PORT NICHOLSON.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 66, 10 June 1843, Page 263

PORT NICHOLSON.

By the Victoria, we have received the Gazette of the 24th, 27th, and 31st of May, and the Colonist of the 23d, and 26th. The extracts which follow contain all that is worth quoting : — " The brig Nelson returned to port on Monday last, after an absence of eight months, from Valparaiso. On arriving at that port, she was compelled to wait for the harvest, no flour being in the market. The Nelson employed her spare time trading on the South American coast. Two " asses " are amongst her importations, the first we believe introduced into New Zealand, and we doubt not they will prove useful settlers. The Maories were utterly astonished at the sight of these visitors, and have christened them with the name of rabbiti rod." — Gazette, May 31. " Flax. — The American ship Robert Pulsford has again returned to our port, after a visit to America. When here on the last occasion, the gentleman in charge of her took from this place a small quantity of flax, for which he found an immediate sale in America at £30 per ton. This gentleman is so confident of the readiness of the demand for New Zealand flax in his country, that, had he not been bound on to Manilla for a cargo awaiting his arrival there, he would baye freely purchased our flax. He purposes returning again to this place from America, and hopes, on his arrival, to find -the settlement able to furnish him with flax and foreign oil in bond. It is evident that a large and valuable trade in these commodities is open to New Zealand, and the only difficulty to be anticipated is the deficiency of the capital necessary to take full advantage of the prospects now opening to the settlement. We nope that a few months may see a material addition to the capital of the place, either through the introduction of a Loan Fund Institution, or by an increase of the employing class, possessed of capital and the requisite knowledge to apply it with, advantage to themselves and the colony." — Ibid, May 24. "It will be seen by an advertisement in our columns, that an Agricultural Association is contemplated being formed. We cannot speak too highly of a society of this description, and we are convinced the colonists generally will support it" —Ibid. "On Saturday last, a complaint was preferred before Mr. Macdonogh, the police magistrate, by W. Galpin, against a native for an assault, and for having pulled down a fence which he had erected. Mr. Macdonogh promptly issued a warrant for the apprehension of the native, who was taken into custody in the course of the afternoon. The case came on to be heard yesterday, when it appears the native was discharged, on die ground, as we understand, that the land occupied by the complainant was an old native clearing. As we have no report of the proceeding, we cannot, however, speak positively as to the ground upon which the case was dismissed. This incident forms an apt illustration of the condition in which the settlers find themselves placed between the Company and the Government. On the one hand, if we ask of the Company a fulfilment of their promises, we are told that the Government has interfered, and has taken the matter out of the hands of the Director! and their Agent And on the other, when we appeal to the Government for that protection which is essential to the progress, almost to the existence, of the settlement, we are told that the Company has no right to take or to deliver possession of land which the natives have pot even nominally told. And in the meantime cultivation is

checked, the energies of the settlers are repressed, and a feeling of hostility, the more dangerous became it is mixed with a sense of positive injury, is excited towards the natives. Under every aspect, the present state of affairs is calculated to excite at once doubt and indignation. In the meantime, we who suffer at the present moment, and the natives, for whose ultimate fate we are apprehensive, are equally devoid of blame. We have purchased and paid for land that we imagined the Company had a right to sell— and we desire only to be put in possession of our purchase. On the other hand, the natives, who deny the sale to the Company, and from what we can learn, with justice, at least as far as the natives of Te Aro are concerned, are disposed to resist the seizure of land which they claim. Nor can we in our conscience accuse them of wrong in so doing. We ask from the Company justice, and from the Government protection ; and the natives ask the same. We require possession of the land we have bought, and to be protected in its enjoyment The natives ask to be protected in the enjoyment of lands which they have not sold. We do not now enquire who is to blame for the dilemma in which we are now placed. We care little about the past We look to the present and the future. Forbidden to right ourselves, we claim from those who have received our money as the price of land, that they should give us the land for which we have paid ; and from those who are daily taking our money as the price of protection, that they should protect us. And vie must be allowed to tell each, that they are under the obligation of a pressing duty to comply with these our demands. We use no threats. We know too well our present impotence. But, as the one regard their honour as men, and the other their character as statesmen, they must take measures for our relief. If not, the irresistible march of events will bring about results from which all would recoil at the present moment ; but which are, nevertheless, inevitable. Itis indeed a pitiable contemplation, to witness the progress of a community impeded — -the fate of an interesting race put in hazard — a great national undertaking jeopardized by a spirit of parsimony or of pique on the one side, and by what we cannot but characterize as narrow and unstatesmanlike views on the other. Out of the 100,000 acres given out by the Company, the settlers are able to occupy no more than the district of Karon, a few hundred acres at the commencement of the Porirua river, and about an equal quantity in the valley of the Hutt ! This is a state cf things which ought not to, and cannot last The evils are daily augmenting, and, so far as we are aware, nothing is done by either of the two parties to whom we must look, in order to devise or to apply a remedy. It is to be feared that before they are awakened from their torpor, the period for its application may have elapsed." — Colonist, May 23. "We have been informed that the Columbine in coming out of the Wanganui River got on to the bar in consequence of its falling calm. She will have to undergo some repairs before she can proceed." — Ibid. "A jolly boat has been drifted on shore at Rangatiki."— lbid. " The present state of the colony cannot have failed to impress upon the mind of every one the necessity for some effort to turn to immediate account the resources of the country, and to promote by all available means the settlement and cultivation of the fertile districts in our vicinity. It is obvious that for the present, at least, we have very little to hope from external aid, and that we must find in ourselves the means of support and advancement. In what manner and by what proceedings this may best be accomplished it is not easy to decide. But we cannot doubt that there are means of effecting it, and that there is in the community the intelligence and the energy required for the purpose. One branch of industry which is calculated to furnish us with an immediate export, has been entered upon with abundant zeal, and so far as present appearances can be relied upon, promises to produce satisfactory results — we mean -the whale fishery. Another, equally and perhaps even more important in its ultimate operation — though its progress will be necessarily slow, has been commenced — the preparation of flax. Both of these however are, so to speak, exceptional pursuits. They do not directly concern the majority of the population. The former employs the sailors who have been left upon our shores, and the settlers who were established here before the formation of the colony. The latter is, and for some time must be, confined exclusively to the natives. Neither of them are of a character to furnish for the labouring emigrants or for the agricultural capitalists the occupation which they need. And at present they are the only industrial pursuits which seem to offer any chance of obtaining an exportable produce. We cannot but imagine that, with a view to the object we have thus indicated, it would be advantageous to establish an Agricultural Society. The results of such a society would be in many respects of the highest importance. Not merely would it diffuse among all information which is at present confined to few ; but it would also tend to prevent the misdirection of labour and the waste of capital, and would inspire a spirit of emulation, which could not fail to produce beneficial consequences. It is, indeed, needless to dwell upon the advantages which might flow from the establishment of such a society. Those who have witnessed the operation of those which have been established in the United Kingdom, will be fully prepared to understand and appreciate them. There exist in the colony the materials from which such a society could be formed; and we are convinced that there are persons with sufficient public spirit to devote themselves to the labour necessary for its formation."— xbid, May 26.

Sdpimtition favourable to Priestly Dominion. — The religion which in its doctrines and usages is the most superstitious, will be the one that throws the greatest authority into the hands of the clergy. As well the mummeries at the solemnities of an elaborate superstition subserve the purposes of spiritual domination.— Spiritual Despotism. A German writer observes, in a late volume on the social condition of Great Britain, that there is such a scarcity of thieves in England, that the Government is obliged to offer a reward for tbeir discovery.