NEW ZEALAND SPECTATOR, AND COOK'S STRAITS GUARDIAN. Saturday, May 17, 1845.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume I, Issue 32, 17 May 1845, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND SPECTATOR, AND COOK'S STRAITS GUARDIAN. Saturday, May 17, 1845.

Qn Monday last, according to the expectation Generally entertained, Rauparaha, attended by a Umhpr of norsons beloneiner to his tribe, arrived

in Wellington, and on Wednesday he went to Petoni for purpose of having a conference with the natives of that pa. On the following day he proceeded >up the Hutt to use his moral influence with the intruding natives to induce \ them to go away, and allow the settlers to obtain peaceable occupation of their lauds. Public curiosity was greatly excited on the occasion, and many settlers went to the scene of this c6nference, anxious to witness the proceedings. If they expected any result, they were destined to be disappointed, as the whole affair, so far as we can learn, turned out to be a miserable failure. Jt is said that his Honor the Superintendent wished to accompany Rauparaha — perhaps to add the weight and sanction of authority to his proceedings, — perhaps, to- reeeive-the countenance of the savage — be- that as it may, Rauparaha is understood to have declined the arrangement, stating that this was his affair, and that he was determined to carry it out by himself. As we have no desire- to state jtlatters otherwise than as they actually occurred, we have taken somejpains to inquire into the facts, and we believe the following account may be depended on-: — Rauparaha with his followers on arriving at the scene of conference established himself in the, potato grounds within afew hundred yards of the pa of these natives. He was attended by Mr. Forsaith, the Dragoman for the southern district, who seemed- rather proud of his position, but there is no disputing -about tastes. The entrance to the pa was harricaded by the natives sufficiently- to prevent Rauparaha's entrance, except by force ; and they 'declined to have any personal communication with him. The natives belonging to the pa were "either lounging about listlessly, smoking, or preparing food, in short, engaged in their ordinary pursuits just as if nothing unusual had happened. E Kuri the principal chief among these natives sat in front of his own hut, and in answer to questions addressed to him by the settlers, is said to have expressed himself in the following manner: — " Who is Te Rauparaha ?he is the mur- | derer of the Pukehas at Wairau ! he is the murderer of our relatives at Waikanai. We will not go to see him : — we will not admit him to our pa. If he wishes to give the Pakeha land, in return for the money he has received from the Governor, — let him give his own land at Otaki, but let him not interfere with us. — We will remain where we aFe." In the mean time Rangihaieta was^posted on the other side of the river, some two orcthree-miles higher up, attended by sixty or seventy active young men ; who, so far as our informants could observe, were unarmed. .Rangihaieta appeared very sulky, held no communication with either party, and expressed his intention of returning to,Porirua on the following -day. This, then, appears to be the end of the conference for the present, and we may be permitted to ask — -what next ? Every excuse, every pretext has been tried by the Government, but we are still as far from the settlement of the question as ever. The argument hitherto employed has been, Rauparaha's influence is sufficiently powerful to settle this question. Well ! it has been tried, — and has failed. Captain Fitzroy is reported to have said in his despatch to Sir G. Gipps, that it was absolutely necessary to teach these natives a sanguinary lesson. But the hour has not come, nor the man ! To attempt coercive measures, men of prudence and energy are required — £nd where such irabecillity prevails in every department, it wonld be hopeless to expect any decisive step to be taken. In the mean time, this deference and consideration shewn 'by the local authorities to savages who, on the clearest testimony, are murderers in cold blood of our most valued settlers and fellow countrymen, can only tend to exalt them into undue importance, and render them more troublesomein future. Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from their hands ? No ; these their handawill rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green — one red. We may, however, remind the local authorities that time presses : there is no middle course; — this temporizing can only be productive of injurious consequeneea ; — delay is as bad as defeat; — in another month the season for sowing wheat will be over and another year will be lost. Tb.ey.must act on principle, — they must act with j vigour, — if they hope to succeed. Hitherto, we grieve to say', they exhibit a lamentable contrast to their opponents. The untutored intellect of these savages; has proved more than a match for Captain Fitzroy and the collective imbecillity of

the whole stnfftof Government officials, valued to the settlers, according to the estimates just yotcd in the Legislative Council for this year at something more than £26,000. Their management is superior to his Excellency's, and as yet they have the best of the game. * ■

