New Zealand Spectator AND COOK'S STRAITS GUARDIAN. Saturday, January 4, 1845.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume I, Issue 13, 4 January 1845, Page 2

New Zealand Spectator AND COOK'S STRAITS GUARDIAN. Saturday, January 4, 1845.

We defy any one interested in the prosperity of the settlements in Cook's Straits, to peruse the correspondence contained iv the " Appendix," without feeling grieved and surprised that transactions (therein revealed), so deeply affecting the interests of the settlers, should have heen so long and so studiously concealed from them. We hesitate not at the same time to express our conviction that, had the Directors of the Company, and their Agents here, been more open and unreserved in their communications with the settlers, had they reposed that confidence in them, to which they have ever proved themselves justly and fairly entitled, some of those evils and difficulties under which we are at present labouring, would have been, if not entirely prevented, at least very materially lessened. But is there any change in this respect for the better? Is not the same secrecy, of which we have so often and loudly complained, still persisted in ? Strange proceedings have recently taken place at Taranaki ; but we are unable to obtain any accurate information respecting them. Rumour says, that the Governor, after having amused himself for a fortnight in upsetting every thing, finished by laying hold of all the Company's property — that amongst other things he has seized the boats, upon which the very existence of the settlement may be said to depend — that he has despatched the brig to carry off the cranes to Auckland, for the purpose of having them erected on the wharf recently built there, and that it is not unlikely that the boats will be smuggled away at the first convenient opportunity. Rumour also says, that after having pledged his word to issue to the Company a Crown Grant for Otago, which was purchased with his own express sanction, and under the especial superintendence of an agent appointed by him, his Excellency has lately, with an honesty, thank JJoiL racflliar_to himself. jaublicLv t»™ciaimea m« Intention to withhold the Crown Grant, until the Company have indemnified him for those expenses which he has so gratuitously incurred, by his reversal of Mr. Spain's decision at Taranaki. We ask, are these rumours true ? An ', if they be true, what course ha,ve the Company's Agents adopted 1 For qught we know, apathy and indifference may be the order of the day; they may be aiding and abetting the Governor in his mad proceedings, or they raaj be zealously and faithfully discharging their duties to the Company, and the settlers. But we repeat, we have no means of ascertaining, either what they have done, or what measures they propose for the future. One thing is certain — we Have in our present Governor a common enemy — and an enemy whom it is neither prudent nor safe to despise ; for when we see the success which has already attended his efforts to break up the settlements at Hokianga and the Bay of Islands — when we regard the weapons which he has invented (insecurity to life and property) for the purpose of carrying out his infamous projects, and the unscrupulous manner in which be avails himself of it, we cannot avoid having some misgivings, as to the ultimate issue of the struggle in which we are now engaged, unless there be a~ cordial union and co-operation between the representatives of the Company and the settlers, unless all, laying aside for the present at least their minor points of difference, make up their minds for a " long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether." That co-operation, however, cannot exist, if the same reserve, the same concealment of the proceedings of the Company and their Agents hitherto maintained, be still persisted in. Le>us not be misunderstood. We are not croakers. We wish not to excite any unnecessary alarm — but we do wish to make our fellow settlers fully alive to the dangers which beset them ; , for who can contemplate the confusion, misery, and distress which, his Excellency has in so short a time created in the peaceful and flourishing settlement of Taranaki, without being thoroughly convinced that, if his nefarious and unprincipled schemes

prove successful there, he will not hesitate, backed by his horde of runaway Maori Slaves, the refuse and offscourings of every tribe, to make a similar assault upon the peace and prosperity of Nelson ; and, should his efforts be again crowned with success, do the settlers of Port Nicholson lay the flattering unction to their souls, that his Excellency would then repose upon his laurels ? Who ever heard of a madman reposing ? Would he not rather, with an appetite whetted by the desolation he had created on every side around him, renew with redoubled fury his attacks upon those who have been the chief stumbling block in his path, and who, if they be but true to themselves, will yet compel him to relinquish an office he has so grossly abused. The game that Captain Fitzroy is playing is briefly this ; — having adopted the principle (a principle, be it remembered, repugnant to all native custom) that slaves escaping from captivity are entitled to the land that they may at any time have occupied, although the land has been sold by their conquerors, and may be in the actual occupation of the settlers, he induces vagabond slaves from all parts of the country to resort to the different settlements ; — these immediately commence their outrages, and soon render the lives and property of the settlers utterly insecure ; — after succeeding, by these means, in making the place too hot to hold the settlers, his Excellency then steps in, and offers to remove them to Auckland. With such dangers then to encounter, with a foe to combat so void of principle, so callous to the suffering which his reckless proceedings have inflicted upon those over whom he has been appointed to rule ; is it just, is it expedient, that we shquld be kept in ignorance of those events, a full and accurate knowledge of which is absolutely necessary to enable us to devise and adopt measures for our self-defence. Conscious of having only the common good in view, determined to the best of our power to carry out the objects for which this paper has been established, we now call upon the Company's Principal Agent to giye th.c settlers that full and accurate information respecting recent events at Taranafci, which Jie alone can furnish — and we ask him, what course he has adopted ?

