The Corporation Windbags.

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 633, 8 May 1852, Page 2

The Corporation Windbags.

To the Editor of the New Zeai/ANder. ' Sin, —We are informed by tbat respectable author Tacitus, that it was the custom of the ancient Germans, when any matter of great importance was to be decided amongst them, always to discuss it twice —once when sober, and once drunk, or rather "jolly—i n order thnt their counsel might not be wanting in prudence in the first place, or in boldness in the next: an ancient custom which all governments and bodies corporate maintain, with some niodifica'.iou, to this hour in our native land. A paternal Government—any other Government than the one which gr.nds us down and tramples upon us in this ultima-Thule of civilisation —would have made some provision in the Corporation Act on this point and, knowing that flatulence and acidity are the necessary attendants of empty sfomachs, would have taken; care that men from whom so much was expected should be furnished with the means of obtaining courage to face the frightful difficulties which beset them on every side. It must be evident to erery man of the least discernment tbat this was a wilful omission on the part of those in authority, and affords us additional evidence that it was determined beforehand that the Corpoiation should not succeed—that it was to be a " solemnly constituted" bhnm, and no more. Bless us! A Corporation, without dinners —Aldeimen, and no turtle —Common Councilmen, and wanting punch. Did you ever "i Is there no remedy ? Saturday next is fixed as the doomsday of the Corporation. Is there no man, whose mahogany is telescopic, and whose cellar is deep, who for the honour of New Ulster will extend the one and throw open the other, to fortify the hearts and mollify the hard heads of this hungry Corporation? Will not the different " cunstic/iewencies," as a iiiend of mine pionounces it, each cram its own member for this final and fearful struggle? Have we virtue enough left to save our chosen men — the concentrated essence of our municipal wisdom and, respectability —fiom perishing of inanition, from expiring like a street lamp, in smoke and perfume, for want of a little feeding 1 Forbid it, Posseniskie t Taka heart of grace, good host of the Masons, and provide for the dinnorless on Saturday next. Give them one chance of discussing the great question of their existence jovially, and let us see what comes of it. You have faith, as we all know, having most of us put it severely to the test: trust the Corporation this once, but do not hold them " individually'responsible;" and when the Town Cloik and Treasurer succeed in getting their salaries, your lutle bill will perhaps be paid. Give (hem to eat, and, oil, give them to drink—and when the cloth has been removed, and the Chairman ha) given the health of the Queen, and the Prince, and thi lioynl Family, nnd Mr. Newman has proposed his'toist of Sir George Grey and piosperity to New Zealand,

