The New Zealand Herald AUCKLAND TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 1864.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 177, 7 June 1864, Page 3

The New Zealand Herald

AUCKLAND TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 1864.

'■ ■ »-> ?fi t t| i lijim' car, hul tew 1 Ijv voicn : ' • ->i ccn-m c. hut re-ervc iliy jiui^tnoiit. I if- jjll,—To \ iillie o'A tiMil! he Inic; H l:iU>t 1 ■■llnw, llj« lne IIJi.V, hsni uot then he ial?»c to any iiiaii."

W K li.-ivi- repeat edly stated 1-liat there is liii'ii- il;ih-1* to lit' dreaded from ialse friends "• "I'iii l'ii- 'tale tiiitii from rebel -Maoris ill iiuainst tit,. \V« ; have said, and wo it 1 :f;H it ;ilt;1111. thai but for the colilltt'UiUK o

aflordcd to tlie roliclsartdthoircause, h v a s»niiill but once powerful knot, of men in this Province, who number among litem names which it might not at the. present moment be politic j to mention. It is against treason iu liiufh places, rnther than against treason in the raupo whnre that we have to guard, and we should be doing less than our duty to the colony, a, nd above all to the people of this! Province, were we to allow the machinations I ol this party —be their head who he may— ! to pass by unnoticed and unchallenged. 1 liet it be distinctly understood that we do | not impute these laches against public honesty and patriotism against anyone individual member of the ministry or against the ministry as a whole. With them we have no fault to find. If the AVailiato Kegiments. or a part of them are not settled on their lands it is no fault of theirs. Let the public uninistakeably understand this. 'We have now before us the Xew /rulninlnof Saturday last. It: contains an article which few until they have seen it will believe thai any journal professing to represent any but the verv smallest section of the people would have published. It is the culminating point of philo-Maorism—the open expression of opinions, lono but guardedly insinuated, that the Northern Island and its settlers should be handed over, bound and helpless, to Maori caprice and rullianism. It is in fact treason itself against the country and against the people of whom the yrtr r/rnhnii/rr professes to be a leader and a guardian. The article is headed " suggested terms of peace." ln;t it is not stated by whom suggested. Assuredlv not by tho or by any one of them. On that point we feel iptite certain. Tliev smack, however, of ollicialism. and we leave their authenticity to be surmised by our readers. The article commences by slating that the waits unpoular in Auckland, and appeals to the people of this Province with the "it i-tiji-tandmn argument that the money spent upon the war is not benefitting the mass of the people, but that on the other hand, military duties—the incubus of a debt —the obstructions to the development of our resources are gradually impoverishing the Colony. We are told "that the territory gained hy the war will not add an acre to the Province: that the "Waikato will never remain upon their land: that those ivho have made the greatest profit by the war will leave the colony and lea vet hose who have 1 gained nothing by the war to bear the bur- \ den of the debt." The article in the ~Sr/r : Ytinhnnit r appeals to the recollection ot militia duty performed, and the loss ot wages occasioned, and gives such a picture ot our eeiidition. present and future, as would lead anyone at a distance to suppose that the ! Province was bankrupt, the citizens ruined, j and with loud lamentations bewailing thiiri unhappv fate, and cursing those who had ! been instrumental in the resistance ot bar- j barian aggression. ' Then comes the irrand panacea. The »''• Zl'lili'iiitr,-. on behalf of "a highly esteemed colonist Who is this highly esteemed colonist r Is it tlie rj places the following basis of t he terms which we are to solicit the now in arms to propose to us. "We give them intact from the ~Sew y.ratuiiji-r : PfcI.AH.VTION OF SriIMISSION. I. The undersigned, chiefs and people of \\ ilikalo, hercl\v de'a are that thev dtsiriito live at peace with the settlers,' in obi dience to the law, ami under 'he sovereignty of the ( t 'ueen. 11. Th.-ou'jliout New Zealand the Queen's name was hi aril bv the but the Queen s power was not vi.-ii>lv exercised : and instead ot receivnin the beneiits promised lluin bv the Queen s rule, tliev -:nv disorder still prevailing, crimes unpunished, their countrymen decreasing, and their power decaying. To rem. dv tbe?e evils, the people of Waikato set up their principal chief with the title of Kiiii,'- SeeiiiL' that their proceedings have been regarded as a c round of oilcnce, and believing that the Queen will henceforward take means to secure tlie enjoyment of peace and eood order, the uu.lcrsi.med chiefs and people of Waikato hereby deeiare. n that they have withdrawn their allegiance from the Maori Kinfi. and have caused the lyings f!:■ lt to be hauled down. 111. .As a pledge of their loyalty and faith, the iiiul'-rsiened hereby cede to the (jiueeii ami her successors all and claim which they possess lo the several tracts of land particularly described in the accompanyiny Schedule. The Schedule referred to is not published. Then follow the terms which we are to oiler in answer to this insulting declaration of submission, which adroitly saddles us with having driven the Maori into rebellion : J. In consideration of tlieir unconditional submission, the Queen hereby grants a full amnesty to the Chiefs and people of Waikato who have signed tlu: aforesaid Declaration of Submission, always excepting the muidereis of the persons particularly named and described in tic: aeeompanviny Schedule. 11. In the exercise of her clemency, hiT Maj. sly will release all prisoners taken in arms, who shall join in the aforesaid Declaration of Submission. 111. l!y taking up arms in defiance of her _ Majesty's sovereign auth irity, the Maoris who did so 'hive iherel.y withdiawn themselves from her protection, and have released her Majesty Iroin the obligation of maintaining them ill tlie possession ol then I roporty : and their lands now in the power ot her .Majesty's forces are, by right of conquest at the nieicy'of the frown, "jiut the <-Jn.-i.-ii of Knglarid established her authority in New Zealand, not to destroy the native people, hut to save them, to protect them in their just rights and property, and to secure to them the enjoyment of peace and good i rdcr ; and notwithstanding tho rebellious proceedings of the natives of Waikato, the Queen's troops lutve not been used to train p'ssession of their land, lint to eicil-Je her Majesty more efleetuallv to project her Kniili.-ii subjects, aiul to secure to the natives themselves the enjoyment of peace and good order, her Maje:.tv accepts the several tracts of land ceded lo her bv these presents, to be used toibrma i rentier line of military settlements. IV. Iler .Majesty reserves lo herself tho right ot making all such loads over the land now in possession of the troops, as may he required for the na i ot her Majesty, and for the convenience and advantage ol both races of her .Majesty's nibjects. V. With respect to all other hind in the oecupat ion of the troops, it may at once he taken possession of by its riiilit 1 ul owners, who will henceforward le Id'it under title from the Crown, and to whom il. eil> of will lie issued, entitling them to dis-p'-.-e ol it. or to keep it so long as they shall be laithinl and heir true allegiance to tho Crown. So says the Snv Zmtnmlrr-. but. what say the people ot Auckland! what say ihe colonists of New Zealand! That tliev are desirous of peace, but not such a peace, as tiiis. That it. is to establish law and order in the laud—to can so the Queens writ to run from one end ot the. island to the otlier ; to cause the law of England to supersede tho ■ savage customs of the; Maori —to put it lor j ever out of the power ol - the natives to plunge the colony into war and debt —it is for tiiis that they have been lighting, and that 111c\- will continue to tight tor, please j heaven, while they have a shilling left or an , arm to raise in defence of 1 lie- laws and ol ; their homes—aye, and of their very Jives. i

