THE "Wellington Independent." Wednesday, November 7, 1849. LETTERS from EDWARD GIBBON WAKEFIELD Esq.

Wellington Independent, Volume V, Issue 425, 7 November 1849, Page 2

THE "Wellington Independent." Wednesday, November 7, 1849. LETTERS from EDWARD GIBBON WAKEFIELD Esq.

We have been favoured with the following extracts of a letter received by a gentleman in this settlement from Mr. Wakefield, and also with a copy of a letter, (printed below), addressed by Mr. W. to one of the Directors of the New, Zealand Company. The report of the good effects of-the agitation of the colonists, and of its almost certain result in' the early introduction of self-government/ is most satisfactory- For the part they have taken in agitating the question at home the colonists are deeply indebted to Mr. Wakefield, Sir William Molesworth, Mr. Gladstone, aud others; and if the former should carry out his intention of settling in New Zealand when the battle of constitutional government has been won, he will be cordially welcomed by those among whom he appears determined to cast in his lot.

EXTRACTS. "The subject of the state of New Zealand as resulting from the appointment of a Nominee Council instead of the Representative Government which had been so long promised to the colonists, will come before the House of Commons during the debates on the Australian Constitution Bill. But nothing will be done for New Zealand this year. Though every body, .except Lord Grey, wishes that au act-for New Zealand should be passed this session, he refuses to let any thing be done till next year> when as he very positively declares, the wishes of the colonists shall be gratified. If they, iv consequence of my letter to Mr. Petre, should have organised a system of petitioning, and still more, if they should have sent home an agent to work for them here, the labours of their friends in England will be much facilitated; but at all events I feelcohfident that something will be done by Parliament .next session: and even if I were mistaken, it seems impossible considering the progress of opinion here on the subject of Colonial Government, that the present miserable despotism in New Zealand should be long maintained.

" I think it right to add, that the agitation of the colony in consequence of the Governor having punished the Southern settlements in order to avoid making his own residence in the north uncomfortable, is beginning to affect his reputation here. He was deemed ii man 'of high public spirit, who would do what he considered right,-without regard to .personal considerations: but now his 1 own apology for' having withheld free government from the Sojith is thought 1 anything but creditable to him ; and by -those who are "acquainted with the .facts, he is accused of selfishness like that of any ordinary tool, of Downing-sireet.' Still if he had kept things quiet, he would have had credit for skill and adroitness. The uproar of the colony is now set down against him as a proof of incapacity. It is seen, in a word, that he is beginning to fail, us all Governors do in the long run who have to administer despotic Government to r Englishmen ; and want

of success is attributed to want of moral j or intellectual qualities. People are now beginning to call his adroitness 'trickery,' his changes of mind ' timidity,' and his failures 'blundering.' Such is the lot of Governors who try to as slaves. " I had quite made up my mind to leave England for New Zealand next September, if free Government bad then been obtained for the colony. ' As it is I remain here to help in the proceedings by which I confidently expect we shall have a New Zealand Government Act next session; but this, my only motive, for remaining. Next year at all events I shall proceed to the Colony with a large party of relations and friends." I remain, my dear Sir, Your's very faithfully, E. G. Wakefield.

The following letter has been address • ed by Mr. Wakefield to a Director of the New Zealand Company ; —

(Copy.)

Reigate, 25th June, 1849

Dear -I have letters from New Zealand, which'con tain the Governor's apology for withholding representative government from the Southern Province. The letters are so confidential as respects the writers, that I must not show them or mention names,. but you may rest assured that the apology is Governor Grey's own, and that it comes as directly and intentionally from him to me, as if he had written to me himself.

His case is as follows. He thought the Southern Settlements perfectly fit for representative government, and " anxiously" wished that they should have it. But he was as decidedly of opinion, that giving representation to the Penny-an-acre Land-Sharks of the North would uproar the universal peace. They were not colonists but mere speculators in landsharking ; and they would be sure to use legislative authority for the purpose of getting vast estates from the Natives at a nominal price. This is the one idea of active minds in the North; and their first object in making laws would be to realize that idea. Therefore, come what might, Grey would not establish representation in the North. But, then, how could he, withholding it from those amongst whom he is condemned to live chiefly, bestow it on the distant South, which he only visits occasionally ? By doing so, he would make his own house too hot to hold him. Come what might, then, he would not do it. But he hoped that Lord Grey would. Short of officially asking that it should be done by the Home Government, he has " urged th era to do it)" <The urgency,' I suppose, was that of hints in private letters : but he insists, that he has done all he could (meaning of course,. all he could short of risking some collision with the office hurtful to himself) to induce them to take the right step, which he could not take, but they easily might. But they have been deaf to his suggestions. And so the end is that he has been compelled—" most reluctantly compelled"— to set up a Nominee Couucil for the South and postpone representation for years.

