NEW ZEALAND SPECTATOR AND Cook's Strait Guardian. Wednesday, April 14, 1852.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 699, 14 April 1852, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND SPECTATOR AND Cook's Strait Guardian. Wednesday, April 14, 1852.

Although we have frequently alluded to the imperfections of the Otago Witness as a vehicle for conveying abroad information in reference to the Southern Settlement, we refrained from indulging in any remarks on the very unusual and irregular manner pi which the Editorial management of that paper is conducted. We have for some time been aware that Captain Cargill, the Agent of the Otago Association, is almost the sole manager ol the Otago Witness, and through its medium has been in the habit of publicly vilifying all those who would not bend to his will, or who in any way thwarted his views. Knowing this, we arc not surprised at the very gross and unjustifiable attack made by him on the character of Mr. Kettle in the Witness ol the 6th March, the latest number received in this settlement. This gross attack springs from the vindictive feeling which Captain Cargill bears towards that gentlemen on account of some official differences which had arisen between them, and Captain Cargill is now made more inveterate because his opponent has been appointed by Sir George Grey Surveyor ol the Otago District. Every description of cowardly abuse is heaped upon Mr. Kettle’s private and public character, and against Sir George the fiery little Scotchman hurls his fiercest invectives for making the appointment. His Excellency, according to this respectable authority, is constantly making insidious attacks upon the honesty of the settlers, “ by rewarding the basest and most subservient of the community, making them tools in acts little short of

rapine.” Captain Cargill in using such language must, in truth, have lashed himself into a fury, blinding himself with rage so as to render his attack perfectly harmless. In what way Mr. Kettle is one of “ the basest and most subservient of the community ” we have yet to learnin appointing him Surveyor to the Otago Settlement Sir George Greycannotbe accused of any act of favouritism. Mr. Kettle long and faithfully served the New Zealand Company as Surveyor, has been connected, in that capacity, with the Otago Settlement from its first foundation, and continued in office with the rest of the Company’s officers up to the 31st December, 1850. After that date he continued to take charge of the Survey Department up to the end of the following year without being, we believe, in the receipt of any amount of salary. The Government found it to be absolutely necessary to have a Surveyor in the Otago District, and on the 23rd February, of this year, Mr. Kettle received the appointment with a salary of only .£2OO a year. This Captain Cargill says is rewarding “ one of the basest and most subservient:'’—Sir George Grey, in making the appointment, did nothing more than continue on the services of one who for many years was employed by the New Zealand Company. His Excellency has acted towards Mr. Kettle in every way similar to what he did to others formerly employed by the Company. Mr. Bell, Mr. Haise, and even Captain Cargill is in the service of Government. With regard to Captain Cargill, we know from very excellent authority that until he was secured by Sir George Grey in the receipt of a comfortable income from the Local Government, he was the most subservient of men, and indefatigable in exhibiting a spirit of devotion to his Excellency. His salary derived from the Company ceased on the 31st December, 1850 ; from the Ist January, 1851, he has been paid as a Government officer out of the public revenues of the settlement. Holding as he does his position from the hands of Sir George Grey, deriving as he well knows his support from what he calls an irresponsible Government, and as an officer of the Crown

