The New-Zealander. SATURDAY, APRIL 3,1847.

New Zealander, Volume 2, Issue 96, 3 April 1847, Page 2

The New-Zealander. SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1 847.

lie just and fear not: Let all the ends thou aims't at, be thy Country's, Thy God's, and Truth's.

EMIGRATION TO NEW ZEALAND, ITS RESOURCES, AND APPROACHING COLONIZATION.-

Hithehto, the settlers of New Zealand, cooped up in towns, have almost exclusively devoted , themselves to commerci il pursuits. The causes ' of this circumstance are too familiar to our readers to be even r.lluded to. A new era, however, in the history of l}ie Colony, now dawns upon us. When the regulations, under which the waste lands of the Crown, or lands the property of the Natives, are to he hereafter' sold, demised, or granted for occupation under, license, reach the Colony, the work of real colonization will be seriously commenced. The circumstances, under which we are about to enter upon our new pursuits, and our chances of success, can not, at the present moment, be wholly destitute of interest. If the lands of the rebellious chiefs had been confiscated, or parcelled out to our native allies, a war of extermination must have been the consequence. If the rebellious natives had ' been, in other respects, treated with brutal seyerity, the degrading feeling of fear might have been forced upon the whole race. \t would, ' however, have merely served the purpose of stifling those of hatred and revenge, which, quickened by constrained dissimulation, and acquiring elasticity by pressure, would, upon any removal of the restraint, have exploded upon the settlers with fearful effect. But, the generous usage whioh they actually received at the hands of their conquerors, has produced in the natives generally, feelings compounded of awe and gratitude, which, without infringing upon their self-respect, have, it may be reasqnably presumed, laid the foundation of a' sincere and stable friendship between the two yaces. These auspicious measures were promptly followed up by others, for the social improvement of the natives, and for facilitating the commercial intercourse between theni and the settlers. The good effects of these latter measures have, in many instances, been actually felt by individuals of the native race, and, the fame of them being now spread over the whole country, the muss of the native popula-

tion. is, at this moment, impressed with the beljef, that we have not, as they once thought, come amongst them for the purpose of robbing them, but rather for the purpose of improving and elevating them t > something like our own standard, in order that our intercourse with them may be free, easy, and mutually beneficial. Under these circumstances, Europeans of ordinary hardihood would think themselves perfectly safe in living in the midst of the natives in any part of the Colony. The timid and cautious, however, would reasonably require farther security. Trivial causes, acting upon the undisciplined passions of half-civilized men, and favoured in their mischievous operation by the imperfect acquaintance of either race with the language, habits, and usages of the other, might produce pccasiqnal inconveniences, and even outrages. For the prompt suppression 0/ such outrages, committed. upon a formidabie scale, there is now, and there always will be, in the Colony, an adequate military and naval force. An Ordinance, too, •xists, under which a large militia force maj', at a moment's notice, be embodied for the same service, or for the defence of the towns in the absence of the military force. Against incidental outrages of minor importance, the new police force ai}d the law will afford complete protection. As to the towns and theirsuburbs, order is maintained in them by the new police force, as perfectly as in any part of Londont Upon the whole, it may be affirmed with perfect safety, that Her Majesty does not possess a Colony, in which life and property are so effectually secured, as they now are in New Zealand, and that the most poor-spirited man, in existence, acquainted with the present state of things in this country, could not be afraid of residing permanently in any part of these islands. Thus, the grand, and, indeed, almost sole ob^sotion to New Zealand, as a Colony, is wholly removed. From the present time, then, the amount of emigration to this Colony, and its future prosperity, will mainly depend upon the estimate formed in England of its resources and other advantages. The climate of New Zealand is perhaps the most equable and genial in the world, and the fertility of its soil is not surpassed by that of any other country. There is not a fruit or vegetable grown in Europe, which does nqt grow luxuriantly in New Zealand. Many, too, of the fruits and vegetables of the intertropical regions grow in the open air in this country in favorable situations, and the rent can be forced with, comparatively, very little trouble and expenee. Jts reputation for the growth of every species of grain has been long established. Though the mineral resources of New Zealand have, hitherto, been very imperfectly explored, yet there are many and good reasons, of a general nature, I for concluding, that, in mineral wealth, it is not inferior to England. The mines actually discovered include a considerable variety of mineral, a.nd the ore is very productive. The ore, in most instances, reaching to the surface of the soil, the cost of working the mines will, for a long time, be very much leas thau in other countries, not so favorably circumstanced in this respect. The mines themselves, too, lying along the coast, the cost of conveying the mineral to the ship's side will be altogether saved. The exportation of' minerals from New Zealand will therefore be carried on with great advantages. The spontaneous products of the sprface hitherto discovered, which are valuable as articles of export, are spars,, th,u plwrmium tenax, gum, and bark for tanning. The surrounding seas abound in wjiales, apd oil and bone have, for many years, been exported from them in immense quantities by British and American capitalists. 'No country in the world, of the same area, possesses a greater number of navigable rivers than New Zealand, and the soil is intersected by them in a manner, equally convenient for internal communication, and the conveyance of its products to the coast. Npr must the great number of admirable harbours along its extended coasUline, and the magnificent position of the islands themselves upo,n the globe, both in a commercia.l and political point of view, be overlooked in the enumeration of the resources and advantages of New Zealand. There is, however, one highly important advantage possessed by New Zealand, which, until lately, has been rather a subject of inquiry and exporiment'than of certain knowledge. It is long well known, that this country is eminently fltted for the rearing of horses and horned catyle. But the amount of our experience was npt suffic'iently*great, to enable us to propounce so positively u,po,n Up pretensions to the rearing of sheep, aq,d the production of good fleece%. In the southern settlements, and particularly in the Middle" Island, these po'nts £aye been subjected to% actual experiments, continued fo v r a long period of time, and conducted with the greatest care. One result is, as we find it reported in the southern newspapers, tl\at the weight 0/ a sheep entirely bred in New Zealand, and (he weight of its fleece, are sensibly greater than those of a sheep of the same age, bred in any of the other Australian colonies, other circumstances being supposed to be the same in both cases. Another result jg, tli^t tf\e (juality of the woql produced in New Zealand is decidedly superior to that produced ip any other Austialian colony, the fibre bein^ finer, and wholly free from joints. The frepdnm nf

