THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. "Vérité sans peur.” Wanganui, August 9, 1860.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 4, Issue 203, 9 August 1860, Page 2

THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. "Vérité sans peur.” Wanganui, August 9, 1860.

mmmm , THB 'Tyrte anti'Emily Alison bring us intelli- ‘ geucc from Taranaki up to tlio 3rd August,

and a statement; of events, for the ten days previous to that date will be found elsewhere. Our newspapers previous to the 28th ult. had been posted to go, by Nelson, and have not arrived, ' ; there ja a?gap<ji'n the narrative; but nothing of interest had transpired in the interval. As will be seen, the great event was the arrival of .reinforcements from Australia. Up to the 2nd inst. ,390 men of the 12th and .40th had arrived. Major-General Pratt arrived on. the 3rd with 50 additional men of the 40tii; and the Wonga. Wonga was hourly .expected with, other, 276 , men—making a, reinforcement, . with- 50. men of H.M.S.S. Fawn, of; 76.6 soldiers and-sailors ; Aft .that there, are, with the ; volunteers xnilitia, now in all about’ 30’00 ; fighting men: : in i'arauakWa.number at least equal, and jmost likely. considerably : superior, to that of the Maories opposed to them., .The. town is so crowded,, that an additional number of .Women and chjldren were, to be sent off in the Airedale to Nelson, and would most likely leave on or in the beginning of this week, /t is to be hoped that now operations will begin in earnest. !The new commander must have been greatly struck with the condition of affairs when lie landed. All the beef and mutton, which should have ‘served the army and civilians 1 .for .some time, in the hands of the .Mabries, Having- been driven hff. before the eyes of the owners, who were forbidden to cry ‘f.stop thief';” the'place : totally destitute of firewood, though surrounded on every side by a dense bush, which gives the Maofies both shelter-and heat; the;t.own guarded at night by volunteer and militia piquets, so disposed that a small party of enterprising Maories might have cut; them off from 'the town and destroyed them; before the military, sluraberin their warm couches, tcould possibly render them assistance. If the short and pithy address, he made to his soldiers,; before they, embarked at Melbourne, —“ Soldiers, I am, not going to make you a; long speech. I have j;ust received.a ’ dispatch from. taining the .names of, your : comrades that Fell there; we are going to avenge them, and I sliall.be with you” —-if these words are /characteristic of the man,’ some energy will now be infused into the conduct of affairs, and the next intelligence will be of greater importance, and no doubt of a more agreeable nature, than any we have yet received.

The General Assembly met oh 'the 25th ulUand was prorogued to the 30th, in-order to allow of the arrival of the southern members by the White Swan; from Wellington.; In another- column , will be found a list of the rnemhers.. One seat for the suburbs of Auckland is at present vacant, for which . Dr. Campbell b.as been requested to become a candidate. The extracts from the New; Zealander, giving an account of the Native meeting, will.lie read, .with interest and satisfaction.

The attention of our readers is requested to the letter of “ A Country Settler,” in another column. Something should be done immediately in this very important matter. The Wonga Wonga is expected to be'ready for sea about the 25th inst., and if the government were asked to • grant her a subsidy for carrying the mails- until the - reopening of the coast road, the request f could not reasonably be refused) ‘ ’ •

The importance of some measures being taken for the amelioration of the social condition of the Maori is forced on the attention of the puhliC-hy the present -disturbance, -and the in-. creas^iliijWrjeit'ij^icb^th^irijtelljgiijceofjWhat js, ,_tran|puing.' dHU?awaken in England maices'it probable 1 that'; unfeasible Schenife for their moral and sbmi would meet with instant approval and abundant sup*

