THE STANDARD. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1872.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume 1, Issue 13, 28 December 1872, Page 2

THE STANDARD.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1872.

“ We shall sell to no man justice or right: We shall deny to no man justice or right: We shall defer to no man justice or right.”

An outline of the proceedings of a meeting held at Dalziel’s Hotel last Saturday evening, will be found in another column. We much regret, considering the importance of the question, the interests at stake, and the principle involved, that we should have been denied access to the minutes of the meeting. We are informed,however, that what is reported, is a faithful, though brief, account of the business that was really done. There can be no doubt of the justice, or justness, of the claims, those who were sufferers by the awful calamities which have befallen this district, are preparing to press upon the attention of the Government for its consideration. The question per se, as to whether it is of any political or other import if a section of the colony is to be wiped out from the records of material existence for a lengthened period —if the inhabitants of that section are to suffer losses, starvation and death, without any recompense; without the slightest weight of balm to their feelings; and without any substantial alleviation of the direful consequences, in the cause of which they had not the remotest share, is one that cannot be put lightly aside by any Government. Wc have but recently chronicled the fourth anniversary since the perpetration of the last deed of blood and sacrifice. Since the days of carnage happily, now remote, the times have flowed pleasantly on, no doubt, with those, who should have governed better, ;and guarded more warily. Nothing has

been done to mark even the sympathies of our rulers ; and those who suffered most have complained the least. Silently suffering, with the patient spirit of Spartans, which endureth much, have our settlers, few though they be that escaped the “ fell swoop” to repeat their tales of woe, borne with a heartless indifference whose intensity culminates in continuous delay, and now take action in defence of a common wrong. The long-pent-up feelings, begotten by injustice, seek now to burst forth and place themselves humbly, but not meanly, before the representative of her, whose chief glory has ever been the interests of her subjects. Such was the desire of those comprising the late meeting. But while our friends are pressing these claims with so much vigor, while they are preparing a line of action in which we trust they will be successful, there is the audi alteram partem principle involved, to which we alluded at the outset of our remarks, and which, although it may not be allowed to militate against a satisfactory and favorable solution of their difficulties must not, at any rate, be overlooked. Too much, hasty, or ill-regulated zeal may be the means of defeating rather than accomplishing the end they seek. A reasonable request will always command attention ; but firmness must be tempered with moderation and respect, or attention will be the only result. Anything like hostility, or political partizanship must be eliminated from arguments used in support of claims to ■ compensation for losses sustained from political causes. The prime difficulty in such matters is so to make out a case, that it presents the same features to the minds of those whom we approach, as it does to our own, and to be prepared, by anticipation, for reasons being advanced which are adverse without being hostile. This comprehends the, to some, difficult distinction in the behaviour of those who do not act as enemies, and those who cannot serve as friends, and aproper knowledge of the resources of those to whom one is opposed, and the means they have of granting a request, when their opposition is conquered oi' withdrawn, constitutes the chief element of power essential to victory. Hence it must not be forgotten that the question of granting compensation for losses, the result of an unpeaceable state of the country, has been settled definitively and negatively by the House of Representatives since the Taranaki troubles. It is tru,e that no claim has yet been advanced for the affairs of ISGS ; but nothing has come of the Courts of Investigation which went minutely into losses incurred during the earlier disturbances. The Government is changed it is true, and there may be more prospect of success with the present one, but look at the force beyond—behind the Government. Parliament may take a view of the subject little dreamed of by the promoters of this meeting. They must bear in mind that the taxing pow er cf the country will not bear much more strain, and that for every hundred pounds issued from the Treasury in an unexpected way, a fraction of that sum has to come from the pockets of the settlers by indirect means, to restore the equilibrium ; that annual increments of taxation are becoming annual bugbears to the Government which they will not encounter if possible. They must remember that it is impossible for any Government to commit itself to an unalterable rule of defraying the pecuniary consequences of war, and that however just their claims may be, they will be looked upon

as concessions of sympathy to human suffering, if acknowledged at all, rather than as the satisfaction of rightful demands. Nevertheless we aver it to be the bounden duty of the Government to treat the calamities of the Poverty Bay settlers as exceptional—we don’t say as without a parallel; and to grant the prayer of their petition, even if it be merely as a tribute to the memory of those who, victims of the rash policy of past rule, are not here to petition for themselves.