LETTER FROM MR. E. G. WAKEFIELD TO MR. GODLEY ON THE NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT BILL. Redhill, Reigate, 7th June, 1852.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 762, 20 November 1852, Page 4

LETTER FROM MR. E. G. WAKEFIELD TO MR. GODLEY ON THE NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT BILL. Redhill, Reigate, 7th June, 1852.

My Dear Godley, — Somewhat fearful that yon may have left New Zealand before the arrival of this letter, I shall send a copy of it to Wellington with a view to publication in the newspapers -there. If the original should reach you, please to have it printed in the Lyttelton Times, I shall send witli it a copy of the New Zealand Government Bill as modified by a variety of amendments down to the time of the sailing of the JDnke of Portland. And I may as well say now, that unless 1 should write something to the con» treiy before that time, the colonists will not be over sanguine in confidently anticipating the speedy arrival of a constitution not materially different from the Bill in its present state. The measure has be^n exposed to the utmost danger ; but I believe that it may now be considered perfectly safe. 1 will briefly explain the nature of that danger. Let me premise, however, some allusion to circumstances which preceded the determination of Lord Derby's government to propose a constitution for New Zealand. For a long while before the meeting of Parliament, the only people in England who care seriously about the colony, were very busily engaged in framing the plan of -a constitutional measure, with the intention of bringing it before Parliament in case the measure which we knew that the Colonial office was preparing, should not give us satisfaction. The principal workmen at first were Mr. Fox, Mr. Weld, Mr. Henry Sewell, Lord Lyttelton, Mr. Adderley, and myself; and the first important stroke of work — the framing of a sketch or outline drift of a bill — was done at Hams. This w»s submitted to Mr. G'adstone and the Duke of Newcastle. As we had taken care to make our performance agree with their geueral opinions on the subject of colonial constitutions, they naturally approved of the scheme after we had adopted some suggestions of change pfoposed by them : and Mr. Gladstone undertook" to be ready, in cose of need, to bring the measure before the House of Commons, by moving there the resolutions drawn up by himself, of which I enclose a copy. These preparations could not be kept secret ; nor had we any motive for wishing that they 'should be. On the contrary, we wished the Colonial office to know that we should be ready with a measure to be proposed by Mr. Gladstone. They knew it and were disturbed : and hence, I, for one, believe the mention of New Zealand in the Queen's speech. In the course of our preparations, the leading features of our scheme got talked about ; and to this I attribute some of tbe best provisions in the bill which Lord Grey prepared, and of which he sent a copy to the colony. Still our influence on Downing-streer, whatever it may have been substantially, was most indirect : for Lord Grey steadily refused even to see Mr. Fox, and he never made an attempt to ascertain '*he views of anybody amongst those who know' the 'colony' and are deeply interested in its weHbeirig; Down to the time of his retirement' from power, none of ris had the least knowledge of Ue' measure which^ he had prepared. Nor, woul'd-he 'give us aliy'inumation of the time when,! Vis' bill would probably be laid before Pailia-! lioent. We wetfe in this state vf ignorance, suspense, and 'eyeful preparation for the worst, when- the cbinge'Vf 'GoVerHine'nt took place. Notwithstaud-

ing our anxieties at being relieved from the anxieties which all must feel whose dearest objects are in any way subject to the ability and resolution, combined with the immense conceit, the whimsicality, the extreme jealousy, the vile temper, and the tyrannical disposition of Lord Grey, we were far from feeling sure that the change would be good for us. The Russell-Grey government was so very weak in its latter days, that we had indulged a rather confident hope of being able to force upon them a really good measure for New Zealand, or perhaps of their being turned out by their resistance to the proposal of such a measure, with the effect of providing for the adoption of the measure by the next government. "When they elected to go out on the Militia Bill, thereby avoiding Adderley's Anti-Grey motion about the Cape, we began to tremble about the weakness of their successors. It seemed probable that a Government which began by admitting its own provisional character," would not attempt to deal with the New Zealand question this year, but would propose a further suspension of the constitution of 1846. We therefore set to work to avert that veritable calamity. By " we" I mean Fox, Adderley, Lyttehou, Sewell and myself, who were the only active labourers. By means of a deal of trouble which it would be useless to describe particularly, we arrived at the conviction that a proposal by the new Government