MR. GIBBON WAKEFIELD.

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 95, 30 October 1852, Page 8

MR. GIBBON WAKEFIELD.

The following letter from Mr. G. Wnkefield, containing an interesting account of the progress of the New Zealand Government Bill through the House of Commons, has been placed in our hands for publication:— Redhill, Eeigaxe, June 7th, 1852. Mr BEAK GoDLEY, Somewhat fearful that you may have left New Zealand before the arrival of this letter, I shall send a copy of it to Wellington, with a view to publication in the newspapers there. If the original should reach you, please to have it printed in the Lyttelton Times. I shall send with it a copy of the New Zealand Government Bill, as modified by a variety of amendments down to the time of the sailing of the " Duke of Portland." And I may as well say now, that unless I should write something to the contrary before that time, the colonists will not be over sanguine in confidently anticipating the speedy arrival of a Constitu tion not materially different from the Bill in its present state. The measure has been exposed to the utmost danger; but I believe that it may now be considered perfectly safe. I will briefly explain the nature of that danger. Let me premise, however, some allusion to circumstances which preceded the determination of Lord Derby's Government to propese a constitution for New Zealand. For a longwhile before the meeting of Parliament, the only people in England who care seriously about the colony, were very busily engaged in framing tha plan of a constitutional measure, with the intention of bringing it before Parliament in case the measure which we knew that the Colonial Office was preparing, should not give us satisfaction. The principal workmen at first were Mr. Fox, Mr/Weld, Mr. Henry Sewell, Lord Lyttelton, Mr. Adderley, and myself; and the first important stroke of work —the framing of a sketch or outline draft of a Bill—was done at Hams. This was submitted to Mr. Gladstone and the Duke of Newcastle. As we had taken care to make our performance agree with their general opinions on the subject of colonial constitutions, they naturally approved of the scheme after we had adopted some suggestions of change proposed by them : and Mr. Gladstone undertook to be ready, in case of need, to bring the measure before the House of Commons by moving there the Resolutions drawn np by himself, of which I enclose a copy. These preparations could not be kept secret; nor had we any motive for wishing that they should be. On the contrary we wished the Colonial Office and Lord Grey to know that we should be ready with a measure to be proposed by Mr. Gladstone. They knew it, and were disturbed: and hence, I, for one, believe, the mention of New Zealand in the Queen's speech. In the course of our preparations, the leading features of our scheme <>ot talked about; and to this I attribute some"of the best provisions in the Bill which Lord Grey prepared, and of which he sent a copy to the colony. Still our influence on Downinsr Street whatever it may have been substantially, was most indirect: for Lord Grey steadily refused even to see Mr. Fox, and he never made an attempt to ascertain the views of anybody amongst those who know the colony and are deeply interested in its well being. Q mvil to the time of his retirement from power none of us had the least knowledge of the ineasin-e winch he hud prepared. Nor would he »ive us any huiur.ition of the time when his "Bill would probably be laid before Parliament. We were in this state of ignorance, suspense, and careful preparation for the worst when the change of Government took place' Notwithstanding our satisfaction at beim* relieved from the anxieties which all must" feel whose dearest objects are in any way subject to the ability and resolution, combined with the immense conceit, the whimsicality, the extreme jea.«usy, the vile temper, and the tyranical disposujon of Lord Grey, we were far from feeljug sure that the cm uige would be good for us. The Jtussell—Grey Government was so very weak in its latter days, that we had indulged ii rather confident hope of being able to'"force upon them a really good measure for New Zealand, or perhaps of their being turned out I>y Ifteir resistance to the proposal of such a measure, with the cflfecjt of providing for the adoption of the measure by the next Government When they elected to go out on the Militia

