THE "Wellington Independent." Wednesday, August 7, 1850. ARCADES AMBO.

Wellington Independent, Volume VI, Issue 503, 7 August 1850, Page 2

THE "Wellington Independent." Wednesday, August 7, 1850. ARCADES AMBO.

As rats desert a rotten «hip; as renegades forsake a failing cause 3 so act Sir George's Nonjinees. The two Nelson Boctors, Messrjs. Greenwood and Monro, furseeing no doubt in the recent English papers tliedownfall of Noniineeistu, and the defeat of the Colonial Office, have sent in their resignations. They will no longer consent to be dragged in triumph at Sir George Grey's chariot wheels; paraded as his victims. It is a pity that they did not sooner make up their minds to the step. Now, they villi gaha no credit by it. It -will be regarded as the result of disappointed hopes, or wounded vanity hopes of 'Ofnc£e!l preferment; or' vanily, wounded by $ir George's neglect. No man will sympathize with them, ttone' will commend them. %

: Lord Gsrey's despatch, printed in the Government-. "Gazette of yesterday, place? the Nominees ma mast'unenviable light. He plainly tells;jthe (joyernor it is of ether has jiny' Civil List or &te Nominees must.v&te whatever salaries ; he wishes, and de his biddingbe it tt'hatit Howcontempti- ,- ble is their posifion—how homiliatiitg to any man of cbinmoh decency and: selfrespect! ;'.. "-"

.., But what will tlie otfeers de? Will they'retain the hotmiieftio&s while their colleagues coniemptuoosly throw thtits m Sir George Vface ? Will Messrs.-Baa natyne, Hickson, Hunter, Bell, and Cautlej continue to '< eat.dirty puddings," which" ;t*he " two Doctors " even caunot stomach;? What a pretty figure they AvillcQ't if ever Council meets again, without the great professor of sca"b, and native trustisjtb take "part in their discus-sions-i ; . Jj';7' ' -:'-; .-. -. ...,.'. We attributehopralse toMessrs. Monro aad GreeHWobdfor what; they h«ve done. When au army goes into action, it is no doubt creditable to tuk-e the - lead, and rush first into the fight. But to he first to tun away; first to rush to *he boats when the ship is going down ; is by no meaws eithe'r'creditable or manly. However, what'could you expect from those who ■selling their' fellow Colonists that cause-which the Adderley'e Molesworth'v Godley's, and every honest poiiticiaii is laboring to support. ''' " ' ."" ' : ' ; '"- " -.■ • ■:- ■' - '

We reprint to-day from the Morning Post an article on Mr. Godley's: letter; upon it; in terms of high praise. 'Thrarticle i* remarkable, as! being the columns of the ultra Protectionist'and Tory organ, and proves the Mr; Godley's case in/proportion as it must have been difficult for his arguments to penetrate prejudices so antipopular as those of the political section which the 'Morning- Posi represents. The. proposal of the Post to give the Colonies 'Representatives in the British Parliament; goes; further even -than Mr.' : Godjey did.' An article containing the same .prOpos&l; appeared in the Nelson Examiner of the sth July, 1845, which ac elaborating the'suggestion of the Post we also reprint. r ; Though we do not think it of mucn ; importance that the Colonies should be represented, in the British Parliament if they possess full self-goVernnient within their own boundaries, yet'in the absence of Representative Responsible Government, and as a means of obtaining it, the suggestion is worthy of consideration. To the proposal to give to the Colonies representatiyes in the British Parliament, it has been objected, that to do so, is in one respect equally repugnant to principle, -as the irresponsible government of the Colonies from a distance is ; because the Colonial representatije's would have no more right' to legislate on thie -localaffairs of Great Britain, than Great Britain has to interfere in the loealaffairi of

