THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. "Vérité sans peur.” Wanganui, January 19, 1860.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 4, Issue 174, 19 January 1860, Page 3

THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. "Vérité sans peur.” Wanganui, January 19, 1860.

It is with the deepest regret we have to an

nounce the decease of one of our earliest settlers—our highly esteemed fellow-colonist, John Tylston Wick steed, Esq., J.P., who departed this life upon the evening of Sunday, the loth inst., after a brief illness, at his resi-

dence at Otamatea, in his 53th year. Ever ready, wisely to suggest, and energetically to forward and uphold the best interests of his fellow-settlers and,adopted country; known throughout New Zealand and in other lands fox his talent; open, free, and upright in his bearing; a sound and finished scholar; an able

and conscientious magistrate; richly gifted with generous emotions and the kindliest feelings for all—such was Mr. JV icksteed. The funeral took place on Tuesday last. Universally respected, he was followed to the grave by a numerous assemblage of his friends and fellow-settlers.

JVe received by the overland mail yesterday our usual files nf newspapers, north and south. The New Zealand Spectator, in its issue of Saturday last, has, in its leading article, alluded to the movement in Wanganui for Separation, in t< rms that we canuot allow to pass without comment. It “ sincerely congratulates the promoters of the movement on the success which has attended their efforts against the combined influence of the Featherston party f &c. &e

We maintain, on the otliei hand, that during the whole of the agitation upon this question, its promoters and supporters have never uttered one sentence that would admit of such an interpretation; on the contrary, the question of Separation lias been forced upon us, by the continued obstruction offered by rhe Radical party in the Provincial Council to the measures and policy of the Superintendent and his Executive.

It would appear that at the last something is about to be done towards completing the pur chase of the so-called Waitotara Block. After eight or nine months’ shilly-shallying, Mr. S. Deighton has been authorized by the Commissioner, Mr. McLean, to negotiate with the natives; and -Mr. Stuart, who has been engaged for some time in surveying the recently acquired land in tlie Manawatu, has arrived in town on his road to Waitotara, to assist him in laying off the boundaries of the native reserves. JVe arc much afraid Mr. Deighton will find his no easy task. The natives now are not in so good a disposition as they were fix months ago, the protracted delay that has taken place has allowed them time to cool clown and damped their ardour; they are now talking of claiming as reserves at least onethird of the best of the land and most available portions of the block. The original deposit of ,£SOO paid to them some seven or eight months ago by Mr. McLean, has never been appropriated by them, their proclaimed intention now being, in the event of their not being able to gain what they consider the price for their land, to return the £SOO deposit. No one can more regret Mr. McLean’s late illuess than we do ourselves, but surely Mr. Deighton might have received'his appointment long ere this, and have been furnished with the necessary wherewithal to conclude the bargain. Certain are we, that now a much larger mm of money will be required, and more difficulties have to be encountered, to obtain a perhaps less valuable.block of land, than would have been the case bad the affair been con eluded off hand.'

The proceedings and result of the Separation meeting should, we think, satisfy every thinking elector of the non-advisability of Separation at the present junctnre; and we regret to And that the agitation in favour of such a step still continues ; and still more, to be told that improper means are resorted to to obtain signatures to the Memorial. The Separationists, having themselves called the meeting, in order, as Mr. Gibson declared, “ to discuss the question, and, if desirable, to take steps to cany it out/’ ought we think to feel themselves bound by its decision, that the step was “premature,” and we need hardly point out to them that any suspicion ,of trickery in the means used to create the proposed new Provii c! must damage their credit in it if formed. The value of a Separatjoii petition is in proportion as fhe tp it result from the free de liberate convictions of the electors sig ling; rnd in order That those aßked ; to put their n imes may have the, whole case as far as possible before them/we .notice a few points omitted, or .-lightly touched oh. -at the meeting-

■There can be no question that tho battle fought by the Superintendent is essentially ours; its object being to secure the out districts their fair weight in the Province. When we entered on the struggle we ought to have well counted the Co3t ; and unless prepared to make the needful sacrifices to secure victory, should have declined the contest at onco ;

having begun—having placed Dr, Fcatherston in office as our leader, and after ho and his executive have not shrunk from doing their part, and incurring heavy risk and response bility to promote our interests, we cannot, to avoid loss on our part, withdraw and leave them in the thick of the fight without subjecting ourselves to the imputation of’meanness and cowardice, and diminishing our weight in the colony. 'The fact that the contest, like almost all others, has proved more severe than was expected, is rather reason for extra exertion ; and while our leaders regard victory as attainable, and can show so strong reasons for their opinions, nothing but absolute inability to continue the fight can justify us in laying down our arms ; ’and even that cannot justify, what the Separationists admit immediate *S’eparatiou would amount to, namely, desertion to the enemy. B e can take no surer means to prevent our public men from upholding our interests, or of driving them to seek their own instead, than to show ourselves ready to desert and turn against them directly it becomes inconvenient to back them.

