REMARKS
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REMARKS,
&c.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I HAVE examined the Official Despatches respecting New Zealand recently laid before Parliament, with especial reference to the intimation which you gave me, that the New-Zealand Association would, it was expected, endeavour to derive from those documents an argument in favour of their scheme of Colonization. The first despatch of Mr. Busby, having been pointed out by you as that on which it was probable great stress would be laid, has particularly engaged my attention; but I confess that I am unable to discover by what mode of reasoning this despatch, any more than the others which accompany it, can be made to serve the cause of the Association.
The investigation to which, on a former occasion, I subjected their proposals led me to the conclusion, that a Colonization-Company, who are to carry on their operations chiefly by means of borrowed money, cannot furnish probable evidence, that, however benevolent may be then wishes, they will have either time or means at their command for the accomplishment of the arduous task of raising the New Zealanders to the enjoyment of the blessings of a Christian and civilized state. If (as, I have reason to know, many who are competent judges believe to be the case) this con-
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clusion has been satisfactorily established, then the only remaining recommendation of the Association's plan to philanthropic individuals, who make the welfare of the New Zealanders the primary object of their solicitude, is, that it is intended as a remedy for a peculiar state of things which has long been deplored. The Missionaries have painfully to witness the evils inflicted by white men on these interesting islanders; those injuries constituted the question respecting New Zealand which was investigated by the late Parliamentary Select Committee on Aborigines, and to provide against which they suggested a plan in their Report submitted to the House of Commons; and the interference which the Missionary Societies have solicited from Her Majesty's Government has been sought for the very purpose of putting an end to this same class of evils. Of the occasion afforded by the agitation of this question, the Association have taken advantage; and claim the support of those who are anxious to secure protection for the New Zealanders, on the ground that one of their principal objects in proposing to colonize New Zealand is, "to repress the crimes of British visitors and settlers, and likewise to prevent the further emigration of convict refugees, and other desperate vagabonds." This part of their plan has been as clearly exposed as that which relates to the proposed civilization of the New Zealanders; but as the evils referred to yet exist, and loudly call for redress, it may still have an appearance of plausibility with some who see no other or more effectual remedy.
The question then for consideration is-- Whether the plan of the Association, as proposing to deliver the New Zealanders from the wrongs and injuries which they are now suffering from British visitors and settlers, and runaway convicts, receives any recommend-
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ation or support from the despatch of Mr. Busby, and the other accompanying documents. Now, I think it will be obvious to every reflecting person, that Mr. Busby cannot be introduced as the advocate of the Association, unless it should appear that he lays principal stress on those evils which they propose to remove, and urges, moreover, the adoption of a measure similar, at least, in principle, to that of the Association. But is this the case? To save the trouble of referring to the Parliamentary Papers, I will quote what he says on the subject of the evils resulting to the New Zealanders from their intercourse with white men:--
"It would, in relation to the subject on which I intend to enter in this despatch, be an interesting and important question, did there exist means of bringing it to a satisfactory solution, How far this depopulation of the country, which has at least been rapid in proportion to the increase of its intercourse with, the whites, was originated by the latter, and may justly be chargeable to them. My own opinion is, that all the apparent causes which are in operation are quite inadequate to account for the rapid disappearance of the people.
"The introduction of fire-arms is alleged as one cause, but there seems good reason to doubt whether their wars were less sanguinary before fire-arms were introduced. The use of intoxicating liquors and tobacco are less questionable evils; and though their direct influence cannot, I think, be stated as at all remarkable, they are, in all probability, the original causes of diseases with which their immediate connexion is not apparent.
"Venereal diseases are another means of undermining the constitution of the multitudes who, in one shape or other, are subjected to them: and besides these sources of disease and death, the abuse of the females who are sent by their masters or relations on board ships, and the murder of the fruits of this intercourse, which is believed by those likely to be best informed to be of frequent occurrence, are undoubtedly powerful checks to increase, and ought to be largely allowed for in estimating the causes which are in operation for the depopulation of the country. But, on the other hand, it must not be lost sight of that the mortality has not been
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confined to those who have been the victims of violence, or who have been exposed to the effects of vices or diseases of foreign origin. Disease and death prevail even amongst those natives who, by their adherence to the Missionaries, have received only benefits from English connexions; and even the very children who are reared under the care of the Missionaries are swept off in a ratio which promises, at no very distant period, to leave the country destitute of a single aboriginal inhabitant.
"The natives are perfectly sensible of this decrease; and when they contrast their own condition with that of the English families, amongst whom the marriages have been prolific in a very extraordinary degree of a most healthy progeny, they conclude that the God of the English is removing the aboriginal inhabitants to make room for them; and it appears to me that this impression has produced amongst them a very general recklessness and indifference to life."
With reference to this exposition of his views, Mr. Busby adds, that he has thus, as impartially as he could, stated both sides of the question, and that he does "not concur in opinion with those who charge altogether upon their intercourse with British subjects, directly or indirectly, the present miserable condition of the New Zealanders."
In commenting upon this passage, I would request you particularly to notice, that the writer distinguishes between the condition of the natives, as affected by the vicious conduct of white men, and their circumstances in those cases where they derive only benefits from their English connexions; and that, strange as it may appear, he does in reality take the most discouraging view of the condition of the New Zealanders, where the influence of our countrymen is solely employed in endeavours to promote their welfare. It may be presumed that the Association will not think that this description can prove helpful to them. If it be true, that "all the apparent causes which are in operation, are quite inadequate to account for the rapid dis-
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appearance of the people;" and that the natives are doomed, by some mysterious decree of Heaven, rapidly to waste away without any visible cause, in the presence of white men, who have gone among them with no other view than to do them good; the only course by which our Government or Parliament could hope to meet the case would be, not to found a Colony, but to banish henceforth every white man, good as well as bad, from the shores of New- Zealand.
The only part of this description which could possibly be made to strengthen the cause of the Association is that which relates to the vicious conduct of our countrymen; and I think you will agree with me, that, so far from presenting a more alarming picture, Mr. Busby does not place those evils in so strong a light as that in which we have previously regarded them. Every statement which he makes upon this subject has its drawback. If he admits that "the introduction of fire-arms is alleged as one cause of the rapid disappearance of the people," he also maintains, that "there seems good reason to doubt whether their wars were less sanguinary before fire-arms were introduced." If he allows, that "the use of intoxicating liquors and tobacco" is, "in all probability, the original causes of diseases with which their immediate connexion is not apparent," on the other hand he says, "their direct influence cannot, I think, be stated as at all remarkable." He gives it as his opinion, that diseases resulting from the vicious intercourse of white people with the natives "ought to be largely allowed for in estimating the causes which are in operation for the depopulation of the country;" but he qualifies this by the assertion, that "the mortality has not been confined to those who have been the victims of violence, or who have been exposed to
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the effects of vices or diseases of foreign origin,"--and that disease and death prevail to a still more fearful extent among those natives who derive nothing but benefits from their English connexions. On the alleged rapid depopulation of New Zealand generally, and especially the mortality which is stated to take place among the natives under the care of the Missionaries, I shall not fail to remark; but for the present I confine myself to the class of evils which more particularly occupies the attention of Mr. Busby, simply for the purpose of showing that his description of the effect of the vicious conduct of white men does not even come up to the views which were substantiated before the Aborigines' Committee, nor by any means equals that which is given in the book published by the Association.
