PETITION" TO PARLIAMENT.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 119, 15 June 1844, Page 59

PETITION" TO PARLIAMENT.

To the Honourable the House of Commons, &c, &c, &c. The humble Petition of the undersigned Inhabitants of the settlement of Nelßon, in the colony of New Zealand, Sheweth, ' 1. That it is with reluctance and regret your petitioners are compelled to protest and petition to your honourable house against the acts of his Excellency the Governor of this colony, in reference to»tba massacre that was committed in this settlement on the 17th of June last, when twenty-two of your petitioners' fellow settlers, , including in their number a commander in her ■Majesty's royal navy, a retired captain hi her Majesty's army, the Police Magistrate and Judfe of the County Court of the district of Nelson and Protector of Aborigines, the Crown Prosecutor, and the chief constable for the said district, were savagely murdered by certain aborigines of these islands, in resistance of the exercise of her Majesty's lawful authority. 2. That your petitioners have read, with surprise and sorrow, the official published account of his Excellency's meeting with certain native chiefs on the 12th of February last, which terminated in the announcement of his decision " not to avenge-the deaths" of your petitioners' fellow countrymen; and do solemnly protest against this course, which they humbly conceive to be an arbitrary and unconstitutional assumption by his Excellency of the power and authority of the legally instituted tribunals of jußtice. 3. That your petitioners have learned from the said official account that on Monday the 12th day of February in the present year his Excellency landed at Waikanai, a place situated on the south-west coast of New Ulster, commonly called the North Island, accompanied by certain officers of his Government, and by Captain Sir Everard Home, Bart., and other officers of her Majesty's ship North Star, and was there received by several hundred natives, including certain men charged with committing the said massacre. That his Excellency, in a speech which he addressed to the said natives, stated, among other things, " That he had come there to hear their own account of the said massacre, and to compare the same with the published statements and evidence* of the Europeans; that, when he had first heard of the death of the Englishmen who had fallen, he had been very angry, and had thought of hastening here with many ships of war, many soldiers, and several fire-moved ships; that, had he done so, their

warriors would have been killed, their canoes taken and burnt, and their houses and villages destroyed: but that he liad considered the English, even by their own account, to have been very much to blame, and had seen how much the natives had been provoked ; that he had therefore put away his anger, and come to them peaceably to hear their story." 4. That your petitioners have further learned from the said official account that the principal chief present, named Rauparaha (who headed ■flic party of natives engaged in the said massa£Fe, led them to the spot where it was committed, and himself assisted in it, and who claimed the land, a dispute in respect of which was the origin of the legal proceedings which terminated in the said massacre), addressed his Excellency with a statement of the events connected therewith x and that, at the conclusion of the said chief's recital, and after one half-hour's deliberation, without cross-examining him, or examining any other person, his Excellency proceeded to inform the assembled natives that, " having heard and reflected upon the accounts of the natives as well as of the white men, he had decided that it was the misconduct of the English which had brought on the fight and hurried the natives into the crime of murdering unarmed men, who had surrendered ; and that he would therefore not avenge their deaths."

5. That the account of the conflict and massacre which was given by the said chief Rauparaha to his Excellency the Governor contained statements at variance with a mass of evidence which had been lawfully taken on oath and published : and that, unsupported as it was by the evidence of any other native at the time, your petitioners humbly conceive it could not possibly enable his Excellency to arrive, in one) half-hour's deliberation, at an impartial and unbiassed judgment as to the degree of guilt attaching to any parties, even had he been legally competent to pass such judgment. 6. That your petitioners desire to put altogether aside the consideration of the question whether or not the body of Englishmen who proceeded to the Wairau under the authority of the Police Magistrate and other magistrates of the territory, for the apprehension of certain natives charged with breaking thejlaws, acted lawfully ; because up to this time the Commissioner appointed by her Majesty to investigate the titles to land in this colony has not commenced any inquiry as to whether or not those aborigines had really sold the land in respect of which the dispute originated which ended in the massacre, and because until he shall make his decision on that point no just conclusion can be arrived at. Your petitioners therefore refrain from questioning here the accuracy of the statement made by his Excellency, that the said body of Englishmen were wrong from the i first, and that the said natives had committed