the Colonies. No doubt the objection is sound, but its weight is easily obviated by limiting the right of the Colonial repre-. seututives to discuss and vote-on; such questions only as the Colonies are directly i or indirectly interested in..'- Thus,- if a, measure-were before Parliament for the Endowment of the Irish Qhurch, or for the Sanitary Reform of the great.towns of Britain, it is clear the Colonial represen- ! tatives ought to.: have nothing to ,say. But if the question were one, which involved peace or , Tvar with the United, States; or with France, it is equally blear' that the Colonies are deeply interested, and their representatives ought to have a Toice and a vote upon the subject. It would not be necessary that. the Colonists should send home representatives. In the case of more distant ones, at least, this might be very inconvenient. The-right, of selectng some member of ths House of Commons might be bestowed, and to him should be "given oa all Colonial questions a? double vote. . ; As tbVauthorise'd organ of a Coleny his opiniotfs would have full;weight, and.the votes of the Colonial members might often turn the scale iv favour of the Colonies. However, the privilege is one which if a full measure of Responsible Government were bestowed on the Colonies, we should not be very anxious to secure.

A very remarkable letter has been published, first in the Chronicle, arid afterwards in the Spectator, addressed by Mr. J, R. Godley to Mr. Gladstone. It so entirely expresses our feelings on the subject of the relations that do subsist between colonists and thei parent state, that we have deemed it right to transfer the letter to our columns, and to add a- short commentary, in order to draw attention to it from our readers. In all that Mr. Godley says of the effect of the course of policy pursued by Downing-street towards the colonies—in all that he says of the extraordinary doctrine lately put forth by political economists, and supposed to be entertained even in high quarters, namely,: that if colonies do not pay financially, they ought to be got of, and the; sooner the better, we- entirely and unreservedly concur; but the part of this letter which we think most deserving of attention is the enunciation of the real state of feeling, of the \ colonists theni■s«lves by. one who has every motive and every desire to speak the. real truth, and who has enjoyed the very best means of assuring himself by personal converse with colonists, arid by" acute observation of their true statement. Hβ tells us justly.that there lurks in ■every breast in the;3nost ill-used, of all our'colonies a ••iftvejfor home, a longing to revisit it, an unwillingness—nay, an aversion and a horror of the very idea of being called and treated as a foreigner when he shall do so, that affords. the best possible security for loyalty, iiuless outrage; insult and indignity be. added to the ruin, of fortune jwith which m<Sst of out colonial fellowr-subjects hay.c been tempted by the Gobnial Office/and by the Government . ;

Mr. Godley tells the people of England that their colonies must not be held here-: after merely as." fields for* official patronage," nor debarred from the commerce, of the world on one hand, while they are denied thej advantages of British subjects in their dealings with England, and; placed towards these on the footing of foreigners; that they must not be re-, garded as mere receptacles for the surplus papulaiioa of gaols; yet stiH, if we' will deal with them fairly and honestly, we may reckon upon their confirmed attachment end perpetual fidelity to the interests of the general ItnpWhil Government ; and this tve firmly believe. , Mr. Godley's, panacea is local' self-go-vernment, under the condition of requiring no pecuniary aid. He would give this «el£goverarrient without limit, except j in .-respect to relations with foreign! powers. He would give unlimited power of altering the local law and local constitution, under the certainty that laws so made would better suit the circumstances of the colony than any doctored and cooked in Downing-street by Mr. Mother Country, on a high stool behind an office desk; and would, at all events', be better received, and be observed with more contentment. We incline to the same opinion with Mr. Godley so far as that the initiation of all laws should be given to the colony itself. But, instead of a Downing-street clefk, we would have a board of plantations, not removable with, each Ministry, and consisting in the proportion at least of two-thirds of persons who had lived five years in a colony f ' to revise and suggest alterations in all such laws before they became final. - And in limitation of the principle of absolute self-government, we would thor suggest that the governor of each J colony should still be appointed by the 1 Crown, or at least selected from names submitted by the board of, plantations, in the same manner as the governors of India are appointed.in concert hetwecil the Crown and .the Court of Directors, Of all things it will be necessary that every governor under this system should be a man capable of being hie own prime minister. ■• v - . • . t i