The leading topic in Mr. Busby's despatch is obviously the misery which the New Zealanders inflict upon themselves by their own internal wars. The fact is, that the native wars form the principal subject of all the despatches comprised in this collection of papers. The occasion of their being written was the breaking out of a war between two of the principal tribes near the Bay of Islands. The first solicitude evinced by the writers in relation to this war has for its object, more especially, the protection of British subjects against the natives; and the measure recommended by Mr. Busby, as a permanent provision for the existing state of things, is framed with especial reference to the native wars. Thus, in the first of these despatches, Sir Richard Bourke informs Lord Glenelg, that, "in consequence of a war breaking out between two tribes near the Bay of Islands," he had requested Captain Hobson, commanding His Majesty's ship Rattlesnake, an experienced and judicious officer,
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to repair to New Zealand, to afford British subjects resident there, and to British shipping, such protection as might be required." In the second despatch, Captain Hobson reports to the Governor his proceedings at New Zealand, for the accomplishment of this primary object, and the places which he had visited for the purpose of affording protection to the British against the violence of the natives. In the next paper, Mr. Busby, taking up the same subject, adverts with satisfaction to the measures adopted by Captain Hobson, but expresses, notwithstanding, great apprehension respecting the probable results of the war. He remarks:--
"Although the visit of His Majesty's ship Rattlesnake at this juncture is peculiarly important, as making it appear to the natives that a vigilant guardianship is maintained over His Majesty's subjects who are settled here, and that assistance is never at a great distance, should it be required; yet it is impossible to look to the continuance of this contest without the most serious alarm."
Mr. Busby further mentions several reasons for the solicitude which he thus expressed respecting the future, and then proceeds to the consideration of some permanent remedy for the evils which afflict New Zealand. This was a subject to which, it appears, the attention of the Governor had been previously directed. Lord Glenelg had announced to him an intention of resuming a measure "for the parliamentary regulation of the intercourse between British subjects and New Zealand;" and he informs his Lordship that he had proposed to Captain Hobson to make known to him, on his return from the mission on which he was sent, "the opinions which his observation, whilst there, might lead him to form upon the present state of New Zealand, and the means of securing, with the least pos-
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sible overt interference, the common interests of the natives, and of the British settled amongst them." It appears, moreover, that the Governor had communicated with Mr. Busby on the same subject, and had mentioned to him the proposed Act of Parliament. In reply, Mr. Busby expresses himself to the following effect:--
"Under these circumstances," (circumstances connected with the war and arising out of the prospect of its continuance,) "his Excellency will be prepared for my entire concurrence in his opinion that any additional expenditure, with the view of giving increased efficiency to my office as at present constituted, would be altogether fruitless; nor would the Act of Parliament to which, his Excellency refers, if the powers it was intended to impart should be limited to the controlling of British subjects, be of much service, in the state to which the affairs of this country have arrived. What is wanted is a paramount authority, supported by a force adequate to secure the efficiency of its measures.
"Without the establishment of such an authority by some civilized State, I cannot, after a full consideration of every circumstance connected with the actual condition of this people, see the least prospect of any permanent peace being established amongst them whilst there remains a stronger man to murder his weaker neighbour. There are few persons so insignificant as not to have it in their power, at any time, to plunge the country into war. The crime of an individual involves his most distant connexions, as each of them is a legitimate object of retaliation to the connexions of the injured party. It is in vain to represent to them that the criminal alone should suffer; their answer is ready, and it is perfectly consistent with the dictates of natural justice, namely, that his tribe will not surrender him to suffer for his crime, and by standing up in his defence they have become participators in it; while, on the other hand, provided the criminal be not a slave, his connexions are never without a grievance, more or less ancient, which they bring forward as a justification of his crime. Thus, by every attempt to administer the law of retaliation--the rude justice of nature--the breach is made wider. New deaths involve more distant connexions. Tribe after tribe becomes a party to the contest; and peace, or rather an intermission of murders, can only be procured when one of the parties becomes too weak to continue the contest,
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or when the loss on both sides happens to be so nearly balanced, that neither party has an advantage over the other.
"In this way has the depopulation of the country been going on, till district after district has become void of its inhabitants, and the population is, even now, but a remnant of what it was in the memory of some European residents."
From this passage it is obvious, that the Governor had dwelt upon two schemes for meeting the existing state of things in New Zealand. The first was to strengthen the position of Mr. Busby, with the view of giving increased efficiency to his office, of which the Governor did not approve; the second was the Act of Parliament, of which Lord Glenelg had made mention: and the reason which Mr. Busby assigns for his conclusion, that neither of these plans would meet the case, is worthy of special remark. The principal object of his own appointment was to protect the natives from the aggressions of British subjects, and he appears to have understood that the leading design of the proposed Act of Parliament was somewhat similar; but he tells the Governor, this will not "be of much service in the state to which the affairs of the country have arrived," and that what is especially needed is the introduction of a permanent authority, "which should reconcile the differences among the natives, and put an end to their devastating internal wars.
This being the character of Mr. Busby's despatch, how it can be made to subserve the cause of the New-Zealand Association, I cannot conceive. They dwell upon the evils inflicted on the New Zealanders by "British visitors and settlers," and "the emigration of convict refugees, and other desperate vagabonds;" and they tell the public that the repression of those evils is "one of the main grounds on which they have built
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their plan for colonizing New Zealand:" whereas Mr. Busby insists especially upon the native wars, and emphatically declares, that a measure framed merely for controlling British subjects, and protecting the natives from the consequence of their ill conduct, will not by any means meet the case; and argues that the remedy particularly needed is, a measure that shall have for its primary object to put an end to the internal wars, and thus prevent the New Zealanders from destroying each other.
Under this view of Mr. Busby's despatch, I think I am warranted in concluding, that it only serves to furnish additional evidence that the Association have not proposed the remedy required by the existing state of things in New Zealand. If Mr. Busby has not dwelt so forcibly upon the evils introduced among the New Zealanders by British subjects, he has called attention to others of a most affecting character; and has thus shown that the case is more complex and difficult than many persons had been previously led to imagine. I must here, however, remark that I cannot altogether agree with this gentleman in his statements respecting the alleged rapid decrease of the native population. I am still doubtful whether the vicious conduct of the whites has as yet produced any considerable or very sensible diminution of the native inhabitants; and I am of opinion that the native wars, although their destructive tendency is unquestionable, are not now actually effecting such a decrease in the number of the inhabitants as Mr. Busby imagines. Let us glance at the calculations which have been made respecting the population of New Zealand. This, as you are aware, has been variously estimated; but Murray, in his standard work, "The Encyclopaedia of Geography," adopts the calculation of Nicholas. On referring to
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the Narrative of that gentleman, I find him expressing himself to this effect:-- "Doctor Foster, who has computed the population of the different islands in the South Seas, has fixed that of New Zealand, through the whole extent, at one hundred thousand souls; but though I conceive this estimate to be fully equal to the number of the inhabitants, yet I will suppose them at present one hundred and fifty thousand." It thus appears that although the writer, in order to place in the strongest light the argument he was pursuing, was disposed to admit that the population might amount to one hundred and fifty thousand persons; yet he believed that the number of native inhabitants throughout the whole extent of New Zealand did not actually amount to more than one hundred thousand. Here, then, we have the calculation, adopted by Murray, of what was the entire population of New Zealand in the year 1814, a period when the visits of British vessels to those shores were only of rare occurrence. For a computation of the number of native inhabitants which the Northern Island now contains, I shall give that which has been furnished by the Rev. W. Williams of the Church Missionary Society. On adding together his estimates of the number of natives in the several districts, it will be found that he makes the native population of the Northern Island alone to amount to one hundred and five thousand four hundred persons. If these calculations are to be relied upon, it follows that the aggregate of the population is equal at least to what it was twenty years ago. I shall only further remark, that Mr. Williams--having, after twelve years' residence among them, obtained a somewhat intimate knowledge of the people; and having, moreover, made this calculation on independent grounds, without any reference to the present inquiry
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--must be regarded as an authority fully entitled to a hearing upon the subject.
