EXTRACTS FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY BLUE BOOK—1846.

New Zealander, Volume 2, Issue 91, 27 February 1847, Page 3

EXTRACTS FROM THE PARLIAMENTARY BLUE 800K— 1846.

Despatch tkom Lieutenant-Governor Grey to Lord Stanley. Government House, Auckland, 'Mith January, 1840. My Lord,— ln reference to my despatch, No. 8, of the 22nd instant, in which I repoited that 1 hnd, upon their complete submission, granted n free pardon to all persons concerned in the recent rebellion, and that 1 liad informed the friendly native chiefs, that they must forego any claims they might have upon the lands of the rebels arising out of promises made by my predecessor, 1 have now the honour to report exactly what those promises were, and the influence which they necessarily exorcised upon the adjustment of the disturbances in the northern part of the island, which it has been my duty to carry out. < Upon the very morning that Walker None arrived at Auckland with a message from the rebel chiefs, I hnd been discussing the details of the terms upon which 1 intended to pardon those concerned in the late rebellion, when they had sent in their complete submission to the Government, which it was evident they must soon have done after the occurrences which liail taken place, and I proposed to give them at once security for their I persons, and to leave the question us to the forfeiture of their lands to be decided in England, merely stating that from tier Majesty's great regnrd for the welfare and happiness of Her Majesty's native subjects in New

Zealand, it was certain that nothing would be more pleasing to Her Majesty than ultimately to give them u full and unconditional pardon, if their Juturc conduct was such bs to entitle them to this indulgence. r lhe objects in my contemplation when 1 was considering this line of policy were, firstly, to retain some hold over the future conduct of those who had been concerned in so many outrages ; and, secondly, to show the native population generally throughout the islands, that in the event of their engaging in active rebellion, they would i forfeit their properties, and that 1 would certainly for the future sevuicly punish those who were guilty of this ciime; thirdly, 1 was anxious that the gracious act of i n free and unconditional pardon should have proceeded I directly from the Queen. The effect of it would then have been greater, and Her Majesty would have been placed in a position in reference to the chiefs generally, which would have been extremely advantageous to Her Majesty's honor, and the interests of Her Majesty's subjects. It was, however, pointed out to me that 1 was precluded from concluding 1 an arrangement of this nature by my predecessor's instructions to Colonel Deipard of I the 6th June, 18<15, a copy of which is enclosed, under the terms of which an assurance had been given to the friendly chiefs, that the lands forfeited by the rebels would be divided amongst them, and that no land would be taken by the Government. Upon perus'ng these instructions, I felt that the Government was bound by them up to the date of my arrival in the Colony; but, although I had never revoked these instructions, because 1 was not aware of their existence, 1 felt that my repeated declarations to the natives, that 1 would never permit them to acquire land from each other by conquest, fairly exempted me from considering myself, after my arrival, bound in this respect by any promi.se of my picdecossor. As the rebellion had, however, been one continuous act, it would practically have been impossible to decide what lands should be regarded as having been forfeited before the date of my ariival, and what lauds were to be considered as having been forfeited subsequently to that date. In reference to ),lie degree in which 1 was to consider myself bound by the promise of my predecessor, 1 have no hesitation in saying, that 1 considered that promise to have been so impolitic, so little advantageous to the persons it was intruded to benefit, and as one fao likely to be resided by foreign nations, and in oilier times, as essentially unjust, that 1 was afraid that ultimately no distinction might be mnde between the officer who made the promise, and the officer who had earned it into execution because he felt himself bound by it ; and 1 Ihciefore determined to be in no way connected with a line ol policy which 1 felt to be inconsistent with the course which 1 thought Great Britain ought to pursue. When, therefoie, Walker Nenc made me acquainted with the complete submission of the rebels, and their unconditional surrender of the whole of their lands, which they regarded as forfeited, I felt that if 1 retained these lauds at the disposal of the Crown, until Her Majesty's pleasure upon the subject was known, the friendly natives would distrust my motives in not fulfilling my predecessor's promise that the Crown would take none of these foifcilcd lauds, but divide them amongst the loyal natives, and they would piobably think, that in not dividing the lands among them, I was consulting the interests of the Government and not theirs. 1 thciefore resolved frankly to tell Walker Ncnc, that I would at once give the rebels a free pardon, and that 1 would not fulfil my predecessor's promise of dividing the land forfeited by the rebels amongst the loyal natives, because 1 believed that my doing bo would be injurious to the reputation and interests of himself and the other fiicndiy chiefs ; for that the moment I adopted such a course, every one would cease to believe that the loyal natives had been contending for the recstablishmeut of peace and good order, and would think that their real object had been to obtain possession of the lands of others. I, moreover, pointed out to him, that if I did bestow these land upon the friendly chiefs, the war must become one of utter extermination, because there could be no doubt that, as soon as the British force was withdrawn, the original possessors of these lands would attempt to recover them by force of arms, and that it would, moreover, be impossible so to divide it, as not to give rise to quarrels aud feuds amongst the loyal chiefs themselves. I added, that in order that it might be clearly seen that 1 did not refuse to give the lands to the loyal natives from a desire to obtain them for the Crown, 1 would give a free and unconditional pardon to the rebels, leaving it to Her Majesty to determine in what manner the services of the loyal natives should be rewarded ; and I asked him to explain these my intentions and my views to the other chiefs. He at ouie assented to this reasoning, and to the policy of the course I intended to pursue, merely remarking after some moments of thought, "You have saved us all." I feol therefore convinced, that the friendly chiefs will be fully satisfied with these arrangements ; and your lordship will see, that in granting a free pardon to the rebels I was influenced by many motives, although 1 believe, that viewing the matter simply as an act of generous open policy, it is in cveiy way entitled to your lordship's sanction and support, aud will tend to secure to Her Majesty the affection and attachment of her native subjects in these islands. 1 have, &c. (Signed) G. Giiey.

