Original Correspondence.

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 318, 16 June 1849, Page 2 (Supplement)

Original Correspondence.

To the Editor of t7ie New Zealander. All that glisters is not gold, Often have you heard this told ; Many & man his life hath sold, But my outside to behold . Gilded tombs do worms enfold. Sir— Those who purpose to go to California will do ■well to ponder on the above motto ; its signification based upon truth ; the reflections to which it leads may induce some to pause in time, arid turn, like Bassanio, from the glittering casket concealing the death's head and the fool's head, to choose the plain leaden chest in which the real treasure lies. Let them calmly calculate the cost before they commence the speculation. California may possess salubrity of climate, fertility of soil, treasures of gold ; naturally it may ba a Paradise, but still is is the cesspool of the dregs of humanity—the nucleus of accumulating villainy, where the maximum of crime and the minimum of law prevail j the iniquity of man, aggravated to its highest pitch by the avarice of goldi and by the absence of law, has deformed the handiwork of Nature—artificially, it mubt be a Hell, Torrents of profligacy and crime pour from every side into that devoted country, there to form one monstrous Maelstrom of immorality, amid whose raging whirlpools innumerable victims will meet the destiucdon of their mortal bodies and immortal souls. Anarchy and Avarice— fearful conjunction ! Imagine the lawless frenzy of a revolutionary mob— unchecked by the slightest fear of God 01 man-superadded to the basest passions evoked by the Demon of Gain, and you will scarcely then be able to realise the picture of the present state of California society. £ach man's baud is against his neighbour. Suspicion, Fear, Miseiy, Rapine, Murder, stalk rampant throughout the land. The rifle and the dagger of the reckless assassin sure of impunity^ afford tiie far most speedy and cer'am means ot acquiring wealth from his more industrious neighbours. Many a gory corpse, extended in ghastly contiast amid the glittering ore, ■will form the melancholy moral of this fact. ihe sword of Death, suspended by a single hair, overhangs the golden banquet Poison luiks in the Ciicoean chalice. Survivors, if survivors there be, will sink, demoralised, degraded, into moral peidiiion. I entreat my fellow-colonists to pause- They may now be dissatisfied and poor, but let them not be insensate enough to weigh their permanent interests but as dust in the balance against the immediate temptation of gold. Let them pause. They may now, under the influence of temporary excitement, take an irrevocable step, which no future repentance or resolution can alter, and thus entail upon themselves and their families a penalty at which the human mind shudders. Honest industry in New Zealand will command competence; speculation in California, is dangerous in the extreme. Here, security of morals, life, and property, are your household gods; there, irreligion, crime, and disquietude will be your avenging fiends. Here, your corn fields flourish, your herds increase, your families are safe ; there, you will be homeless, miserable wanderers— unchecked by friends, unloved by relatives, fearful of solitude, suspicious of society. Virtuous poverty is preferable to vicious wealth. But very recently a large me-ting, acting on this principle, reprobated Earl Gicy's proposition to enrich our labour market with convicts ; let us equally despise the specious chimera of Cahfornian wealth ; let us not, I entreat, permit the news to go to England of colonial New Zealand collectively deprecating, on the one hand, the threatened stain of convictism, and, with a lamentable inconsistency on the other hand, singly precipitating itself into the abyss of greater pollution ; cesemoniously scrupulous of its morality as a community, but licentiously profligate of its morality as individuals. 1 remain, sir, your obedient servant, G. Auckland, June 15, 1849.

To the Editor of the New Zealander. Sir,— -In the Southern Cross of the 9th instant there , appeared two ofHn Excellency the Governor's despatches ; one of them reflecting upon the gentlemen who formerly constituted the Protector's Department, collectively, and embedying an inclosure bearing upon myself in particular. I learnt before from the blue book that such a despatch bud been written, and h*Ye already been in communication with his Excellency on this lubject ; but as the charge U now before the public, and as it U not a mere peisoral affair, seeing that others besides myself hat* been misrepresented, per. haps you will do me the favour to insert the mbjoined letters.