to suspend once more the New Zealand Constitution of 1546 would be at least formidably opposed in the ] House of Commons ; and then weobtained an interview with Sir John Pakington. He was civil and explicit, telling us in a good natured way, that his too slight acquaintance with colonial matters indisposed him to sudden constituent legislation ; that be thought the colonists bad better go on for one year more without a frea constitution, than obtain one framed in a hurry; and that the strong impression of the Government was in favor of renewing for a year the existing Suspension Act. We were equally explicit, but lam afraid not very civil ; for we vehemently protested against the proposed course, and said i that we were determined to oppose by all the means in our power any further suspension of Lord Grey's Constitution. I have observed throughout our consultations and negotiations, that any mention of bringing the Constitution of 1846 into use was the sure cause of wiy faces all round. Sir John said the idea could not be entertained. We insisted that any kind of free constitution would be far better than none, and we were certain the colonists would infinitely prefer Lord Grey's Constitution to Governor Grey's despotic rule. We also declared very seriously that we had canvassed leading members of the House of Commons on the subject, and were in great hopes tbat it would not be in the power of the Government to carry a Suspension Bill. The new Minister listened with real attention, and seemed to feel for the colonists when we described the miseries of their subjection to wholly irresponsible power. The interview ended by an assurance from him that he would fully consider what we bad said, and then see us again. At the next interview, Sir John Pakington began hy informing us that he had made up his mind to attempt immediate legislation rather than leave the colonists for another year in the state we had described ; and thf»n he asked a number of questions which, gave us full opportunity of dwelling on those points of the measure indicated by Mr. Gladstone's intended resolutions,. to which we were most attached. We left him with an impression that he was sincerely desirous of serving and gratifying the colonists. The next stage I shall mention, is the appearance of the Bill in the House of Commons, after a debate from which you will have inferred that there was a general concurrence of opinion in favor of such a measure as the Minister had described in asking leave to bring in his bill. And so there was. But after a time, as the Government grew weaker and weaker from causes, any account of which would be out of place here, a form idable opposition arose, which it has cost us immense trouble to counteract. It originated with Mr. Robert Lowe, late of New South Watas, and Sir William Molesworth, who conducted it in close alliance, the one by writing in the Times, the other by his speeches in the House of Commons, and both by canvassing against the Bill among leading politicians and other n embers of Parliament. They avowed a desire to get the Bill rejected; and this is the object at which they drove. You will wonder why — for what purpose. Probably their motives were complex. We know that Mr. Lowe was the prime mover. I should be among the last to sin against that literary rule which almost forbids public allusion to a writer who chooses to print under cover of the anonymous : but then this rule is guarded by another which enjoins anonymous writers to keep their own secret, and which Mr. Low e set at nought by openly speaking beforehand and verbatim his articles in the Times. He as good as told us he was the writer of those articles. He made it equally plain to us that Sir William Molesworth was entirely influenced by him. You will see both in the Times' articles and Sir William Molesworth's speeches the very centralization for which Sydney has been so remarkable. It was the old Australasian case of Sydney versus New Zealand brought to appeal in England. As we had been wholly unprepared for this opposition to the Bill, and more especially by Molesworth, who had heretofore been a chief among the advocates of the true municipal principle of decentralization, no precautions against it had been taken ; and so the pressure for time made it truly formidable. Its formidable appearance encouraged some opposition which, I think, had the double aim of hitting the Derby party a he«vy blow, with a backhander for Mr. Gladstone, who had earnestly and ably upheld the municipal priuciple. I could not explain this point without entering fully into the state of party politics at home'; and without a full explanation it would be wrong to mention particulars with names. And it is enough for you in New Zealand to know that regard'for the colonists was not at the 'bottom of any of the opposition. Nor is it worth while to describe particularly the means by which the Lowe«Molesvorth opposition was reduced to a state of tmmlessness though I feel bound to say that I believe Moles* worth yielded to the strong and repeated represen-. tations which weie made to him that the colonists, ■would be dseply hurt in their interests and fee-lings, if his opposition shouldgo so faras to compel the. 'Government to abandon the Bill. Italso appears, only Just to remark, that Lord John Russet's ,de-j cided support of tha Bill was contrary to the in-, tercsts,of his party, as these were viewed by some, to whom I have alluded before. However, the

