SIR HARRY SMITH.-THE CAPE CONSTITUTION.

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 668, 8 September 1852, Page 3

SIR HARRY SMITH.- THE CAPE CONSTITUTION.

Although the intelligence from the Cape which had reached England at our last dates only came down to the Ist of April, •while we have already laid before our readers news to the 29th of June brought to Melbourne bv the steamer Chusan, yet we find in our English files some interesting matters not contained in the extracts previously in ouv hands, -which had almost exclusive reference to the progress of the CaffreWar. The (London) Gazette contained copies of a despatch and its enclosures which had been addressed to Earl Grey by Sir Harry Smith in reply to the noble (or, in this instance at least, rather ignoble) Lord's insulting communication intimating the veteran General's recall. Much of the despatch is occupied with details of military operations which we heard of here some months since ; but the first and last paragraphs are well worth quoting, as showing the dignified spirit in which Sir Harry received the contumelious reproaches of Lord Grey,— persevering, notwithstanding the unworthy manner in which his Lordship had endeavoured to cast upon him the blame more justly due to himself, in the performance of all that he deemed immediately necessary for the prosecution of the war,— and the soldierly generosity with which he vindicated the claims of his companions in arms to the praise he had bestowed upon their services :— " Camp, Blinkwater, March 17, 1852. "My Lord — I had the honour to receive on the Ist instant, at King William's Town, youv lordship's despatch, No. 732, of the 14th January last, intimating to me that Her Majesty's Government had deemed it an unavoidable duty to relieve me from my present position, that my Sovereign had approved of the measure, and that my successor was immediately to leave England. At that period, however, such were the prospects of this war, and so rapid the progression towards that state of things which can alone perpetuate peace (best shown by the proclamation issued by me on the 6th of February, and again enclosed), that a sense of the duty which has guided me in the service of my sovereign and country for so many years, induced me to persevere in the preparatory steps I had taken for the expulsion ii-om certain strongholds within the colony, of the rebel Gaikas and Hottentots under the wily chief Macomo, a renegade from the authority of his paramount chief Sandilli ; as also for expelling the Gaika tribes from British Kaffravia, and dnying them over the Great Kei. My intention -was communicated to your lordship in my despatch of the 16th ultimo." ******* "I am fully aware that I have 'been accused, during the progress of this campaign, of using the language of hyperbole in describing the numerous recontres which have occurred, and in giving praise to the gallant officers and troops as well as burghers. Possessing, however, some experience in war, I must maintain that such is not the case. Troop 3 acting in the open field expect not the stimulus of praise ; the soldier sees his foe, and his British courage rises at each step ; but he who, after perhaps a night march of great length, has to ascend mountains, or penetrate dense bush and ravines, filled probably with a daring and intrepid enemy, as resolute as athletic, ready to murder any one who may foil into his hands, and whose warfare is of the most stealthy and enterprising kind, appreciates the praise 6f his commander because when his acts 'are conspicuously daring, he is conscious he deserves it. He does his duty ;_ but human nature renders even the soldier s intrepid heart sensible of the approbation of his superior, which he is proud to know may reach the eye of his parents and friends." t The question as to the Cape Constitution, which it was hoped had at length been settled, had assumed a yet more complicated aspect. We cannot present the state of the case, as it was known and viewed in England,moreclearlyinabrief compass than by copying the following from the " Postscript to the week's news" in the latest I Spectator which has reached us,— that of i the 15th of May :— . | The present state of the Cape Constitution ' question is in the highest degree unsatisfactory. As prognosticated in the debate of last session and especially foretold by the Duke of Newcastle i

much art of delay and obstruction has been employed to thwart the good intentions of Parliament — and we are bound to add, of Lord Grey — towards the Cape colonists. Continually goaded on by peremptory mandate-* from home, at length the 'Legislative Council of tho Cape has completed its work of settling the Constitution Ordinances ; but, strange to t>iy, having thus reached the end, we find the whole undone. The promised constitution, like all popular constitutions, was to rest of course on the primary basis of a certain electoral franchise. The amount of that franchise had been fixed with remarkable unanimity as the occupation of property worth £25. It is impossible for us to judge as to the abstract fitness of such a qualification for a Colonial voter : it is enough to say that it was proposed by the Government officials, accepted by the people, adopted hj the Homo Government, and em bodied in the draft ordinances sent out by Loi'l Grey. It formed, in truth, the basis of what may be termed the compact between Government and the Colony. The Legislative Council, however, sends back the ordinances to this country with the qualification doubled — raised from £25 to £50. Against such a change the Attorney-General, the Collector of Customs, and the Auditor-General protest and remonstrate. This is tb" language of the At-torney-General, Mr. I'jrtcr — " We are now treating of the qualification for voters for the Lower House — the People's. House ; and I am staggered — I an- shocked to hear my honourable friend (Mr, Hawkins, one of Mr. Montague's nominees) propose for tho Lower House a qualification as high as could well be proposed for the Upper Chamber." " For God's sake, leave the £2-5 franchise unimpaired as regards the Lower Houoe." "I shall have no hope of this Council, and no hope of this constitution, if you shall countenance by your votes a change like this. To my mind the £25 franchise is the heait of the whole constitution, and it is to pluck the heart out of it now to change the £25 franchise." He then proceeds to notice the plea on which the proposed change is grounded, — namely, that the low franchise will admit tho Coloured races, who, it is said, are disaffected. To such a plea the Attorney-General replies — " But perhaps you will say that you distrust the Hottentots as a class, and regard them with suspicion. Ido not ; but if I did, what then ? why should you theijfore fear the exercise of the franchise 2 This is a delicate topic, but it is necessary to touch upon it ; and as we have been for some time sitting upon gunpowder, I may safely venture. Now, for myself!, Ido not hesitate to say, that I would rather meet the Hotientot at the hustings voting for his representative, than meet the Hottentot in the wildd with the gun upon his shoulder. If the&e people have much phy&ical force, are armed, and as you siy, dioaffected, is it not better to disarm them by letting them participate in the privileges of the constitution, than by refusing those long-expect u ! privileges to drive them into their lapgoio \ They | consider the faith of the Government is pledged Ito them ; they consider that the faith of the Council is pledged to them ; they consider thai the faith of the Colony is pledged to them ,• and if you now blast all their hopes and tell them that they shall not fight their battles constitutionally, do you not youraelves apply to them a stimulus to fight their battles unconstitutionally? All you could possibly urge about physical force — about danger and disaffection and the liko — would, if I believed a word of it, which [ do not, only make me the more earnest in my efforts to prevent any change being made in the £25 franchise." Need we add any comment to such arguments proceeding from such authority \ Mr. Montague, however, and his nominee members, peioutedsuccessfully in the change proposed : and in that form the ordinanc s now stand for approval or revision hy Her Majesty. What course will the Government take? The only course open to them, consistently with good faith and regard to the peace of tho colony, is to restore (as they have the power of doing) the franchise to its original amount, and in that shape to give their final and immediate sanction to the measure ; otherwise a heavy responsibility rests on them for the consequences.