Mr. Busby has evidently overlooked some important considerations, tending greatly to qualify the sweeping statements which he has made. He has truly described the savage character of the native wars; but he has not adverted to the meliorating effects of Christianity. Where that is not felt, the wars are as sanguinary and destructive as formerly; but the influence of the Christian natives is now so great that they are enabled very considerably to check the course of war, or mitigate the severity of its character. With regard to the alleged decrease in the number of the natives at the Mission Stations, it may be remarked, that the transition-state from barbarism to civilization is not favourable to the health of Aboriginal people. The Chippeway Chief from Upper Canada, to whom I referred on a former occasion, has informed me, in a conversation on this subject, that his people, who had embraced Christianity, suffered much while they were in a half-civilized condition, --that the blending together of some of their old roving habits with the customs of civilized society, learned from their Christian teachers, introduced among them consumption and other maladies; which, for a time, so fully counterbalanced the effects of other beneficial causes, that it has been only within the last two or three years that the population at his settlement has begun to increase. That the transition-state should generally be attended with similar unfavourable circumstances, is what all who regard the subject with a philosophic eye would be led to expect. After barbarous people have adopted European clothing, and enjoyed some of the comforts of civilized life, they cannot, in the nature of things, expose themselves to the weather, and sleep upon the
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ground in wet clothes, according to their former course of living, without injury to their health. There is reason to believe, that the effects of such imprudence are experienced among the natives of New Zealand who have embraced Christianity, and are making some advances towards civilization. One of our Missionaries at the Hokianga, in a letter received within the last few days, thus glances at the subject:--
"The daughter of one of our most respectable Chiefs, named Nene, or Thomas Walker, (after Thomas Walker, Esq., of Stockton-upon-Tees, the friend of Missions,) has been ill for some time; and we fear she will not recover. She was a fine, healthy, robust young woman; and was lately married to an interesting young-Chief, named William: but her illness was brought on by sleeping in damp clothes upon the ground; and we fear consumption will be the consequence of her imprudence. Chiefs and their people remain in their wet clothes for some time; and we have had to entreat them to change, to avoid sickness and death. Coughs are very common at this time, brought on by cold and exposure."
It is, therefore, no more than reflecting persons would expect to hear, that that portion of the native population of New Zealand now under the care of the Missionaries, which is at this very juncture in the transition-state from barbarous life to civilization, do not appear to be in so healthy and thriving a condition as the Missionaries themselves, and their families, whose constitutions have not been subjected to the severe test of passing from one mode of life, to another the very reverse. But there is a fact mentioned by both the Church and Wesleyan Missionaries, which of itself sufficiently accounts for the "disease and death" among the Christian natives to which Mr. Busby refers. Mr. Woon, writing from the Hokianga, thus adverts to it:--
"Could you associate with the natives as we are called to associate with them at this time, September 20th, 1837, you would
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weep over their distresses. An influenza which affects the head and chest is spreading on every hand, and hundreds are looking to the Missionaries for medicine and nourishment. The Mission families are all more or less affected."
This was written only a few weeks after the date of Mr. Busby's Despatch, and had he stated that the "disease and death" among the Christian natives resulted from an occasional visitation--an epidemic to which our own and other civilized countries are subject, there would not have been any necessity to resolve the whole into some mysterious decree of Heaven for effecting the destruction of the Aborigines of New Zealand.
It is easy, however, to make excuse for the tone of despondency in which Mr. Busby indulges. Considering his circumstances, --that he has been left without adequate support or means to carry the benevolent object of his appointment into effect, and that he has had to contemplate the evils which prevail around him, without the ability effectually to prevent or control them, --it is not to be wondered at that he should be led to indulge in gloomy views, and to make the dark shades of the picture which he draws deeper than the circumstances of the case do really warrant.
While, however, I cannot adopt the conclusion, that the depopulation of New Zealand is going on at so fearful a rate as the description of Mr. Busby would seem to intimate, that gentleman's despatch, with those of the Governor and Captain Hobson, does certainly afford a more comprehensive view of the state of things in New Zealand than has usually been presented to the public; and tends to impress the mind more deeply with the complexity and difficulty of the question respecting a suitable remedy. The evils which afflict New Zealand may be classed under three heads:--
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Those which are inflicted upon the natives by British subjects, must first be noticed. With this part of the question, a degree of familiarity has been obtained, by means of the inquiry instituted by the Parliamentary Aborigines' Committee. That the wrongs which the New Zealanders suffer from our countrymen are great, and that some preventive measure is indispensably necessary, cannot be doubted; more especially as the probability exists, that the native wars will be aggravated by the increasing number of British residents. Captain Hobson, while he dwells on the effect of the wars of the New Zealanders in devastating their beautiful country, and also maintains it to be the duty of Government to protect our countrymen from the violence of the hostile natives; at the same time shows, that, as the number of British residents has been so considerably augmented, the danger has consequently increased; that the irregular conduct of the lower order of the settlers will tend to promote war, by inflaming "the natural turbulence of the native population," "which heretofore the great and powerful influence of the Missionaries has done much to check."
In the next place, the injuries which are done to the New Zealanders by Americans and other foreigners come under review. The official return of vessels which visited the Bay of Islands in the year 1836, furnished by Mr. Busby, and printed with the despatches, states that out of one hundred and fifty-one reported, ninety-three only were English and Colonial vessels; the remainder were American and other foreign ships, --namely, fifty-four American, three French, and one Tahitian. And the last half-year's return, I have been informed, shows that the number of American vessels visiting New Zealand was very nearly equal to that of English, Now, as the conduct
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of the American seamen is not superior to that of our own, the evils which the natives suffer from that class of visitants become a very prominent feature in this painful and perplexing case.
Lastly. The misery in which the New Zealanders involve themselves by their own internal wars, as described in the documents now under consideration, is a subject calculated deeply to affect the benevolent mind, and demands very special consideration.
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The inquiry which now naturally arises is, What is to be done to meet this complex state of things? What is the remedy for these various and complicated evils? This is a question of very difficult solution; and it is a much more easy task to show what will not meet the case, than to point out the course which ought to he pursued. Since the publication of these despatches, we have had at least four distinct plans before us; and although I do not undertake to say that any of the four will fully meet the existing emergency, you will allow me to occupy a few minutes of your time in comparing their various pretensions.
1. Colonization is proposed as a remedy. "Send out emigrants," say the New-Zealand Association, "and found a colony." How this scheme should meet the case, I was unable to discover when I published my examination of their proposals; but its utter insufficiency has been clearly proved to me by the despatches now put into our hands.
