New Zealand Colonist. TUESDAY, JULY 11, 1843.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 99, 11 July 1843, Page 2

New Zealand Colonist. TUESDAY, JULY 11, 1843.

We notice in the Gazette of Saturday, extracts from the correspondence of the New Zealand Company’s Principal Agent with the Directors in England. We have been struck with the tenor of this correspondence, because it appears to us as though it furnished an explanation of the conduct pursued by the Company .as to the settlement of the land claims question. Had we previously known the nature of the , statements upon which the Directors were apting, we should rather have lamented the ignorance in which they were left as to the cause of the occurrences referred to, than have accused them of an indifference .to our interests, because they would neither complete their purchase from-the Natives, nor give compensation to the Settlers. As it is, though we cannot fully justify their conduct, we feel that they are Jar less to'blame than we imagined. The question is now, however, become •.complicated in an infinitely greater degree than was the case when these letters were remitted, and

it is not very easy to judge what measures can and ought to be adopted by the ’Directors and the Government. It may not be difficult to make o.ut a case which,'until examined, shall appear sufficiently plausible, for the of proving that the Company, because they got land at one-fourth of the price for which they have sold it, are thoroughly discharged from all obligations to the purchasers .under them, and that the Government, by conceding to the Company terms 1 liberal beyond tlieir expectations, is bound also to purchase land from the Natives in order to enable the Directors to fulfil their contracts. But what we now want is land upon ,•which to settle. And the question we have .to cpnsider is, in what manner and through what instrumentality may we obtain the accomplishment of our desire ? This is a question which has not yet been touched upon by the advocates of the Company, and it is one which we confess we feel considerable difficulty in answering.

There is nothing to be gained by disguising from ourselves the true nature of our position. And as little can we hope to conceal our difficulties from the. English public. We must look steadily at the obstacles by which we are environed, in order, if it be possible, to discover the means by which they may be surmounted. And we cannot but believe that such means exist. Our right to obtain land, for which we have paid 100,000/., three-fourths of which have been employed directly in a great public purpose, is unquestionable. The Government, by the liberality with which it has treated the Company, has recognized our claim. And we are disposed to imagine that the best course now open to the body of landowners '(we fear we shall; never accustom ourselves to call them owners of land orders) would be to lay before the Government a simple statement, without commentary, of the course of their dealings with the Company, and of the position in which they are now placed. We cannot doubt that our claim to some interposition will be recognized, and though the process may be painfully slow, we fear that no other is now left for our adoption. While we were left to imagine that the Company was aware of the true nature of the disputes with the Natives, and that the real question was one of money, we felt indignant at the indifference •to our interests - which was apparently manifested; and at the same time we hoped that the first vessel from England might bring out- instructions to their Agent to make the small advance required in order to put the Settlers in possession of their land. Now we can entertain no such hope. It is clear that the Company have been urging the Government to put down the opposition of the Natives by force,-and that they have no knowledge of the fact, that the same object might be obtained in a less costly mode by payment. .If they should have succeeded,in inducing the Government to adopt their views, it is not improbable that the new Governor may bring with him instructions to make a grant to the Company, and to adopt whatever means may be required to make that grant effectual. But, on his arrival here, he would meet'with two difficulties. The first would be, that the military force at his disposal is insufficient to put down the resistance which we now know may be expected; and the second, that his instructions could not be carried out without violating the pledges of the Government, and .repudiating the principles which have hitherto uniformly' regulated its public transactions with the Natives of this country. .Under these circumstances, we fear that his instructions must be allowed to remain inoperative until, he should have communicated with the Home Government, and a delay of a year must necessarily be occasioned, during which' period, distrust and insecurity must pervade all our dealings with the Natives, and the occupation of any new district would be impossible.

And if, as the result of $ full consideration of the circumstances, the English Goaernment should at length ffecideupon treating the Natives as savages—without rights, and beyond the pale of the law —it behoves us to consider in what position we should be placed during the continuance of the inevitable struggle, and whether the liberty of purchasing land , in any .part of the Colony, from the Government at an upset price of 1/. per acre, which is all the colonists would

gain, would not be too dearly purchased by the loss of life and destruction of property that must be the results of the conflict. That any contest between England and the New Zealarifclers must terminate fatally for the latter cannot be doubted —but it would be forj-jour sakes that England would undertake the war, it would only be prudent on our parts to calculate beforehand what would be our individual gain. The subject is of too grave a nature, and affects too deeply the very existence of the Settlement, to allow of its being regarded as a party question. We are only anxious to discover what coui'se is best fitted to secure our rights and promote our interests, and we shaß be .glad if any mode can be suggested of accomplishing these objects. Whatever ability' we may possess shall be devoted most earnestly" to the furtherance of any measures that may be really adapted to the purpose.

We were much gratified at seeing the great progress made by the Wellington Volunteers in the military art, which redounds to the praise of the officers under whose command they are being disciplined. The Thordon Flat division, though eight days later beginning drill,, took their ground in truly soldier-like style. The--parade on Sunday last was excellent. Our Nelson friends are also busy drilling. A severe shock of an earthquake occurred oir Saturday afternoon about 5 O’clock. The direction appeared to be from south to north. The Tyne sailed on the 7th of February, and consequently may be daily expected. The following vessels were advertised for New Zealand, viz., the Mary , the Jane, and the Mandarin . ( By the Scotia from Sydney we have received English papers to the 7th January, Sydney papers to the 10th June, Port Phillip 22d May, and Adelaide the 2nd May. By the Ariel Auckland papers to the 27th May, and the Nelson Examiner to the Ist July by the brig Nelson. The accounts from Sydney are of a very gloomy character, and a person had been killed during the election. The Sydney Bank had failed, and several other houses. Our English news is scanty.