Bill—thereby avoiding Adderley's. Anti-Grey motion about the Cape—we began to tremble at the weakness of their successors. It seemed probable that a Government which began by admitting its own provisional character, would not attempt to deal with-the New Zealand question this year, but would propose a further suspension of the Constitution of IS-16. We, therefore, set to work to avert that veritable calamity. By "We," I mean Fox, Adderley, Lyttelton, Sewel], and myself, who were the only active laborers. By means of a deal of trouble which it would be useless to describe particularly, we arrived at the conviction that a proposal by the new Government to suspend once more the New Zealand Constitution of 1846 would beat least formidably opposed in the House of Commons: and then we obtained an interview with Sir John Pakington. He was civil and explicit, telling us in a goodnatured way that his too slight acquaintance with colonial matters indisposed him to sudden constituent legislation; that he thought the colonists had better go on for one year more without a free constitution, than obtain one framed in a hurry ; and that the strong- impression of the Government was in favour of renewing for a year the existing Suspension Act. We were equally explicit, but lam afraid not very civil ; for we vehemently protested against the proposed course, and said that, we were determined to oppose by all the means in our power any further suspension of Lord Grey's constitution. I have observed throughout our consultations and negotiations, that any mention of bringing into use the constitution of 1846 was the sure cause of wry faces all round. Sir John said the idea could not be entertained. We insisted that any kind of free constitution would be far better than none, and that we were certain the Colonists would infinitely prefer Lord Grey's queer constitution to Governor Grey's despotic rule. We also declared very seriously, that we had canvassed leading members of the House of Commons on the subject, and were in great hopes that it would .not be in the power of the Government to carry a Suspension Bill. The new minister listened with real attention, and seemed to feel for the colonists when we described the miseries of their subjection to wholly irresponsible power. The interview ended by an assurance from him that he would fully consider what we had said, and then see ns again. At the next interview, Sir John Pakington began by informing us that he had nii>de up his mind to attempt immediate legislation rather than leave the colonists for another year in the state we had described : and then he asked a number of questions which gave us full opportunity of dwelling on those points of the measure indicated by Mr. Gladstone's intended Resolutions, to which we were most attached. We left him with an impression that he was sincerely desirous of serving and gratifying the colonists. The next stage I shall mention, is the appearance of the Bill in the House of Commons, after a debate from which you will have inferred that there was a general concurrence of opinion in favour of such a measure as the minister described in asking leave to brinsr in the Bill. And so there was. But after a time, as the Government grew weaker and weaker from causes, any account of which would be out of place here, a formidable opposition arose, which it has cost us immense trouble to counteract. It originated with Mr. Robert Lowe, late of New South Wales, and Sir William Molesworth, who conducted it in close alliance, the one by writing in The Times, the other by his speeches in the House of Commons, and both by canvassing against the Bill among leading politicans and other members of Parliament. They avowed a desire to get the Bill rejected; and this is the object at which they drove. You will wonder why—for what purpose. Probably their motives were complex. We know that Mr. Lowe was the prime mover. I should be among the last to sin against that literary rule which almost forbids public allusion to a writer who chuses to print under cover of the anonymous: but then this rule is guarded by another which enjoins anonymous writers to" keep their own secret, and which Mr. Lowe set at naught by openly speaking beforehand and verbatim his articles iv 'The Times. He as good as told us that he was the writer of those articles. He made it equally plain to us that Sir William Molesworth was entirely influenced-by him. You will see, both in 'The Times' articles and Sir

William Moles worth's speeches, the very spirit of centralization lor wliiuh Sydney has been so remarkable. It. was the old Australasian case of Sydney versus New Zealand brought to appeal in England. As we had been wholly unprepared for this opposition to the Bill, and more especially by Molesworih who bad heretofore been a chief among the advocates of the true .Municipal principle of decentralization, no precautions against it had been taken ; and so the piessure lor time made it truly formidable. Its formidable appearance encouraged some opposition which, I think, bad the double aim of hitting the Derby party a. heavy blow, with a backhander for Mr, Gladstone, who had so earnestly and ably upheld the municipal principle^ I could not explain this point without entering- fully into the state of party politics at home; and without a full explanation it would be wrong to mention particulars with names. And it is enough for you in New Zealand to know that regard for the colonists was not at the bottom of any of the opposition. Nor is it worth while to describe particularly the means by which the Lowe-Molesworih opposition was reduced to a state of harmlessness, though I feel bound to say that I believe Molesworth yielded to the strong