To protect the New Zealanders from British visitors and settlers, the Association tell us, is one of their main objects: but how does it yet appear that they will be able to accomplish even this? They might, to some
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extent, "repress the crimes of the British" within the Colony which they propose to establish; but it is most probable, that the more vicious characters would generally retire beyond the boundary of the Colony, and thus withdraw themselves from its direct control. For the purpose of dealing with those who may be placed without the jurisdiction of the Colony, the Association, however, propose that treaties shall be made with the native Chiefs, to aid in bringing to justice such British subjects as may injure and oppress them. This is plausible enough; but I wish to be informed how a Colonization Company, who avowedly have "purposes of their own to serve," can possibly give a guarantee, that they will be able to devote either time or means to the accomplishment of such an object. Should they, according to their first proposal, form their settlement in the Southern Island, how is it to be expected that they could keep a vigilant watch over the whole of the Northern Island --along the many hundreds of miles of coast beyond their own territory, ---and that they would maintain throughout this whole extent the apparatus necessary for suppressing, in conjunction with the native Chiefs, the crimes of British subjects? It may easily be conceived that a Government-arrangement, formed on high public principles, solely for the accomplishment of such a purpose, might be made to answer; but I cannot believe, until I see it done, that a Company, with whom this object, according to their own showing, would be only a secondary consideration, could pay sufficient attention to it. Unless human nature and the course of things in New Zealand be very different from what they are on this side of the globe, it would certainly happen, that the commercial interests of the Association, and the interests of the
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natives as jeoparded, by British subjects, would sometimes interfere with each other; and their own commercial interests, as being confessedly their primary care, would engross the attention of the Association, to the neglect of the endangered interests of the natives. Were the proposals of the Association to be sanctioned by Parliament, and a Colony to be established, I should therefore expect, that all the New Zealanders beyond its limits would, notwithstanding, be left, as now, to endure the wrongs inflicted upon them by British subjects. After a time, the Association would have to confess, that they could not prevent this; and their failure would be urged as a reason why the Colony should be extended so as to embrace those localities where our vicious countrymen might be carrying on their depredations, and thus bring them effectually under colonial jurisdiction. In this way, for the ostensible purpose of protecting the natives from oppression, the whole tendency of the plan of the Association would ere long be worked out, and New Zealand be wholly reduced to the condition of a British dependency. To say nothing of the probability, that some of the emigrants who might be sent out to form the Colony would be found quite as ready to embrace every opportunity of injuring the natives as many of our vicious countrymen who are already there, (for it would be absurd to argue upon the supposition that the proposed Colony should be formed exclusively of virtuous and benevolent persons,) it is, as I think, most obvious, that the Association will fail to accomplish that which has constituted one of the main recommendations of their plan to the philanthropist, and will not be able to protect the New Zealanders from the violence and injustice of British subjects, except by pushing out their
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plan of Colonization to such an extent as would make the remedy worse than the disease.
If then the scheme of Colonization is not likely to meet this part of the case, how will it afford protection to the natives from Americans and other foreigners? What have the Association proposed in order to remedy the evils originating in the vicious conduct of those visitants, --evils which have evidently occupied the attention of our Government for several years, and which, it now appears, have so considerably increased as to be only less than the mischief resulting from the improper conduct of our own countrymen? The Association do not so much as recognise this important feature of the New-Zealand case. They have absolutely nothing to offer upon the subject. It would follow, of course, that they would be able to control the Americans within the Colony, should one be formed: but they would have no right to interfere with them beyond its limits; and for any thing that the Association could do, the natives, without the boundaries of the Colony, would continue to suffer as much as ever from the Americans and other foreigners. Were a settlement once formed by the Association, their inability to deal with this class of persons would soon be clearly demonstrated, and a new argument would probably be derived from this very consideration in favour of the extension of their plan. We should shortly hear of the necessity of colonizing the whole of New Zealand, for this among other reasons, --that the natives might be rescued out of the hands of the Americans.
But, to proceed: How is Colonization calculated to prove a preventive to the native wars, --that class of evils on which such principal stress is laid in the despatches under review, and more especially in the
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despatch of Mr. Busby? Could the Association impart Christianity and civilization to the New Zealanders, they would thereby put an end to the internal wars which originate so great an amount of suffering; but unless they adopt a very different plan of procedure from that which they have already published, and exhibit an array of means vastly superior to those on which they have heretofore dwelt, we may safely conclude that their proposed civilizing process would not terminate the wars of New Zealand. It may then be argued, that the Association will not accomplish this desirable object in any way; for, separate from their general plan of civilization, they offer nothing specific to meet this part of the case. It is to be feared, indeed, that the native wars may be increased, rather than diminished, by their scheme of Colonization. Captain Hobson dwells upon the danger resulting from an increase in the number of licentious white people; and it is not unlikely that some of the emigrants whom the Association might send out would be as disposed to quarrel with the natives, and provoke them to war, as any of our countrymen who are already there. Disputes between the natives and Colonists would probably be more serious in their consequences than those in which the natives and the present settlers become involved. Mr. Coates has well remarked, that if an Englishman now offends the natives, they destroy his property, and perhaps force him to fly for his life, and there the matter ends; but if the Englishman were a Colonist, this would not be the ease. Did he belong to a Colony having its "militia," "regulars," and a "marine," it might be deemed necessary to avenge his cause; and the consequences might prove very serious, A case in point occurs to me, which so
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clearly illustrates my meaning, that I shall give it at length from A Personal Narrative of Two Visits to New Zealand in His Majesty's Ship Alligator, A. D. 1834, by William Barret Marshall, Surgeon, R. N.
