New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Wednesday, August 30, 1848.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 322, 30 August 1848, Page 2

New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Wednesday, August 30, 1848.

The marked reference recently made by our Northern contemporaries to what they would no doubt call " the good old times" of Capt. Fitzroy, when landscrip was sold for pots of beer, and land itself at a penny an acre, has induced us, but with a very different object, to cast a retrospective glance on that period. Nearly five years, — no inconsiderable interval in the history of a young colony, — have elapsed since the inhabitants of this settlement presented to Captain Fitzroy, on his first visit to Wellington, a Memorial embodying their principal grievances. That Memorial is now lying before us, and we refer to it lor the purpose of marking the improvement, of ascertaining the progress of the settlement since that period. The principal grievances complained of, were the unsettled state of the land question, and the insubordination of the natives, which had been still further increased by the injudicious pampering of the Local Government. These questions weie left by Capt. Fitzroy at the end of his brief and inglorious career of government more unsettled and confused than on his arrival ; if indeed he attempted to decide any of them, he by decision more embroiled the fray. These questions are now in a great measure finally disposed of, and the evils engendered by them are fast disappearing. Confidence and security have taken the place of mistrust and alarm. Peace has been established ; Crown Grants have been issued for the districts in the neighbourhood of Port Nicholson ; the native title to nearly the whole of the Southern Island has been extinguished ; roads have been formed through the settlement ; and cultivation, both by natives and settlers, has increased to a considerable extent. But while we are ready to mark the great improvements that have been made, we are compelled to admit that much remains to be done ; the land question at Taranaki, Manawatu, and Waitarapa is still unsettled, and we hope his Excellency will, duriug his stay in the south, by the final adjustment of these questions, remove these impediments to the prosperity of the settlement. It is most important to the future well being uf these settlements, that the native title in these districts should be extinguished ; we have no desire to see any undue advantage taken of the aboriginal inhabitants ; let the arrangement be made in the same liberal spirit which marked the settlement of the Porirua question, but it is necessary for the prosperity both of the natives and the settlers, that the land question should be placed on such a basis as to prevent the possibility of future disputes. The pastoral interests which have sprung in the. interval, the interests of those enterprising men who have invested a considerable amount of capital in stock, and have already created an export in wool, destined in a few years to become a staple

of the Southern Province, require that the settlement of;"this question should not be much longer delayed. ' '"' - - - Among the points affecting the. {commercial interests of this Settlement^ the "erection of a lighthouse at the entrance .01 the harbour, and the relaxation of the duties affecting the shore whale fisheries, so as to place them on the same footing with whaling ship's, were then thought worthy of especial notice. The present appears a favourable opportunity of again directing attention to these points. Our commerce is daily increasing, the number of vessels arriving at this port is much greater than at any former period, and the necessity for a good lighthouse consequently becomes greater than ever ; while the gradual decline of the shore fisheries, shows the policy of some measure, such as that then suggested, for encouraging and giving fresh vigour to this branch of trade. The science of Political Economy is now too well understood to attempt, by bounties or factitious encouragement to foster commercial enterprise; but the precarious return of capital invested iv this pursuit, and the gradual falling off which has taken place in the returns from the whaling stations during the last five years, entitle the owners of them to this measuie of justice : and we hope the subject may receive the favourable consideration of his Excellency.