" Tne foundation of British settlements in distant lands, accord

we shall now state.

of British Settlements in the Islands of New Zealand." The dis- reside ill the colony and administer the government there.

from Mr. ELLiorr's Report; which showed, moreover, that to the T 14 W ASII1N (err:4N, Englishmen may be permitted to question the polies of compelling a race of hardy, industrious, and enterprising man-

tl

11-,e..e: South Wales arc never known in New Zealand. The coast is

fists Admiralty now regularly procure spars from New Zealand ; carried on in the Southern Ocean. Thus, the materials for com-

" 2. And be it enacted. that on all complaints made under this net it slam be lawful merce, which in other countries must be created by or transported 4. Provided always and be it enacted, that nothing herein contained shall Inaba- Our expectations of prosperity for the colonists of New Zealand base been established by a sentence of in ECCIellilifilelli Corot, or by the verdict of a rest upon the presumption, that their operations will be conducted Jar. in an action by 1,;1- hosband for criminal conversation in which he shall have on the sound principles which have lately been adopted by obtained fluid judgment. intelligent men of all parties, with respect to the disposal of vary the law warming the right to the custody of children, except as expressly herein waste land and the proceeds thereof, so as to keep up a due pro- cuarted. portion between capital, land, and labour ; for the want of which, iLli$Cd ill lhiS present seesiou or Parliament." modern colonization, when unassisted by White or Black slavery, has proved disastrous. The principle successfully applied to the MR. BARING'S NEV ZEALAND BILL. new colony in South Australia, is the basis of Mr. BARING'S bill for the settlement of New Zealand : the chief provisions of which lag to a wise and just system of colonization, must conduce to the Commissioners are to be named in the act itself for the purpose advantage of this populous and commercial kingdom, and to the of executing it. They will be men of high character and influence, honour of her Majesty's crown." Such is the first sentence of the selected without regard to party politics, and perfectly masters of preamble to the bill introduced last week into the House of Coin- the theory which they are to put in practice. These Commissionmons by Mr. FRANCIS BARING, for " the Provisionul Government ers, resident in London, are to appoint a Council of Government to position to emigrate to "distant lands" increases with the grow- The Commissioners are to purchase lands of the native chiefs ing difficulty of obtaining a reputable and suffic:ent subsistence and ostensible owners in the islands. For although the pars- in this country. The very considerable extent to which emigre- mount sovereignty of England over New Zealand is not disputed lion is now carried on, was proved by the facts taken last week bs foreign powers, and is assumed in all transactiors having re-

erence to that country, yet it is admitted that the fee simple of

United States, not to the British Colonies. emigrants chiefly betake the land is in the natives, and their title to sell or withhold it is themselves. With all our respect and friendship Mr the land of recognized. It therefore becomes necessary to obtain cessioas of • New South Wes, its Present State aid Future Prospects.

their territorial rights from the natives. But in these proceedines, unprecedented securities are taken against injury to the New Zealanders by fraud or violence. The treaties are to be reported to the Privy Council nnil to Parliament. A Protector of the Natives is to be appointed by the Queen: this officer will be entirely independent of the Commiseioners, and of the Council of Govi rnment; at all of whose meetinue, where matter affecting the interests of the natives are discussed. he must be present; he is to send reperts to the Secretary of State, and to defend the rights of the natives in courts of jestice and elsewhere. There will also be a Commissioner of Native Titles, whose especial duty will be to prevent unfilir bargains, or frauds which may be attempted by persons pretending to have bought lands previously to the establishment of the colony, or subs«luently thereto.

