A VOICE FROM THE ANTIPODES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 232, 17 September 1862, Page 5

A VOICE FROM THE ANTIPODES.

John Ball of New Zealand to his Elder Brethren in England.: It is not in tbe cringing attitude of a suppliant for your bounty that I appear before you. land my fellow colonists, scions of the old tree, remember well, and never without Pride, the attitude which becomes us,—even that which you assumed when you stood forward in many a trying hour in defence of your rights and liberties. We appeal to your justice, and, thus appealing are sure of a favorable verdict. ••■•■ His Grace of Newcastle, your servant in the Colonial Office, has ventured in the hour of our trial to treat us with contumely and insult. Our Legislative Assemblies will -lay their case at the foot of the Throne. land my fellow colonists will make ours known to you, for we well know that no ray of light is allowed to penetrate the darkness of Bowningstreet, without having its lustre dimmed. Bear with ns a little if we are somewhat prolix, history cannot be engraved in a page, and our present position can only be appreciated by a knowledge of the past. These Islands were at an early date claimed by the Crown by right of discovery. In 1823 this claim was repudiated, and in 1833 the independence of tbe chiefe was recognised, and the recognition was approved of on the 21st December, 1834. Then comes that masterpiece df Satan, the cause of all our woes, the treaty of Waitaagi, by which the Natives in tbe Northern Island were eajaled into absolutely ceding their lands to the Queen, but which were restored to them nnder guarantee, with a pre-emptive right on the part of the Crown to purchase all lands which the natives might desire to alienate. In reward for this cession protection was promised them, and tbe rights and privileges of British subjects accorded. To this hour the promise has not been fulfilled. The Natives are not in possession of the rights and priviiiges of British subjects, nor 4n obedience to its laws-~the Queen's writ is so much waste paper, and the responsibility rests with the Crown and not the colonists. This occurred in the early! part of 1840, when the first batch! of New Zealand settlers arrived at Wellington, and tbe French Government were forming a settlement in the present province of Canterbury. Mark this latter well, for on it much depend. Tbe British fla^f was the first unI furled, and to serve her own purpose, Britain assumed tbe protectorate. By this alone was the Middle Island preserved from becoming a [ French penal settlement. The date is the 21st of May, 1840. Land was freely bought of the Natives previous to. this treaty,, but the Government would never sanction an individual* claim beyond a certain amount, viz., 25G0 acres, appropriating to itself all in excess, by virtue of the Crown's sole title to grant land, and which excess then became the demesne lands of the Crown. Mark we pray you this second step, it was kindly meant, though the Natives could never understand how, if the purchaser had no title, it reverted to any but the seller. The Governor alarmed at *he attitude the Natives had assumed, allowed the European to purchase direct from tbe Native owners the former paying a penny an acre to the Crown in addition to the price of the land. The represeutatives of the Crown, (for the colonists had no voice in the matter,) were— ** Variable as the shade, By the li«!it quivering aspen made."