Despatch from Lieutenant-governor Grey to Loud Stanley. Government House, Auckland, 27 Hi January, 1840. My Lord,— There is one subject of much importance to tiiis Colony, to which I am anxious to request your lordship's early attention; this is, the difiiculty 1 foresee that I shall experience in administering this government in such a manner as to satisfy her Majesty's wishes, unless some- change is made in the Constitution of the Colony. If, in the present state of New Zealand, the framing and enacting of laws was left solely to the Governor and his Executive Council, it is possible that the Governor, by having a steamer at his disposal, and frequently making visits (o every portion of New Zealand, might administer the government in such a manner as to bo satisfactory to her Majesty, and consonant will) the tntcicsts of the Colony. This, however, would be a very impel feet arrangement, wholly dependent for success upon the energy and health of the Governor. 1 am, however, quite satisfied that I shall find great difficulty in carrying out the government of the whole island, with my Legislative Council constituted as it is at present. New Zealand is divided into several settlements, separated by long intervals, having in some respects interests totally difibrent from each other, and none of them exceeding the other so much in wealth and importance as to possess a preponderating influence and recognised superiority. l'Vom the very limited nature of the society in these small settlements, I cannot hope to find in any one of them gentlemen of such extended information and acquaintance with the whole island, and of such large views and forgetfulness of local interests and local cla mours, as to be able in all instances to legislate with a view to promote the interests of these islands as a whole, perhaps in some cases even to tho apparent do triment of Ihcir own peculiar settlement in which all their fortune is embaiked. Nor can I at present indulge any hope of finding gentlemen in sufficiently aflluent circumstances to abandon their homes for the purpose of repairing to another settlement to fulfil protracted duties in the Legislative Council. Nor can I, referring to the very impel ft ct means ofeommunicat ion which at present exist, ever hope to be able to keep tho inhabitants of the distant settlement* so sufficiently informed upon the intended legislative mcasuics of the govern-

meiit, as to enable (hem to acquaint me with their views and feelings with regard to such measures, previously to their being passed into law. I beg further to state, that I feel doubtful whether the creation of municipal bodies, with extended powers of passing by-laws, will remove these evils. I fear that this measure would lather increase them, and that the municipal bodies, feeling that just grounds of complaint existed regarding the imperfect mode in which the legislative body discharged its duties, would endeavour to usurp an authority and power which did not belong to them, and, neglecting their own duties, would busy themselves with those properly belonging to the legislature. I also feel satisfied that they would soon contract large debts, the settlement of which would ultimately prove very embarrassing to the government. Upon the whole, a simple mode of avoiding the difficulties which exist in this respect, would be to create a Lieutenant-Governorship in New Zealand. The Governor-in-Chief and his Council would then exercise supreme legislative jurisdiction in one portion of the island, whilst, in another portion, the Lieutenant Governor, previously to assenting to any bill passed by his Council, would, in the usual manner, transmit it to the Governor-in Chief, in order that lie might decide whether any amendment should be insisted on, as a necessary condition on which alone the Lieutcnnnt-gover-nor should assent to the bill. 1 think it would be indispensable to the general welfare of the Colony, that uniformity o f legislation upon subjects connected with the aborigines, administration of public lands, and other matters of general interest to the whole islands, should be secured by some provision of this nature. Undoubtedly some increased expenditure would, if this course were adopted, have to be incurred for the cication and maintenance of a separate government establishment, but I think that, by judiciously curtailing that now in existence, no very huge additional expenditure would be necessary, and the executive, as well as legislative duties of the government, would be so much more efficiently peiforntcd, and the development of the resources of the Colony would be so much more lapid, that there is c\cry reason to think that the Colony would, under the proposed vi rangcincnt, be able to defray the whole of its expenditure at a much earlier period than it could otherwise do ; so that an ultimate say ing would icsult to the British Treasury. Indeed, I feel (ju itc satisfied that New Zealand will soon yield a large revenue. 1 beg to assure your lordship that although I have thought it proper to bring this subject under your lordship's notice, because no measure has appeared to me so likely to secure the future tranquillity, prosperity, and happiness of tin's country as that which 1 have proposed, that I will nevertheless do my utmost to secure the efficient working of the existing ionn of government in New Zealand, so long as hor Majesty may consider that her Majesty's interests are promoted by my remaining here and conducting the government of this Colony with a legislative body as at present established. I have, &c. (Signed) G. Grey.