New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK’S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Wednesday, February 18, 1852.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 683, 18 February 1852, Page 3

New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK’S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Wednesday, February 18, 1852.

If Mr. Fox's account of Auckland is so little trustworthy, his assertions with regard to the pensioner villages are still more reckless. In his opinion the whole scheme is a costly failure, the blame resting with the Colonial office and Sir George Grey. It is amusing to note the dogmatic way in which Mr. Fox decides that the villages “in a military point of view are altogether useless.” In opposition to so great an authority we may observe that the several sites were selected by the Governor, with due regard to a military point of view, after consultation with the military authorities. They are thus described in Sir George Grey’s despatch : —

“ They occupy important natural positions, and are all arranged along a line of defence which completely shuts Auckland in, and commands the passes to the Town from the Southern portion of this Island, one village being thrown 111 advance of the others, so as to occupy the portage between the Manakau harbour and the Tamaki river,”

M. Fox further states. “ I found the

largest of these villages (Howick) located fifteen miles from Auckland, on a bare and poor soil, without a stick of firewood within many miles, remote from any employers of labour, and separated from them and from Auckland by an unfordable river.” With the exception of the unfordable river between the village and Auckland, every assertion in the last quoted paragraph is untrue. Howick is not fifteen miles from Auckland, the soil is anything but poor, there is plenty of firewood and large timber within a short distance, and there are employers so close as not to necessitate the crossing of the river. In opposition to Mr. Fox’s account, we may quote the following description, written in November, 1847, when the site of Howick was first selected :— “ We landed on the East bank of the Tarn ki, about half a mile from the entrance; we there found the Bishop; we walked over to the site selected for the village, distant about one mile from the river in a straight line from where we landed. The country is broken up into vallies with gentle slopes, steep gullies opening close to the shore; the soil is very fertile, without trees, and the cattle which have been running over the country have destroyed most of the fern, and grass is fast covering the land. This fertile undulating country, well watere.l by small rivulets, is bounded on the west by the Tamaki, and to the ea»t by ranges thickly clad with timber.”

When Mr. Fox asserts that " reports of actual starvation among the inhabitants of Howick weie circulated in the Auckland papers,” we presume he alludes to the statements of the Southern Cross, a paper about as reputable and conducted with the same malignant hostility to the Government as the Wellington Independent under Mr. Fox’s management.

Mr. Fox says “ the pensioners are for the most part considerably beyond the middle period of life,” here he is again wrong. The number of pensioners on the Ist December, 1849, was 415 ; out of this there were :— 6 men aged 30 and under 35 years 29 „ „ 35 ~ „ 40 „ 191 ~ „ 40 „ „ 50 „ 2 above 50

Mr. Fox then accuses Sir George Grev of wilfully misrepresenting the progress made by the pensioners “ towards comfort and compe:enee,” as reported in his despatch 9th Feb. 1850, wherein he says, in reference to the return accompanying it, “ that in addition to their cottages and gardens, &c., they have three horses and 171 head of cattle among them.” “ From which,” says Mr. Fox, “ he leaves it to be inferred that these are the results of their own exI ertions and industry. It appears, however, upon looking carefully into the appended report, that all, or nearly all, the live stock mentioned has been purchased for them by the Government, which has made an advance of money for the purpose amounting to £857.” In this assertion Mr. Fox shews an evident desire to damage, if possible, Sir George Grey’s character for veracity, but the blow only recoils upon himself. In the return alluded to the sum of £857 is shewn in the column headed “ amount of advance for stock, &c.” Now Mr. Fox could hardly have been ignorant of the fact that this amount comprised the severalsums advanced under the following regulation : —“ Each pensioner will, on entering to possession of his cottage and land receive such an advance of money as may be found necessary to be applied, under the direction of his officer, in providing articles of furniture, cooking utensils, stock, &c,, as may be requisite.” To have quoted this would not have answered his purpose, but he cunningly thinks to strengthen his own statement by falsely asserting, almost in direct terms, that the return had been carefully looked over by him and that he had found “ that all or nearly all the live stock mentioned had been purchased for them by the Government.” Now we find, “ upon looking carefully into the appended report,” that even supposing the whole amount had been advanced to purchase stock only, it would not have covered the value taking the cattle at £6 per head and the horses at £2O each. We further find that in one settlement which had thirty-six head of cattle and three horses, the pensioners received no advance, and in another which contained no stock £192 had been advanced, which we presume was ex-

pended in the purchase of furniture, cooking utensils, &c. On this point we think we have said enough to shew that Mr. Fox has been guilty of wilful mis-statements; in fact nearly every page of his book contains either inaccuracies, gross exaggerations, or wilful mis-statements, and they follow each other with such rapidity that one is almost weary of exposing and refuting them. Thus, with regard to the expense of locating the pensioners Mr. Fox says, “ What the ultimate cost of the experiment will be it is not easy to predict. At present scarcely any returns have been made on this head, as Lord Grey complains in March, 1850.” But Mr. Fox here misrepresents as a complaint Lord Grey's request, “ I shall be glad to receive from you, at an early opportunity, a comprehensive report on the general expenditure for settling the pensioners.” As we proceed in our examination of his book we shall find that Mr. Fox in many other similar instances has tried to pervert the truth, with a view to give a colour to his mis-representations.