no crime for which they could be apprehended. But, while your petitioners admit, as a matter of course, his Excellency's right to the same free exercise of individual opinion which they claim for themselves, they do protest against such private opinions being publicly avowed, as having all the force of law, and superseding altogether any investigation by, aad being put in place of the decision of, a court of law. 7. That, in certain instructions addressed by her Majesty's late Secretary of State for the Colonies (Lord John Russell) to the late Governor Hobson, dated the 9th of December, 1840, which accompanied the transmission of the charter of the colony, and which were intended to guide the official conduct of the Governor, the said Secretary of State declared that even the customs of the aborigines, though merely absurd and impolitic and not directly injurious, would, unless express legislative provision were made to the contrary, subject the aborigines to the penalties of English law where it might be contravened by such customs ; and he directed that in the case of greater crimes committed by the natives, violating the eternal and universal 'laws of morality (such as your petitioners conceive murder to be), no compromise should be made, by whatever pretext of religious or superstitious opinion such crimes might have been sanctioned in the previous practice of the natives. 8. That his Excellency Captain Fitzßoy, apparently disregarding the plain tenour of the said instructions of the late Secretary of State, has publicly announced to many of your petitioners, in this settlement, that though " the natives are British subjects and entitled to all the consideration and protection of the subjects of Great Britain, they are not amenable in every respect to the laws of England;" but that neither his Excellency nor the Legislature of the colony have specified any particular in which the natives are not amenable to English law; whilst in the official account of the meeting at Waikanai before referred to, his Excellency is stated to have informed the natives that their ignorance of English law absolved them from the consequences of their acts. 9. That on the same occasion as he declared that the natives are not amenable to British law, as before mentioned, and previous to his proceeding to Waikanai aforesaid, his Excellency (in pursuance of that doctrine, as your petitioners presume) removed from the commission of the peace several magistrates resident in this settlement, principally, as he stated at the time, on account of their having signed a warrant for the apprehension of the said two principal chiefs, when charged with the commission of the Baid murders.

10. That your petitioners'are unwillingly led to the conviction, by the aforesaid circumstances, that, previous to the said meeting between his Excellency and the natives at Waikanai as. aforesaid, his Excellency's decision was made in his own mind not to institute any judicial inquiry for the purpose of lawfully ascertaining and bringing to punishment the parties guilty of the said murders.

11. That your petitioners, therefore, cannot regard his Excellency's said proceedings at Waikanai in the light of a eolemn and impartial investigation by a tribunal competent to investigate, nor his decision as a just and final judgment by a tribunal competent to decide ; but, on the contrary, they consider the whole as a mere conversation between Captain Fitzßoy and a certain native chief, which, in its commencement and progress, had none of the forms, and in its termination none of the conclusive weight, of a judicial inquiry. 12. That on a recent occasion, to wit, in the month of August last, the deputation appointed to proceed to Auckland on behalf of the inhabitants of this settlement, to lay before his Excellency the Officer then administering the Government of the colony the evidence relating to the said massacre, and to ascertain the intentions of the Government in reference thereto, received a written assurance from hjs Excellency " that the case would not be prejudged, that impartial justice should be done, and that the penalties of the law should certainly overtake those whom its verdicts should prove guilty." 13. That, in the humble opinion of your petitioners, the decision of his Excellency the Governor of this colony has prejudged the case; impartial justice has not been done; and the penalties of the law have not overtaken the guilty.

14. That your petitioners do solemnly and sincerely disclaim any malignant or unchristian feelings of revenge against any of the natives, .and earnestly repel the charge of having brought on, by their own ill treatment of the aborigines generally, the said lamentable calamity at the Wairau, or of having continued such ill treatment to the present time. 15. That your petitioners desire to be understood as abstaining from comment on any* other act of his Excellency, except the course pursued by him with relation to the said massacre. His government of the colony has been, too brief to allow of a full development of his measures, and y,our petitioners do not wish to express any opinion upon them. 'They appeal to your honourable house solely on the said question of the massacre. 16. Your petitioners therefore pray that your honourable house will be pleased to take such steps as in your wisdom may seem right, in order that her Majesty may be moved to express her disapprobation of the conduct pursued by his Excellency the Governor of this colony in declining to bring before the constitutional tribunals of the law the parties charged with the massacre of so many of her Majesty's faithful subjects, and to cause such other measures to be adopted as may for the future effectually secure your petitioners, and all. others her Majesty's loyal subjects resident in the colony of New Zealand, against any similar licentious interference with the due course of justice, and thereby establish the authority of British law as supreme and inflexible, alike over the ruler and the ruled, over the native and the European, throughout these islands. And your petitioners will ever pray, &c.