bound to give every support in his power to all just and lawful measures, he on the contrary pursues a totally opposite course by holding his appointment he tacitly acknowledges his adhesion to the Government, while he loudly erics out and yells against the head ol the Government, using every possible means in his power to bring that Government into contempt and to embarrass Sir George Grey in his administration. How Captain Cargill can reconcile such conduct on his part with the moral precepts he is so fond of inculcating we are unable to conceive. In carrying on his opposition he cunningly tries to throw a veil over his proceedings, but the machinery with which he works is so clumsily designed, the disguise is so transparent, that he quite fails in the attempt. His numerous sons-in-law are the “puppets” with which he works; he pulls the strings and the passing crowd for a moment believe that the “ puppets ” speak, but a quiet listener soon detects the cracked and querulous tones of the old man hidden from view; to lay aside metaphor, we state distinctly that it is a matter of public notoriety at Otago that Captain Cargill is the author of all the abusive articles which appear from time to time in the Otago Witness, and that these articles are put forward in the name of his son-in-law Mr. Cutten; it is also as generally known that the resolutions which we occasionally see in that paper, as being passed by some kind of association, are each and all framed by Captain Cargill,—his name docs not appear, in his place he puts his eldest son. In all this there is great cowardice, if Captain Cargill is so dissatisfied with the existing state of things, if he feels so anxious to become the regenerator of his adopted country and to sweep away those evils which he believes to exist, surely the course for him to adopt would be first to withdraw from a participation in the administration of the Government which he says is so unwisely and infamously conducted, and after having freed himself from official trammels, let him throw himself into the ranks of bona fide settlers, —if they participate in his sentiments and opinions and are willing to recognise him as a leader, —and organize an opposition to the Government.

Captain Cargill next finds fault with Mr. Mantell’s appointment; this gentleman is also “ base and subservient,” and in him, if Captain Cargill is to be believed, Sir George Grey has a “ willing tool.” “ He appoints a Crown Commissioner for the land outside the Otago block. Why was there not one Commissioner for the whole ? Because Captain Cargill, the first Commissioner, could not be tampered with. Of the others there is no work too dirty for them; they therefore suit his Excellency.” It is presumed we are to infer from this passage that Captain Cargill had been tampered with, and that he had refused to perform for the Governor some “dirty work.” For our own parts we feel certain that Sir George Grey had too much at heart the interests of the Otago Settlement to have intrusted to Captain Cargill the duties which devolve on Mr. Mantell. To perform these arduous duties Captain Cargill possesses neither the mental nor physical qualifications. Mr. Mantell was commissioned to purchase the southern extremity of the Middle Island. Could Captain Cargill have performed this part of the duties? Has he had any experience among the natives ? Does he know their language, habits, prejudices, or mode of dealing ? Does he possess the physical strength requisite to endure the hardships of a life in the bush ? To all these questions we can safely answer, No. Now Mr. Mantell is in every respect well fitted for his appointment. He has a thorough knowledge of the native language. He had previously successfully negotiated, and completed the arrangements of, a most important purchase of land in the Middle Island, and has already concluded the terms for the acquisition of the district he was commissioned to purchase, a district comprising nearly a quarter of the Middle Island, and some of the finest pastoral land in New Zealand. In this matter his services have been justly appreciated, his worth is known, his knowledge of geology,—at this particular period a point of considerable importance,— will be rendered available to the Govern-

ment; in fact a better man could not have been selected for the appointment of Commissioner for the Otago District. In reviewing the respective qualifications of the two Commissioners we are forced to repeat Captain Cargill’s question, and in our turn to enquire “ Why was there not one Commissioner for the whole ? ” Why is Captain Cargill’s useless appointment of .£3OO a year continued, seeing that his mental capacity is confined to expressing in coarse language his enmity to these individuals to whom he is opposed, and his physical capabilities are such as just enable him to disport himself on an afternoon in his “ muddle farm ”.

We arc in the habit of looking for arrivals from the different settlements in New Zealand with a considerable degree of pleasure; to us it is a matter of infinite interest to note the progress, to participate in the hopes of the settlers as recorded in the local journals, and to mark the efforts made in each settlement to foster and develop its resources. But with Otago the case is widely different • there we are doomed to continual disappointment; its one newspaper invariably represents the settlement to be in a state of dissension and discord; the Otago Witness chronicles no passing events in a cheerful tone, no progress appears to be made; every man seems to be at enmity with his neighbour. The impressions which the Witness, through its perverted medium, conveys to a stranger of the settlement is really deplorable. We sincerely trust a change will speedily be made, that the family compact will be broken up, and the Otago Press issue such a paper as will correctly represent the state of public opinion in that settlement, and give all who desire it a.fair chance of being heard.