The Sun.
London, England, 1848-02-14 00:00:00

TO THE SECRETARY OF THE
BRADFORD REFOItIII ASSOCIATION.

Sir,—On Monday the 7th the Second Reading of
the Bill for the Removal of the Jewish Disabilities
came on. It was opposed, as was said by Mr. Shell,
by all the arguments which in 1829 would have been
brought against the emancipation of the Catholics,
with alterations to suit the case. It was urged that
there was no need to emancipate the Jews, because
there was no danger of an insurrection ; that though
too few to be dangerous in the field, they were too
many to be safe in the House of Commons; and that
if Jews were admitted to Parliament, the country
would cease to be one in which none but Christians had
seats in the Legislature. On the other side,
progress was made in bringing forward the principle,
on which this battle will probably be finally won,
that the oath or declaration of allegiance administered
according to the rules admitted in the courts of jus-
tice, is the only test which ought to be required of
any man born under the British crown, in his progress
to any office of trust his countrymen may choose to
elect him to. In this manner we should get rid of
the disgraceful farrago, of cursing this thing and
damning that, while the whole of what is substantially
intended is included in the recognition of the existing
government contained in the declaration of allegiance.
On Tuesday the debate was expected to be re-
sumed ; but it was prevented by Mr. Anstey's bring-
ing forward forty questions preparatory to the im-
peachment of the Ministers ; which, being supported
by neither side of the House, led to a speedy evacua-
tion of the benches, and the House was counted out
at half-past seven.

On 'Wednesday, the debate of importance was on
the New Zealand Bill. What is doing on this sub-
ject, though now in little, is very likely to give a
colour to the world. It contains no less than the
question, whether England shall make herself the pa-
troness of the uncivilized branches of the human
family, in opposition to the system for enslaving
them set up on the other side of the Atlantic. In
New Zealand is a native race, holding to the British
whiz have landed on their shores so precisely the rela-
tion which our painted ancestors bore to the Romans,
that it might almost be concluded the intention was
to bring ancient Rome, like Tyre and Sidon, in judg-
ment against us, in case of failure- in the duties the
position imposes. Of indomitable courage, intelligent
in the highest degree, desirous of European arts and
knowledge to the greatest extent wit;eht -without a
miracle is compatible with the habits of uncivilized
life ih the existing generation, it seems admitted by
acclamation on both sides of the House of Commons,
that they are to be taken into partnership and form
one more element in the nornewhat .variegated mass
whence Isprings the true-horn-Englishman.. A more
interesting spectaclehas hardly been presented in the
world—if only crooked interests can be prevented
Irom'spoiling it: a few years ago was
made with the native inhabitants, called the treaty of
Waitangi ; the purport of which was, that the natives
accepted and acknowledged the sovereignty of the
Queen of England, on condition of their p roperty in
all lands in their possession being recol'nised and
secured to them. There seem to be p nrties who
admit that some of this was clap-trap, an sd that the
natives had only an imperfect comprehens'ion of what
it was they made over, and a still less co mplete ac-
quaintance with the degree in which, in lb e eyes of a
sharp practitioner, they had secured to themselves
what they intended in return. As is the nature of
companies, the New Zealand Company is the sharp
practitioner. It now raises the plea, that by the treaty
the New Zealanders abandoned their clr um to all the
country except what they are found holding for a
beneficial use according to European notions ; and
in fact represents, that it would be useless for the
Company to proceed, unless it may have lands
in partibus infidelium for nothiiig. A war
is going on in New Zealand, of •which, though
silence is preserved on the subject, this dispute may
be suspected to be the cause. 'What is known is,
that the Bishop of New Zealand protested against the
proceedings taken against the native population in
respect of the interpretation of the treaty, and that
the Methodist missionaries, men trustworthy in the
highest degree both from their• general habits and
their particular position in the country concerned,
have joined in the protest. This of course is un-
popular in some quarters. But who shall say, that
when the mild light of antiquity has been shed over
the scene, the act of the Bishop of New Zealand,
with a little aid from the imagination of the painter,
shall not figure on the walls of some New Zealand
House of Commons, like the deeds of those
old• world saints, who whether perfect or not according
to our ideas of theological perfection, raised in their
day the meek standard of Christianity as a barrier be-
tween the oppressor and the oppressed ? 'What is a
bishop for, or at all events why is he clothed in
purple and made •to walk among princes, if it is not
that he may on occasion form an element in the po-
litical machine, and bring the influence of his
peaceful habits rtnd cooler head into the transactions
of mankind ?

