Original Correspondence.

New Zealander, Volume 1, Issue 17, 27 September 1845, Page 4

Original Correspondence.

To the Editor of the New-Zealanier. Sir,— Now that the tocsin has sounded, and the alarm spread, — novv that men with pleasure-speaking countenances, and silvery tongues, begin to ask— Who is tin new Governor ? let me sit down and calmly ponder over the extraordinary events of the last eighteen months, and investigate the grand charges, which ever, ad injinitum, have been multiplied on the shoulders of the good the Christian Fitzioy. If I arrive at a conclusion, Sir, antagonistical to the general belief, it will not be from any wish, any sinister motive, of advancing myself, or my interests in thn favor of him, at whom, without the shadow of an excuse, or the vestige of confirmation, so much calumny and slander, so much obloquy and misconception have been maliciously hurled, since his arrival amongst the enterprising and loyal, but certainly cci sorious colonists of New Zealand. previous to any extension of the argnment, I would energetically urge a reply to the following plain questions, — is it fair, is it honourable to rest altogether the onus of the imperial mandates of Downing street, upon the Governor of this (or any other) colony, who, however misguided and unintelligible such documents may be, is in duty bound, imperatively sworn, to abide by aud act in concert with their behests ? Answer No ! ye who are toiemost in the tribunal of accusation ! To proceed however, with the subject ; the principal flaws in the policy of Capt. Fitzroy, seem to concentrate themselves under the following heads— Ist —The Pardon of Rauparaha. 2nd.— The Issue of Debentures as a Legal Tender. 3rd.— The withdrawal of the Troops from the Bay of islands, after the first aggression of Heki, and the subsequent abolition of the Customs' Ordinance. 4th. — The temporizing line of policy pursued towards the Natives. These I believe are the sum and substance of the complaints on the part of the Europeans, and as a matter of course, all minor charges,— supported only by iheijjsedixit of the discontented, who like jEsop's dog, would bark at their own shadow (!) are swallowed up in them, as unworthy topics for the deliberation of any one, whose path of attempted exculpation, is open honesty, pillowed on the pedestal of common sense, and calm, dispassionate, and matured judgment. The first charge,— respecting the Pardon of Raupat aha, — will bear but very slight relutation, since all that need be stated of Governor Fitzroy's policy, on that occasion is embraced in the following remarks. Rauparaha is an influential, powerful and wailike chief, and at theHnne the verdict upon his certainly most atrocious crime, was in debate, — fully prepared to mu-et with the strong and thrice nerved arm of desperation, any hostile moeneuvres which a contrary hue of diplomacy could have opposed to him, he was and is the ostensible organ of 5000 fighting men,— a number sufficient to have exterminated with one dreadful univeraalswoop the whole leaguerd population of Englishmen, located through the length and breadth of the islands ! Aud had the Governor allowed the feelings ot the Man, to have subdued the well timed discretion ot the Ruler, Mich indeed, — it requires no magical foresight to divine, would have bten the inevitable catastrophe, in the then as now unprotected and undisciplined state of the coramuII ny 1 Then Sir, will any man venture to affix his veio against this self denying, self-sacrificing determinaiion of Captain Fitzroy, as displayed in this ills' auce ; at least after rationally balancing the startling casualties in his own conscience ? I flatter myself so unthinking' a person exists not within the boundaries ot Nt j w Zealand .—besides if no other defence were at hand, the bare facts of the illegality of the Company's claims to the circumjacent lands of the Wairoa, their proverbial rapacity in the extor tion and acquisition of other parts of the Island, and the piecipiUte conduct of the C.P.M., whilst on the fatal spot, would alone substantiate even the justice «if the course pursued by Capt. Fitzroy. In reference to the 2nd Count, viz. — The Issue of Debentures as a Legal Tender, —l have to remark, that the extreme urgency of the case, the impoverished state of the Exchequer, and the absolute necessity of supplying fuuds for the purposes of Legislation, imperatively and irresistibly demanded that some speculative policy must be adopted for the creation of such funds, and for the preservation ol the honor, the integriiy, nay the very existence of the Government of ihe colony ! In such an exigency, and in such a complicated and embarrassed posture ot affairs, I cannot conceive that a more immediate relief from the impending hankrnptcy could have been afforded iv a pecuniary way, or a more wholesome demand complied with, than the issue of promissory note-., payable (aud indemnified by the strictest honour in the person <md autograph of the Representative ot their Sovereign,) by th • Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, — even though the liquidation of the amount require that the ltoyal cotters be ransacked from end to end. The ca->e was an extreme o.ic, and an extreme remedy was to be applied. The u>sue of Debentures was the only tangible one likely to extricate the Colony from ruin, and the inhabitants from exorbitant taxation. If auy risk has been incurred, auy state authority subverted, the Governor of this colony himself, is the parly implicated, on him alone the responsibility must fall, and to him alone, individually, must the stigma be attached :— but no such unpleasantness can or ou{*ht 10 be apprehended, — it is sufficient for the Home authorities to know, that such a demand, and such a fiat of Administration, were imperative and unavoidable, and that they as a matter of necessity, niujt be complied with. The only speculation allowed on the subject, Sir, must have resolved uselt into vhe following digest,— shall an exorbitant tax bj laid on the people, or shall the home Government be debited with the amount required? The latter, least obnoxious scheme was prefened, andiugratitude and censure, animadversion and opposition have hitherto been tht only reward bestowed upon His .Excellency. On the 3rd charge — The withdrawal of the Troops from the Bay af Islands after the first aggression of Ueke, and the subsequent abolition of the Customs Ordinance. Jt must appear paipable to every one at

