THE WELLINGTON INDEPENDENT Saturday, July 25, 1846.

Wellington Independent, Volume II, Issue 81, 25 July 1846, Page 2

THE WELLINGTON INDEPENDENT Saturday, July 25, 1846.

j- We cannot sufficiently admire the pertinacity, with which; certain writers continue tlieir endeavours to keep up a siate of needless excitement among the settlers, respecting the military operations now in progress in this settlement, and iricondemn indireoiiy the policy of Captain Grey in his conduct towards the rebels.. This is as it should be* Thedifficultresajtending Ith&Gpvemment of New Zealand, great as ■they appeared to the Membersofthe House •of Commons, were not sufficiently/great in ; *ithe opinion of our politicians. There was a ; possibility that Captain Grey would over' come them. -He had managed to steer clearof oneof the errors of his predecessors, and by his marked courtesy .towards-'the gentlemen connected with the New Zealand Company, and other great men in this Colony, had deprived them of one of the strong grounds of complaint they had against former Governors. He listened to : the advice ot all, and no end of tediousness has been bestowed upon him. Amidst conflicting opinions, he has never com-, mitted himself hy an,unguarded promise, or proceeded to interfere without due en-* quiry* While this has been his duty, and persons who sought his interference, have in siime instances, necessarily been delayed in obtaining their object, the voice of utility, or the cry of -distress, has never been, passed unnoticed. He seems to reward the income derived from his high office, only as if held in trust for purposes beneficial to the colony. There was danger that he would succeed not ouly in overcoming the difficulties, of the Colony, but also, in -winning the hearty good will of the settlers. What was to be done? Abuse him. It seemed impossible. His marked courtesy to all, forbade the attempt. Attack him personally. The useful institu-. tions founded and assisted, the individual ; necessities relieved, the hopes of the, settlers encouraged by the henrty interest manifested in their welfare, interposed a formidable barrier against any such attacks. The necessity however remained:, to, convince the settlers that they ought to distrust Captain Grey, that they ought to despise him, and that his was an unfor tunate appointment, because some sage of malern times* whose clairasto public consideration were thought more worthy by the New Zealand Company, had been passed over. To undermine the reputation of Captain Grey and disgust him with, the Colony, were the bold means adopted, with most praiseworthy zeal according t#their means by the writers in question. It was a difficult task; one from which less determined menwould have hopelessly shrunk. But they have.set about it in earnest, and the settlement now possesses another variation of the subject "Good men striving in the midst of difficulties " It may be worth while to look bar-k on the stgps already taken. First it was stilted in the most considerate and positive manner, that Captain Grey w;is the cause of the sufferings and loss the present war is bringing upon the settlers. And this was beautifully made to appear by sating a part only of the facts of tke case. The remaining tacts or some of ih\nV were stated elsewhere, and their generous effort was foiled. Next a su-ggestion, made in the : most friendly spiii', that Captain Grey :'would, peril his reputation, and defeat the ; object h« came to the colony to>accomplish, ■by writing home garbled, or inaccurate statements to the prej udieft- - of the settlers, if they did not anticipate the manoeuvre, by denounciirg hiiu front the commencement. The settlers, however, were dull and stupid, r they did not Bee tk' beauty of this proposition. Captain Qrey was liberal; they though he might t be honest, and that whatever causes might operate to- their injury, misrepresentation on his part would not be one. He had an odd* way of listening ra. her than speaking, and of keeping his resolutions secret. Although he was disliked on. that account by su>h as would desire fo add, to his honours by adding to his djflioultres,. the settlers who seen th i eyil of foolish promi-es and the defeat ■Q< published intention-* concluded that he desired to make his known by deeds rather tlun words. One thing is qert i,n, ijihey should he' successfully carried out, it will be tr?w no omission of

our friends to poblish all the <TOoveme.,te of the troops. Because the forces in this settlement wore weakened by the removal* of Captain Eytori's Company r and S.Caetor,itvvas extremely, desirabletliattlie. number of men removed; from each station, and , the amount of those on board the-. Driven should bo particularly mentioned, iThis gave the rebels opportunity to consider the ©hances of success in yesistinv the troops, or whether an attack <©n the weakened posts would.bw more It is unfortunate , for the settlers, that the rebels have, ,n©H newspaper Bo blinded to their interesteas to publish accurate details of their movements and numerical &!ven»tli. From all this we learn, that %x-----perience is useless, and Captain Grey in endeavouring to profit by it indefenek ble. Measures to please must be decisive like those which terminated so fatally on former occasions. The decisive- character , of a movement depends of course only onthe will of the Corcunanejing Officer, Thefewer men he makes it wijh the bet'eiv Wind, rain, swamps, and floods, cannot affect the result. We begin to suspect thepatriotism even of our friends-, for having 8» k>ng forborne to volunteer their sendee* ori Captain B'badil's plan to annihilate? the army, A: Committee o r five, in forty days, could on this plan have destroyi $ the rebels. Perhaps it was not considered sudden enough, it appears at least a»prac«; tical as any of, iheirsuggestions. Of course it will; not be believed that we are referring to writers in this colony. The following passage from a recent article would in that case sufficiently answer our observations. '* And here we cannot but lajnent that when the British ment have at last determined to assist the; colony, the assistance should be giv<Ti in, such an inefficient manner, as greatly ta reduce the chances of success." Evidently therefore, the writer at .the moraont considered that the reduced chances of success threw upon Captain Grey an* unnecessary amount of responsibility, and an imperative duty not to risk with tb>se diminished* chances of success, the result of an engagement in which every life fruitlessly lost on the side of our troops would attd to the probable duration of the contest increase the confidence of .the enemy, and induce more daring oujcages against the; different settlements But with consistent inconsistency, in the same paragraph, itis stated that -— «* With the- troops in .the camp at Porirua, the force at the di>p >salj of the Governor cannot be less tli.aa be% tween five and six hundred men, a force under proper direction sufficient to root out the band of murderers fiom whose inroads the settlement lias so long been suffering." We are hound to conolurte that m thri opinion of this writer, although with nil the appliances the R itish Government ought to have furnished there would have been onl v chances of success, yet with reduced and insufficient mean*, under proper dicoction/s certain. '* Wr sincerely liqie tlia» his Excellency will adojjt such d-t'eisiye as will bring; these ofF.'iidera to mtrited putiisliment, and establish the of .thn 'district, a firm bail's." We have already seen ihty consequences of rashness 100 fatally exhibit'd in the los 3of many valuable lives, of many honorable m n j th«?o have only ted to wreater mischief Wfcit uto bedone now must be done efiectiully. We therefore confilently believe, and, if rc*ports may be ianow that Capt. Grey does not naedke&ly risk a> single life, and h ia rather chosen to wait for the expected reinfosnements> or a certain opportunity, to peril the live* and property of outeeltlers; by .incurring the hazard of an engagement which would not assuredly have crushed the f<>e^

