LORD STANLEY AND MR. GLADSTONE.

New Zealander, Volume 2, Issue 57, 4 July 1846, Page 3

LORD STANLEY AND MR. GLADSTONE.

[From the Times," Dec. 23.] Lord Stan ley retires from the Peel Cabinet and resigns 1 the duties of the Colonial-office into the hands of "Mr. Gladstone. The change, whethei it beforgoodorillisoneof no immaterial character fonit would be difficult to name, in all the political, phalanx, two persons more opposite in their qualities or more unlike in their qualifications. Of an ardent temperament and quick susceptibilities, warm in debate, potent in invective, but occasionally somewhat illogical in argument, Lord Stan ley perilled the success of a good measure by his imprudence in handling it. His successor, on the other hand is eminent for the coolness of his head and the unruffled placidity olMns. demeanor. Deep in the sublime 1 mysteries of metaphysics, his mind has too strong a tendency to speculate and to moralize, not seldom losing sight of practical realities in the dim clouds of abstraction. If the abundant energy and headlong decision of the late Secretary for the Colonies could be infused into the philosophic constitution of Mr. Gladstone, there would probably be compounded a character as well adapted for the office as any that. can be imagined But, as no such fairy transition can be expected in these unromantic times, we may find advantage in looking back for a moment upon the course winch the one has pursued, and. conjecturing, though imperfectly, that which the other is likely to pursue. It cannot be said of Lord Stanley that he has done much for the colonies ;, nor can it be pleaded in his behalf that he lacked opportunity for actiau. On the contiaiy, his term of office has been unusually prolificoftevents, most important in th« present and sufficiently significant of the future. It is true he. had many difficulties to contend with, the general .legacies of Whig mismanagement Bui there were none so stutn born that they might not. have been overcome, nor so fatal that they might not have been remedied. What was chiefly wanting was a steady application to details j «a thoiouyh investigation ot tacts. Ignorance. has always been the stum-bling-block in- the way of Colonial Secretaries, and Lord Stanley, we believe, can challenge no exception from i the common censure. Hiserrors have been eminently those of .negligence and indifference. An impetuosity which carried, him at tunes 1 beyond his depth and overwhelmed him with unecessary toil, succeeded by a careless insouciance>wh\c\iuo uigency could rouse to action — these u ere the contr adictory and ever-chaiig ing elements which governed his political conduct. — They are to be discerned in almost all his .measures, ' but most conspicuou&ry in those under which New Zealand has so miserably suffered. >The fortunes of that colony have long presented an example of the grossest mismanagement. — Perhaps no British settlement ever gave •faiter promise in its infancy of a sound and prosperous maturity. Those obstacles w hich usually obsti net the path of the early colonist were. not found in New Zealand. No&avdge hostile natives threatened the security of life or the permanence of pioperty. None of that intractable disposition which characterizes the savage stood here in the way of civilization and improvement. So far from it, that the first settlers of Wellington found in the aborigines who occupied the shores of Cook's Strait a tody of willing labourers and intelligent servants. Impressed from the first with ihe superior lty of the while man. — not in power and skill only, but in the higher attributes of justice and benevolence, they >ielded a ready ol>edience and an involuntary homage. The settlement increased rapidly in wealth and numbers-. It surpassed by far , in all the social eK ments, — every colony that had been found since the Co nmonwealth. Its members were not the sen in of the earth, the scounngs of the gaol, or the exiles oi" society. But they were, tor me most part gentlemen of good family and unblemished reputation, m hour the res anyustae doim and the impulse ot an lionoiable ambition had driven to seek a wider ami less occuprea field for their exertions. In a community so formed a u ise ruler might have seen the surest guarantee of peace and order. Recognizing within constitutional liinils their right ot conducting their own atiairs in the manner best calculated to insure success-, the Colonial Secretary should have mtei posed no fnrtirei than by ih<* establishment of such legulatiousand institutions as were necessity to secure the dependence of the colony upon the mother country. Beyond this it was his obvious policy to leave the interests of the colonists in

their own hands. But such a policy did not buit the temper of Lord Stanley or of his predecessor. Commencing with an hasty and arrogant interference, they provoked resentment and indignation where they most needed co-operation and support. By imposing a governor upon the colony who seemed to have no other qualification for the office than hi* rank as a captain in the ; British navy, and when vacillating imbecility ! can only be excused on the ground of ?n intellect weakened by disease, a foundation was laid for heartburnings and dissatisfaction, too just and | natural in their origin to be easily allayed.— 'Every petty obstacle that a foolish jealousy or an unworthy animosity could devise was thrown athwart the progress of the original settlement. The titles to land that had long been purchased from the natives were unsettled, and submitted to a tedious process of investigation, in which an ostentatious magnanimity towards the aboriginal inhabitants, and an eagerness to destroy their old feelings of friendship for the company and their party and fix them upon the Government official* Wire far mort obvious than an honest desire to administer justice. Finally the consummation of this wicked policy— and which every one foresaw but the infatuated movers of it— was the disintegration of the whole colony, and the utter estrangement of the native from the white man. The plunder of the settlers on the banks af the Wairau,and the discomfiture of 500 British soldier* by a handful of natives behind a v oodeu stockade, attest the wisdom of the Colonial office, and the judicious nature of its appointment. This is no exaggerated picture of the condition of one of the dependencies w hich Lord St a n l c y has been pretending to govern tor a period of live years. We do not underrate the difficulty of managing a colony at a distance of half the globe But after making all due allowance for this difficulty, there still remains a large residue of error »nd absmdily. It is not the least important duty of a statesman to select with judgement the instruments of his Government. Good measures avail nothing, and the best laid plans may even prove mischievous, unless good men are chosen to carry them into effect. In the brief history of New Zealand, however, it is impossible to discover either good medsuies or good men; and we cannot foresee, in the present aspect of affairs one single germ of promise or hope of improvement. This, then, is a portion of the tangled tret which the ex-Secretary fortheColonieshandsoter to Mr. Gladstone to unravel. A bolder aad less conscientious man might be inclined to cut the mesh, and free himself from trammels which are not of his own creating, and of which he ought not to bear the re»ponsibility. But such a course is not consistent with that gentleman's political character, as it has hitherto been developed. We may rather look for a course of palliatives, and a system of lemedial measures Impartial inquiry, and an honest devotion to the duties of office, may confidently be expected j and in these we recognize the promise at leart of a ,better policy. But this alone will not suffice.— There is danger in the crisis that now impends over the affairs of the colony. Prompt measures of active severity may restore them. Delay and inaction cannot but lead to ruin. Mr.GLi.DSTo.VE must see the imminence of the necessity, and will not, we hope, be wanting to the exigencies of so great a peril.