New Zealand Spectator AND COOK'S STRAITS GUARDIAN. Saturday, February 15, 1845.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume I, Issue 19, 15 February 1845, Page 2

New Zealand Spectator AND COOK'S STRAITS GUARDIAN. Saturday, February 15, 1845.

" I am not an Alarmist, but unless troops be sent, I will not hold myself responsible for any consequences that may ensue : " — so writes his Excellency Captain Fitzroy in the celebrated despatch, which he has recently sent to Sir George Gipps, and which has, we understand, excited in the minds of the officials here, feelings of intense awe and admiration, for the author of so brilliant and solcndid a production. A madman, brandishing a lighted torch over trains of gunpowder, if interrogated as to the state of bis feelings, would probably exclaim, " I am not an alarmist," and miglit perhaps add as a saving clause, "but I .am notj-esponsible for consequences:" Would, however, such an assurance calm the apprehensions of those standing around ? or, in case an explosion took place, -would they be -at any loss to know, to whose agency they ought to attribute it ? And yet, this is the consolation now offered to the settlers by Captain Fitzroy ; after having set fire to the train prepared by himself, and rendered an explosion inevitable, he turns round to the probable victims of it, and coolly informs them, that "he ls not respocsible for the consequences ; " after having, in the brief space of twelve months, created anarchy and distress in every settlement, after having brought the two races into collision, he now tells them that "he is not an Alarmist ! " But we tell Captain Fitzroy, and we suspect Sir George Gipp3 will also tell him, that he cannot and shall not now by a mere disclaimer escape from the heavy responsibility which he has -incurred by his mad and reckless proceedings. We tell him plainly and openlyrthat if blo6d must now be shed, — if the natives must now be taught ". sanguinary lessons," that he is the sole cause of such a painful necessity having arisen. We know indeed that the officials are constantly urging as an excuse for his "Excellency's conduct, that .he Jias -merely the -policy adopted by Jus predecessors, and that therefore it is unjust tottrace all tiur calamities to him, and- unfair to charge him with the sins of others, seeing that his own are heavier and more in number, than he can well bear. We admit the fact, but we deny the conclusion drawn from it. "We admit, for instance, that when the chief Teria applied to Capt. Hobson to put the law in force against natives who had murdered and eaten some of his tribe, Capt* Hobson, in refusing to interfere, did effectually impress upom the minds of the natives that British justice was a farce, and that the law was jiothing jnore than an engine of oppression ; for who does not remember the emphatic 'warning given by Teria, when, finding his prayers for justice disregarded, and his offers to assist (if necessary) in the execution of the law declined, he indignantly exclaimed, *' if you now deny to me and my tribe the protection we seek, then you murderedJMaketu." We admit also, that when Mr. Attorney- General Swainson by his bad law stayed Mr. Shortland's proceedings at Tauranga, and obliged him to withdraw his troops amidst the jeers and scoffings of the natives, a great and * serious error was committed, for which the declaration of Lord Stanley, (though twice repeated) "that Mr. Swainson was unfit to hold office under her Majesty's Government," has been but a sorry compensation. To admit however all this, is to offer the severest possible condemnation of Captain Fitzroy 's conduct; for the errors of his predecessors ought to have been regarded by him as beacons, to warn him from the rocks on which they had split, and ought of themselves to have convinced him of the necessity of steering a different course. What would we think of a mariner, who seeing the shore strewed with wrecks, should yet persist in running His vessel upon it, and should then plead in his justification that he had merely aeled as others before him ? Yet such is the apology now attempted to be set up for Captain Fifrroy. Battbesewerenot the only warningsgiven tQ hi* Excellency, for he hid scarcely landed,

before addresses, petitions, memorials, &c, were presented to him, from every part of of the colony, all denouncing the policy putsued by Captain Uobson, aad all declaring Jn tne most explicit terms that if it were Jonger persisted in, bloodshed would be the meritable result. Again when "he stooped as low as British Governor could stoop, in going to the hold of the savage chiefs and shaking the hand of the ruffian who had massacred nine (of his countrymen) in cold blood ;" When he humbled himself before Honi Heki, and rewarded him for his outrages; When he \ielded to the menaces of the slaves of Taranaki; did not the settlers again and again protest against the folly of such proceedings ? Did they not again and again warn him that they would hold him responsible for the consequences of such acts ? Is it not also true, that the effects of the course he was pursuing were so palpable, that the English press, though acquainted only with the commencement of his carrer, at once | predicted jnrith painful precision onr present disasjgrs ; denounced Captain Fitzroy as one " whose head had been turned .by his office ;" and warned Lord Stanley against allowing him any longer "to play his pranks." With such warnings then, are we not justified in holding Captain Fitzroy, (in spite of his disclaimer,) as alone responsible for the position to which the colony is now reduced : Can we, with such evidence of his incapacity, cease to be Alarmists, as long as he remains at the head of the Government ? We must have " a change not of measures only, but of men also ;" before the settlers can declare that " that they are not Alarmists,"

