NEW ZEALAND.

Press, Volume II, Issue 41, 22 February 1862, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND.

AUCKLAND. By the Airedale we have copies of Auckland papers to the 15th. The newe is not important. The road-making works continued, and it was desired to withdraw the remaining soldiers left at Auckland to set them to the works. Their places it was propoeed to supply with volunteers, but these objected to the sudden issue of a new code of regulations,

without any preliminary notice, the effect of which was to disband the old corps. The Superintendent of Auckland and the Provincial Council are not working very harmoniously together. The appointment of Mr. Hugh Reid as Auditor, was earned by the opposition side of the Council. «The 'Nelson Examiner' of the 11th inst., in its monthly summary says :— By the arrival of the Airedale we learn that his Excellency the Governor had left Auckland for Hawke's Bay, by the East Cape. At Ahuriri he was to meet Mr. Fox, who would proceed thither by way of Taupa They would remain there until the 24tn instant, when a meeting or tangi is planned in honor of the late Moannui, an important chief of the Ngakahuhungu, This ceremony disposed of, the Governor and the Colonial Secretary will go on to Wellington and thence to Wanganui, returning to Auckland in time for a meeting in Upper Waikato, which is arranged for the 25th March. Just before the steamer left Manukau, news arrived from Waikato that a tana of the king party had endeavoured to intimidate Mr. Gorst, the Resident Magistrate in the Upper Waikato into leaving the district. This Mr. Gorst refused to do, mocking at their threats and the tana retired, not having made up their minds to violence. Mr. Gorst wrote to Thompson and Matutaere the king, stating the circumstances, and that he refused to quit the laud, the property of Europeans, on which he was living. Thompson and Matutaere both condemned the action of the tana. The troops are still encamped near Drury and the banks of the Waikato, where military roads, of admirable construction, are being pushed forward with the utmost vigour. All is quiet, the season is now most favourable, and before a return to winter quarters bo required, the frontier will have been placed in a secure position, and the country opened up and connected in the most beneficial manner. The military force is still busily at work upon the road to Waikato, which, it is hoped, will be completed before the winter. If that which has been done is to be taken as a specimen of that which is to be done, the road will do credit to the workmen, and will confer a lasting benefit on both races in this province. The natives are getting over the first feeling of jealousy with which this movement of the troops was regarded, and begin to understand that the road, for purposes of peaceful traffic, will be a direct advantage to them.— New Zealander. Respecting these and other features of Sir George Grey's policy, the ' New Zealander' of Feb. 13 has the following remarks :— " This was a step for which we give Sir George Grey very great credit. It was an extremely ticklish one ; it was most promptly executed,; audit has been most completely successful. In a few weeks, a first rate road will exist from Auckland to the river, and soon after, if reports be true, connecting lines from»the main road to Waiuku and elsewhere will afford a complete line of defence to this province and secure the seat of Government against all future aggression from the large bodies of natives on the Waikato or in the interior. But the most satisfactory' feature of the case is the manner in which this determined move has been acquiesced in by the natives. There is no doubt that had the step been taken six months ago, the Maories in Waikato would have risen to a man, and the Colony been plunged in war. It was distinctly understood that the movement of troops to the Waikato was to be the signal for the renewal of hostilities. Governor Browne had at one period weakly given a pledge that the troops should not be moved beyond Otahuhu; and he acknowledged that a movement on Waikato would be the signal for an immediate rising through New Zealand. Nevertheless, the movement has been effected; a commanding position has been achieved; and that insecurity of the capital Which was the source of almost daily panics in Auckland— nay,' within the very walls of Government House—has, we trust, been removed for ever. And, while this is being done, the Colonial Secretary waa in tne pahs of the ultra King party, a hundred miles up the Waikato, received with the most marked respect and friendliness by all the leading Chiefs; and, except among a few natives of little consequence, in the lower part of the river (between Maungatawhiri and Tawpiri, within sight of the troops), there was no excitement, no alarm, no threat, no disturbance. The difference between the actual event and what it might have been, had Governor Browne taken the same step six months ago, is a test by which we may judge pretty well of the real progress which has been made by Governor Grey during the four brief months of liia administration. There is a large section of natives who still stand aloof, but in a very different temper, and with very different feelings of respect, at least, towards Her Majesty's Representative from those which actuated them six months ago. While Sir George Grey and. one member of his Government were thus quietly moving about, and coming "face to.face" with the natives in the north, Mr. Ward, (PostmasterGeneral) had undertaken a difficult and delicate mission to Hawke's Bay, the result of which has been most satisfactory also. The province of Hawke's Bay contains an European population, chiefly pastoral, of about 3000 souls, and some tliousauds of natives. An alarming and dangerous state of affairs had grown up between the two races, originating in the trespass of cattle and ether live stock of the Europeans upon the native lands. Demands made by the natives for rent or for damages, often extortionate, had in some cases been unwittingly acquiesced in, in some refused, —and the result in the latter cases had been the seizure by tbe natives of the cattle and sheep of the settlors, accompanied by violence, but fortunately without bloodshed. This had been going on for a couple of years, and was getting daily more and more aggravated and complicated. One important chief had seized

