The Sun.
London, England, 1845-06-20 00:00:00

the New Zealand Company was not to le;d Sir G. Gipps to
believe that aninquiry would not take place, but that a Com-
missioner of probity and impartiality would be appointed.
The letters which he had quoted sufficiently proved the spirit
whieh actuated the Noble Lord in concluding that treaty.
In July the Noble Lord acknowledged the treaty of Wat-
tonga; and could it be assumed that the Noble Lord would,
in November, act directly the reverse of what he had done in
July ? The natives said they understood the treaty, for they
said, " The shadow of the land goes to Queen Victoria, but the
substance remains with us." This was the language of the chiefs.
Captain Hobson wrote to Sir George Gipps in 1840 that a
conspiracy was set on foot by low abandoned Europeans who
attempted to instigate the natives into tumult, by saying that
as soon as the English were strong enough they would seize
upon all their land and sell it. The 11th clause showed that
the Company had offered to forego every claim to land except
teat which the Crown conferred upon them. On the 2(1 of
December, 1840, the Colonial-office claimed all land in New
Zealand which the chiefs granted, and Lord John Russell
then said he was not aware of any other possessors of land in
New Zealand, but if there were they should be legitimately
dealt with. The New Zealand Company, in their report of
the 'same year to their shareholders, said they were on the
same footing as any other private individual. This was a mere
mockery, for all other persons were limited in the maximum of
acres, but the New Zealand Company were unlimited because
they were an instrument in the hands of the Government.—
( Hear, hear.) About that time the Noble Lord appointed a
special commissioner of great talent and probity. The
Hon. Member for Coekeranouth said this Commissioner was
not particularly friendly to the New Zealand Company. The
instructions to the Commissioner were given verbally.
The Commissioner was Mr. Spain, and he under-
stood the treaty as Lord Stanley understood it.
Col. Wakefield, whom the natives called " Wide-awake," was
also employed ; and he, on the 24th of August, 1841, wrote
thus respecting the treaty, that a commission was to be ap-
pointed to inquire into the purchases made of the natives, and
if the purchases of the Company were not vale!, full com-
pensation was to be made to the natives by the New Zealand
Company.—(Hear, hear.) Soon after Col. Wakefield w rote
home that he was proceeding with the investigation ; that some
parties required compensation, and that tke New Zealand Com-
pany Company recognised their right of compensation. They
had been told that since Lord John Russell had left office
" liberality had changed into pertinacity ;" but on the 10th of
June the New Zealand Company thanked Lord Stanley for his
"liberality." Anybody who read Mr. Spain's report would
know why a change in the proceedings took place, and why
Col. Wakefield withdrew from the investigation. In October,
1842, the New Zealand Company took for the first time the
instruction which they said was the Noble Lord's instruction,
and which they wished it to appear they had held all alone.
The conduct of Lord Stanley with respect to the new demands
of the Company, at the close of 1842, was statesmanlike andlcon-
sistent in the highest degree. Yet the words " cold-
bloodesl " and " cruel " were applied to ho h him
and Lord John Russell, in the documents of the New
Zealand Company. Lord Stanley acted with great fairness
towards the Company with respect to those demands, as he
stated in his communications with them, that he would
guarantee them a conditional title to the lands which they
stated they then possessed, but that he should also afford the
natives a similar power with respect to their lands. Conduct
like this did not deserve to be characterised as that of a petti-
fogging attorney. Then the charge that he had violated his
oath as a Minister of the Crown was as untrue, and therefore
as little entitled to foundation as other charges which had
been brought against him, respecting his conduct towards
the New Zealand Company. They could not make such an im-
putation for the Noble Lord's instructions were not carried out
in the colony as he desired them to be. The:agreement bearing
date the lea' of November, 1840, was perfectly understood by
Colonel Wakefield, and a proof of this was to be found in its
being acted upon in the following spring. Ultimately, when
the British settlers complained, Lord Stanley gave the Company
a prima facie title to the land. He, therefore, called upon
the House to negative the resolutions of the Hon. Member for
Liskeard (Mr. C. Buller), believing that no satisfactory con-
clusion could be arrived at in a Committee of the House, and
that the subject could be better dealt with by the Executive.