William Fox, barrister Constantine A. Dillon George Duppa Alfred Domett, barrister James Stewart Tytler John Saxton Richard K. Newcome W. Budge, surveyor Francis Jollie A. M'Donald, banker F. Dillon Bett W. O. Cautley Obarles Elliott, printer A. Perry, merchant J. T. Bramwell, storekeeper John Kerr, farmer H. Redwood, farmer H. Redwood, jun., fanner William Jones, cowkeeper /, James Plumridge, gardener Samuel Newport, labourer Alfred Saunders, miller Edward Alexander, labourer John Poynter, solicitor J. Greaves, solicitor W. P. Hippisley, farmer John Henry Cooper, surgeon D. Monro, J. P. James Elliott, printer Duncan M'lntosh, printer George F. Bush, surgeon James Hyde, apothecary K. D. Sweet, accountant Alexander Hart, clerk Alexander Kerr, clerk Thomas Marsden, watchmaker John Horn, bricklayer George llorley, carpenter WilUam Seymour, carpenter . William Farehall, labourer ' Richard Mills, innkeeper Charles James Pelham, brewer William Sinclair, mariner Poalo Portello, brewer David Calnan, carpenter 8. Haynes, carpenter Joseph Medhurst, carpenter John Palmer, storekeeper William Dale, storekeeper C. Chapman, gentleman Richard Lockwood, labourer William Sanger, former Frank Moline, surveyor J. C. Boys, surveyor William M'MorrU George Grcatheed, «n|fli J. P. Robinson, turner Thomas Rowling, labourer Richard Cbing, cowkeeper Hugh Martin, gentleman Richard Wains, yeoman Jacob Sefciel, cooper Joseph Morgan, engineer Benjamin Morgan, labourer George Morgan, labourer Edward Green, tailor Thomas Fawcett, druggist William Stallard, painter Henry Williams, shoemaker W. Johnson, innkeeper Joseph White A. Malcolm, tanner James King, seaman John Anderson, innkeeper R. D. Madsaae, turner James Anderson, graiier Daniel Miehardson, plarterer William White, carpenter Samuel Alder, painter Besil ConneU, carpenter Charles Loeas, shoemaker W. Wells, farmer D. Moore, storekeeper John Tales, carpenter Hugh Young, carpenter John Humphrey, wheelwright

'William Jennings, baker William RaynerTbaker Samuel Stephens Charles Empson, merchant Robert Rosa, baker A. Rankin, baker John Smith, carpenter Henry Purnell, carpenter George Hooper, brewer John Niabet, smith J. Fisher, surgeon W. Fassett, brickmaker J. Trass, labourer Joseph Hoare, merchant Alexander M'Kay, innkeeper Thomas Dillon, butcher Isaac Coates Frederick T. Berry/ carpenter John Nelson, sawyer ' Robert Roots, labourer C. Young, storekeeper John M'Artney, tinsmith John M'Artney, jun., tinsmith Richard Williams, woodcutter W. Kelly, labourer T. K. Warburton, innkeeper James Wilson, schoolmaster J. Collins, brickmaker T. J. Ferrers, schoolmaster Joshuafligley, carter Henry Hargreaves, carpenter F. Reita, carpenter Thomas Nock, bricklayer William Flower, sawyer Reuben Bird, joiner Joseph Bungate, labourer Jackson Bowes, carpenter Charles Henry Cox, carpenter afaderick Witherby, clerk Stafford Alexander Macshane, surgeon Thomas M'Hugh, clerk George Edwards, boatbuilder William Wright, innkeeper John Johnsoii . Robert Phelps, mariner, G.Ogilvie - Willum.M'Ghie William Harvey John Goodman Thomas Magarey, miller James Magarey, miller William M'Kenrie Colin Campbell, mariner R. V. Phelps, gentleman Robert Barret, labourer Henry Flower, carpenter Charles Astler William Nesbit Thomas White, millwright J. R. Gordon Adam Jackson, labourer John Reese, clerk T. Mayo, ironmonger '** ' Abraham Vefler, boaastsei »• James M'Kensie, boatman Thomas Watson, boatman Samuel Woolf, fanner James Hagan, shoemaker Robert Lucas, boatman Thomas Taylor, seaman Thomas Berry, storekeeper ' William Gardner, ropWHater Edward Laney, baker John Burns, joiner John Terms, fanner John Wftjaon, bricklayer James Spain, labourer Ws Hey W. Carder Thomas Martin W. Harkness, merchant Alexander M'Kune, smith Samual Paddnaon, sarreyor WOliani Ford, seaman Alfred rmyrttchild

