The New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Saturday, January 16, 1847.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 153, 16 January 1847, Page 2

The New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Saturday, January 16, 1847.

In our last number, want of space compelled us to defer the consideration of the charge brought against this Journal by the Company's Principal Agent of a coldness towards his Excellency on his first arrival, which might be the very cause of the substitution of a New Governor. It may be as well to reprint the accusation : — " Your readers will remember that on the present Lieutenant Governor's arrival in the colony, the necessary delay which occurred in his visiting Wellington, and some of his earliest measures induced a display of coldness towards him on the part of the Wellington Spectator^ which little accorded with the general feelings of the colonists at large, and which contrasts strongly with the cordial approbation of his subsequent conduct which has lately appeared in your journal. I perceive by the English .papers that the tone first

adopted by yon has done mischief, and indeed the erroneous suj position that Captain Grey was not likely to be popular might, if its correction did not reach England in time, be the very cause of the substitution of a new Governor which you so strong'y deprecate in a late article." This charge, so deliberately made, has induced us carefully to examine our files of this Journal, to -see whether any expression then made use of could possibly, by any sophistry, be tortured to convey the supposition thatCJaptain. Grey was not likely to be popular in this colony. The first intimation of Captain Grey's appointment to the government of New Zealand was published in the Spectator of November 8, 1845 ; and in announcing the fact, we alluded to " the fairly earned reputation" his Excellency had acquired in administering the Government of South Australia. -In the interval between this period and the amval of his Excellency in Wellington 12th of -February, we were employed, and we conceive usefully employed, in bringing prominently forward the grievances of which the settlers had to complain under the previous Government, in the hope that they would attract attention and I obtain redress. The leading articles pub- ! lished at that period in this Journal chiefly referred to the intolerable evils endured by ; the Southern Settlements by the distance i and the want of communication with Auckiand, and to the necessity of a removal of the seat of Government, or of erecting the Southern Settlements into a separate and independent Government, — the non-settle-ment of the land claims, the policy of the Local Government towards the natives, the want of roads, and similar topics ; but in all these we do not find the most distant allusion to any notion that his Excellency was not likely to be popular in this settlement. On the contrary, in an article, January 17, on his Excellency's opening speech to the Legislative Council, the commendations then bestowed by us were censured in a letter (dated January 25, and signed *' A Watchman") which appeared in another publication, the writer of which was currently reported to be closely connected with the Principal Agent, and who objected that — " Because the Governor has made a judicious speech, or rather because he has said nothing foolish, after the mariner of poor Fhzroy, people seom to anticipate, forsooth, all kinds of pleasant doings on his part. Nay, your contemporary, the Spectator, not being able to see an inch before bis nose, hints that if Captaiu Grey goes on as he has begun he must succeed, just as he did in South Australia, &c." The latest information received ia England from New Zealand previous to the Hope's sailing (and the only intelligence relating to New Zealand with which we have been furnished was brought by the HoseJ I was a private letter of the 26th Feb., to the effect that the rebels had been driven from the Hutt by his Excellency. The notices and extracts which have appeared in the New Zealand Journal and other papers we have seen referring to Captain Grey, are for the most part laudatory, and it would be difficult to conceive from the implicit confidence reposed in him by the leading men of both parties at home, from the effect produced by the publication in England of his first despatches, the general favour with which his Excellency was regarded in both countries, and the high expectations he had raised, how the idea of the possible substitution of another Governor in his place could have been entertained. But the idea was entertained — yes ! for months before the news even of his Excellency's arrival in this colony could possibly reach England, much less before any information could be obtained of Ms plans and of the success attendant on his measures—by the very parties represented by the Principal Agent in this colony, namely, by Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield and the New Zealand Company. In his letter to Mr. Gladstone dated 21st^ January, 1846, Mr. Wakefield in urging the necessity of placing the government as well as the colonization of the colony in " one set of hands," censures the weakness of " leaving everything of moment really unsettled, and professing