The Colonial Office wiljl, of .course be

furious at the idee of controlling the : Crown by an independent board. It will be furious -because it is not the Crowu that will be controlled, but its own under secretaries .and clerks. We would even go a step further than the appointment of sucha: colonial board; and, for the purpose of conciliating the colonies under the many; grounds for -alienation that have latelypbeen afforded by the Colonial Office awd : by the Parliament, we would ■give-to every colony possessing one hundred, thousand registered inhabitants the power o£choosing a person to represent it in-Parliament, and to sit there for five years certain, a dissolution notwithstanding. This, doubtless, would be an inroad, or at least an innovation, upon the existing constitution of the British Parliament, but it would be merely an adaptation of institutions to new circumstances, something prater,. not but not repugnant -to the constitution ; 'and let any one read what Adam Smith and J)avid Hiime said of the relations that subsisted between/Great Britain aiujlher; colonies of that-day, and of the mejtns by; which the alienation produced by; the misconduct of the Home Government which they witnessed and watchfully;'observed might have been removed or les~ sened, so as to have prevented the catastrophe that supervened, and we think he will-see reason in what js .passing in all our colonies to be warned:by experience, and to adopt remedies in time.— -Morning Post, December 26, 1849. .'7 J . The prosperity pf the middle classes in Great Britain i& ma high degree attributable to the representative, form of gqverntnent. No doubt there-is.room for improvement in the present state of the representation, as well as for an advance of prosperity; but probably few will believe that prosperity, would be by abolishing the House of Commons, and giving the people the Home Office as their soje, representative.and administrator of affairs. ' -i V

The system which works well in Great Britain for thenaass of the might be supposed, to be adapted, .for "her colonies also, yet Jn many..of. these there is no representative government, * their councils, legislative and executive, consisting of nominees of the Crown, a majority of them bound by the tenure of their office to support its views, however opposed to those of the colonists.

\And this is curious, that, though,colonists are in fact offshoots of the British people, yet no sooner are they formed than they are shorn of all British institutions, and metamorphosed into a sort of exclusive property : of the Colonial Minister. The efforts of all colonists, here and elsewhere, ought to be directed towards the means of again becoming a * people—of ceasing to be the mere vassals of' a. successful politician, his, clerk, and secretaries. .

•Wβ do. not. deny that> in the earlier period of the,existence of a colony, it is desirable that a controlling power should be retained by the mother-country which planted it; and-this must continue so long as any dependency exists, for''otherwise the colony becomes an independent nation. But there is an immeasurable distance between the honourable dependence of an heitvappurent and the bondage of a vassal.

If we are free, we must have the marks of freemen. The first of these is representative government. How much of that have we in -New Zealand ?

Little enough; and little enough have ' they in most colpnies, for even in those which enjoy a representative Legislature within themselves, the acts of that' Legislature are liable to revision and disallowance in the Imperial Parliament, and in that Imperial • Parliament the' colonies have no representative, ," But why should they not be there represented ? Are they not as integral a part of the empire as York, Exeter, Liverpool, ,or Bristol ? What reason is there why the inhabitants of those towns, living in one part of the empire, should enjoy the privileges of self-government, and on emigrating to another part they 'should.be deprived of it! What inconvenience would arise if a bench of colonial members sat among the borough and county members ? This inconvenience, tbat they would be of might enough to make their voices heard and to influence decisions .of the Imperial Parliament on colonial affairs; and more than that, they would strip the Colonial Office of its unconstitutional powers, which no doubt would be . a very great inconvenience to those who now wield them. Not only should Ac colonial member claim 'a vote in all matters affecting, the colonies, but in all matters effecting the interests of the at large. Is Dαventry or Reading more concerned in a question; of peace or war with France than Australia, and ,New Zealand. The colonies, have ever the'small change of nations j why should they be excluded from discussing and, voting on matter* whioh vitally affect them p The representatives should be paid, as those in the United States are, on the principle that few can afford to give thoir time to the, public for nothing. They Bhould'haye' ( a^p^dper ( invested ; in the colony. The.'electors *Uo, in less amount. • ■■■' ' '- ~"',

