Original Correspondence.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 258, 18 November 1848, Page 3

Original Correspondence.

To the Editor of the New Zealander. Sir,— Permit me to say a word or two on the calamitous occurrences in (he South. You a r epcihaps awaie that earthquakes, in a certain geological region in JVew Zealand, have occuired from time immetiiori.il. Colonel Wakefieid was told by Barrett, previous to »he formation of Wellington, that eavilitjuaUcs of a mo^t severe character had occurred iv those portions ot C'ook'i Strait, with which he was acquainted. Ban en used to relate to me, how be ana the wlulei s in Queen Chulotte's Sound, had more than once taken to their boats for safety during a shock. When I was ' in New Plymouth in 1841, three shocks occuired, one of which was so severe, that had there been any stone or brick houses, they would in all probability have been levelled. In May, 1840, geveial shor-lts were felt at Port Nicholson, and have since, on diit'trent occajjions, visi'ed that part of the island. Now, Sir, the more we sympathize with the unfortunate settlen, the more shall we find to censure in the conduct of the Company. The Company and its agents were well acquainted with thote untoward cccunences ; it was long since pointed out to them that the whole of their original terntory lay in that part of i\ew Zealand which will probably lie disturbed for centuries to come. The mountain chain of the Ruawhaine and Tararua from the Tongauro, forms the centre of present ac ion, and this action causes occasional disturbance of the countiy acioss the hot spiings to Tauranga, and the district southward to Cook's fctrait. A Company, then, with such names in the list of directors, (the Duke of Argyle, in a similar position, called himself a " decoy duck,*') being well informed on the subject, should have honestly staled what they knew; and if eiigr,mts aftenvards selected such on unfavourable district, the consequences would rest with tlicmstUes, Hut the plain fuut is, that natuxc has

not jot fm flicd with ( ook's Striut; it has not yet, especially in its climate, become u debirabla lebidence for rivili/ed man. Mr. "Woon asks if any of your correspondents can account for the phenomena. The shocks are, in all probability, caused by magnetic or electrical vibrations. No other theory can explain all the phenomena connected with an earthquake. No expansive gas or steam couH produce vibrations passing distinctly across the country, and through the sea, and sometimes perhaps even through the atmosphere We, at Auckland, where volcanic action has been long extinct, and earthquakes are unknown, had a gale of wind on the Wednesday, (the day of the seveie shock at Wellington,) which, trom the injury it diJ to vegetation, has no paiallel m the memory of Europeans. Much electiiwl disturbance has characterised the whole of tins spring, — and there ia a saying in South America, that tmuuLi stoims and earthquakes do not occur toother. Believing that my fvllnw colonists will render their suffering brethren eveiy assistance in their power, and hoping the government will firnl employment for the debtitute, and cheap land for those who may be severely injmed m the.r fortunes, in a district where land is of use, and of prospective value, 1 have the honour, &c. &c, A Settler,

To the Editor of the New Zealandei. Sir : — Youa,sk what has become of the Committee of llie Horticultural Society. As. a member, 1 can dn^wcr ior myself, as being still i» existence, mid willing to take an active part in any society, tlut has lor its object the advancement ol the Colouy, or the c evation of the tastes of Is inhabitants But the fact is, sir, as long as we have the oppress ive incubus oi a desp.tic government weighing on what little public spirit remains in the place, it is useless attempting public societies 1 tell you what, sir, that feeling of independence winch is almost inherent m Enghhhmen, who right fully claim a share in the management of their own affairs, is rapidly being annihilated ; there is no community of inlercds ; we are all nobodieß, and consequently are becoming raoxi and more selfish and individualised. Such terms as " a good citizen" or " a useful member of society" are neither heard, nor perhaps understood When the inhabitants can meet for purposes of selfgovernment, they will then have the disposition to assemble for objects apparently of less impoitance.

