SIR JOHN PAKINGTON. [From the Times.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 736, 21 August 1852, Page 4

SIR JOHN PAKINGTON. [From the Times.]

There is no appointment in Lord Derby's Cabinet which has given occasion to more unfavourable criticism than the strange caprice of fate which has entrusted to a gentleman, "hitherto principally known at quarter sessions, the sovereignty over the forty-four'colonies of Greatßritain. The transmission from, discussing publichouse licenses and punishing poachers, to the obscure and stormy- politics of so many remote and discontented communities, is certainly rather violent,, besides that there- are not wanting those w.ho assert that the' appointment of Sir John Pakington is a pledge to the West Indian interest that the. -Ministry are prepared to prevent that decrease in the protection- of' sugar which is about to come into operation. Adhering to the rule which we have laid down for ourselves' of prejudging nothing, and estimating impartially the merits of the Ministry by their actio.ns rather than by their antecedents, vre deprecate any attempt to prejudice the public mind unduly against the new Colonial Secretary. Certainly we' have no reason to suppose that be has ever devoted much* attention to the complicated duties be has undertaken, and. we have- no difficulty in assuming that he is- utterly unequal to the discharge of one- twentieth part of those claims which so many •and such varying interests make upon the time of the Colonial Minister. But hare we ever had, or are we ever likely to have. aSecretary of State for the Colonies of whom the same thing cannot with- truth' be said ? Has any. one. eve.r. yefheld the seals who w,as not to a considerable degree wanting, not- only in that -local knowledge of the

colonies, which nothing but a perional visit can impart, but also even -in that le^ accurate and satisfactory information which js derived from-Par-liamentary blue books, and the accounts of travellers 1 So long as we choose to govern our colonies by a centralised despotism, exercised by persons who have never set foot on the. shore of any of them, and who are not brought up to the business, ignorance in the governing-person must be unavoidable, and the question, c«n only be qne of amount "and degree. Every Colonial Minister, under our present system, is necessarily | unfit for, and unqualified to the office he undertakes. It is the faujt of the system mare than the individual, that we choose to take, upon ourselves the. government of people who know their own interests much belter than we can teacb them, and that, being" resolve^ on this last folly, we follow-it up by the second absurdity of requiring from a single person duties which, divided among several, would still- be inadequately performed. A Colonial Minister may know more, and be able to discourse more plausibly about colonies than the gentlemen whom he encounters either in society or in Parliament, but this would avail him little — nay, would be a positive disadvaatage — if it induced him to rely on his judgment, and believe that he is, therefore, able to intermeddle successfully in their affairs. No. knowledge^ less than that possessed, by, the colonists themselves will do this, and that knowledge it is quite certain no Colonial Minister can, or ever will, possess. .Placed at such unavoidable disadvantage in the execution of his office, the_ Colonial Minister has three courses of action open for his adoption. He may either follow his own judgment ; he may attend to that of the clerks "of the Colonial Office ; or, lastly, he may consult the wishes of the colonists themselves. The first we apprehend to have been the course pursued by Earl Grey, who, with very considerable knowledge of colonial affairs, and great confidence in his own judgment, has left behind hjm a reputation which the least skilful of his successors has no occasion to envy. We cannot suppose that our new Colonial Secretary, who can scarcely have acquired even a rudimentary knowledge of the subject, is likely to fall into the first of these errors. H-is choice will be between suffering himself to be guided implicitly Jiy the bureaucracy, of which he is the nominal head, or by the opinions of the colonists themselves. The first of these courses is the easiest and most natural ; the second has little to recommend it be- [ yond its. justice and expediency.- The permanent officials of tHe Colonial Office find their interest — nay their very existence — involved in perpetuating the present system of centralised despotism, j in withholding that,, self-government often promised, often nominally bestowed, but — except in the case of America — never really given. Able and well informed, useful and dexterous, as these i gentlemen are, the prevalence of their influence i over the Colonial Minister bodes little good to the consolidation of our empire, or the extension of our commerce. The Colonial Office point of ! view is neither imperial nor colonial, itisbureauc. atic, and requires the continuance of our sent mischievous system of meddling, not. for the sake of the colonies, nor of the mother country, but for the sake of th*ose into whose hands the management of that system almost necessarily devolves. Sir John Pakington must, we should think, enter office with one great advantage over his predecessors — a thorough consciousness of his own ignorance. If he be wise, be will make this consciousness his guiding principle, and seek information, not from the subordinates of his office, whose interest it is to keep him in a state of perpetual minority and tutelage, but from the data which will be furnished him by the numerous remonstrances and addresses of the colonists themselves. From these he will learn that however excellent may be the arguments by which the Home Government has sought to justify its interference with the domestic concerns of the colonies, that interference has been uniformly re,garded by those best informed and most interested as a source of unmixed evil. He cannot possibly hope to carry out this sys tea* with better success than men who, like Lord Grey, or bis official chief Lord Derby, have been for years at the head • of colonial affairs ; but he can, if he will, do better than they, for he can remit the decision to the colonists themselves, and while disembarrassing himself, obtain credit, by placing power in in the hands best able, to wield it, Thu.s, our new Colonial Secretary will find that the policy of the Home Government and the opinions of the Australian colonists have been running, in precisely opposite directions — the one tending to a high, the other to a low price -of colonial lands ; and he will also find the question additionally complicated by the recent discoveries of gold, which render prompt resolutions, taken' on the spot, absolutely necessary. Under these circumstances lie will not, if be be, wise, embarrass himself with the complicated question relating to , Australian lands, which it.would require months to master and deal with, but will decide at once to remit the whole decision of the question, with which no authority on this side of the g]ohe is competent to deal, to the Governors, ari,d Gouncils of the respective colonies. So, also, with regard to. New Zealand, he will be content to delegate to an assembly, formed by representatives of the several colonies, that power of; legislation which Lord Grey has already exercised, and been obliged to recal. In the Cape the application of the principle may be more, difficult ; but, as, it is easy to see that the struggle must end. in leaving the. defence of, the- colony, to the colonists themselves, it, is. right that their opinions should be. as speedily expressed and treated with- as much deference, as possible., Wtbere-he r feels himself ignorant, a " man ,of - sense .would, seek the advice of those best able to counsel,- and; least disposed ' to deceive biro;r and . would throw uppn them those responsibilities for which he. ought to feel utterly unprepared*.. If -Sir John Pakington adopt this course, his very ignorance will have- made "him a valuable servaut- to his country; if he shrink from its adoption, he has no choice but to surrender himself into the hands of subordinate, officials, who .will lead- him through a:course discreditable to himself, to conclusions injurious to the. welfare^ of- the colonies, and the stability of the Empire.