WAIRAU MASSACRE.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 120, 22 June 1844, Page 62

WAIRAU MASSACRE.

A Public Meeting of the inhabitants of Nelson was held at the Institution on Thursday, for the purpose of hearing despatches, relating to the massacre at the Wairau, just received from the Court of Directors of the New Zealand Company. Mr. Fox, on being called to jftie chair, after making a few observations, read the following d

locument : —

New Zealand House, Broad-st.-buildings, January 11, 1844.

Sir — Since the receipt of the despatches mentioned in the margin [dated 28th and 30th June, 1843], the one subject that has engaged the attention of the Court is the account of the collision at Cloudy Bay, and the massacre by which it was followed.

The letters of Mr. Kelham had led the Court to fear that ere long further particulars must follow of a painful nature. But its apprehensions had fallen far short of the truth, and left it totally unprepared for the dreadful narrative conveyed in your despatch of 28th June, No. 53—43. Communicating immediately with the Government, and receiving from Lord Stanley, with a cordiality and unreserve which would be most gratifying if anything could be so termed in connexion with the sad event, every report and statement that had reached the Colonial Office, — the Court deemed it a duty to express at once the feelings which had been called forth on the occasion.

More especially the Directors desired to place promptly on record their sense of the motives which had induced Captain Wakefield and the gentlemen associated with him to give their assistance to the magistrate in the execution of the law — the high estimation in which Captain Wakefield was held by them — their deep regret for his untimely death — and their sympathy for the irreparable loss sustained by his venerable parent and other surviving relatives. Of the resolutions embodying their sentiments (which were unanimously adopted at the last meeting and confirmed this day), I now do myself the honour to inclose a copy.

Others impressing on her Majesty's Government the necessity of taking vigorous measures at the present crisis*(which were adopted and confirmed at the same meetings) will in like manner be communicated to you when the reply of the Secretary of State has been received and the result known.

In the meantime I shall take (in early opportunity of obtaining and conveying to you the instructions of the Court upon the several other matters contained in the despatches above mentioned. I have the honour, &c, (signed) T. C. Hajulxnqton, sec. Colonel Wilham Wakefield,

&c, &<*»

Extract fromCocmT Mimnxs, Dec. 21, 1848. The following patera were laid before the Court and taken into consideration, namely: — Colonel Wakefield's despatch No. 53 — 45, dated Wellington, 28th Jane, 1843 (43—2899). Mr. Under Secretary Hope's letter of 16th December, 1843 (43—2924). Mr. Willoughby Shortland to the Secretary of State, dated Auckland, 13th July, 1843.

Mr. M'Donough, police magistrate at Wellington, to the Colonial Secretary of New Zealand, dated Wellington, 27th June, 1843.

Mr. Clarke, senior, chief protector of aborigines, to the Colonial Secretary, dated Auckland. Bth July, 1843. Mr. Clarke, jun., protector of aborigines, to the Chief Protector, dated Wellington. 29th June 1843; ' and other documents connected with the disastrous intelligence recently received from New Zealand.

Moved by Mr. Young, and seconded by Mr. Aglionby, — resolved unanimously, ,

That this Court considers it a solemn duty to record the deep sense it entertains of the severe loss sustained, not only by the New Zealand Company, but by the entire colony of New Zealand, in the untimely deaths of Captain Arthur Wakefield Captain England, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Richardson' Mr. Patchett, Mr. Howard, Mr. Cotterell, and the other enterprising settlers who fell in the unfortunate collision with the natives in Cloudy Bay and the subsequent barbarous massacre.

That the Court further deems it an act of justice to the memory of those estimable and ill-fated individuals to declare its conviction that, whatever opinion may be entertained of the prudence of the expedition, no blame can be justly attributed to those high-spirited men who accompanied the magistrates in their private capacities only, and who fell victims to their anxiety to vindicate the supremacy of the law, and, at whatever personal hazard, to support the constituted authorities in its execution.

That, with respect to Captain Wakefield in particular, it is impossible that the Court should be unmindful of the intrepidity tempered by prudence, the forbearance, the generosity, and kindness by which his character was distinguished ; and especially of his uniform anxiety to promote the welfare of the natives, by whom he was both respected and beloved : and that, in these qualities, the Court would, under any deficiency or inconsistency of information, find abundant assurance that he never would have been a voluntary party to any rash or intemperate measures, or to any acts of tyranny or cruelty towards the aboriginal inhabitants of New Zealand.

