THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, December 16, 1843.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 93, 16 December 1843, Page 370

THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, December 16, 1843.

Let journaux deriennent plus necesnirei I meiure que le» homines lont plus egaux, et 1* individualiune plus it craindre. Ca aerait diminuer leur importance que de croire qu* Ua ne icrrent qu' agarantirl* liberty : ila maintiennent Dx Tocqcevillx. D« la De'mocratie en Amerique, tome 4, p. 220. Journal* become more necessary a* men become more equal, and individualism more to be feared. It would ba to underrate their importance to suppos* that they senre only to secure liberty : they maintain civilization. D« TocaccviLLC. Of Democracy in America, toI . 4, p. soa.

The intelligence of the arrival of Captain Fitzroy at Sydney has diffused universal joy throughout this settlement. The rule of ignorance and stupidity has by this time terminated, and henceforth we may expect to see a more wise and vigorous policy adopted. Our new Governor possesses the confidence of the entire European population ; and although he has a difficult task to remedy the blunders of his predecessor, yet, in the hands of a man possessing courage and wisdom, the work will be comparatively light. Still, much will have to be done. In the first place, a very considerable reduction in the expenditure is absolutely indispensable ; — the colony cannot support the present extravagant system, and the mother-country will not. To effect this desirable object, it may be necessary to remodel the existing machinery of government, which has been constructed on far too large a scale, and with a view rather to the patronage which it affords than to the actual wants of the settlers. What can a small isolated community like our own require of, and how is it to support, a salaried Police Magistrate, a salaried County Judge, a salaried Crown Prosecutor, a salaried Sheriff, a salaried 'Clerk to the Magistrates, a salaried Protector of Aborigines, a salaried Postmaster '( Why the united duties of the whole would scarcely give employment to more than one active individual. We are aware that no one person could properly fill all these offices ; but why not abolish such as are useless, and bestow the others on persons who, having some other occupation, would be -satisfied with a moderate remuneration for their services ? The Legislative Council of New South Wales seeing the necessity of a reduction in the Government expenditure of that colony, in a recent dis-. cussion on the Police Estimates, struck from the list fifteen Police Magistrates, as it considered the duties of the bench could be as well performed by an unpaid as a paid magistracy. Dr. Lang, in speaking of the Police Magistrates, described them

as "a relic of the -dark ages, the feudal times, so to speak, of the colony." Surely, then, if this branch of the executive can be dispensed with in New South Wales, with a large convict population, there can be no necessity for its continuance in New Zealand. If our Police Magistrates had been chosen on account of their superior knowledge of the law, or for any peculiar fitness for the office, a pretext might be urged for retaining their tteryices ; but we have yet to learn that military and naval men possess any auch qualification, and, according to our old-fashioned notions, facility in compounding felonies is a very questionable recommendation for the office in question. A material saving may likewise be effected in other departments, without the slightest injury to the public service. We think it will be a difficult task to persuade Captain Fitzroy of the necessity of paying a gentleman £180 a year to act as Sheriff 1 , when many resident gentlemen might be found

who would willingly undertake the duties for such moderate sum as would be a fair compensation for the work to be done. In the Post Office, also, an arrangement might doubtless be made with some respectable tradesman, by which a saving of. two-thirds of the present salary might be effected. These or other reductions must be made, or an immediate increase of taxation must take place, as the present salaries togetlter with the maintenance of the police absorb the whole of the Customs revenue of the settlement.

We understand the Police Magistrate has received a communication from the Colonial Secretary, disavowing on the part of the GoTernment its sanction for erecting the fort in Nelson, anfl. stating that it will hear no part of the expense. Major Richmond, it would seem, had alarmed his patrons by. representing that this place of safety had been formed under the direction of Mr. White ; but that gentlemen knew the character of the men he represented too well to commit himself by any act which should have for its object security to the lives of settlers, if it required the expenditure of a farthing of money. It is to the Home Government that the Company must look for repayment for this necessary outlay.

We have received files of Sydney and other Australian papers by the Star of China, but beyond the late English news we have extracted from the Sydney Herald of November 27th, they contain nothing of importance.