The salary of representatives., should "be a Charge 'on 'the Colonial Revenue, but paid by the Imperial Government, for. reasons apparent in New Zealand. The expense wo&ld bo considerable in the aggregate, bat not the thousandth part the amount chargeable on the nonrepresentative misgovernment at present inflicted." The cheapest Governments in the world are 'those in which the most complete representation - exists. In Switzerland, the taxation amounts - to a cum varying from half-a-crown to five ■shillings per head per annum. The expences of the whole civil jurisdiction of Zurich amount to' tenpence a-head, the military (and they are a military people) to sixpence. The settlements of Switzerland are " scattered and indefinitely multiplied." In New Zealand, we pay from' one to two pounds a-head per annum.

; Nor is it the atrioUnt of taxation only, but its expenditure. In non-repr6senta-tive countries it 'is all lavished on, .those who tax; inrepresentativeiit is expenclr edYpr the benefit of« thertaxed.v jIT-here are :more' valuable • public- institutions, cheaper law, and a far more .general spread of education in Switzerland and the .United States"'than-in any. other countries in the world.' ; In New Zealand, with a taxation most disproportionate to our numbers, we have literally no public institutions except courts of-law. and policei'whicH entail additional expences.on the suitors," besides their maintenance from the general takes; we have no.public works, no public defence, no public benefit, but a host of public officers. Could these things:be if the, public were properly represented in the Imperial Parliament ? ? Private individuals. interested in"the; colony, fighting gallantly, have, after five years of accumulated evils, dragged bur. case before the throne of the British people. But what would have been our "case if those private individuals had not our part ?: What public, constitutional security have we for the future ?

Chinese towards foreigners is this:—" The barbarians," say they;, £are : iike beasts, and not to be ruled .qn.Uie same principles as citizens.. W.ere my aUerapt to controlling them by the great maxiras'ofreason,'it would, tend to uothing but confusion. The ancient kings •well, understood this, and. accordingly ruled barbarians by misrule. Therefort to rule barbarians by misrule is the true and best way'df ruling them." On such a principle does Great Britain her colonies.; Whatever made her free is withHerdt from ttfein; , whatever jnade her great is denied to them. She remembers'her own foundation on the, popular institutions of her Saxonsires, and.she fears with the jealousy of a step-i mother the precocious growth of her: offspring if nourished with the same food as herself. Jeshuran will wax fat and kick. Anil sq, to make sure, she subjects her colonial "chUd to the absolute despotism of the Colonial Office, who commits it to the,, charge ; 6f what the- Chinese call ft "paper tiger/ who bullies and starves the btout bantling till it dwindles into a rickety idiot, like poor Smike. The/difficulty is to get all the colonies to'act together in a matter of this sort. We must'have a loud Voice to be heard at once' in Canada, aud the "still vexed Bermoothes," an epithet by the way> very prophetic of all colonial political experience. ; Nevertheless, we cast our bread upon the waters,, hoping that, as the grfevano'e is 'extensive, . a like remedy may Iie i- suggested-elsewhere, I ttßiijl our jcause becbme general at last.— 1845.

WBtUNGTON AND Mkchanic's Institute.—-Wβ are requested to state that "Mr. Fox will deliver his Lecture on the Colonies" on Thursday the 22nd instant, instead of To-morrow the Bth; as was originally iutended; and that thVfirst of Mr. Marsh--m*n's Lectures on " Astronomy " will he given instead: I • v ; ■ v