debate and divisions in committee last Friday, appear to have settled the question. I shall keep this letter open for a postscript in case of need after the Bill shall have been again in, committee on Thursday next. It is expected that there will be a grand row about the New Zealand Company's arrangements with Lord Grey in 1846 — 47 ; which, except as I dread any cause of< delay, at a time when hours- are- precious, should be agreeable to me as justifying my refusal to have any concern with those arrangements except that of protesting against them. This is not the time for discussing either the demerits or the merits of the 13 ill'. My own ! opi-' nron of the latter is expressed in a petition to the House of Commons, which, along with others, will be printed in the next number of the New Zea'and Journal in time for the Duke of Portland, I feel that some apology is due to the colony (no public here cares a straw about any matter relating only to the colon)) for the boastful terms used in that piece of writing. Thpy were used reluctantly, as being quite repugnant to my habitual love of keeping in the background, but very deliberately nevertheless, after consultation with good judges, for the purpose of^giving some weight to my pleading for the Bill, by es- j tablisbing a right to speak on behalf of the colonists, and a right to utter opinions about Colonial Government. The turn round against me of my old and long-faithful disciple, Molesworth, helped not a little in forcing me to assert those rights in plain English. Still' IJiave felt rather , ashamed of the egotism of my petition, and am now relieved by confessing it. That little' essay on colonial-constiiution-making alludes to the " obvious defects " of the Bill. They are indeed very obvious to its most earnest supporters. But we contend that the five best provisions of this measure, and in particular the insiitution of a distinct local government for each of the settlements, are a great step in advance towards perfection beyond the new Australian constitutions *, and we see, in the present state of opinion at home on the whole subject of colonial government, a guarantee that Parliament will be easily induced to improve this measure in accordance with the wishes of the colony as these shall be distinctly expressed by the seven representative bodies which the Constitution establishes. Virtually or substantially then, the seven representative bodies will be a constituent power : in effect, though not in form, the main point of Mr. Gladstone's resolutions is adopted. What shall be done with it, depends on the colonists themselves. The question of what is the best permanent constitution for New Zealand is removed to the place where alone it can be happily and finally settled. In the meantime, the colonists in their several and general governments will have power enough for working out a world of pracrcal good, 1 care not whether Sir George Grey remains or comes away, or who is his successor. Any Governor, not a lunatic, or, being sane, not utterly deaf and blind to the state of opinion at home on these matters, will be ready to help in giving good effect to the constituent powers virtually bestowed on the colony itself. And lam )ei. to believe that the present Colonial Minister^ will not fail tq instruct the Governor; whoever he may he, to exercise his powers with the view of giving satisfaction to the colonists : and this not merely by signing a didactic dispatch full of such instructions, according to the old fashion of Colonial Office flummery, but by making the subordinate feel that his chief is in earnest. If I am not labouring under a delusion, what more can the colonists desire for the present ? The only thing I am at all afraid of f^and of -thai^not much,) is that, as happened in Canada wheu responsible government was first established, the winners, being hardened by long misrule into a petrified hostility to the Executive and its partizans, may not be able to use their success with moderation. I feel a kind of obligation to state that in all our intercourse with Sir John Pakington, he has appeared to us sensible, desirous of pleasing, firm when he thought himself in the right, quick at picking out the truth whilst discussing subjects entirely new to him, very considerate of the feelings as well as the interests of distant colonists, rather " plucky " if the word may pass, and entirely straightforward. In particular, his whole treatment of Mr. Fox has be«n most gratifying, I must not conclude without assuring you that Fox's presence as delegate from the colony has been our chief tower of strength. Our work could not have been done without him. He has done much single-handed, by dint of intelligence, assiduity, modesty, prudence