WELLINGTON MEMORIAL TO THE NEW GOVERNOR.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume II, 13 January 1844, Page 385

WELLINGTON MEMORIAL TO THE NEW GOVERNOR.

The following memorial has been prepared by a committee of gentlemen appointed "for the purpose. It was afterwards, we believe, submitted to a Public Meeting, when it was determined to present a short congratulatory address to Captain Fitaroy on his arrival, and then ask him to receive a deputation of the colonists with the memorial.

We, the undersigned colonists of Port Nicholson, beg to offer our sincere congratulations to your Excellency on your arrival in these islands, to assume the important duties of your office, and to assure you of our loyalty and devotion to our most gracious Sovereign. We take the opportunity of this your Excellency's first visit to our settlement, respectfully to submit to your serious consideration the many evils from which we are at present suffering, and to offer such suggestions as, in our opinion, may tend to their removal, and to the general advancement of the colony. The first evil from which we are suffering, and to which we would direct the attention of your Excellency, and the magnitude or importance of which it is impossible to overrate, is the present state of the land question. More than four years have elapsed since we originally purchased our title to land under the New Zealand Company. The land has been surveyed and selected, but of by far the greatest portion we have been unable to obtain possession. Questions of a serious nature daily arise between the colonist and the native, which, in the present state of the land claims, do not admit of a satisfactory or final adjustment ; the colonists are prevented from clearing or cultivating their lands, their capital is wasted, the labourers are leaving the colony, and ruin — hopeless, irretrievable ruin awaits them unless this question be speedily and finally settled. Nor do we suppose that its adjustment, if undertaken in an honest spirit, will be attended with any great or insuperable difficulty. The labours of the Land Commissioner for this district have been brought to a close, and it is to be presumed that the Local Government is now in possession of all the information necessary to enable them to make a final and satisfactory arrangement, while any further delay is attended with ruin to the settler without the slightest benefit to the native.

We would also remind your Excellency that fife colonists of Port Nicholson, as the first purchasers of land from the New Zealand Company, and by their continued and unremitted exertions since their arrival in this country, have been mainly instrumental in causing other settlements to be subsequently formed in different parts of these islands ; and that they are, therefore, justly entitled on every account to have their claims first considered and decided by your Excellency.

At the same time that we press upon your Excellency the immediate and final settlement of the land question, as one involving the existence of the colony, we are aware that it cannot be effected without the adoption of the most enlarged and statesmanlike views affecting the aborigines. The question appears to us to be whether justice to the natives is to be secured by conceding to their present feelings and prejudices, or, setting these aside where necessary, by making such provision for them as may satisfy an intelligent posterity. We submit that the policy hitherto acted upon haa been to conciliate and gratify them in the childlike and semibarbarous feelings of the moment; whereas, we conceive that the State, with an inflexible determination to do them right, should boldly exercise its function of guardian, and, in their infaacy and minority as a people, nuke provision for them on «uch permanent ud comprehensive principles m could only be_ fully appre-