We have this week had an opportunity of examining in a cursory manner " the Report from the Committee on New Zealand, together with the minutes of evidence." When we inform our readers that this report is a bulky folio of upwards of one thousand pages, it will be evident that considerable patience and attention are necessary for a due -appreciation of its contents. Of. this mass of' information a good deal has been previously printed, but still a considerable proportion remains, which will be new and interesting to our readers. This book contains all the evidence, either oral or documentary, on which is founded the decision of the Select Committee, "a decision which we hope will exercise a powerful and beneficial effect on the prospects .of New Zealand. We therefore propose giving to' oar readers such a general account of its contents, as may be obtained from a hasty perusal, and may take future opportunities of returning to detached parts, which from their interest or importance may deserve more careful consideration. The 3ook opens with the Report of the Committee, and the Resolutions on whichit is founded. With these our readers are iamiliar. This is followed by the proceedings of the Committee, and the counter Resolutions and Report of Mr. Cardwell on the part of -the Government, which were thrown out. It may be well to note a few resolutions proposed by Lord Howick : — the 4th, " That what- c ever might be tire natural advantages of thejsituation, the establishment of the seat of Government at Auckland, when there were no settlers there was an -injudicious proceeding ; the seat of Government should, for the time at least, have been fixed at one of the places where there was a considerable body of settlers requiring- the control and protection of the Government.;" and the 6th, " That the mode of conducting the inquiry of the Commissioners .appointed to.investigate the claims to land was not calculated; to lead to a result advantageous either to the natives, the Claimants of land, or tke public." These resolutions were each lost by a majority of one in a committee of fourteen, the chairman not voting on 'either occasion. The consideration of the resolution, " That the conduct of the local Government towards the settlers in Cook's Straits is open to grave objection" — was postponed. Possibly while we are writing the discussion of the affairs of New Zealand may be beiqre "the House of Commons : — Could they but be possessed of the knowledge of passing events, of the state to which Captain Fitzroy has reduced the different settlements, we can hardly doubt how these questions would now be' disposed of. The minutes of the evidence follow next, but we propose examining this part more in detail on another occasion. This is followed by a voluminous Appendix of eight hundred pages, containing a memorandum on the twelfth Report of the Directors oLthe New Zealand Company, drawn up, we presume, on the part of the Government ; a correspondence between the Colonial Office and the Company on the subject of the Land Claims ; the Aborigines ; and the state of the Company's affairs ; Lord Stanley's despatches on financial matters ; the despatches of Mr. Shortlaud ; extracts from letters of Colonel Wakefield acd others ; a statement, together with certain propositions submitted to the Committee by the New Zealand Company ; a despatch from' Captain Fitzroy to £.ordStanley, containing remarks with reference to certain " subjects of much importance to New Zealand," which we have previously noticed, with Lord Stanley's reply ; a long statement of the Company's accounts; letters from Mr. Earp and Mr. Somes to Lord Howick ; copies, of Wakefield's recent despatches, and of Lord Stanley's despatches to Governor Hobson, Mr. Shortland, and Governor Fitzroy ; sundry letters, including Mr. E. J. Wakefield's letter to Captain Fitzroy on his conduct to him at his first levee ; and a reprint of the Twelfth Report of the New Zealand Company. In this variety we might hesitate where to begin ; — for the present we shall briefly turn .to a most important portion, and one as painful as it is important ; — we allude to that class of correspondence intended by the writers as private, but which have been made public ;—communications written with a sinister intention, — to work evil secretly ; — while the settlers, the unconscious victims of the evil, are lulled into, a false confidence by hollow professions, and only hear of these machinations, after the mischief is done. In p. 178 is a letter from the Rev. J. Beecham, Secretary of the Wesleyan Missionary Society to Lord Stanley, inclosing letters from Mr. J. Whitely of Kawia, and Mr. S. Ironside, now of Wellington, for which he receives his Lordship's thanks. Of Mr. Whitely we can only say, that any settler who may read his communications, will be astonished at the presumption of his* statements, and the circumstantiality of his falsehoods. As we do not wish to rest this charge on mere assertion, we extract from his letter the following paragraph relating to the native reserves :—: — The plan of native reserves has been, greatly lauded ;

