THE COLONIST. NELSON, TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 1858.

Colonist, Issue 54, 27 April 1858, Page 2

THE COLONIST. NELSON, TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 1858.

"As truth is truth; . ' , \ •■;..;; And? told by halves, may, from a simple tiling;' J3y misconstruction to. a monster grow, I'll tell the whole truth." ' j Sheiudan Knowlf.B.

During the late Neapolitan earthquake^ it was currently reported, that the blessed blood of Saint Januarius had positively ioiled.-. It is hoi'said whether this most miraculous miracle had been provoked by- the sins, of the Italians, the distdrtions of lovely hills and valleys, or the cries, moans, prayers, and agonies of a suffering population. Were it not too adventurous to risk a direct remark on the real occasion of this disaster, nipre alarming to the guilty pious of a most unhappy people than the boiling crater or the convulsive earth, we should say it had been caused by some covert wickedness of political transgressbrs. ■ If the astounding gory prodigy did bubble up at all, —a commotion that will be impiously doubted by at least such candid and enlightened Catholics and priests as the Rev. Mr. Eustace, author of the sensible "Classical Tour," and by many others, both laymen and clergymen, wlio know that portentous signs of the kind rumored, are bottled up by ministerial tricksters of a secular order;. by, such men as are "shouldered ;into ■place" by the credulous parties whom they; ffiay have duped by professions of a liberality in politics which they never felt, or promises of services they Beyer meant to perform. However this may be, we are sure of one thing,—whenever an alarming change in political policy is brought about by,the secret artifices of some deceitful secretary, jpr the creature of some scheming juggler on a throne^ or in some weak governor's seat of brief elevation,— upsetting established institutions—breaking up constitutional government—suddenly disrupting the fruitful strata'of beneficial laws, and scorching the verdure of cjvilization, as by th& explosion of a hidden train of curses,— certainly then ifierewili1 be a boiling; a boiling without, ; a miracle/ the pent up indignation ; of the cheated public; will leap lip.and struggle; the blood of. the peo|feV\vill swell and rush and boilall over, with liori^i anger. So is it in this colony now- Imposedq^ .by a Stafford jugglery,—our labors of., years rent, shaken Jintoyeonfusiqn^^ bounds, by'an under.mining schet»ist) 'and. liis abettors,-the colonists of this countr^ feelra fire in their veins which will consume the misemhles ;\vhd kindle it into intensity. :: m

Well do we know to whom the disallowance.of the Waste Lands regulations is 'attributable. Cor-, rcspondence of minions at Auckland with their official sympathizers here and elsewhere has been duly noticed, and understood, as to -i(8-main .ten-, dency. There has been no mistake ~'about its general import. The holes ami winding track of the snake, in the grass have not been unknown; nor has habitual communication with the feeder of such vermin, been unmarked. Yes, there are more serpents in New Zealand than the two or three dark water wretches, of which we.havjs lately read in the papers ;■ there are many on land, —noiMS it impossible that some of them should creep into the land offices of all the settlements; Are the people such dolts as not to know that ? .By no means. Neither are they quite insensible .to the fact, that the most formidable hostility to their general suffrages, more particularly those that .may givfc place and power to effective "working officers, and inspire all such with conscious, immediate responsibility,—is found snuggly "feathered amidst1 emoluments, in such Government nests as Colonial patronage bestows on those who know' how to shuffle into them. Gifted men tliere ai;e^; and laborious too, who enjoy office for its'certain pay rather than peril their comfort by risks of more irksome business. Never could we be of that number whether we had or had not the necessary qualifications; but many such there are, and good

