New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK’S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Wednesday, February 5, 1851.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 575, 5 February 1851, Page 2

New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK’S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Wednesday, February 5, 1851.

After the glaringly false and party. C 0 1 account of Wednesday’s meeting in lasts'! Independent, we shall not be at J surprised to find that organ of the F act ; 0 . boasting of the triumphant success ofi; party on Monday, and crowing on itsduno hill with no small degree of exultation S the victory they will claim to have achieved The report in our present number will b;| found to contain an impartial and faithfs account of Monday’s proceedings; andaftaall there was nothing in the advantage gained by the Faction they need be proud of. Another such victory, and they are? undone. Granted that the members of their Association exhibited due diligence in formj ing their plans, in mustering their forces,! and in compelling the attendance of their motley crew, while there was a total want] i of concert on the part of their opponents. I What then ? Tin t-Tlpir cnnr.nc» L • “ ” -uppveu mm, Having I due regard to the composition of the meet- ! ing-. anrl thn wav It 1 -j o' .. uiuuugca, u repre. | sented the sentiments of the great bulk of j the settlers of Wellington, and those in the i country districts. Considering the shrt interval which has elapsed between the publication of their resolutions and the meeting on Monday, can the country settlers, as a body, be said to have read them, much more to have considered them with such attention as to be able to give a deliberate opinion on them ? And does not the constitution to be adopted for the future government of this colony more nearly concern the country settler, who with his family has, as it were, taken root in the soil, than those whether gentle or simple, who are in a position to sell off and realize their gains, and at a moment’s notice leave their adonted "country ? . We have not space for lengthened comments on the proceedings, but we may notice Dr. Featherston’s indignant disclaimer of place, except it be bestowed bv popular suffrage, although it was remarked in the body of the meeting the places re. ferred to by him as having been offered by Sir George for his acceptance, had no payattached to them. It is very possible he has no appetite for praise without the solid pudding of pay, and perhaps agrees with Goldsmith in thinking that distinction without emolument is like the ruffles without the shirt. Mr. Fox, as usual, was highly diverting, and seems to rely with unhesitating confidence on the blind credulity of his followers. When he informs his followers that it took thirty years to abolish the corn laws,does he wish to holdout to them a similar dreary period of expectation, during which the colonists are to wait while he and his party try to embarrass the Government in preferring extravagant demands which can never be granted, and arrest the progress of practical improvement? When he reminds them how heavily poor Pillgarlic is taxed in New Zealand, does he take care to state that the heaviestand mostgrievous burden thesettler has to bear is that which has been imposed on him by the bankrupt Company w lose unscrupulous Agent he has been; a burden which heavily weighs him down, and will severely press upon the energies of h* s children after him ? Does he tell the sett ers that while they have to pay of *268,000 to the Company, ’

•at 3i P er cent, until the principal is paid the land fund to be derived from some of the districts in this neighbourhood and from Nelson, is practically annihilated by the profusion with which he has, under the name of compensation, helped his friends ? On such subjects he is always careful to preserve a discreet silence, knowing full well they will not bear the light. The result of Monday’s meeting may be regarded as “ mere sound and fury signifying nothing,” and the Report of the “ persons styling themselves a Constitutional Association” will probably meet from Lord Grey with a similar reception to that experienced by the resolutions forwarded by them on a former occasion. Such unreasonable and extravagant demands, even though backed by the unanimous voice of the colonists, could never be granted ; coming as they do from a portion only of those in one settlement, they will meet with an unqualified rejection.

Mr. Fox cannot represent himself in England as the accredited agent of New Zealand ; he is simply the agent of his party. The settlers at Nelson do not recognize him lin the capacity of their Representative,those at Otago and Port Cooper are opposed to his ? views, the only effect his agitation mayproduce will probably be to retard for a time the progress of improvement,—to put off for a season the introduction of Representative Institutions into New Zealand.