[From the Spectator June 21.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume II, Issue 58, 15 November 1845, Page 3

[From the Spectator June 21.]

Parlum-»t has yiirtn thpee days to the colonies! And though *tn"e immeiliate topic brought before the House of Commons was the grievances of the youngest anil remotest of them — New Zealand — me discussion was really of great importance and interest ; for it concerned the whole colonial policy of the country towards settleis and aboriguai rac 'S, .Jtld the conduct ot the official depai tmeiu which of all Government branches most needs reforming. The discussion was marked by talent aid paiiiNtaking on all s-ides. Each of the thiee days had iv sepeiate characteristics. On Tuesday, the case for the colonists and the colonizing company of New Zealand against the the Colonial Office was opened by .M r. Charles Bulletin a speech whith may mstly be called great as well as long ; disclosing a tissue of arrogance, disingenuousness, and iuju>ticesel-. dom equalbd even in colonial annul i. The! wronged^parties having been frequently cajoled by preteilces of redress from Juord Stanley^ and as frequently disappointed, now made a last appeal to Parliament. Mr. liull^r moved for a- committee of the whole house; intending to propose for the adoption of th»f

Committee the resolutions passea last year, not •sstridly applicable io«xistingcircumstances,. but as still true in the main, as recomthehded by an authority Ttfcog »teed in the hou«e, and. ts supported by the recorded evidence in the Blue Book. How little this was a mere party moYf ment is attested l>y the fad, that a •Conservative supporter of Government, Mr. Monck ton Milnes, seconded the motion. The only other speakei that night was Mr. Hope, the Undersecretary for the Colonies ; whose miserable special-pleading, in answer to broad •charges involving questions of statesmanship, served to strengthen the case against the Ol fice; his speech was like a me&sage of excuse •poiled in the delivery because scarcely underStood by the messenger. The Wednesday's discussion began with a sally by Captain llous; who, in oehalf of his absent sea-mate, Captain Fitz-Roy, assaulted the Company much as he would a hostile man-of- war, with neither scruple nor measure — plainly indicating the charge that it had swindled Liul-buyers and labouiers: and afterwards, Sir Robert Inglis. the member for the missionaries more sleekly hinted C arges of unfairness. They were coolly brushed away by Mr. Aglionliy and others, who referred to the authoritative vindication in the Blue Book. Mr. Barkly,, the promising young member for Leomiuster, rose on the Conservative side, and gave the debate a high char, cter, by calling tor a revision of our whole colonial } olicy ; sketching very liberal views of his own, tlu-ugh a Conservative and a West Indian proprietor. This highei ground was well maintained by Mr. H iwes ; and Lord How ck exemplified in the positive and evident misrule in New Zealand the inefficiency and viciousness of the machinery for governing our dependencies. The position oi Ministers hal become much more critical in the progress of the two nights' debate; the miserable position taken up by Mr. Hope was clearly untenable; the sight of intelligent aud independent,, hut not wayward or secretly malignant members, rising on their own side to demand Parliamentary interference with the Colonial Administration, showed the strength and extent ol the conviction that there was something radically wrong; t: c more analytical speakers had given aim and development to the reasons for that general conviction : and on Thnrsdiy the question was vigorously brought to a conclusion by Mr. Ellice, in an address of strong, practical sense, calling for a Ministerial declaration as to iiiture plans. Mr. Car well's able piece of spec'nl-plead ng, more creditable than Mr. Hope's, scarcely delayed the accelerated progress ol the debate : Mr. Mangles, a member of the Church Missionary Society, courageously exposed the bad and tortuous policy of the missionaries: Mr. Colquhoun, another Ministerial remonstrant; Mr. Sheil, a Whig accusaut of broken faith, in his own pointed language —kept up the fire of attack; and, at length, Sir James Graham was dra> n forth with the declarat on of a ue » and conciliatory policy. Some incidental reflections on Lord John Russell's share in past mistakes called him up, with further prools ol the untenable nature of the original Ministerial position ; and lastly appeared Sir Rub rt Peel, even more conciliatory than Sir James Graham. The chief concern of the colleagues was to bring off Lord Stanley ; which they did after a fashion, by pleading that he was not much worse-than others had been before him, and J by shielding him from a formal censure with ! so much of their organized majority as they j had, noi without diligence, contrived to keep together. But to save the man, they were obliged to surrender their policy. His Governor, so obstinately upheld, is abandoned to the foe —quite given up. The Ministerial construction of the treaty with the savages at "Waitangi is maintained in terms, but evaded ; for while the propr etory right of the natives over the waste lands is asserted, tho-e lands are lo be recovered by a serew —a tax with confiscation on non-payment. —A new Governor is sent out —Captain Grey, of South Australia ; the colonists are to have their interests .consulted ; frienly relations with the Company are to be cultivated; perhaps the capital of New.Zealand is to be removed from Auckland ; municipal institutions, with large powers of local taxation are to be established ; and pro* bably a representative form of local government will follow in a short time. After ail this backing-out, Lord Stanleyescaped, and Mr. Butler's motion was negatived, by a vote of 223 to 172.