Mr. MANGLES proposed first to enter into the conduct of
the Church Missionary Society in New Zealand, and secondly
into that of the Company. For 30 years, that Society had been
engaged in carrying good tidings to the aborigines of New Zealand
and their exertions had met with great success. In referring to
their conduct, however, he should not treat their errors in a
hostile or scoffing spirit. He should discuss this subject in a
candid spirit. There could be no question about the first steps
of the Church Missionar Society. The devoted men who
went out there approachedtthe shores of the land inhabited by
that blood-thirsty people, and their first successes had been
obtained in consequence of the very devotedness which they
had exhibited. The reports from a few visitors to these islands
had shown that they were fertile in the extreme, and it was at
that precise period the attention of the Church Missionary was
directed to them. It was no discredit to the Church Missionary
Society to say that they were in no condition to take an en-
larged view of the future measures. They were opposed to
colonisation, and objected to every imposition of the Sove-
reignty of this country. They maintained that, if converted to
Christianity and civilised, they were perfectly competent to
govern themselves, and that no assistance could be of the
slightest service to them. He was led to believe that this
was the feeling of the Church Missionary Society rather
than, the facts of the case. After many wanderings they had
at last found a settlement on the coasts of New Zew Zealand
But they had not been able to exclude those lawless charac-
ters by which the country was infested. The runaway con-
victs and the sailors had brought to that country one of the
most dreadful and fatal maladies with which Europe was visited.
These and other causes had combined to prevent that
influence which should have stopped the warlike propensities of
the natives. Many desperate conflicts had :occurred in the
islands, and some of the tribes had, in fact, been driven to the
southward. All his arguments went to show that these wars did
not arise in consequence of residence, but in spite of them. He
had hia information from a son of Captain Price, who was on
duty at the islands at the time. One day, whilst in charge of
the boats on the coast, he saw a chief parading the beach in a
state of great agitation, in consequence of a woman attached to
his household who had gone on board of one of the ships with-
out his permission. No sooner did the unfortunate woman
step ashore than she was struck down senseless, without speak.
ing a word, by the remorseless chief, who, without saying a
word, ripped up her bosom, tore out her heart, and crunching
it between his teeth, cast it on the ground. Another instance
had been narrated, where, in consequence of resentment ex-
cited against the steward of a ship at the island, which resulted
in the massacre of the whole crew, and the bodies of the unfor-
tunate men were absolutely cooked in their own ships'-coppers.
It appeared before the Committee of 1838 that the lawless
characters who came to the islands were every week increasing,
and the consequence was that the moral state of the country
was such as the Church Missionary Society could no longer
contend with. In this state of things Mr. Dandison Coates
had devised a plan for the restoration of order and right feeling
in the colony. He had first planned that there should be a
diplomatic agent constantly resident in New Zealand, that
there should be courts of justice presided over by the New
Zealand Chiefs, but that the administration of the law should
be ultimately vested in Europeans. Mr. Coates had not pro-
vided for the expense of these establishments, because he con-
ceived that where there were so many British subjects resi-
dent it was the duty of the Government to make that provi-
sion. He (Mr. Mangles) did not mention this otherwise than
to show what wild schemes people were obliged, to resorteo, to
meet the case. The Church Missionary Society were ready
to encounter any difficulty to accomplish their object,
but they were too sanguine, and he did not wish
to throw any disparagement on the missionaries; but he knew
what the converts were, and when exposed to intercourse with
Englishmen of ordinary religion and virtue—to say nothing of
what the consequences would be from association with the wilful
and depraved. They were not at all likely to be such Christians
as Martin Luther. Many of the new converts had been ac-
tively engaged in the disturbances in the north of the island.
The man who had cut down the flagstaff when Captain Wake-
field was destroyed was a Christian, as were also many others
whose names had been mentiened in the late transactions. Hon.
Members must be aware that many of these converts were
men of very questionable character, and in the disturbances in
the north of the island they had particularly distinguished
themselves by their lawless and dishonest proceedings. All
the evidence which had been adduced before them—the evidence
of most respectable men, who were, from their knowledge of
the country, well able to form an opinion, all led to the same
thing. The President of the Church of Scotland, among
others, spoke in the most contemptuous manner of the tricks
which had been used to cheat the people of England into the
idea that the New Zealanders wee able to govern themselves.