port.. If pretty .obvious that however great a ch ; tinge;may,h.iive .beeu;effe.eted in/thei r ! mode;of life'since pHihs were.taken’ to instruct them'Th a’higher iiiorality, they still reinain the victims •of debasing habits, which grow with their growth strengthen with their strength—which are fostered by the absence their in •Vain' l endeavoured to induce, them to, -abandon. Their miserable huts', their scanty "clothing, their insufficient fo6d,‘their-utter ighoranee of the laws which regulate health, 1 all give assurance' that if some reformation is not sbb'n effected, the dream of a nation'of savages ciyilized, christianized, and el'dvii'ted to’at sdcial position- beside’ thevEuro* peari, in' which their teachers have been accustomed to indulge, will.jjiever be realized ; but that, on the.,, tlreywdll. .like all savage or the advance of Their European teachers' 4 are aware of these evils, and no doubt do what they can to remove them. jhey are few, and thejr in* fluence is neobssarily small .yrhen?propei|sitieß indulged fit''till they become a second nature, are to be checked and, destroyed. Audi the native teachers, \riio come more, in contact with;them, and ought to have greater influence in raising them hi the social scale, are theraseives utterly,ignorant of anything superior in fins' fesjVect, .atil sb incapable of'showiiig 'them the path to improvements v lt(seeihsttoi;hs ihe ; most hopeful Yemedy .would be, .the removal from 1 those evil-’ influences to which they are exposed of a number of children, by'sending tkera*-to.~England'r -and -there putting - them pin small -groups A ir -9 j nJ; ouch; ether) under sound and experienced teachers. If, 200,0 r ; more boys 'and girls, of from five six years iif age lvere tlfUs-dealt with, and retained utffler efficient fosthiffioii "for' nine cir 'fen years j abV ' quiring habits' which would reiider stiperior domestic and soml arrangements' indispensable, such knowledge as would'guide tfieui in the regulation 1 of themselves and their families, and skill'iif those trades which would be necessary in order to enable them to gratify their newly acquired tastes; and .if these young people were to return at the end of such period with irreproachable characters, and were to be dispersed throughout' t'lib ; country in the capacity of teachers, a wonderful stimulus to,improvement would’ he given—such as no amount of education in /.'New Zealand cbiild be expected to afford. 'Their knowledge of British intelligence antTpower would- throw all their influence into tlie scale' ofpeace and industry; and if the children were taken from the families of chiefs-that influence would be so great as to fbptween the races altogether improbable. It may be objected, that the length of timfrhecessary to carry .out-the experiment is fatal to its adoption., But without such means,, will! tlie? nati.vos, of ,New Zealand, ten years hence, be better tlian they are uow? It is generally acknowledged that the young men are at present worse than the old ; and if their children ; should inherit the vices of their fathers, some' sbcli'meaiis of checking the'cbhtitfuatibir or growth'of tlie evil is indispensable. Another objection is the great,expence which such a scheme niust entail upon its pftj'mbtefs?? i; But >I fh'e' pecuniary means will be very readily ' afforded ; and one great recommendation' of it 1 is, that no government need be applied to, that New Zealand settlers who have bad tljeir sympathies" estranged and their minds soiired by their contact with; the Maories will not have to disburse anything for the carrying out of benevolence Will furnish, yrith. already hand, all the pecuniary means required. 4 * If recom-: mended as a practicable scheme—as one not’ unlikely to accomplish the end contemplated—-thet-fe' will 'father'- be a rivalry as to who shall support it, itban any hanging back,or coldness in embracing the opportunity of benefiting so signally a, part of the human family.' which has been so long represented to the British' public as so greatly superior in all physical and mental characteristics to any other barbarous race. ’’ .--.. j ■

The more'intelligent ;of them, as . will be seen from the account of the .Native Conference at. Auckland, feel their inferiority, and are anxious for .miore thorough instruction; and such a scheme, fitted to gratify their aspirations after equality with the European; would no doubt commend . itself to their good sense, and be readily adopted by them, notwithstanding the strong; attachment to. their children, which might make parents unwilling to part with them for'so long, a’time.

Local Intelligence.'

Resident , A/agisteate , s ; Court. —The following debt case was decided against the defendant, Powell ; and Co., v. Geo. Gyde, £3 9s. 9d. , :. Fatal '/ffccn>|NT.r~Qn. Wednesday evening last Alexander. McKay, a discharged soldier, ifell; intq; sthe,, fiver froPt *Jjf.caspe: off Clay Point drdwhed.' He was dbout 35 years-of, age, ‘lias left a widow and several children, The, body has not been found. Volunteer Rifles.— The No. 1, ny have volunteered to patrol the Town at night, a»d began- this duty last night, when six went their robnds at-different hours during the night, the guard-room, being in ; the, Rut, land Hotel, a room which Mr. Russell had placed at their Ip future the men will be hbme£ on the under; standing" ■ at: the hours ‘fixed , { , j . ,v.r: ■: # \