Probably many of our readers have seen a mooopologue ; — that is a drama, of which all the parts are performed by one person. We will venture however to assert, that none of them have witnessed one so astonishing, as the drama now performing in this colony, in which the Governor is the sole performer. The shifts and transformations of the stage positively appear flat and tame, in comparison with the vivacity and rapidity, with which his Excellency changes his r6le. He has no sooner studied and.acted the part of " II jj r ana~ tico per il maori " to such perfection, as to make it, as it were his own, than lo! without even the premonitory warning oi the prompters whistle the scene changes, and Captain Fitzroy re-appears, in " an entirely different character." Every thing is changed, look, voic<*, attitude, each is different ! People in the north, who are somewhat more behind the scenps than we are, are possibly too accustomed to his Excellency's vagaries, to wonder at any new extravagance ; but we cau hardly yet comprehend, hardly yet realize, the surprising vigour with which he performed his last" wheel About." But yesterday, he was the jack-pud-ding of the maories ; the butt of the facetious John Heki. To-day, he turns short round on them, and talks of nothing but massacre and carnage. He looks like a hero, his mien we are told is " calm and resolved." His talk is of war, lie breathes extermination. The ttansformation is complete! But really, after all, the raaories have some little reson to complain of this. After the bear has been taught to dance, and encouraged to play his little gambols with impunity, it is too bad, when bis familiarities have become troublesome, to turn round and shoot him And the hard names, too, his Excellency calls them — savages forsooth I In bis never-to-be-forgotten Penny-an-acre-proclamation he held them up, as being quite competent to exercise all the rights of civilized beings ! • But to look at the matter seriously — we don't want a conflict with the raaories. We ask for justice, and he gives us none. Had justice been sooner done, there would, now, have been no necessity for war. Instead of brigades of artillery, po shoot down the poor animal that his Excellency has been spending the last twelvemonths in making vicious, let him, even now, as far as possible, retrace his steps, and undo all his (hitherto) mischievous attempts at legislation. Let him forgo the ambition of being thought a maori writer, by giving up the editorship of his pet periodical, the Maori Gazette; as we are informed a very ' silly, but not on that account, a less mischeivous production. Let him revoke the mass of absurdity which goes by the name of the Native Exemption Ordinance. Let him strengthen the hands of the magistrates, and order them to do their duty according to the law of England, and not according to the law of the colony. Let him reverse his system with the natives and instead of rewarding offenders, as has hitherto been bis practice, lft him be guided both in hia rewards and punishment*

by the dictates of common sense. Above all, let him discaiHlahe old woman at his side, the thrice repremaSjted of the Colonial Office ; through whose nwidiwork, every fresh ordinance comes forth, more like a heavy and unmanageable Joe Millar than a Statute. Let him do this, and we shall have no occasion for war. And we, in our endeavours to avoid the collision that his Excellency's frantic conduct has seemingly rendered inevitable, will show him, that our regard for the natives is not a momentary capiice, a spurious, sickly, sentimentality like his own ; but an honest regard for their best interests, and a desire to see them attain to and enjoy the blessings of humanity and civilization.

