THE COLONIAL OFFICE.

New Zealander, Volume 1, Issue 21, 25 October 1845, Page 1

THE COLONIAL OFFICE.

On the empire of England, it is said, the sun never sets. We have heard the phiase introduced in after dinner speeches, nay, even in parliamentary orations, with considerable effect. It turns a sentence prettily enough, the figure posessinga kind of indefinite magnificence which enquiring too curiously would perhaps spoil : it has also the sanction of age, and may therefore, be allowed to pass current as a fact j the Romans and the Spaniards have used it before us, but it is not the worse for that $ as a figure of speech it is quite as good as new. But, granting that there is always "smile and sunshine," somewhere in the dominions of her Majesty, we must still allow that "discontent sits heavy" on many portions of that wide empire, and on none more heavily or more constantly than those which have the calamity of being governed by the clerks of her Majesty's colonial Office. The damaging debate of Tuesday evening, when the transactions between the Colonial office and the. New Zealand Company were brought under the notice of the House of Commons, will have the effect ol drawing, public attention to what government at the colonial office really is ; from the nature of the system itself, it cannot be good ; that it is actually bad we see, and, all things cousidei&l, it is iat her a matter of wonder it is not a great deal worse. The head of the office is one of the leaders of the political party in power, and is changed with every political crisii.»'He is of course a man of ability, for without talents no man in England can rank among among statesmen ; but the misfortune is, that his ability is frequently misplaced ; his whole life has probably been that of most of English aristocracy, a youth passed iv school and college, and a manhood consumed in the party struggles of the House of Commons, till circumstances or inclination transfer him to the calmer atmosphere of the House of Lords. He is thus intimately acquainted with all the relations of party in England, is practised »in the ♦'forms" of Parliament ajid office, unmatched in debate, is industrious from choice, and honourable as a necessity of his birth and position; but with all these qualities he makes a bad director of the interests trusted to his guidance and control. THe reasons of this failure— not peculiar

to any one government, but "common to ail— are simple enough. No single mortal man,pnysicall/ and mentally constituted as men are, could possibly rule the va«t_^»face, the immense population, and the^Vfr|e|l interests of the colonies of England. Counfrjet that differ in climate, * productions, and character : people that have no resemblance in manners, ]aWs,language,or religion; some subjected'to us- by .treaties, more by conquests; many the decendants of English colonists or settlers new from England itself, are all govened by an office in downing-street,and bow is that office constituted t The chief of it is removeable. and is often rtmoyed either by a change in the parliamentary inajorily,or to suit what are called "Ministerial arrangements -," for all hibinformatin at to the part buisness of the department he is dependent upon his subordinates, able men in their way we have no doubt, but, like their superior, home born and bred, having no knowledge of the " kingdoms, nations, and tongues/ bo much of whose welfare depends O " them, save what they have derived from the pigeon-holes of the office, or from the cold, lifeless, and formal reports of Governors and, Secretaries, all written according to the rules of official etiquette. What they do not possess, they of course cannot impart ; and setting out with a foundation of ignorance to work on, and adding: to it the difficulty of communicating with place* at such great distances, the lapse of time and change of circumstance produced by it between the sending home of instructions, the delay ingoing* them and their anival at the place to which they are sent, often too late to be useful, we can form some faint notion of that mass of confusion, incapacity and minchief which goes by the name ef the Colonial Office. England has. had some severe lessons on this subject, has sustained very material injury from the system. It was.colonial officeism, if we may coin the word, that lost-America; as if to prove that the defects of the system were still producing their natural results at a much more recent period, we have seen Canada driven into rebellion, gaining then as a matter of course, what might as well have been granted before— some voice in his own go-vernment,-But a "Colonial Office" never thinks Jt pottibledt cambe. wrong;:and_malte«-nb~e6n «- cession till 'too late. In all local matters, we believe, there is no government so good as that .which men would frame for themselves, if allowed to do so, to none but perfect wisdom can we safely trust absolute power. We know there are Governments which, as far as the physical in terests of their subjects are concerned, do exercise a despotic authority with a fair amount of prudence and success. But they are in the midst of those that rule,! hey adapt their measures to the peculiarities of the land and its inhabitants: th© same s) stem applied to the government of many people scattered over the whole surface of the globe would utterly fail— would become, in fact, what the system of our Colonial Office is at present. There are endless disputes between the " Office" and those Colonies where a local Legislature ex'sts. But these are as nothing compared with those that arise between it and a "Crown colony." that is blessed with a Governor hnd Council without any check from popular representatives. The Governor is appointed at home on account of his family connections, or parliamentary influence j whether he i» fit for the post is quite asecondary consideration, and pretty much a matter of chance. He is at a great distance from the controling power, and, is left for long periods to his own discretion, which often turns out to be the reverse of what the world calls by that name. If the inhabitants remonstrate, he falls back on his "instructions)" they may be grieviously injured, but they cannot resist, for he has the authority of the Crown, and Englishmen will suffer much before they openly rebel against ,the representative of their Sovereign, if they appeal to the "office," the Governor is always right and the people wrong; if they get thier cape carried into parliament, tho' the Government confess themselves entirely ignorant of facts well" known to a!l else, and make a most wretched defence, there aie plenty of gentlmen ready to testify to the many virtues and amiable qualities of the Governor; the settlers are being ruined and the colony destroyed certainly, but then the Govenor is such an honourable, such an amiable man ! This evidence to character is very worthless in 6uch cases ; it is no defence at all. Boih parties are right, but they see Ihe man under two very different aspect. His friend* have met him on terms .of equality, know lii<n only in the intercoms of special life, as the pleasant companionofthe dinner table, or the club ; and to the qualiies they have proved, they bear testimony. But the complaints have seen in him only the man in office, a superior in rank, holding power that he has used to their injury, and ruin, deaf lo all remonstrances, careless of all reproof. What is his amiability or any other of Iris social qualities to them ? They do not dine, or vote, or hunt in his company and to them he .is a mischievous blunderer and nomore ; so as they think of him they speak, and . are perfectly just in so doing. We are far too indulgent to well intentioned incapacity in places of trust. To those whose fortunes are wrecked by such' a man's mismanagement, it is no answer to allege the*' amiable" character of the instrument of mischief. Where vigorous action is required, incapacity is a crime for which those who select such damagers of the community are responsible. —Loiyion Paper.