This is his own case. It is not very creditable to him, since fjt shows him sacrificing convictions and high duty to selfish personal considerations. He does this twice over; first, by not doing what he had power to do, and thought ought to be done, lest he should make his own residence uncomfortable; secondly, by not really " urging" his own convictions home, lest real " urgency" should bring on him the ill-will of the Office.

And what is the public case ?—That the true colonists of the South (whose wrongs Grey fully admits) are sacrificed; I will not say to the land-sharks of the North, but to Grey's personal ease, his avowed motive being, not an opinion that free government ought to be withheld from the South because it must be withheld from the North (on the contrary, he thinks that it ought to be given to the South although withheld from the.North), but his unwillingness, from personal considerations, to do'hitnself what ought to be done. This, of course, is not 1 the interpretation put.oa his. conduct in New Zealand, because his sejfish motive is not avowed there. The colonists of the South, not perceiving his selfishness, see nothing but what they deem his insincerity and love of arbitrary power. All his talk to them, and his official published writings, about their fitness to enjoy reureseritative institutions without delay, they consider false . professions; and they naturally.suspect him of. liking despotic government best. They look on him as a deceiver and tyrant at heart; and they hate .hirer as we' are "all -apt to hate him who deceives ,and oppresses ns. The consequence is hot water again hj the Southern Settlements. Though there will be Government factions I have n6 doubt that Grey's popularity' in 'the South.is gone."-Thejre is. no,prospectbut violent -squabling, load 'pompbaintej and all sorts of impediments" tq .prosperity.. But whose'is'the fault ? His own, combined,with that of .the Office; of the Office, which has shabbily thrown on him a task; the performance.' of whictt would have cost InV-miich-discomfort] but them nothing." Hvfwever, we taught

the Southern settlers to stand up against such treatment: and we may be sure, now that the hope of local self-govern-ment, which has kept them quiet for two years, is at an end, that they will kick up row enough. They are Englishmen, practised in agitation under the auspices of the Company and the Whigs. So much for the South.

In the North, the policy of attempting to colonize in the midst of a great native population, which has been only carried on thus far by means of a war expenditure, seems to be breaking down. The latest accounts about the Waikato tribes and Heki are, at least, ugly. I have never ceased expecting war again in the North. That it should happen is in the nature of things. We all thought so in 1845 and 1846. My letters by the Cornelia lead me to think that very serious disturbance in the North will probably be reported by the next arrival—almost certainly ere long. This makes the case of the South worse. The South is sacrificed to the North, which itself is a total failure except as a military post, and, even as such, likely to prove a failure. Was there ever such a mess, except Fitz Roy's and Stanley's which it exactly sembles ? What is to be done now ? Your last effort for Canterbury alone seems -to have wholly, — deluded himself, and you, and others. The public, too, is greatly deluded in another way. But New Zealand can no longer be puffed as the most peaceful and prosperous of colonies. The truth must come out now: and the truth is, that the affairs of New Zealand including colonization, are in no better plight, after Lord Stanley's critics have had their own way for three years, than they were in 1845. The only real difference is, that then the Company and the Whigs made plenty of noise, and now there is nobody to make the truth known in this country. But there is somebody. Events in the colony render concealment and puffing no longer possible. The truth must now come out, and be made familiar to the public at home. Most of the old hands will not agitate; but some will (of whom I am one); and there are new hands ready to do what the Company aud the Whigs did so well from 1843 to 1846. This is now settled, if it cannot be averted by inducing the office to do at once what we used to agitate for. I regard the revival of agitation as a pis-aller. Is there any chance of its being averted by the only possible means ? Ever your's, (Signed) E. G. W.