dated by their posterity when enlightened. And as the foundation of all, that they should be dedared to be, and feel that they are, in every sense the subjects of her Majesty, and entirely amenable to the law. We have been astonished at finding that the general impression among them is that they are only partially so — that those who assume to be their especial advocates appear to contend for this as a privilege to which they are entitled — that in more than one instance the Executive has been embarrassed by doubts upon this point, expressed by leading officers of the Government— and that what we have always been taught to consider as the precious and inalienable right of Englishmen, the right of being governed by our laws, has been repudiated on behalf of the natives of New Zealand as an imposition and a grievance. If there be anything in the transition state of the New Zealanders that requires a modification of the law, to adapt it gradually to their circumstances, we would suggest that such exceptional rules might be framed and promulgated in the native language ; but that no interpretation of any treaty, or any short-sighted philanthropy, should be pleaded as an exemption from the authority of the Queen's Government or the absolute supremacy of the law. We believe that the massacre at Wairauwas only one example of what may be often repeated, and on a greater scale, if the entire policy relating to the aborigines be not changed. A body of Englishmen accompanied the magistrate, because they saw that he carried with him the Queen's warrant; with the policy or impolicy of which they had no concern ; and the natives resisted, because they had been taught that on certain questions they were not amenable to our laws ; and throughout the affair and since they have acted as if they were engaged in a legitimate warfare. We regret to say that the subsequent proceedings of the Local Government have tended to confirm them in this belief. They have been negotiated with and treated, not as British subjects lying underlie imputation of a heinous crime, but as belligerent powers, and they now rest satisfied with the fruits' of a victory which has confirmed these delusions. We have been taught that one drop of the blood of the meanest of her Majesty's subjects was sacred at the extremities of the earth, and here, we find twenty-two of them massacred in cold blood by men who perfectly understood the nature of the authority they were resisting, and who, instead of being brought to trial, or made the subjects of a judicial inquiry, have been treated as innocent and injured parties. Viewed from a distance, they may perhaps be treated with contempt as barbarians ; out, living as we do, a mere handfiil of civilians addicted to peaceful pursuits, in the midst of an armed population of overwhelming numbers, we cannot contemplate without alarm any indulgence granted to lawless violence, or the maintenance of any policy that may afford a plausible excuse for it We fear, likewise, that the whole establishment of the protectors is founded on erroneous principles, or that the agents have misunderstood their functions; that, in any case in a situation where so much depends upon the individual, men of mature judgment Bhould be appointed, and not, as in the instance of the Sub-Protector for this district, one who by his youth and inexperience is unfitted to discharge the duties of so responsible an office. We pray, therefore, that it may be revised, and that the legal position of the native population may be so clearly defined, that the causes of difference may be removed, and that we may be enabled to carry into effect those plans of amelioration of which the founders of this settlement were the chief projectors in the mother country. Next in importance to obtaining possession of our lands, and a right understanding of the manner in which the law is to be administered, in all those cases where the interests of the settler and the native are in opposition to each other, is the duty of providing adequate protection for the lives and property of the settlers. This duty, the consideration of which has often been brought by the colonists of Port Nicholson before both the Local Government and the Secretary of State for the Colonies, has never yet been performed, and the experience of the last few months fully justifies us in this statement. It is, in our opinion, absolutely necessary that a sufficient force should be stationed at Wellington, and the neighbouring settlements, for the protection of the colonists established in Cook's Straits, to insure from the natives a ready obedience to the law, and to prevent the recurrence of such fatal scenes as the catastrophe at Wairau, the melancholy effects of which we must so deeply deplore, and which we are persuaded will prove a heavy blow and great discouragement to these settlements, in preventing that influx of immigration and capital which otherwise might have been reasonably expected. We would also suggest the absolute necessity of erecting such fortifications at the entrance of the harbour as may, in the event of a war between England and any other nation (a contingency by no means improbable), secure the colonists of this settlement from the incursions of any hostile Privateer which might levy at will contributions to any amount from them without the possibility of resistance on their part. We do not suppose that your Excellency would have the immediate means at your disposal to do all that is necessary to secure these important objects, but we feel assured that any representation which your Excellency may think proper to make will have its due weight with the Home Government.

There are several other questions deeply affecting the prosperity of the colony to which we are desirous of directing the attention of your Excellency, and if they fail io receiving their due share of consideration, it will he only from the overwhelming interest which attaches to those to which we have already adverted. These questions appear to divide themselves into two classes, those affecting the internal regulation and economy of the settlement, and the power of making the necessary local improvements, and -those connected with its commercial interests. A fruitful cause of injury to this settlement, and of discontent in the settlers, has been the difficulty and delay inseparable from any reference or appeal from the resident authorities here to the Local Government at Auckland, and the want of some Executive authority at Wellington, competent to decide the questious continually arising, and which render this reference or appeal necessary. Whether this evil may be best obviated by the residence of your Excellency during a portion of the year in this settlement, or by the appointment of some person to represent yaur Excellency with sufficient executive power to

enable him to act upon any emergency without the delay of a reference, is left to your Excellency's consideration. We have been informed that her' Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies has given to your Excellency a discretionary power to adopt such measures as may obviate this evil ; and should your Excellency determine on appointing a Resident, we respectfully submit that it would be more acceptable to the colonists, and more calculated to promote the true interests of the colony, that one of their body should receive the appointment—one who has struggled with them through all the difficulties of their first establishment, and who, by his stake in this settlement, would afford them the best pledge of an identity of interests, rather than it should be conferred on some stranger who might be indifferent to our welfare, or who, owning land in another settlement, might be actuated, even unconsciously, by a feeling opposed to our advancement.