A letter has been received by Major Richmond from Rauparaha, stating that in consequence of the natives on the Hutt having insulted his son, he has strictly tabooed both the land and crops, and begging that the question may now be left entirely to him without the interference of the Protectors ; also declaring that if the natives do not immediately leave, they shall be destroyed. Major Richmond has, we understand willingly and gladly consented to these proposals. Thus the local authorities, having tried by turns bribery, coaxing, and bullying, having in short had recourse to every possible expedient, degrading to themselves, and tending to destroy that respect which the natives once felt for the British Government, at length confess that they are fairly beaten ; that they are utterly unable to accomplish their object; and that they have now, as a last shift, consented to give it up entirely into the hands of Rauparaha, and to call into their assistance the native custom of the taboo / / Is not this confirming what Mr. Revans so plainly told his Excellency on his last visit here — " that the British Government was in full retreat before the Maories."

Ik a late number of the Southern Cross (December 7) is an article on the present state of the colony, so full of gross misstatements, and so characteristic of the writer, that we are tempted to confer upon him what our readers may consider an undue importance, by an examination and exposure of his clumsy fabrications ; as it may be supposed that our contemporary, as the Government organ, may have derived bis information about the southern settlements from official sources. This venal scribe having been originally engaged by Captain Hobson's Government as editor of their paper, immediately on assuming the duties of his office turned on his employers, and has ever since been in opposition to the Local Government until recently, when, having in spite of Acts of Parliament and Ordinances to the contrary, received a grant of twelve thousand acres of land, he has become a staunch supporter of the authorities that be ; but finding himself singular in his position, the rest of the colony and the organs that represent their opinions being opposed to and extremely dissatisfied with the eccentric proceedings of their present Governor, he consoles

himself with thinking that there is nothing but roguery to be found in villainous man, and that the best proof that his opponents of the colonial press deserves this character, — '•that truth and falsehood are weapons equally convenient and ready to be used when it suits their purpose," — is to be found in " the fact that we (of the Southern Cross) have always been and still are opposed, decidedly opposed to the whole of them." We may perhaps, on some future occasion, expose the motives and conduct of this writer ; at present we shall confine ourselves to the article in question, and for this purpose will quote a few of his statements, and add to them a brief refutation. "We do not, however," says this writer, " found the remark (the remark, namely, " that truth and falsehood are weapons equally convenient and ready to be used " by the colonial press whenever it suits their purpose) simply on the opposition of our contemporaries to the Southern Cross, we establish it on the fact that they are opposed to every thing, excepting disorder, strife, revenge, and bloodshed." — •' What could any person think of the state of the colony, north and south, if he perused the fiery articles and furious letters which our contemporaries publish from time to time ? A stranger would unquestionably say that it was unsafe to live in the country. What with the Wairau Massacre in the south, the robberies of whales and horses in the north, persons at a distance would imagine that every man in the colony must have slept with his pistol under his pillow, his sword on the one side, ana his firelock on the other." And a littie further on, " The Spectator and Examiner appear to have taken a vow never to be happy, no matter what the state of the country should be. Instead of directing and guiding the settlers in their endeavours to develop the resources of the colony, and to cherish kind and friendly feelings towards the native population, we find them week after week filled with nothing but long dissertations on the rights of Europeans to rob, plunder, and oppress the natives, and with sad complaints against the Governor, because he does not imitate Pizarro, and encourage the perpetration of every species of injustice and oppression." And shall this scribbler who, when Captain Hobson's remains were carried to the grave, where at least the wicked should cease from troubling, could indulge in unseemly, unchristian exultation " , his end, shall such a But we deny his statements altogether. These lies are like the father that begets them ; gross, open, palpable. So far from desiring strife, revenge, and bloodshed, we have been unremitting in our exertions, but as yet without success, to obtain, if not justice, at least an inquiry into one of the most cruel Massacres ever perpetrated, and of which our fellow colonists have been the victims. While the Land Claims are settled in every other part of the colony, the settlers of Cook's Straits, after waiting for five years with exemplary patience, are still unable to obtain poseession of their land through the mediation or intervention of the Governor, who indeed freely spends the New Zealand Company's money professedly for this purpose, but does not concern himself that the natives should fulfil their part of the agreement ; on the contrary, if he finds their cupidity excited by what they have received, and fresh obstacles are raised by them in the expectation of obtaining moie, he coolly purposes to break up the settlements, and ruin the settlers as at Taranaki, and more recently at Wanganui, and when a little firmness and discretion on his part would finally settle all matters in dispute, and leave both races dwelling together in peace, — he caa suggest no other remedy than a repetition of all their trials and troubles with some other tribe, more rapacious perhaps than those they would in such a case leave oehind. It is our duty, as public journalists and recorders of passing events, a painful duty from which we shall never shrink, to state week by week the consequences of his Excellency's acts, in the hope that while there is time he may perceive their folly and danger, and retrace his steps ; to urge upon him, by every argument in our power, a just and firm rule of conduct by which the confusion and distrust unfortunately too prevalent may be obviated ; and to exert his authority, which he appears unable or unwilling to do, in preventing the natives from robbing, plundering, and oppressing the settlers. We who live on the spot assert that the settlement of the Land Claims' is but little advanced by his Excellency's interference ; that Rauparaha's dependents are still in possession of the valley of the Hutt, which they declare they will never leave except on compulsion, though that chief and Rangihaeata have received payment; nor are we aware that we have gained a single acre through his Excellency's exertions in any other district, but our contemporary states, we know not on what authority, that " Rauparaha and Rangihaeata, the terror of the