The ship Kelso, arrived in port on Mond&y from London, via Taranaki and Nelson. She has made a remarkably good passage having left England on the 7th July, touched at New Plymouth on the 20th October, and Nelson on the 25th ult. Several passengers landed at Taranaki and Nelson, and the remainder proceed to Otago.

The barque Cornelia, hence 3rd of March, arrived home on the 23rd June. By her the petition of the Wellington Settlers praying that Representative Institutions be introduced, and the account of the Reform Banquet, was received in England. The petition had been presented to the House by Sir William Molesworth. In the Commons Mr. Stafford had given notice that on the second reading of the "Australian Government Bill," he would move that the same be not permitted to pass the House unless a clause be introduced conferring the like boon upon the colonists of New Zealand.

The principal London and Provincial papers teem with extracts from our local journals, and with articles referring to our state and prospects. There is an evident increasing tendency in favour of New Zealand, and now that the Canterbury scheme is in full vigour, and that immigration is slowly but surely directed to Taranaki, Nelson, Wellington, and Otago, besides a full share of the tide to Auckland, this colony must rapidly increase in numbers and wealth. At pre-; sent the' Europeans number over 20,000 souls, a few more, years and the Anglo Saxon race will' ex&e'ecf the Maori/ \ The ship Thames, 500 tons, was to sail for Auckland and Wellington on the J sth July: ;',[.,. The ship Pekin, 560 tons, was to' sail for the Southern Settlements on the sth August. . * . .

The New Zealand Journal contains a few interesting pieces of local, news which we think will prove new to most of our readers. The little items are contained in a letter from John Henry Cridland, Esq., Surveyor and' Architect, Welling-' ton. to W. H. Burnand, Esq., London, a portion of whicK.Ave, print below :— .' There is every probability that the site of the Canterbury Settlement wtti be at. Port Cooper. ' Captain..Thotrias's report only watts tjie approval of the Bishop, and the Governor of New Zealand, who seem ra ( thpr. disponed for tho for the surveys to be proceeded with am-' mediately. I think that it will prove more satisfactory to have it'there, than in any other, part of "New- Zealand that Ihavq seen or'heard-of/from a variety of eauset* thatcornbineina peculiar manner every essential for such an establishetiunder. taking;. r . ..,.,»

~ '.■ aiftt-u k_b_b_ '■-.." Ist. There are no natives to disturb their occupations or interrupt their progress a single day. " 2nd. There is a splendid port, free from the slightest danger, perfectly secure, easier of access and better adapted for commercial purposes than even Port Nicholson on nearly its opposite shore of Cook's Strait's. There is depth of water in every part of the harbour, available for .wharfs, quays, &c. - " 3rd. To crown all, there is an immense tract of level country available, well covered with grass and watered with abundant beautiful streams, embracing an area of forty miles wide, and three or four times as long, within six miles of the port, easy of access by several routes. ' " 4th. The soil is equal in average with the Hutt as regards quality, free from inundation or danger, and ready for the plough. There maybe considered an insufficiency of timber, which in New Zealand has been felt rather as a drawback in the shape of expense and clearing. There will be no struggle here to conquer the dense forest, which has so often terminated iv disappointment, and which compels the labourer to wait years before he can obtain' a v return sufficient munerate his incessant toil. "' /-

"sth. The Puta-rikamut, or Serpentine River, runs through the entire district, is navigable for boats of eight tons to tho end of the plains, and empties itself into the open sea at Port Rigamont, clear of any bar or shingle.

" The price of the land may appear high to purchasers, but iii reality will be cheaper by one-half than that near Port Nicholson. The landlord will,be able to lease his land with a certainty that a moderately industrious tenant will he able from the first year to pay him rent. The tenant has at once the means at hand of forwarding his crops from the interior, either by water or by his bullock-drays to the nearest markets, aud from Port Cooper to any part of the world. The plains are beautiful to look upon. The Leans' Brothers, purchasers, purchased a farm at Otakao, near the Puta rikamut, in 1843, from Dods and Davis, (query, who are Dods aud Davis.) It is a little Colony of itself; 10,000 or 12,000 head of cattle, and twice the number of sheep and swine; poultry of every kind. They are ready to contract for the supply of this settlement with meat at 6d. per lb. on their arrival." ,- We have yet to learn that thensapabilities of Port Cooper will be made more manifest by attemptiugto deteriorate other settlements. Port Cooper may be all that it is represented, but if it be really iso good a place what need is there for so much puffiing? " With regard to Deans' Brothers, "the little Colony in itself," "Firm" &c, all this, no doubt, reads well in England, but the English public must be large swallowers indeed, greater fools than John Bull is usually represented to be, if they take in the puff of ten thousand head of cattle and twice the number of sheep and swine. Such a number, even at the present day, exists merely in the brain of the writer-of the letter. We have nothing to gain by stating untruths. Tell the truth respecting New Zealand, and we need not fear the result, but once be caught puffing and the world will look upon us with suspicion.