and repeated representations which were made to him that the colonists would he deeply hurt in their interest and feelings if his opposition should go so far as to compel the Government to abandon the Bill. It also appears only just to remark that Lord John Bussell's decided support of the Bill was, contrary to the interests of bis party, as these were viewed by some to whom I have alluded' before. However, the Debate and Divisions in Committee last Friday appear to have settled the question. I shall keep this letter open for a Postscript in case^of need after the Bill shall have been again in Committee on Thursday next. It is exp2cted that there will then be a grand row about the New Zealand Company's arrangements with Lord Grey in 1846^-47 j which, except as I dread every »oause of delay at a time when hours are precious, should be agreeable to me as justifying my refusal tohave any concern with those arrangements except that of protesting against them. This is not the time for discussing either the demerits or merits of the Bill. My own opinion of the latter is expressed in a. petition to the House of Common?, which, along with others, will be printed in the next number of the New Zealand Journal, in time for the,"Duke of Portland." I feel that some apology is due to the colony—(no public here cares a straw about any matter relating only to the colony) for the boastful terms used in that piece of writing. They were used reluctantly, as being quite repugnant to my habitual love of keeping1 in the back ground, but very deliberately nevertheless, after consultation with good judges, for the purpose of giving some weight to my pleading for the Bill, by establishing a right to speak on behalf of the colonists, "and a right to ulter opinions about Colonial Government. The turn round against me of my old and long faithful disciple, Molesworth, helped not a little in forcing m e to assert those rights in plain English. Still I have felt rather ashamed of the egotism of my petition, and am now relieved byconfessing'it. That little essay on Colonial Constitution—making alludes to the "obvious defects" of the Bill. They are indeed very obvious to its most earnest supporters. But we contend that the live best provisions of this measure, and in particular the institution of a distinct local governmentfor each of the settlements, are a great step in advance towards perfection beyond the new Australian Constitution; and we see, in the present state of opinion at home on the whole subject of Colonial Government, a guarantee that Parliament will be easily induced to improve this measure in accordance with the wishes of the colony as these shall be distinctly expressed by the seven representative bodies which the Constitution establishes. Virtually or substantially, then, the seven representative bodies will'be a constituent power: in eflect, though not in form, the main point of Mr. Gladstone's resolutions is adopted. What shall be done with it depends on the colonists themselves. The question of what is the best permanent constitution for N>vy Zealand is removed to the place where alone it can bo happily and finally settled. In the meantime, the colonists in their several and general governments will have power enough for working1 out a world of practical good. I care not whether Sir George Grey remains or comes away, or who is his successor. Any Governor, not a

lunatic, Oi', being sane, not utterly deaf and blind to the state of opinion at houie on these matters, will be ready to help in giving good effect to the constituent powers virtually bestowed on the colony itself. And I am led to believe that the present Colonial Minister will not fail to instruct the Governor, whoever he may he, to exercise his powers with the view of giving satisfaction to the colonists; and this not by merely signing a didactic despatch full of such instructions, according to the old fashion of Colonial-office flummery, but by making the subordinate feel that his chief is in earnest. If lam not labouring under a delusion, what more can the colonists desire for the present? The only thing lam at all afraid of (and ut that not. much), is that, as happened in Canada when Responsible Government was first, established, the winners, being hardened by long misrule into a petrified hostility to the Executive and its .partisans, may not be able to use their success with moderation. I feel a kind of obligation to stale th.it in all our intercourse with Sir John Pakington, he has appeared to us sensible, desirous of pleasing, firm when he thought himself in the right, quick at picking out the truth whilst discussing subjects entirely new to him. very considerate ,of the feelings as well as the interests of distant colonists, rather " plucky," if the word may .pass, and entirely straightforward. In particular his whole treatment of Mr. Fox has been most gratifying. T must not conclude without assuring you that Fox's presence as delegate from the colony has been our chief tower of strength. Our work could not have In-en done without him. He has done