southern settlements, are equally well disposed with Heki, and anxious to obey the wi^ lies of the Governor : that peace and confidence are established between the Native and European population, and that every opportunity is given to the settlers of promoting their own prosperity." We pass over his ovation on the settlement of the Land Question at the north, though we must confess ourselves somewhat amused by his naive confession " that the old land claimants have received the best possible treatment at the hands of Captain Fitzroy, and that no other Governor would have entertained the same kind censi leration for them, or done them half the good." It would certainly be difficult to find any person filling so responsible a situation so lightly impressed with a sense of his duty, as in defiance of the law and the Colonial Secretary's instructions, to give away grants of land so lavishly as to reduce the value of that which ought to be worth 20 shillings, to 2 shillings or even to a pot of beer. But our contemporary, who rejoices in a grant of twelve thousand acres,' 0 thinks, and perhaps with reason, no other Governor wovld have done him half the good Captain Fitzroy has done. But " the southern settlers," he inquires, " the victims of the New Zealand Company, has the Governor done nothing for them ?" Yes, he has done great things truly ! He has done all in his power to unsettle their minds, to paralyze their exertions, and destroy the value of their property ; he has caused many valuable settlers to leave the country in despair; he has exalted into undue importance the turbulent and disaffected natives in their districts, instead of restraining them and encouraging the peaceable and well disposed, and by his sudden and caprici: us alterations, even to the length of changing the whole financial system of the colony at the instance of a petty chief at the north, has taught the settlers that they can never calcur late with certainty as to what may or may not be the law for three months together, Our contemporary extols the Governor for the abolition of the Customs, and is angry that the southern settlers do not receive it as a boon, without questioning the motives which led to the concession. We have already recorded our opinion on this question, and have said that we should consider the abolition of the Customs, if permanent, 3 great boon, and the only advantage we have yet received from Captain Fitzroy's Government. But what prudent man, who considers the way in which, this hotm was granted, and th« very great "de*> ficienty in the revenue caused by. granting it, can rely on its permanence? And if the abolition of the Customs be not a permanent measure, wherein consists the advantage? Again we are informed that, " however small the claim of the Company's settlers upon the Government, we are nevertheless; glad to find that even for them the Governor has done all he could, perhaps much more than many a Qovernor would have ventured to have done under the circumstances. Their disputes with the natives regarding the town of Wellington and the. adjacent lands, he arranged the first time he visited their settlement, and now he has settled with the natives for their agricultural lands in the valley of the Hutt. In hke manner he has obtained, for the Taranaki or New Plymouth settlers a sufficient quantity of land to enable them to carry on their agricultural operations unmolested by the natives, leaving to the Company the right, if they will exercise it, of making good their other clain.s. The bona fide settlers at Wellington and New Plymouth, notwithstanding the complaints of the tpectator and Examiner, are much and deeply indebted to the Governor." Our readers may be disposed to believe that the author of this statement must be largely indebted to his imagination for his facts, when he informs us what the Governor has done for the " distressed settlers of Cook's Straits," but his Excellency and those who prophecy to -him smooth things will shortly learn that, according to the impartial decision of a Committee of the House of Commons, a very large instalment of justice is yet due to the Company's settlers from his Government, and that ha must, for the future, adopt a very different policy towards them. Policy did we say? Alas, we fear that when impartial sober, minded men in our Fatherland hear that his Excellency " plays such fantastic tricks before high Heaven," what official parasites dignify by the term policy, will bft considered by them as little short of madness — a madness in which there is no method.

Notice; — Colonial Secretary's Office, Auckland, Dec. 6, 1844. — In consideration of the Property Rate Ordinance having been brought into operation so soon after its enactment, and of the distance at which some rate payers are resident : lam desired by the Governor to give notice that his Excellency will not authorize any legal proceedings to be taken, under the provisions of the said Ordinance, against any person who makes the required

return, and pays the proportion of rate due on the Ist day of November last> prior to the Ist day of January next, in the northern division of New Zealand, or the first day of February next, in the Southern division. By command, Andrew Sinclair, .Colonial Secretary, , v After such a notice, Mr. M'Carthy will of course return the 25 per cent, he charged to those parties who paid after the day appointed by the Ordinance ; and those who have not yet paid will, knowing the value of Captain Fitzroy's promises, naturally keep a sharp look out for prosecutions.