"March 12. --The anchor was weighed again this morning, and the ship removed to an inner harbour, at the confluence of the Waikadi and the Kaua-kaua rivers, it being deemed expedient to bring her broadside to bear upon the Pa of a Chief named Pomare, between whom and an English trader a dispute had arisen, the decision of which was referred by the latter to the British Resident; and the case, in that gentleman's opinion, being one of lawless rapine and unprovoked aggression on the part of the native, who, in all the wild-spiritedness of a savage independence, laughed Mr. Busby to scorn, and set his authority at defiance, the intervention of Captain Lambert was sought, to obtain restitution of a large schooner-rigged boat, which Pomare was said to withhold feloniously from its rightful owner. The crew of the Alligator were got under arms accordingly, the ship cleared for action, guns shotted, and the pinnace fitted with a small howitzer, to recover, if necessary, by force, what it was supposed had been procured by injustice. In order, however, if practicable, to avert hostilities, an application by letter and verbally was forwarded to the Rev. W. Williams, urging him to seek an interview with the Chief, and endeavour to effect an amicable adjustment of the difference. The letter and message were no sooner delivered than complied with; and the Rev. W. Williams and Wyate set off for the Pa, which occupies a strong position on the top of a height at the extremity of the peninsula, whose rocky base is laved by the twin rivers, until they unite to empty their waters into the Bay of Islands, and in that vast basin wed themselves as one river to the waves of the great Pacific Ocean. After the lapse of about half an hour, a salute of two guns, with which he has been enabled to strengthen his abode, announced the setting off of the Chief. A little longer, and he strode with the air of a Monarch along the quarter-deck of the frigate, a tall and athletic young man, his eye scarcely deigning a glance at 'the pomp and circumstance of war,' which met him there. Being invited below, he hesitated, but it was only for a moment; the next saw him descending into the cabin, with the same undaunted air by which his previous bearing had been marked, and he remained there in close conference for nearly two hours; at the
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end of which Mr. Bushy came on deck, apparently much pleased, and confessedly glad to have discovered that Pomare, who by his manners had prepossessed every one in his favour, was not the aggressor, but the aggrieved. The facts of the case as now ascertained were these:-- He had sold to an European trader, a quantity of timber for exportation; the trader resold it before paying for it himself, and decamped in the New Zealanders debt, who, finding the timber removed, the original purchaser gone away, and the assignee of the purchase about to quit also, demanded payment of the latter, and, being refused, retaliated by seizing on the schooner. An equitable adjustment has been the consequence; Pomare consenting to leave it with the Missionaries to fix the amount due to him for his timber, and promising, on payment of that amount, to give up the boat. The sum proved to be twenty pounds sterling; and the hero of the day took his departure, but not before he had stipulated for a complimentary salute similar to that with which he had greeted the British flag. The successful issue of this affair confirms the testimony of Mr. Clindon to the salutary influence possessed by the Missionaries over the minds of the natives; and exhibits somewhat of the mode by which it has been acquired; namely, the due administration of justice between man and man, without respect of persons, in the cases submitted to their arbitration. And the circumstances under which Pomare consented to visit the ship when he did, illustrate very forcibly the strength of his confidence in the Ministers of peace, and the greatness of his distrust in the good faith, of those whom he was to meet on board: he could only be prevailed on to trust his person in the hands of the King's officers by W. Williams offering to make the Mission families and property at Paihia the guarantees of his safety, and placing them at the disposal of his tribe, as hostages and security for the good faith he was to experience at our hands."
A fact like this speaks volumes. Here is the case of an Englishman, who had so completely misled the British Resident, as to make him believe that he had been seriously injured by a native Chief, who in reality was only seeking his right; and had it not been for the wise precaution of engaging the Missionary to act the part of mediator before His Majesty's ship should open its destructive fire, the injured Chief and his people might have been involved in one common
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destruction. What had so nearly happened in this instance, would doubtless soon occur, should a Colony be founded; and we might expect to hear of such and such a Chief and his people having been severely chastised for the injuries which they had inflicted on individual Colonists, when, if the truth could be ascertained, those alleged injuries, as in the case now quoted, would probably be found to have been only retributive visitations in self-defence.
I shall not dwell longer on the proposed plan for colonizing New Zealand, but pass to the consideration of the other measures which have been suggested, by remarking, that if Mr. Busby's despatch has strengthened any one of my previous convictions more than the rest, it is the conclusion, that the plans proposed by the Association are altogether inadequate to meet the existing state of things in New Zealand.
2. The plan of Mr. Busby is TO TAKE NEW ZEALAND UNDER BRITISH PROTECTION. "What is wanted," he says, "is a paramount authority, supported by a force adequate to secure the efficiency of its measures." "Without the establishment of such authority by some civilized State, I cannot, after a full consideration of every circumstance connected with the actual condition of this people, see the least prospect of any permanent peace being established among them." Mr. Busby further states, that, in his judgment, "unless the country should be taken under the efficient protection of Great Britain, or some other foreign power should interfere," the natives will go on destroying each other; that the British will continue to suffer the accumulating evils of a permanent anarchy; and that the nature of their pursuits, the distance of their habitations, and, above all, the
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character of the majority of them, would prevent them from making common cause against the natives with any prospect of promoting general security. He then proceeds as follows to develope his plan:--
"I have in former communications detailed so fully the relative situation of the British and the natives, and the frequent causes of contention existing between them, that I will forbear to enter upon the subject in the present despatch. For the same reason I will avoid any reference to the importance of British interests, and the necessity for their protection, irrespective of the condition either of the natives, or of the British who have actually settled in their country. But I will proceed at once to submit the outline of a plan of government, which I humbly venture to think would give as great a degree of peace and security to all classes of persons in this country, as is enjoyed by the inhabitants of the majority even of civilized States.
"The plan which I would now more fully submit was suggested in my despatch 26th of January, 1836, No. 85. It is founded upon the principle of a protecting State, administering in chief the affairs of another State in trust for the inhabitants, as sanctioned by the treaty of Paris, in the instance of Great Britain and the Ionian Islands, and as applied, I believe, in various instances, on the borders of our Indian possessions.
"All my experience, subsequent to the date of that suggestion, has strengthened my belief that the principle is peculiarly applicable to this country; and that the details could be arranged with a degree both of efficiency and economy which at first sight might appear far from probable.
"The Chiefs who were parties to the Articles of Confederation and Declaration of Independence, in October, 1835, together with those who have subsequently adhered to it, include, with very few exceptions, the whole of the Chiefs of influence in the northern parts of the island, and the adhesion of the remainder could at any time be procured.
"Whatever acts approaching to acts of sovereignty or government have been exercised in the country, have been exercised by these Chiefs in their individual capacity as relates to their own people, and in their collective capacity as relates to their negotiations with the British Government, --the only Government with which the Chiefs or people of New Zealand have had any relations of a diplomatic character. Their flag has also been formally
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recognised by the British Government as the flag of an independent State.
"The Articles of Confederation having centralized the powers of sovereignty exercised both de jure and de facto by the several Chiefs, and having established and declared the basis of a constitution of government founded upon the union of those powers, I cannot, I think, greatly err in assuming that the congress of Chiefs, the depository of the powers of the State as declared by its constitution, is competent to become a party to a treaty with a foreign power, and to avail itself of foreign assistance in reducing the country under its authority to order; and, this principle being once admitted, all difficulty appears to me to vanish.
"The appearance of a detachment of British troops, in fulfilment of a treaty with the confederated Chiefs, would not be a taking possession of the country, but a means of strengthening the hands of its native government; while, in return for this subsidiary force, it might be stipulated that the British settlers should be subject to the operation of no laws but such as should emanate from, or be consented to, by their own Government, and exercised under the control and directions of its officers; and that the revenues of the country should be made applicable, in the first instance, to the support of a civil government, to be established by the protecting power, and the maintenance of the quota of troops stipulated for by the treaty.
"In theory and ostensibility, the government would be that of the confederated Chiefs, but in reality it must necessarily be that of the protecting power. The Chiefs would meet annually or oftener, and nominally enact the laws proposed to them; but in truth the present race of Chiefs could not be entrusted with any discretion whatever in the adoption or rejection of any measure that might be submitted to them, --moral principle, if it exist amongst them at all, being too weak to withstand the temptation of the slightest personal consideration. The congress would, in fact, be a school in which the Chiefs would be instructed in the duties required of them, and the authority confided to them as conservators of the peace in their separate districts, to which they would also carry the knowledge of the laws enacted during its sittings.
"As conservators of the peace, a small salary would be given to them; and this, together with the distinction conferred by the employment, would secure beyond all doubt the entire devotion of the Chiefs to the wishes of the Resident. A medal containing the name of each Chief, and of the district over which his authority extended, would be another highly-esteemed distinction.