As I have sent copies of this correspondence to the Southern Cross— the paper in which the despatch containing the charge was re-published^— it may be proper to explain my mot-vag in thus troubling you. If I thought that the Southern Cross containing the refutation would have a circulation equal to that of the Blue Book containing the charge, I should have confined myielf to its columns But feeling certain that the Blue Book will be found in possession of many who seldom see the Crais, but who usually receive your paper, I have therefore requested the insertion of the correspondence in your journal. I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, T. S. FORSAITH. June 11th, 1849. [In reference to the above communication, we have meiely to remark that we regard its accompanying enclosure* as purely personal matters, winch, however importaat to the writer and his friends, ilj not possess sufficient general interest for our readers and subscribers. We can only, therefore, give them publicity in the form of an advertisement, in which they will be found below.— Ed,]

[Advertisfmdnt.] Auckland, April 3, 1849. SIR— I have the honor to request that you will submit the following remarks for the consideration of His Excellency the Goveruor-tn Chief. I regret most sincerely that I should he compelled, in 'self-defence, to animadvert in terms of complaint upon a communication of His Excellency 1 * to the Home Government ; but were Ito allow the statements which have heen published to the world te pass unexplained and uncontradicted, I should be tacitly admitting the justice of an imputation which is altogether unmerited and incorrect. In a volume of Parliamentary Papers, being M a continuation of papers printed in June and December, 1847, and February, 1848," there is a despatch from His Excellency Sir George Grey to E-»rI Grey, dated Auckland, November 15th, 1847, relating to sal«s of Land effected under what are termed the 10s. per acre and Id. per acre proclamations, and misrepresenting the conduct of the Protectorate Department. This despatch 1 have read with equal surprise and regret. In it His Excellency says that he had become acquainted with a circumstance arising out of these sales " which throws much light upon many facts connected with these transactions — more eipecially upon the violent hostility and animoiity against the Government which were exhibited by what was formerly called the Protectorate Department, when a terminatian was put to their systems of the direct sale of Land by the Natives." "[t now appears"— the daspntch goes on to say— • 11 that, at the time sales of Land were permitted under the Id. per acre proclamation, the officers employed by the Government in the Protectorate Department were permitted to assist in negociating purchases of Lands from the natives ; and that tome of them were employed by the Europeans as agents in these transactions, not making fixed charges for their services, but receiving presents — generally, it appears, in the form of money payments. Their emoluments were ihuj, under this system, derived from two sources,— Istiy. From their regular and recognised salary and allowances as Government Officers. 2ndly. From the amount received from Europeans for acting as agents in purchasing for them tracts of Land from the Natives." Having thus made a charge in terms which leave no room for the reader to doubt its application to the conduct of the Protectors of Aborigines, His Excellency proceeds to express the concern and regret he felt at learning " that officers, paid upon the one hand by the Government to watch over and protect the interests of the Natives, should, upon the other hand, have been acting privately as the paid agents ot Europeans in order to effect purchases of Land for them from the Natives, upon terms the nature of which is •ufficiently evident from the various documents re. | lating to these purchases which have been already transmitted to Her Majesty's Government'" If the despatch contained no more special allusion to myself than is implied in the foregoing sentences, I should, I conceive, be fully justified in complaining of the injustice which has been done to me as one of the Protectors of Aborigines, inasmuch as the whole trnoi* of the communication would naturally lead Eail Grey to infer that those officers had been guiliy of a b.each of trust. But in order to support the insinuation thrown out against the department generally, a memorandum from the late Native Secretary, Mr. Symonds, is enclosed, which memorandum embodies also the statements of Mr. Charles Davit and Mr. Edward Meurant. The first-mentioned of these gentlemen, after admitting that he was in the habit of acting as a private agent for Europeans and receiving fees for his services, says, •' he thinks Mr. Foisaith was employed in the ■arne manner." Mr- Meurant. who also admits his share in these transactions, boldly assert! that " Mr. Fors ith was employed in like manner, and that all the officer* in the Protector's Department bad permission to assist in iifgociaMng purchases," Now I beg most unequivocally to d.'ny the charge. I never act'd either directly or indirectly as a^ent for a private purchaser under these proclamations ; nor did I ever receive fees or presents in any ihape or form from private individuals. The records of these claims are in possession of His Excellency, and the claimants themselves, as well as the accusers, are on the spot. I challenge all or any of them to come forward and provt that I assisted as a private agent to negotiate a purchase, or received, in any shape, a fee or reward for so doing : and I am bold to aisert the same for my colleagues in office at the time. lam confident that none of the Protectors of Aborigines were open to censure on this account. It is true that the Protectors were sometimes called upon to inter" fere between purchasers and Natives, but it was invariably in pursuance of the orders of Government on behalf of the Natives, and in discharge of their legitu mate duty. His Excellency has taken up the statement! of Messrs. Davis and Meurant— doubtless true as far as they themselves are concerned — and hag, inadverten' ly ' I hope, made it appear as though they were Piotectors of Aborigines, which they wet c not; and, consequently, that their statements reflected upon, and were app'ica* ble to, the whole department. It is true also that, in one tense, those gentlemen were connected with the Protectorate, inasmuch as their names were borne upon the pay abstracts of the department. But His Excellency must have heen aware that they were not Protectors of Aborigines. Mr. Davis was an extra clerk, not even upon the establishment. Mr. Meuraot was Government Interpreter, attached at «ne time to j the Survey Department, at another to Mr. Commitsioner Spain's Court, and subsequently to the Military Force. At intervals he was employed on special services by the Government, such as that alluded to in his statement, but was never regarded as a member of the Protectorate. Mr. Duncan, again, was Interpreter to the Commander of the Forces. It is therefore manifestly unjust to implicate the whole Protectorate

