THE WELLINGTON INDEPENDENT

Wellington Independent, Volume II, Issue 117, 25 November 1846, Page 2

THE WELLINGTON INDEPENDENT

Wednesday, November 25, 1848.

TO THE DIRECTORS OF THE

tfEW ZEALAND COMPANY.

t Gentlemen, —We are desirous of closing the observations we have thought fit to address to you, and shall therefore but briefly advert to some of the remaining matters in your 20th Report, and Supple" mentary letter.

The tone of the whole Report proves that you bad no real intention to dissolve the Company, but hoped from a change of Ministry, or some other event, t> obtain euch.concessions a? would place the Government of this colony in your hands. Yon saw a prospect of the change which has happened in the Ministry. Earl Grey has office as Secretary of State for the Colonies, and it is expected Mr. Chas, Bulkr will take office under him. Haying now to deal with gentlemen devoted to your interests, you may .believe that your "public object" will be attained. You will agiin be disappointed, and the extent" of your ■failure will be just in proportion to the degree of confidence which may be placed in your statements, and the influ-. ence they may have on the measures of the new Ministry. The information you possess 19 not to be depended on. The press which you patronize deceives you. One instance of this, for your greater satisfaction, we will shortly notire. Some lime since, the government surveyor delivered in a report upon the n«. live reserves. A .copy of this report was officially delivered to your Principal Agent, and to no other person unconnected with the Government. Shortly alter, an article appeared in your paper, the objec of which was to shew the total unworthinets and wilful incorrectness, of that report. After describing four or five of'the sertions rejected as unavailable, and l> wt rnz oni their ' supposed advantages] the article concludes with an ex uno

disc's OMMB9 assurance that the eectioni so described nre fair examples of the remain ing rejected sections. Turn to the abb Ititt'i , , ti> yourselves, <>f the land purditissrs leident in this settlement, which is signed by the writer of tt»at article, where in page 2G this statement occurs:—

In a report recently submitted to Government, on the natives reserve, by the Government Surveyor, he says, " That of the 430') ecres reserved for the Natives in the district of P.rt Nicholaoti, only 1530 acres can be considered at all available for cultivation." Wβ believe that the Surveyor appointed by the Company to ro over this estimate, reported that 1700 or 1800 acres were fit for native cultivation.

From which you will sec that so far from the sections described in the article referred to bung fair examples of those which,had been rejected as unavailable they were in fact thoee only upon which there existed any difference of opinion between the Government and the Company's Surveyors. With such informants, we could almost excuse you of wilful misrepresentation, bad you nit boasted of your superior information.

It is probable you will now pr ss the Bri ish Government to adopt or sanction a Proprietary Government. That it was reluctantly abandoned is eta ed in the letter:—

Inasmuch as, by the rale laid down, I am precluded from reverting to the plan which we suggested in April last, ] will only say of it, that its adoption would have been agreeable to the genius of the English people (who, said Montesquieu, have alone combined commerce with empire.) to very successful practice in the be&t days of colonisation, and to the opinions of the most enlightened persons who have recently attended to this subject. Abandoning, with great reluctance, the plan of a Charter of government, which would have placed in the hands of the Company all ;he powers requisite for good colonisation, and thereby enabled them to r*ise ample funds for every purpose, I am driven to the only alternative—that of üboliihing the Company altogether.

In direct opposition lo the experienceof those American colonies which were founded with Proprietary Governments, in direct opposition to our experience of your tender regard for our interesis, you put forward a scheme as for pur benefit, which would put into your hands the Government of the colony, with powers to " raise ample funds for every purpose." We hope the British Government will never be so madly unjust as to intrint you with the power to tax the unfortunate settlors, who after being misled by the sanction liiven to your proceedings by that Government, have been most unwillingly compelled by bitter, and dearly purchased experience, to see the folly and danger of placing confidence in you. We have a claim to the protection of that Government, which would be miserably answered by handing us over to the care of a jobbing Corporation, whose great anxieties seem t> be that the " Company** dividend be limited not to ten per pent, absolutely, but to an average of ten per cent, per annum, in lhe aggregate upon any given number of years,*" and that ''the inimimum price of lands to be sold by the New Zealand Company, be fixed at 253. an acre instead of 20s

It would be difficult to find a more full jet compendious display of ignorance and presumption, than you have made in your suggestions for railiiary defence, which we givu that the eeitlers may see one portion of a scheme to benefit the colony, which you describees " agreeable to the genius of the Euglish people. 1.

6. Military Defkncb,

Our opinion ia that very little cost for military protection would be needed. The Company's Government must protect itself against the natives by conciliation, and the voluntary efforts of the settlers. A militia force would be amply sufficient to repress all internal disorder. The wilder spirits of the natives might be tamed by incorporation into this force, and we see no necessity for troubling the Admiralty for a war-steamer.

We should, therefore, propose-—l. That the Company should have power to rai*e troops and militia, tnd equip vessels, as in the old charter«.— 2. That, if the Company required the presence of any regular troops, it should defray their whole pay and expenses while stationed in the colony, or employed in its defence. Of course this stipulation would not apply when Great Britain shall be at war with any foreign power.

