TARANAKI.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1087, 11 April 1863, Page 2

TARANAKI.

THE QUESTIONS.

The following are the questions which the deputation have submitted to his Excellency the Governor, at his request in writing:—

1. Is your Excellency in a position to place the settlers in immediate possession of the lands at Tataraimaka and in other parts of the settlement, which they hold under grants from the Crown, and which they have been unable to occupy during the past three years, in consequence of the hostile attitude of neighbouring tribes; and, if not, will your Excellency name a time at which your Excellency thinks it probable that they will be able to resume

possession?

2. Can your Excellency inform us, without injury to the public service, what measures you are taking or have in contemplation, for ensuring to the settlers quiet possession of those lands, either immediately or at some future time.

3. Having in remembrance the hardships and dangers to which the Taranaki settlers were subjected in the late war, the long period of suspense which they have had since to endure, and alsothefact that many of the settlers are past the prime of life and more or less broken in heart and in spirit by their trials; and remembering, moreover, that the measures for ensuring the ultimate safety of this settlement, which, with a due regard to the peace of the whole colony, and to the wishes of her Majesty's Government, your Excellency may feel yourself in a position to adopt, may be much slower in their operation than such as you might think fit to take if justice to the settlers of this province was the sole object to be aimed at, —does your Excellency consider that it would be fair or justifiable, on the part of your Excellency's Government, to exercise a pressure on the settlers in order to retain them here, either by withholding from those Avho leave such compensation for their losses as may be granted to those who stay, or by refusing such assistance as it may be in the power of the Government to give any who desire to establish themselves elsewhere; and remembering that such must tend either to keep men here in inaction and in dependence upon Government support, or cause them to return to their farms and invest capital upon them against their own judgment, for how long a period, if any, docs your Excellency consider that it ought to be exercised?

4. Supposing your Excellency to have fixed some definite limit to the period during which it would he fair in any way to discourage those who wish to go elsewhere, would your Excellency and your Advisers be prepared to recommend to the General Assembly at the expiration of that period the purchase, on behalf of the Crown, of the lands of those who then desire to leave at about their estimated market value before the war; or what other measures would your Excellency approve, with the view of assisting those who wish it to establish themselves in some other place?

5. Does your Excellency consider that it was the intention of the General Assembly that any portion of the sura of £200 doo It. ;'.»<• Luua Aci, 18C2, as for the reinstatement of this Province and its inhabitants, should be devoted to liquidating the actual losses of the settlers on the basis of Mr. Sewell's award, and, if so, what is about the amount which was designed for that purpose ; or if your Excellency should be of opinion that this point is left in a great measure to the decision of your Excellency's Government; how far, having regard to the circumstances under which the amount was voted, would your Excellency consider yourself justified in entrenching on the £200,000 for other purposes than that of liquidating the actual losses of the settlers? It will be seen ihat, when these questions are fairly answered, we slum know very well what we have to expect. The first part of the first one, asking < whether his Excellency is in a position to put the settlers in possession of their lands at once,' might have seemed unnecessary, especially to those acquainted with the state of the settlement, if it had not been known that his Excelllency had asked, soon after his arrival here,' how it was "there were so many settlers in town, and why they did not go back upon their farms?' The question, therefore, was not only fair, but necessary. The second question, which is properly guarded, is intended to ascertain the means to be used for putting the settlers back upon their lands, i.e.. in reinstating them. Ordinary men, of course, are not competent to judge of the wisdom of any given policy for securing the great ends of state-craft, but every man can and must judge for himself, whether the state of things, is, or is likely to be, such as will induce him to invest more money and labor under it. To put an extreme case. Supposing that the only result of his Excellency's visit to this place was to obtain the assent, tacit or avowed, of the hostile natives to the settlers re-occupying their lands and the only guarantee of security for the future was to be condonation for the past—it is evident that, without pretending to say such a course would not be the wisest for securing the ultimate good of both races, the plainest man could see that Taranaki would be no place for peaceful industry. It will be argued against us, that the case we put is an impossible one, which is no doubt true; but, nevertheless, it will still serve for illustration. The second question was asked, therefore, to avoid deciding a most important point on imperfect evidence.

