THE DEBATE ON THIS WITHDRAWAL OF THE TROOPS. [From the Sydney Morning Herald, May 28.]

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 110, 19 June 1847, Page 3

THE DEBATE ON THIS WITHDRAWAL OF THE TROOPS. [From the Sydney Morning Herald, May 28.]

The sentiments expressed in our articles of the 14th and 16th ultimo, headed respeciively • Our Military Reductions,' and » New South Wales sacrificed to New Zealand,' were most emphatically echoed (and much more than echoed) on Wednesday Jast, in the Legislative Council. The Colonial Secretary having moved that the Governor's message on the stibje t of the withdrawal of troops from the colony, should be referred to the Police Committee, there arose a discussion which must be pronounced perfectly suiyeneris —a discussion without a precedent and without a parallel in the whole history of this ill-understood and ill-used portion of the Queen's dominions. We think it may be boldly asserted thaf during the three-and-tweniy yean, that have elapsed since the powers of local legislation weie h'i&t committed by Parliament to the hands of the < olonists, thete never before transpired, in any of the stages of our legislative proceedings, the slights symptom of disaffection towards British supiemac). The colnuUtb, indeed, of every yiade, from the highest paid Government officer down to our very bullock driveis, have been accustomed to plume themselves on the ardour of their attachment to the parent country, and on the steadfastness of their loyalty to the Throne. However deeply they may have resented the misrule of Ministers, and they have

often had abundant cause for such resentment — however wen inly they may have denounced the local Executive as well as ihe responsible adviseiaof the Crown, and they have but 100 frequently been justified in doing so— their hearts, until now, have still remained, a« those of British subjects, "in (he light place," true to the Hoveleign «s the needle to the pole. On the present occasion, how ever, the coloiiiiil heai t appears to have throbbed with new and far different impulses. The sense of accumulated wrongs had manifestly piovoked indignatio i less guarded in its ebullitions, and loss discriminating in its object!), than had ever before been known, or even suspected, to exist, amongst the intelligent classes of our society. It was not the impolicy of ihe local authouties — it v as not alone the weakness and wickedness of the peibons administering the supiemc government—that cdinc within the sweep of the indignant bnists pouted fotth in this evtraordmaiy debate. No— the speakers aimed at a higher quairy. The javelins of their eloquence struck at nothing less than the Imperial bupremacv itself. The vitality of our connexion w ith the dominant state was for the first lime Heated as a thing of little value— as a tiling that might bs extinguished wi bout dillicult\, w itiiuut damage, and without lemoisc. There appeared to be but few compunctions stiinngs w ithin these once loyal breasts, when the word " ttebellton" dared to obtiude itself into (lie Australian vocabulary. With the single exception of the Colonial Secretaiy, w e do not Hud that the utterance of that once unpronounceable shibboleth excited any particular emotion on either side of t e house. It caused no honorable member to start upon his logs, and move that the word be taken down, or even that its speaker should be reprimanded for bieach of order. It fell upon ears seemingly piepared to drink in its ominous sound. It kindled trains of thought which did not shoek — it drew forth trains of rensoning which would appear to have carried conviction to nearly all v ho listened. Now, we do not intend to identify ourselves with this novel demonstration. Far otherwise. "Whilst we aie Jieenl) alive to all the wrongs ■which Uriiish statesmen have inflicted upon our countiy. we me equally alive to Ihe advantages of UriHali connexion, and to the duty we owe to the LJiitish sceptre. Nay mote— we still have faith in British justice, We Hi inly believe that Biitain would not intentionally hum a single hair on any ol our heads. Admit ing her as the most enlightened, most conscientious, and must philanthropic of all the nations of the eaith, m nether of ancient or of modern times, we c innot doubt that, ptovided we be only true to .ourselves, she has penetration enough to see, and viitue enough to redress, every une of the grievances we complain of. The dieary distance at winch we are placed be)oud her personal obseivalion,und the many particulars in which our circumsiancct. differ from all ihe analogies ol her own social and political experience, interpose diiliculties for which our own good sense ought to make due allowance, and which should incite us to mote systematic and persevering efforts to have our case put before her in an intelligible s,,ape. And honorable members would do well to keep in their recollection, that while Biitain is the wisest and best o! nations, she is also the proudest. She does uot bully— nor will she be bullied. Approach her with your facts and your arguments, and she will be open to conviction j plead with her on the grounds of geuerosit) and justice, and she will pi eve heiself generous and just j but stand before her in the attitude of menace, daie but to try the wild experiment of placing upon her fears, and Englishmen need not be told of the curling lip and the flashing eye with which such insolence would be met. We fear thntin the impetuosity of Wednesday's debate, these household veiitics were lost sight of. Honorable members were betrayed into a wiong spirit — a wrong estimate of their own position as Biitish colonists, and a wiong con ception of the moans by which their own ends are to be compassed. There was by far 100 much bulging and bluster. For the moment, Passion liiumphed over Judgment No good can come of such exhibitions. The Minister will despise them 3 while the moderate and reasonable of all parties will wonder what the Legislative Council of New South Wales had done v ith its common sense. It would be folly to deny, however, that the measures which supplied the key-note to this debate w as calculated to produce an) thing but a •• concord of sweet sounds." it whs harsh and dissonant in the last degiee; and the Council must have been deaf as adders and stupid ns owls had their feelings not been moved They did "well to be angry 5 only it were to be wished that their anger had been retrained within the bounds of discretion. We should jadd onejremark before we close. To Earl Grey belongs the credit — whatever it maj be— of having cast the first stone into the heretofore smooth and placid wateis of Australian loyally.