and courage. And his personal expenses in working for tbe colony have been considerable, I trust that we (and now the word " we" intimates my intention to become a New Zealand colonist in the body as soon as possible after this Bill shall have received the Royal assent) may be able to evince our gratitu ie to him in some way more substantial than by mere words of thankfulness. My last word shall be about those whom the Examiner calls "the Jesuits of the Canterbury Association." When, in 1846, Lord Grey exchang ed his championship in the cause of New Zealand for the office of Colonial Minister, and managed to spoil Charles Buller as a. Colonial Reformer, and when,.in 1846-'£7~thfe New Zealand Company sold its position at the head of Colonial Reform for a miserable money-grant from Downing Street, the cause' of Colonial Reform appeared to be dead. It was dead, and was only ' restored to life in 184.9 by yourself and friends , of yours who formed the Canterbury Association. I declare (and I ought to know all about it) that every movement for tlie reform of colonial government which liasi been made since 1848, grew out of the Canterbury Association. The Society for the Reform of Colonial Government did so altogether, and so did the efforts in Parliament which gave value to the Debates oh the Australian Governments Bill, and all Mr. Adderley's ira-? pbrtant championship for the Cape. When Mr. Fairbairn and Sir Andries Stockenstrom where here as delegates from the Cape, the Government scouted them ;' and they had no friends, no help, •'out of the Association, with. the' exception of Rintpul-and myself, who, though not members of the body which you formed, baye always co-ope-rated with; Us leaders from sympathy with their 'views of <cqlonjal .policy., Of these views Mr;j 'Gladstone lias. been -the -principal exponent. I, 'send with this some pjunpblet copies of his last speech, whjch should be read at the same time ias his intended resolutions concerning New Zealand. The Duke' o) Newcastle again, has been? an active member of the Association.' Morechapter and verse to prove my assertion with re-

spect to you* friends, would occupy top much space: but I must say 1 another word about two of. these* ••Jesuits." The first is Lord Lyttelton, whose indifference to power and fame keep in obscurity hjs singular ability and public spirit. Ever since you left England, he has made himself ai slave, to the business of promoting New Zealand [colonisation and the Reform of Colonial (Government, always- ready to give bis lime, his> whole attention, and his money without stint, to the work in hand ; and this without appearing to suppose/ tha.t he deserves the least credit for these sacrifices^ I cannot recollect another instance of equal modesty and gentle simplicity of character combined with great talents ; and with the exception of Lord Metcalfe, who did not surpass him in this respect, I have "never known a politician so unlike a Jesuit in love of truth and downrightness of conduct. The other bigoted sly boots is Henry Sewel!. When he joined the Canterbury Association, hii political mind was j that of an Oxford Tory of the Eldon school,, but j femp'ered by very high intelligence and singular amiability. He was not long in a world of co- j lonial facts without embracing the most advanced ' opinions about self-governmont for colonies : and he has now worked for two years in the good cause, with equal ardour and patience. His'rare attain* . ments as a constitutional lawyer have helped, on: 'many an effort. Without his aid and that of I Lord Lyttelton, Fox, as an all-noglected colonist wandering in" London, could have done but little. | In short, Canterbury in the Adelphi has been, i for three years, the principal workshop as well as school of Colonial Reform. &th June. . - On reading over the above,! perceive that it fails to explain sufficiently the policy which we adopted with regard to Sir John Pakington's Bill. We had no sooner seen it than we resolved to accept it as infinitely preferable to another Suspension Act, as well as to the establishment by existing law of Lord Gr'ey*s constitution in March next. We had then but one object — to help in getting it passed. Of course we could have suggested important amendments : but nothing could be plainer to us than that, in the actual slate of parties and politics, every attempt to amend the Bill would have a tendency to impede its progress an<l endanger its passing into a a law. Our chief business therefore has been to counterwork all endeavours by other people to alter the Bill. In doing this, we have sometimes opposed suggestions of change which we should have been the first to make if attendant circumstances had been different. Our cry like that of the Parliamentary Reformers in 1831, was *' the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill." If we bad taken any other course, wielding as we did the power of representing the wishes of the colony — wishes which Lord Grey has unconsciously made it a fashion to respect — the Government must have been driyen to abandon the Bill. I speak with an