much single handed, by dint of intelligence, assiduity, modesty, prudence and courage. And his personal expenses in working for the colony have been considerable. I trust that we (and now the word " We" intimates my intention to become a New Zealand colonist in the body as soon as possible after this Bill shall • have received the Royal Assent) maybe able to evince our gratitude to him in some way more substantial than by mere words of thankfulness. My last word shall be about those whom the ■ Examiner calls " the Jesuits of the Canterbury Association." When, in 1846, Lord Grey exchanged his chamniiMiship in the cause of New Zealand for the office of Colonial Minister,and managed to spoil Charles Buller as a Colonial Ueformer, and when, in 1846-47 the New Zealand Company sold its position at the head of Colonial Reform for a miserable money-grant ' from Downing-street, the cause of Colonial Reform appeared to be dead. It was dead, and was only restored to life in 1549 by yourself and friends of yours who formed the Canterbury Association. I declare (and I ought to know all about it) that every movement for the reform of Colonial Government which has been made since 1848, grew out of the Canterbury Association. The Society for the Reform of Colonial Government did so altogether, and so did the efforts in Parliament which produced and gave value to the debates on the Australian Governments Bill, and all Mr. -Aclderley's important championship for the Cape. When Mr. Fairbairn and Sir Andries Stockenstrom were here as delegates from the Cape, the Government scouted them ; and they had no friends, no help, out of the Association, with the exception of Rintoul and . myself, who, though not members of the body which you formed, have always co-operated with its leaders from sympathy with their views of Colonial policy. Of these views Mr. Gladstone has been the principal exponent. I send with this some pamphlet copies of his last speech, which should be read at the same time as his intended Resolutions concerning New Zealand. The Duke of Newcastle again has been an active member of the Association. More chapter and verse to prove my assertion with respect to your friends, would occupy too much space; but. I must say another word about two of these "Jesuits." The first is Lord Lytteltou, whose indifference to power and fame keep in obscurity his singular ability and public spirit. Ever since you left England he has made himself a slave to the business of promoting New Zealand colonization and the reform of colonial government, always ready to give his time, his whole attention, and his- money without stint, to the work in hand; and this without appearing to suppose that^ie deserves the least credit for these sacrifices. I cannot recollect another instance of equal modesty and gentle simplicity of character combined with great talents; and with the ex-

eeption of Lord Metcalfe, who did not surpass him in this respect, I have never known a politician so unlike a Jesuit in love of truth and downrightness of conduct. The other bigoted slyboots is Henry Sewell. When he joined the Canterbury Association, his political mind was that of an Oxford Tory of the Eldon School, but tempered by every high intelligence and singular amiability. He was not long in a world of colonial facts, 'without embracing the most advanced opinions about self government for colonies ; and he has now worked for two years in the good cause with equal ardour and patience. His rare attainments as a constitutional lawyer have helped on many an effort. Without his aid and that of Lord Lyttelton, Fox, as an all-neglected colonist wandering in London, could have done but little. In short, Canterbury in the Adelphi has been, for three years, the principal workshop as well as school of Colonial Reform. Stk June. —On reading over the above I perceive that it fails to explain sufficiently the policy we adopted with regard to Sir John PakingtonSs Bill. We had no sooner seen it than we resolved to accept it as infinitely preferable to another Suspension Act, as well as to the establishment by existing law of Lord Grey's constitution in March next. We had then but one object—to help in getting it passed. Of course we could have suggested important amendments; but nothing could be plainer to us than that, in the actual state of parties and politics, every attempt to amend the Bill would have a tendency to impede its progress and endanger its passing into a law. Our chief business, therefore, has been to counterwork all endeavours by other people to alter the Bill. In doing this we have sometimes opposed suggestions of change which we should have been the first to make if attendant circumstances had been different. Our cry, like that of the Parliamentary Reformers in 1831, was "the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill." If we had taken any other course, wielding as we did the power of representing the wishes of the colony—wishes which Lord Grey has unconsciously made it a fashion to respect—the Government mud have been driven to abandon the