all conversant with ihe contradictious, intricacies, and inconsistencies of Maoii character ; so much so indeed, as to stand unparalled on the records of History ; or who has watched the crisis of recent events, that at the time the demonstration of power referred to was made,— that had satisfaction been enforced at the point of the bayonet, (satisfaction for an insult which considering the relative disparity in the two conflicting parties in every shape and way, perhaps only existed in the imagination), the chances were, that with the comparatively small and inexperienced force at the command of the Governor, a widely different fate would have overwhelmed the inhabitants of Kororarika, to that which at a later period, they were destined to witness and feel ; aye, even in its then embryo state, the war would have assumed a much more frightful attitude, than up to this moment, it has done, — and why? — impressed with too light an opinion of the prowess of the enemy, and placing a 100 strong reliance on the body of men sent for their protection, the inhabitants (in all human probability,) would have heedlessly plunged into the brunt of the battle, and borne down by superior numbers, would have fallen a prey, they, their wives and children, to the long ripened and long fostered enmity of a cannibal conqueror! This Sir, may appear a rather desperate solution of a given theorem, but the fearful and sanguinary scenes which have since transpired, incontestibly substantiate the existence of similar enormities not only iv theory, but m practise. It must be remembered that when the town was attacked, little reliance could be placed on the exertions of a mere handful of men, commanded by young and almost invalided officers, (even though they had been all Alexanders of Macedon, or Guys of Warwick) , therefore was the attack met by the inhabitants in a more deliberate and undoubtedly less determined manner: less blood was shed, and less revenge sought A body of 250 men ready for active service and although not experienced, well officered, would materially have altered the complexiou of affairs, more confidence would have been evinced, more danger courted, and the savages would have either been driven discomfited to the bush, or the Town, with all it contained, destroyed beneath the desperate phalanx of an infuriated and victorious enemy. Who that for one moment considers the faction ready for revolt, in all its ramifications, can doubt which would have been the result ? The vengeance of the monster Kawiti would have revelled in the devilry of human sacrifice ! The superior sagacity and foresight ot Capt. Fitzroy was not slow to discover this, — and accordingly to appease the rebels and spare the Europeans, a concession in no way derogetury to the honor of his Queen, was granted, and the temporary security of life and property ensured. The concession spoken of, Sir, was that of abo lishing the Customs, and when I state that such a course was necessary for the maintenance of peace, in the insuigent eamp/aud perhaps for the existence of all the northern set lements, it must be confessed that however hasty and short-sighted the adherence to it, (inflicting so important an alteration iv the commercial aspect of affairs), might seem to some individuals, it must likewise be borne iv mind, that equally hasty are the strides from partial to universal rebellion ! The policy and aim of the Governor was to check so terrible a contingency iv the bud, and if he did not altogether succeed, 'twas not for lack of expeiiment and energy, sacrifice of principle or risk of place. Now to those who are inclined to dispute on the subject of the Treaty ot Waitangi, or to vapour on the latv of preserving its definition and letter inviolate, — I would gently remark, that a great dissimilarity of form, conception, and honor exists in the various displays of ministerial ingenuity, on the planning of an offensive and defensive treaty between two civilized poweis ; to that necessary to be pursued where one party to a bargain is a tribe of savage chiefs, as ignorant as they aie proud, and as> rude as they are noble! No! the balance of honor on either side must be weighed against the moral, physical and intellectual discrepancy in their relative situations, and accordingly, any* infringement of contract, however binding in the original, treated as lightly as may be advisable, aud settled according to the dictates of existing circumstances. I have now arrived at the last grand accusation, embodying such a multiplicity of minor ones, and perhaps, although the most important, more really based on the ignorance of the quarrelsome, than any ot the others : — id est, The temporizing line of policy pursued towards the Natives. Can any one contemplate the various political experiments, which during the course of the last eighteen months have been successively practised, and not feel convinced that it was the security of Europeans, their property and their livelihood, that actuated the Governor to separately adopt them, — and not an over anxious consideration for the peculiar welfare of the natives, thtir rights, and their privileges alone ? Without a force adequate to uphold the majesty of the law, or maintain even the semblance of power,— would it have beeu policy to have endangered the interests of the whole community by even breathing a threat, much less extorting a favor ? Most certainly and decidedly not. Yet such has been the disagreeable constraint imposed upon jU is Excellency Captain Fitzroy,— such the shackle which has ever bound his least ambitious projects, since his arrival on these shores; and after all, in the face of a truly bona fide exculpation, men turn round and throw this— the Magna Charta of their present liberties, — in the face of the Governor^ the anathema of their condemnation But the war, which it appears no human device could avert, has come at last, though the immediate scene of hostilities, by the extreme prudence and forbearance ot Capt. Fitzroy, has been kept at a distance from the capital, great enough to all iy that fever of excitement which the hrst news of its existence so naturally inspired. I say the prudence and forbearance of Capt. Fitzroy, 1 shall likewise add, his adherence to that system of conciliation, which error loving politicians, self constituted and self sufficient, have been pleased to cry down as unworthy truckling, cowardice, aud false philauthrophy ! To the popular, because vulgar, cry of ♦< Down with the Maories, and War to the Knife," I would in all conscience reply, (and in direct reference to that policy, which could the Governor " bark as well as bite," he has convinced us he would pursue,) esto perpetua, pio bono j)ublico } —a. homely adage, sincere as it is homply. The following assertion appeared in a journal of last week, "it is not the person, but the policy of Capt. Fitzroy we wish to be removed," I shall go arther and say —it is neither the person nor the policy of Capt. Fitzroy we wish to be removed, but the unintelligible, (and if intelligible, impracticable) despatches of Lord Stanley, and the apathy ot the Ilioine government in every thing that concerns the welfare of New Zealand; tor all the enactments of the Governor, which on his own responsibility have! been carried into execution, have had a decided tendency lo improve and elevate the moral, the social, and the comtneicial relations of the country, and their want of success must alone be attributed to the overruling mandates of the Secietary loi the Colonies,—