There is another gem, in the shape of an advertisement, in the New Zealand Journal, of June 30, which we give below :—' "' -?-■*•■-<-■-.■■■

"Mr. Burnand has great pleasure in announcing to Absentee. Proprietors of land in New Zealand, that he has at length met with an Agent in Mr. Henry John Cridland, of Wellington, in whom they may safely ■entrust and confide in the conduct of their affairs in that colony. Eight years' experience, under four different Agents, has determined him to make this known to those who require one. His practical results may "be seen by letters received to 22nd June last, on application, at No. 2, Boyle-street,-Bur-lington-gardens, where they are left for inspection." -

The above is exceedingly rich. Absentees in England ought surely to present both Mr. Burnand, and his Agent in New Zealand, with a handsome rhedal. As for the Agents here we advise tltem all to resign their situations. Mr. Burnand is virtuously indignant at their conduct, and who can tell what results may not spring from this sudden o'erflow. When Mr. B. declares that he has at length found an Agent, what a compliment he pays all the Agents in the place! But possibly the Agents here are foolish enough to value Mr.. Burnand's impudent notices as they deserve.- rrThe following work is advertised in- the journal:—- - v, • . .. " Just published, price 125., - cloth. 1 Sketches in New Zealand, with Pen.and Pencil. By W. Tyrone Power, DifeQ'.G. From a journal kept in that country from July 1846 to June, 1848.'' ' . We sboll be happy, to meet our old frieiid in print. His ability'and talent cantjot fail of having given life and vigor to bis sketchesrandi we 'trust!feome kind friend will send 4 few copiestoHie colony, for sole. • '*'■'".' '" ! ' ""' •"' llie .general,. English, news is" on the whple satisfactory". Business was good, atid'trade improving/ihongh iv cons?-

q'uence 'of 'the/competition wa^es/are low und the hours of labour excessive. The harvest iv most parts "of England was expected to be highly favourable, but the potatoe disease was again making its appearance in many parts of the country. The House of Lords having thrown out the bill for admitting Jews into Parliament, Baron Rothschild' 'accepted tlie Chiltern Hundreds, and a new writ warissued for the city of London. The electors vindicated their former choice, by re-electing Baron Rothschild-by a majority of upwards of 3,000 votes. His opponent was Lord J. Manners. The question now is, who is to give way—the electors of London or the Lords ? It was believed to be the intention of Her Majesty to visit Ireland and Scotland in the Autumn. Ireland is still the seat of destitution, crime,,arid : misery, but it is to be hoped that the measures now in progress will alleviate the distress existing, aud bring about a better state of things. The disturbances hi Canada had ceased, no further outbreak having taken place of any moment after those of which the particulars The Governor-General had however, sent home his'resignation, but her Majest declined accepting it. . Continental affairs are in a state of " confusion, worse confounded." France was quiet, but the Socialist and Red Republican party were active for mischief. '; Rbme, the ancient mistress of the world,' that city which all men think of with reverence and respect, had been several times assaulted by the French army under Oudinot. But the Romans, recovering somewhat of their ancient valour, defended tne "eternal" city with the greatest constancy and devotion, and repulsed the invaders at all points. On the 4th July, Oudinot carried the outer, or old Aurelian, wall, but found to his surprise- that his further progress, was barred by an inner wall of immense strength. On the same day Garribaldi, at the head j of the Roman legions, attacked the i French and dryve them out with great slaughter.- * We trust the Romans will succeed in their efforts, for France had no right to interfere in so cowardly and despicable a manner.

, The gallant Hungarians were still in arms, successfully combating against the colossal power of Russia and Austria. The two latter relics of ancient despotism may yet be taught the modern maxim that " right can. o'ercome might." : For the present we must conclude our summary, and refer our readers for information to another part of to-day's paper.