>■■ .We're the death of. Master Alfred Hdwelßayner,step son of| H. .Shillings, Esq., who was unfortunately drowned in the River Hutt, oii Saturday last.'.lt appears that the two brothers) i Robert and Alfred, had crossed; the river in a canoe, to leave orders at the-butcher's and //were returning v home, when .the canoe came in contact withi a snag and capsized, precipitating them both into i the, strongest of the two, managed to lay hold of the canoe, ,put Alfred j.wasjcarriiedj, iown-, by, the the current.; A heavy, freshet li^d, ; taie|j"'^laciejuicing their absence, ; which jvkfrim bccaSiibn 1 of the melancholy accident; 'The bo&y Was found on Monday/b"y two iiktlves.and conveyed to the Aglibnby"lArmsF An' inquest: was held -yesterday, before J: P: Fitzgerald,-Esq.,. and a verdict of accidental death by drowning was'rettirhed. , •■■'>-■ < v

The schooner- Twins, from the East Const, reports the total wreck of the ' Agnes Hay, belonging to' Mr. Ashdown i or,this place, at Hawke's Bay, about the 1 lth Juno. She had been driven ashore in a violent gaie, but through the exertions of the master and crew, was got off again;however/it-coming on to blow very i

ifresUjfrom theSi :E., she was again cast I-upon '."the -heacliif ffnd-went. to pieces. The Twins ; exper(ericed very severe vveather; after leaving this .port, having shifted Ijer ballasfj i been thrown on her beam ends, and; dis.masted.' She-ran into the river Tauranganui to . refit, and was thus enabled to reach Wellington.: A small scshooner supposed to be the Carbon, was seen:off Castle Pcuht; on the-morning of the 1 lth June, standiiig*t<)wards Hawke's Bay; in the afternoon she put about,.and, stood away to the southward. ■ On the,l2th"ofl-June, pieces of a, wreck/and the hatchway ofr a small schooner were up ,oti tjie beaph near Mr. Tiffin's sheep .statioa. !i.,'

A private ball was ; givpn'at the "VVakatou Hotel, by the Bachelors of jJelspii, oh the 22nd of July. Gebrge: Master of- the Ceremonies; Stewards;— E.J. Wakefi eld. ,A. Richmond, Dillon Bell, C Empson, R. K. Newcome, V, Smith, G; Duppav W. ; L. Shepherd; and — Collins, Esquires. Among.the. guests wp noticed ■• . th e >; -following , persons :— Messrs,*'and the Misses Ray,- Mr,. and-Mfs. Dillon Bell, Messrsi and Miss Richmond, Mr. arid Mrs/Nixon,/Mr. and the Misses Howard.Mrs. Stafford, Miss. Bortoii, Mr. and Miss Martin, iMr.and Mrs. Poyuter, ■Captain Impey, Mrs. and Miss Elliot, Mrs. M'Shaue, Mr. and Mrs.. Ringwood, Doctor Wilson, Captain Beale, (Poicters) Mr. Stewart, Mr.: Latham, Mr. Pollard, Mrs. Edwards, and Mr. B.ernavs.

The ball was opened by Mr. Wakefield and Miss Richmond. ; The dancing was kept up with great spirit till 5 the mbrnin. Much credit-is, due to Mr. E. J. Wakefield (the originator) and Mr. D. Bell'for their great exertions, aiid the admirable arrangements ; by which, it was characterized.— Communicated.

Married.—On- the sth of February, 1850, in Dunmanway Church, County of Cork, by the Rev. Wra,.Meacle, Richard Beamish, Esq., late.of Wellington, New Zealand, to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of the late Herbert Gilrnari/Esq , of Dunmauway. _■ , ; ; , ■

