New Zealand Spectator AND COOK'S STRAITS GUARDIAN. Saturday, November 16, 1844.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume I, Issue 6, 16 November 1844, Page 2

New Zealand Spectator AND COOK'S STRAITS GUARDIAN. Saturday, November 16, 1844.

Wo publish to-day a despatch from Lord Stanley to Captain Fitzroy respecting the Wairau Massacre. It re-iterates all the statement's which have been long since published and proved to be false, respecting that lamentable occurence. It also announces the decision of the Home Government, that nothing shall be done either in the way of retribution or prevention ; and it may be thought useless to say any thing more about it.. We cannot, however, concur in such an ' opinion. We know that the eternal principles of natural justice and of divine law,*so grossly outraged by the natives at the Wairau, need not any human advocacy. An Almighty providence will uphold and vindicate them by rewarding and punishing, either, presently, in permitting a war between the two races, which, once "begun, no earthly power can stay, or in some other way and at some futnre time as may seem meet to his inscrutable wisdom. Nevertheless, we have a duty to perform as journalists, and more particularly as fellow colonists 'and fellow subjects of the British Crown, with the unfortunate victims of Maori ferocity. As Journalists we are bound to record events, which would, otherwise, be .forgotten ; and as colonists and British subjects we cannot refrain from comment on a subject so deeply affecting our interests, as the conduct of her Majesty's Government on this- occasion. That conduct indicates a line of policy, on the issue of which our existence as a colony depends. Every white man in New Zealand, not excepting the officers of Government, raus* now admit, that by the system pursued by Messrs. Hobson and Shortland, from the first existence of the local Governmeut, the colonists and the natives were transformed from friends into jealous rivals ; that on the first arrival of the colonists they obtained not only land, but the assiduous services of the natives: and the natives thought most wisely, that the presence of the white men, and the advantages of civilization were worth all their land aid all their labour ; that from the perfect harmony between the two races, the colonists "were, day by day, realizing their most sanguine expectations ; and she colony was, as an American would say, " going a-head " in a manner unexampled in the history of colonisation. — That this harmony was destroyed by the fiendish fully of the Government, in making the childish Maories believe, that the white men were their enemies, and that from that day the progress and prosperity of the colony was stopped ;—-that,; — -that, at no distant interval, the collision at the Wairau took place ; and, that since then, the possession of every acre of land in New Zetland has been associated with an idea of blood. Hoc font c derivata clades In patrinm populumque fiuxit. Every rational person in the colony has long been aware of the existence of this state of things, and every one either anxiously desirsd, or desperately hoped that the Home Government would afford some remedy to the appalling evils resulting therefrom. Lord Stanley's dispatch lias scattered all these bopfes "and wishes to the winds^ and it must, we fear, prove fatal ' to the interests of the colony, if .Lord Stanley shpuld long remain Secretary for the colonies. It confirms the, worst anticipations of those who' dreaded his advent! to. office, l>y betraying his perfect inooeenfce of any knowledge of New Zealand And its inhabitants, 1 his ' absolute, indifference to the .advantages oT establishing a prosperous dependency of the. British Crown in these tfis, together with some flippant remarks on what, w* suppose, we must call, the morality of murder, that none but a person of His character and station could prudently make. The ' chejf thing, however, which concerns as* on, the present occasion,, relating to this dijpitcjf is, that,^? we $aid ' Jaefpre, it indic#Je)s the policy df the Colonial .Office. ./That policy Js to. -leave the colonists' withoitt any protection whatever against the natives. How 1 tfciiiettlers can o Warn and cultivate '»nd, in

"theTaifce of a whole" race of Maoriea ,, bent on obstructing them, and how they can do without land, are questions too hard for us to solve. Captain Fitzroy would probably answer them thus : — The political horizon may be viewed more generally and completely from an elevated position. Dangers may thence be seen, not yet visible from other places. It is impossible to show to many the view obtained from a spot accesible to few." — {Governor's speech in Council, September 28tk, 1854.J Wo shall briefly notice " a false fact " or two, from which" Lord -Stanley has deduced his conclusions, and thereupon decided that the Nelson settlers who perished at the Wairau, " needlessly violated the rules of the law of England, the maxims of prudence, and the principles of justice." It is assumed that one of the Surveyors of the New Zealand Company committed a trespass by surveying land then in possession of of the natives, whereas the fact is that, all the natives engaged in the murder at the Wairau went thither from the Northern Island at a distance of two day's journey, and were not and never had been, in the actual occupation and possession of the soil. The land on which the burnt hut had been erected had been, as has been lately decided by the Chief Commissioner of Land Claims, as perfectly and fairly bought and paid for as any land in New Zealand ; possession had been given in the usual manner, and thus falls to the ground the charge of forcible entry against the settlers, and the whole of Lord Stanley's reasoning based thereon. Lord Stanley, relying of course on Mr. Shortland's account, says that no sooner had the chiefs refused to surrender than the men were moved forward by the c*y of " Englishmen advance," and that he inclines to think that the white people fired first, whereas the fact is, that the words " Englishmen advance," were not uttered till some time after the firing had begun, and the first shot fired was by a Maori who killed a white man named Tyrell, as is distinctly sworn to by an unimpeachable witness named Morgan. Lord S anley then makes a great deal of the death of a woman whom he describes as the wife of one chief and the daughter of another, whereas she was neither, but only a" drunken concubine, for the time, of one of the chiefs. These, however, are small matters compared to the important fact of which Lord | Stanley appears to be totally ignorant, namely that the conduct of the natives was the result of premeditation, and that the violence and most likely the shedding of blood, had been predetermined long hefore hand. Mr. Shortland j seems to have concealed the whole history of the meeting of the chiefs and their followers at Porirua, at the house of a white man who carried them across the Straits in his own vessel, and who was clearly accessory to the whole proceedings. We will not, however, pursue the details any further. Our readers know them all, and therefore they know that Mr. Shortland's account of the transaction is as false as that given by the Protector of Aborigines, and Lord Stanley believing it to be true must, perforce, have erred in reasoning upon it. Still, however, Lord Stanley's general observations and especially that I the womans death, " was avenged by the slaughter of the prisoners they had made." are such as must shock every moral and | Christian mine*. Since writing the above, we have learned that Captain Fitzroy has decided upon: employing force, if necessary, against the natives and that soldiers are to be 'stationed in the valley of the Hutt. After all then the maories are to be coerced. We always said this •must be. We alw.ays knew that "to this complexion wejcnjiiLCflnii-a^last.''