} M PORT ANT INT EL LI GEN C | FROM POIURUAf- '

Intelligence arrived in- town yespterdaf* of a very important chaiact.ey. 'H.M« War Steamer Dri. er, Com. €b t). "Hayee* with hie Excellency Captain/ Grey and' suite ou board, and! a; large body of blue* jacketsand f»oldiew, had-beertat Ohau, and one of other place* on the coast. The hostile naiy> β-froia Wanganui bad , not came ihe .but it issii|>posed thi»t they bad takenan kland for the purpose of Paul*lutanui. Some few (hysrhaek,.a!i emissary oi Itan* giha-aa wan detecte<l canveying a letter, in hp neck f from itaiiparftM ; io that rebel chief, aaen'ioningacerta. : n da| on which thirty staml af arms and a largesupply of ammunition wonld be dj ;io suongliold of the rebels. Acting, lon this,, and'other j>rob 8 of treachury, his Excellency deter-iuijiedt a^>

■j3?;c&'O'.ftppreJif»wl'him, witfi Q r hi>' followers as possible. Acr-or 'i'luly, on Thursday night, the steamer stood; in for l?oriru«if. Most of our reajdere are-ar,. quainied with tho situation ofTau-po pah, formerly occupied by Itattjjihaeatay but sj'nco his retreat to , the bush, occupied by Kauparalia. Tiiupp iee>mpl'etely open'to' the thercftm , anexctillent opp.orwmity presented,; itself of securing, the person of Haivparalm, w,lu>haa.heenplayinga l>old and Ueach> rous game, for the last eight months; A' very skitful' plsgrr was laid...fi>r\ hie capture-., "fhe- Steamer was fought! opposite to tjie pah,' undei:;coyer of the nijihi., at a, time wlven foora her, previous mtiVv'metita the : must hare supposed her to be faraway. Capta,in Stanley, of H.M.S. Ca'l|ope r witft.a party ©f blue-jackete, the' Steamer, and quietly approaphed the shore., Ou iand'ingr they,: surrounded , the pab. jSome' of the natives lafeipg the alarm while thy vms being t'ffticted r aboyt £>Q>, to/ Ifeave tlie pah and<'e»c3*-p'ed< to tfosbueh, and in all probability joined- U-angihaeata. A party of tlje s-ailors rushed in to the wane of lilaupa*aha and ; seized' that diief and his companions- . These stood* to their anus-, but were fcaJten s© suddenFythat tbey were suable to do-any mischi t. Charley* and the supposed mu-rderof of llnah, and Guneye and two-or ihree more were taken,, a#d conveyed on board the Driver. Raurjia , raha bit one of ihe bande of the sailpr v/ho captured through/a makjng- his teeth meet, ana-sirirggl^dso violently r that bis captora .werecompeiled to-carry him on board. We jjnderitaud thai ssba has beeir placed Iμ close Wβ forbear for Uxe present ,to any, observations opon- the enund jladgerafnt displayed by his Bxcellertoy Captain Grey in the proceedings which have tbusresuJted in ihe-capture-of Rauparaba, witb the proofs- of hb about him. The -; facts, to alLeonsideraje minds, will speak for themselves. About 30 , stand of arm*, atwl nine- or %eu kegs of pow.ier, were alao taken and conveyed on hoard the Drjver. We hear, that the pah has been burnt to the ground.

.STATISTICS o* NEW SOUTH'WALES, 18-J5 Land in cultivation, 163.000-acre, or an acre f>r every man, woman,.and child; Wheat produced in 1845. bttls. ; tallow expired, 500.QQP cwv£lO2.Ooo - r la'rdPexported, 25",0QQ lb. f wool exported, £1.009..000 valuer live stock, > 000 , ; hides and leather, £40,000; oil, £96,000, Of the population,. 13,000* are employed in the care of sheep ,*" 133.00Q otherwise. Heside»t in tewn* $3000;, in the country 75 000k Th*> ponnlaiion of the district of tSyditey k- 50,000, or of the entire popnlation of ihe colony.