15

I shall therefore feel extremely obliged if you will make the true position of the setlers known as opportunity may offer, and discountenance any appeals made to the public at the instance of private individuals.

(Signed) G. CUTFIELD,
Superintendent.

Messrs John Gladstone & Co.,
London.

Superintendent’s Office,
New Plymouth, 12th Nov., 1860.

Sir,—I have the honor to enclose for your information copy of a letter addressed by me to the Agents for this Province, Messrs. J. Gladstone & Co.

I have, &c.,
(Signed) G. CUTFIELD,
Superintendent.

John Morrison, Esq.,
3, Adelaide Place,
King William street,
London.

[Enclosing copy of above letter to J. Gladstone & Co.]

REPORT of a Meeting of the Taranaki Aid Committee at Nelson contained in the Nelson Examiner of the 22nd August, 1860, referred to in the above correspondence.

MEETING OF TARANAKI AID COMMITTEE.

A special meeting of the members of the Taranaki Aid Committee, convened by circular, was held in the Chamber of Commerce on Saturday last. The members present were Messrs Wells, Travers, Saay, Blackett, Elliott, Connell, Wilson, Lewthwaite, Kerr and Curbs.

Mr. Travers said that he had called the Committee together to take into consideration certain statements made by Messrs Nash & Scaife in regard to the present condition of the Taranaki refugees here, contained in a letter addressed by them to their correspondent at Wellington. The publication of the letter in Wellington had resulted in a public meeting being convened for the purpose of giving effect to suggestions made by Messrs Nash & Scaife, based upon the statements in question. He, in common with other members of the Committee with whom he had spoken out-of-doors, had felt extreme surprise at the statements made by Messrs Nash & Scaife; statements reflecting seriously not only upon Mr. Gray, the agent employed by the Provincial Government of New Plymouth in distributing relief to the Taranaki refugees here, and upon the local Government acting in conjunction with him, but also upon the people of this province and upon that Committee of which Mr. Nash was himself a member. The statements referred to were as follows:

"We beg to offer you our best thanks for your kindness in laying our circular letter of the 9th ult. before the public of your city. We have not thought fit in that to allude to the state of the poor women and children who have been sent down here for safety; but we can assure you the fearful destitution existing amongst them passes description. We may mention one case out of many, that of a poor woman with seven children (some of them unwell) who were landed here without bedding or blankets, during the recent severe weather. They have since been supplied with necessary comforts by private subscription, but it is impossible for a small community like this to meet all the demands of the poor families who, having lost their “little all,” land amongst us in many cases perfectly destitute of the common necessaries of life, and often of clothing. The Airedale brought down about 120 more last night, and it is anticipated that next trip she will bring down about 300, the exodus being now rendered compulsory."

He need not remind the committee, that at one of their earliest meetings, they were informed by Mr. Gray, that the Provincial Government of New Plymouth had instructed him to do everything necessary, not merely to maintain the refugees, but, as far as possible, minister to their comfort; and he felt assured that he should have the support of that committee when he stated that no man could have shown more warm-hearted zeal and unaffected kindness in the performance of his difficult duty than Mr. Gray. It was natural to suppose that people separated from their homes and from the heads of their families would undergo a certain amount of discomfort, which mere charity could not obviate; and there were, no doubt, certain cases of special difficulty, but that anything approaching destitution existed amongst them he believed to be entirely untrue. It was a remarkable fact that Mr. Nash, although a member of that committee, had never brought these statements under their notice or under the notice of those engaged in administering Government relief. The only case ever brought forward by Mr. Nash, as far as he (Mr. Travers) was aware, was one which, on investigation, proved to be entirely unfounded, the person complaining having actually obtained a passage to Nelson from Taranaki, as a chief cabin passenger, by means of false pretences. So far from destitution existing, he could aver, and the fact was known to many members of the committee, that in some instances where heads of families had received from the military authorities at New Plymouth “prolonged leaves,” they preferred returning to serve as militia-men, at 1s. 6d. a day, to labouring in Nelson for the support of their families. Simply, as they themselves alleged, because when they took upon themselves the support of their families, the Government allowance would cease, and the latter was the more certain and more easily obtained source of maintenance.

He would relate the case mentioned by Messrs Nash & Scaife in their letter. The person referred to was a Mrs. Perrott and her family who had arrived here accompanied by her brother. Owing to the neglect of the latter, the bedding had been left on board the vessel in which they arrived. But on the very same night they were supplied by Mr. and Mrs. Lewthwaite with a sufficient quantity of blankets and counterpanes which to this hour had not been returned [hear, hear, from Mr. Lewthwaite]. He was informed by Mr. Lewthwaite, moreover, that mattresses had been offered to them at the same time which they had declined. It was true that some of the family were ill and Mr. Gray at once endeavoured, and with great difficulty obtained, nurses for them and also arranged that they should be supplied with all requisites. It was also true that many ladies in Nelson had been extremely kind to the family in providing for their sick wants. But the case, as presented by Messrs Nash & Scaife in their letter, was a gross exaggeration and calculated to lead to the impression that these people had for some time been permitted to suffer an extreme degree of misery. He thought it possible that