The third, which is a little unwieldly in form, is to ascertain the nature and extent of the pressure which liis Excellency may think right to put upon the settlers to restrain them from leaving. This was necessary, because his Excellency had expressed to the deputation in very strong terms his objection to the abandonment of the settlement.

With regard to the fourth question we may say that the notion of the Government's buying the land of those who wished to leave did not originate here, but was first spoken of during the last session of the General Assembly, several of the Southern Island members recommending it as a desirable course. On the fifth question, concerning the £200,000, it is not necessary to say more than that it is desirable that the decision of the Government upon it, as upon all the other points, should be given as soon as possible.

All the questions have one object in view—to get materials for a practical decision of the first importance which we have shortly to come to. If they do not show any great confidence in the future that lies before us here, it is because no such confidence exists. Whose fault it is that this is so is another question which we need not enter upon, but there is no doubt of the fact. Nor is it surprising that the depressing effects of the last three years should not have been dispelled by mere assurances of good will and good intentions. The time, however, has now come for action, and we have no doubt his Excellency will answer these questions by deeds as well as words.—Herald, March 21.

IMPORTANT NATIVE INTELLIGENCE. We take the following from the ' Advertiser' of the 7th instant:— 1 lie non-arrival of the s.s. Airedale until yesterday moining was owing to her having been engaged in making three trips to Taranaki with troops, artillery, siege guns, horses, and military stores. . ir George Grey had visited Waitara, and had an interview with Te Teira and his people. The 57th had finished the redoubt at Wilkinson's larm, and had moved into it.

A body of Ngatiruanuis were in the Taranaki country, and Tamati Kaweora had stated that the rli? 11 18 werc obstinate about Tatarainiaka Ihe Taranaki settlers had forwarded four important questions to the Governor in writing, relative to the probability of immediate possession beinc given them of their lands, and to their liberty to „' l n ve tJ . ie P rovinc e if such possession could not be guaranteed.

His Excellency's replies have not been published. «vii f ° n ? wl ?g news from Taranaki is from the Nelson Colonist' of the 3rd April:— The s.s« Airedale, which did not succeed in getting

up to the wharf, in consequence of the low state of the tide, has come from Taranaki, to which place she had conveyed from Auckland 100 horses and 170 men.

According to her advices everything was quiet but the feeling was that a native outbreak niHit take place at any moment. There was, however a sense of security against any such outbreak, as the number and disposition of the troops were deemed such as to act with vigor and efficiency against any rising that might take place. There is, notwithstanding, still existing among the settlers a feeling that the only cure of their uncertainty is to have a war, and let the Maories have a thorough and complete beating. It is perhaps this feeling that hehjg to engender the expectation of a war, the wish bei'i" father to the thought. b

Governor Sir George Grey is determined, we are informed, to carry out and form the Omata liuodand if the men employed be molested or stopped' then the strong force now assembled, it is expected' will give a good account of the dark-skinned assailants.

The ' Taranaki Herald' of the 28th ult., says:— "All the troops off duty, comprising ;">7tli, Csth, and Mounted Artillery Corps, marched out to the Redoubt on Wilkinson's farm on Thursday morning, carrying with them one day's cooked provisions. They returned to town before dusk."

In the Provincial Council of Taranaki the Loan Bill was read a third time and passed. It empowers the Government to raise £50,000 upon the security of the general revenue of the province to reinstate the Taranaki settlers by liquidating losses they have sustained.

The following letter in the above paper regarding the Maori king's alleged assumption of power explains itself:—" On looking over the' New Zealander' of the 19th inst., a paragraph appears, which asserts that' there is not the slightest proof given by the Taranaki settlers that the natives ever asked "them to become subjects of the Maori king.' In Nov. last a party of the king's adherents invited me to occupy my farm at Tataraimaki, on condition that I would become subject to the Maori king, and further that I should be entitled to the same privileges as themselves. —Wji. Bayly, Jun."