7ho Separationist argument, that the General Government would not buy land in Wellington lest it should put money in an enemy's pocket, is negatived by the fact that for every £3 so put, £5 would go into its own; and is completely refuted by the paragraph in our last, enumerating eight blocks just, bought from the natives in this Province.

The item in Mr. Gibson's estimates of <£3ooo a year duty paid in Wellington on good., con sumed here, seems to 113 highly fallacious. At present we know the Wellington Government takes such duties into account in distributing

its expenditure over the Province; and so long as wo are part of that Province we may fairly expect to get them estimated and placed to our credit. As a separate Province we think we should lose a largo part, if not all of them, as we now do those on goods imported via Nelson or JVcw Plymouth; for not only is there no means of arriving through the Customs at s correct estimate of them, but the Wakefield party, who would probably rule in Wellington, would have a stronger claim than we on the General Government, and would fight hard rather than surrender them, while our having got so largo a slice of the public lands would serve as an excuse for- not giving us a full share of customs. Again, there can be no

doubt that the expense of a separate Government would, even on the most economical scale, amount to far more than our share of the present Wellington expenditure; and, granting that it would be expended in the district, so is a considerable portiou of their salaties by those Wellington officials who have establishments in these parts. When we reflect on the large estates owned here by Dr. Featherston, ami Messrs. Fox, Fitzhcrbert, and Brandon, we must see that it is not their interest to spend Wanganui revenue in Wellington. They have, too, been charged with doing the very reverse. Wero we to separate from Wellington we might have a dead-lock in tho new Province directly ; and as “ Divide et imp era ” is at all times a very safe game, and is moreover a very templing one when it can be played by merely refusing to interfere, and telling contending par ties to fight it out, we might find ourselves in a worse fix than our present one, and with less chance of getting out of it; for the General Government would have the same reason as now for non-interference, while the narrower compass in which the contest had to be fought out, would tend to increase its personal and rancorous character, and so diminish the chauce of its amicable settlement. To talk of guarding against it i 3 absurd. No one supposes that those who returned the Wakefield party foresaw the results; and at all events wo could only hope to guard against the evil by the worse one of a Superintendent who, as tool of the Council, would be ready to sacrifice general to local interests—those of Turakina, liangitikei, JFaitotara, to those of the town. The fact that our share of the interest of the loan

would begin from the time of Separation, is, we think, a conclusive reason for deferring the step till the lands to which' we should have to look to defray.it are really and completely purchased from the natives. and ready for sale, since the whole of the other assets of the new Province would not improbably be insufficient to cover it.

If, as we hope, the promoters of separation fail in their object, they will have done much good by showing that the people of Wanganui are prepared to regard Separation as a possible eventuality, and may induce the General Government to bestir itself in buying laud, in the hope that we may separate from Wellington to keep the proceeds as fhr as possible among us. If, on the other hand, they should* carry their point, we think there is too much reason to fear that the Stafford ministry would snap 'their fingers at us, and either refrain from buying land in order to keep us poor and weak, or buy and dole it out to us by driblets as the price of services to bo rendered by us. Mr. JKatt’s amendment, therefore, appears to us to indicate the policy the people of JFangauui ought to adopt—not to refuse to entertain the subject of* Separation, but to* postpone it till we can enter upon it without inconsistency, aod are in a position to bear the burden of a separate Government without taxation.

“ Who’s there ?” said a policeman, to a passing figure, one dark night.—“lt’s I, don’t be afeiM; kindly r-plied $2 old Toman.”

To the Editor of the Wanganui Chronicle • January 10, 1860.