When tlie New 7ir.nlmuter asserts that the people of this province are tired of the war, in the sense that they have boon cowed into u feelino of submission, hy the costs hotli in money, in service, and in losses which they have suffered—then 011 behalf of the people of this province we toll the .Xrtr rAenlm»tnmul its party that they allinn thai which is utterly, entirely, untrue. AVe appeal lo the public if it is not so. The people; of Auckland are not the emasculate cowards which the Xew 'Aeiil/uitter would represent them to be. AVhen called upon to defend their homes and repel immediate attack they came forward as one man, and nobly did their duty. They have grumbled at, times at the inconveniences to which they may have imagined they were put by tlx; manner iu which their services were called for—but they never, to their honor be il spoken, murmured at the performance of duty as such. The time may come when it shall be known on whom rests the onus of much that is now borne by other shouhltrs. \\ e believe that this article in the yrir Z"ntmiiter is put forward ns a feeler lo see h.'.w far the Philo-Maori party may no without raising a llood of popular indignation, which none even dare dcl'v and set at nought. We trust that our readers will carefully peruse it. and we. think lew of them but will road with indignation and disgust the motives and feelings imputed to the people generally and to the terms of submission 011 the part of the colonists proposed by (lie -Ach; '/ealantlrr to he offered to the rebels, the object of which is simply to restore to them the land we have coiupu-rcd from them, except a line of posts on the frontier, the one side of which is to be .Maori territory and the other nor even our own. but tojj be restored to its former Maori owners, who, it is hoped, will, from time lo time, sell us portions of the land we have coiupicred. We suppose that the Maori territory is to form a field for the introduction of some " new iust it ul ions," the failure of which are to end after a few years iu a war of oxlerminat ion. When the loan is spent, says the yeie '/(■(ihtntler, "how tire the imported immigrants to live or to be maintained. The same wnv we suppose as other settlers who would not enjoy the same prixilcgcs as tliev will—from their farms and from their own labor. Is there any reason why they should not 'i .Settled oil rich lauds sueh as I hose of Rangiaohia and similar districts, how can tliev do other than succeed in the cultivation of the soil. Will the rich spots that supported tribes of ia/.y indolent Maoris, not support it hardworking industrious I'hiropcan population:* The idea is an absurdity, and is only advanced by our coletnporarv for I hi' purpose of making the ilfer of the (iovernment less tempting to immigrants at home. .Again. 1 ur cotempoiir v sa vs. " t he territory we slial I l;u in hy t hi' war will not add an acre to the province." What does he mean r We suppose it is intended to saw that the sum obtained by the sale <d' the confiscated land will not l;o to the provincial funds, but to meet the expenses ol [lie war, that is to the credit of the •olonv at large. Well let it. If the Middle Island find us the money to put down ihe rebellion raging at our very doors, the least we can do is to throw the sum for which the native lands are sold towards the common war fund. The land still remains lo the Province- not the paltry twenty shillings per acre. but the land itself —ami can it be said that the Province gains nothing if the millions of acres of lands which now lie waste —tlu; haunts ol blood-thirsty rebels he changed into productive fields and pastures. and become the source ot wealth and independence and honest labour to thousands. .As to the taunts that those who have made money by the war will leave the burden of the debt to others, themselves returning to England, we can only say that this is a charge which 110 journal except the yrtr Yiriitunitrr, which attacks men and not measures would have made. It is worthy 0111 v of contempt. Finally on the part of the people of this Province we must: disclaim the craven hearted desire, which is attributed to them bv the yrtr /ra/tnu/rr for peace at. tho expense of all 1 hat is manly, Knglish. ami honorable. Civilians do nut love military service, owners of property do not care to see their property heavily taxed, but the one will light to the last sooner than accept temporary peace at Ihe price <d everlasting disgrace—the other will endure to be taxed heavilv, rather than run the risk of having his property entirely lost in a second insurrection.