The immediatts, question before the House is a re-
markable one, and greatly in want of light. A con-
stitution had be rn forwarded to New Zealand, con-
taining, among, other things, the introduction of
something li'Ae our municipal bodies at home.
This constitution the governor on his own
responsibility has prayed to suspend for
five years. A suspicious appearance on first
view ; and yet there is reason on the whole to
believe t'nat the governor is a sincere man, and com-
petent '‘o comprehend his position and its conse-
quences. His objection to the introduction of the
constitution now, appears to be that in some way it
will tend to the exclusion of the native constituency.
What this way is, like everything else, is not made
clear. But it seems possible that it may be con-
nected with the existing war, and the belief that
when it is ended, the introduction of the natives
to the exe;cise of political . rights, will be -nacre
favOurably proceeded with. One instance of-sincerity
"on the"part of the governor is worthy of remark.
A New Zealander, if he lives cleanly like a gen-
tleman, is to be a town-councillor as well as anybody
else ; but it was stipulated that town-councillors must
read and write. On this the governor represents,
that numbers of the leading New Zealanders read and
write, but not English; and that it would be very
hard to exclude them for want of knowledge of the
tongues. This certainly looks as if it might be
trusted.
The case therefore appears to be this. The New
Zealand Company wants to see an interminable series
of wars in New Zealand, which doubtless you and I
are to pay for, in order that it may enjoy the
privilege of taking the New Zealanders' lands for
nothing. Not, it may be, the lands they
are using for cultivation, but lands to which
they conceive they have a title, and which title they
believe to hav' been secured to them by treaty. The
New Zealanders have genius enough to know, that
they can have no general security for lands at
all, if their titles are to be submitted to a white man's
jury to decide whether the land was in beneficial oc-
cupation or not. Fancy a race of powerful foreigners
landing on the coast of England or Scotland, and
proposing to refer to a jury of their own, whether
the Duke of Athol had a beneficial occupation, or the
preserves of Mr. Coke of Norfolk were his by the law
of nations. It is clear that this would be the way
to ensure a war to the knife. Of this war, therefore,
it is advisable, in the case of New Zealand, to count
the cost. How many blankets would it cost
to buy up honestly the claims of the natives to such
lands as the Company may from time to time be
able to be make good use of; seeing that it has been
acknowledged in Parliament that the New Zealanders
are very ready to sell, and the lowness of the price
accepted must be in proportion to the smallness of
the actual utilities derived from the lands ? And
how many blankets, with men in them, some to live
and some to be buried, will it cost you and me or
whoever may be the payers, if the whim of the New
Zealand Company for a crusade against the lands of
the infidels is to be given way to ?
The spirit of both sides of the House of Commons
is admirable. The ,Colonial Secretary, there seems
reason to fear, is not at present equal to the circum-
stances, and therefore should be corroborated. To
which nothing can tend so much as a generous
attention on the part of the public. The Govern-
ment in the House of Commons, too, appeared to
labour under some confusion of ideas, between the fic-
tion of law by which all land is held to be vested in the
Queen, and the question of proprietary rights. Is
there to be Civil war in New Zealand till every na-
tive Duke' of Athol admits the utility of the fiction of
law aforesaid, he all the time fighting for a perfectly
distinct object, to wit, preventing the lands he has
been accustomed to think his own or his tribe's, from
being adjudicated to be the Company's for defect of
beneficial occupation ?
But these questions will fine down, if the public
will only attend to them. Knowing from expe-
rience in a colony myself, how easy it is to secure
the confidence of uncivilised men by a little justice
and a little kindness, I hope to be excused it I have
been prolix on this subject.
Orr the same day a circumstance occurred, not
actually extending to the House of Commons, but
meant to do so in its results; a procession of seamen
to petition the Queen for the preservation of the
Navigation Laws. Accerdin4 to the Protectionist
newspapers, this is hut the beginning of sorrows ; for
the silk-weavers, the curriefS, the boOt-risakeiS, the
glove-makers, are invited to do the like. Everybody
is to ask to rob everybody ; and it remains to be seen
what everybody will say to it in the end.
On Thursday Lord Morpeth brought in the Bill
for promoting the Public Health. We bury the dead
-within our great towns, till the dead and the living
rot together;" and we close windows by a window-
.tax, in_ order to keep out: fresh air and shut the
tholera in.. A. Bill that says, nothing up these points,
is likelh4lay of Harald nth the part of hamlet
omitted.

On the same night was a debate upon the Tea