and it has been asserted thnt the natives made that the principal consideration in the disposal of their lands. ] venture to say they could not possibly understand the plan. They might get hold of the idea that they were to Noho tahi, " Sit or live together with the Pakehas ;" and this would please them, because they would never dream of losing tßeir authority and chieftainship, but would satisfy themsalyes with the vague notion of all things common, and themselves (as the original proprietors of the soil) lords and chiefs of all. But when they find that, instead of that, all are gentlemen but themselves; that the land is all gone or going; that the boasted tenths, the reserves for them, are (at least in the Port Nicholson cases) far Sway in the distance, and in the most ineligible and worthless spots ; and that' they, the original lords of the soil, are to be marched off, and doomed to perpetual banishment and misery there, while, the strangers are enjoying the fat of the land, — they say, "No; keep your barren tenths, as you have got the rest, and we will choose a place for ourselves. We entreat our readers to compare the following extract from Mr. Ironside's letter ®n the Wairau massacre, dated Pisgah Vale, Cloudy Bay, July 5, 1843:— Since this unhappy affair (the Wairau massacre), I have again read your two pamphlets v of 1838, on the plans of the New Zealand Association, where the evils of colonization are strongly described. If you should ever print another edition, you may add the melancholy case of this part of New Zealand, at least, to the list of aboriginal people grievously wronged by colonization. Your predictions are mournfully realized. 1 was struck, especially in reading pages 5 to 9 of the former pamphlet, to find how the old colonizing process there referred to has been repeated here. " The forms of a bargain have been gone through" in this case, " and a price has been given," but that price has been insignificant indeed, notwithstanding all that has been said respecting honorable and upright dealing towards the natives. t And the following from a letter dated Wel- ! lington; Aug. 21, 1843 :— | Great feeling' exists at present against missions and I missionaries. • The natives are not willing to give up land which they say they have not spld, and the disappointed purchasers of the Company's lotgjbarn round I and charge the missionaries with influencing' the natives in this determination; whilst on the other hand, the natives regard us with jealousy, and think that we have brought the settlers to the land. This may be true th part, because had it not been that, by means of missionary instruction, they have been generally reclaimed from savagism, no settlement would ever have peen formed here. So that we are the involuntary cause 6f;flie colonization of New Zealand. With the following letter by the same Mr. Ironside, which has previously appeared in the columns of this paper :—: — To the Editor of the New Zealand Spectator. Manners-street, Wellington, November 5, 1844.

Sir, — I have a great objection to scribbling nrnewspapers ; but as my opinion has several times been requested with reference to the persecution and injustice to -which, it is said, the natives <of New Zealand have been subjected, and as my silence might be misconstrued by certain parties, I hesitate not to say, that 'during a residence <of more than twelve months mr this setttwnent, so far as fliave observed, the settlers have been uniformly kind and considerate towards the native population. There have been disputes and misunderstandings between the races, but they have arisen mainly out of circumstances over which the settlers have no control, it has giv.en me pleasure to witness the forbearance of the white people towards the natives, under the very painful and discouraging circumetsnees in which they have beenjplaced, thioughthe non-settlement of the land question. Let tha settlers continue to exercise patience and forbearance, and we may hope the morning of prosperity is not for distant, and will yet dawn upon us. I J remain, Sir „ Your obedient servant, .Samuel Ironside. We fear they will conclude that the person who could make such opposite statements, must be classed with. those "who do but flatter with their lips and dissemble in their double hearts." We are concerned at any time to change impressions of a -favorable nature of the conduct and character of those who are in situations where they are capable of exercising a beneficial imiuence^on society ; but stach double dealing calls for severe reprehension ; and as on a former occasion we praised Mr. Ironside for sentiments and professions we believed to be sincere, — we are bound to shew how little, reliance can be placed on these professions.