Mr. Busby, the missionary, put a number of tine words into the
mouths of the islanders, with this very view ; such words as
" confederation," " poverty," " legislation,' and so on, words
which their very habits of pronunciation *slid not have per-
mitted them to master. He did hope that Government would
put a stop to this state of things, for in fact it was well known
that up to this day the Government of New Zealand, under
whatever name, was a Government unconditionally and help-
lessly under the power of the missionaries, and it was a well-
known fact, that nothing could be done respecting New
Zealand, but some persons would be found run-
ning from the Church Missionary Society's offices
:n Salisbury-square to the Colonial-office.—( Laughter.)
The miseries of that island may be ascribed to that mismanage-
ment. The influence exerted there has set man against man,
and tanght the white to regard the red as his enemy ; and
again he implored the Right Hon. Baronet to take measures
to settle these unhappy quarrels, and to restore that unfortu •
nate country. More cruelties had been exercised towards the
natives of New Zealand, by her Majesty's Government, than
had ever before been thrown upon that unfortunate race;
whereas, had they adopted a proper and decisive policy, the
colony might have been fairly managed, and governed by a
handful of clever Europeans. Government should have
adopted the same decisive policy that Sir Charles Met-
calfe had done in Canada, and we should never have
heard of the horrible massacres which had occurred
in 'New Zealand. When a nominally independent
native chief hired an assassin to butcher Mr. Frazer, Sir Chas.
Metcalfe had both the assassin and the chief brought to trial,
and on their conviction he had them both hanged. One such
deeisiee step as this would have averted all the troubles which
had lately fallen on the unfortunate colony of New Zealand.
But no such policy as this was pursued by Governor Fitzroy,
although he had been frequently advised to do so by members
of thelegislative Assembly of the colony ; and hence much
of the' misery and suffering which had fallen upon
the settlers lay at the door of Government, and was not to be
attributed to the course pursued by the New Zealand Com-
pany; He begged it to be understood as attributing no blame
to the Church Missionary Society as a body, except that they
had not a sufficient control over their agents in New Zealand,
nor dtd he' believe that any person in
this country connected
with the Church Missionary Society had been actuated by the
smallest selfish interest. He would admit, too, that
they were fullyhe entitled to purchase land from the
natives, but
purchases they had blamed them for the excessive
by the New Zealanrcalads'because they were only authorised
furthet than that, they Company to take a certain quantity, and
with declaring his hearty"ght not to have gone. He sat down
(clioncurrence in the motion of the
Hon. Member for Liskeard.
11r: COLQUHOUNqaurite agreed with the Hon. Gentleman
who had just sat down, that it was not the place of a missionary
to interfere in the political .government of a colony, and he
thought the Government of elrePealand ought to be conducted
like the Government of this couwntrye, upon a system of vigorous
of pro rioters, on
administration, irrespective of a
the one side, or a religious body on°ll.ht'seontYher._-_( Hear, hear.)
upon this subject,
He had carefully perused all the documents
His
tiet)rizm;et of the
and had come to the conclusion that the Government
rtrend the
colony was not in a satisfactory state.
Secretary to the Treasury bad most ably discussed
tion, and so far as the Hon. Gentleman's argument went i'tl" was
perfectly demonstrated. The Hon. Gentleman had clearly
proved that the Noble Lord the Member for the City of
London had put the same construction on the agreement with
the New Zealand Company, as that placed upon it by the
Noble Lord the present Secretary for the Colonies ; and in-
stead of bringing forward motions casting reflections upon the
Noble Lord, it would have been much better to have brought
forward some proposition fur modifying and improving the
government of the colony. There never was a period in the
Colonial Government of this country, in which the rights and
dignity of the Government were so well maintained, as under
Lord Stasslay,, The Noble Lord had the quickest eye
in the world diVcAttet Itripvgbce, the most sagacious promp-
titude to,ch{skle y...-(far, bear, and laughter.) He
thought/that ads tatifai fff the, system by which we had so
long tkrtutpptly-goierneel India might be well applied to
our o e,olonies.—(Hear, hear,) He thought it was impos-
sible, Without throwing blame upon Boy I ty,te refuse inquiry