2,400 aheep belonging to an European, driving them off their run to hie own land, kept them for two or thre«e i»uf3\ths, and was on the point of clipping them for his own bffllit.it at the time of Mr. Ward's arrival. The local magaatrales-s, under an erroneous impression of the law on the ealnViect, had refused to adjudicate in cases of trespass ; ami! tlies natives not unnaturally made this a ground for taking tlieE law into their own hands. Then there were disputes anuongfa-nemselves as to the ownership of the land trespassecS on, and the unfortunate stock-owner, after satisfying one lot of claimants, probably found himself compelled to pay other-s s time over. In short, the state of affairs at Hawkers Jay-v was the most critical that can be imagined; the inddscittioon of any single individual might have led to a general oulba-eak ; and every newspaper which arrived at the seat -of (io-overnment afforded some fresh indication of the probafcsilityoft-f such an j event. Under the late Government, such an emergency m-oukl have been met by sending down a letter from Mr, MlX'Lean by the hands of "a third-class clerk," informing tlicna,-j»tives that their proceedings were very wrong, and promiiingg; to come down and enqiiire into the matter at some fiilucoe which, owing to a "pressure of business, " ro»*iikl never arrive; while in the meantime the difficu ]fey ii'Ooiikl Lave become more and more complicated, and afc last, perhaps, terminated in a calamity similar to that whdeh oc-scurred at Taranaki. The present Government, however, hives anocherway of doing things. As soon as the serious aepectJ-t of affairs became apparent, Mr. Ward, one of the Miraistij, proceeded in person to the spot. He found both partLesintlT.lie wrong. The Chief who had seized the flock of she=-ep, Iie~« reasoned ints their surrender; and they were not onHyjivessnup with* their fleeces unshorn, but driven back by the wsants of the Chief to their proper run. The disputes as to owsvnership o:£ the land in which their seizure had originated, the Chiecf (Hapuka) expressed his readiness to submit to tithe Native Council when organized under the new system In another case where cattle had been seized and taken aivay, Mr. "Ward induced the natives to restore them, afe tho same tiirm bringing an action, in their names, against tlm owsvner of th_e cattle for tlie tresjmss, which was tried befor-o tlmxass Europeaui Magistrates and three native Assessors—the v«ili»lct being aji unanimous one of £30 damages, to be paici to tlTshe natives. The whole of the "grass money" difficultdcs, tt'H—lnch, a firvv weeks before threatened to lead to bloodshedmio.d a seriums rupture between the races, were got rid of b_j ulittj-tlo patience, common sense, tact and justice. Before leaviiijt cslie district, Mr. Ward discussed at great length -vwitli o-oatives iuxd Europeans, the Governor's plans for the fiuture nmianagement of the natives, and the manner in which_ tlie sssubject vs,s received by the latter was such as to lead t«*tliu W lielief that a veiy few weeks will elapse before the new ineiitutttions will "be in full operation there. The natives inteiwl lioliLHing a gre-at meeting on the subject onthe24thof at whicii, we believe, he will be present. Our coiiloia-oporary, tlie ' Southern Cross,' the chief organ of the war ngmrty, in its comments on Mr. Ward's proceedings at Hawk's "a Bay, says, "These men (the Ministry) are ruining t3ie cowuntry." confess that we very much prefer their indkwod of winbng the country to the way that the late Mirnistny - had of promoting its prosperity—judging by the specimen kttrtiey gave us at Taranaki. So far, Sir George Grey and his Maiiistorsa have been personally engaged in the work of unravelling the tangled skein of native affairs. Progress has been ins ;ide in otliur directions also. The very populous district of GsTast Cape lias been organized by the Resident Magistrate, E3lr. "SVillLiim Baker; and Mr. Smith, late Assistant NateivcSe-ecretary, is at Eoturoa, and the reports of his progress t 'licitwere we understand, very satisfactory. The natives at tlie ii»_orth end and on the east side of Taupo Lake are eager -to b—i/o a Resident Magistrate, and a gentleman has been dli'spkf shed to make arrangements. We have little doubt that, as - confidences in our sincerity grows in the native mind, they w-«ill gradually abandon the King movement and return t-o their -r old relations with the British Government. Their total want of confidence in us is tlie gecrcat difficulty with which we now have to deal. Ilightlly or - wrongly they declare themselves to have been deceiv-dly the previous Government, and they have learned to atliibceite to us the worst designs towards them. Those wvlio reemember low great was Sir George Grey's personal infiueiite a among tjhein formerly, will judge by the uphill task ivhiclbo he has aiow before him, how deeply the feelings of th_e nnti —_*yes liave "been alienated from us during his absence. 'Ike who ima-gine that such feelings can be overcome in a day.", or otherwise than by the utmost patience and per-sevtiuar-nce, are little acquainted with human nature, and little s qualified to appreciate the difficidty of Sir George Gr-cy'slns-sk. Nevertheless, we are satisfied that His E»tl7llency is on tlie right road, and is making all the progress \vliie~sh it is reasonable to expect, or which is desirable im HSti. We da not want any coup de main, to be followed, by a - oorreß]ioriding disaster. Neither should we be please=d to saee the na.tives throwing themselves into the Governor's ancnis. all that has , happened it would be unnatural! tint they should do so, and little proof of their sincerity. "TTliosoccrt of work, that His Excellency is doing will last and "Bio |ir»»»ductiv« of good fruit, long after tho troops which the UmjerisEial Goveniment has provided may have been recalled to 4cset parts of the Empire. There are a few persons to b«tibe»Jiu the colony who grumble at the Governor's proceeiliiifs, « and do what little they can to throw cold water up»on Ilie*.cm. These are chiefly the "braves," who constituted lliesd war par-ty m Governor Browne's time, the men wh-o like - to sec )>attles fought for tho colony by British trotv j« it the cost of the British Treasury, and whose principal polifa" *\ organs a-re the ' Southern Cross' and the ' Nelson Exawiintr, , "

