THE NELSON EXAMINER. Saturday, November 10, 1855.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XIV, 10 November 1855, Page 2

THE NELSON EXAMINER. Saturday, November 10, 1855.

Journaii become more necessary at men become more equa and individualism more to be feared. It would be to underrate their importance to suppose that they «erve only to secure liberty: they maintain civilization. De TocaoßViLLi. Of Democracy in America, vol. v., p. 230.

We have been much struck by the perusal of an article in the New Zealander of the 26th of September last, remarking upon the rapid manner in which a large portion of the aboriginal race of New Zealand has been reclaimed from the barbarous practices of their ancestors, and advanced to comparative civilization. The substitution of European clothing for the blanket, by the majority of the natives now frequenting such towns as Auckland, Wellington, and Nelson, is a conspicuous sign of the change which has taken place in native habits within the last few years, and the rapid manner in which they are becoming converted into farmers, graziers, and labourers of various kinds, speaks well for the Maori character. We find, also, that two natives have been ordained deacons of the Episcopal Church by his Lordship the Bishop, who no doubt well satisfied himself of their qualifications for clerical office, before he admitted them into orders. All tjhis is very satisfactory, and we can join very heartily with ouv contemporary in congratulating the colony that so beneficial a change in the character of a large body of the natives has been brought about in so short a time*

But when we got through about one-half of our contemporary's remarks, we suddenly discovered that the delightful picture he had been painting was for an object totally distinct from the one we had supposed ; and that all he had been saying was merely to found an argument against the removal of the seat of Government. Here is his pathetic appeal to justice !

And yet, with a population of some 80,000 of such natives in the Province of Auckland — men invested with all the electoral privileges conferred by the constitution of New Zealand — the question of the removal of the seat of government by the General Assembly to some of the Southern Provinces, with not a tithe of the native population of the North — is considered to be a question of equal justice and expediency! Can it be forgotten, by those who would advocate such a fraud, that Auckland is the only colony of New Zealand founded by the British Crown ? That it is not a Colony acquired by conquest or established by cession. On the contrary, it is a Colony built upon a solemn treaty, to which the honour and integrity of the British Sovereign have been as sacredly plighted to the Native as to the British-born subject. Upon the faith of that treaty, and upon the assurance of the Eoyal Proclamation, Auckland was constituted and purchased as the capital of New Zealand ; and with what degree of conscience could the sacrifice of such unquestionable vested rights be made ?

Observe how beautifully the question is begged: — "with a population of 80,000 of such natives in the Province of Auckland." We are glad to find, what we certainly were not prepared for, that civilization has extended itself to all the natives in the Northern Province; andmay we not also infer that the natives are all in the exercise of those "electoral privileges" conferred upon them by the Constitution Act? But what startles us more than this unexpected civilization of the entire native race resident in the North, is the number of Maories which our contemporary finds there. The highest estimate we have ever seen of the whole native population of New Zealand is 120,000, but this was years ago, when little was known of the interior of the country. A friend of ours, who favours us with occasional information from Taranaki, and who, we may say, has had a long and [ intimate acquaintance with the natives of New Zealand, both in the North and South, in speaking of a Maori census, in a letter published a few weeks ago in this journal, remarked: — "Years ago, some friends, with myself, took some pains to obtain something like a correct estimate ; overstating the numbers for the districts with which we were only j partially acquainted, and we could not make out quite 50,000 New Zealanders. Since then they have decreased in numbers, and are decreasing." So, on what we believe to be excellent authority, there are not 50,000 New Zealanders throughout the colony, while the Neio Zealander gives 80,000 to the Province of A.uclclancL alone.

"We do not blame the Auckland press for advocating the retention of the seat of Government in the North, but we doubt whether their cause is served by any such sorry reasoning as that of which we have above given an examrjle. _ .-»_ ->v^