absolute certainty of being correct in this view. Our policy as to the whole Bill is illustrated by the queslion as to the New Zealand Company's charge on the waste lands. We object to the Company's chim as being founded on a bargain between th?m and Lord Grey in making which the colony had no voice; a bargain whereby the Imperial Government saddled the colony with the burthen of making ,<;oaipensatlon to the Company for wrongs *>f which the Imperial Government was the author and perpetrator* We also objected to certain particulars of the intended substitute for the charge of 1847 as being impolitic, and far from just even on the supposition that the colony is justly liable to pay for the misdoings of the Colonial Office and the Governors towards the Company. But if we had pressed our objections, that most valuable part of the Bill which hands over the management of waste land to the colony, would surely have been withdrawn. For the sake of the vast good, we submitted to the comparatively small evil. And this has been the ' principle of our policy with regard to the whole measure. This statement is intended to explain why, instead of joining, we have assiduously thwarted all proposers of amendments — even of those which we most approved in the abstract — whenever a proposal of .that sort seemed to endanger :he Bill or any of its bettermost provisions. This policy, you at a distance will not readily appreciate, because, having got the powers ; which the New Constitution gives, the danger of not getting them will hardly fill your thoughts as it has ours. In order to judge us fairly, you must endeavour to imagine what you would have felt if we bad reported to you, that all was lost by means of our efforts to obtain more. It is a question of price. Compare this measure with another Suspension Act, and then say if we have paid too dear for this measure by the concessions which obtained it. lam so anxious the colonists should think we have done for the best, that I wish they could undergo, as we have done, a long fear of having the Suspension Act renewed or the Constitution of 1846 put into operation. It is not from any doubt or misgiving of my own, or of any persons here that I dwell so much on this point. Ido so in order to enforce upon you at the other end, the necessity of placing yourselves in our situation as far as you can by tasking the imagination, so that your judgment may choose between the two courses that were open to us, instead of your thoughts taking the more natural direction of disregarding what has been gained to. fix upon what remains- to be acquired by your own efforts. In relation to this point, I will now state a consideration which has weighed with us more than all others. I have, said that from 1846 to 11849 the cause of Colonial, Reform was dead. New Zealand, in particular was sold to, the Colonial Office under Lord Grey and Mr. ,Hawe«, by that Direction of the Company which assumed the management _when I was . struck down by illness in July 1846. The Canterbury project restored the dead cause to life and .activity in 1849. „ But, for reasons which, shall be noticed presently, the Association resplwil months ago, to put an end to itself during the present year. When it shall disappear, there will be no organised metns of even calling public attention to colonial questions ; and then individuals who have been formed in that school, finding the public thoroughly indifferent ;to their .single effurts, rWill, fall back into, a state of indifference like that,of <the.pub]ic (j after, the New, Zealand Company ceased to agitate for great^political purposes. This state of, things, which is sure to .come about, we foresaw,distinctly. Mr. Fox could not be expepted; to devote himself for. another year to the, business 'of the colony. My own life is never worth three

months purchase. There was not the ■lighten ' prospect that anybody but Fox and myself would ' make a business of attending to the interests of. New Zealand. Therefore we eagerly snatched ' at ao opportunity, never likely to return, of getting for the colony the power of gaining all the, rest by its own efforts. We deliberately believed that if this chance were missed there might be postponement after postponement of the oft-de-clared purpose of giving New Zealand a constitution, and that the Colonial Office might manage to retain its monstrous authority over yon for years to come. It was with us a question of perhaps now or never in our time. I tell you most seriously that I know, that if. Sir John Pakington had refused to legislate, and Parliament had chosen, as it most probably would have done if the question had been kept back till near the end of the session, to renew what I may call Governor Grey's Suspension Act,, all tbe strength by means of which this legislation has been obtained, would have dissolved, never to be revived. Now choose. The Canterbury settlers will not choose on true grounds without having before them what I will now state. The Association, constitutionally an amateur body, was never intended to last long.' One of its earliest acts was that minute of Lord 1 Lyttelton's composition, which warned the colonists, even before the first expedition sailed, to 1 prepare for a transfer to the colony of the powers' 'granted to the Association.