in neat and app-opriate terms, will }ou, Mr. Editor, permit me, through your columns, to offer these observations for tbe consideration of tbeir worships, befoie they go into discussion of the motions which are on the paper for the day. Messieurs, — There is no part of your interesting proceedings that has afforded me gr< ater delight than the skill with which you have contrived, since y< ur happy inauguration, to be and not to be at the same time : to operate ns an unfortun ite entity to airest and obstruct the progress of evi ry useful woik within the Borough, and to appear, weekly, the ghost of a Corpoiation at the pillow of a slumbering Government, with warning voice and upraised finger ; or as a troop of Municipal cherubim to wave away the tax-galhirer from the gates of our Eden. Very tragical mirth, gentlemen, Ido assure you. Whilst you have been trying, with loud report and much expenditure of ink, your long range against the Provincial Treasury, the wants of the Borough, which are eminently of a practical nnd substantive character, have been most grievously neglected. One month of wet weather will cut oft communication between the different parts of the town itself; nnd if, in this coming winter, ihe pestilent swamp in Queen-street shall, as it h.is done before, help us to an epidemic of scarlatina which shall decimate the inhabitants, or a casual fire devour Short-land-crescent, and reduce half our townsfolk to bankruptcy, you may chance to find that the public— which has borne patiently with your loud reports and inkehed, in hope that when you were tired talking you ■would do something — will take up the talking in its turn, and tell you, in terms which you may not caie to hear, something by no means flattering. I see, by the report in this morning's paper, that you have " appeared ' to the Lieutenant-Governor and demanded £ 18,000, and an " increased grant" for roads, licensing fees, police fines, trade licenses, five thousand acres of land, and all that may be reclaimed in the harbour, £2000 per annum for ten yeais, and " the several sums mentioned in tbe reports;" also that, in order to your comfortable enjoyment of these little items, the limits of the Borough may be reduced to the actual boundaries of the town or city of Auckland. Because you cannot be accommodated in these trifling matters, are you going to strike, and throw the " responsibility" on a wicked Government which will not give you what it has not got? What child's play is this, my masters'? If representative institutions bring us no better promise, we were much better Slav as we are: you knew, gentlemen, before you made these demands that ci mphance .with them was impossible ; and knowing ibis, are you about to offer it as a plea fcr abandonment of your duty ? Is this fair dealing, or is it simply attorneyism ? Are you aware, gentlemen, that the General Revenue out of which this £38,000 "and the sums in tbe reports" are to come is made up principally by the receipt of customs, and that the white inhabitants of Taranaki, Hokianga, Monganui, Bay of Island-*, &c, &c, as well as the large native population of the Province contribute to its amount. Upon what principle of justice do you propose to take the money of these people, many of whom never see your Borough, to make the roads within it. Are you aware, gentlemen, that a very large proportion of the land within this Borough has never produced to the Revenue a single farthing ; that, on the contrary, the cost of purchase and survey has been defrayed by the Government in one case to satisfy the claims of the " original" land purchasers— and that grants under the 10s. and penny tm-acre proclamations, and to retired officers of the seivice, cover. as I believe, the larger portion of land rateable within our limits. Do you think it right, under these circumstances, that the holders of these lands shall have roads made and improvements effected upon their properties at the public expense, or that those who never see these roads shall be called upon to pay for them. Surely this is not the object for which the general Revenue is collected. With regard to this same Revenue, I do not pretend that its expenditure is free from abuse. I know that it is not so; but I respectfully submit that you, in your Corpoi ate capacity, have nothing whatever to do with its reform, — and 1 am prepared to maintain that there exists no abuse, even in its present administration, hall so flagrant as that you modestly propose to saddle it withal. What is meant by " conflicting interests' making it impossible to levy a rate? Confl cting interests might render the impartial distribution of the funds a ti matter of difficulty ;" and theie is certainly a fearful risk that East Suburban Ward may get eighteen pence more than West Suburban Ward ; but even this is not, 1 think a valid reason why the whole machine shall stand still, or why men at the East Cape or Ilawke's Bay shall be called upon to provide the money. And now, gentlemen, do you wax valiant 1 Has your courage mounted high pnough to enable you to turn to jour constituents, and tell them that you find that grumbling at Government will not make roads — that playing at legislative councillors will not make roads — that neiiher whole reams of reports, howerer valuable, nor flying columns of deputations car obtain metal for a single perch of highway— that the unpleasant conviction is forced upon you that, if roads and improvements are required, they must be paid foi like other commodities or conveniences by those who use them. Assure them that if, after having done something to help themselves, it should bt found that a moderate tax, well administered, togcthei with the proportion of the Land Revenue of the Borough and the other sources of income of the Corpora tion, are inadequate to their reasonable wants, there car be no doubt that the Legislative Council would rendei every rational aid, or even relieve them altogether from the necessity of managing their own affairs wher you shall have shown satisfactorily that they are inca pable.— l ana, Sir, &c, Auckland, May 5, 1852. X