We publish in to-day's paper a correspondence between the Committee appointed at a late public meeting for forming a Volunteer Corps, and the unpaid Magistrates. It would appear that the Magistrates have consented to sanction the enrolment of a, certain number of the inhabitants as an armed force, under certain regulation?. We do not exactly understand the drift of their meaning, -when the Magistrates talk of their unwillingness by their present interference, to create any uelief that the measures pro* posed by the Local Government for settling the questions at present in dispute between the Government and the natives, will be otherwise than completely carried into effect. To what measures do they refer ? — to his Excellency's treaty, or to the subsequent one of his Honor I—to1 — to the Taboo, or to the threatened "Military movement up the Hurt?" Have the Magistrates still faith in any of those proposed measures? If they have not, why do they attempt to conceal th eir want of confidence in the Local Government by such subterfuges ? Surely they do not for one moment imagine that the settlers believe that those at present at the head of affairs will ever carry into effect any of the different plans, which seem to have been invented solely for the purpose of amusing the settlers, and preventing their taking measures to defeat Captain Fitzroy's grand scheme of breaking up all the settlements in Cook's Straits. What need then, have the Magistrates to talk of their being unwilling to create a belief that the Government will do nothing ? This belief or rather conviction already exists in the minds of all — the settlers express their belief openly — but the unpaid Magistrates dare not express their conviction.

The Members of the Volunteer Corps Committee are respectfully requested to meet this evening at the Britannia Saloon, Aurora Tavern, at half-past seven o'clock, for the dispatch of business.

The SherrifTs sale of crops, &c, on the Waiwatu, will be advertised in next week's paper.

We have this week the pleasure of submitting to our readers the statistics for 1844, of Port Nicholson the first and principal settlement of the New Zealand Company. It was our intention to have done this somewhat earlier in the year, but we have no reason to regret the delay which has occurred since it has enabled us to furnish the fullest information from the most authentic sources. Five years have elapsed since this settlement was first founded, on the anniversary which has just been celebrated we completed our first Lustrum, what is our present position ? What are our pros* pects ? In surveying the town, we do not find that so many bouses have been built as in the previous year, they are however of a more substantial kind, and the greater portion of them of a more durable material, they are of brick instead of wood. During the past year three edifices have been erected for the celebration of Public Worship, an Episcopal Church of wood, and a Wesleyan and Independent Chapel both of brick. These buildings are each capable of holding several hundred persons, and are always filled with numeous and attentive congregations. Besides these there is also a Scottish Church and a temporary Roman Catholic Chapel, which will shortly be replaced by a permanent building of much larger dimensions, Thereis also an Episcopal Church in the district of the Hutt, and a small Chapel has been built during the past year at Karori, foe the use of the settlers in that district. We dwell on these facts with pleasure for among other calumnies invented by those who desired by any means to depreciate this settlement, was the charge of indifference to and neglect of the ordinances of religion ; that in fact we were an irreligious godless set, a charge which Captain Fitzroy on hi» first arrival hexems«eady to believe and

to repeat, but which is sufficiently refuted by the decorous manner in which the Sabbath is observed in Wellington, by the exertions made by settlers of all religious denominations to provide for the due performance of Public Worship, by the forbearance, the charity which endureth all things, which has been exercised by the settlers towards the natives. A market has lately been established, we regret to say, with indifferent success, the inconvenience of its situation and the high charge made for the standings operating greatly to its disadvantage. A large Hall has also been built by Mr. R. Davis, for the use of the Odd Fellows, which from its size is well adapted for Public Meetings, to which purpose it has been lately applied. While speaking of the town, we must not forget to mention in terms of commendation the improvements made by the direction of his Honor the Superintendent, in Lambton Quay. True the expense was inconsiderable, a very small proportion of what ought to be done by the Local Government; still we hope, the success of his first experiment will encourage Major Richmond to persevere in his improvements ; as even with very limited means, if judiciously employed, he may greatly minister to the convenience of the public. But it is time to turn to the country and ascertain what has been done there, as the amount of land under cultivation, will be a correct index of the state of the colony. On this point we can speak with confidence, as by the kindness of Colonel Wakefield, we have been furnished with a return of all the land under cultivation in this settlement, and also at New Plymouth. These returns have been prepared with considerable care and great accuracy for the information of the New Zealand Company. We are also • indebted to the Police Magistrate for copies of the returns made to Government of the amount of population in this district, which we publish, and of l the land under cultivation. From the New Zealand Company's retnrn, we find the total | amount of land under cultivation in the district of Port Nichols, n to be 1070 acres, of which 546 acres are in wheat, the number* of acres under cultivation at Wanganui, is stated to be 103^ acres > °f which 63^ acres are in wheat. The nurrber of acres under cultivation at New Plymouth, is 880 acres, of which the greatest portion is wheat. The Government return of land under cultivation in this district, is about 150 acres in excess of that made by the New Zealand Company, anoVwhea two reports made independent, of each other so nearly agree, they mutually corroborate each other's correctness. The number of acres cleared but not under crop, with that lying fallow is not included in the Company's return, this in the Government return is stated to be ninty-five acres, or nearly ten per cent on that under cultivation. The harvest this year is expected lo be a fair average crop, and we think we shall be within bounds in stating the value of the produce of the cultivated land at £10 per acre, this will give £10,700 for Port Nicholson, £1,035 for Wanganui, and £8,800 for New Plymouth. In the official return the amount of land cleared in 1841 is stated to be 38 acres ; in 1842,363 acres; in 1843, 439 acres; in 1844, 500 acres. ' The total amount of population in this District, not including Wanganui, Manawatu, and the settlers along the coast, is stated to be 4,q47 ; and of these 1,769 are under 14 years of age. The number of births during the year is 196 ; the number of deaths only 32, or lin 126. Of this number 20 were above 14 years of age, and 12 of these were accidental deaths. In England the number of deaths in proportion to the population to the population is 1 in 44.