We would also suggest that, where so much discretionary and summary power is intrusted to the Police Magistrate, and where, as in this populous settlement, so many questions of a complicated and difficult nature continually arise, it would be more conducive to justice that this appointment should be filled by a person with a competent knowledge of the law, rather than a naval or military officer, who would be unacquainted with the duties of the office, and from the nature of his profession in some degree unfitted to discharge them.

The best method of raising a revenue adequate to the wants, with the least injury to the industrious energies of the communinity, and the appointment of local authorities to be elected by the body of the colonists, with the power of making local improvements, demand the early and serious consideration of your Excellency. As far as we have the power of ascertaining, this community pay in indirect taxation the sum of £9,000 annually, the greatest part of which is spent at Auckland. The expenses of the Government in this district are chiefly confined to the payment of the salaries of therGovernment officers. With the ex. ception of the new gaol, no money has been expended in local improvements by the Government. Several buildings, as a Custom House, Light House, Powder Magazine, the necessary fortifications at the mouth of the harbour, with many others, are absolutely necessary, but no provision has yet been made for their erection. No pecuniary provision has been made for making roads or keeping them in- repair when they are made, or for forming the streets and making the necessary improvements in the town. Justice seems to require that at least a portion of the revenue now drained from this settlement should be devoted to this purpose, more particularly as from the ruinous effects which the non-settlement of the land question has produced in the colony, the settlers would be unable to bear the additional weight of direct taxation.

Next to obtaining possession of his lands under the authority of, and with a legal title from the Government, the most important question to the colonist is the means of obtaining access to them, so that he may be in profitable occupation, and have the power of disposing of his surplus produce. The effect of this has been demonstrated in the roads which have been formed by the New Zealand Company, along the lines of which the settlers have attempted to clear and cultivate according to the extent of their means, wherever ♦ hey have not been interfered with by the natives, while those districts which have not been opened by means of roads remain in their primeval state. In the first formation of the colony, it was proposed to divide the settlement into districts or counties ; and if some arrangement of this kind were made, and officers were constituted for making roads and other improvements, and keeping them in an effective state, with the power of raising the necessary funds for these improvements, such officers to be annually elected by the body of freeholders or occupiers of land, a great boon would be conferred on the colony. The Corporation Bill having been disallowed by the Home Government, no legal provision for making improvements exists ; and though the expensive and cumbrous machinery of a corporation may be neither desirable nor requisite, in the present state of the colony, yet some power for' these purposes is necessary ; a power possessed by every county, by every parish, in our native country.

Of the numerous disadvantages under which the commerce of this port labours, the greatest is the want of a beacon or light-house to mark the entrance of the harbour, and to render the navigation of Cook's Straits safe to a stranger by night or in foggy weather. The Local Government has promised to contribute the sum of £100 towards a beacon, and the New Zealand Company have liberally offered the sum of £1,500 towards the erection of a light-house, which we would suggest is on every account to be preferred, as the most permanent and useful. The New Zealand Company's Principal Agent at Wellington has had several communications on this subject with the late Police Magistrate, Mr. Murphy, and also with Major Richmond, N but both these gentlemen appear to have postponed taking any active steps to a more convenient season. We hope, however, that your Excellency will no longer permit the execution 1 of so important and necessary a work to be the subject of official delay.

Next to the want of light-house, the necessity of having a custom house, adequate to the wants of the community, is most severely felt; and we would submit that when the large amount of revenue annually received by Government from this poit is considered, we are fairly entitled to this advantage. The present building is private property, and of wood, and, in the event of fire, its destruction would be attended with ' serious inconvenience and loss to the community and the Government.

