DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4TH, 1851.

Otago Witness, Issue 20, 4 October 1851, Page 2

DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4TH, 1851.

" If there's a hole in a' your coats, I rede you tent it : A chield's araang you talcing note 3, And fnith he'll prent it ! "

Why is it that the word " colonial" should convey a meaning amounting to a reproach ? Why is it that the most energetic part of a nation, who take the hold step of leaving all that is dear to them in an old country, — the home of luxury or the humble cot, rendered clear by the reflection that there were spent the happy days of childhood, — to i endure the hardships and trials in founding a great nation and contributing to the extension of the wealth and time-honoured institutions of the mother country, should be branded by this epithet of " colonial" in its opprobrious sense, when its true meaning should be highly honourable. A glance at the j past history of the colonies, and at our ! own little Settlement, will explain, j There is a class of men whose minds are so framed, that the moment they are released from the restraint of a well organized and highly civilized community, cast to the winds all the ordinary i rule of upright and honest conduct, and seek to enrich themselves, or acquire ease, not caring by what means ; and having thus brought themselves to disregard the moral of their own proceedings, look with less nicety at the acts of others. These reflections are forced upon us by the practice of certain parties in this Settlement who appear dead to all shatne, notwithstanding the constant exposure of their proceedings, and continue to act on the same principle — or rather, absence of principle. One of these practices is so un-English that nothing but the strongest language can be used to condemn it. It is the practice of small minorities secretly reporting palpable untruths from the settlement ; and when detected in these proceedings, and exposed to the scorn of their fellow-colonists, deny the facts. \ Since the publication in our No. 16 of the petition purporting to be that of the magistrates and landowners of the district, it has been asserted that that petition was not kept secret ; but finding that this position was untenable, it has since been industriously circulated that the petition is not genuine, in fact, that it is a forgery. We can assure the public) that what we published was a veritable copy of the precious document, which was in the handwriting of Mr. Coroner Williams, having signatures attached to it, and was then being carried round for signature amongst the persons supposed to be favorable to, it, but with the precaution that the signatures especially, aud even the writing itself, should be concealed from the public view. And how are these signatures, or supposed signatures obtained? We are informed that the practice is this : a document is prepared, and a list of the parties supposed to be favourable to its views made out ; the promoters

then cali upon these persons ; and if they do not object, their names are affixed to the paper ; but, in many instances, the person called upon being absent his name is put down without his consent. Now this practice destroys the value of these documents, and hence an additional reason for the secrecy to be observed. We know not what new device may be fallen upon in consequence of our having dragged this petition into light. To deny its existence is useless ; the evidence is too conclusive. Why not publish the latest edition of the document, with the signatures appended thereto ? Unless this be done, we denounce it as a dishonest sham ; and for this plain reason we believe that neither magistrates nor landowners, as classes, would shrink from stating in the colony what they set their names to for Lord Grey. Every class, even the peerage itself, may of course have individuals who are impervious to the code of honour which belongs to it ; but such persons are as surely condemned by the j public as repudiated by the class they belong to. The attempt of this faction to secretly snuiggle into the hands of Sir George Grey and the Colonial Minister their own mischievous notions, as being the sentiments of the Otago colonists, cannot succeed, however they may think to gratify their assumed patron, Sir George Grey, by their petty imitations of his policy. There is no concealment with Lord Grey. The Petition and signa- I tures, if it should reach his Lordship, will in due time appear in our columns, | as extracted from a blue-book. The | process is simply this : a member of the Otago Association will move the House that certain documents be laid on the table. The Minister at once consents, and they are printed in what is called a " blue-book," a practice well known, and sometimes distasteful to Sir George Grey, however his abettors at Otago may be ignorant of it. But, like all imitators, these parties cannot equal their model in the grandeur of their misrepresentation. But what shall we say to the fact of the representative of Her Majesty, the j highest functionary in the colony, seek- | ing to weaken the opposition to his despotic policy, by casting a bone of contention amongst the colonists, by exciting religious dissension and the rivalry of neighbouring settlements ? and doing this on the strength of rumours j which have turned out to be unfounded; and by obtaining the adoption of an address to the Crown condemning Canterbury and other Class Settlements, in a Council composed of the most subservient of New Zealand colonists, (to gather whom the gutters had to be raked,) and a band of hungry officials, whose greedy eyes look with jealousy upon the funds derived from the sale of three or four millions of acres.* But even in this Council composed of Sir George's creatures, there were men. who would not vote the address, and the motion was carried by the casting j vote of His Excellency: but yet this address, the opinion of one man, is put forward as the deliberate opinion of the New Zealand colonists ! Can any man now doubt that Sir George would put forward the Nominees from the various settlements as the representatives of the people ? With this illustrious example before us, we are not at all surprised at what we are how about to relate. The whole system of Government is so pernicious in its influence, that it must produce its effect on the whole of the lower officials ; and when we consider that in a colony no enterprising or intelligent man will hold a subordinate Government office, because by making use of his intelligence in the ordinary affairs of commerce or agriculture, he can earn treble his salary, and with independence of the Government or any one else. This class mustbe obtained from the " shabby genteel," and those who have not the energy to pick up the bread which lies plentifully scattered around them, preferring to eat the scanty morsel which * The area of $ew Zealand is 78,432,480 acres.