the fibre from joints is, it seem?, a matter of great importance in the manufacture of the article, and therefore calculated to enhance the value of our wool in the English markets. These remarkable differences are now well known in every part of Australia, and, probably, to some extent in England, through the j agency of the Company, and the private letters of the southern settlers- The causes of \ them are not so well ascertained. They have been ascribed, however, with every appear- ' ance of reason, to the genial climate and J equable temperature of New Zealand, and, in no small degree, to the process of folding being consequently unnecessary. In consequence of this latter circumstance, too, the increase of a given number of sheep in New Zealand will be greater than in any of the other Australian colonies, many of the young lambs, when the process of folding is resorted to, being killed by trampling and other causes too obvious to be dwelt upon. Finally, by the operation of the causes just mentioned, New Zealand wool is not only cleaner than any other wool in Australia, but of a much finer colour, equal cleanness being supposed. But, the aboriginal inhabitants of New Zealand form its chief pretension as a colony, and its leading recommendation in the minds of thinking persons. Their natural qualities, I their habits and usages, and, above all, the great progress, which, by the joint and long continued influence of religion and trade, they bave slowly and steadily made in civilization, separate them, by more than half the diameter of social existence, from any of the aboriginal races of America, Africa, or Australia. They are not only patient of continued labor, but acquainted with every foim of agricultural and pastoral industry. Though producers of wealth, a long period will probably elapse, before they turn their attention to the acquisition of capital. In New Zealand alone, then, of all Her Majesty's colonies, is there an abundant supply ot cheap labour placed before the settlers. In New Zealand alone will the owner of capital not be compelled to waste it on high wages. This is the only colony in which the tendency of things is to increase continually the capital of those who come to it possessed of one, and to convert artizans and labourers, after one or two years of industry and sobriety, into small capitalists. The natives, too, ate already partially incorporated with us. They are governed to a great extent by religion and law, and their farther government is, as we mentioned before, so well provided for, ns to satisfy the most icrupulously cautious or timid person. Such are the principal advantages and resources of New Zealand, certainly without a parallel in the world. The mere existence of them, however, will not, alone and by itself, produce immediate emigration to this country. It is absolutely indispensable, that the knowledge of them should be impressed upon the public mind, of England. The settlers have been prevented by the pressure of other matters from giving as much attention to this all important subject, as it deserves at their hands. Something, however, has been done in this way by the New Zealand Company, imperfectly informed as that body undoubtedly is, upon a subject, concerning which they have so laudably caused a great deal to be said and written. Though the information which the people of England possess at present upon this subject is anything but precise, they are, nevertheless, fully impressed with the belief, that the resources and advantages of New Zealand are extraordinary in their number and . character. Upon the receipt, accoidingly, of Captain Grey's despatches announcing the restoration of order and security, the subject of emigration to New Zealand was, it seems, taken up again with increased interest and earnestness. Indeed, there is, at this moment, in the colony, information from first-rate authority at home, that the arrival of emigrants may be expected by the settlers to commence within a short period of time, and to be steadily continued. As complete information concerning the colony makes its way through the mass of the British population, emigration to it Mill, of course, proceed at an increasing rate. At length, then, there can be no doubt, that New Zealand has emerged from her difficulties, that bright prospects dawn upon her, find that the days ot her prosperity are noi far distant. ' In the mean time, there never was a colony more perfectly prepared for the reception of emigrants than New Zealand is at this moment. All the prelimi&aiy difficulties of colonization have been long since subdued by the existing race of settlers. The country is being opened in every direction by roads, and order and peace reign throughout the whole islands* The new settlers will not be compelled to waste the better part of their capital in the purchase of land- The very poorest of them may lease land from the Crown, or occupy it under liceuse, for a trifling annual payment, and ultimately may become the purchasers of the same laud, t>y compelling it in the mean time to pay for itself. The importation of stock, hi the Ito carried on so slowly and at so much risk, will henceforward be carried on with dispatch and safety. Steameis will soon be running from Sydney to every settlement in New Zealand At every one of our settlements they can be abundantly supplied with good coal. A little trouble may be at first experienced in getting

