The Anglo-Maori Warder. TUESDAY, MAY 2, 1848.

Anglo-Maori Warder, Volume 1, Issue 2, 2 May 1848, Page 2

The Anglo-Maori Warder. TUESDAY, MAY 2, 1848.

Genseric subscribed a solemn treaty, with hope of deriving some advantage from the term of its continuance, and the moment of its violation.—Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ch. xxxiii. Lord Grey's despatch in answer to the Bishops protest has relie\ed the colony from its anxiety at last. And it was full time that it should. He tells us that we ha\e entirely mis-understood him ; that his letter of instructions to the Go\ernor, instead of expressing any such intention as was supposed, expresses the very leverse. The affirmation is startling, certainly ; but not the less welcome on that account ; so welcome, that we would take it only too thankfully—for we are unwilling to rip up a question that now seems finally set at rest—without note or comment, but for the display of angry feeling with whicn it is accompanied, as undignified, as it was undeserved. The dispatch is rather a retort than an explanation. In it we are certainly told what the notorious " instructions " did not mean; but as to what they did mean, it leaves us nearly as much in the dark as we were Ifcfore. Lord Grey seems too much pre-occupied with his task of rating the protestor for having so misconstrued him, too eagerly engaged in casting back the blame from which he should simply have relieved himself, to trouble himself with clearing away for us the difficulties which still remain, and which must again become moot points at the expiration of this | present suspension of the charter. j The purport of his instructions has not been correctly apprehended. It may be so; but he has still no cause to complain for we will undertake to prove that it is the ambiguity of his own wording, which is alone to blame \ for this most unfortunate and dangerous mistake. Let us first howe\er, premise, before attempting to ascertain what construction those expressions have a right to bear, that we accept Lord Grey's own interpretation of them, ' without cavil or reserve. We will not suffer ; ourselves to believe that an English gentleman ; would resort to subterfuge or lame evasion to extricate himself from the consequences of a false move: esprit de corps alone, setting all other considerations aside, would forbid us even for a moment to entertain the thought. The question, therefore, now before us is, not what his lordship meant by the words he used, but what the words themselves must be rightly held to mean *. and when we deny the miscon- ! struction, we must be understood to say that the words of the original despatch, clumsily and confusedly put together, do not express the real intentions of the writer. Lord Grey has at once assumed, that the condemnation of his policy arose from carelessness, from a hasty jumping to conclusions without having duly studied the subject matter. But we can tell him this, that there was no oversight, at least, in the case. For that the despatch might be thought to bear the construction which he has now put upon it, was perfectly well understood ; the possibility of its being the right construction was deliberately weighed, canvassed, and disallowed. It is on the ground of dulness, rather than of haste, that he should have rested his accusation, or complaint. Let us begin by re-examining the instructions from the Secretary of State which accompanied the Charter. We believe that the " singular misconstruction," may be convincingly supported without going beyond the four corners of that despatch j but that if the despatch be taken conjunctively with the royal instructions, which one expression contained in it gives us the right to do, the correctir.s of our colonial interpretation may be proved. The writer begins by explaining 'the policy, which, if we were unembarrassed by past transactions, it would be light to follow, ■and which (so far as any freedom of choice remains to us), ought still lo be adopted regarding the right of property in land." Well and good, so far, or nearly so-, but he then goes on to state the policy that is to be followed, giung definite orders to that effect. He goes on to bid the Governor "avoid as much as possible any further surrender of the property of the Crown," clearly implying that some is to be retained • he goes on again to o»dei him, after determining "the extent and limits of all which is to he considered as the properly oi individuals, of bodies politic o: corporate, or of the native tribes," to declare the whole of the remainder oi the leriitmy tj be the royal demesne. Now we care nothiug whit tins lemamdet may be held to be . it is something, at all events. audtlK appropriation of it i* a distinct