The following is the amount of live stock : — Horses 200. Cattle 1900. ] Sheep 5000. Mules 40. Donkeys 10. Of these about 20 horses, 226 head of cattle, and I,l7o. sheep, were imported during the past year. A great proportion of this stock is stationed at Wairarapa, which, from the open nature of the country and its abundant pasture, promises to become the principal grazing district of this settlement. About 1,000 pigs were brought coastwise to Wellington, and more than twice that number overland, in the course of the. year, whick were consumed for food. The following is the quantity of live stock at Otago, Port Cooper, and the stations to the southward. *■— v Horses 122 Cattle 800 . Sheep 4020 These may be considered to belongs to this Settlement, as the owners of these stations

either reside in Port Nicholson, or were Port Nicholson Settlers ; and Mr. Jones (the owner of the principal station at Otago) has been so long conected with this Port, that he may fairly he incuded in the number. We are not able to state positively the number of pigs and goats, but we believe it to be considerable. The value of the produce of this year's cultivation in the Port Nicholson district may be stated in round numbers at £12,000; and the value of the stock at £43,000. There are three Mills for grinding corn in Port Nicholson, — a steam mill, and a windmill, each with one pair of stones, in Wellington, and Mr. Ludlam's new windmill in the valley of the Hutt, which is furnished with two pair of stones. A fourth mill, with two pair of stones, to be moved by water power is in progress of erection by Messrs. Mathieson and Shultze, Kai Warra, which will be ready for grinding in four months. These are the only flour mills in the settlement, so that all the corn not ground by hand mills for private consumption, must be brought to Port Nicholson to be converted into flour. The amount of land under cultivation by the natives we are not able to state with accuracy. The amount in wheat along the coast from Manawatu tp Wellington, and in the districts near the town, is about 70 acres. The number of acres of wheat in native cultivation along the East Coast, is stated to be three Hundred, of this the greater part is at Ouridi, in Hawke's Bay. The value of exports consisting of oil, whalebone, wool, bark, woods,. &c, sent to England direct in the Bella Marina, Nelson, and Raymond, according to the latest quotations of the London Markets, amounts to £35,000 : if the cargo of the Caledonia be included, the greatest part of which will be the produce of last years labour, the amount will be increased to £40,000. A considerable quantity of oil has also been sent to Sydney. Two rope-walks for manufacturing rope from New Zealand Flax are in profitable operation, and also a Manufactory for making canvass, wool packs, sacks, &c, which affords constant employment to 30 persons. Eight coasting vessels have bf»en built during the year, making a total of 144 tons, besides several whaleboats. A few reflections naturally arise on the perusal of these statistics. When we consider the almost insuperable difficulties which have impeded the progress of cultivation, we are surprized that so much has been- done. In the valley of the Hutt, where the natives are most troubjesome, there are 577 acres under cultivation, or mere than half the cultivated land of the settlemeut. The amount of population is 644. The cost of clearing and preparing the land for the first crop in that district is t.ta ted to have been per acre in 1841 £25, in 1842 £18, in 1843 £11, in 1844 £9. Now when we regard its fertility, the amount of population, the extent of improvements and the capital expended in making these improvements, it may safely be asserted L; at the valley of the Hutt is the most important agricultural district connected with Port Nicholson, aud that on it depends the progress, the stability of the settlement. If Captain Fitzroy had settled the Land Question on his first visit to Wellington, as he promised to do, at least 600 acres more would have been brought under cultivation during the past year, or £6,000 added to the resources of the colony ; the settlements of Cook's Straits would have grown enough to have supported themselves, and there would have been no further occasion for any importations of flour. If the Land Question had been settled, as Capt. Fitzroy acknowledges it ought to have been, three years ago, as it would have been if the Government had only been moderately honest, we should now be in a position to export, the settlers would have been contented and happy, and the amount of population and cultivation would have increased to a great degree. For cultivation advances in an accelerated ratio. Mobilitate viget, viresque acquirit eundo. The great difficulty to the settler is in tjuilding his house and clearing enough land for his own support, afterwards all goes on smoothly. Every year also the price of clearing land becomes less as the settler becomes more accustomed to the task ; last year it was one-third of the cost in 1841. The •prices for clearing above stated, refer chiefly to the district of the Hutt ; in the Wai-nui-o-rnata and other more thinly wooded districts, the cost of clearing and preparing land for cultivation does not exceed £3 per acre. The want of roads has also been severely felt, 60 as almost to operate as a bar to cultivation. Bnt no Ordinance has yet been passed for making roads. "" If a few miles of road had been made from the wooded districts to facilitate the transport of ornamental woods, additional means would have been provided, for clearing the laud, from the quantity sent to England, New Zealand woods would by this time have obtained a name and market Take, and the settler could have sold what he iau-Jipjr obliged to burn. Bi}t our Gallio

