BIRTH.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 111, 1 June 1844, Page 50

BIRTH.

Oa the47t* alt., th» ladjr of S. Lowndes, eiq., of a daughter; i . .

We have received Auckland papers to the 27th of April. Their contents are somewhat important, as they inform us that Captain Fitzßoy had determined to issue debentures on the colony, to the amount of £15,000, for the purpose of paying off the arrears of salaries to public officers. We furnish our readers with the following remarks of the Southern Cross on the subject : — " Mr. Crawfurd, in the Journal of his Embassy to th« Court of Ava, states that a question frequently put to him by the Burmese was, ' Whether the English did not understand the art of converting iron into silver and copper into gold ?' We do not know what answer Mr. Crawfurd gave to that question, lint we are certain he would have astonished the Lard of the Golden Palace if be had informed, him that bis countrymen could not only can-* vert iron and copper into silver and gold, but

that they had also so much ingenuity as to enable them to convert even paper itself into these valuable metals. It would almost seem that Lord Stanley had an idea that Captain Fitzßoy was possessed of the skill and power which the Burmese ignorantly supposed to belong to all Englishmen. How else can we account for the extraordinary position in which he has placed the Governor ? Unless he had fancied that he had placed the philosopher's Btone in the hand of the Governor when he despatched him from England to take charge of the Government of New Zealand— it will be very difficult to account for his conduct towards him by any of the ordinary principles which guide men in the ordinary or extraordinary pursuits of life. *••• ' • * * There is no excuse for Lord Stanley on the score of ignorance, bis conduct towards Captain - Fitzßoy is infamous, and such as no man of business or honour could be guilty of without the total loss of reputation and character. What would be thought of a merchant at home who would send his chief clerk to manage a foreign business for him, and who, the moment he had done so, would take every possible means of destroying the credit of that person ? And what would that clerk say when he arrived at that foreign country, and found that the concern he came to manage had been so touch neglected by those who preceded him, that, without an additional outlay of money, the whole must be lost, and still his principal had prevented him from obtaining this necessary money either in the country he came to or from home i We are very certain that his state of feeling would be any thing but comfortable, and any thing but kindly and well disposed towards the heartless person who had placed him in such a cruelly harassing situation. Whatever the feelings of such a person might be supposed to be, we can easily imagine that our Governor must, at the present moment, be in any thing but a happy mood as respects his treatment at the hands of the Secretary for the Colonies. Had Captain Fitzßoy been a mere place-hunting person, without any permanent office, without any standing in society, and without any connexions in England, his treatment would have been worse than bad ; — but when we take into account the sacrifice that he has certainly made in undertaking the Government of this colony, we must say that Lord Stanley has, to use the mildest possible term, behaved infamously towards him.

"Let us for a moment look at the present position of Captain Fitzßoy in this colony, and then we shall be better able to judge of the conduct of Lord Strnley towards him. On the arrival of Captain Fitzßoy, the debts of the Government were, at least, £25,000. The annual expenditure about £45,000, and the revenue not more than £18,000, without the shadow of a prospect of being able to increase it, but with an almost certainty of its fast decreasing. Besides all this, which was in itself sufficiently discouraging ; it must also be stated that the colony generally was and is in a state of great depression, in consequence of the harsh and injudicious measures of the late Government, discontent and even suffering prevailing among all classes of the community, north and south. Native quarrels and European claims to lands to be settled in every part of the country. Roads, streets, and all public improvements unattempted, and the people clamorous, some for employment, and some because no money had been spent on public improvements of any kind, not even upon a wharf or watering-place. To complete the sketch, it may be added that the Government itself, as well as almost every individual member of the Government, were indebted to the merchants and shopkeepers in the various settlements, who, although they had all along manifested much patience and forbearance, were still eager and really requiring to obtain money, rome whence it would. Such then is the present position of the Governor of New Zealand — he is without money in the colony, and is not permitted to draw upon his friends at home. Lord Stanley has publicly announced that his drafts will be dishonoured — and, from bis lordship's treatment of Captain Grey, the Governor of South Australia, there is every likelihood that he would keep his word.

