New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Saturday, September 15, 1849.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume V, Issue 430, 15 September 1849, Page 2

New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Saturday, September 15, 1849.

The disappointment caused by the admitted failure of their last demonstration appears to have excited in an unusual degree the rancorous spirit of our opponents, and in their blind rage they assail with unscrupulous and bitter invectives all who differ from them and are opposed to the tyranny they desire to establish in the name of liberty. As usual their impotent malice betrays them into such glaring inconsistencies and contradictions, that one- half of what they advance seems written for the purpose of neutralizing what they had previously asserted. Under such circumstances it cannot excite surprise that we should become the subject of their attacks, and before adverting to some of their other statements, we may briefly dispose of their answer to our observations in last Saturday's Spectator. In referring again to the resolutions which have been put forth by Dr. Featherston, the framer of them, as an elaborate attack upon Sir George Grey, our object was to show the gross injustice and unfounded nature of that part of the 9th resolution relating to the Resident Magistrate, who is stated "to have been allowed by the Government to pocket the whole proceeds of the Native Reserves amounting to nearly £400 as a commission for the bare act of receiving it ;" — thereby insinuating that that officer had misappropriated the public money with the connivance of the Government. We showed that the Agent for the Native Reserves at Wellington, by the selection of reserves and other services, was entitled to the compensation he claimed which, we believe, is less than the amount he was entitled under the previous agreement to receive. It may b% as well to observe that, at the time of his appointment (at which period the chief labour in selecting the country lands was executed) Mr. St. Hill held no office under the Government, and although he was gazetted Sheriff some time afterwards that office had no salary attached to it. It appears that the sum of two hundred pounds was awarded to the estate of the late Mr. Thompson j as compensation for his services as Agent of j the Native Reserves at Nelson, which office he held during a period of, we believe, j about eight months together with that of j Police Magistrate to which was attached a salary of £300 a year. The selections of the j Town reserves were made by him by direction of Government, pievious to his appointment as Agent, in his capacity of chief officer j of the Executive at Nelson, and although the Faction appear to be highly indignant at " the calumny " of Mr. M'Donald's having received public money, yet, considering Mr. M'Donald's position as Mr. Thompson's representative this sum would virtually be re-

ceived by him ; and our object was to show that while the Agents of the Native Reserves at Wellington and Nelson were both compensated for their services, theframer of these resolutions in selecting Mr. St. Hill for the subject of his misrepresentations, must have been influenced mainly by the desire of gratifying his personal resentment; it being practically of very little consequence whether Mr. M'Donald claims the sum of two hundred pounds in his own name or in that of another, since the money will eventually find its way into his own pocket. We lay no claim to the authority of being, as this writer assents, the Government organ, of possessing the exclusive confidence of the officials, or of having access to peculiar sources of information. In the expression of our unbiassed opinions, for the mosf part, we give an honest but independent support to the Government because, with the great body of the colonists, we acknowledge the benefits conferred by Sir George Grey on the colony, and conceive the general scope of his policy calculated to promote its prosperity, while in common with them we feel disgusted at the reckless calumnies and the unprincipled means to which the leaders of the Faction resort to obtain their selfish ends, and their attempts to gratify their private resentments under the mask of public spirit. These men refer with approbation to Mr. Wakefield's recent work on colonization ; he appears, in anticipation, to have depicted with graphic force their course of proceeding when he describes the rancour of colonial politics, and the unbridled license of the colonial press under the direction of such unscrupulous partisans. In reference to the concluding paragraph of this writer, who attributes to our personal dislike of Mr. M'Donald our strictures on his conduct published in the Spectator of February 28th last, it is sufficient for us to observe that the truth and justice of our observations were generally felt and acknowledged, and were sufficiently confirmed by the miserably weak defence which his friends thought it necessary to put forward on his behalf. Our remarks had the effect, if we may judge from his subsequent conduct, of moderating the ardour of his politics, and we have little doubt, they have contributed in some degree to his present promotion, as his friends would represent it, although from the anxiety of the Faction to make a demonstration in his favour, and their extreme mortification at its failure, together with the reluctance exhibited by Mr. M'Donald at having this sudden honour thrust upon him, we should imagine he must feel disposed to exclaim "Another such promotion and I shall be ruined." Our observations on this point have extended to greater length than we at first intended, and from the space occupied by the important and interesting communication of Mr. E. G. Wakefield, we must reserve to another opportunity our remarks on the article which immediately follows in the Independent, and which may be considered as an apology for the failure of the dinner, since it would be impossible within our present limits, and at the end of an article, adequately to expose its stupid malignity or to indicate, however briefly, the contradictions it involves. We may ask however why, among the toasts given at the dinner at the Wellington Hotel, the Liberty of the Press has been omitted from the published list. Is it because Mr. Fox finds his constant cant about the privileges of freemen, of which the liberty of the press is one of the most valuable, somewhat inconsistent with his practice in his recent attempt to burk the Otago News ? or is he desirous, if possible to prevent the revival of unpleasant reminiscences, of explanations demanded, but which it was found convenient to withhold ? The toast of " Responsible Government and Dr. Featherston" must have been intended as a joke, having no doubt been given at an advanced hour in the evening, when the bottle had circulated freely and the mirth grew fast and furious, and serves by the anticlimax to illustrate Napoleon's memorable saying, that from the Sublime to the Ridiculous there is but one step. ,

A dressing case was discovered by Mr. Tankersley near his farm on the opposite side of his road, amongst the bushes, as he was driving some cattle on Tuesday morning ; he left them and went and informed the police, one of whom immediately accompanied him back and took possession of it. An attempt had been made to break open the dressing case by the heel, as there are marks of a heel tipped with iron, and not succeeding it appears as if it had been smashed by breaking in the bottom of the case ; everything was taken away except a pair of razors and some of the bottles, and the case completely destroyed. Thursday afternoon a Maori in the employ of Mr. Bethune passing by near his master's house saw amongst the bushes a blue shirt, and on picking it up discovered that it was folded round something ; on unfolding it he found a little trinket box, some of the articles of the 'dressing case, and £14 in notes ; all the articles of the above property were takea from Capt. Smith's house in the late robbery.