ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 3, 6 May 1843, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

COLONIAL OFFICE COLONIZATION. No. 3. THE NEW ZEALAND BUDGET PARKHURST PBISC! T LORD STANLEY, AND LORD NORMANBY. We have reserved for our third, and last,. article upon the state and prospects of No-" Zealand, some remarks upon " the Financial System" o( that paragon of governors, Captain liobson, although the work is half done to our hands by Mr. Charles Terry, F.R.5.,F.5.A.,~ in a letter which appeared in the last numhe: of the " New Zealand Portefolio," and deserve--, more attention than it is likely to receive, froio. the prejudices of the Colonial Office, and theapathy of the public at large. Yet, New Zealand is as much a part ci England, as the Isle of Wight, and, under decent management, might offer a home to hundreds, who are homeless, and a market for thousands now unemployed. A very lar<p investment — not merely of English Capital, but of English happiness, — of well-considered enterprise, — of expectations, which, to be realised, only require fair play, — has already taken place there. Why are these willing exiles, for their own advantage, and ours, to be made bankrupts by our indifference. And have we not South Australia to warn us, no matter where the mischief begins, it is sure, at last, to be visited upon ourselves ? If, therefore, as Mr. Terry assures us, " th» expense of governing New Zealand is the largest in. the known world, in proportion to the European population," it is time for us to look about us. We shall have to pay the piper. Captain Hobson is plundering us by a side wind. He is trading upon our credit ; — wasting our capital ; — playing the Grand Seigneur at our expense. If Lord Stanley will not check him, we must ; — and we can only do so by- hok'ing up his marvellous incapacity to contempt. In the very first year of the colonization of New Zealand, Captain Hobson 's estimates shewed an expenditure of £50,992, with an European population of 8,000 at the outside. For the current year, ending January, 1843, the expenditure will be £56,597, with an European population of about 12,000 ; — although, it id obvious that in a colony composed of wen of education, capital, and character, the majority of whom have evary personal inducement to preserve, and respect, the laws, under which they were brought up, the simplest possible machinery of government was ail, that it wa*. ne^sary, or desirable, to pnmdo.

Now, £56,000, we should imagine, kept the peace in Pensylvania for the first hundred years after an* English colony was founded there ; but then, there were no Stcphenses in those days, and no patronage. The settlcis were let alone ; — and it is quite tit that, as the inarch of i.nprovement goes on, we should pay for the blessings of having a Stanley in Down-ing-street, and a Governor Ilobson, instead of a, Governor Perm. Mr. Terry admits that the existence of territorial rights in the natives of New Zealand, vhieh it is the duty of the government to see respected, may entail certain expenses upon the Executive, which do not exist in other colonies. But these constitute the first charge upon the sale of Crown lands ; and deducting £4,01)0 annually for purchases from the natives, and £2,335 for the salaries of their " Protectors,"— there remain £50,262, according to Captain Ilobson's own estimates, for those branches of expenditure, with which the aborigines have nothing to do. Now, a very large portion of this outlay arises from the manner in which the revenue itself is raised. Had the slightest regard been ! paid to the local peculiarities of New Zealand, or the character of the settlers now established there, any man of ordinary understanding must have seen that the way to get the largest reve- , nue at the least cost, would have been to establish some uniform principle of from which no man, above the condition of a clay labourer, should be exempt, — leaving the work of colonization to be guided by the influ- ( csnees that have directed it hitherto, — getting , rid of all unnecessary superintendence, — of all idea of restricting trade — which, the impossibility of protecting the long line of coast that already seperates settlements 300 miles apart, renders equally impracticable, and impolitic,— and thus making the future income of the colony dependent upon the freedom of its industry, and the natural progress of its wealth. Had. Captain Hobson done this, his appointment might have proved a blessing instead of a curse. But he has done just the reverse. The Customs are the basis of his whole Revenue ; and the Voorst part of the Customs, — the duties upon spirits and wine, and the licenses for retailing them,— are the very things from which he expects the largest return ;—; — forgetting that he has not to deal with the semi-convict population of New South Wales, but with men of sober habits, and good morals whose tastes must be brought down to a very , low level, before £13,000 can be extracted from them by any such means. But Captain Ilobson has, in fact, no chance of a Customs' Revenue at all. He is only holding out a premium upon smuggling, which his costly staff of revenue officers can no more check, than they can controul the tides, or regulate the moon. Mr. Terry's argument upon this point is unanswerable, and he speaks with a personal knowledge of the country from which he has just returned. " It is absurd to expect that a man will go to a principal settlement and buy government whiskey, when a small coaster will supply him at one third of the price. The nature of the country — the shores being covered with high bush, fern, or flax to the water's edge, with numerous small creeks running up into some valley or ravine — will prevent a revenue from customs to any considerable amount. At Auckland, the head quarters of the customs, very little duty is paid