" We would now ask our readers what .they would do themselves in these circumstances, if any one of them should happen to find himself in the enviable position of Governor of a colony with the resources of New Zealand, such as we have stated above, and such as they know them ft> be from their own experience ? * * * * It cannot be doubted that we have sboun that a necessity existed on the part of the Government of raising tne wind in some shape or oth^r. Their available funds in the colony are expended, they cannot draw upon home, and what tare they to do? * * * * * • • Our own private opinion is, that we could, in twelvemonths, pay off all the debts of this Government without any extraordinary scheming,but we would act something out of the ordinary Government method of transacting business, owt scheme would therefore be most likely disapproved of, and we shall therefore, in the meantime, say nothing about it. A necessity, then, ie will be acknowledged, exists for raising the .wind; money cannot be made in the colony, money cannot be procured 'from home. It is true, the Governor might draw bills upon the Treasury, but it is very likely that these bills- could not be sold. Some persons think that the Governor might draw bills in favour of each of the officers of Government, for the .salaries 4rf such officers. This plan has already beonVijied in South Australia, and the bills were f^fiferned dishonoured; so that puts an end to iW| scheme. These two plans having failed, we^wi't acknowledge, speaking in. accordance with the usual Government reasoning on such matters, that the Goyernor had, no tl-

ternative but to try the effects of paper-kites or promissory notes, or debentures. This plan he has adopted ; and neither he nor any man can calculate exactly what the effect may be in so small a community as this;- and we shall not at present speculate either one way or another on this part of the subject, because we really cannot honestly say how it may turn out. We doubt not his Excellency will watch their effects With much caution, and issue them at such times and m such quantities as he may deem best. We shall also watch over them with much anxjety and watchfulness. But there are certain reasons why we cannot positively speculate upon their effects, and the principal one is, that we have no experience in the matter, and that we cannot discover any precedent whereby to judge. There are however, two things which we should dread, and these two things are their either being esteemed too.high or their falling too low; in either case they would give rise to much speculation, which would be very unsafe and very injurious in the present state of our colony. To Government officers who cannot expect to receive hard cash for salaries, they are a decided benefit, because they are an acknowledgment of salary due with a certain amount of interest ; and to parties having a debt against Government officers who have no means of paying their debts except in debentures, we must say that they are also an advantage to them, inasmuch as a Government security bearing interest is better than an open account against a person who may never be in a condition to pay.

Some persons will, no doubt, expect, and, for aught we know, the Governor himself may expect, that the Home Government may provide funds to meet these promissory notes when due. We are totally ignorant of the views of the Governor or Government on this subject, but we must say that if they are issued on the faith of the Home Government doing anything of this kind, we fear it will be a delusion, and we are of opinion that the Governor, in issuing them (we do not know but he has), should have made preparation for reducing the expenditure of the Government, so as to have, from the ordinary revenue, enough to meet them. Until we saw the correspondence of Governor Grey, we certainly did suppose that the Home Government would meet the debentures when due, but we have now no hope of any thing of the kind. Were we the Governor of this colony, rather than have any doubt as to being able to meet them when due, we would, beforehand, reduce the expenditure, so that, in spite of fate, there could be *o mistake upon the subject. We know that Governors do not like reducing establishments ; but, rather than get in debt, we would hold-»the reins in our own hand alone, and dismiss every on* else, at least until we heard from home. We would keep up the name, and, by so doing, preserve the colony to the mother-country; but, rather than get in debt, we would act Governor, Colonial Secretary, Treasurer, Judge, Sheriff, Police Magistrate, and petty Clerk, well knowing that the people, as well as the Home Government, would support us and approve of our conduct; — but we know nothing of the Governor's plans in this respect."