c areth for none of these things, jtfhough the settlers have done all in the^lpbwer to impress him with the vital h^Prtance of these questions, so little do they interest him, that he has twice visited Port Nicholson, and has remained several days on each occasion, but has never yet seen the valley of the Hutt. But we have not yet done with the Hutt. In all contracts among civilized men, possession is usually obtained on or before the payment of the purchase money. Did his Excellency, good easy man, suppose that Rauparaha's sense of honor was so delicate that precautions of this kind were unnecessary ? Some such idea must have possessed him, since we remember on his last visit, Captain Fitzroy propounded a plan for enrolling this worthy in the honourable band of Government officials, by making him a salaried Magistrate, a hybrid production, something between a Native Goveruor and a Superintendent. But did any person in his senses suppose that, after Rauparaha had got the money, he would give up the land ? Why, he was a thief and murderer from the beginning, and will continue to be so to the end of his career. To have acted otherwise than he has done, would have been contrary to his nature. A.nd as if to put the question in the strongest light, to show the absuruity of the course Captain Fitzroy has pursued, no sooner is this claimant paid for the third time, than another and another still succeeds, each pretending to be the rightful lord of the soil. Nay, all the others who have been paid, too well paid for lands to which they have no claim, begin to think, as Rauparaha has been paid so often

for the Hutt, that they have been cheated. Another reflection forcibly suggests itself. In Auckland the settlers from the first have obtained peaceable possession of their land, they have also been benefited by the Government expenditure, and yet with every advantage they are confessedly bankrupt. Private individuals imitate the Government in issuing debentures for the smallest sums, and a shilling or a sovereign there is a thing to be wondered at. If we had only been fairly dealt with, if we had been placed in the same position with regard to our lands that the Government settlement has been, we should have desired no other advantage. Much has lately been said of the treatment the settlers at New Plymouth have received from Captain Fitzroy, much still remains to be said. It is an ample theme to expatiate upon. Much also might be said on the course pursued towards the natives by the Government, the bitter fruits it has engendered, and the favorable consequences which might have reasonably been anticipated from a more rational system, but our space warns as to defer to another opportunity our speculations on this interesting subject. From what has been stated it will be seen, that though the Government has injured ws beyond the power of compensation, in wasting our resounces, in driving away many valuable* settlers, in injuring our trade, and in preventing further immigration from the confusion and anarchy which have resulted from its measures ; though our present prospects are gloomy, the settlement has taken too deep root to be entirely prostrated. Its growth may be greatly greatly retarde 1, us settlers may be subjected to severe privations, but to destroy it altogether is beyond the power of Captain Fitzroy.

[n 1840 th " 1841 " 1842 " 1843 "1844 be I No. of births was 22. do. do. 103. do. do. 158. do. do. 231. do. do. 196.