We understand that Major Richmond has received * communication from Captain Fitzroy, dated the Bth inst., on board t\e_Hazard in Taranaki roadstead, to the following effect, that lie (the" Governor)' had 1 come to an agreement with Te Rauperaha and Rangihaeata, ,that the natives under their control should immediately remove from - the valley of the ' Hutt, and that the two chiefs had been' paid I about £'400, part of the sum *, paid into -the Bank, by the New Zealand Company's- Agent when Captain? <FHzrajr w&s here last, as the

the purchase money of their consent to this arrangement, that the Governor believed that a similar arrangement would be forwith made with Te Ringa Kuri, who would also quit the Hutt district. That an officer of Engineers, would as soon as possible be dispatched from Auckland to select a site for a fort capable Of holding thirty soldiers, to be bnilt in the Hutt district, for the purpose of keeping off the natives if necessary. That the Governor did not intend revisiting Wellington, till after he had received dispatches from Fngland, and that in the meantime he requested Major Richmond to assure the settlers that, as soon as the Hutt district had been fairly purchased, they the settlers, should be maintained in tranquil possession of their land.

We regret being obliged to announce the death of John Tuawaike, alias Bloody Jack, who was drowned a few days since, in the neighbourhood of Moraki, by a boat accident. He was the head chief of the tribe at Otago, and by far the most really civilized Maori trat has been seen since the foundation of the colony. His nick-name was any thing but appropriate, as he was mild in his manners, inoffensive in his conduct, and very friendly towards white people. He was far advanced before his countrymen in the knowledge of trade, and by his good sense and intelligence, possessed great power over all the petty chiefs and natives in the middle island. He was a striking example of the effects of constant intercourse with Europeans, apart from Missionaries and Government Protectors for, although as Mr. Ironside informed us, there has been a Missionary in the middle island, the natives there, were much more influenced by the whalers, who employed them as servants, than by any other person. Tuawaike was remarkable for punctuality in all his engagements, and honesty in all his dealings, but we doubt whether he could chaunt a hymn, and we are certain that he could take care of his own interest, better than any Government Protector that ever existed,

Captain Salmon's vessel, the Knte, has arrived from the East Coast with a cargo of oil, more than will be required for the filling up the Nelson, which vessel it is expected will be loaded by the 25th instant, so that punctuality in sailing as advertised may be relied upon.

A ball was given on Wednesday evening, last week, at Barrett's Hotel, by the bachelors of Wellington, at which nearly eighty oersous were present. There had been invitations sent to nearly 150, but the inclemency of the weather prevented many from attending. Dancing began about nine o'clock, and with the assistance of some excellent music on the piano, violin, flute, and cornet a piston, by amateurs, was kept up to 12 o'clock, when an elegant supper was served up. Dancing soon after recommenced, and lasted till six o'clock in the morning. Rosy morn had then appeared, and although eclipsed by the bloom on many a cheek, and shrinking from the radiance of many an eye, warned the fair ones to retire.

New Zealand Sugar. — The Kumurra — a tuberous vine, or sweet potatoe, which grows plentifully in New Zealand, in light soils, and is by the natives of these islands cultivated for food — is to the taste, when boiled, fully as sweet as the sugar-cane, and more so than the beet. 3''or that reason I think it would be worth trying whether, when fresh taken' out of the ground, and at , a just matured state of growth, when the juices may appear most abundant, and to the largest portion of saccharine matter, they might not be converted into sugar by the same simple process aslis used for making cane sugar. Crush- the potatoe (raw) till all the juice is squeezed out; boil *t His 'juice, as you would 'that of ' fruit- ra maldhg'jelly^ taking care that it does' hot burn, particularly; if using in an iron ..pan, and skimming off the surface, adhering- v to 2 a-] temperature of about. 235 jdegrees ; an J_-.when- the—aqueous particle^ appear to' be-quiteMisengagfca I ', -ppuf the syrup into c6alers; v ~-runriing it from btiir into another, so as to produce a quick granulation or crystallization ; afterwards, either expose it to the suu to dry,_ or pack it into casks,, ends up, with little holes Jn the bottonfs for the molasses! to drain from. A little teni- t per lime or clay may- he used by those who., understand how toirefine it, If this experi-* raent should prfiveli' successful, every^person m the colony has" a' feY roods o£ suitable .land may grow the sugar necessary; for his ■ own wants an^l those .of his establishment.

THe success of the experiment will, I believe, depend entirely on the circumstance whether, by being subjected to a powerful crushing (not .pounding) pressure, the juice can be separated freely and in sufficient abundance. Of this, I confess I have doubts, which I have no opportunity at present of resolving ; of the quantity of saccharine I have none. There is another purpose to which this vegetable might be applied, the feeding of pigs. From its superior sweetness, I would expect it to be more fattening than the common potatoe or maize, but perhaps the most economical and effective mode of using it would be by mixing it with other food.

The Sheriff's sale in this day's paper, advertised for the 18th instant, will not* take place, the action having been settled.