breach of a treaty by .which the whole—for the whole is owned according to native custom —was guaranteed to a nation which thus conditionally submitted to our dominion: we care not how trifling in quantity the remainder may be; for an acre, unjustly seized, would have involved us in a general war as surely as one million of acres. It is useless to answer that there would have been no remainder, after the " engagements contracted," had been " scrupulously fulfilled Lord Grey had read the treaty ; he confesses to no incompleteness of local knowledge : he assumes that there will be a remainder, and orders it lo be seized. As we before stated, we are not arguing things, but the meaning of words ; and therefore assume the right to pin his lordsliip literally to theory words he used. It is possible that this argument, conclusive enough to us, may not be so to all. The royal instructions, however, at once place the matter beyond a doubt. In those instructions will be found, not an exposition of "doctrine" only, but distinct orders to violate our compact. From the registration clause, there is no escape. It is ordered that " The protector of the aborigines, or any officer appointed to act in that capacity by the Governor or Lieut.-Governor of the province, shall transmit to the registrar of the district a statement of the extent, (as nearly as / j can be ascertained), and of the locality of j all the lands situated within the same, to j which any such natives, either as tribes or as individuals, claim either a proprietary or possessory title, which claims shall also be forthwith provisionally registered. " All lands not so claimed, or provisionally registered, by the time so to be limited as aforesaid, shall thenceforward be, and be considered as vested in us, and be considered as constituting the demesne lands of us in right of our Crown within the New Zealand islands." In other words, Governor Grey is to entrust, not an arbitrator—for arbitration is agreed to by both parties concerned—but a commissioner, a creature of his own perhaps, or a servant of the company, partial, prejudiced, or stupid, as the case may be, ivith the power of limiting by a mere expression of private opinion v rigKtsr that have been guaranteed by a publ&yn)<r< national act. Be it remembered likewise, that although a remedy be provided for the errors of this Proi tector or Commissioner, there is none for Ins neglect. For by simple omission of his duty, by neglecting to register, by sleeping when he should be working, he has power in any case, to quash the native claim. Every acre that this officer may have failed to notice, becomes confiscate to the Crown. The Land Courts have power to investigate and defide on the validity of his registrations only •> but none to supply his omissions; the Supreme Court is equally powerless, appeal being merely provided to it from the adjudications of the Laud Courts. Have we not a right to ask whether the observance of these forms and rules be absolutely enjoined j or whether they be merely conditions which Lord Grey would have insisted upon, had he found himself " unembarrassed by past transactions'?" And is it, or is U not, a , breach of faith, when the Crown, which first of all conceded by treaty the absolute right of property in certain lands, afterwards couples that cession with a condition, revoking it, unless forms and arbitrary rules be first complied with ? Lord Grey indeed, has now told us, that nothing of the sort was ever intended; it must therefore be acknowledged that his mode of expressing his intentions is singularly unhappy. The explanatory despatch itself may be dismissed with a very few words. It will suffice for what ought to have been its purpose ; —ultimate restriction of confidence in British honour among the natives, although we cannot admire the angry tone which pervades it, or the disagreeable hankering after " tracts of waste lands held by particular tribes, 1 ' Letting I dare not wait upon I would, which it still displays. Lord Grey is too evidently nettled—stung to the quick. We do not dwell upon the purely negative character of this document, telling us of something which was not ordered to be seized, but neglecting entirely to define the extent of that u remainder," which was; or upon the perverseness with which the judgment of the Supreme Court, in Qi'een \. Symonds, based upon principles directly opposite, is twisted into support of his own peculiar doctrine : but content ourselves with referring to his expression of happiness, t hat the publication of the despatch of December 23, had not been followed by that excitement among the natives, which report had given the Governor reason to apprehend. It is strange, that Captain Grey, when he announced the fact—and he would have been neater the truth had he substituted " bloodshed " for excitement"—should not likewise I me announced the restraining cause • the faithful agency of the whole missionary body; their pledged assurances to the native* that all must have originated in some mistake , then eutrealic* <jiuetly to wait for eNphnat ion from home, and the deeply seated mihtence which enable J them to command success. That Captain Urly did not make mention of it, is only too painfully pro\ed, ly the taunting letlectioiis which have been cast upon the conduct uf '.h: head of the fsevv Zealand ihiuch.

I What, after all, must these instructions be I really held to mean 1 If they do not mean spoliation, what else do they mean. Even now, we are still as much as ever left in doubt. Lord Grey has said that he meant nothing, or ! next to nothing; and his assertion is decisive : I and yet his words leave behind the same kind ; of impression that is produced by the famous ; scene in which King John, when practising on j his nephew's life, breaks his mind to Hubert; speaking darkly, but not to be misunderstood, i Take something ; what you can ; —is upon the face of the instructions too plainly to be mistaken. Why should he speak of " a right, resting upon what has been called the Treaty of Waitangi?" What fitting place have sneers or inuendoes in a state paper ? The expression is in bad taste; something in the style of an ill-bred woman when she wishes to combine civility with bitterness. Either it is, or it is not a treaty; there can be no tertu-m quip: and if it be a treaty, let it be upheld as such, in a manner befitting the dignity of the British Crown; uot grumbled at and disparaged as if there were still some lurking wish to shake it off. We had led ourselves to think some while ago that the key to the mystery was easily to be found; that the Company's agents had bepuiled Lord Grey into the belief that large tracts of land in this country were actually unclaimed, and that under this erroneous impression the instructions had been drawn up. It must indeed be allowed, that if this coudi- \ tion be assumed, many difficulties aie cleared away; that what would otherwise seem a series of contractions, with that understanding becomes consistent enough. There are, however, two objections, neither of them to be easily got over, which stand in the way of such easy explanation. We must not forget in the first place, that if these lands had really been supposed unowned, it must have been likewise supposed that they would fall into the Royal demesne as a matter of course ; and the whole elaborate argument would ha\e been thrown away on a subject which admitted not the shadow of a doubt. .Neither should we neglect to observe that i| is impossible,—if inaccuracy of information be involved, and not a deliberate intention of over-riding the treaty —to account for his lordship labouring under that impression still, in spite of the statements and explanations that have been poured iu upon him from every side. For it may be remarked, that the late despatch and the instructions are identical in principle; that nothing is retracted, nothing disavowed; we are only told that much has been misunderstood. But it is time thrown away to speculate here upon what the interpretation ought to have been; all will have been thoroughly sifted in the February debate,the report of which will not now be long to reach the colony. And we will confess ourselves false prophets, if the noble Secretaiy of State do not prove to have been most roughly handled in it. How much anx.ety, how much bad feeling might have been spared, had Captain Grey • chosen at first to take a manlier and higherspirited pail. How often has he forced us to wish but for one hour of his generous hearted predecessor. An open declaration, either that no spoliation whatever was meant; or that if there were, he himself would never be a party to it, would at once ha\e soothed down every angry or auspicious feeling that had been called up. Little was asked of him, and that little was refused. We do not pretend to assign his motives for such refusal, although well able to suppose ihein; to arrive at his reasons as distinguished from his motives, would be harder still. For if he understood the instructions as they were understood by every one else, he owed it to himself, to his own self respect — at any risk of reproof from home—to free himself from the imputation of connivance in such a scheme : and if, again, he took them, as we are now told that they ought to have been taken—if no breach of treaty had been even thought of, so much the less need he have hesitated to set the matter quietly at rest. Open explanation was dueto his own character in the one case—to Lord Grey's in the other. He might, if he had so pleased, have taken a very different place in the good opinion of the Colonists to that which he now holds, bi.t he failed to improve the decisive moment, which is now irrecoverably lost.