THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, August 11, 1849.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 388, 11 August 1849, Page 94

THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, August 11, 1849.

Journal* become more necessary as men become more equal and individualism more to be feared. It would b« to underrate their importance to suppose that they serve only to secure liberty : they maintain civilization. Da Tocquxvillk, Of Democracy in America, vol. iv., p. 300,

The old adage, that there are many ways of killing a dog besides hanging it, has been fully verified in the conduct and proceedings of the Provincial Council lately sitting at Wellington. That Council, constituted as it -vi as in open defiance of the feelings and opinions of nine-teen-twentieths of the population of the province, whether considered numerically or intellectually, we should have been glad to have seen dealt with after a very summary fashion, and to have crushed it at its birth, but we are not sure that a more certain way of effectually extinguishing the nuisance has not been adopted in giving it a little rope — suffering it to play a few fantastic tricks — just to convince those who had been so sanguine as to expect good fruit from so rotten a stem, that the thing was altogether hopeless. Sir George Grey lias been suffered to test the value of the system he prized so highly, and he and his admirers cannot but confess that it is altogether a failure. Such is the opinion we find everywhere prevailing in Nelson ; and none now more strongly condemn the Governor's pet Council than those who, a few months ago, were for giving it a trial. It is an unusual thing in politics — almost unprecedented, we imagine, unless where power has been used in some violent way, thereby shocking all the better feelings of our nature — for a Governor, or ruling power of a State, to have a whole population arrayed against him, excepting only those who are his actual dependents. Yet this is the case in this province of New Zealand. The conduct of Sir George Grey — his duplicity and want of good faith, his total absence of candour, his disposition to court the strong and contemn the weak — has brought upon him an amount of odium, and raised against him a feeling which, recollecting some redeeming points in his character, is not a little remarkable. It 18 however a fact, that the Government of Sir George Grey stands now without a friend — he has no party, however small, to back him in his course ; and we declare that in this settlement we do not know, even among his dependants, where to s*eek for an advocate of the Governor's policy. Considering the enthusiasm which greeted his arrival, and the popularity he once enjoyed among us, such a falling away from him cannot be without good cause. But who can read the speech with which his Excellency opened the Council at Wellington in December last, so full of promise of great benefits which that Council was to bestow upon us, and, comparing it with what has been done, not feel that the Governor was all the time seeking to dupe us into an acquiescence in his measures ? What has his Excellency since done towards introducing Steam Communication, which he was then so eager to recommend ? What step has he taken towards the promotion of a general Emigration to the colony, then another his fond schemes? Truly, if " recommending the consideration " of these schemes to his abortion of a Council wai the only part he was to play in forwarding these great measures for our prosperity, the duty he imposed upon himself was not a very arduous one. How, again, has hii statement been borne out, that the Provincial Council should have the " entire control of all subjects of legislation connected with local affairs, and the control of

the Provincial Revenue,", when its power, in both respects, has been nothing better than a mockery ? It is no wonder that the gentlemen who were seduced into becoming his Nominees, by plausible, highly-coloured statements, should feel that they have been deceived and played with, and that they should be in doubt, as we believe some of them are, whether they shall not resign their seats, instead of undergoing another such humiliation.

We shall not at present go into the question of the waste of public money which these Provincial Councils will cause, and the heavy taxation the system will inflict upon the colony, because we intend to show, on another occasion, that the whole of this enormous expense, amounting at present to £10,000 or £12,000 a year at least, and likely soon to be increased to £30,000, might altogether be saved, and the colony in every way the gainer. It will be sufficient now to search out the benefits which the Provincial Council has conferred upon us, in return for the heavy charges it has entailed upon the colony. What these are, however, we have not yet been able to discover. The Council, it is true, has passed several Ordinances, but it is a question yet whether any of them can be reduced to practice, so bungling and faulty do they seem in all particulars. The Road Ordinance, we have already criticised — its twin fellow, the Street Ordinance, we believe to be equally defective — at all events, it contains that most objectionable clause, exempting all the native reserve property in the town from contributing towards the repair of the streets. The Scab Ordinance, we are told, "will not work;" the Dog Ordinance, as far as we know anything about it, is condemned, and where to look for anything to praise, it is difficult to say. The best thing the Council ever did, was to throw out the Bread Bill — had it negatived some of the other measures we should have thought better of it, and had more to urge in its favour. As the next arrival from Wellington will probably bring us printed copies of all the Ordinances passed, we shall then be better able to estimate the real value of the Councils' deliberations.

Our opinion of the Ordinance lately pased for " ejecting persons in the unlawful occupation of land," having been asked for by a correspondent, whose communication we print in our paper to-day, we feel bound to give it freely.

To judge fairly of the position of the squatters, and the claims which they may have to consideration, either from the New Zealand Company, or the private owners of the lands they are occupying, the circumstances which drove* many of them to become cultivators should be borne in mind, as well as the general uncertainty which has since prevailed respecting the ultimate ownership of the land. Without expressing any opinion on the anomalous state of things which proceeded the Company's break-up in this settlement, in 1844, when, out of 350 labourers, only fifty were employed by private capitalists, and the rest were depending for support on the New Zealand Company, we may remark, that many of those who went upon land at that time were forced to do by circumstances, and would have greatly preferred following their own various trades to entering upon a pursuit that was perfectly new to them. For it was one of the many mistakes made in founding the settlement, that by far too large a proportion of mechanical labour was sent out in the first instance, and to compel men who had always been accustomed to a town-life to draw a support from the cultivation of land, was inflicting on them a considerable hardship. It is for this reason, chiefly, . that we think there are cases where considerable leniency should be shown towards present occupiers of ground, squatted on at the time* and under the circumstances we have referred to. The occupiers of land, which has come into thei possession of either resident or absentee

purchasers under the late re-distribution, should therefore have every facility afforded them, either to remove, and make the most

of their improvements and crops, or be allowed to remain on terms that are fair and just. But, on the other hand, it cannot be expected that the owners of the land are to forego all the advantages which their property might reasonably be expected to afford them, particularly, as they ore also sufferers from the mistakes and bad management of the Company; and, if an injury has been inflicted, they are not the parties who are criminal. We hope, therefore, that our labouring friends will respect the private rights of others, in the same way in which they would hope to maintain their own. If this is done, and a proper spirit shown on both sides, the " Ejectment of Squatters' Ordinance," or whatever else it is termed, will be altogether unnecessary, and we confess that we would rather have seen the attempt made, on the final settlement and distribution of the land to induce the occupiers without title to come to terms, before passing a legislative enactment compelling them to do so. We scarcely think any man would have been so unreasonable as to refuse, unless exhorbitant terms were demanded. If, however, such should not have been found the case, no perperson could deny the right of the owner of the soil to assert his title to it in any way he thought proper, and to seek for every means of doing so.