SIR WILLIAM DENISON'S POLICY FOE NEW ZEALAND.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XX, 12 September 1861, Page 3

SIR WILLIAM DENISON'S POLICY FOE NEW ZEALAND.

[From the Nelson Examiner, August 17.] ,

In comparing two schemes of native policy, one of which he assumes to be that hitherto followed, and the other one of his own recommendation, Sir W. Denison, as we might expect in so veteran a politician, is not wanting in rhetorical artifices, under which to take shelter in case of need. He begins by assuming that Mr. W. C. Richmond's memorandum gives little or no information respecting the causes which have led to the present disturbances and the assertion of Maori nationality, and then describes what he evidently look» upon aathe policy actually carried out towards the natives in the form of a supposition. After mentioning the strange fact, that of late the native people have shown a disposition to forget their old feuds and to unite for a common object ; to establish a distinct government under the presidency of Potatau, "to subvert the Queen's authority over the Northern Island, and prohibit all future alienation of land to the Crown;" He adds

Might not, however, the movement have its origin in the conviction of the natives that their position us nominal subjects of the Queen, while it brought them under a variety of humiliations, preventing them from selling their land to private individuals and subjecting them to taxation at the hands of the white population occupying the sea-ports, did absolutely nothing for their benefit, and was the means of preventing tho introduction of more wholesome social arrangements, having a tendency, as administered, to retain them in the position of isolated savage tribes, instead of assisting to raise them to the rank of a people j and with regard to the alienation of land, might there not exist a well founded distrust of a Government which, while it did not permit the sale of land to individuals, does, by holding out inducements which few savages are able to renist, acquire the article which the Maori has to sell tit a.tiery low rate (6d. or

Is. an acre), which article is instantly retailed to the white man at 10s. an acre ? We have here what may be fairly assumed to be his version of the policy hitherto pursued, and in our opinion a most unfair and one sided version it is.

First he considers that the Maoris feel humiliated as subjects of the British Crown, because they are prevented from selling their land to individuals. We know the disadvantages attending this restriction, and the objections raised to it by their soi-disant friends ; but it is as old as the treaty of Waitangi, that Magna Charta of the native race, to which these same friends of theirs never tire of appealing ; and if the mode in which purchases of land have been conducted by the Crown are open to remark, how many and great evils would have resulted from leaving them entirely unfettered in its disposal, what interminable disputes, what openings for strife, and incentives to the practice of all kinds of deception and fraud, we cannot know, and shall, as we trust, have no opportunity of learning. That we have miserably failed in taking proper precautions against the undue accumulation of land in the hands of a few, and have entirely lost sight of the great truth that its possession entails duties as well as confers rights on its owners, is indeed too true ; but this does not give any increased interest in the country to the tribes who held it before our arrival. Bishop Selwyn maintains, and probably teaches, that they possess as absolute a right to the land as the English country squire to his estate ; but Lord John Russell laid down a very different rule, and a high authority on the law of nations, whom he often quotes, namely, Vattel, distinctly maintains the same doctrine, that the right of savage tribes to the country they merely roam over, of which they make no beneficial use, and of which they really occupy but an infinitesimal fraction, is not to be put on the same footing with that of a civilized community, holding property under the protection of law, and not by the strong hand alone. He says they are not entitled to claim the additional value given by the introduction of law, order, and civilization ; neither can they be allowed obstinately to retain and keep it in a state of nature, desert and waste, when it is wanted ibr the use of civilized man. Aa a matter of right, therefore, we reject his conclusions ; although, as a matter of policy and a question of profit and loss, there may be something in the proposal.

Next, they feel humiliated by being subjected to taxation at the seaports ; that is, by the levying of Customs. It is a grievance which their advocates here have found out for them, but we doubt if it ever occurred to any intelligent native, or indeed to any of them. In fact, instead of " doing nothing for their benefit," the benefits they feel most deeply are the blankets, flour, sugar, and the other eommouities thus placed within their reach ; and we have ourselves heard them urge the possible loss of these advantages aa their great reason for still wishing to keep us in the country. And while it has been the fashion to decry the settlers in every possible way, we believe (and we have never been among those who kept silence on their short comings or led them to think too highly of themselves, politically or morally) that among the colonies of Great Britain, there is not one which can with justice claim a higher position than ourselves, or point to a residence of twenty years in close neighbourhood and communication with the native tribes, less stained, nay, more honourably distinguished by justice, fairness, and honourable dealing than we can. Instead of being incited to war by injustice and wrong, it is the spectacle we have presented of a great community, ruled by the same laws, actuated by the same motives, and guided by the same principles, which htis been the great motive power in inducing the Maori to follow our example ; and the speeches of their leaders contain abundant proof that it is our union; and our strength, its consequence, and our national oneness, which they are now so anxious to imitate and appropriate. In&tead of "preventing the introduction of more wholesome social arrangements," and retaining them "in the position of isolated savage tribes," it has only been since the attempt was made in earnest to introduce the dominion of law, that their savage instincts have taken the alarm ; that they have been taught to look upon us as their foes, and that they have banded together to prevent the extension of our influence. We would call attention to the fact, that with an abundance of loose assertions and hardy imputations of unworthiness, there is an almost total absence of proof of any fact which gives weight to them ; and we are sorry to say that we think our countrymen are calumniated by the very men from whom we -should have looked fora more kindly spirit and a more liberal appreciation of their fellows.

The whole charges against us amount to this, that we have through our Government bought land at 6d. an acre, and sold it at 10s. " The head and front of our offending hath this extent, no more." The public uses to which this money is applied, and the expenses necessarily incurred, are entirely ignored ; and although there may be much room for improvement in these respects, yet it was unpardonable in a man holding Sir W. Denison's position to overlook them altogether; or unworthy to withhold their mention, if they really presented themselves to his mind. One would really think that the Government had positively cheated the Maori of 9s. 6d. upon every acre bought of i it, and put the difference into its own pocket ; instead of devoting the proceeds to the public good and general improvemt of the community. How carefully these principles ought to be kept in view, we have practically declared whenever we have advocated the expenditure of our funds on great and worthy objects, and objected to their being frittered away, or turned to purposes of private interest or political influence ; and these accusations show how doubly careful we ought to be, seeing the sources from which we derive them, so to use them that we may be at any moment ready to meet our enemies in the gate. The plan which it is proposed to substitute requires a separate consideration.