Department in conduct which applies only to those who never property belonged to it. I regret that His Excellency the Governor-in-Chief should have been so far influencsd by the asiertion of Mr. Meurant, and by the surmise of Mr. Davis, as to assume their statements regarding my participation in these private transactions to be true. I have never been abient from Auckland since 1 left the service of the Government, and when these statements were made to His Excellency he might have easily ascertained if so disposed, whether they were tiue or false. The fact of His Excellency having taken no step to test the veracity of statements affecting individual character, although it would have been most easy to do so, lead* the mmd irresistibly towards the conclusion that he did not wish to discover any flaw in those statements ; and that in forwarding them to the Home Government he wai prompted rather by a wish to achieve a , certain purpose than by a desire to communicate nothing Jbut the truth. By transmitting statements to to Her Majesty's Government, in which I am charged by name with conduct so discreditable, without giving me an opportunity of defending myself, or evea acquainting; me of the fict of such a charge having been made, His Excellency has treated me with great injustice. I regret it the more deeply, not became I myself am likely to be permanently injured by it, but because the precision — a precision wearing almost the appear* ance of design— with which «i false inference of a general character is conveyed, and sought to be confirmed, ' by statements which are true only in a particular and limited sense, must have a tendency to injure His Excallency, by fostering in the mirnit of many in this community a sentiment which, I am sorry to say, is daily becoming more prevalent, that in framing despatches to the Secretary of State, His Excellency is influenced more by his views of expediency than by a love of simple truth. As I most indignantly repudiate the charge contained in the statements made by MfSsn. Davis and Meurant. adopted by His Excellency, and transmitted to Her Mnjeity's Government, and consequently published to the world, I trust His Excellency will take an early opportunity of undeceiving Earl Grey, and apprize His Lordship of the foot that the imputation, as far as I and the Protectors of Aborigines are concerned, is wholly unfounded and unjufct. I have the honor lobe. &c , (Signed) Thomas S. Foksaith. To the Honorable the Colonial Secretary.