is thrust into their mouths, and which is wrung from the toil of better men. Our Readers will no doubt remember the fact reported in our No. 8 that a charge was made against the whole management of the Police Department, which, if proved, would have reflected censure upon the Sub-Inspector of Police. As a matter of courtesy, it was referred to the Sub-Inspector to enquire into the charges. That officer, however, not only enquired into the charges brought forward, but, in his capacity of Resident Magistrate, decided the case ; thus, in fact, being culprit, accuser, and judge. When the matter was again brought before a Bench of Magistrates, of .whom Capt. Cargill, E. J. Wakefield, J. "Macandrew, W. H. Yalpy, A. Todd, R. Williams, C. H. Kettle, and A. C. Strode, Esqs., were present, the public were excluded by the five latter Justices on the ground that it was a private meeting of the Bench. It, however, leaked out that the ordinance making the decision of the Resident Magistrate final was produced, and the affair shelved. But the matter did not stop here. A complaint was made to the Governor-in-Chief, who, of course, referred to the Resident Magistrate for his answer to the complaint. The Resident Magistrate thereupon called a meeting of the Magistrates, of whom Dr. Purdie, K. Williams, C. H. Kettle, W. H. Valpy, and Alex. Todd, Esqs., were present These gentlemen thereupon proceeded to pass an opinion upon the charges brought against the police, and, of course, found them groundless. Some time afterwards another Justice of the Peace heard that the Justices had met, and enquired of the Clerk to the Bench if a meeting had taken place, when he was informed that no meeting of the Bench had been held. Upon enquiry, however, of one of the gentlemen who was stated to have been present, it turned out that the above mentioned Justices had assembled, and delivered the opinion above stated ; but alleged that it was not a meeting of the Bench, but only of such Justices as were the friends of the Resident Magistrate, by whom the meeting had been called. Injustice to the gentleman from whom we obtained the facts, we must say that he was totally unconscious of having acted in any way contrary to the oaths he had taken, and had no desire to keep the affair secret. But will our Readers admit of this excuse ? We do not touch the question of whether the charges brought forward were true or false : that i 3 of comparatively little moment ; but we raise our voice and protest most strongly against the mode of proceeding. A simple Justice of the Peace may plead that he is not aware of the law, or how to act in the capacity of a judge ; — it may be quite new to him. But we beg to tell these gentlemen, that they are disgracing the office of judges when they assemble privately to adjudicate on a public matter. What confidence can the public have in their decisions on the Bench, if they are determined so to support each other in those decisions, as to assemble privately and give each other certificates of char^ acter to close any breach they may have committed in a public capacity ? What security have the public that these gentlemen will notusetheir office of Justices to carry out private or political objects ? i Indeed we strongly suspect they are relying upon the fact of their being supporters of Sir George's policy to bear them harmless through this infringement of the public rights. It is well known to the public that they are, ! with one exception, seeking the creation of official appointments for themselves; (for instance, Lieut. -Governor of the Province — Colonial Surgeon, two candidates — Surveyor-General,) and the peculiar view on various subjects on which these gentlemen agree, and the determination to act together in several matters we could refer to, especially in the avowed endeavour to put down all political discussion, in which sentiment another gentleman holding a high offL cial appointment has expressed his concurrence, must 6hake the confidence of the public. It may be some excuse for a simple Justice to say he knows not