on spirits, <fee, and that only by the publicans occasionally, as every night some contraband trade is carried on. What can revenue boats do on such coasts unless in force and numbers ? The night is dark and blowing— say the change of the moon — high water at midnight — the shore fehallow for a certain distance, at which place hogsheads and casks are pitched overboard, and men, up to their waists in water, quietly propel them with the flood tide up some little meandering creek, far from the haunts of men, and quite impervious to search. It is_ very clear, therefore, that the customs, to be in the least degree effective throughout New Zealand, must be very numerous and proportionately expensive. Then follows the question — will its revenue pay even its own expenses, much more yield surplus funds to counterbalance and provide for other items of expenditure ? Of what advantage to the government will it be to have a large establishment of customs, the annual expenses of which may be presumed to b3 6 or £8,000, when its revenue does not produce £10,000 ?— What would be the result of such figures? — merely that the colonists would be taxed to the amount of £10,000, with all the inconvenience and vexation of such imposts, and the government itself only benefit to the extent of £2,000." We concur in every .word of these remarks. But Captain Ilobson's plans, and calculations, are, unhappily, all of a piece, whether they relate to his Receipts, or his Expenditure. He has a knack of beginning at the wrong end. Thus, in his account of expenditure, he puts down £7,957 for Police and Gaols, and £140 for Schools !— £3,o6B for Law Officers, besides £2,200 for Governor and Judge ; — £1,187 for "His Excellency's establishment, — £1,560 for .the Colonial Secretary, and his department, -and £2,977 for •• Miscellaneous Expenses, ".the nature of which it is.not con-

venient to explain, but which clearly belong to the Executive branch, — making £10,992 in all, — versus £450 for the Ecclesiastical In- j struction, and £140 for Education! "Bnt ; one halporth of bread to all this monstrous quantity of sack!" Then we have £5,354, for Public Works, and Buildings, in which good care will, no ! doubt, be taken of his Excellency's residence, ' £364 for a Colonial Surgeon, — lucky man, — j who looks after his Excellency's person, we presume, as none of the Company's settlements, where live-sixths of the British population are located, ever saw, or heard of, such an individual, — £1,076 for Harbour Masters, and £1,535 for the Colonial brig Victoria, the duties of which will consist in the conveyance of his Excellency, from his hermitage at Auckland to Wellington, or Nelson, once in two years,_ — that being the amount of his intercourse with them hitherto, — and in the occasional chase of a smuggler, should information ever be given at Auckland of that, which it will be the interest of every man, in every other part of the colony, to conceal. ! Now, was there ever so perverse a system as this, in an island, where there were no anti- 1 quated abuses to deal with,— no adverse interests to conciliate, — no corrupt habits to provide against,— but where everything encour- ' aged the application of the simplest principles to a virgin soil ? We will venture to say that New Zealand, properly managed, might have been provided with everything necessary for its government, at a cost of less than £10,000 | a year ; whereas it has been saddled by Captain Hobson with a certain expenditure of £56,000 upon the chance of a revenue, that can hardly exceed one half the amount required. For the mainstay of Captain Hobson's budget, after the Customs, with regard to which Mr. Terry has shown his calculations to be absurd, is the sale of Crown lands, which he estimates at £50,000 annually,— leaving £18,917 13s 9d available for the general purposes of the colony, after providing for the Survey department, and the purchase of lands from the Aborigines, and setting apart the 50 per cent required by the Act of Parliament for Immigration. Yet so I disastrously ignorant is this man of the system, I which he has to work, that he does not yet know that the value of tho Crown lands de- J pends entirely upon the amount of labour included in the purchase money ; — and actually [ confiscated, last yeaiv the whole Immigration Fund, by way of promoting competition for the lands brought into tho market since ! We agree with Mr. Terry in thinking that the amount of land actually disposed of, under such circumstances, will, probably, not exceed one "fifth" of the sum, at which it is .'put down : — that the Customs will not produce £2,000 net, instead of £13,000 :— and, that nothing being fixed, or certain, in New Zealand, except the expenditure, which amount j to £41,000, without including any of the items chargeable upon the Crown lands, — and to a certain extent dependent upon their sale, — the colony will have incurred, in tho two first years i of its existence, a debt of at least £60,000, for which the Colonial Office,— being cognizant of every step taken by its representative, Captain Hobson, — can hardly refuse to recommend i Parliament to provide, as it is quite clear that tho settlers never can. We are very reluctant to suppose Lord Stanley a party to so much injustice, and folly ; but unfortunately he has shewn an eagerness to second Captain Ilobson's views, not merely by thwarting all projects of further colonisation not emanating from Auckland, but by enriching the population of that place with a cargo of young convicts, fresh from Parkhurst Prison, who were sent out, last year, at the public expense, in spite of the direct pledge given by Lord Normanby, that New Zealand should never bo made a penal colony, — one of the dunghills of England, as they were happily called by Dr. hang. Lord Normanby distinctly says, in a letter to Captain Hobson, dated 14th of