to believe that one Captain Grey < up for the neglect," and predicting Excellency's "utmost success w> personal, and would consist of an a fortunate escape from the country.' is the first disparaging notice we ha of Captain Grey as Governor of New land. In the memorial of the New Zt Company to Sir Robert Peel, dated May* the Directors complain that thei cent accounts inform them that his Excel! *' has been entirely absorbed by the im diate difficulties of his position, which tirely preclude him from giving any attenti to questions of more permanent impc tance," and they urge that- "the task « laying the foundations of free institutions i New Zealand can only be commenced witi effect here, and when the principles of a better system have been determined by the Government at home, the completion of the details of the work can only be executed satisfactorily if intrusted to one who shall be selected for that duty, and sent out to the colony fully impressed with the vietcs and feelings of those with whom the plan has originated." And in the Report of the Special Committee of Directors appointed to consider Mr. Wakefield's plan, (dated 21st April,) the necessity of the substitution in the place of Captain Grey of another Governor, one whose " course should be impressed on him by full and frequent personal communications which shall leave on the subordinate no doubt as to the spirit and intentions of his principal, and enable the latter to satisfy every doubt and clear up every misapprehension that might interfere with the most efficient realization of his intentions," is fully dwelt upon. The same insidious attempt to disparage and undermine Captain Grey, before anything definite was known of his intentions and plans, was repeated in the 20th Report of the New Zealand Company of the 20th May, where it is said that " instead of relying upon reports which may come from Governor Grey as a means of assisting in the solution of the questions which we have submitted to her Majesty's Government, we believe that he has been compelled by his instructions, to commit himself to a policy for which it is necessary that the imperial Government should promptly substitute one of a totally different character." These eddies on the surface indicate the -working of the undercurrent. From these dates and facts we may reasonably infer that the New Zealand Company have been earnestly labouring to procure the substitution, in the place of Capt. Grey, of some Agent of their own, fully cognizant of their views and impressed with their spirit, on whom they could implicitly rely in the prosecution of their plans. The idea seemed at the time too chimerical to be seriously entertained, but we confess that this charge of the Principal Agent's, coupled with the rumours industriously circulated since the arrival of the Hope, gives to it an appearance of probability. We leave our readers to form their own judgment on these facts and of the candour which could invent the charge against this journal, preferred by the Principal Agent to divert attention from the real workers of the mischief. We again challenge him to prove his assertion or retract the calumny. .We can assure him there is no " mistake in the present case" about the feeling generally entertained by the settlers towards the New Zealand Company ; on the contrary, we believe that no article published in any journal in this settlement has ever given such unqualified satisfaction as the answer contained in our last number to the letter of the Principal Agent

On Sunday morning the barque Clara sailed for London via Sydney, with a cargo of oil, whalebone, and wool, exports from this settlement, of the total estimated value of £6000. The number of bales of wool shipped on board the Clara amounted to 151 or about 32,0001b5., which taken at the average value here amounts to £1333. The clip of wool this year will, it is confidently expected, greatly exceed the amount of last year's produce, and will form an important item in the exports of this settlement. The Clara being nearly full will be detained but a short time at Sydney before proceeding on her homeward voyage.

The Military and Naval officers stationed in Wellington who were engaged in the campaign in the North, celebrated the anniversary of the capture of the Ruapekapeka Pa, by a dinner at Barrett's Hotel on Monday eveaing last. Brig. Major Reid, 99th regt., was in the chair, and Lieut. Kane, of H.M.S. Calliope, was vice-chairman ; among the guests were Captain Stanley, of H.M.S. Calliope, Lieut,-Col. M'Cleverty, and Major Last, 99th regt.

The Gipsy spoke, 28th December, 1846, on her way to the East Coast, off Cape Turnagain, the American ship Ohio, Webb, master, with 2000 barrels black oil, and 140 barrels sperm; bound to the N.W. next season.

The Cook's Strait Almanack is now published and ready for delivery. In addition to its usual contents, an Epitome has been added of the occurrences of the past year, and a Directory for the Southern settlements, with a list of Government Officers, Magistrates, &c, fee.

Wellington Savings Bank. — Mr. R. R. Strang, Mr. R. Stokes, Mr. Tankersley, and Mr. H. St. Hill, the Managers in rotation, will attend to receive deposits at Mr. Ross's office, from seven to eight o'clock on Saturday evening, the 16th Jan., 1847, and at the Union Bank of Australia, from twelve to one o'clock on Monday forenoon, the 18th January.

On the principle of bearing bath sides of the question, we have extracted from the Nebon Examiner Mr. Fox's answer to Dr. Greenwood's letter on the subject of the claims of the Nelson settlers on the New Zealand Company, which was republished in the New Zealand Spectator : —