To the Editor of the New Zealander. Sjr, — The second letter of " Memnon," addressed to the edit ir of the Southern Cross, was rejected, afte r ten days deliberation; but "Memnon'' wishes the public to understand that, however his own priva'e impressions rni^ht have corresponded with the course pursued by the editor, he was not sanguine enough to hope the enemy would be chased from the field by the wonil shot. " Memnon" would have felt highly (Litteied by his apparent success, were that success aitnbut-ible to the a»eucy of public opinion ; hut his fmt letter was not calculated to produce so immediate a retution — he U therefore reduced tr> the unenviable neeewtiy ol acknowledging that he has been conflicting, either ogavnbt aa meiine'ut political biavo, or a bh'doiv ! Hut, fir, however the editor of the Southern Crosi mny endeavou. to £>sp<irate himself from the '' Mcmhei of Council," ll»« public know full well hoy? minutely they aic (used in each other. On this hrad it is impos^i .lv " Memnou" should be deceived, or the people duped ; he tueielore encloses you a copy of the within* named U tor for publication, and holds you irresponsible for Ihe sentiments it conta ns. Should there be any difl'ir^nce between the copy I send you and that received by the etinor of the touthcin Lross, it can oMy bsbligiil; und although unintentional, likewise unavoidable. I am, Sir, Your most obedient servant, Puilo-Memnon. Auckland, Nov. 15, 1848.

To the Editor of the Southern Cross. No. 11. g IU) — When the maclii.ury of a nevv Government has been coiupl.ted, it is necvosary that some salutary chuck bhould be opposed to it by the people— such is the command of the Constitution — it might else sink into itpiuhy, or erect itaeH into a despotism. The diplororcy of New Zealand furnishes a rare opportuni'y for disc vering the practical results of such a th orom ; but that opp nhinity was prostituted, and the antipathies of a " Clique," instead of guardin* the welfare of the " Colon, sts" against a participation in the evils consequent upon a descent into either of thoss two kinds of con upturn above mentioned, frustrated the ends of ths administration, audit became impuissant. With that "Clique" you « ere identified— and the sophistry employed to sway the enfeebled mind of the hrst Governor, cxpned only on the giaveof its victim. In the revolutions of a thousand yeais, Ihe archives of the colony lm.y present no darker {a;e. The moral barb mtits of the 19th Century seem to have wrung as nia iy and as bitter tears from the eyes ol mankind, M tliose more boldly heralded in the sanguinary legends of feudal ascendency. With the demise of Governor Hobson the supremacy of Willoughby Shoitland began, and a fresh impetus was requned to propel your pen through its channels of abus —that, however, in his case, was legitimately afforded— because, although his teim of power was of shoit duiaiion, it was rendered notorious by the political chicanery of the magistrate, and the nairow minded prejudices of the man— jour censures would have been comparative'y just, had they not been incessant. You allowed no respite, and whilst the very impetuosity of their virulence destroyed the ability ,to injure, yon had the satisfaction ot witnessing his humiliating appointment to a most equivocal position, simultaneous with that biting chagrin you. yourself was called upon to digest. Yet methinks some small atom of liberality might even have been conceded to the failings of a man whom fortuitous circumstances alone had elevated to the chief magistracy of a country. The long standing politics of the colony became revolutionizid with the arrival of Captain Fitzßoy ; and if the dictutoiship of his predecessors had been iiooted down as abturd, his assumed the more formidable aspect ot illegality ; and that prerogative which even his Royal Mistress dared not to have extended in her own person, was ignoiantly (not criminally) stretched beyond all preredt-nt by her repiesentative. The first act of Captain Fiizßoy, however, auguied more favourably of his sagacity than Ins subsequent cireer justified. Standing by itself alone us a strategic expedient, it travelled beyond the misconceived hauteur of a previously retaliative opposition. The anomalous position of tlie executive was a false one, and he detecttd it. It was> false, beiause, unable to "surrender ;" it contended in from of an antagonist, upon whose banner the omnilicwoids "no quattcr" were embUzjucd ! JJe ibiibsidized the intractable ouemy,