men too. Yet are there many more whose care is chiefly for the stipend, with no inconsiderable stoicism at the same time in regard to the performance of official duty. To such men all reversions of the good things of patronage into hands likely to protect their possession are glorious occasions. Fond of State ." Salt," like our cpntempory, they Ifexult with unbounded joy, and call all the verdant saplings and dancing streams to clap their hands. No more are they to be meddled with by country louts, as formerly; no more indangered -from popular disapprobation; no more will they be .dogged by vulgar jealousy when duties remain badly fulfilled. Now they are to swim in smooth water,, or nestle. swan-like in many a soft and 'secure isle, away from hourly intrusion and inquiring eyes. Times are now altered; three cheers for General Government, and access to the national purse, under the auspices of distant Auckland! " Let.the folks growl," says every staunch myrmi- : tion of remote , control; " tidings have come." — they isay— - ; ; •"Oil a fool's errant,; '■'■'."., '-'.. : :: .. !; . v . • With but a Secretary'^warrant:"—What of that? ' : -■■" Statesmen of. England," it appears, know our Affairs better than we-rthey see our craving of " petty popularity/ the,.image Qftheir y Q>vn—they ■^pc our "medley of fegulatjops," copied from,, Par-. jlisment—they admire our legislatiye incongruities',. with all the " merit of originality," ah alarming feature of Colonial and "collective wisdom"— they hear; the; clamor of " hungry aspirants after place,"—(the sacrilegious boors!)—they are dis" turbed,. like the greedy Greek savages at their meals, "arid amidst "Homeric peals of laughter," —■;and, therefore, to be revenged, they, it seems, have "given the quietus" with a bare pen , "to all this hubbub." So now all-the-worldhimself may safely come to New Zealand—"the land in its whole length arid breadth, is open to his choice on fair, uniform terms: "-O, the simplicity 6f wisdom , —in the spiral form of fascinating temptation! Would that it were harmless! Unfortunately this knowing guile—for such alone it: is—only ■• tempts to a violation of the first command: like slavery, it would prevent population,, and sting human increase to the death; > How so ? .By coiling round our self-g6vemment,andbinding us to our fate, strangling us in the embrace of a power that .knots its tail to Auckland, while it devours the best of every other province. Unable to act for ourselves as provincial bodies, differing only in the merest trifles, we are to be dictated to ,by paid or distant appointees, or nominees. Our wasting evils are to have no local, oreven central, legislative redress. The disgusted freemen of England, seeing this, will keep away, our successors will leave, and the few who may remain, will have to be thankful for what they are obliged to send to dictators at the place of Government, far away.

For " cheap land," the inherent right of all who emigrate to the unoccupied and unclaimed wild, or land held by a free State for its children, we have a natural demand. We need no economist to tell us that. But, to give it value, we require more than labor, we want immediate and unoppressive rule. That is best supplied by freemen themselves, in. closest proximity to the places where it is needed* The greatest objection to the changed now threatening us is that, not only is our present local Council—our Government to be paralyzed, tut the chief Executive is mainly io be iv comparatively foreign hands, arid tfiese at ah inconvenient distance. Were we to have a good General Government "amongst us, or mid-way of all our operations, then, perhaps, our ills might be mitigated. As it is" the harm spreads, fatid will spread and fester. While the doctors are away the patient'dies; and it is poor consolation to know that his latest gasps and throes are caused by the nostrums transmitted by a remote mountebank whom, in his benevolent youth, hist generosity raised from an abject condition into public notice.

At Nelson," in the times of its first dynasty, the rising ambition of one Edward William. Stafford, vaulted into a "bran " new chair of Superintendency, cheered by a multitude intoxicated by the expectations, the blushing wines of his large professions, the sparkling mixtures of his effervescent words. Then was this worthy a very paragon of statesmanship. He got hold of the reins of the State horse, and rode in the political ring round and round, on the light feet of nicely cantering pretences, tie stood, on one leg, or squatted like an enthroned monarch, addressing gaping crowds and puzzled counselors, as his patched perfections careered in agile eloquence. Heavens! how he talked, even about nothing, or everything, as it suited him! But he talked and schemed the Governor out of his peculiar patronage; he practiced so as to get all the government influence of the province to himself.

Now this same personage, with more rife experience,, is trying a similar game. But now hi 8 trick is to bamboozle all the Superintendents and their Councils out of those prerogatives, which he won in easy circus for himself arid compatriots. The question, therefore, now is simply this,—/i Stafford to do as he likes ? And to do so under the mask vfthe Home Government ? .-, :