the responsibilty and duties of his office ; but what shall be said of the Resident Magistrate who could originate such a proceeding, or accept an acquittal from such a jury? Incapacity can be no excuse for him ; but we call upon Sir George Grey to cancel the commissions of the whole of these gentlemen. There was a time, and that not long since, when His Excellency possessed the entire confidence of the Otago Settlers : that confidence has been greatly shaken; and if he should allow these farcical imitations of his diplomacy — this caricature of his own proceedings — to pass unnoticed, and the public to suspect that the law will be tampered with, His Excellency will become as much an object of ridicule as distrust ; and the Bench of Magistrates, while nominated by His Excellency, involuntarily be contrasted with what we have been accustomed to consider the qualification of a Justice of the Peace at home so as to make us feelingly alive to the application of the word " colonial." We have much pleasure in announcing the arrival by the " Dominion" of the necessary material for building a Church for the use of the members of the Church of England] also an Organ, Communion Plate, &c. The public have to thank Dr. Richardson, a passenger by the " Dominion," for the arrival of this welltimed gift, that gentleman having obtained the funds by subscriptions in England, and chiefly amongst his friends. We call the attention of our readers to a pamphlet by Mr. Edward Jerningham Wakefield, a few few copies of which are on sale, as advertised in our present number. It is in the form of a letter to Sir George Grey in reply to his late attacks upon Class Settlements generally, and the Canterbury Settlement in particular. It is a clear and well reasoned statement of a plain and simple though much misrepresented case. So short and important in its matter, that every colonist in New Zealand, and especially the few in Otago who have avowed their intention of supporting his Excellency through " thick and thin," should read it for for themselves. The latter parties will find it useful, as pointing out the course they will have to adopt in supporting their patron. We understand that the Letter has not only given no offence, but has elicited from his Excellency a civil and complimentary acknowledgement to its author. We give the following as a specimen of the author's style, and recommend every man to read for himself: — ■ "The principle on which the Canterbury Settle= ment was projected is by no means a new one. * * Tho projects of the Association were first laid before the public in 1848. Communications were entered into with her Majesty's Government ; and Eurl Grey honoured it with his approval, and promised to recommend your Excellency to assist, as far as possible, every step in the enterprise. The Asbociation determined that no spot should be fixed upon for the settlement, which might not receive the approval of of your Excellency and the Bishop of New Zealand. Accordingly, in July, IS 18, Mr. Thomas was despatched hither as Chief Surveyor, with instructions to enter into communication with your Excellency and with his Lordship on the subject. That gentleman informed both your Excellency and the Bishop of all that it was proposed to do : and he ultimately succeeded in obtaining the approbation of both of you to this district ; which he had selected, as the most suitable for the Canterbury Settlement, among all those pointed out to him as possessing the necessary qualifications. A special messenger conveyed the tidings to England ; and the Association received them in the autumn of 1849. v * The objections now raised by your Excellency are of so theoretical a nature, that they must have occured to you as soon as you were informed of the intended arrangements. The omission to state them, so that intending colonists might know those hostile opinkms, and attach to them such' weight as they might consider due to them, appears a culpable silence on the part of the Governor-in-Chief, in thus allowing what he believed to be an injurious immigration into New Zealand, to take place without remonstrance ; and a cruel one on the part of the sincere Christian and earnest Churchman, who did not hold up his hand, although he foresaw, on the part of the intending colonists, great wrong to the poor, virtuous, and industrious, and injury to the Church of England herself. The projectors 'and the intending colonists might well suppose that your Excellency had none of the objec. tions to their scheme which you now raise, although the scheme remains in all its main features unchanged : for if your Excellency had then entertained such objections as strongly as you have recently expressed them, it would surely have been your simple duty to state them in the most distinct manner. * * " " The Canterbury colonists have, however, to thank your Excellency for having so openly and publicly expressed your hostility. Forewarned is forearmed. You have challenged the Canterbury settlement to do battle from its cradle for its

characteristic principles and existence. It may become the more hardy and independent for being so soon nerved to the contest. It will obtain the more hearty fellow-feeling, welcome, and brotherhood from the other settlements. They well know from experience, that in the struggle between colonists and their Governors, when the Governor's maxim is ( Divide et impera,' the bundle of sticks must be the colonists' model."