No. 143. Colonial Secretary'! Office, Auckland, 9th April. 1849. Sir,— l am instructed by His Excellency the Go-vernor-in-Chief lo acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 3rd instant, denying, in the most unequivocal manner, the statements made by officers who formerly served in the Protectorate Department with you, that you had p rsonally acted, tither directly or indirectly, as agent for private purchases of Land from Ihe Natives ; and His Excellency directs me to inform you that he regreig extremely that those officers should hare fallen into this mistake, and that he, in the fullest and most complete manner accepts your denial of the circumstance in as far as you are concerned. I am to add that it does not appear from the au-inoran-dum of the late Native Secretary that it wat stated that any other officer deiignated as Sub- Protector of Aborigine! was supposed to have received lemuneration for such lervices ; but that the Governor is very lorry that any persons employed in the Protectorate Department should have been allowed to be remune rated, iv a manner which appear* so highly objectionable, for transactions which were not in conformity with law. I am also directed to stale that, in writing as a Sub' Protector of Aborigines, you appear to have loit sight of the fact that the very gentleman who brought this subject under His Excellency* notice, himself at one time held the same office, and appeared to feel strongly that such proceedings ought not to have been allowed ; and His Excellency cannot but think that other gentlemen who formerly ier/ed in the department would, if the records of the transactions connected with the pre-emption claims were before them, pm ticipate in his opinion. I am further directed to inform you that a copy of your letter to me shall be transmitted to ihe Secretary of State. I have the honor, &c, Andrew Sinclair, Colonial Secretary. Mr. Thomas S. Forsaith, Auckland.

Auckland, Way 3, 1849. Sir,— l regret that I hate been prevented by a pressure of engagements from sooner acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 9ih April, ia reply to mine of the 3rd of the samp month. I have now the honor to do so, and I beg you will convey to His Excellency the Governor-in- Chief my thanks for the readinesi with which he has accepted of my denial of the charge brought a^tinst me, and for the unequivocal manner in which he has exonerated me from any p»r« ticipatioo in the practices alluded to in his despatch to Earl Grey, dated 15th November, 1847. j i With reference to other portion! of your reply I would beg permission to remark, that Hie Excellency has apparently overlooked the fact that I did not com' plain of the error into which his informants had fallen so much as I did at the injustice shown towards me, and the Protectors of Aborigines generally, by His Excellency, in the vie he made of those erroneous statements. In your reply I am informed that His Excellency directed you to lay, that " it does not appear, from the memorandum of the Native Secretary, that it was stated that any other officer designated as Sub-Pro-tector of Aborigines was supposed to have received remuneration for such services," viz., p ivate land purchasing. Allow me to add that I nerer asserted the contrary. But nlthough the memorandum of the Native Secretary contaiued no direct imputation affecting other Sub Protectors, the following passage from HU Excellency's despatch to Earl Grey, forwarding that memorandum, most certainly conveys ' the insinuation tbat other Protectors were implicated. The passage I allude to is that in which His Excellency expresses the concern and regret "he felt at learning that officers, paid upon the one hand by the Government to watch over and protect the interests of the Native l, should upon the other hand be acting pri* vately as the paid agents of Europeans." Ido not see how Earl Grey could understand this passage otherwise than as implying that Protectors were guilty of such conduct. It was of the injustice of conveying such a false inference that I principally complained. With reference to the latter clause in your letter, ' which inform* me that His Excellency would send a ropy of my communication of the 3rd ultimoi to Earl Grey, I beg further to say that, while I am grateful to His Excellency for his kindness, I am apprehensive that my unsupported denial will hardly suffice to convince His Lordship that the statement!; of Messrs. Davit and Meurant are unworthy of credit, and therefore I bftYe the honor to request that you will obtain

s His Excellency's consent to the transmission of the enclosed communication to Earl Grey which will plnce the mbject in a complete form before His Lordship. t I have the honor, &c, i (Signed) Thomas S. FoRSAiTH, The Honorable the Colonial Secretary.

