less than duty, seemed to make this certain. But, though almost all are consf nting as to the evils which are alleged to prevail, k\v seem ready to join in order to redress them. Of those who think at all upon the matter, every man has a nostrum of his own ; and, as with other nostrums, every man thinks his own the specific for all disorders. As with our nostrums, so with our crotchets ; we do not differ much about our wants, we agree pretty much about our dangers, yet each man has a way of his own for supplying those and for averting these. We are all at one in complaining of the wrong, but we do not combine to secure the right.

It is not always that we are so vain of our own power as to refuse the aid of others — it is that we are too selfish, too indifferent. Oppression comes like a thief in the night, and yet no watch is set: our daily pursuits engross our daily cares — our common interests are out of sight while we look at our individual interest alone. To distant dangers, as to distant benefits, we are indifferent ; small things become large by being near, large things small by being remote. By an imperfect comparison, not only do molehills appear mountains, but mountains molehills.

How is this, my countrymen ? Is it not true that union is strength ? And is it not as true that disunion is weakness ? Do not we — who, for all we have done, have hitherto relied, and who, for all we shall do, must continue to rely, upon ourselves — do not we, in a singular degree, stand in need of combination? A few Englishmen, far from our native seat, deprived of all means but our own will for gaining whatever we ought, we wish, and have been accustomed to think of worth— a little band, strengthened from the force of its very compactness by union in all its parts, weakened from its very smallness by every separation— a body insignificant in size, and possessing importance only in its power of influence and action ; — such a band, such a body, composed of such materials and organized in structure so peculiar, must be powerful if it be compact — can only be weak by being loosely bound.

But, in order to combine for a general end, we shall not nerd to leave those pursuits or to forego those cares which demand the largest portion of every man's time. If there be grievances, there are many ways of righting them. If the quartern loaf be too dear, might not the merchant be content with reduced profit and supply the baker with cheaper flour?—

might not the baker sell his loaves at a lower price ? — might not the labourer work for lower wages ? — might not the landlord demand lower rents? Then the merchant, the baker, the labourer, and the landlord, would be combining for a common purpose, and each would be helping each. All mutual advantage demands mutual concession : it is a condition of the social compact, and the more binding the smaller the society.

But how is it with us ? Is not every man striving only to make the most he can— the merchant by his capital, the landlord by his rents, the labourer by his work, the dealer by his wares ? High profits, high rents, high wages, high prices — all scrambling through the mire for the prize, raking the dunghil for the diamond. It is thus that the spider kills the fly, the robin kills the spider, the kite kills the robin, and the sportsman kills the kite, until at last neither kites nor robins, fließ nor spiders, are left, and the sportman's sport is done. Suppose the spider had left a few flies, the robin a few spiders, the kite a few robins, the sportsman a few kites, then there might have been flies enough for all the spiders, spiders enough for all the birds, and birds enough for all the sportsmen. Men are beasts of prey, and feed upon each other, until all but the biggest are eaten up. In a word, we are too careful of ourselves and too indifferent to the rest; too intent upon the present and too blind to the future; too apt to magnify the importance of the part and to diminish that of the whole. And yet, though so few can be brought to understand that truth, the welfare of the whole is needful to the welfare of the part, while the welfare of the part is not needful to the welfare of the whole. This is why a man's remote interest in the common welfare is really larger, selfishly speaking, than Mb* direct interest in his private success. Men are apt to think it otherwise ; but, m truth, if the settlement be ruined the individual cannot prosper; While, . though the individual may be ruined, the settlement shall prosper still. Fellow Colonists, be well assured that this is exactly the state of things among us; and though our prospects are as cheering as ever, they are so only because this state of things cannot obtain long. There are many things now wanting, which we can only get by working together to secure them. There are many dangers which we can only avoid by working together to avert them. To enumerate but a few of these : — we want our lands— we want farms— we want roads to get at them. We want cattle, sheep, horses — we want steam — we want the means of production — in a word, we want capital. We want law courts — we want schools — we want either the protection of a Government, or to be left without one. W» want — and this is the most important of our requirements — w« want a municipality. We are in danger, on the one hand, of being made over, body and soul, to" the ancient hierarchy; on the other, of losing the sense oi veneration, and of growing cold to the beautiful and good. We are in danger of losing our right to our own lands— of being driven into hostility with the aborigines — of suffering (though to say so may excite ridicule) restraints the most grievous on our civil and religious freedom. The habits of society are such as to retard advancement and to require reform. The conduct of the Colonial Executive, in throwing us of necessity wholly upon our own resources, makes it criminal in us to neglect them. Surrounded by these dangers, hampered by these wants, is it to be believed that we can continue to fold our arms quietly and do nothing? The answer is plain — It is not to be believed. Having a few thoughts upon this matter to give to the public, I shall speak out, from time to time, in my homely English way — not, as I hope, altogether without use. It might be expected that, having to .inquire into so weighty a subject-matter, I owe it to the public to make known my name ; but it has seemed to me that, being an humble person, unknown beyond my little neighbourhood, no force could be added to my words, of however little worth they be, by disclosing it, and therefore I shall continue to adopt one which I may justly claim, not without pride, as belonging to many wiser and more worthy men, but which I need neither be afraid nor ashamed to employ ; and so subscribe myself, fellow-settlers, without fear and without repronch, An Englishman.

To the Editor of thx Nelson Examiner. Sir— Observing in your paper some question as to the manner in which the schooner Ariel got on shore, I beg to inform you, that when Claringbold the pilot came on board he stated his price for pilotage, and that he himself had no power to lower it without the permission of Captain Wakefield; I therefore gave him full charge of the vessel, naturally taking him for the Company's pilot. Having made one board over towards Astrolabe Roads for the space of about half an hour, we tacked and stood towards the harbour for about twenty-five minutes. Eight or ten minutes before she struck, I remarked to the pilot, "We must be able to stand very close." The crew being at their stations, the pilot gave orders to put the helm down just as the vessel struck. The yard* were then hove aback, and a warp and kedge run out astern,. but without effect; a couple of hours afterward the sails were furled, as the tide was leaving her fast. Captain Wakefield and the Company's people rendered every assistance possible, and through lightning the vewel she was got off. What injury she has sustsiced .T cannot as yet say, but I nave lost upwards of £150 in cargo alone. I remain, air your obedient servant* - 7 R. M oi4touuui». -