While on this subject, we would suggest the expediency of redudng the port dues to the lowest possible limit consistent with a provision for the payment of the -salaries of the necessary officers. Wherever the dues of a port are low, an encourage, ment is given to vessels to resort there, to the great benefit of its inhabitants, and to the increase of their trade. At Valparaiso, the port dues, including the light-house dues, are £2 4s. for a vessel of 230 tons, which would be a convenient scale for this port, with an exception from port dues in favour of whalers, making good the deficiency, if any, from the revenue until the trade of the port had increased to a sufficient extent to defray the necessary expenses. The present state of the shore fisheries claim* the serious consideration of your Excellency. The

chief care of a good Government would be to foster and develop the resources of a young community, with a view to increase their exports. One of the most important exports of this colony is the oil, of which it is believed not less than 1,200 tuns, and 60 tons of whalebone, amounting to about £40,000, has been shipped this season direct from this port to the mother-country. The different stations at which this oil has been caught have received their stores and supplies from Wellington, and we complain with reason of the great discouragement under which this branch of trade labours in the heavy duties levied on the spirits and tobacco supplied to these stations. Justice and good policy equally require that they should at least be placed on the same footing with whale ships in this respect in receiving their supplies duty free ; without this concession, the fair trader of this port will be deprived of the advantage .of supplying these stations, and this benefit be ex\ clusively conferred on the smuggler, to the great' injury of the trade of this colony; unless a most efficient and expensive coast-guard be established, the worst and most onerous part of the customs department in the mother-country. No laws relating to bankruptcy or insolvency have yet been passed by the Local Legislature ; and we advert to this subject to express our earnest hope that such laws may be framed with the greatest caution, and with a due consideration of the interests involved, that we may not suffer from precipitate legislation those evils by which the inhabitants of a neighbouring colony are nearly ruined.

We would also beg to remind your Excellency that, while the present Premier has declared in his place in Parliament that the colonies are only an extension of the mother-country, by a Local Ordinance, any other British colony than Sydney or Van Diemen's Land is practically regarded as a foreign country, «o that a cargo of flour from South America and South Australia are each subject to the same duty. We are confident we have only to draw the attention of your Excellency to this law to insure its immediate repeal, and we can only account for its existence from the inadvertence of our Local Legislators.

In conclusion, we would beg to submit to your Excellency the necessity for an accurate and complete survey of the harbours and coasts of these islands. The attention of the Home Government has on more than one occasion been directed to this subject in the Imperial Parliament, and its urgent necessity has been fully admitted, but no steps have yet been taken to accomplish this desirable object. If the colonization of these islands is to proceed upon any systematic plan, it is very essential that the previous necessary information should be obtained as to those sites which are best adapted for the establishment of new settlements, from the convenience of their harbours, the extent of cultivable ground and other advantages. The present coasting trade of New Zealand, and the intercourse between the different settlements and the native tribes in these islands, would by this means receive fresh vigour and greater extension, while the advantage to the shipping frequenting this coast in pointing out new harbours as ports of refuge in case of emergency, would be of the greatest importance. One surveying vessel well equipped, with a full and complete staff of surveyors and scientific men, to examine the natural resources and productions of the country, would in three years obtain a collection of facts, an amount of information, most interesting to the naturalist and man of science, and contributing essentially to our commercial prosperity and advancement. The examination of the natural productions of this country has been commenced by the naturalists attached to the French vessels of war that have visited these islands ; but the honour as well as the interest of Great Britain demands that her subjects should not be indebted for information which so nearly concerns them, to the liberality of a foreign nation, but to the enterprise and well directed researches of their own countrymen, under the authority and at the expense of the British Government. We feel confident, therefore, that any suggestion from your Excellency to the Home Government on this subject, would receive due attention and be attended with the most beneficial results. We have thus endeavoured, in a candid and honest spirit, to point out to your Excellency the principal evils which the colonists of Port Nicholson labour under, and to supply your Excellency with such suggestions for the advancement of the local interests of the settlement as appear to us most expedient, and with such information on local subjects as we hope may appear acceptable on your first arrival in this settlement ; and we trust that your Excellency will, by the timely application of remedial measures to admitted grievances, remove the evils from which we are at present suffering, and, by a judicious policy, encourage the colonists in their efforts to develop the resources and extend the trade of the settlement, and establish their prosperity on the firmest basis.

