CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE SUPERINTENDENT AND THE WELLINGTON MAGISTRATES.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 227, 11 July 1846, Page 75

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE SUPERINTENDENT AND THE WELLINGTON MAGISTRATES.

We find in the Wellington papers the following correspondence, arising out of a letter addressed to Major Last, the officer in command of the troops at Wellington, after the commencement of hostilities in the Hutt, in which they pointed out the steps they considered necessary to be taken to preserve the public safety : — To Henry St. Hill, Esq., Police Magistrate, Wellington. (Copy.) Wellington, May 28th, 1846. Sir — I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 22d inst., inclosing 1 a copy of a letter addressed by you, as you there inform me, at the request of your brother magistrates, to the officer commanding the troops in this district, in the following terms : —

" It having been rumoured that the troops under your command are to remain on the defensive, I am deputed by the magistrates of this district to represent to you their unanimous opinion that active operations should, with the least possible delay, be forthwith commenced against the insurgent natives, so that their pa may be invested, and the operations of the force be confined to the neighbourhood of Porirua. " The magistrates are convinced that unless such measures be immediately taken to restrain the incursions of the hostile natives, the friendly tribes will lose all reliance in the support of the military, and will soon become disheartened.

" Any further delay will, moreover, doubtless increase the number of the insurgents, and give them confidence in their strength. " The magistrates hesitate not to declare their assurance that the militia, the volunteer corps, and armed natives of this district, will cheerfully aid and cooperate in any way considered advisable for the accomplishment of the above-named objects. " I am desired further to add that, should the forward movement now recommended be put in execution, the magistrates feel satisfied that the arrangements nowmade for the security of the town will be perfectly efficacious, and that no attack on it will be attempted." I have also perused in the public newspapers of yesterday, a copy of such letter with Major Last's reply, which it appears the magistrates have ordered the clerk of their bench to publish for general information.

I cannot but feel deep regret that any of the magistracy should have considered it their duty to address the letter in question to Major Last, without having in the first instance laid their view before the officer to whom his Excellency has been pleased to delegate the functions of Government within this district, and without having obtained his sanction and approval of a step of such obvious importance. The total absence of official rule in the mode in which this communication has been made, and the position assumed in reference to the direction of the militia, volunteers, and naval force, which force must necessarily be directed by the .Government alone, renders it necessary that, as the officer to and through whom these communications should have been made, I should request you will favour me with an explanation of the reasons by which you have been induced to take the unusual step in question, that I may be enabled to lay the same before his Excellency for his information.

As the letter above quoted is stated to represent the unanimous opinion of the magistrates of this district, and as I have received communications leading me to believe that all the magistracy were not present at any consultation on these matters, will you further favour me by stating by whom such meeting was called, what was the notice given, and who were present ? I have likewise to draw your attention to your communication of the 16th instant, in which yon gave me to understand that, "in consequence of the state of excitement into which the public mind had been thrown by the occurrences at the Hutt that morning, you consider it imperative that prompt measures should be adopted for the protection of the inhabitants of Wellington, and that you had, therefore, in conjunction with the magistrates named in the margin (Edward Daniell, Esq., and Charles Clifford, Esq.), deemed it advisable to call out the volunteer force immediately at command, and that you had at the same time solicited the Commander of H.M.S. Calliope, for the assistance of the small-arms men of that vessel to patrol the town during the night, and permit such of his boats as could be spared for this duty to remove the women and children who were, as you were given to understand, on the beach at Petoni awaiting aid from this side of the harbour." lam equally unable, without your explanation, to acquaint his Excellency why such steps could be deemed necessary by you during my temporary absence from town, when I proceeded on the forenoon in question to the scene of action (not more than an hour's ride), from whence any danger was to be apprehended, and where alone authentic information could be obtained. I have further to request you will favour me by stating why, in the letter above alluded to, you did not inform me that you had, in like manner, given directions for embodying the militia force of the district, and that you will be good enough to add in what character you conceived yourself to be then acting. I have the honour to be, sir, Your most obedient humble servant, (Signed) M. Richmond, Superintendent.