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"To complete the means of establishing an entire control over the population, it would be only necessary to establish a school in each considerable village, with a schoolmaster paid in proportion to the number of individuals he should have under his tuition during the year. Schoolmasters already exist in many villages, and could, without difficulty, soon be procured for the whole by the aid of the Missionaries. An annual examination of these schools, and a distribution of prizes of trivial value, would bring the whole population under the supervision of the government; while a periodical newspaper might, at the same time that it conveyed the news of the day, be made the means of instructing the natives in those relative duties of the people and their rulers which are familiar to all ranks of the population under established governments, but of which the New Zealanders have scarcely as yet conceived an idea.
"So simple and primitive are the arrangements which, with entire confidence in their efficiency, I would propose for the government of the native population; nor could the expense of these arrangements, for several years at least, exceed £1,000 a-year, allotting a more considerable salary to certain leading Chiefs, to be elected by the congress, with the sanction of the Resident, for the purpose of acting with him as a native council and executive authority, and providing also for the accession of more distant tribes, who would hasten to join the confederation when its objects should become understood, and whose adherence it is indeed, under any circumstances, highly necessary to procure, as a bar to the interference of any foreign power.
"The influence of the government amongst the tribes south of the present confederation would of course be more limited than nearer to the seat of government. But there also the intercourse of British subjects, and the evils for which they are responsible, are less felt. As these extended, the occasion and the means would arise for making the government efficient throughout the island. But, even from the first, the existence of a power which would claim the right of deciding disputes and maintaining peace, would be most beneficially felt."
This quotation contains the outline of the plan. In enlarging upon it Mr. Busby dwells at some length on the importance of securing the assistance of the Missionaries, for the reason that without their concurrence and support no measure which may be adopted
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can possibly succeed; he calculates the number of troops which it would be necessary to maintain, and shows how the expense of the entire system might be met by a duty on shipping and certain articles of trade.
In this scheme, there is certainly much that is plausible. It professes to recognise the national independence, and proposes to meet the whole case, -- to place British subjects and other foreigners under control, and to repress the internal wars, by raising up a native government, under the protection of this country.
How far British legislation can contribute towards the formation of an enlightened native government, which shall effectually control the turbulence of the people, and repress their destructive wars, is a question of great difficulty. I do not think that much can be done by this means directly to control or restrain the heathen natives. Those who are well acquainted with the character of the New Zealanders know, that their wars are intimately connected with their superstitions, and that their notions of religion impel them to revenge the insults and injuries, real or imaginary, which one individual or tribe receives from another. Until, then, their minds shall become disenthralled from the tyrannizing influence of superstition by the application of a higher power than a British Act of Parliament, I should despair of any legislation on our part being brought to bear directly upon the heathen natives, so as to repress their wars, or subdue the violence of their natural character. But with the Christian natives something might possibly be clone. Few subjects occasion greater solicitude in the minds of Missionaries, whose labours among uncivilized heathen tribes and nations have been attended with
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success, than the introduction of a native government suitable for a people emerging from Heathenism, who need other laws than those which were originated by their former ignorant and superstitious notions. It is desirable that Missionaries should not assume, to any considerable extent, the character of politicians and legislators; and yet they deeply feel the want of enlightened laws and government for the people, whose religious character has been formed anew by means of their teaching, and who are now anxious to devote themselves to the pursuits of civilized life. The late Aborigines' Committee bestowed some attention on this subject, and recommended it to the serious consideration of Parliament; and if some judicious measures could be devised for fostering an enlightened native government among the Christian natives of New Zealand, an important object would be accomplished. Their moral influence would thus be brought to bear more effectually upon the population in general, and their powerful mediation would be beneficially employed in preventing and repressing the heathen wars. This is no vague supposition, or extravagant expectation. I possess conclusive evidence that the very war which is the subject of these recent despatches, --the contest which was regarded of such importance as to render it necessary to send a ship of war from the Colony for the protection of British residents, --and which Mr. Busby, after the Rattlesnake had returned to the Colony, still continued to contemplate with such alarming apprehensions, as almost precluded the hope of its termination until New Zealand should become depopulated, --even this war was actually brought to an end through the interference of the Christian natives. Captain Hobson, as the sequel shows, formed a truer estimate than Mr.
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Busby of the influence of Christianity in New Zealand, In his despatch, he says:--
"The quarrel between the Bay of Islands' tribes is supposed by the best-informed to be in a fair train for adjustment...... NENE, a powerful Chief from Hokianga, who has embraced Christianity, has brought his tribe across the island with the full determination to compel the contending parties to make peace; and as he is known to possess both courage and power to turn the scale on either side, his mediation is not likely to be slighted...... The gentlemen of the Mission maintain a constant intercourse between the parties, and are received by both with the greatest respect. Their efforts to promote peace are unremitting, and of late they have felt confident of eventual success."
Nor were they disappointed in their expectations. The Rev. Nathaniel Turner, the principal Missionary at the Wesleyan Station on the Hokianga, in a letter which now lies before me, written shortly after Captain Hobson had left New Zealand, states the gratifying fact, that the differences between the contending parties had been adjusted, by the mediation of the Christian natives, under the immediate care of himself and the other Missionaries at that Station. From this letter it appears, that the Chief to whom Captain Hobson refers, in company with others, applied to Mr. Turner and his colleague, Mr. Whiteley, to accompany them to the contending parties; partly on the ground, that the presence of their religious teachers would impose upon themselves a salutary restraint, and partly for the reason, that their influence would be beneficially employed in the endeavour to negotiate a peace. To this application the Missionaries acceded; and, after an absence of ten days, returned to their families with the unspeakable satisfaction, that the war was brought to an end and peace happily restored. 1
Such a fact, as illustrative of the powerful influence
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of the Christian New Zealanders, and of its beneficial effects in repressing the desolating wars of their countrymen, requires no comment. Nor is it necessary to enlarge further upon the importance of rendering them assistance in remodelling their laws and government, and thus enabling them to exert their influence more systematically and extensively upon the affairs of New Zealand generally. But how this assistance is to be afforded by British legislation, is the question. However plausible the plan which might be devised, so much would depend upon its administration as to render its success extremely problematical. To speak plainly, almost every thing would depend upon the character of the persons who should be selected to carry it into effect. When the question of extending the plan of Residency in the South-Sea Islands was under consideration in the Parliamentary Aborigines' Committee, I could not concur in recommending it on any other ground than that the individuals who might be appointed as Residents should be possessed of those special qualifications which, in my judgment, would be necessary to enable them to promote the welfare of the natives; and my remarks on that occasion apply with still greater force upon this subject. If our Government or Parliament should interpose for the purpose of forming a suitable native government for the Christian part of the population, that interference must be made on truly Christian principles, or it could not possibly succeed. It is the teaching of the Missionaries which has produced that important change in the views, character, and pursuits of the people under their care which would encourage the attempt to aid them in improving their political regulations: and, however unwilling the mere worldly politician may be to admit such a conclusion, it must,
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notwithstanding, be maintained on the principles of the truest philosophy, as well as those which Christianity inculcates, that, in order to render probable the success of any Parliamentary scheme which might be adopted for the furtherance of this object, the scheme itself must not only be framed in perfect harmony with those instructions of the religious teachers which have made the New Zealanders what they are; but the individuals appointed to carry it into effect must be persons whose own hearts and lives are duly controlled and regulated by Christianity, and who would act in friendly co-operation with the Missionaries in endeavouring to work out the plan confided to their management.
