The New-Zealander. WEDNESDAY AUGUST 18, 1847.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 127, 18 August 1847, Page 2

The New-Zealander. WEDNESDAY AUGUST 18, 1847.

He juht ami i'cai nut: Let all the ends thou nims't at, be thy Country's, Tliy (Jons, anil 1 ruth's.

On Tuesday, the Colonial Treasurer moved the second reading of the Curieiicy Bill. An address was presented to Council by Mr. Morrirnau, signed by the most influential merchants of the town, praying that the proposed measure might not pass into law. Full reports of the proceedings, which were more than usually interesting, will be given in our Saturday's pnper. It will suffice lor the present to mention, that Mr. Brown, after opposing the principle of the bill, moved fC that it be read this day six months," in which he was seconded by Mr. Merriman. The gallery was cleared for a division ; and on returning to it we learned that the amendment had been lost by two \otcs. Council accordingly went into committee upon (he bill, and adjourned until Friday. It will be observed, that this was the first amendment pressed to a division during the whole time that Captain Grey has presided in ihe Legislative Council of New Zealand.

We have ttken leave of the land claims, as a general question, consideiing Captain Grey's triple offer to be a final adjustment of the matter; but d<> no!, of course, preclude ourselves from simple explanation of the proposals, cr comment upon the manner in which they are to be canied out. And they appear, by the observations we have heard made upon them, to be not in all quarters, perfectly understood. With respect to the first of the three documents published in the Gazette, Lord Grey's despatch, it is useless attempting to reconcile its discrepancies ; an explanation would be a , meie obsewnm per obscurius, for it is throughout inconsistent with itself. The simple reason is, that he has undertaken an impossibility — he has attempted to combine the maintenance of a nationul engagement, upon the broad principles of justice, with what is technically called sharp practice ; he has made a parade of virtue, four and twenty carats fine, leaving his own morality more than questionable. There is likewise another defect in all the despatches we have scan from him, which causes infinite difficulty of interpretation ; want of accurate knowledge of his subject. He sends out a succession of neatly turned periods ; the whole is well rounded off, and, in England, must read well and creditably ; but his missives seldom bear the test of searching examination ; co soon as they come to be acted upon, some fatal discrepancy is certain to peer out. To this despatch, in particular, three distinct constructions might be attached. By the first, the claimants under the penny-an-acre proclamation lose every thing. Earl Grey tells us, that any sales which Governor Filzßoy might have sanctioned under the proclamation, were to be recognized. Now, we are all x aware that, these sales were not sanctioned by Captain Fitzßoy at all, at least in the restricted sense in which the word is here used ; for waiver of pre-empiion is not sanction of a sale, being made, or supposed to be made, before the bargain with the natives was entered on at all. By the second construction, they would appear to obtain the whole of their claims ; for Lord Grey lays down a principle which goes to recognize the acts of a Governor to their fullest extent. He observes that ♦' to refuse now to acknowledge the claims of individual, founded upon acts done by Capt, Filzßoy while he was i» the exercise of the powers conferred upon him by Her Majestys Commission, would be inexpedient, since it might unjustly effect persons who might have availed themselves of the Proclamation, in ignorance of the defective authority ou which they rested, and also because it might very injuriously impair the authority of those who exi-rcise the power of the Crown in its distant colonial possessions, thus to establish the principle that their exceeding their authority, ■vitiated their acts, and that private indivi duals cannot safely regulate their conduct upon the principle that whatever a Governor may do under his Commission, is assumed to be lawfully and properly done, until the contrary is declared by superior authority. The third construction is that w hich has been put upon in the Attorney-General's repjrt. With regard to the report itself, a certain misapprehension of its nature appears to prevail. It is looked upon more in the light of an original expression of opinion, than as a simple interpretation of the meaning of ike

despatch. The report explains simply what Lord Grey's intentions are, not what they ought lo be. If Lord Grey's conclusions be at variance with the principle laid down by himself, such discrepancy cannot be amended in the report; the attempt would be a plain departure from the duty assigned to the reporter, "which is, lo explain more Lord Grey's opinions, and not his own. And it may be observed, that where some latitude of interpretation was possible, the benefit of it has been given to the claimants. Some little misapprehension has likewise arisen with respect to the Governor's minute, appended to the two former documents. It has been argued that h is proposal is not in accordance with the principle laid down so strongly by Ea»l Grey. We think tliar it had no occasion to be so. It is a simple oth-r o better teims, which the claimants are Iree to accept or reject, as they please. In it the original unfairness of the instructions iiom home is diminished, at all eventb ; if it be said that he should have gone farther, th'i answer is plain, that he had perhaps no right to go even so tar. Th^ whole injustice, and that is great, icsts with the Secretary of State himself. We have already staled that we considered the Governor's proposal as definitive. Now, we do- not expect that iiny portion ot it should be altered, but we think that the practical application of it might be e<.sed in many ways by no means contrary lo the provisions of it as it stands. It will be observed that it is no where specified that the Five Shillings an acre must be paid in Money. Why not then accept Government Debentures, of any cla>s, in pay menf, or part payment of the amount, rating limm at par, giving to claimants advantage of the difference betwetn that and the puichasing price? The value of debentures would certainly be something raised in the market by the n- w demand for them, but so little as still to leave great benefit to all inclined to adopt this mode of setlement. It would also be a mode of returning to the community in general, if not to the original holders of these documents, that difference between their nominal and real value, which has been extracted from the pockets ot men who were forced to lake them in spite of themselves. Again, amongst the many claimants^ there must be some who will bo unable to raise the sum required for purchase within the given time. Why should not they be suffered to divide the property, to accept compensation in debentures under the provisions, of the Local Ordinance for one portion, and to make those same debentures available fot the purchase of tl c remaining portion ? I Long leases, at a reasonable rent, we have before suggested ; short leases to be again and again put up to auction, are not worth risking improvements upon. We ought to mention one class of claimants who are entitled to peculiar consideration, who have been hit, right and left, by the successive measures of Government. We allude to those old settlers who bought originally at a pound an acre, whose lands were lowered in value by Captain Fitz Hoy's tea shilling and penny an acre proclamations, and who purchased additional land at a cheap r<ite, so trying to reduce the average price per acre of the whole estate, to something more like a market value. They, at all events, have no title to the appellation of <l miserable speculators/ But Captain Grey has professed himself anxious to make an adjustment in jthe most liberal spirit, and as he been has hitherto met in the same, theie is little doubt but that he will keep his word. We have pointed out a few modes by which he might ease away the pressure of the final arrangement without infringin the letter of his own iMinute, believing that if acted upon, they would go far to restore that good feeling between the colonists and the Government which has been so long virtually extinct.