£ i. d. £ ». d. Candles: Moulds ... 0 0 7 Dips .... 0 0 6 Chbksb : Wiltshire ... 0 1 3 fiutch .... 0 0 10 Cigars: Havanna, per lb. 011 0 Gin : per gaL, in bond ..050 Hams : Yorkshire, per lb. . 0 0 €4 Leather: Kip (Eng.).p'lb. 0, 3 6 Sole, ditto ..016 Mustard :P' doz. lb. bots. 12 0 Paint: Black, per cwt. . 1 5 0 . 1 10 0 Pickles: P' doz. pint bots. 012 0 Pitch s Per barrel ... 3 0 0 Plank: Nelson, per 100 ft. 0 9 0 ! Pork : Irish, per barrel .400 American ... 2 5 0 New Zealand ..000 Porter: Bottled, per doz. 0 10 6 Per hhd. ... 6 0 0 roTATORs : Per ton ...300' Rum: Per gallon, in bond. 0 4 0.046 Salt: Per ton ... .12 0 0 Scantling : Per 100 feet .090 Shingles : New Zealand .0 14 6 Soap: Liverpool, per ton .36 0 0 London ... .48 0 0 Starch : Per lb 0 0 7 Tar: Stockholm . . .1 10 0 Coal 12 0 Tea : Per chest «... 7 0 0 . 14 0 0 Whiskey: Per gal. in bond 0 8 0 . 0 10 0 White Lead : Per cwt. 18 0.200 RXTAIL PRICES. Beef : Fresh, per lb. . .0 0 9 . 0 0 10 Bread : Per 41b. loaf . . 0 0 74 . 0 0 9 Butter: Fresh . ... 0 1 9 . 0 2 0 C^&t : Light, with springs 20 0 0 . 25 0 0 Heavy, for bullocks 20 0 0 .25 0 0 Chairs: Each . ... 0 5 0 Eggs : Per dozen ... 0 2 0 Iron : Per lb 0 0 3 Lime : Per ton, delivered .2 10 0 Milk : Per pint ....003.004 Muskets: Each .... 0 15 0 Mutton: Perlb. ... 0 0 9 . 0 011 Oil : Linseed, per gallon .080 Pork : Fresh, per lb. . . 0 0 6 Poultry : Fowls, per pair 0 5 0 Ducks ... 0 8 0 Geese . . .1 10 0 Turkeys ... 0 0 0 Pigeons, wild, per pair ..013 Ducks, do. do. . 0 3 0 Turpentine : Per gallon .080 Wine : Sherry, per gal. . 0 6 0 . 0 10 0 Ditto in boLp' doz. 1 8 0 . 1 16 0 Port, per gal. .. 0 6 0 . 0 10 0 Ditto in botp' doz. 1 7 0 . 1 10 0 Wheelbarrow . . . . 1 10 0 Cows Milch, each . . .10 0 0 . 16 0 0 Mares: Each ... .30 0 0 .50 0 0 Sheep : Wethers, each .1 10 0 . 2 0 o Working Bullocks : Per pair 28 0 0 . 36 0 0 Wages : Mechanics, per day .... 0 5 0 . 0 6 0 Labourers . . 0 3 0 . 0 4 0 DUTIES. British Spirits 4s. per gallon Foreign Spirits ss. ditto Tobacco : Manufactured . . .Is. per lb. Unmanufactured . . 9d. ditto Snuff 2s. ditto Wines 15 per cent i Tea, Suuar, Flour, Wheat, and ] other Grain, 5 per cent . . • ad valorem An other Foreign productions and / w manufactures, 10 per cent. . . . }