That to this record to the public character of its late agent at the settlement of Nelson, the Court desires to add the expression of its high es-' timation of his private worth, and the assurance of its unfeigned sympathy with the venerable parent of Captain Wakefield, and his other sorrowing relatives, on the irreparable loss they have sustained : and that these sentiments be conveyed to Mr. Wakefield, senior, Colonel Wakefield, and Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield.

True extract

(Signed) T. C. Harrington, Sec. The Honourable C. A. Dillon, in proposing 1 the first resolution, expressed a wish that some more fitting person, who could have done it more justice, had been selected for the task ; but his confidence was restored when he remembered how the whole thing spoke for itself. He felt proud of the settlement when he saw bo large a meeting assembled, and he was certain that the resolution would be responded to : the signatures to the petition to Parliament and the way that the last 17th of June was observed assured him that such would be the case. As regarded the agitation, which had been condemned by a few interested individuals and place-hunters, he thought it had been of the greatest use [hear, hear]. He was one of the magistrates who had resisted the attempt first to cajole and then to bully them, made by Major Richmond, and the result was that the depositions had been published in England, and that our countrymen at home were made aware of the truth of our statements and of the falsehoods propagated by the Government and its hirelings [loud cheers]. He alluded to the disgraceful proposition made by Major Richmond, to sacrifice a Maori chief of inferior rank instead of the really guilty parties [loud cries of " Shame !" and " Groans for Major Richmond "]. He hoped the agitation would continue, not in this affair alone, but in all matters where the Government was to blame [cheers]. Agitation, wholesome constitutional agitation, was the only thing left for them [hear, hear] ; and he trusted and felt .assured, when he looked round and heard their cheers, that it would continue. As far as he himself was concerned, though the highest authority in the colony had declared that he was too young a man and too recent a settler (he was 31 years of age and had been eighteen months in a colony two years old), he should continue his agitation. He had agitated, he did agitate, and would continue to do so as long as he had breath in his body to shout or a shilling in his pocket to support it [loud and repeated cheers]. He then moved die following resolution : —

11 That we have heard with feelings of the most extreme satisfaction the report of the proceedings of the Directors of the New Zealand Company with regard to the Wairau massacre j and that we take the earliest opportunity of thus publicly recording our warmest approbation of the same." Seconded by Mr. Duppa. Mr. Stafford, before the resolution was put to the meeting, wished to make a few observations. They were all aware that the agitation which had been so persevermgly kept up had been condemned by a few — he was glad to say only a very few — of the inhabitants of this settlement. It had been stated by these individuals that this agitation would 'lead to the ruin of the settlement by deterring emigration from home. But was that really the case ? If instead of the course which, to their honour, the great majority of the settlers had pursued* they had suffered such an unusual event to pass unnoticed, what would have been the impression produced in England by their conduct — what, but that such events were of daily occurrence, that we were so accustomed to them that they did not occasion more than a passing thought r Yes, had we suppressed our feelings on the first intelligence of the calamity and our subsequent indignation at the shameful and unconstitutional conduct of the Government officers, we should have led our friends and correspondents in England to believe that »uch a lamentable loss of life was so very common an occurrence that we did not deem it worthy of notice [hear, hear].