the Waikato coal down to Auckland. But, when the roads now in contemplation ate completed, this difficulty will disappear. In another part of this paper, it will be seen, that the working qualities of Nelson coul in propel 'ing steamers have b-en lately tested on board lI.M. Steamer Inflexible, It appears, that though only surface coal, its working qualities are hardly inferior to those of the best pit coal in New South Wales. Under all these circumstances, the expected emigrants to this colony may, upon their arrival in it, proceed at once to their proper pursuits, without undergoing any part of the severe probation endured by those who went before them*

The Revenue — It appeirs from the Returns in the Government Gazette of Wednesday last, that the Revenue, for the district of Auckland, for the quarter ending 31st December, 184(3, exceeds lliat of the preceding quarter, ending September, to the amount of £1617 Is. The Total Receipts for the quarter ending September 30th, arising from Ordinary Revenue, amounts to £2J87 10s. 2(1., and from Land Sales £122 10s. 4d.; while the Receipts for the quarter ending 31st December amounts to, from Ordinary Revenue, £4,181 4s. Od,, and from Land Sales £M 5 1 6s. fid. "We believe, that the result of the quarter just ended will be still more satisfactory; and should Taranaki and the Southern province be equally productive of revenue, the average income of the Colony will amount to about £85,000 per annum. Native LiVr.ouß.— ln another column will be found a letter from "An Observer," upon this subject. "We ourselves have not been unobservant of what we consider a most important step lately taken by the Government, in the employment of Natives upon the Public Works ; and, from what we have observed, we are certain that the amount of benefit to the Colony to which this will lead, cannot at present be foreseen. The acutencss displayed by the Natives of this country, in already acquiring knowledge of several of the handicrafts, from very scanty instruction, is really extraordinary — and, in our opinion, fully proves their capability to advance rapidly to the higher stages of civilization. Sawyers, who have frequently, from necessity, been compelled to employ Maori mates, have confessed that after a few days' initiatory instruction, they have I become as useful as many Europeans would be after as many months' practice. In carpentry, also, they have progressed 5 sevoral throughout the country have, with their own hands, erected weather -boarded houses, I the framing of which has been as firmly fitted and I put together as houses built by more experienced hands : and we find the Rev. Mr. Cotton acknowledging, in" his letters on the management of Bees, that after a few lessons, several native pupils of his became his superiors in the ait of constructing bee hives. We heard it frequently alleged, by those whose residence in the country should enable them to form pretty correct notions of native disposition, that no success would attend attempts to confine the natives of the present ge- : iteration to any given occupation. Every day's experience, however, is refuting this assumption ; and any one who has watched the progress of the men employed on the Ordnance works, must admit, that labour is visibly becoming pleasant unto them, and that they are persevetingly and eagerly working onward for their own as well as for the Colony's good. The systemadopted of varying their wages according to their proficiency, is a very wise one ; and is as necebsary in their case as in that of a school boy, who is stimulated to learn his lesson by rewards promised and bestowed. A portion of the scoria wall, now erecting around the extensive grounds at Albert Barracks, is being put up solely by natives, under the superintendanee of Mr. G. Graham, R. E., assisted by an interpreter. The stones have been prepared by native hands, and those whioh form the quoins are so well hammered and faced, that it would be difficult to point out any marked difference between them and the work performed by the Europeans. This expeiimcnt on the part of the Government is certainly a momentous one, and we hope to see it followed up by the Colonists, who may, by degrees, most beneficially introduce their Maori neighbours to the various systems of agricultural and mechanical pursuits, and thus firmly cement the interest of the two races into one common bond of prosperity. Nothing will tend more to induce an influx of capitalists to tho Colony, than the certainty of labour to be easily procured on the spot ; and no better class of labourers will be found for New Zealand than the New Zealanders themselves, when they are trained to our plans of performing their work. Pleasing Incident in Military Life.— "We understand that the Serjeants' wives of the 65th Regiment took the opportunity of presenting to Dr. Clifford,' on his late departure from this Garrison, a very handsome Silk Counterpane, an elegant specimen of their own handiwork, as a small token of their gratitude for his kind, unremitting, and most valuable services to them and their children, during their voyage Ui the Sir Robert Peel from England. Capture of the Deserters.—Thee rs.— The three soldiers repotted in our number before last, as having deserted from the Garrison during the night; of Monday, the 15th ult., have been secured, and were brought safely into Auckland on Monday morning last, by a Mr. Tiller and several other men, from the Barrier Island. The barge which they stole away, belonging to a very industrious man, has been knocked to atoms at Cape Colville, and this circumstance, arising from their ignorance in the management of a boat, led to their capture. A public subscription has been entered into in order to make up his loss to the owner of the vessel, and we believe a considerable sum has been already subscribed.