In conclusion, we would remind our readers th 7 ~~ ~"~" pursued by Sir George Grey is exactly hi coufor^it^ 6 . policy enunciated by his present responsible advis the last session of the Assembly, and to carry is only reasonable to suppose they were by th ■ House of Representatives placed in power. 30 feature of that policy was to bring the Governine t face with the natives instead of harrassing th I *° protocols, and third class clerks. "Real negociati -^ r by persons in whom the natives might have confident confined to the insurgents, but extended to all Oot while submission is demanded on the one. hand. 6 ■to offer with the other large powers of self c We oUßllt their own affairs. The first aim of our neg^^*** ia the removal of misunderstandings, and before w this we rnxist have the confidence of the natives" His Excellency's advisers would suggest is that thef ment of the colony should meet the natives facet** m ' discuss tlie whole question at large, explain our view T their objections, and thus establish that confidence have never yet reposed in us, but which must be seen a' we are to do any good." '' As regarded the insurgent nat the Government proposed to leave them pretty much side, satisfied that if the great bulk of them who had ' been in a state of insurgency came to terms, the others w T not long stand out." "The three great principles of policy are to treat the natives as men, to avail ourselv the great movement of the national mind as one law and order for its objects, and to encourage the 'R lma under legal sanctions." How exactly in° conformity S, these principles is the present action of Sir George Grey a 1 his Ministers, our readers will gather from the previous iit of this article. It is work, we repeat, which, if it i s fo v effectual and lasting, can only be done by great patience and great labour. '' The mill of God," says the German proverb, " grinds slow," and so it is with all genuine and real work It would have been easy for the Government to get up some melo-dramatic programme, and for Sir George Grey to have effected to wave the enchanter's wand. That they hare adopted a cource precisely opposite, is the most hopeful sign of success; and for our part we entertain no doubt whatever that if they persevere in the same firm and cautious temper with which they have began, success will as certainly attend their proceedings, as effect follows cause. It was, we have been informed the intention of the Governor to leave the Bay of Plenty early next week. The Colonial Secretary, Mr. Fox, proposed to start at the same time overland by way of Taupo for Hawke's Bay, where he expected to have met His Excellency on the 2-lth instant, the time appointed for the great native meeting. Sir George Grey's plans have, we understand, been most seriously interfered with by instructions received last mail by the naval officers on this station from Commodore Seymour, which at the same time that the Miranda was ordered to Sydney, prevented the Commander of the Fawn from allowing the Governor the use of his frigate except immediately in proximity to Auckland. As His Excellency's plans&idbeen arranged in the expectation of being able to avail himself of one of the nien-of-wor for the next two or three months, the orders issued by the Commodore seems to us to be <i most' serious interference with the public service."