~ The great importance- of frequent in . tercourse with the Coloniesi.. and of un; prejudiced statements- with regard to the feelings and situation of the people, has received powerful illustration from, the recent papers from New Zealand. It.has been a prevailing belief that the Governor, Cajit.' Grey, or, as he is now styled. Sir George Grey,; had given universal . satisfaction' to this distant community, of British Settlers; but it would appear-that th.is belief has; -ha:<kno just foundatipuf An, Association for promoting the'great cause- of Representative Govemrtient has been formed in New Zealand,'numbering as-appears from the statement ofthe W?/r liiujton independent, the most" influential settlers,,..as regards commerce and.character, among its members. A-recenf; meeting of this .Association broadly charges Sir George Grey with misreprer : sentation and cunning of a highly discreditable . character,. inducing the belief that the very name of Grey is uftfavourar bie,.to the. disseminatibn;Qf truth. It is really painful to read : statements of this character, implying a loosening of all the bonds that hold the sdcial and political system of British rule together." If trust cannot be fully; reposed in Governors—if the despatches of a gentleman and a British Knight to boot, are declared unworthy- of confidence—if it is absolutely necessary to ring in the ears of a person occupying the high and responsible position, of a representative of her Britannic Majesty to British subjects hr a distant part of the globe—tnathe is asserting that which'is untrue to her" Majesty's Government at home, and that therefore a mutual misunderstanding is occasioned through an agency which ought to be . perfectly free from all doubt and dissimulation, then it is clear that a principle has crept into British Colonial politics oi whose mischevious'resultsitis impossible to calculate the amount. Lord Grey at home—Sir George Grey at Jamaica—and his namesake of New Zealand,-will all. appear .in the same category iti.tfte .Colonial history of Great Britain; and if all, or even one half, be true that is. asserted of their proceedings, aro foredoomed as a trio of i>hort-sighted and unprincipled politicians to the indignant recollections of posterity., " Considering," says the Wellington Independent, "that Sir George Grey gave the disturbed state of Europa as one reason for not giving us Representative Institutions, we not be > surprised if on bis next visit he informs us that on acoount of the' repulse of the French from Rome, he must postpone their introduction ior a further .period of flic next year."' If such bo the reasonings of Colonial , Governors, they would seem (,o bo extremely deficient in the art of,logic. As well might disturbances in Java operate on the" Councils of Britain) as European revolutions defer Representative Government in-, -New Zealand. These absurdities will only impel the moyement begun in these Islands. The Anglo-Saxou is in the resolutions of tho Sooiety for promoting Rep'reisontativo Government in New Zealand, and we cannot but foresee that this spirit will .triumph.— Pcnzance ■Journal. ' ' • i Korc'plcn'sing is the report thnt atujdst

the confusion and disturbance of political quarrels; science pursues.her uiidevi'ating. coursejh the service- of nmnkind,;.,whatever their political or social difference. The Acheron, Captain, JoHii Jjbrt. Stokes, is thus mentioned iii the' "Wellington Independent: —" We uuderstand ■ that the; Acheron has already completed the survey of the East Coast of the Middle Island, including a minuted examination of the harbours of Port Cooper- an,d Qtago ; and also'the whole of Cobk's.StraitSj: including the Sound discovering auotfier of "refuge in D'Urville-s "Isiaiidt' of Port -Hardy,, and hithdrtof-if known at all, known only to,the' iiatives. ,5 ;tn"e%iter- : K- ;- 'val, some of heF-. officers engaged in surveying 'Mauaica : u.J.H.arbDUi' and other parts of the ; North, : to superintend'whose labours,'^:!? 1 jfesume Captain Stokes -now leaves. us/, r :\Yi'trust that when he has cwlhjctedlfurther,ni*aten.ar^'■ he wiiragain , visit our harbourr-seihere h"e. ! caa finish hiis cMrjti-f r iii' sm6other water,: aiidsend home thY i-esujts of labours by■ the frequent opppr-|uiy ties guV commercial .iTifercarprSe' with- New,-. Sou'tK and England '6ffe%.?VT6 *Ms; agVeeable notice oi' .ih.e r b'f th'fe Surveying' Service of i-ihn Adaiiralty/in parts ofthe globe, whose -exaßiinar tiou is decidedly the pibfjeer of civilization, it should', be- ,addeli; that, the number of a periodical, |irinte.d" Jii.the New Zealand dialect, , with English t'ranlations, has appeared, specimens of which it is our intention to for.., the amusement of our r