* Some of the Canterbury settlers have repeatedly and vehemently urged tbe Association to make the transfer with-, out delay. They needed no pressing on this point. They longed to be quit of a great trouble which brought them little thanks ; but the law' forbad them ; and tbey could not get the law al-' tered. AH that it war possible for them to do' in the way of transfer, was to hand over the settlement and its colonization to Do,wning-street and Governor Grey. ' Even to contemplate this' was repugnant to their ideas of right ; but letters from tbe settlement, urging them to abdicate any how, come what might, so worked upon them aa to produce a feeling of disgust towards their work ; and it has been for some time clear that if the management of its own affairs could not be obtained for the settlement by m^ans of an Act of Parliament establishing a distinct Provincial Government at Canterbury, Governor Grey and his agents wou'd be irresponsible masters of everything in the settlement early next year. As respects Canterbury, we bad to choose between Sir John Pakington's measure and seeing you governed in all things by Colonel Campbell as the agent of Governor Grey. As surely as the coming of fate this would have happened, if the resolved abdication of the Association had not been, so to speak, covered by the Pakington constitution. Now, gentlemen of Canterbury, choose for yourselves* To you, and generally to tbe people of Auck-. land, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson^ and Otago, I will take the liberty of putting a few questions by way of effering 1 a foretaste of what this constitution gives to New Zealand. Whom do you think of choosing as members of your Provincial Council ? The choice is with you alone ; and except as to the thirteen rxcepted articles of power, the men chosen by you will constitute a local parliament for your settlement. What man'aroongstyoudoyou think, rrost worthy of being elected Superintendent ? Excfpt as to • the thirteen excepted articles, he will be the Governor of your settlement 4 not a Lieutenant receiving orders from some superior at a distance, ' but the bead of your own executive responsible only to you. Who are the men amongst you most fit to compose the general parliament of New Zealand — to make laws for the general good of the Island, for adding distinctness and strength to your Provincial powers, for (if you should desire it) giving you in your own settlement the management of its own waste lands — to exercise that judgment, firmness and moderation, by which tbe Governor, representing our Queen, may be induced to exercise his authority on the Canadian plan of a ministry responsible to the colony — to make such desirable amendments of the constitution as are authorised by itself, and to obtain such other desirable amendments as may require an Act of the Imperial Legislature ? Who are the fittest men ? Think, enquire, discuss, differ, canvass, make ready to elect : the whole matter is in your unfettered bands. And compare all, this with what you now endure, and would <have endured, nobody can say how much longer, if this had not been obtained. I fancy that your ' first act on receipt of this news at eacb settlement, will be to hold a public meeting and voter an address of thanks to Sir John Pakington for having restored to you that birthright of Englishmen which under his predecessors you had forfeited by helping to extend the British Empire. Waterloo Day, 13tb June. It will be seen by this daj's London newtpapers, that the bill passed the House of Common*., yesterday, after much .squabbling aboutibe Com-, pany. I differed, from those .who, in order jto punish the Company would have withheld tbe waste land from the colonists, *nd I am glad, that they were beaten. But whilst I readily sub-. mitted to the Company's, mortgage for the sake of obtaining for the colony a general control of. the waste land,- 1 had .a bitter dislike to -the nature of the Company's charge (one-fourth of the proceeds of all land sales) and I did everything' in my power to get it altered,, even by. writing to tbe Directors (from whom I have Jong been entirely severed) pointing out to them that a charge so very unpopular, and so very open to 'evasion is quite sure to be evaded ; and that thVdispbtes 1 which .must ensue between the colony and theHome Government, will deprive 'the security of all value. It was all of no avail. . Youmust «et to work, in devising means whereby to hinder* this charge of afourth operatingvery injuriously: no i very difficult. task, I opine. ' Everybody, without exception, and withoutdoubt or hesitation, says that the bill must pass the. Lords. I consider it quite sure of being an Act in about ten days. I iam writing! in sbastenowtobcinltime for the ' Dukeof.Portlan'd, whichjis already «t Gravesend. • '. " J am, My dear Godfey, , ' Your* :most sincerely, - - . .(Sign.d) E. ; G. .WitfKEPfE'L'D.