New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Wednesday, June 2, 1849.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume V, Issue 405, 20 June 1849, Page 2

New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Wednesday, June 2, 1849.

In one of the recent di bates Dr. Greenwood expressed his regret that the New Zealand Company was not represerted in the Legislative Council, that some person was not a Member of the Council who was duly authorised on the part of the Company to answer such questions, and supply such information of a public nature as the settlers were interested in and entitled to expect. The complaint was repeated on Saturday by Dr. Monro, who gave a forcible illustration of its justice in the fact that, although the Company have received Crown grants upwards of two years since for the greater part of the lands included in the preliminary sections of this settlement, and six months since for those in Nelson, no attempt has been made by them to grant titles to their purchasers, who have, as yet, no other title to show than the land orders they received when the purchase was effected. When we remember the anxiety exhibited by the New Zealand Company on this point, and the repeated and constant complaints urged by them against the Government for not issuing these grants, it might have been expected that a little more alacrity would have been shown on their part in furnishing their purchasers with titles to their lands. The position of this Province is peculiar ; with a large extent of valuable land available for cultivation and pastoral purposes in the different districts connected with Wellington by means of roads formed at the expenCk 1 of the Government, they are yet likely to remain for many years unproductive of any advantage to the settlement because they have been handed over by the Government to the Company, who will probably be too much engaged in their land speculations to the South to pay much attention to the wants and interests of this settlement. Our great want is more labour of every kind, particularly of agricultural labour, and at least two thousand souls (including men, women and children) might annually be added to the population by means of emigra ion, with the greatest advantage to the settlement and to the new comers. But although the Company have been so materially a-sisted by the Government in the loan of upwards of a quarter of a million of money, and the whole of the Southern portion of New Zealand has been placed under their control, in the expectation that they would actively renew their functions as agents for promoiing emigration to this colony, there is not the slightest immediate prospect that our wants will be supplied through their means, and their apologists can only urge in excuse, that the fund which ought to supply this labour is not wasted, because it is not employed. But it is obvious that the means of the settlers are wasted in the advanced wages they have to pay, because no attempt is made to maintain a due proportion between capital and labour, and the settlement languishes for want of additional hands to develop? its resources. During this interval the greatest amount of emigration on record has taken place from the British shores, and if some attempt had been made to divert a portion of tbi3 stream, however small, to this colony by assisting the voluntary emigrant, the money which has remained unemployed would have been beneficially expended, and we should have received our own again with usury.

A meeting of the members of the Evangelical Alliance, which was numerously attended, was held on Monday evening in the Scotch Church, for the purpose of memorialising Earl Grey against the introduction of Exiles into this colony. The chair was taken by the Rev. J. Watkin, and the several speakers agreed in strongly condemning any attempt to convert New Zealand into a penal settlement. The following memorial was unanimously adopted, and will be forwarded to the Wesleyan Missionary Society for presentation to the Secretary of State for the Colonies :—: —