The oppression and genera...
The Times, 1824-12-10T00:00:00

The oppression and general mal-administration com- plair.ed of in some of our distant co]onies, we conecive to be a suhject of the very highest imporfance, and we have therefore niglected no opportunity of bringing it distinctly under the -notice of the Government and people atplhome. Offences assuredly are not to be measured by the c&tent of the scne on which they happen to be perpetratedX or to be forgotten because of their distance from the e.tof the spectator. A very remote and narrow spot may su5ce for the exhibition of overgreovwn delinquencies; and, indeed; in affairs of Government, thc most active and formidable enemies of whatever constitutes the welfare of a state, are found to select as the miost convenient field for their mal-practices, those extreme points of a mighty em- pire, whence murmurs are least likely to be heand at home, and whlere vexatious tyrantny ray best ealcu. latc on reigniing and rioting unpunished. But, in pro- portion to the natural advantages of such a position for the indulgence of corrupt principles and despotic habits, ought. to be the watchfuliess of thc central'Government of a free people over its more scattered functionaries.; and in the same ratio ought that watchful spirit to be exercised by the press-the most sagacious and ur.erring police-offlcer in the world, and the firmest prop of lawful power, because it is the ablest protector of innocence, and the cheapest dispenser of justice. There cxist other reasons why the proceedings of our Colonial officers ought always t0 besuspected, and exa- mined, and exposed. The extremities of the empire are. not merely the most inviting scenes for misconduct in those. who rule them, but precisely on that account2, the class .of persons most prone to violate their duty-are sebt thither, as to their-natural retreats from the searching activity of Parliainent, or at least the mortifyinmg expression of publio opinion here. See how many men, whose rank is their sole zccomraendatioi to a public trust of even suboidinate value, now fill the chief offices of precedence and authority, ariong the dependencies of Great Britain, east,west, and south (our objection is not to a Lord per se, but to a Governdr, who is merely a Lord,) India, the Cape, both ends of the' Medi- terranean, and the most valuabie of our possessions in the western hemisphere! But, let us turn for an i5tanitto tht precious example, the Cape. We pray our readeri o.i.ctn- sider quietly lhow they would relish the 8sort; qft6vern- ment whichhas been, more than once within -thcse few months, described to exist in.that zuch-suFeripgcoli5ny a Government of which' some lighter characteristics are touched upon by a correspondent n thisn day's)r T-nesj' A Literary Society, which the Chief Justice,. t h ol.ier legal persons, and a large 'nmjority of the wet-.in*nired andrespedtable residents- at7theCape, af l property in. the interior of the settiement, projposc& o stitute, notfor innocentenjoymeint alone, btxt.f6ritl a'd- vancement of arts andiintelligence-of. Ietteis and civIliza- tionI-was put down at once by an overbearing, and insult; lug bibreat,tliat an. old proclamation. of,1S,O, framed against Dutch conspirators for betraying the Cape (then a nei con. quest) to the enemiesofEngldn'dlho9ild'.e4nforced,agaihist our peacefuil, enliglhtened, and loyal fellbw-s!ubjects ! It -was "dangero'us," it was, forsb , 'b1foxi0us," tothe titled VandaL The illustrious FuAmmIS of Austria-and Italy did ro.t:wixh foitSd ,iJ t e : .'et even FRA1SaX o bt`an"nruio re ijrge 1iis s,ubjtDcts wvitlfdrsf6oifife foPWi i6bM;iiji-6k V61 citem selvc33n knowteelge. .bXisl!aA*!w.e!talkof-ignorance, and .insolence:.aua invbfeXiate W3udi; o6ng-'. _randees Of Spain or sl.ve? ofrT rkey^busihete .was there ever a tn.atchr.-for. tbisb bu t i; ot annals?