Thomas Farrell William Taylor, boatman John Miller, boatman A. R. Wetberell, gentleman E. Wetherell, gentleman Alexander Bankin, baker Henry Wilson Carl Hellmann Peter Leonard John Brown, mariner William Gregson William John Herrick, sawyer Maurice W. O' Burke, gent, John Kidson, labourer John M' Donald, labourer Henry Brown, carter Joseph Newport, labourer Aldons Arnold, surveyor Edmond Stedman, farmer Andrew Paterson, joiner George M'Donald, shoemaker Henry Turner, sawyer John Arnold, cabinetmaker Thomas Blanchett, shoemaker John Gibson, maltster T. Musgrave, surveyor Jacob Batey, carpenter Thomas Sullivan, builder Thomas Duffey, surveyor P. Graham, merchant Anthony Rowe, farmer George Holland, yeoman d. W. Schroder, merchant David Smith, farmer John Armstrong, carter Michael Tully, gardener Edmund Perrin, brickmaker William Bate Salt, carter William Murray, innkeeper T. Tidd, India-rubber maker James Perrin, brickmaker W. M'Gowan, labourer John Wolken, slater Robert Carter, innkeeper Edward Grooby, labourer Charles Timtns, brickmaker John Oldaway, laboUpr David Norgate, labourer . H. B. Ellerm W. Sharp, fanner Henry Cooke, farmer Samuel Wells, labourer Francis Grooby, labourer George Blick, labourer John Sheat, sawyer Thomas Hopton, sawyer Jonathan Robinson, saddler William Bishop, druggist David Goodsll, carpenter John Watts, engineer John Clark, gardener Thomas Goodman, labourer William Parsons, labourer G. Lightband, leather-dresser -William Bagnall, carpenter Joseph Taylor, groom James Hammond, brickmaker C. Harrold John Brown, ae-wyer W. Brown, labourer George Goldsack, blacksmith Alfred Hill, printer Adin Cockroft, butcher James Howbotham, farmer George Tarr, butcher Richard Power, stonemason Henry Birchmore, bricklayer Bamuel Goddard, boatman Hiram Dane, shoemaker John Ponsonby, plasterer James Ponsonby, labourer Walter Barber, sawyer Robert Jeffery Durant Ishmael Clarke, well-sinker T. Scott. Francis M'Donald