and they would naturally conclude that neither life nor property was for a moment safe. He (Mr. Stafford) put it in this grovelling light of pounds, shillings, and pence, as he feared that by a pecuniary consideration alone that party could be influenced. But, blinded by avarice, they could not foresee their inability to suppress the fact of the massacre itself — that although they had made no public comment on it, and had failed to demand a judicial inquiry into its origin and details, the fact of our countrymen having been massacred (many of whose names were widely known at home) could not be concealed, and that, as a matter of course, the friends and relatives of the settlers here would immediately desire their return, and then adieu to all future immigration of capital or labour to New Zealand. He was almost ashamed to enlarge on so paltry a view of the question, and only did it from a desire to convince them how blind they were to their own interests [hear, hear]. It was now pretty evident how much they owed to the late magistrates for their independent and fearless conduct in resisting the fawning, coaxing tone of one, and the bullying, or he should rather say attempted bullying tone of another official [loud cheers]. Yes, he rejoiced that the late magistrates and the inhabitants of the settlement generally would not allow themselves to be bullied even by the highest official of them all [cheers]. They had printed the depositions in the teeth of the Government authorities, and these depositions had been reprinted in London. They had memorialized and petitioned time after time, until they had at. last forced themselves upon the attention of the authorities at home. They did not conceive that by the act of coming 16,000 miles from England they had forfeited any of their political privileges ; and the result of the agitation cherished by this belief was that they were to have efficient military protection and the immediate settlement of the land claims, the delay in which was the primary cause of the calamity they deplored [cheers]. Yes, this massacre, and this very agitation which had been so frequently denounced by these worldly minded few, had been the cause of placing the colony in a more secure and prosperous position than it had ever yet held ; but this result had been dearly purchased by the sacrifice of the many brave and estimable men who fell on that occasion [hear, hear]. He would not detain them longer. They were all aware of the truth of most of iiis remarks ; and his friend, Mr. Dillon Bell, would communicate to them the substance- of some letters which he had just received, corroborative of other portions of his statement. Mr. Dillon Bell stated that he had received a great number of letters from England, by the Bella Marina and Sydney, in all of which the subject of the Wairau massacre was more or less discussed. In all parts of England it had created a great sensation ; but the general belief was that the measures which the Government were about to take respecting it would restore public confidence in the progress of the colony. It was stated with some degree of certainty that troops would be immediately sent out to be permanently stationed at each of the settlements, while orders would be at the same time transmitted to the Local Government to settle the question of titles to land forthwith. Although the arrival of the first false accounts and misrepresentations (which were subsequently retracted here) had spread the opinion that the English had been in the wrong, and had lost their lives in a conflict occasioned by their oppression of the natives, the feeling appeared to have entirely changed on the arrival of the complete and authentic accounts of the murders; and the Directors of the Company had nobly come forward to vindicate the motives and characters of those who fell. It was therefore to -be- expected that every subsequent arrival (and that of the Nelson, which sailed on the 14th of September and reached the Downs on the 26th of January, would furnish ample accounts) would have tended still further to impress the real merits of the case on the public mind in England. And let the opposition here or elsewhere be what it might, he (Mr. Bell) could not regret the share he had taken in the repeated endeavours made by the great majority of the settlers of Nelson to repel the obloquy that had been attempted to be heaped on the memory of the dead. He was happy to say that projects of emigration had been revived in various quarters, and that it was likely a body of settlers would come out here who had long been intending to do so. Jn Germany the massacre did not appear to have had any serious effect, for a body of colonists had been negotiating with the Company for fifty Nelson sections, and were to leave Hamburg in two or more vessels. He was satisfied that in the end the honest and fearless conduct of the settlers would, by showing that the massacre had been the consequence of the culpable neglect of the late Government with respect to the land question, and not of any oppression on the part of the Europeans, make their friends in England proud of the settlement of Nelson, and compel the Home Government to do what it ought to have done long since. And while he for one heartily and indignantly denied entertaining any feeling of animosity against the natives generally, he would never be satisfied until justice bad been done to the murdered men, and the stain that had been thrown upon their conduct by the Government be wiped away. The resolution was then put to the meeting and carried unanimously. Mr. White made a few observations respectj ing the conduct of Government in connexion ! with the Wairau massacre. ! Mr. Stafford said he had to propose ano- \ ther resolution, which was quite unnecessary as regarded this community, but which, in justice to themselves, they ought to past for circulij tton in England. All the energies of the offi- ' rials, commencing with the imbecile who lately held the reins of power, were directed to the

attempt to make it appear that the natives were on all occasions oppressed and tyrannised over by the Europeans — that an unceasing feeling^f hostility to the aborigines was felt by the white settlers, which led to the massacre at Wairau ; and this malicious calumny, asserted by Mr. ; M'Donogh, the police magistrate at Wellington, and Mr. Clarke, protector of aborigines, in their • ♦ • manifestoes, had unfortunately reached England a few weeks before the true depositions and statements from Nelson and Wellington, and had consequently created an impression that the natives had been more sinned against than sinning. These * * • statements (Clarke's and M'Donogh's) they had afterwards been obliged publicly to retract [cheers]. But still they had found their way to England, and therefore required an answer — the more so, as the present Governor had evidently taken them up and acted upon them. A more foul and malicious calumny had never been circulated. He himself could speak from an intimate knowledge of the leaders of the European party at the Wairau, that nothing could be stronger than the desire of Captain Wakefield and Mr. Thompson (in particular the latter, who was almost the only honest and honourably-minded official he had met with in New Zealand) that the aborigines should in every manner benefit by the colonization of New Zealand. He would therefore propose the following resolution : —

" That this meeting cannot separate without taking the occasion of repelling, in the most indignant terms, the charge that any feeling of animosity towards the natives has caused and maintained the remembrance of the Wairau massacre, and the steps that have been taken to keep it before the English, public And they rely with confidence on the unvarying consistency of the declarations of the settlers to this effect, in reply to the calumny that would at once attempt to disgrace the memory of the dead and to frustrate the fearless endeavours of the living to obtain simple justice."