All the lands ceded are to be public lands, which any British subject may purchase, (there being no grants to favourites,) at a unit■wm price to be fixed by the Commissioners, not under twelve shillings an acre. The money received from sales is to consti- tute the land revenue; but a portion of the land is to be vested in trust for the future benefit of the chiefs and their descendmits. Of the land revenue, a fourth is to be applied partly to the erection of school-houses, places of worship, intei ital improvements, and to the assistance of the natives in various ways, especially in administering medical assistance (of which at present they stand in lamentable need) and teaching them mechanical arts. After this deduction, the land revenue is to be divided into two parts, "the puwhase fund," and " the emigration fund." The pit chase fund is to be devoted to the payments for ceded lands and the incidental expenses of the purchase ; the emigration fund, to the conveyance, and temporary netintenance if necessary, of free labourers,—to be, as far as possible, adult persons of the two sexes in equal proportions, not exceeding thirty years of age. Lands of the colony may be bought, sold, and mortgaged in England ; and the Commissioners: are empowered to raise a loan for facilita- ting the execte in of the act.

The laws of England are to be those of the colony ; but there may be exceptional laws, in favour of the uncivilized natives, whom it would be unjust to subject te the extreme rigour of a code founded on usages ads a stela' condition altogether different from their own.

A militia and marine force may be established for the protection of the colony, at its own expense. The Queen will be em powerie I to appoint a Bishop of the Islands of New Zealand and the dependencies thereof; whose salary is to be fixed by the Crows, and paid by the Commissioners. Every religious congregation, of whatever sect or creed, will be entitled to receive a sum of money for the support of as religious worship from the funds of the colony. The clergy of the Church of Eng- land, for whom such provision is asked. must have been appointed by the Bishop, awl the cleigy of the Scottish Church by the Pres- bytery of Edinburgh ; the clergy or ministers of the other dom. minations according to their oe n rules of clench government : the only condition of receiving aid from the public funds being an application from a certain number of heads of families—the num- ber to be determined by a general rule applicable to all denomi- nation*.

The powers conferred by the act are not to endure for more than twenty-one years.

In this recital of the chief provisions of the proposed enactment, some readers may have discovered two points which we deem liable to objection. One is the erection Or something like a Church Establishment in the colony ; the other, the absence of direct -control over the Commissioners.

There surely was no occasion to confer on any class cf religion- ists, what must appear an unnatural as well as invidious distinc- tion over other sects. That the state should maintain the clergy of all sects, may be a wise regulation, under circumstances which might otherwise prevent the maintenance of any ; but in other respects they elioual be all on a par. Harmony, union, and the absence of' whatsoever was offensive in the institutions of the old country, ought to be the characteristics of the new society ; and we know of nothing mom likely to create and foster unpleasant feelines, than the needless perpetuation of Episcopalian precedence over the other sects.

The second point involves a still more important question. The Cominissiouers are to receive no salaries. They are to fill up vacancies in their own body, to appoint the Council of Govern- ment in the colony, and to remove any of its members, at their good will and pleasure. There is no direct control over thena—no positam compulsion to the discharge of their duty. They have no constituents. They are made an irresponsible corporation, with the power of governing what may in a few years become a nu- merous and wealthy population. This objection strikes us lot cibly. At the same time, there are checks upon the proceedings of the Commissioners which may prove not inefficient. In the first place, the act by which they are to rule the colony May at any time be repealed ; and then their power is annihilated. In this way, Parliament becomes rather more than their consti- tuency. But will Parliament do its own duty, and compel the Commissioners to do theirs ? A certain degree of security for the watchluteess ot Parlianteut may be found io the fact, that the colonists will not be a crew of wretched hill Cuolies, but men of activity and property. connected with a similar class of persons m England, who will not tamely submit to misrule or injury. The Commissioners are to keep a perfect record of their proceed- ings, and report them annually to the Queen in Council ; and

