New Zealand Spectator AND COOK’S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Saturday, February 8, 1851.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 576, 8 February 1851, Page 2

New Zealand Spectator AND COOK’S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Saturday, February 8, 1851.

As we anticipated, Mr. Fox and his party have tried to make the most of what they consider a victory, and having left no stone unturned to obtain their ends—having staked every thing on the issue—they “ snatch a fearful joy,” while in a mingled strain of effrontery and falsehood they recount their success. We shall not waste the time of our readers in exposing the calumnies which have been so industriously circulated by this party, with reference to the late meeting, since they are so transparent as to carrv with them their own refutation, neither shall we notice their coarse personalities which are beneath contempt, but proceed to consider the effects of their “ victory” in the spirit of reaction which their dishonest practices have provoked, and which sufficiently proves with what little truth they pretend to represent the sentiments of the community. The Protest, which appears in our present number, in a clear and temperate manner states the principal objections against the Report adopted at the late meeting. Though at first intended merely to embody the sentiments of those at the meeting who formed the minority, it has met with such general acceptance that in less than fortv-eight hours it has received the signatures of upwards of 230 persons, and if time had permitted would, we believe, have been the most numerously and respectably signed public document which has ever been put forth as expressing the opinions of the settlers. The only objections we have heard made to it are that, instead of representing (as it states) the opinion of the minority, it really expresses the sentiments and wishes of the great majority of ths settlers in this district, and that it doe° not, in sufficiently strong terms, disavow Mr. Fox as representing the opinions and wishes of the settlers. It has been a spontaneous movement. No one connected with the Government has been allowed to sign it, nor has any one under age been permitted to attach his signature to it, as was the case with the petition in 1849 of which so much has been said by the Faction, in which numerous instances occurred of its being signed bv children, and by persons who signed under fictitious names. It has not been, like the resolutions, carried amid the noise and confusion of a packed meeting, but is the deliberate act of men who have first carefully read it over before signing it. The settlers of the Hutt have also, we understand, got up a memorial on the spur of the moment, repudiating the report of the Association, and expressing their confidence in Sir George Grey’s administration and their just appreciation of the benefits he has conferred upon them, contrasting the substantial comforts and prosperity which are diffused throughout that district, with the anarchy confusion and bloodshed which prevailed on his first assuming the Government of the colony. The Natives also, keen observers of passing events, finding the discussions amongst the settlers tending to changes in the Government,—as British subjects, and as contributing to the revenue,—claim to be heard, and deprecating any change, enumerate the advantages they enjoy in the & a vuotumo sueauny gaining ground among them, in the diffusion of the blessings of religion, the spread of education, the improvement of their dwellings, the care fortheir sick, the introduction of horses and cattle amongst them, and the extension of the culti vation of wheat and other employments which provide th.e means nrmcf-nni- r VWUUVUHV lOr

them, and promote the benefits lesulti™ from commercial intercourse between th two races;—they also claim to be heard in [ a matter so nearly affecting their interests I and having every reason to be entirely Batis ’ fied with the policy which has ap prove( j' [ itself so beneficial to their best interests I unhesitatingly declare their confidence i a the Governor, and are not disposed “t 0 I meddle with them that are given to change-’’ And here, in briefly referring to the Reso. j lutions, we may point out the gross ig no< | rance and reckless audacity of assertion t which disgrace the framers of them. While | they presume to talk of the total ignorance I of the Natives on ” almost every subject I which qualifies for the exercise of political | rights,” and confidently, predict the extinc- | tion of their race before they become “ asa | body sufficiently enlightened for the excr. I eise of political privileges,” —the native; I shew their discrimination by reposing | plicit confidence in him who (by the result; I of his policy) has proved himself a master g in the art of wisely governing, and repudj. [ ate with contempt the sciolists who claim I “ the absolute control of all the internal af. B fairs of the colony, without any interference I on the part of the Imperial Government,” Ott | the ground that those who are on the spot! must necessarily be better able to under. I stand the wants and manage the affairs oil the colony than the Home Government some | 16,000 miles off, and while they desire to have I the exclusive control of the public purse and; management of the wastelands, they vet | refer to the Home Government the solution | of the greatest difficult;,-, as connected with i the future Constitution of New Zealand;-? the extent, namely, to which the natives j should be entrusted with political power,— • clearly admitting thereby their own inability | to grapple with it. = — i More than a fortnight has elapsed since we* gave an account of the malversation which, | under the name of compensation, had been i committed by Mr. Fox at Nelson, in his ca- | pacity of Principal Agent of the Company, i and related at some length the particulars of the Duppa Compensation Job, a transaction in every respect so discreditable, that Mr. Fox was bound, if he had the slightest regard for his character, or could urge anything in justification of his conduct, to endeavour before leaving the colony to vindicate himself from an imputation of so grave a nature. And it was the more naturally to be expected that Mr. Fox, who has ahm, been a vehement declainier against abuses real or pretended, should, when arraigned at the bar of public opinion, as a man of the people shew his respect for that tribunal byentering into some explanation or vindication of his conduct; as a reformer of abuses he should in his public life not only be unsuspected but, like Caesar’s wife, be above suspicion. He has maintained a guilty silence, and the public on his own shewing are fully justified in believino- the charges brought against him to be well founded. It is notorious at Nelson that Mr. Fox, who is intimately mixed up with Mr. Duppa in his sheep and cattle speculations, and is generally believed to be his partner was, on his last visit there, in constant and daily communication with Mr. Duppa, is said to have been in the room when the award was made by the arbitrators, and that he allowed the scrip awarded to Mr. Duppa to be forthwith exchanged for a compact block of 8000 acres of land at Wairau. Nor is this all, since it is also well known that two of the most valuable runs in the Wairau have been let to Mr. Duppa although disquaiiucu cn, the time from holding them by the regulations of the Company, to the prejudice of those settlers whose interests were affected by the preference shewn ’him. It is also well known that recent instances have occurred of Dersons arriving at Nelson who had purchased from the Company before leaving England suburban lots of 25 acies, and who, from all the land of any value near the town having been divided amongst the resident land owners in the shape of compensation, could not obtain any land for their orders.

