VIII 
SETTLERS AND OFFICIALS 
77 
was not a white man’s country, proud of the condition to 
which he had brought it, happy in his own position there, 
and most distinctly and righteously opposed to anyone 
who proposed to disturb either the one or the other. 
On the other hand, you had the settler, firm in the 
common-sense opinion that it could and would be a 
white man’s country, and bitterly resenting the opinion 
and attitude of those who said otherwise. 
At first the inevitable struggle was an unequal one. 
Strong in numbers and authority, the officials gave 
the first few settlers an extremely nasty time. 
Probably they, the officials in question, would be 
the first to admit it. However, where a country is 
desirable mere red tape may hinder but cannot kill 
white immigration, and so the settler element grew. 
As the sides became more equal, though actually 
bitterness decreased, the clamour increased, and 
culminated under the late Governor in certain inci¬ 
dents neither wholly creditable nor wholly dis¬ 
creditable to either side. Sir James Sadler was a 
kind, able, and courteous gentleman, and personally 
popular both with settler and official alike. There 
was, however, a want of breadth about his administra¬ 
tion and an inability to recognise or even to consider 
the views of the non-official portion of the community 
* which aroused intense hostility, not to the Governor 
himself, but to his policy. This antagonism was fed 
by what the People, who had taken already some¬ 
what prematurely a big P, considered, rightly or 
wrongly, to be a certain ambiguity or want of clear¬ 
ness in every direct pronouncement. The result was 
that the original and inevitable breach, which was 
fast healing, was rudely torn open and a series of 
unfortunate episodes occurred. These incidents, 