On the whole, I am disposed to conclude that the scheme suggested by Mr. Busby would not answer. Though it has the recommendation of being a public measure; though it proposes to meet, under every view, the existing state of things in New Zealand; and professes, moreover, to make recognition of its national independence; still it is impossible to divest one's mind of the impression, that, if, through the improper choice of agents, or for some other cause, the plan should not work well, our proposed temporary direction of the government for the benefit of the natives would become a permanent assumption of the sovereign power, and New Zealand would as certainly be brought into the condition of a British Colony, as though the proposals of the Association should be carried into full effect.
3. AN IMPROVED PLAN OF RESIDENCY is that which the Parliamentary Select Committee on Aborigines has recommended. In considering the various schemes which are now before us, I have carefully examined.,
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for the sake of comparison, the instructions given to Mr. Busby, on his appointment as British Resident in New Zealand; and have been greatly impressed with the enlightened views which are developed in that document, and in the letter addressed by Lord Goderich to the New-Zealand Chiefs, explaining to them the reasons for Mr. Busby's appointment. As you may possibly not have those papers at hand, I subjoin copies of both for your reference. You will perceive that the respected nobleman who originated the office of British Resident, evidently had the case of the New Zealanders fully before him, and intended to make provision for protecting them from the outrages committed against them, both by British subjects and Americans; and that he also designed to foster and give efficiency to an enlightened native Government. After reading those documents, one is naturally led to inquire, Could such an appointment have so completely failed, had proper means been employed to carry it into effect? Probably some will be disposed, from Mr. Busby's remarks, to ascribe his failure to the Missionaries; but fairness requires that the whole case should be properly understood before condemnation be passed upon them. Their advocates may very properly ask, Do the Missionaries "assume" too much, in regarding themselves as "guardians of the natives?" Are they not recognised as such by the natives themselves? And is it not simply because the natives view them in this light, that they are enabled to protect their own countrymen from violence, and make New Zealand a safe residence for Englishmen and other foreigners? The respectable gentleman, previously quoted, (Mr. Marshall,) has borne conclusive testimony
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upon this point. He was anxious, on his late visit to New Zealand, to ascertain what was the character and conduct of the Missionaries; and made several inquiries with this view, which fully convinced him respecting the beneficial tendency of the influence they exert. One of the settlers remarked to him, "But for the Missionaries, Sir, no Europeans could live in this land." "Let even their greatest enemies say what they may, all such are equally indebted, with myself, to the general respect felt for the Missionaries, for the safety of their lives and properties in time past." The settler further stated, that his own place had been frequently surrounded, and his personal safety threatened, by a host of armed natives; and that at such times he had only to send a message to the Mission settlement, and procure the attendance of a Missionary, who never failed by his mediation to divert the invaders from their purpose, they being ashamed to perpetrate an outrage in the presence of a Missionary. On these statements, the inquiring traveller thus remarks:--
"Facts like these, witnessed too by a man like this, speak volumes, and supply a text too intelligible to require any comment. They prove the moral influence of the Missionaries beyond all possibility of doubt--they prove the beneficial purposes for which that influence is employed--and they prove too, that, but for the Missionaries, no settlers could have fixed themselves in New Zealand, Commerce with it must have failed, and the trade in its produce have been abandoned."
All candid persons, I think, must admit, that, --after the Missionaries have, at the risk of their own lives, in the first instance, settled among the New Zealanders, and, by a course of kindness and disinterested benevolence, have gained such influence as to enable them to secure protection and good treatment for their coun-
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trymen who have followed them, --it would be very ungracious on the part of any one, while enjoying the advantages which have thus been obtained for him, to call in question the right of the Missionaries to the title of guardians and benefactors of the natives, when it is so certain that their being recognised as such by the natives themselves is the true cause of all the influence which they possess.
Once more:--The Missionaries do not aspire to "the government of the country," either in whole or in part; neither can I believe that they would in any circumstances "conceive it to be their duty to use their influence in opposition to the measures" of the British Resident, for the sake of embarrassing him: but surely the exercise of their own judgment is not to be wholly denied to them. Mr. Busby admits that "it is impossible that men could be found whose opinions and sentiments in general are more in accordance than those of the Missionaries and his own;" yet he complains, that, on one occasion especially, they declined to co-operate with him in promoting a measure which he deemed would be beneficial to the natives. On all ordinary occasions, I doubt not, whether they have exactly thought with Mr. Busby or not, he has had their co-operation; but the whole question is evidently brought to this point, --whether they ought to co-operate with the British Resident in the active furtherance of such measures as they are convinced cannot fail to prove seriously detrimental to the interests of the natives? This is really the question, and will have such an important bearing upon the working of whatever plan may henceforth be adopted by this country in reference to New Zealand, that it ought to be fairly met and settled. The question comes simply to this, whether, if the British Resident should propose
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plans for the management of the natives, which the Missionaries, from their thorough knowledge of the native character, are confident cannot fail to irritate them, excite collisions, and finally involve them in suffering and loss, they are to be bound actively to forward such plans? It is the fact, that the Christian natives look to their religious teachers for direction in all their affairs. They do nothing of moment without consulting the Missionaries: and are the Missionaries to be required to abuse the confidence thus reposed in them, and use their influence in persuading their people to accede to proposals, which they know will eventually prove injurious to them? He would be a bold individual who would dare to answer this question in the affirmative. But the very case specified by Mr. Busby was, from his own statement, evidently one of this serious character. He desired the Missionaries to use their influence "to induce the Chiefs to take the opportunity afforded by the delivery of the King's message, to petition His Majesty for assistance in reducing their country to order, and establishing in it an efficient government." It thus appears, from his own words, that the Missionaries had not refused to assist Mr. Busby in the discharge of the duties of that office to which he had been appointed; but that his complaint against them is, that they declined to use their influence with the natives in persuading them to ask for some new appointment, some new plan, which, under the notion of reducing their country to order, and establishing in it an efficient government, the Missionaries no doubt foresaw would endanger the national independence of the New Zealanders, and probably reduce their country, ere long, to the condition of a British Dependency.
I may here remark by the way, that this reference
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to the Missionaries, made by Mr. Busby, has an untoward bearing on the statements of the Association relative to their alleged views and wishes. By the publication of letters, resolutions, petitions, &c, which have emanated from the Missionaries, the Association appear very solicitous to prove that the Missionaries ask for some such colonizing plan as is now proposed. That they are anxious that the Europeans in New Zealand shall be placed under the restraints of government, and that well-disposed British subjects, as well as the Aborigines, may thus obtain protection from the outrages and insults of the abandoned characters who infest New Zealand, is sufficiently clear. The petition of the Settlers and Missionaries, addressed to His late Majesty, had this object in view, They state that "when complaints have been made to the British Resident of these acts of outrage, he has expressed his deep regret that he has not yet been furnished with authority and power to act, not even the authority of a civil Magistrate to administer an affidavit;" --they add, "that it has been considered that the confederate tribes of New Zealand were competent to enact laws for the proper government of this land, whereby protection would be afforded in all cases of necessity; but that experience evidently shows that in the infant state of the country this cannot as yet be accomplished or expected;"-- and they therefore implore His Majesty to afford, in some way or other, sufficient protection to the well-disposed classes of the community, against the aggressions and violence of lawless British subjects. But that they have not contemplated, in any expression of their wishes, such an interference, for the accomplishment of this object, as would bring the New Zealanders under a foreign government, and reduce their
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country to a British Colony, is morally certain from the complaint now made by Mr. Busby--that they declined to further such measures as, they evidently feared, would be followed by those disastrous consequences.