This question involves very serious consequences, especially to the working classes and country settlers, those men who by their industry hope to make themselves masters of a few acres of land. By the arrangement of the British Government with the Company, to which the settlers were not consenting parties, and in which they have never been consulted, the sum of £268,000 is charged on the land revenues of the colony with interest at 3| per cent, to be paid to the Company, and forms a debt which mustbepaidbythern ortheirchildren. Andy®" the working man, while thus obliged by this arrangement to pay for the land which he i* notpermitted to occupy, sees the portions of the district made over, under oa® pretence or other, to the friends of the Principal Agent, and if he desires to become t e possessor of a few acres he must submit to pay

the enhanced price caused by this monopoly. 1 He pays twice for his land, once in his con- a tribution as a member of the community, I to the payment of the £268,000 to be made a to the Company, and again when purchasing a at an enhanced price the land that has thus s been so profusely given away. A heavy c debt is saddled on the colony, and the land i fund out of which it should be paid is dissi- s pated and diverted to the benefit of private c individuals; s But a more serious charge must be made against Mr. Fox who, growing despe- s rate and utterly reckless of the consequen- ( ces of his conduct, it is said, absolutely with- < holds from the Government all the plans, ’ maps, and records belonging to the New Zealand Company in his charge as their Agent, or offers access to them on such terms as he knows the Government ought not to accept. In his desire to thwart and set the Government at defiance he is willing to bequeath to the settlers, as his parting legacy, an amount of embarrassment and confusion, it is frightful to contemplate, and is perhaps at this moment laying the foundation of endless litigation. All the delays and disnutes occasioned by the course he has chosen to adopt, all the expense consequent on the measures to be taken by the Aommont to provide a remedy for these serious evils, must ultimately be borne by I the settlers. Instead of receiving Crown Grants for their lane s, they have the prospect before them of a fresh succession of | endless delays for which Mr. Fox alone must be held responsible. This last act involves such serious consequences as to create the suspicion that Mr. Fox, reckless and unscrupulous as he has shewn himself, would hardly venture on such a step unless prompted by secret instructions from the Company, who are nerhaps trying by such an unprincipled course to wring from the Government further concessions, or he may be afraid of too ! strict a scrutiny in the doings of the Land ; Office, and hopes in this way to prevent enquiry. However this may be, the fact of Mr. Fox’s withholding these plans cannot ; fail to excite in the minds of the settlers ; feelings of the strongest indignation, and | they will be disposed almost to wish that i the Government were really despotic, as ' Mr. Fox asserts, and could compel him by ; a summary exercise of authority to aban- . don the course he is pursuing. I —. . _ s A Deputation consisting or Messrs. R. Hart, W. Cooper, R. J. Duncan, James I M'Beth, W. Spinks, and J. M. Taylor waitI ed upon his Excellency Sir G. Grey this | morning, for the purpose of presenting him | with the following Protest to the resolutions I passed at the meeting on Monday last: — | “ The questions raised at the late Public 1 Meeting are of so much importance, that 1 it becomes the duty of the minority to ■ place their views on record. In full confi- ® deuce that if the following propositions are H correct, they will in time influence the opig nions of those settlers who have decided in 8 opposition to them, the undersigned dissent gg from the conclusions arrived at by the late I Public Meeting :— || 1. Because, while they claim the right of || the settlers to manage their own local affairs, Ij they believe that it is impolitic to place aterritory equal in extent to Great Britain at ■;A the uncontrolled disposal of a Council elect- ® ed by and out of a population not exceeding St that of a large country parish in the mother • country. 2. Because it is unjust to submit the | affairs of seventy thousand British subjects one r3.ee f’he s.bsolute direction and 1 control of twenty thousand British subjects gjof another race, whose interests maybe and J|g a re opposed to them. i 3. Because it is discreditable to the le- ; gislative abilities of the principal settlers gßthat the question, confessedly of the greatbest difficulty, and upon which of all others S connected with the subject of a Constitution Mor New Zealand, information is most deli sired by the British Parliament, viz., the Hlextent to which the aboriginal race should .Jbe entrusted with political power, is evaded ifirather than solved, while the extent of the ®powers claimed for the colonists renders SS still more imperative the duty of ascertainMl'ngatid defining those to be exercised by wgthe natives. | 4. Because sufficient evidence has not been ■produced to establish the facts alleged in the Resolutions, that owing to causes over w hich thecolonists have no control, the native . grace is fast becoming extinct, and that there HH 1S no prospect of their becoming as a body enlightened for the exercise ol -“v.uui pr/ncg-ca uuiuiu ptuvd Ui ! shall arrive. Respecting the I -Australian Colonies, the dispersion and destruction of the Kangaroo and Emu, heretofore the principal food of the Natives the insuperable difficulty of training the Natives to the arts of civilized life maj Rord some foundation for such statements