Edward Jones, tailor U. Batchelor, hair»dresier Charles White James Knapp George Lyne, painter Henry P. Spershot, butcher W. Harvey, sawyer James Middleton, blacktmith Robert Sharp, labourer W. Moore, teacher John Crocker, labourer James Harper, shoemaker Z. Harper, shoemaker John Currw, labourer Robert Palmer, bricklayer William Fisher, labourer William Biggs, carter Isaac Wilson, smith T. Renwick, M.D. William Small, carpenter William Williams, labourer W. Thompson, sailor Robert Hunter, sawyer Thomas Smith, maltster Joseph Brogden, brewer Henry James, cooper Richard Lloyd, bootmaker Richard Sutcliffe, shoemaker George Binns, clerk James Murphy, boatman John P. Healy, riiopman Thomr.s Bright, carpenter H. C. Daniel], accountant John George Fyfe, clerk Robert Gordon, mariner William Gulley, mariner William Cockbum William Akroyd, boatman James T. Smith, clerk A. S. Rutter, stockman N Robert B. Gee, merchant George Kinsett, labourer John Nixon, labourer James Smith, baker William Barnett, shoemaker William Jones, carpenter Robert Newth, brickmaker Isaac Parfit, brickmaker Richard Pennels, brickmaker James Newport, brickmaker Alexander M'Gee, shoemaker Charles M'Gee, shoemaker Henry M'Gee, shoemaker Thomas Gaukroger, carpenter John M'Donold, dairyman William Kew, sawyer William Cate, labourer William M 'Donald, labourer James Winter, labourer T. Bartlett, labourer Daniel Eyeles, labourer William Cate, junior,4abourer John William Sigley, carter John Sigly, carter Jo«epu Kothwell, farmer Joseph Kimmer, farmer George Sutton, farmer Isaac Gibbs, farmer William Carter, painter John Taylor, gardener Benjamin Crisp, carter William Telford, sawyer John Ladd, plasterer Benry Lloyd, clerk F. A. Lloyd, clerk Richard Croak, labourar J. H. F. Spanhake Thomas Eden, shoemaker John Lister, labourer Anthony Roper, whitesmith Bamuel Stafford Styles, carte*' Robert Boddington, labourer George Harwood, shoemaker Thomas Webster, carpenter John Edwards, carpenter Henry Feran, labour*! -

Robert Franklin, baker William Leiphton, builder David Hammand, weaver James Robinson, carpenter William Chant, labourer Enoch Nicholl, stonemason John Butterfield, labourer Thomas Bryant, labourer James Kallor, carpenter Samuel Hire*, carpenter Enoch Blick, weaver Thomas Nicholls Arthur Martin, surgeon J. Newport, jun., labourer David Livingston, joiner William Rennets, labourer James Gibbs, labourer Henry Randall, labourer John Paton, gardener A. Sparks, tin plate worker John Egerton, gardener Charles Mathews, labourer W. Maher, labourer Thomas Wales John, Maher, labourer John Noden, labourer George Bampton Daniel Mathews, labourer William Neale, labourer John Gay, labourer Henry Wray, stockman James Hagin, labourer James Hollis, sawyer Wbitbread Field, sawyer T. C. Karsten, carpenter Charles A. Owen, gentleman Charles Harley, innkeeper John Brewerton, shoemaker James Craig, farmer William Field, sawyer Peter Higgins, labourer -^ ■ Alfred G. Betts, seaman*. 1 ?. George Moulder, sawyer i/ Thomas Spellor, manner"-'-' William Brown, mariner ' } ' Laury Jasper, mariner ; Charles Stark, sawyer William Cullen, yeoman , ' E. Coleman, cabinetmaker Charles Clarke, surveyor J. Tutty, baker > . R. Warner, blacksmith . ' William Gill, gardener Thomas George, labourer > Henry Coombs, sawyer H. T. Hickton, baker A. L. G. Campbell, gentfemajr Richard Tutbury, labourer « John Winderbanks, labourer ~ James Graham, bookbinder John Macintosh, cordwainer James Cook, labourer i William Freeth, labourer i John Gordon, boatman Alexander Painter, blacksmith William Mickle, turner Robert Mac Nabb, labourer Edward Mac Nabb, labourer Thomas Towers, labourer James Rose, labourer Samuel Mercer, labourer William Askew, wheelwright William Douglas, blacksmith Thomas Poole, painter Thomas Locke, sawyer David Lindsay, gardener John Fowler, fanner Bdwin fowler, butcher Henry Fowler, labourer John F. BaUard, storekeeper Bernard M'Mahon, labourer Joseph Duncan, stonemason David Drummond, labourer Thomas Eppa, gardener William Dent, farmer WUUam Bice, carpenter