What essential difference do you perceive between incorporating the wilder spirits of the natives in the Militia Force amUhe employment of one tribe of natives against another, which, in concert wiih the Aborigines Protection Society, you so etrongly deprecate ? The same gross ignorance of the actual eoncliiiqnpf the olony is betrayed in the supplementary letter jo which we have referred, which proposes that Eech settlement should defray the whole cost of its Municipal government. Any help from the raother-country Would be hurtful, by leading the colonists to depend on an uncertain »ourc 9 of public income, and to indulge in a '

* Mmutei of Select Committee, May 2/1844.

What amount of taxation this seh ß ,« wodd involve it is impossible to f OrGa but certainly it would bo greater than h wealthiest could aff.rd to pay. AhK , we are told "ft ,l At the same time the titl.e of offices and nffi in the Municipalities should be ac modest ..."' ' ble. The title of Governor and ExcelllV ~U, ,U turned the head nnd proved the ruin of m Hnv y '"" sort of nun. Humble titles, monger, S T' 1 the effect of. nd no !n B ..Urie. to the and of discouragin K among penons in offi ce tv" ,, habits of parade and extravagance, which k»«m « bulk of the principal public eervahts in the C colonies in Relate bordering on insolvency XSa* setting a mischievous example to (he colonisti Here we could have wished you *| 11( i been a little more explicit as to the amount of money you would consider «»th e mi • mam." Po ßß ibly £1000 per annum "vkh the title of Principal Agent, & Ot| woul«l meet the views of all parlies.

U it ware really possible that yonr view, coul(i ; be carried into effct, w<, would entirely protest against the following BU a : gesiion, which sh uld opora<e as a warninl to all the settlers not hastily to put th j? signatures to papers, of which they Lave not well considered the contents. By a olevor use of die seitUra petition, tho Jet tiers are actually made to ussist in cuttinJ away their own right to vute in th : elec tion of Uepresentativea.

Representation should of course be the basis of •ueh Municipal government ; but I have no doub that a qualification franchise far lees democratic than that of Canada would be found useful Fo7 several reason., indeed, I .bouid be disposed t o make the elective franchise what some would call anstocratical. The colonists whose petition t<, t h e Home of Common* Lord Howtek presented hit session, were of this opinion. It w exceedingly difficult to follow you in all your manoeuvre*. So little candour —so little honesty—and so little sympathy —so much diplomacy—so much evasion—. and so much shuffling, give you a'i advantage we would not have upon the same conditions. It is as hollow as the means used to obtain it, and can be the foumia. turn of no lasting good. If you have ever visited a race ground, and watched the pea and thimble garai», you may have seen a personage whom you strongly remind ua of. A grave lookm» man in a'secdy black coat, with crape round his hat, is n-adv to encourage all timid speculators. He will lift the thimble and show the pea, while the tuble-keeper's baok is furnrd, and even go halves in the bet, pu-.iing his own and victim's money down fgetber, he will slowly raise the ihimhU a..d shew no pea < under it. If the vi« tim cries out that he is cheated, and becomes troublesome, seedy coat bonnets him, while the rest of the gang clear out hi-i pockets and decamp. You are the man in the seedy black coat. We did for a long time entertain the hope that you would have discovered and would acknowledge the errors you originally started wiih, that' making that dis« covery the basis of your new schemes, you would have struck out some good plan lor protecting the intere-ts of the settlers, and securirig the property of your shareholder?. But we see no trace of such a plan. We see no prospect of your shareholders ever getting their property secured t» them except by the Government taking the management of it. In any other casa the Company may possibly raise new hopes to he disappointed— may deceive a few more persons—may ling, r on a few more years exhausting iv funds in ihe payment of useless salaries and hindering and annoying the local government in every possible way; but will never succeed in the hands of those who now manage its affairs. °

It would be unjn*t to clo«e these desultory remarks without alludiu; to iTie V<- (- gree ofsucceis you have attained, and die credit due to you. You I av P boen the meam of annexing to Britain a colony, more fertile, more mild, yet tem-pr-rate in climate, in many respects more desirable to reside in, and likely to become in proportion to its bize, more productive, than any ottber colony of Grcot Britian. y.u have by your, unceasing agitation drawn public altpntion to this colony, and so far ensured good government for tlie future, provi led you do not interfere in it. Add 10 these obligations, ilio disspluiion of tho Corapany, and we may in time forgot the errors into which you have led us, and tho injuries we have suffer-id nt your hands.

The Drama. - On Friday last, tde members of the Corps Dramatique celebrated by a dejeuner the cioso of the first season of theatiicals in New Zealand. Tha Britannia Saloon was lawfully »ot up for the occasion by (he proprietor,' Mr. X.'David, who has 'epurV-d no expense in order to render the Saloon, a credit to tho colony, and the \ianrie refluoed great credit on ihe'woi thy hoat. Mr. Munitt , , <he manager the Saloon presided, m«j

fl bout forty person* sa' down t> do jm/ice to ihe.olieer provided ,by Mr. Davin. After the cloth wa.h rumoved, Mr. Marriott delivered an excellent speech, tracing the rise and P r g rOBS iheatricald, making manifest to all p<eaont that ilio Btago, when properly conducted, is one of the best,mediums of instilling virtuous principles, and showing in true characters the j ( rn)iny of vice. Several. t>aet» nnd app%|)ria'e speeches followed, when the tables were removed, , and dancing commenced, and the votaries of Terpiscboro kept up iho amusement till Sole rays had (lisporsed the cheerless atmosphere of niglit.