But, to proceed:-- While it appears that the Missionaries did decline to promote some new plan, no proof is offered that they have ever refused to aid Mr. Busby in the performance of those duties which belong to his office as British Resident. If, then, he has failed to accomplish the object of his appointment, it has not been the fault of the Missionaries. Neither does the failure appear to have proceeded from any unwillingness on the part of the native Chiefs to afford him clue co-operation and assistance. In reference to this point, Mr. Marshall observes:--
"The recent decision of the Chiefs, on occasion of the attack made on Mr. Busby's house, proves their willingness to render that 'assistance and support,' which His Majesty 'confidently expected' at their hands."
The question then recurs: How is it that an office, originating in the spirit of such an enlightened policy, and which was, in theory, well adapted to meet the whole of the New-Zealand case, should have so completely failed; and the British Resident be left to make such an humiliating confession of his utter powerlessness as that which I have already quoted in his reply to the petitioners? A remark in the despatch of Captain Hobson reminds me of its having been alleged that Mr. Busby has wanted support in other quarters than those to which I have already referred. Captain Hobson says, --
"I intended to have called at Entry Island and Marra.... but the boisterous state of the weather prevented my anchoring, I stood
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close in to both islands, and feel convinced that the very appearance of a man-of-war in that quarter will have considerable weight, from the terror in which we were held by the natives, in consequence of the severe chastisement inflicted on them by the Alligator, and the detachment of His Majesty's fiftieth regiment, in 1835."
And well the natives might view with terror another British ship of war, if the testimony of Mr. Marshall, who witnessed the severe chastisement mentioned by Captain Hobson, is to be depended upon. That Gentleman, on his return to this country, published his Book, as he tells us, principally for the purpose of bearing his testimony against the wrongs then inflicted upon the Cape-Egmont tribes to whom Captain Hobson refers. On that painful transaction, I shall, at present, offer no comment. I refer you to the Extracts which I give in an Appendix, 2 to enable you to understand the case; and confine myself to the points for the sake of which I am led, by Captain Hobson's remark, to select it for the purpose of illustration. The matters of complaint alleged by Mr. Marshall are, that, --on the application of an individual who had been shipwrecked near Cape-Egmont, and who stated that some of his companions had been murdered by the natives, and his wife and boy detained by them, --the Alligator had been sent from the Colony, and that, instead of upholding the authority of Mr. Busby by making him the medium of application to the offending tribe, Mr. Busby was not at all consulted, nor applied to for an interpreter, or for any assistance in the way of mediation or inquiry; but the work of destruction was commenced and prosecuted in circumstances which certainly furnish the presumption that, if such an inquiry had previously been instituted in
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this case, as, on the first visit of the Alligator, in the case of Pomare, it might have appeared that the Cape-Egmont tribes were not so blamable as had been represented.
I shall not dwell longer upon this topic. In referring to it, I have no personal feeling to indulge. I entertain no other sentiments towards Mr. Busby than those of respect; and the satisfactory manner in which the enlightened views of Lord Goderich are embodied in the instructions given to Mr. Busby by the Governor of New South Wales, has tended to prepossess me in his Excellency's favour. But as there has been such an eagerness manifested by the Association to magnify the failure of the British Resident, apparently in order to make way for the introduction of their own plans; and as Mr. Busby's despatch may seem, on a superficial view, to throw the blame of that failure on the Missionaries; --it becomes a duty to call attention to the fact, that it has been publicly alleged that the British Resident in New Zealand has not been duly supported by the Colonial Authorities, on whom he was especially dependent for means to enable him to sustain the influence, and perform the functions, of his important office. Whether this has been the case or not, I undertake not to decide; but I must say that, pondering well the instructions given to the British Resident, I cannot conceive why his failure should have been so complete, had he been supported according to the intentions of the noble Lord by whom the office was instituted. And I cannot relinquish the hope, that such a plan of Improved Residency as has now been proposed by the Select Committee on Aborigines might answer the end contemplated, and apply a remedy, so far as British legislation can meet the case, to the existing evils in New-Zealand society.
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4. One more measure remains for brief consideration. It is A SYSTEM OF FACTORIES, as proposed by Captain Hobson. The recommendation of this scheme is, that it appears as well calculated "to repress the crimes of British visitants and settlers" as that of the Association, and contemplates, what theirs does not, the fostering of a native Government; while at the same time it is free from some of the great objections to which the plan of the Association is liable. The Association argue that the New Zealanders are suffering from the English, who treat them ill, and propose to remedy the evil by sending out a Colony; that is, by increasing the number of Englishmen, many of whom will perhaps behave as improperly as those who are there already. Captain Hobson goes upon the principle of placing under the restraints of government the English whom he finds now settled in New Zealand. Their number may possibly increase; but he does not, like the Association, make it an essential part of his plan to secure that increase.
Similar to this plan is Mr. Busby's second proposition. He thinks that when it becomes known how great a proportion of the lands in New Zealand is already in the hands of British subjects, "His Majesty may be advised to grant a charter of Government to the Colony of British subjects who are established in it, leaving the natives in the full possession of their abstract rights, so far as they have not conceded them them to the Colonists, and providing only against their suffering injustice at the hands of the latter." This, like Captain Hobson's measure, possesses the recommendation of simply providing, that the English who are already in New Zealand shall be brought under the control of government; and this is really a great recommendation, if so large a portion of New Zealand
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as Mr. Busby speaks of has already passed into the hands of English settlers. He says,--
"If I am rightly informed, the whole coast from Cape Bull, including the noble harbour of the Bay of Islands, and extending as far as Wangaroa, forty miles to the northward of the bay, has, with trivial exceptions, passed from the possession of the natives into that of British subjects............... Most of the valuable forests in the interior have changed their ownership; and on the western coast, an extensive territory is also claimed by British subjects."
If this be the actual state of things, --if the forests and lands of New Zealand have to so great an extent become the property of our countrymen, it would be extremely undesirable to increase their number, by sending out a large body of emigrants to form a new Colony.
I must, however, hasten to a close. The conclusion which I have been led to adopt, after a careful perusal of the Despatches published by order of Parliament, is two-fold --
First. I am more fully convinced than ever of the utter inadequacy of the plan proposed by the Association to remedy the evils which afflict New Zealand. Any one of the measures which have passed under review has stronger recommendations, and is liable to fewer objections, than theirs.
Secondly, My conviction, that the ease of New Zealand would not be met by any mercantile speculation whatever, is greatly strengthened. The complexity and difficulty of the question are such, and so much delicacy and care in the management of it are necessarily required; that it will be impossible for any commercial company, however its affairs might be administered, to deal with it effectually. The peculiar state of things in New Zealand can only be provided
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for by a Government-measure, to be entrusted, as to its execution, to public officers whose sole business it shall be to carry it into full effect; and it is due to our national character, that the question should be taken up and determined on high public grounds, apart from all considerations dictated by a narrow-minded and selfish policy. Only let justice first be secured for the New Zealanders, and I doubt not that measures will afterwards easily be devised for promoting a healthful commerce between them and this country.
I remain,
My dear friend,
Yours very sincerely,
JOHN BEECHAM.
February 26th, 1838.