To His Honour the Superintendent, &c., &c. Wellington, June 4th, 1846. Sir — We, the undersigned justices of the peace, consider it encurabent on us to reply to

some portions of your letter to the police magistrate of the 28th ultimo, acknowledging the receipt of a communication from that officer, which enclosed a copy of a letter addressed by him, at our request, to the officer commanding the troops in this district. In reference to the expression of your " deep regret that any of the magistracy should have considered it their duty to address the letter in I question to Major Last, without having, in the first instance, laid their views before the officer to whom his Excellency has been pleased to delegate the functions of Government within this district, and without having obtained his sanction and approval to a step of such obvious importance," we conceive that, as our views regarded operations in a part of the district under martial law, we pursued only a natural and direct course in addressing the commanding officer of the troops under whose orders such operations would be undertaken. At the same time, however, as a mark of respect to the highest civil authority in the settlement, we made you acquainted with our proceedings, and solicited your support of our recommendations ; nor can we admit that we proceeded, in the " total absence of official rule " respecting similar communications, because we are ignorant of any rule on the subject. Our communication was made in the most perfect friendly spirit, and at a moment of urgency and danger, of the reality of which not one person in the community entertained a doubt, and before which official form must, at all times, give way. We beg leave, also, respectfully to disclaim the intention imputed to us of assuming any position whatever in reference to the direction of the militia, volunteers, or native force. We simply assured Major Last " that those bodies would cheerfully afford their aid and cooperation in any way advisable " for the accomplishment of the object we had in view. That object was to prevent the distress, ruin, and dispersion of the settlers, caused by the rebel natives ; and a consideration of the present disastrous state of the settlement, much aggravated since the date of our communication, compels us to maintain and reiterate our opinions upon that point.

In respect to the unanimity of opinion amongst the magistrates on the subject of our letter to Major Last, and the manner in which the meeting took place, the police magistrate has communicated to us the explanations he has transmitted to you on these points, and we can confirm their correctness.* We are likewise anxious to express our full sense of the propriety of all measures to allay the alarm of the inhabitants, and provide for the safety of the town on the day of the attack on the camp in the valley of the Hutt, adopted by the police magistrate, in conjunction with two other justices of the peace, during your prolonged and uncertain absence.

From the tenor of your communication we are led to infer that in making the representations we did we went beyond the shpere of our duty as magistrates, and, therefore, we beg to state our reasons for having done so. We believe that, as magistrates, or more correctly, as justices of the peace, we were appointed for the purpose of keeping the Queen's peace. By reference to authority on the subject it will be seen that the original appellation of a justice was " Conservator, warden, or keeper of the peace," and we are told that our first duty is to conserve the peace, whether as regards civil commotion or a foreign enemy. Any step, therefore, taken by a justice of the peace, by affording information of any intended breach of the peace by any part of the community, or by the designs of any rebels, or of any public enemy, is strictly within the letter of his commission. He is bound to take any step of this kind in the faithful discharge of his duty, in compliance with his oath as a justice, as well as by virtue of his loyalty as a subject. This is our view of the position, function, and duty of a magistrate at home, and we believe that no ordinance of the colony in any way alters our position, as we have described it, deprives us of any of our functions, or absolves us from the performance of any of our duties. If, however, we are in error on this subject, and if, therefore, at a crisis to the public welfare, like that which impelled us to address Major Last, it should be held that we exceeded our commissions, or, indeed, that we were not obliged by force of them, and from anxiety for the safety of the settlement, to do as we did, our title of magisstrate is an empty sound, and our retention of the office a delusion on the public. We have the honour to be, sir,

Your most obedient servants, (Signed) W. Wakefield, £. Daniell, Charles Clifford, Henry W. Petre,

* The magistrates of the district who were not present at the meeting, when the letter of the 22d May was addressed to the Superintendent, are Mr. Hogg, Mr. Bl'Donogh, Mr. Swainson, and Mr. Clifford. The first being Collector of Customs, has never been in the habit of taking a place on the bench ; the second was at Taita, in command of the company of militia stationed there; and Mr. Swainson, holding her Majesty's commission in the army, on half-pay, would not have taken part in the discussion that then took place. The meeting was not called by any notice, but was held on the emergency of the moment, and the justices present were those who havo replied to the Superintendent's letter to the police magistrate, with the exception of Mr. Clifford, who had previously expressed his opinion to be in accordance with theirs.

The Free Traders are busily engaged in getting up petitions for a total and immediate repeal of the Corn Laws ; and a few public meetings have consequently been held. The Town Council of Nottingham, Derby, Gateshead, Sunderland, and Worcester, and the Manchester Commercial Association have expressed a favourable disposition towards the Government measure ; but some of these bodies, deeming the delay of three yean impolitic, have resolved to petition Parliament to make the abolition of the Corn Laws immediate. ' The Newcastle Town Council have petitioned for 3#3 # the passing of the measure as it stands.