ADDRESS TO CAPTAIN FITZROY. Auckland, Dec. 5, 1845.

New Zealander, Volume 1, Issue 28, 13 December 1845, Page 3

ADDRESS TO CAPTAIN FITZROY. Auckland, Dec. 5, 1845.

Sir,-— We the undersigned Merchants, Landowners, Set - tiers, and Tradesmen, lesident in Auckland, and its vicinity, are unwilling lhat you should Uke a final leave of this Colony, over which )ou have presided as Governor, without carrying with you some unequivocal testimony to the fact, that the integrity of your principles, and the purity of your motives, have not been so universally impugned as the general tone of expression adopted by most of the public prints, would seem to imply. It is far from our intention, and would be quite foreign to our present purpose, to enter into a critical review, or lengthened animadveisionsupon the policy jou have pursued. We are conscious that the difficulties by which you were surrounded, on \our assumption of the reins of government, were of no ordinary character : and we feel ourselves bound in justice to acknowledge, theintrepid zeal and indefatigable industry with which jou endeavoured to surmount them. The confliciing interests in this colony, which in its present state, may be said to contain an Imperium in imperio, are such, that sue-

cess, in an attempt to reconcile tliem» would bo moie remarkable than failure; and until this radical evil it removed by the application of some efficient, but ' hitherto undiscovered remedy, we can only anticipate the same results, disappointment and failure. However tran»cendant the abilities, or disinterested the motives of him who may undertake the table. We should be unfdithl'nl towards ourselves, • and dishonest lowardsyou, if we were wholly to disguise our fears, lest in the fervency of your > zeal to promote the interests of the Aborigines, 1 you should have unconsciously injured the object* • of your solicitude, by losing sight of the fundamental principle that indulgence may be abused, and forbearance misconstrued; but while w» thus candidly avow our opinion, we must distinctly disclaim all sympathy with those who would treat the New-Zealanders with all th© rigour and severity of unprincipled violence, — trample upon their common privileges, and disregard their most obvious rights. We sincerely hope, that the day is far distant, which shall witness the recognition of any other views re« • specting the proprietary rights of the NewZealanders,.in the soil of their country, either by Her Majesty's advisers at home, or by her Representative in the Colony : than those you have uniformly avowed 5 and this our hopes amounts almost to a certainty, since we hare been made acquainted with the decided naga- . tive, which the Imperial Parliament recently gave to a scheme, which deliberately proposed to undermine these rights and Jo annihilate a solemn contract: and which, if ii had been admitted, would inevitably hare sealed the doom of the colony. The stigma which has been cast upon your character as a Financier, is, in our opinion, more easily propagated, than proved. Those who would cond.mn your fiscal policy, should be pre- , pared to point out some less exceptionable mode by which, on your arrival, the colony could ha?e been rescued from a .state "of bankruptcy, than that of issuing a paper currency; which we frankly confess ourselves unable to do, inasmuch as direct application to the British Treasury for relief had been strictly prohibited. Whenwa compare the past with the present slate of this Capital we are bound to admit, (even although some of the causes which have contributed to the improvement may have sprung from circumstances wholly independent of any act of your go- . vernment,) that its commercial prosperity has not been impeded, but on the contrary, mutually . increased during y#ur administration. In conclusion, we beg to assure you, that we are far from being insensible to the many personal sacrifices you have made in order to fuither those views, which you believed to be for the public good, and of pur lasting remembrance, and duo appreciation of your many excellent qualities; and our earnest prayer, is", that yourself, Mrs. Fitzroy, and family, may be protected by the. Providence of God during your homeward voyage, and that you may be permitted to land in health and safety, on the shores of your native country. We have the honour to remain, Sir, Your most obedient servants. [Signed by 170 names.] 1 To Captain Fitzroy, B.N , 1 Late Governor of New Zealand. *