To the Editor of the New Zealander. Sin, — I was much pleased to observe in your paper of March 27th some remarks on the importance of acquiring land from the natives, and I bave ventured to send you a few of my thoughts on the same subject. You refer to the Waitangi Treaty. Much has been said and written about that document, and it seems now to be generally admitted that as that Treaty has been entered into we are bound by National honour to abiJe bj it. But I contend for more than that admission. I was far away in the South when that instrument was drawn up and knew nothing of it until long after it had been concluded, but after a nineteen years residence in different parts of New Zealand I am confident that the circumstances of this country were such, long enough before the commencement of the colony, that only thice courses were left open to us in reference to the native lands, viz : — First, to enter into a formal engagement with the natives as in the Treaty we have done ; Second, to proceed without any foimal understanding precisely in the same way as by the Treaty we are now required to proceed ; or Third, to take measures which would hare been in themselves and in their consequences infinitely ivo'rse. The Treaty requires us to respect the native rights and to buy their lan<!s. If we had had no Treaty we must have done the same : or, if we had taken forcible possession it mnht have been by war and blood, and thus the price would have been infinitely greater. But it is to the duty of Government to proceed in this business that your remarks more especially refer. 1 heartily wish the Government would or could proceed. You know me as an old friend of the natives, and you will believe me when I say I am actuated in this wish by a regard for the natives welfare ; and I don't care how rapidly, how extensively, and how cheaply their spare lands are purchased from them. lam persuaded that it would be to their advantage in many ways to be rid of vast portions of their useless wilds at once, and that too at as cheap a rate as they can possibly be induced to agree to. But it must be purchased, and it ought to be purchased. I know that it is the design of Providence that the earth should Jbe occupied, and that the natives are retaining their lands only on the "dog-in-the-manger principle," but we have parallel cases among ourselves in abundance. An Englishman possesses a hundred thousand pounds —be [it money or be it pioperty — it is more than he nee Is for his own personal necessities.; but who will presume to tell him that he must bhare his riches with his neighbour? ''Providence," says he "has given me possession of this — give me what I require as an equivalent and a portion shall be yours." A New Zealander possesses a hundred thousand acres — be it fern or be it bush — it is more than he needs for his own p 'isonnl necessities; but who will presume to tell him that he must s>haie his lands with his neighbour pakeha ? "Providence" says he "has given me possession of this, — give me what I require as an equivalent and a portion shall be yours." Providence has given the New Zealander an abundance of land. Providence has given the Englishman an abundance of riches ; — " exchange is no robbery." But the great question is, Can our Government proceed in this business? Are the requisite funds available? And can the natkes be induced to sell 7 lam much more concerned on this latter point than on the former. I have no fear but our Government would got

money from some source if the natives were only ready to bell. But are they! Your remarks seem to tai»e it for gianted that that is the cnse. I fear this is a nnstike; I fear the native is clinging to his land as the miser clings to his gold — making a god of it — hoaidmg it up and haiponuing it when he might dispose of it, both to his own advantage and to the advantage of others. This is the po nt, Mi. Kditoi, to which I wish todiaw your attention, nnd 1 gn atly desire that you could induce some of your able corre.-pondents to come forward and tel us what measures shall be adopted to induce the natives to sell. Shall a tempting price he offered them 1 This would be an evil, but of two evils it would perhaps be the lesser, for when their waste lands were turned into money, a great portion of that money would soon return into the hands of theßntiah merchants and tiaders, and so far the evil would be remedied. It has sometimes been suggested that the waiving of the Queen's right of pre-emption would facilitate the business. If so, I would say let this be recommended and tried. Doubtless this also would be an evil, but Government might perhaps make arrangements to meet the evil and in a gieat measure obviate its bad effects. Might not Government give permission to persons in different localities, who might have influence with the natives of their respective places, to make pui chases at a certain rate per acr? and under certain regulations ? and then let those purchases (made quietly and as opportunity might offer) be turned over to Government, the agents receiving a ceitain premium per acre as a remuneration (or their tiouble. 1 confess these are somewhat Utopian suggestions, but I want to elicit some plan for getting these idle and extensive wastes transferred into the bands of the industrious pakeha. — 1 remain, sir, your obedient servant, An Old Seviler. May 6th, 1852.