Bill. I speak with an absolute certainty of being correct in this view. Our policy as to the whole,Biil is illustrated by the question as to the New Zealand Company's charge on the waste lands. We object to the Company's claim as being founded on a bargain between them and Lord Grey in making which the colony had no voice: a bargain-whereby the Imperial Government saddled the colony with the burthen of making compensation to the Company for the wrongs of which the Imperial Government was the author and perpetrator. We also objected to certain particulars of the intended substitute for the charge of 1847, as being impolitic, and far from just even on the supposition that the colony is justly liable to pay for the misdoings of the Colonial Ofh'ce and the Governors towards the Company. But if we had pressed our objections, that most valuable part of the Bill which hands over the management of waste land to the colony, would surety have been withdrawn. For the sake of the vast good, we submitted to the comparatively small evil. And this has been the principle of our policy with regard to the whole measure. This statement is intended to explain why, instead of joining, we have assiduously thwarted all proposers of amendments —even of those which we most approved in the abstract— whenever a proposal of that sort seemed to endanger the Bill or any of its bettermost provisions. This policy you at a distance will not readily appreciate, because, having got the powers which the new constitution gives, the danger of not getting them will hardly fill your thoughts as it has ours. In order to judge us fairly, you must endeavour to imagine what you would have felt if we had reported to you that all was lost by means of our efforts to obtain more. It is aquestion of price. Compare this measure with another Suspension Act, and then say if we have paid too dear for this measure by the concessions which obtained it. lam so anxious the colonists should think we have done for the best, that I wish they could undergo, as we have done, a long fear of having the Suspension Act renewed, or the constitution of 1846 put into operation. It is not from any doubt or misgiving of my own, or of any other person's here, that I dwell so much on this point. Idoso in order to enforce upon you at the other end, the necessity of placing yourselves in our situation as fur as you can, by

tasking the imagination, so that your judgment may choose between the two courses that were open to us, instead of youv thoughts taking- the more natural direction of disregarding "what has been gained, to fix upon what remains to be acquired by your own efforts. In relation to this point, I will now state a consideration which has weighed with us more than all others. I have said that from 1846 to 1849 the cause of Colonial ileform was dead. New Zealand, in particular, was sold to the Colonial Office under Lord Grey and Mr. Ilawes, by that Direction of the Company which assumed the management when I was struck down by illness in July. 1846. The Canterbury project restored the dead cause to life and activity in 1849. But, for reasons which shall be noticed presently, the Association resolved months ago to put an end to itself during the present year. When it shall disappear, there will be no organized means of even calling public attention to Colonial questions; and then individuals who have been formed in that school, finding the public thoroughly indifferent to their single efforts, will fall ba'.k into a state of indifference like that of the public after the New Zealand Company ceased to agitate for great political purposes. This state of things, which is sure to come about, we foresaw distinctly. Mr. Fox could not be expected to devote himself for another year to the business of the colony. Aly own life is never worth three months' purchase. There was not the slightest prospect that any body but Fox and myself would make a business of attending to the interests of New Zealand. Therefore, we eagerly snatched at an opportunity, never likely to return, of getting for the colony the power of gaining all the rest by its own efforts. We deliberately believed that if this chance weri missed, there might be postponement after postponement of the oft-declared purpose of giving New Zealand a Constitution, and that the Colonial Office might manage to retain its monstrous authority over you for years to come. It was with us a question of now or, perhaps, never in our time. I tell you most seriously that Ihnow, that if Sir John Pakington had refused to legislate, and Parliament had chosen, as it most probably would have done if the question had been kept back till near the end of the Session, to renew what I may call Governor Grey's Suspension Act, all the strength by means of which this legislation has been obtained, would have been dissolved, never to be revived. Now choose. The Canterbury Settlers will not choose on true grounds without having before them what I will now state. The Association, constitutionally an amateur body, was never intended to last long. One of