Sin--I wa* much pleased with your last week’s isms, and I should think that the Separationists have now had sufficient light thrown upon their subject to convince them of their folly, in trying to force the public to submit to their view.*,- after having given a refusal at one of the best attended public meetings we have had in the place. It is not my intention now to go over the ground again, or enter into further detail, as the electors have had time lor reflection, and have evidently taken the proper view of it. as the memorial is fast becoming n dead letter, and consequently will fall to the ground. My principal object in addressing you now, is to comply with the wish expressed by one of yonr correspondents who signs himself Englishman (and I have no doubt a true born one); and although lam far from wishing to see these distinctions kept up in this our adopted country, still there are occasions when we can overlook these peculiarities, and I think this is just one of them ; and ns I so thoroughly agree with Englishman jin all his sentiments, I accept his challenge and take this opportunity of informing him that while he or any other man, of whatsoever nation or tongue, holds the same sentiments, lie need never fear the want of a supporter while he comes forward ao prominently in the cause of liberty and independence. But, sir, while it is highly gratifying to me to have such sentiments to respond to as Englishman’s, I must confess that it grieves me much to think that any of my countrymen should have so. far forgotten tho land of my birth, and the fells and delta held sacred and rendered immortal by the blood which our forefathers shed to secure and bequeath to their children the soil as free as they found it, a 3 to subscribe to a document, the prayer of which is, to take away the political liberty we possess, and hand us over to the tender mercies of a party whose wish and aim is rn restore the old aristocratic party to power, and rule us on the principle of the divine right of kings. Now, sir, in conclusion, allow me to assure you that as long a 3 “ Englishman” can write, and you will give his sentiments a place in your columns, yon will find a friend and supporter in, Your obdt. servant, Scotchman.

To the Editor of the Wanganui Chronicle. January 4, 1860.

Siu, —Upon reference to your columns of the 29th lilt., I find a notice from the Chairman of the Board of Wardens for the Mataraua Highways, calling a meeting for the 27th inst., to take into consideration the propriety of levying a rate for the ensuing year. For what ?—-the maintenance of the highways ? The only highway in existence that needs repair is the road up Major 'Dime’s hiil, for which a tender has been accepted to keep it in repair for the ensuing year, and for which a balanco is in the hands of the wardens. I am at a loss, therefore, to know what tho meeting is for. Had a specific rate been required for the construction of additional roads, as the Act requires, I might have understood the meaning of it better. A road is in process of construction now, in fact it was commenced on Friday last, and I presume the cost is illegally to be defrayed by the rate of last year, which was raised for purposes quite foreign to tho one in question. There is, perhaps, no portion of this district that requires less road making than tlie No. 2 line. Mr. Park laid off a splendid line of road, and Mr z/nderson has corroborated the excellence of the selection. The old New Zealand Company laid off another, no one can exactly tell where, which appears to have been casually selected for no other purpose than that it suited the survey base line—and “base” enough it is A few of the settlers objected to Mr. Park’s line, although they bought their land with the full knowledge that such line woulJ be the road, as is confirmed by the fact that they have rim their fences alongside it for many chains; conceiving, however, that they may get the line altered to' save themselves some fencing, they agitate for the adoption of the old New Zealand Company’s line. They accordingly, through the wardens, three of whom out of the five are personally interested in the matter, write to the Provincial Government, and Mr. Anderson is sent to report, and his report is against the change that they wish. In spite of this, his Honor is cajoled somehow or other out of the opinion he had formed on the statements of the Provincial Engineer, and the change is commenced; the probable cost of which to the public will be five times as much in the long run as Mr. Park’s line.

And now, sir, through the agency of your columns, I beg to ask my fellow-settlers on No. 2 line —Do you intend to stomach this ? Are you and I to be mulcted, in goodness knows what, for a bad line of road, when a good one can be made for so much less ? or are we a body so churlish as not to compensate these two or three individuals who may feel themselves aggrieved by our adopting the best line wa can for ourselves? Were we asked for this- is there one of us would say nay ? But by~ this underhand movo let us not be stultified, and on the 27th inst. let us know why and wherefore these funds are required.

I am, sir,.your obdt v servant, Ratepayer.

A.littfe&bcy; whose father was miserly in his habits, took upon himself to ‘‘ say grace” as follows : “ Four slices of bread for four of us ; wo bless ibe Lord there ain’t no. more of us.”

Old BAcasiOjii’.— Mis? T'.din. in. speak-

big of cfd batckclors, says —“ They . are frozen-out gardeners in the flower-beds of iove. As they are as useless as weeds, they should be served in the same manner-—choked.”