August, 1839, " that the character of a penal sottlcnient shall not be extended to New Zealand." — " Every motive concurs in forbidding this, and ) it is to be understood 'as a fundamental principle of tho new colony,' that no convict is ever to be sent thither to undergo his punishment." Governor Hobson, it appears, differed from Lord Normanby's view, for we find him answering, "I do think, with every possible deference for the superior judgment that dictated the prohibition, that convict labour on roads and public works, under the direction of government, may be most beneficially applied. Lord Normanby promptly replied : However much immediate advantage may be derived from convict labour, the benefit is purchased at last at so heavy a price, that even if the welfare of the colony were alone in question, I should regai'd the conversion of New Zealand into a penal colony as short sighted policy. But when I advert to the effect of' that measure on the aborigines, and on the administration of the Criminal Law in this kingdom, my opposition to it is fixed and unalterable." Unfortunately, the only thing "fixed and unalterable," where the British colonies are concerned, is the power of Downing-street to do whatever it pleases, and the certainty that

amidst the ministerial changes, which are constantly occurring, it will never please to do the j same thing long. Lord Normanby was a con- ! vert to Archbishop Whatcley 's principles. Lord ' Stanley, probably, does not even know what they are. If he did, ho would hardly take upon himself the responsibility of sending out ! discharged criminals, in large bodies, and aJI 1 of the male sex, to improve the morality of a ] settlement which has little to spare. The population of Auckland is about 1,200. How is it possible that 80 boys, fresh from Parkhurst, should be landed there, without scattering the seeds of that very corruption, which their removal was intended to cure?- — (London Weekly Chronicle.) The Neiu Zealand Journal (London) for October 15, 1842, after giving the correspondence which took place between Mr. Edward Shortland and Mr. E. Daniel, in respect of his dismissal from the magistracy, has the following pertinent observations : " This correspondence demands marked animadversion. It is a proper subject for a public appeal to the colonial minister in his place in the House of Commons, by any independent member who feel that public liberty should be jealously maintained, even in our most distant possessions. This is the second time that the governor of New Zealand has interfered with the independence of a co-ordi-nate branch of the constitution : — first, Mr. Earp was dismissed from the legislature, and now the independence of the magistracy is virtually destroyed by the dismissal of one of the most upright and respected of the body, for the expression of an opinion adverse to Capt. Hobson's policy — and this obnoxious act is done with all the nonchalance of a person so lamentably ignorant of his country as not to seem aware that he is doing an out-of-the-way act. Will Lord Stanley venture to sanction this disgusting policy ? Can he be even aware of the manner in which Captain Ilobson is attempting to substitute his own mere will, or rather the will of those by whom he is led by the xose, for the supremacy of the law ?—? — These are questions which must bo put to his lordship early in the session, and we trust the publicity then given to these acts, will lead to the removal of the persons by whom they were advised, whose ignorance renders them a disgrace to the local government of the colony. " The Edward Shortlandby whom the above letter is*signcd, is either brother or cousin to Mr. Willoughby Shortland, and the one is as illiterate as tie other. We have already had occasion to show that the colonial secretary can hardly write three lines without some grammatical error. The above letter is not only filled with such errors, but in point of extreme vulgarity of thought and expression, might toss for the production of a footman. The memory of the "private secretary" is so short that he forgets the nominative "conduct" before he comes to the verb "were," and for relative and antecedent, the "private secretary's best defence is, that he does not believe in the unnatural connexion. — Footmen and housemaids begin epistles in the second person, and end thorn in the third : so does Edward Shortland, "private secretary," and so did Mrs. Malaprop, of i es^ccted memory. The idea of a man "forming a member" is as original as it is amusing. If the Shortland's — the two Dromio's of New Zealand literature — are to be maintained in their position, we recommend Lord Stanley to direct that they be furnished with a copy of Murray's Grammar ; we should have added, a pocket editiou of Johnson's Dictionary, but we presume they have already furnished themselves with that useful compendium." We believe our readers have never seen any j account of the expenditure of the £4297*4 | 4s. 2d., which this government borrowed from Sydney, and which has since been repaid by the home government, — we condense the following from the "New Zealand Journal" of 12th November, 1842 :— £ •s. d. Advances to Now Zealand treasury 26,500 0 0 I Advances on account of salaries to government officers 672 4 2 Law books 108 19 6 Stationery for various departments 522 10 10 Cost of brig "Victoria" 3,200 0 0 Sundries for brig "Victoria" 328 0 11 Expenses of the cutter "Ranger" 651 18 11 Zincographing plan of Auckland .......... 20 0 0 Tea, sugar, coffee, beef, flour, wines, tobacco, soap, salt, vinegar, rum, and forage 1,803 6 6 Passages and entertainment on board men of war and " , merchant ships of government officials 1,460 5 0 Freight of Mr. Cooper's luggage .' 96 6 5 Four horses and six bullocks 285 l'O 0 Government house and furniture LB3B 18 7 Miscellaneous expenses ...... 5,296 3 4 £42,074 4 2