THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, September 23, 1843.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 81, 23 September 1843, Page 322

THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, September 23, 1843.

I<es joumaux deviennent plus n£cesiaire* & mesure que les bommes sont plus £gaux, et 1' individualUme plus & fcrsindre. Cc serait diminuer leur importance que de croire ?;u' ils ne servent qu* & garantir U liberty : Us maintiennent » civilisation. D« Tocovivillx. De 1* Democratic en Amerique, tome <, p. 2SO. Journals become more necessary as men become more equal, and individualism more to be feared. It would be to underrate their importance to suppose that they serve only to secure liberty : they maintain civilisation. { Dm TocatJßviLMh n Of Democracy in America, toI. 4, p. 202.

Two cases, connected with the Maories, have come before the public this week, which/ show in a striking mannef the change which has taken place in their feelings towards the Europeans since the enactment of the Wairoo tragedy. The reverence they felt for the white man's law no longer exists, and we doubt if ever the wholesome fear in which it was held can he restored;

The first case we allude to is that of an Englishman at the Motuaka killing a pig belonging to one of the best-disposed of the natives. Instead of bringing the offender before a magistrate, as they have hitherto done on similar occasions, the Maories took the law into their own hands, and threatened his life, unless he paid down the sum of ten pounds. To allay the ferment, and prevent the probable loss of human life 1 , several respectable settlers interfered, and the affair was arranged by the payment of seven pounds, all the money the man possessed, and by his undertaking to leave the district Viewed as a punishment, the payment of this sum was light compared with the of-* fence. But we do seriously ask if, in a British colony under British law, thirty or forty savages are to be allowed to assemble with arms, and, in the presence of a magis-< trate, threaten to take the life of an Englishman, even though guilty of robbery, unless 1 their demand for compensation be complied witir? The matter is really becoming too wriou«. It is high time that we should know whose subject£*re'are, and whether Queen Victoria reigns in these islands, or the new holy alliance of King Rauparaha and Bloody Jack. If we are

not to, have the. pro|e^tittia^Bf^English laws, our ,6i^f action is* botUwgi^fsVchan robbery! At all events, the taxe&w^ow pay would; insure us protection %pm«fcy4e one; an^ if left to choose our ow allies, or rest on our own powers of self-defence, we should no do doubt take care, in either case, that they were sufficient for the purpose. The Ofixcer administering the Government may consider this aa : npt being an "unprovoked agression," and the Sub-Protector of Aborigines call it a " trifling affair," hut will nothing less than a general massacre satisfy these men ? Must an explosion take place before they will cease to trifle with the. combustible materials, which surround, us fV ,

Another reason exists for the Maori\espect for 1 British law being weakened, :bIM sides seeing the , Queen's authority openly and successfully resisted and her magistrates and constables murdered. , In this very district, a case of pig-shooting took place nearly twelve months since, and the offender was committed for trial, but was subsequently liberated on bail. Thanks to the unsettled state of the Land Claims, here we are, twenty~;thre&\ months "after the founding of the settlement), without the means of getting a jkry to try the many offenders who, in that period, have been committed for trial. The Maories cannot be brought to understand that thiaf^pnadministration of the law results from\he blundering incapacity of our 'rulers only*? but, seeing those still at liberty who, twelve months since, inflicted an injury oh them, they naturally ask themselves if this is^the boasted impartial justice of the white man. Thus do our rulers sacrifice their country^ honour, and make its laws contemptible in the eyes of savages. The other case to which we" allude will be found in our police report. What we wish particularly to notice respecting it, are some observations which fell from a Maori who was in the office at the time; This worthy, who spoke well., „and thoroughly understood all the proceedings, gravely told the court, on. his countryman being committed, that the Maories would be angry, coupled with a sort of half-threat of what they might do in their displeasure. The. Police Magistrate^ot-AOM — sr^^V 8 ™ imcYerßTreprimand. No w y although we believe there was nothing meant by the threat, still we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that the Maories are fast losingy^U respect and fear for the whites, if indee\ every vestige of such feelings ha^e not already been obliterated. And who can feel surprize ? for it really must appear to them that justice is partially administered; , A pig belonging to a Maori is shot by an Englishman, and the offender, eleven or twelve months after, is still at large, without having suffered more than a few hours! Ira? prisonment. A Maori steals a trowel, the value of which, at the utmost, is not more than a couple of shillings, and the offender is sent to prison for a month. We know that, some time or other, the white man will be brought to trial, or, at least, we suppodfe>so; hut can uncivilized men be brought to slhi, there is no injustice in the two cases contrasted? We cannot close our remarks without adverting to the conduct of those who should protect our lives and property. When : the news of the Wairoo massacre reached Auckland, fifty soldiers were sent to Wellington under the command of Major Richmond. With respect to the. amount of force sent we offer no objection ; perhaps a greater number could not he spared ; but we were both surprised and disappointed to find, that the whole were to be stationed at Wellington, and that we were to be left entirely without the means of defence until troops could be brought from Sydney. The tforth&tar. .was promptly despatched by Sir George Gipp.s, with i fifty soldiers on board besides her marines and blue jackets. She had a quick run Auckland, and was almost immediately sent on to Cbbk's Straits. . What has become of her? ; Site left Auckland on the 13th of August, just forty' one days since. Has any mishap befallen her, that she, has not yet arrived?' None at all. ..She-is safe at Wellington, where ahe has be4h'these three weeks or more \ Thus - our Wellington: .friends have Major Kichmond and his fifty soldiers: besides the frigate and Her force; whilst the people of the: Nelson district (the distinct in which the massacre was enacted which was the immediate cause of troops being sent for at all) are left without the meand of enforcing theiaw even ou the disorderly portion of the European population, and to see the , Queen's authority openly *et at defiance and her representative threatened whilst in the act of administering justice frpm tTve bench I". ' ■ ' ' '{','1

/ It was our intention to have offered some renuufc* .this week on the correspondence between the Officer administering the Go-

vernment and thejdeputajidn frpm thia"^>Uce.* We, however, 16*4rou)»elv#, deficient in. *ooqJ, and must^Wtefote content ourselves w&br straggly t^mmendmg to sfuch of oar, reaaers as~were noVat the meeting on Wednesday a careful perusal of the very able document which was then read, and which will be found in another column.