their reports are to be laid before Parliament. Thus, better data than such bodies usually afford will be accessible to the Legisla- ture for the purpose of amending the tact, and ascertaining the real conduct of the Commissidners. The aili, too, w latch the Commis- stoners must take, is of a stria:gent oral specific character. Lastly, the proposed Commissioners are men of Melt reputation, act uatel by a strong desire to promote the success of the colony, and free from all suspieioa of wishing to turn their authority to indisidnal profit. Taking all these moral saections and checks together, perhaps there is the prospect of as responsible a government under the act, as can be obtained by any other scheme. Assuredly. there is much better ground for expecting a wise and honest adminis- tration from these Commissioeers, than from the Colonial Secre- tary, already oppressed by a Leiden which far stronger men could not support. There is no responsibility, that deserves the name, at the Colonial Office ; and if under the New Zealand net there should be but an imperfect euarautee, the defect may he inherent in the experimental Ma Uri! of the 'inject. But if a better system can be devised, by all mean:: let it be ',reduced and adopted : if no better can be suggested, then the present meet be accepted as the best the case admits oft &elle parties profess to think that a Joint Stock Company would manage the affairs of the Colony bet ter than the Commissioners to be appointed by Mr. BARI NG.S bill. They leave out of view an essential part of the object which time supporters of that 11.11 aim at. No doubt, a Joint Stock Catapany woold job industriously in lands,—raising or lowering the pi cc, glutting or starving the market, according ae it suited their temporary purpose of profit : but Mr. BARI No and his coadjutors desire to procure a regular and extended outlet fir surplus labour, and especially. at this time, fir the pauper population of Ireland. With colonization they connect emigration on a large scale. Hence it is positively enacted, that a considerable portion of the proceeds of the land sales shall be devoted to the come!) anee of free labourers front Great Eritain and Ireland to the colour. The interests of the British public aid of the native New Zealanders are considered in this scheme ; whereas the temperary proprietors of the joint stock would think solely of the means of jobbing their privileges to the best profit for themselves. Such would be the inevitable evils of the Joint Stock Company plan ; and wherein its advan- tages over that proposed in the bill would consist, nobody has yet shoe n.

Another class of opponents may be limed among the Missiona- ries and their partisans. It is not generally known, perhaps, but it is a fact proper to he kept in view, that the exertions of the Missionaries in New Zealand have nut been limited to the souls of the natives, but have teaded to their own worldly advantage. They are the proprietors of' much fertile land, and are annually becoming move wealthy. Their very natural endeavour is to keep off competitors, and especially to prevent the establishment of an authority which would reduce them from the condition of mag- nates in the land to that of subjects. It is true that, generally, though not universally, (witness the New South Australian colony,) the intercourse of Europeans with savages has been prolific of many ills to the latter : but never in any previous instance were such precautions taken to protect and civilize the natives of countries subject to European settlement, as are to be found in the plan developed in Mr. Beetea's bill ; and it may safely be said that theta never was a race of savages more capable of receiving the proffered benefit of civilization than the New Zealanders. Besides, what are the facts respecting the actual Milux of White men ? The Missionaries know that they have been unable to prevent the colo- nization of some of the finest parts of New Zealand by a population of the worst descriptioti—escaped convicts and lawless runlet's, who are spreading desolation, disease, and evil habits among the abori- nines. These wretches defy the Missionaries, whom they have no cause to fear. Unless time British Government interpose to esta- blish a well-governed society, strong enough for self-defence and the repression of outrages. the Missionaries themselves mill be swept from the land, or assimilated to its worst society. Surely if they have a disinterested regard for the ealvatiou of the souls of the New Zealanders, they ought to rejeice at the prospect of an extended field of usefulness, and the deliverance of their adopted country from time horrible pest which is eating into its vitals. It must also be added, that even supposing time Missionaries to be as much in the right as they are palpably in error respecting the effect of judicious colonization on the condition of the natives, there are other human beings whose interests require attention. We allude to the miserable Itish millions, whose relief, as well as the benefit of the New Zealanders and their own, the colonists have in view. The fisrtile cultivable area of New Zealand is compute to exceed thirty millions of acres: its present popula- tion falls below that of a single district of London—say Futsbury or Marylebone.

After all, the hest Fertility would be the insertion in the bill of a clause authorizing and requiring the Cummis-ioners to establish some form of muni- cipal or provitacial selbgover JJJJJ ent iu the colony, front the very foundation of it. This was dune in imil the North American colonies; Lott it seems doubtful whether the present time, or rather the present men, will admit of as liberal a colonial pu:iey as was sanctioned by the STUARTs long before the Revo- lution.