THE DUTY OF OUR COLONISTS.

New Zealander, Volume 2, Issue 90, 20 February 1847, Page 2

THE DUTY OF OUR COLONISTS.

Tiiouflii the commission of evil, or the production of misery, by an inclh idual or a community, even for the best purposes, can neither bo justified nor excused, yet are evil and misery frequently made the unpleasant means of accomplishing a vast amount of private and public good. Many a man would have died, had it not been for a gout or a fever, and many a community would have continued to drag on a miserable existence, had not the pressure of intolerable calamities either brought external aid to their relief, or forced themselves into an Unwonted exercise of their own energies Had this country been, uninhabited before it became a British Colony, a quarter of a century would, in all probability, pass away, be* fore the settlements' could attract much notice. During that long period, the fortunes of the settlers, chequered only by that variety of incident which is inseparable from the very idea of colonization, could present but very little that would be calculated to arrest the attention of British ears. Ruined or disappointed speculators in land, the usual amount of hardship, privation, and suffering, ruinous fluctuations in the value of land, scarce and plentiful harvests, and abundant or scanty supplies of labor, would, in any possible combination, form but an hundred times told talc to the people of England. The calamities, however, which we have actually endured, have been generally of a diilbrent character, and, in some instances, of a far deeper dye. These graver disasters, and the loud complaints of the settlers, so fortunately supported by the influence, a,nd energy of a powerful Company, have extorted from the parliament and people of Great Britain a larger share of attention than has ever been given to the affairs of any other Colony at the same period of its existence. , The result is, that* in the eighth year of the Colony's existence, we shall have separate provinces, municipal corporations, houses of representatives, perfect security of life and property, and roads opening the country in every direction. But, it is of the very last importance to the settlers of New Zealand, that they should never lose sight of the fact, that, as the evils by which the Colony has been visited have been chiefly of a political character, so the remedies are almost all of a political nature. The political changes just mentioned will, indeed, remotely promote emigration to these islands, by rendering them a fit place of residence for British men. But, they will not immediately and directly introduce a single settler into them, h is, however, now that

the oilier parts of the house are set in perfect order, upon emigration, and emigration only, that the future progress and prosperity of New Zealand mußt almost entirely depend. Should the Company be employed by the Government as their colonising agent for the southern province, the southern settlers willhave so far an advantage over us, who, through the want of a land fund, now are, and, for some years to come, will be, unable to import emigrants. Hitherto, indeed, notwithstanding: this, and a host of other disadvantages and difficulties, the British population of this Dis« trict lias increased steadily, and, it is probable^, that its unequalled resources, and the vast supply of cheap labour which- it commands,, which have brought it unscathed out of so> many trials in times past, will bear it triumphantly forward to the end of its career* There is> however, a great difference between motion at snail's pace and healthy and' vigorous progress; between a country inhabited by a tew thousand persons Huddled together in small commercial towns, and a country overspead by a colonising populution. Hitherto, we have been resting upon our oars, in foolish reliance upon our resources and upon Providence. It is now absolutely necessary for us to put our shoulders to" tire wheel. Without the aid of a land fund, we have to compete-not only with the southern province, but with all Her Majesty's colonies. It must be continually borne in mind, too, that an op. portunity of forwarding our interests presents itself at the present moment, which we ea» not even hope for again. New Zealand, regenerated' as it now is, occupies a large share of the attention of the British public, as well a 9 the very foremost place in the mind of every intending emigrant. To strike the iron 1 whiter it is hot, to sustain and even to stimulate this attention and interest, is the bounden duty, and ought to be the chief object of the' community at large, as well as of every individual who is really concerned in the Colony, and* who is able to contribute in the slightest degree to the promotion of theob}ectin question. ' There are very few settlers who can not, to some extent or other, promote emigration to these islands, both directly and indirectly. The only method, available to us, of introducing settlers intq this district, is, the keeping continually before the eyes of the people of Great Britain and Ireland, authentic accounts of our extraordinary progress hitherto* and our still more extraordinary- resources. These accounts may emanate from three fiour* ces, — from individual settlers corresponding with their friends and relatives, or with persons commercially connected with them, — from the public press of the Colony, — and from the writers of statistical narrative*, residing in the district) aud fully acquainted withjdl it* affairs. Every settler in this district can serve it in his private letters to England. Every one of us can, to a certain extent, support a well intentioncd and well conducted newspaper, and prevent the continued poblicatioa of one unfriendly to the real interests of the Colony. Every farmer," too, stock-keeper and importer or exporter of goods, can contribute his quota of information upon his peculiar business to the statistical writer. There is, thus? nothing in the sche/ne which we have ' taken the liberty of suggesting, which is Utopian, or in any Way impracticable. There ta ' nothing required by it of any rflan which is not easy of' performance, and which he is not bound to perform by common prudence, the most powerful of all motives in practical mat- 1 ters. Neither is there any thing new in this system of co-operation for common objects and common benefits in colonies* Such a system for the promotion of emigration from' the mother country, is, in some degiee, absolutely necessary to every Colony. The for- . mation of it has, accordingly, in colonial; history, been of frequent occurrence, and has been always followed by the most beneficial results. Nor could the establishment of such, a system in this district of New Zealand have! been so long delayed, had it not been for the disorder and confusion which, until very lately, prevailed in it. The great extent, too, to which every settler may, if he pleases, indirectly promote emigration to these islands, is well entitled to attention. Every one, really acquainted with this district, knows, that life and property are n'owheie better secured, and that few watering places in England can boast of nicer society. ■ Nevertheless, the people of England continually read in the columns of the New Zealand Journal, and in those of other organs of the Company, that we are constantly in danger of being devoured by the natives, and that Auckland is filled with pestilent wretches to such an extent, as to render 'it impossible for even a decent man to live in it. How, it is quite impossible, that even the • organs of the Company could indulge themselves in the publication of fabulous matter to. so great an extent, without some slight foundation for their statements in truth, or in the plausible perversion of truth* It is, indeed, a melancholy truth, that there are some very few persons amongst us, who, sometimes influenced by mere levity, and sometimes by truly diabolical motives, circulate false rumours extremely mischievous tp the interests* of this settlement. These tumours are instantly caught up by the Company's agents, and propagated over the whole United Kiog-

dom. Others, ngain, injured, or fancying thomsclvcß to have been injured by u few loath somo slanderers who are permitted to dwell amongst us, straightway proclaim in their private letters, that a respectable fmnily would not bo permitted to live in Auckland. These ahsufd statements, in Borne way or other, invariably reach the pufling agents of ' the Company, and arc turned to account without delay Now, as long as it is believed in England, that we live in continued fear of invasion by the natives, and that Auckland is a great nest of robbers and slanderers, it would be impossible to 1 induce a single settler to cast liis lot amongst us. Every genuine settler in the district is, therefore, laid under a solemn obligation to treat all persons concerned in the propagation of false rumours respecting unlive invasions, as enemies to the public welfare of the settlement. As to the miserable creatures amongst us, who are compelled to feed their polluted souls with slander and every other species of impurity, their number is vastly smaller than in any other colonial community of which we have heard, not excepting even Wellington. But, small as their number is, it must be still farther diminished by the exertions of the settlers, whose interests, even in an economical point of view, are likely to be so very seriously affected by them. In fine, as long as the New Zealand Company exists, the inhabitants of this district should always bear in mind, that, in order to their very existence as a British settlement, it is absolutely necessary that they should be, not merely as good as their neighbours, but energetic and perscveringly assiduous, in every honest way, for the advancement of this District.