William Pratt, labourer ! William Shepherd, carpenter George Smith, miller John G. Saunders, labourer George Thompson, blacksmith A. M'Lean, blacksmith Robert Taylor, millwright Peter Hansen, carpenter George Rutherford, carpenter William Williams, sawyer John Brougham, labourer Job Flowers, labourer Richard Maund, labourer James Bradley, labourer C. Murphy, labourer Charles Walker, labourer T. Atkins, labourer John Gillott, labourer John Cawte, wheelwright Richard Tannant, labourer Thomas Wilkins, labourer John Waterhouse Thomas Waterbouse John M'Donald Thomas N. Trower, farmer Joseph Newport, labourer Thomas Sidebotham, cooper Robert Murray, labourer Garner Hunter, labourer W. Hughes, labourer Benjamin Powell, labourer Thomas Blick, labourer William Brown, labourer Thomas Hannam, labourer Thomas Wells, labourer F. Grooby, jun., labourer George Grooby, labourer W. Walsh, bootmaker Thomas Hill, butcher Daniel Sullivan, bricklayer JaaMEStirling, farmer George M'Rae, fanner Horton Upjohn, gentleman Thomas Feary, farm servant THomas Price, farmer Edward Baigent, sawyer John Prior, carpenter Robert Crawford, farmer (William Jessop, bricklayer {James Barton, gardener {John Batt, farmer 'Edward Penney, whitesmith Samuel Badman, labourer T. Tunnicliff, labourer Chas. Gaukrodger, labours* James Harford, labourer Thomas Lines, labourer jßenjuiain Lines, labourer , 'John-Mean! labourer = "J!^ i James Wadaworth, labourijF* John Young, blacksmith" - William Mean, farmer Joshua Hoult, bricklayer J. Poppleton Horn, joiner John Griffith, sweep Samuel Crawford, labourer David Noz, labourer William Palmer, labourer David Clark, sawyer John Floss, labourer J, Wilkinson, storekeeper William M'Rae, shepherd John Kate, servant W. HUdreth, farmer Edward Noon,, labourer Andrew Croudaee, labourer John Scott Macdonald John Carter, labourer John Thorn, labourer Benjamin Parses, sawyer ; George Taylor, clerk ! John Wade, merchant C. O. Torlesse, surveyor William Brown Rliafaa Round, blacksmith William Hodgson, farmer

W. Dickinson, gent. William Bushnell, carpenter William Satherley, labourer John Staples, labourer David White, labourer Henry Lunn, labourer William Heaphy, labourer Robert Ailing, shipwright William Sinclair William Marsh, labourer Thomas Hovenden, labourer J. R. Carter, gardener James Everis Charles Coster, labourer William Black, carpenter John A very, farmer William Hammond, labourer W. Hammond, jun., labourer Charles Vincent, shoemaker John Harkness, former Thomas Gifford, labourer Isaac Gifford, labourer James Gifford, labourer George Gifford, labourer James Geddell, labourer John Chamberlayn, labourer James Clark, labourer Michael Shannon, labourer Mark Newth, labourer Thomas Maddock, labourer John Mortimer, labourer Joseph Herbert, labourer Stephen Sharp, labourer Samuel Tilly, labourer Thomas Gardner, labourer John Livingston, labourer Charles Henry Ford, labourer Michael Reardon, labourer James Bunget, labourer Jacob Gifford, labourer Charles Best, labourer. Samuel Stone, labourer Thomas Rea, labourer Emanuel Dew, labourer Charles Ford, labourer George Smith, labourer Joseph Taylor, labourer James Haycock, labourer Thomas Haycock, labourer Sydney Higgins, labourer Thomas Jackson, labourer Thomas Butler, labourer William Andrews, bricklayer Charles Andrews, bricklayer Thomas Andrews, bricklayer William Atkinson, labourer William Robinson, labourer David M'Kinsey, labourer James Written, labourer Winter, labourer qKaneis Blincoe, labourer George Ozley, labourer ■Emery Hounsell, labourer Samuel Jeffrees, labourer John Parsons, labourer Edward Cresswell, labourer James Spanton, labourer W. Wilkie, labourer Thomas Appgood, labourer W. Jeffries, labourer Thomas Coleman, labourer James Coleman, labourer Thomas Coleman, labourer Thomas Wagtteff, labonre* William Ricietts, labourer Francis Rush James Baggarley, painter Edward Allen Henry Garnett Thomas Newman W.WigaeU