[Enclosures in the above."] Auckland, May 3, 1849. My Lord,— l have ihe honor to crave your Lordship's attention to the following remarks. In a volume of Parliamentary Papers, being "« continuation of papers printed in June and December, 1847, and February, 1848," there appeared a despatch from the Governor-in- Chief of this colony, implying that Protectors of Aborigines w^re in the habit of acting privately as paid agents for Europeans in purchasing Landt for them from the Natives : and to this despatch there were annexed certain encloses, in which I was personally charged with such conduct. Ai toon as these documents came uuder my notice I wrote to the Messrs. Davis and Meurant— the individuals who had preferred this charge against me— requesting them to state plainly in writing whether I or or any of the former Protectors ever acted as private agents, or accepted, in any shape or form, of preient9 or rewardi from Europeans for any kind of service whatever. The answers famished by Messrs. Davis nnd Meurant are herewith enclosed for your Lord" ship's information. I have no wish to dwell upon the extraordinary facility with which it appears Mei-rs. Davis and Meurant can bear testimony to their owu inconsistency, but I trust your Lordship will not allow your mind to be permanently influenced by the representations which have been based upon sueli doubtful testimony. 1 also wrote to His Excellency the Governor-in-Chief denying, most unequivocally, the charge^ am! complaining of the injustice inflicted upon myself personally, and the Prott-ctor* generally, by meand of the Mpre»*ions made use of by tiis Excellency ia the Despatch which brought this subject under your Lordship's notice. These expressions, I conceive, must have induced your Lordsbip to suppose tbat Protectors of Aborigines were actually guilty of such disreputable conduct as that which is referred to in Sir George Grey's despatch, Bud the Native Secretary's memo* randum. To this communication I received a reply from His Excellency the Governor-in-Chief, through the Colonial Secretary, accepting my denial, and exonerating me, personally, from the charge. I was also informed that a copy of my letter should be transmitted to your Lordship, Presuming that this has been done, I have not thought it necessary to trouble your Lordship with any larlher allusioo to it m the present communication ; but as I feel that your Lordship mi-ht, with justice, regard my unsupported denial as insufficient to outweigh the testimony of two individuals, I though* it advisable, in order to render the refutation of thi. charge complete, to lay before your Lordship the en doted communications already referred to. « 1 would also beg permission to assure your Lordship most solemnly, tbat 1 never knew of any instance in which an officer holding the appointment of Piotector of Aborigines, acted privately as a paiil agent ; and I am confident that my former colleagues, if aware of (he imputation that has been alleged against them* would deny» as distinctly as I have done, any particition in such transaction. These remarks, however, I must apprize your Lordship, do not apply to Messrs. Davis and Meuraot. They were not Protectors of Aborigines — nor, properly •speaking, members of the Protectorate Department — and His Excellency Sit George Grey must, I imagine, have forgotten this fact; or he would have pointed it out to your Lordship in, his despatch. As the charge preferred against me has been publijhecl to the world in the Blue Book. £ trust I shall not be considered unreasonable in expressing a hope tbat your Lordship will give the same publicity to its refutation by causing it olio to be printed iv the next Blue Hook. I have the honor, Sec, (Signed) Thomas S. Forsaith. To the Right Honorable Earl Grey, Her Haj sty's Principal Secretary of S ate for the Colonies.

[Enclosures referred to. — Letter U Earl Grey ] Aucklaud, March 31, 1849. Sir— l beg to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 27 ih imiant, requesting me to fuinish certain information with reference to the la'e Protectors of Aborigines acting as Land Agents, and receiving feet or rewards from pi irate individuals, by way of remuneration, for insisting in purchases of laud under proclamations of the Crown. Permit me most distinctly to state that I never witnessed a Protector of Aborigines receive a fee or reward by way of remuneration for services rendered to private individuals in purchases of land, nor am I aware that any fee or present was, directly or indirectly, profl'erred to any one of the gentlemen who held the above named office ; and, further, tbat to my knowledge, neither youriel/, nor any of your colleague! ever acted in the capacity of pnva(e agents, or were in any way engaged in private purchases' of Land. I know tbat the Protectoes of Aborigines cautioned the Natives agaimt thoughtlessly selling their Lands ; I likewise know th.it in disputed lanJs their h^lp was afforded to the parties concerned; I apprehend, however, that in such cases they weie performing duties which, specially devolved upon them. I remain, Sec, (Signed) C. o. Davis. Thomas S. Forsaitb, Esq., Auckland.

Auckland, Apri' 2, 1849. Sir,"— ln reply to yourt dated March 28, 1 have tlio pleasure to say that I never knew any ot the Protectors acting in the capacity of private agents between the European! and Natives in their Land sales, or in any of their dealings. Yours, &c , (Signed) E. Mburant* To Mr. T. S. Forsaith.