the untiring opposition ot the colonists themselves, —and the extremely irksome aud anomalous positiou which the unravellahle affairs of this colony have ever assumed. Lastly, Sir, — Has not the Governor himself ad-| mittbd that a spirit of conciliation ever directed the ' tone of his administration towards the native chiefs? then let me again urge for what reason ? to prevent any interruption of {rood feeling on the part of those tribes who are capable of crushing, aye, annihilating us, in one hour! I mean those directly in the vicinity of Auckland,— the Waikatosj and again let me repeat, this is the sole axis, the sole pivot, on which all the blind unpopularity of Governor Fitzroy turus, and has turned, the one general bane of the contention and disaffection of the million ! Before concluding this epistle, Sir, I must record an opinion, however uncongenial to the one commonly prevalent, and however contrary to the appetites of those who compel themselves to believe the twaddle of the hour : that we may get a Governor more rash and headstrong, backed by a strong protective force, to enable him to carry out such propensities, — but we shall never get a better man, a better Christian, or a sounder political reasoner, than Capt. Robert Fitzroy. I am sorry Sir, to have troubled you at such length, but I trust the fact of having had a rather prolific subject to discuss, will be a sufficient apology. I am Sir, Your's, &c DECISION. [We give place to the above verbose composition because the line of conduct and policy of the Governor which is so grandiloqously defended, has occasioned from time to time, censurable remarks from us. On the four heads into which the writer has concentrated the policy of the Governor, we shall but briefly observe. On the first : — we approved of the conduct of the Governor in the unfortunate Wairau affair; hut our correspondent can know little of the native population to ascribe to Rauparaha, the command of 5000 fighting men. The whole tribe of the Ngateraukawa. of which he is the chief, does not exceed that number, and not one fifth could be mustered as fighting men. On the second count : — the issue of debentures, we cannot choose but smile at the dictatorial tone of erroneous views, and of statements contrary to fact. The debentures are not payable by the Lords of the Treasury, and it is mighty fine to assert, — "it is sufficient for the home authorities to know that such a demand, and such a fiat of administration, were imperative and unavoidable, and that they, as a matter of necessity must be complied with :"•— but we are of opinion that Her Majesty's ministers in England, will take the liberty of judging and deciding themselves on this departure of His Excellency from all true acknowledged principles of state finance, and of sound currency ; and although "the Home Government may be debited with the amount required," — -yet as these debentures, have, beyond a certain amount, been issued without advice, it is more than probable that they will not immediately be honored, and paid by the Home government. On the third and fourth heads, we refrain, as the subjects are now threadbare, from further remark, but we think it rather an anomaly that the warm advocate for " temporising policy towards the natives," siiould assume the name of " Decision " — Ed.]