But in New Zealand already considerable

advances in these arts have been made by Natives in the management of their own affairs ; when correct information has been

afforded to them, they have exhibited considerable ability, and as they undoubtedly contribute towards the revenue, and possess rights which require to be protected, it seems but reasonable that on the decision of questions affecting those rights they should be fairly represented. 5. Because the term Waste Lands is not sufficiently definite, and while the Mothercountry is at the expense of protecting the | colony, the British Parliament ought to possess some control over the mode in which the Waste Lands are to be disposed of. 6. Because the period of two years for the duration of the respective chambers is amply sufficient to test the qualifications of members thereof, and any longer period would put too much power-into their hands. 7. Because the independence of the J udges is of far more importance than the solution of questions arising out of the distinction between subjects for imperial and local legislation, and the right of appeal to Her Majesty’s Privy Council more needful in the one case than the other.

8. Because examples are not wanting to show the probability that whenever the disposal of Waste Lands is intrusted to a class, the interests of that class alone will be consulted. The experience of other colonies has established the fact, that grants of large tracts of land, ostensibly for grazing Cattle and Sheep, tend to enhance most grievously the price of portions required for agriculture.

And lastly, because upon the grave questions of what burden should be imposed upon the Colony in consequence of the dissolution of the New Zealand Company the settlers are altogether unrepresented; and Mr. Fox, the gentleman deputed to present the Resolutions adopted by the late Public Meeting, from the circumstance of his having been for a time the Principal Agent of that Company, is precluded from advocating the interests of the settlers in reference to those questions.”

The Protest was accompanied by the following letter from the Deputation : — Sir,

It has been considered desirable to accompany the Protest which the gentlemen present have the honor to hand to your Excellency, with a few remarks on the way in which it was prepared. The extreme opinions expressed in the Resolutions passed at the late Public Meeting, and the belief that an impression would prevail among the friends of New Zealand in England that the settlers w T ere recklessly desirous for political power, without regard to the present or permanent interests of the Colony, have induced several persons simultaneously, and without concert, to prepare some statement, in writing, of their views. Of these statements the present document is one.

Your Excellency may form some idea of the feeling which animates the community, when assured that the greater number of the persons who have signed the present document are persons who do not ordinarilv occupy themselves with the expression of opinion on political subjects. Most of those who have signed it object to the term minority, believing that a great majority of the settlers hold similar opinions, and would have expressed them even more decisively had time allowed. All the signatures have been obtained in two days, more signatures might been obtained had the promoters of it been willing to receive those of persons in any way connected with the Government. It is also to be remarked that the whole of the signatures are those of adults who are actual residents.

The interpolation at the commencement was made by the desire of most of the persons signing, in order to prevent any misapprehension of their object. His Excellency Sir George Grey, k.c.b. Governor-in-Chief, &c., &c., &c. The Deputation explained to his Excellency that the Protest had been only eight and forty hours in preparation and that the names of two hundred and thirty settlers, many of them of the longest standing, were appended to the document, no persons not resident in the colony, or under age, or connected with the Government had been allowed to sign it, and that very few of the settlers in the Hutt had signed it, as a separate memorial, addressed to his Excellency, was in the course, of preparation in that district. The deputation requested his Excellency to forward the Protest to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, which his Excellency promised he would do by the Lord William Bentinck. The deputation then withdrew, highly gratified with their reception.

We understand that the Lord William Bentinck is now quite ready for sea, and will sail to-morrow morning. She is loaded chiefly with wool, the produce of the stations in this settlement and Nelson, and which is now becoming a considerable article of expert from the Southern Settlements. A part of the skeleton company of the depot of the 65th Regt., have embarked in her under the command of Major Wyatt, with Captain Newinham, Lieutenant M'Gregor, and Ensign Barton. The 65th Regiment I has been stationed so long in this settlement | as to be almost identified with tants, and in bidding adieu to thc’gmlant officers who are now on the eve of their departure, we seem to be losing old friends and fellow colonists.