In the hours of seenrity or fear, customs dues were imposed and withdrawn; Crown fees on lands fixed, altered, removed; squatting discouraged, threatened, virtually sanctioned; the Natives outraged, pacified, and succumbed to. " The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the childrens* teeth are set on edge." The representatives of the Crown sowed to the wind, and his Grace .of Newcastle coolly informs us that the colonists are "to reap the whirlwind." We will not narrate the scenes enacted by Heki, the descendant of the ruthlea E-Hongi, nor the barbarous murders by Te Rauperaha ami Ranghaetea. These are tales of the past, but are traceable with-an-erring certainty to the Crown. l We come to a later period—the days of Taranaki's sufferings; but, before proceeding we must ask you to note a change in the native mind. TheEuropeans.whomit was an object of the highest ambition with theft atives to induce to settle in their villages, had become numerous, rich and powerful.* The land they bought was tilled or stocked; ships from all nations crowded into their ports, and the Native mind awoke to the reality that the dominion was passing away from them forever. Neither king nor kaiser could liave arrested that hour. The advance of civilisation was—as the advance of the tidal-wave—irresistible. - Then arose, by a convulsive spasm, the Land-League, sustained by the bond of a nationality composed of the most discordant, elements; and the war at the W.aitara was the inevitable offspring. The fermenting elements were at work before ;Sir George Grey retired from his viceroyalty, and the Land-League was formed before his successor, Colonel Gore Brown, assumed the reins of office. Like the laws of the Medes and Persians the fiat went forth; a new king arose in the land: his, edict was that the landy-the source of power—was not to be sold to the European. He stood on the shore, and, addressing the wave of civilisation, cried out—"Thua far shalt thou come, and no further." All tribes were commanded to fall down and worship—to "read the edict and obey. Fortunately there was a Governor in the land who was jealous of hi? sovereign's honor, who remembered that he was the protector of the aborigines, and who [\ would not surrenderMb right toJ'purcbasel^wKQrever a tribe or an individual Hvas willing to sell. No longer was -the defiant intruder allowed to murder those who willingly parted with their patrimony. ]rA! block of land VwasJ ofi^redVfbr sale in Taranakii and» after 4uCi^vesUjatiori of the title, Was. purchased by the representative of the Grown: and war-Was^UieJiesult. The history of that war is a tah?o^Jitimilia, tion; its jlose has done more to §ukin,dje aj-

|roganee and to encourage aggression than any i act which Is recorded! la British" history. If, as is trnly - stated, the ' disasters of the Crimean campaign - enkindled in the" minu- of "an Indian* Prince,: "who. was'kn eye witness of the scene, the idea* that led to the garments rolled In blood on the plains of Hindostan, the abject position of the: British nation in the province of Taranaki will be the fruitful parent of unnumbered woes wherever a barbaric race comes in contact with Enropean civilization. The settlers of Taranaki, at the call of their.Queen, rallied to her standard, and on many an occasion proved that they were worthy to be entrusted with the defence of her honor. ~ • The sword has | been returned to the scabbard; the homesteads |of the colonists are deserted; the thistle has taken possession -of their fertile fields; their flocks enrich the rebels. The purchased land (the cause of the war) is in possession of the enemy, and the Tataraimaka block, long since held under a grant from the Crown r is now held in the name of the Maori king, whose sataliites levy tolls on all passers by. The bitter cup has been drank to the very dregs. Would that we could say even this, but there is gall and wormwood yet in store. Vile calumniators, pandering to the worst feelings of our nature, dare to represent us to our countrymen as tyrants and oppressors; to gain the applause ot excited assemblies, they profane their holy vocations and cry shame upon us- Be he priest or peer who thus forgets hte manhood and belies his brethren, we tell him that his accusations are vilely false and unutterably 1 mean. We challenge inquiry, and 'though false accusers may succeed for a time, we have every confidence in the race from whicli we are descended, ancl of whom we are no w Q worthy representatives, that the truth sha I yet make-us free from every stain. This i3 no war: of ours. My Lord Caernavon positively declined to abdicate the right of the Crown to govern the natives; and His Grace of Newcastle, in some of his earlier despatches, assumed that lofty attitude which well befits the British statesman; but in aa evil hour he listened to the vile aspersions of false brethren at home,; and was seduced by. the suggestion thai -with abdicated poxvei would go the responsibilities of action, and now he scornfully tells ns to assume the power which the British Government ha 3 failed to use with success, and in every despatch adds jibe to jibe until thoughts flash our minds that we never dreamed could gain a momentary admission. Read the papers laid on the table of the House of Hepresentative,and you will then scarcely fathom the depths of our indignation. Hb Grace tauntingly tells us that we will " not submit to those sacrifices which are necessary from, persons whose lives and property are in danger." Already our sacrifices have amounted to half-a-milUoi, or in other words to L 5 per head for every man, woman, and child in ikew Zealand. A proportionate payment by Great Britian would cost L 150,000,000. Independently of this, our police and gaol expenditure involves an additional outlay of 20s. per head, or 2s. per head more than Great Britain pays for her army, navy, police, &c*. Add to this a flourishing settlement of nearly 20 years existence lying in ruins; its inhabitants, peeled and scattered, seeking admission into other Provinces, and the tale of woe is not then told, "for even in the extremity of distress the colony has guaranteed a two years' expenditure of no mean sum, wrung from the hard earnings of her settlers, | to enable the representative of the Crown" to carry out a very doubtful experiment. God grant that the, day may never come when the sons of England's youngest colony shall pass with averted lo^ and* downcast eyes, that proud banner, the fluttering of which in the breeze haY awaked the tenderest emotions. Should the, tide of European war envelope the nations of the" world, Sew Zealand will not shrink from sharing its vicissitudes, even though in its origin she had no share, but she does not expect that her nascent energies shall be blighted by a war entered into by the Crown, but from which it retired humiliated, if not defeated. If we must wear the "livery of disgrace," let it be one of our own weaving at ieasU Let what will be the issues of the present calamity, it should be remembered that there can be no half abdication of power. If England retires from the field, she retires entirely and for ever; and then-will inevitably "commence that fearful period which justice.and a stern unyielding administration of the laws might have averted, but the sin of which will lie at Britain's door. To her will be justly attributed the blood of her sons, and of many a loyal subject of the native race, together with the'extinction of a nation which might have been saved had other counsels prevailed. Let His Grace of Newcastle favour with his ttuuts the prosperous colonies of Canada, the Cape, and Australia, &c, necessary to the well-being of the niother-coaritry, and he will do as much as ever man can do" to loosen the finest gems in the British diadem. . While he selects for his sarcasms the youngest of Britain's daughters—but none more true and loyal—he. is, for a time at least, secure from evil results. We have not, however, taken leave of hops —we may .yet., avoid,'] the'last plunge. The issues are in the hands—not of politicians nor of itinerant lecturers—butof thatclass to whom we appeal for. simple justice; and we know that our cause is in hands which will ward off from us evils which owe their origin to others, and not to ourselves. We are citizens of no mean city, and we appeal to Cassar.