The Government Brig Victoria arrived on Saturday morning from Hobart Town. She brought no troops as was expected, the officer in command not being willing to incur the responsibility of permitting them to leave that^ .colony without express orders to that effect from the Commander-in-chief. A great quantity of ammunition has been sent for the use of the settlements in New Zealand, under the charge of Mr. Munro of the Ordinance, and we believe it is intended to land a portion of it here, and to send the remainder to Auckland. We are informed that our considerate friends in Van Dieman's Land, fearing our case wsa desperate, have also sent a quantity of flour for distribution in the different settlements, but as we are not yet, become objects ,of -charity, however much wedesire and deserve the sympathy of our friends and neighbours, these benevolent contributionswill also be forwarded to Auckland for the relief of the destitute settlers from the Bay of Islands. A great* deal has been said in Sydney about assisting the distressed New Zealand settlers ; appeals to the benevolent were to be madefrom the pulpit, and subscriptions entered into, and £50 worth, of flour, and £50 in money were sent to Auckland for the sufferers from the Bay of Islands. A plan is also agitated in Sydney of assisting the settlers in New Zealand' by re--moving the labouring classes out of the colony, which would be so mischievous both to those

, » -mrr ns well as to those who ! -^Se'SS^in Oook'. Straits would remain, at ™^ d from SU ch disinterested and desire to be rene d ddreqaeatsuch/rfewfe ° ffiC Xe Efforts to the north, where they con^ ogt jjgg^gjj^ an( j w here the danger The most effectual relief the colony can receive would be the removal of the anfortunate gentleman, who at present holds -the responsible office of Governor, but who Should be placed in the safe custody of his friends ■ out of harm's way, and a man of common sense and prudence appointed in his place. Tl f Victoria left Hobart Town at a very short io\ .s.y ; Mr. Wilmot, who is an officer in the artillery, and Aide-de-camp to his father-, Sir E. Wilmot. is a passenger, havingcome to New Zealand as a volunteer, accompanied by two old sergeants of the artillery. It is greatly to be regretted that the brig has been detained so long in the harbour in the present state of affairs. We have had no arrival since she left the seat of Government, now an interval of six weeks, nor during that time has any vessel sailed fronvWellington for Aucldand. If she had sailed on Monday ' 4ast, she might possibly have reached her destination in a week, and assured the local Government of the tranquil state of the southern districts. We believe the excuse alleged for her detention is a desire on the part of the local authorities here to inform the Governor of the issue of Rauparaha's intervention. We have expressed our opinion on this subject in another part of the paper. We believe the Victoria will positively sail for Auckland on Monday next.

From the report of the proceedings in council it will be seen that the Governor has struck out of -the erijgiates the sum allowed for the Land Claims l^Slmission, or in other words, deprived Mr. Commissioner Spain of his salary. When jt suited his purpose, Captain Fitzroy was loud in Mr. Spain's praise, and yet the first report presented to him by the Commissioner, (the report on the New Zealand Company's purchase at Taranaki) was disallowed. We are perfectly ready to agree with his Excellency that " the plan was wrong from the first on which these land claims were decided. They had hitherto been examined on certain principles which were tedious and unnecessary — that the delay in not completing the report was not justifiable." The Governor in a subsequent part of tl£ debate declares that he will take the onus on himself of settling all outstanding land claims. Is he prepared to grant to the settlers Jfc Cook's Straits that justice which he says Mr., Spain by his delays, caused by the desire to-pralong the sweetsof office, (the salary paid quarterly) has practically withheld from them, to the serious injury of thesesettlements. We will notpre-judge his Excellency's conduct by arguing from the experience past of his measures. A little time will soon shew, if after a ruinous Wfc§&y©£ free years, he really intends to issue Crown Grants to the southern settlers ; antf .what is infinitely more important, to put them in possession of their property, and afford t^cm that protection they have hitherto vainly required from the local Government.