and lifted you to a social eminence, higher possibly limn lh.it to which youi most sanguine anticipations had cvei aspired— and ymt'\mc not) too proud to lmk in the suushine of that VicclloyaUy you had affected to contemn. It is difficult to conceive by what talismanic fpell ! ynur political bias was diveited from its primitive I course, or how you could continue to sit in a council — the m.ijo ity of winch conturoelouily rejected your creed, and trampled under foot your doctrines. When you entered your protests against those ordinances which were hostile to your views, and equally icpugnant to the interests of the community, you did that which an honest citizen was expected to do ; and had they been less protus •, some influence might have been attached, and some attention dhected to them ; but here you fell shoit of that duty which your party txpected at your hands, and jiroved yourself but ush fickle guaidian of the public weal. Your second protest should have terminated your opposition ; and when you saw the laws of your country, twisted and toiuued, become subservi nt to the capiice or a misguided governor— when you saw those very ouli nances forced upon the colony which it had been your utmost etfoit to extinguish — when you saw, in solemn mjckeiy, the public rereuue wasted in the maintenance of a useless protectorate— a protectorate which subsequent history proves to have been utteily un~ worthy of the vast sums squandeied upon it—when you saw a niajonty ot gentlemen deliberately or lgnolantly petveitmg ihevciyspuit of that treaty which hainiis&ed these islands to the Crown— when you saw such a spec es«»f legislation, utteily unlawful in almost Us evtry piovision— you should have resigned. You did not do so — the pre tig£ of your position blinded you; and when you tiid not protest, you honeyed oi«sr the gross errors of an infatuated ruler, until the very deformity of his political conceptions became pleasiug shidows in the eyes of your readers. It is not essential that I enter minutely into the detail of events long gone by, or rake up from the annals of another epoch, those fac s which would be foreign to my present purpose : they would furnish argument* too voluminous for the hmiib of an epistolary con eipondence, and involve too many questions, the inte est of which perished with the impulse that g*ve them birth ; neither do I stand committed to so thankless an undertaking. We have measured gwoids, 6it,and I apprehend the seeue ot combat to be that debatable ground chalked out by tlie administration of Sir George Grey. This letter prohibits the lurtber entertainment of the subject. Take caie, however, that whilst you denounce the policy of Sir George as obnoxious, you do not play the Venetian to aDdtidolo; that whilst you insidiously jaundice the political sympathies of the few, you aie not oveiwlielmed by the stern integrity of the many. I have purposely avoided bestowing any notice upon your reply to my first letter until this moment ; neither do I considei that the public, for whom aloue I write, ca.i require it. The saicasm of your remarks was absorbed by iheir puerility. You were too severely btung to ape Momus with success ; and when you so heroically vociferated " Come on Macduff," you forgot that Macbeth fell henpath the weapon of his foe. Eut you descended (rom your grotesque pedestal, and preferred the chaige ot '• iufault," against the style I adjpicd— publicly .tddressing you as a public man. I deny the imputation— and to the tribunal of public juns (1 judencel appeal. Need I say that I rise superior to the courtesy you have shown me — <nid that bung invaded iv your i>ccu1 ar piovince, >ou seek to shield yourself behind the •' seumlalum nia^natum" of your own creation. You have likewise threatened me with oblivion unless I Condescend to attach the name of the .mthor to thete letters. Of what uupoitauue can it be to the public or to you, that huch information should be givui i 1 anticipated the demand, and, because it is incompatible wita ih'it service I b.uve to render the public, 1 reject it. Say, were I a serf, would my language be less powerful— would its influence be counteiacied? Or, was Biutus less the regenerator of Rome, because he had been the uliot slave ot larqmn ? We meet again at Pldlippi ! Memnok, [As one who deems himself d ebarred the expression ot ins bcntimcnls on a public question, we give inser ion to " Meimion's" epistle. We aflbrd him ihe field, but disclaim all participation whatever in the duel he appears resolved to wage a I'out, ancc. — Ed ]