its earliest acts was that Minute of Lord Lyttelton's composition, which warned the colonists, even before the first expedition sailed, to prepare for a transfer to the colony of the powers granted to the Association. Some of the Canterbury Settlers have repeatedly and vehemently urged the Association to make the transfer without delay. They needed no pressing on this point. They longed to be quit of a great, trouble which brought them little thanks; but the law forbad them ; and they could not get the law altered. All that it was possible for them to do in the way of transfer, was to hand over the settlement and its colonization to Downing Street and Governor Grey. Even to contemplate this was repugnant to all their ideas of right; but letters from the Settlement urging them (o abdicate any how, come what might, so worked upon them as t<> produce a feeling of disgust towards their work ; and it has been for some time clear, that if the management of its own affairs could not be obtained for the Settlement by means of an Act of Parliament establishing* a distinct Provincial Government at Canterbury, Governor Grey and his agents would be irresponsible masters of everything in the Settlement early next year. As respects Canterbury, we had to choose between Sir John Pakiugton's measure, and seeing you governed in all things by Colonel Campbell as the agent of Governor Grey. As surely as the coming of Cite this would have happened, if the resolved abdication of the Association had not been, so to speak, coveted l>y the Pakington Constitution. Now, gentlemen of Canterbury, chouse for yourselves. To yon, and severally to the people of Auckland, 'New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, and Dtago, I will take the liberty of putiing a lew questions by way of offering a foretaste of what this constitution-ives to New Zealand. Whom do you think of choosing as mourners of your ProVincial Council ? The choice is wall you,

alone, uud, except as to the thirteen excepted articles of power, the men chosen by you will constitute a local Parliament for your Settlement. What man amongst you do you think most worthy of being elected Superintendent? Except as to the thirteen exceptetl articles lie will be the Governor of your Settlement; not a Lieutenant receiving4 orders from some superior at a distance, but the head of your own Executive, responsible only to you. Who are the men amongst you most fit to compose the general Parliament, of New Zealand—to make laws for the general good of the Islands, Jor adding distinctness and strength to your Provincial powers, for (if you should desire it) giving- you in your own Settlement, the management of its own waste lands—to exercise that judgment, firmness, and moderation, by which the Governor, vepves°nting our Queen, may be induced to exercise his authority on the Canadian plan of a Ministry responsible to the colony —to make such desirable amendments of the Constitution as are authorised by itself, and to obtain such other desirable amendments as may require an Act of the Imperial Legislature ? Who are the fittest*men? Think, enquire, discuss, differ, canvass, make ready to elect: the whole matter is in your unfettered hands. And compare all this with what you now endure, and would have endured, nobody can say how much longer, if this had not been obtained. I fancy that your first act on receipt of this news at each Settlement, will be to hold a public meeting and vote an address of thanks to Sir John Pakington for having restored to you that birthright of Englishmen which, under his predecessors, you had had forfeited by helping to extend the British Empire. Waterloo Day, 18th June. It will be : een by this day's London Newspapers, that the Bill'passed the House of Commons yesterday after much squabbling about the Company. I differed from those who, in order to punish the Company, would have withheld the waste land from the Colonists, and lam glad that they were beaten. But whilst I readily submitted to the Company's mortgage, for the sake of obtaining for the colony a general controul of the waste land, I had a bitter dislike to the nature of the Company's charge (one-fourth of the proceeds of all lain! sales), and I did everything in my power to get it altered, even by writing to the Directors (from whom I have been long entirely severed) pointing out to them that a charge so' very unpopular, and so very open to evasion, is quite sure to be evaded ; 'and that the disputes which must, ensue between the Colony and the Home Government, will deprive the'security of all value. It was all of no avail. You must set to work in devising means whereby to hinder this charge of a fourth from operating very injuriously : no very difficult task, I onine. Everybody, without exception and without doubt or hesitation, says that the Bill must pass the Lords. I consider it quite sure of being an Act in about ten days. I am writing in haste now,' to be in time for the " Duke of Portland," which is already at Gravesend, And am, my dear Godley, 1 ours most sincerely, E. G. WaKU FIELD.