Remarkable Phbsomekos.—Abont half-past 10 o'clock on the night of Friday, the 20th nit., a remark »b!e event took place in Mudgee and the district, which -was considered to be, by those who only heard it, a second shock of earthquake. We hare beeu told by parties who happened to be out of doors at the time, that & very large .meteor shot shot over the district at an apparently short distance from the earth, One person who was reading at the time, and whose attention was called to the circumstance by a person standing in the verandah of his house, states that the light of a huge kerosene lamp, which was burning ia his room was completely dimmed by the brilliancy o the stranger, and that for the minute the heavens were illuminated with a blue light; a peculiar noise, like the rushing of wind, accompanied its passage, which was shortly after followed by a loud rumbling nols?, similar?to'a very prolonged clap of thunder, which one of our informants suggested was occasioned by a singular visitor comingl in contact with the earth at perhaps-a distance of -2000 or, 3000 miles. The noise was very generally-heard, not only by the inhabitants of fcbe town, -but by many parties in tlie district, and on the diggings, whose descriptions agree in every particular. — Western Post. ; v ..>■- ; ProgrftsS.is at last being made in the removs! of the rock in thelwd of the Yarra opposite the new stone wharf. The coffer-dam has been cleared from water by the operation of an ingenious pomp, the invention of Messrs. Bobison Brothers,and Co,, plumbers, Melbourne, described 'mThUArgus some time ago. It consists simply* of two jpipes-oX- copper joined tog°ther akright angles, the dnc'arm l>eing greater than the other ia diameter. At the junetioa of the pipes a smaller one is attached, through which a stream of YaarYeaa water is passed into; the larger arm, when the; air is at ."once exhausted from the smaller arm, the end of which is placed in a well in. the dam, and the/water at once rises and Hows out throughithe larger arm in a thick stream. So long as the Van Yean flows the pump operates, throwing out a very large < body of water. This novel application of a w«dl-knowiv principle in hydrostatics creates the greatest interest, and has astonished the loungers about the Wharf, accustomed to see water drawn by slow and laborious processes. The rock to be removed is. a large ridge of bTuestoue boulders, many of th.c stones requiring to be blasted. The Work is going on well, and the removal *of so 'serums an obstruction to the navigation wSTbe & permanent good, , -*■ . '!,_* . ~