On Monday last Te Rauparaha arrived at Porirua, to which place his Honor the Superintendent despatched Mr. Forsaith the Protector, and Dr. Fitzgerald, to meet him. About midday the Maori Chief stepped from his canoe, attended by the Bishop Dr. Selwyn, and Dr. Fitzgerald having given up his horse to him, the procession formed in the following order — 25 Maories on foot ; TE RAUPARAHA, And Protector Forsaith, on horseback ; The Bishop, And Dr. Fitzgerald, on foot ; 25 Maories on foot ; and proceeded to this place. On arriving at Wellington, Te Rauparaha was conducted by the Bishop into the house of the Rev. Mr. Cole, our respected pastor, whose premises were immediately filled by a crowd of Maori attendants on the chief. Indignant and disgusted as alevery inhabitant must have felt at the intrusion of a wretch whose crimes have rendered him pre-eminent among cannibals, and whose j hostility to the settlers has been unceasing, not a single exhibition of outrage, insult, or even impertinence took place. The wretched man has been received with the most perfect expression of contempt, namely, perfect silence. Let us, however, not forget who brought Te Rauparaha amongst us, many of whom lost esteemed acquaintances, valued friends, and near and dear relations in a massacre, to which this cannibal was accessory, and for which, according to British law, he would have suffered the same as Rangihaiata, the actual murderer. Our de-fenceless-position has been exposed to the wily savage, without the most remote prospect of good beyond demonstrating for the thousandth time the absurdity of missionary interference in our- affairs, and the feelings of every friend of justice, of the law, of order or decency, needlessly shocked and outraged.

By a private letter from London, we learn that the Court of Directors of the New Zealand pojnpany met on the 12th December, for the purpose of deciding on the most appropriate mode of bringing the New Zealand question before Parliament during the present session. '

We are glad to observe*wneat grown on tke coast coming in so freely to this port. The Royal William, besides other produce, brings from the East Coast 300 bushels. This continued importation assures us of a future supply of cheap bread, and strengthens the arguments we have advanced b^this subject in the notice of our correspondent's letter.

We learn from Mr ."Jones, who arrived in the Scotia, that he has caught at his station, near Otago, within the last two months, ten tons hkek oilfandPeight tons sperm oil. The Scotia *nas brought fifteen bales of wool from the southward for shipment by the first vessel direct to England from this port. We'believe there are nearly 100 tons of wood, bark, &c, collected for the Caledonia, but for which there was no room, now lying ready for the first vessel that may be laid on for England.

We wish to direct the attention of our agricultural readers to the following letter, in some degree satisfactorily explaining the cause, of the j present low price of wheat, which is likely to have a discouraging effect on the producer, and prevent the extended cultivation of this necessary article of existence. The present scarcity of money, and the depressed state of trade, have also a material effect in keeping down the price of wheat hy the contraction of credits, thereby ' increasing the anxiety of the farmer to realize ' his crop, and obtain means for carrying on his operations. We quite agree with our correspondent, that there is ample room for another mill, and should be glad to sec the first stone of a good water mill laid in the Hutt district, on the day that the intruding natives are driven off. The price of wheat ought not to be less than ss. per bushel, with flour at 131. per ton; and every increase of 11. per ton in the price of flour, ought to produce a rise in the price of wheat of 6d. per bushel. In a healthy and prosperous state of trade, we may expect the price of flour to be 15/- per ton; this would leave the farmer 6s. per bushel for his wheat, which would be a very remunerating price. The present price is so low, that we have heard some persons seriously entertain the idea of shipping wheat to England as a remittance, and they calculate that after all expenses were paid, they would realize something more than the present market price. We mention this fact as illustrating the anomalous state of things, and as holding out some consolation to the farmer. It is well to know the worst, and it is plain that if under all disadvantages of freight duty, &c, more than 3s. 6d. per bushel nett can be obtained in England, this ought to be tkp lowest, price in the colony for good wheat under any circumstances.^ But the corrective is still more within our povver, and lies nearer home, as may be seen from the calculations of our correspondent.