Mr. Tytler, in seconding the resolution, expressed his indignation at the base attempt of the Government officials to create such an impression as an excuse for their cowardly imbecility and flagrant endeavour to' set aside all the constitutional and usual jfptcial forms of Englishmen. He had well known the late unfortunate Mr. Thompson and Captain Wakefield, and could honestly declare that no persons were more interested in the present or future welfare of the Maories, or would have sooner interfered to protect their interests in the event of any attempted oppression by the European settlers. He felt the very greatest pleasure in seconding the resolution.

Mr. M 'Donald stated that he could support Mr. Tytler in his assertion that there existed no malice or bloodthirsty feelings towards the natives in the minds of the gentlemen whose lives had been sacrificed. He sat on the bend' when it was agreed to proceed to the Wairau to investigate the disturbance created by the Maories destroying Mr. Cotterell's house ; and expressions of the utmost confidence were made by both Mr. Thompson and Captain Wakefield that their appearance there would have the effect of quieting the natives, and putting the matter to rest. He had heard remarks of a different nature since the unfortunate result had transpired ; but, at the time, no one breathed a doubt of the success of the expedition. The character of these gentlemen was well known. A kinder and more noble minded man than Captain Wakefield never breathed. Mr. Thompson, in his capacity of protector of aborigines, was continually studying their welfare; he was invariably just towards them, and embraced every opportunity of showing them kindness. Captain England was the most kindhearted and inoffensive of men. In fact, it was well known that if any white man had illtreated or abused a native, and had been brought before either of these unfortunate gentlemen, he would have received the severest punishment. They little deserved the stigma that had been attempted to be cast on their memory, from whatever quarter it had emanated. As his (Mr. M'Donald's) conduct in the transaction might yet be the subject of a judicial inquiry, he would not enlarge on it at present. He must, however, say that he should never feel ashamed of what he had then done. On the issuing of the warrant for the apprehension of the murderers of our cOJpitrymen, unanimity prevailed amongst the entire bench. As Englishmen, they had conscientiously done their duty; and they had never swerved from the course they had at first adopted. For this they had received most shameful and unmerited treatment from the Governor. The words he addressed to the four magistrates who signed the warrant for the apprehension of the chiefs (Messrs. Monro, Tytler, Dillon and Duppa) were, " Gentlemen, you may not have done anything illegal, but you have so far exceeded the bounds of prudence, that I have no confidence in you ; and I shall take care to leave your names out of the new commission which I shall issue on my return to Auckland." His (Mr. M'Donald's) own name was not mentioned, but he had taken the first opportunity to tell his Excellency that, although he had not signed the warrant, it was only because, from being the Sheriff, the natives, if apprehended, might have been placed in his custody ; and that his Excellency's censure was equally applicable to himself; and he therefore begged to tender him his resignation. The Nelson magistrates had been cashiered for doing their duty. He hoped the present magistrates would perform theirs as conscientiously : or, should they fail, that public opinion would mark its sense of their conduct.

On putting the resolution to the meeting, the Chairman observed, that it might appear superfluous to do so in the settlement of Nelson, where the true state of the feelings of the settlers towards the natives was known; but in reference to impressions which had been promoted

elsewhere, it was well to disclaim the imputation alluded to. The charge made against the settlers was either silly or wicked. Silly, if made without evidence of its truth ; and wicked, if made with a knowledge of its falsehood. How the mind of his Excellency the Governor had been poisoned on the subject, it was not difficult to discern. He had on his voyage to New Zealand touched at a neighbouring colony, in which men had been hung for hunting the natives with kangaroo dogs and shooting them for sport ; and where the destruction of the natives by laying poisoned dampers in their way was an avowed practice. Allusions which his Excellency had made when in Nelson, showed the quarter from which he had received his impressions; and such impressions having been made, their removal was a duty which the settlers owed to themselves.

The resolution was then put and carried unanimously.

The thanks of the meeting was then given to Mr. Fox for his conduct in the chair, which was followed by three hearty cheers.