Correspondence.

Press, Volume XIV, Issue 1852, 22 March 1869, Page 3

Correspondence.

K> THE SDITOfi OF THE FBBSS. Sib,—Separation seems to be the panacea wr ail the ills that legislation is heir to in New Zealand. When the seat of Government was temoved from Auckland, the inhabitants petitioned the Home government for separation from the rest of the colony, and every ouQyfeg di&triot that lias a grievance gete up petitions for separation from its province, and |3& in for almost independent government. •Giafete of those districts that have had their Pffcjer for separation granted should deter »c Middle Island from following such, an **wnple. The smaller the State the greater <juu» of government falling into the hands « * clique. Otago, Westland, and the greater PW of Nelson are chiefly mining provinces, *ro a any question of moment would probably ■P" together, and being a numerical majority, *oaM override the opinion of the rest of the *J&aa entirely ; and only imagine the struggle ™*t would ensue between Otago and Canterfor possession of the seat of government. «ost probably the losing province -would |$*te for another separation, and fancy j**tog such a man as the present Superin***«eat o f Otago for our future premier; «a eusi an event woeld be quite possible, If the Maori question were jjj* oisposed of, I do not think we should **** nmoh more about separation. We have *?»«&>se of debt about our necfce,halfof 52S- 110 - a ° ubfc has hQ6n incurred by the *ar; bat for the other half we may We have borrowed money to spend it on costly and unre*™f®ahve pubUc works: have not the railSSi^*"** o^and P ublio buddings of nSu" 7 ' Ota S°» and Southland helped to ojr*** oational debt almost as much as the ? We are acting like mercantile who have spent money extratEs*,? an<i m b J" Jrecriminefiakh iC endea vore to dieeoire partnership " iUBa mischief in the Insolvent Court,

instead of putting their shoulder to the wheel, aud getting out of the mire. To bring back prosperous timoe to New Zealand we vrant a large influx of population and to get rid of the native difficulty. The firat might easily be managed, if the latter were disposed of. People in Europe have very hazy notions of New Zealand geography, and if we separated from the North Island we should find it just as hard to induce immigrants to come hither as before the partnership was dissolved ; the feeling would be, " I am not going to New Zealand to run the risk of being tomahawked, my house burnt, and stock driven off;" and it would be vain to try to enlighten them as to the difference between the islands. You will never have a strong stream of immigration till the native difficulty is disposed of, and until our population is quadrupled we can never bear with ease our load of debt. Can we not take a leaf out of the Tasmanians' book on the native question? When the natives of that island were troublesome, the settlers and military were called out, and the country swept in line from one end to another, and the natives placed on one of the islands adjacent. Could not something like this be done here ? or it might be managed still more cheaply if we could induce all the King Maoris to emigrate in a body of their own accord. It would not be without precedent, as one of the Maori tribes worsted in fight with their next neighbours took poseeseion of a whaler, and went down to the Chatham Islands, where they conquered the aborigines, and have remained in possession ever since. If we could persuade the Hauhaus to follow this example, the troubles of New Zealand would be overcome. I do not think it would be impossible to do so ; they rre extremely jealous of their nationality, and their object in fighting has been to preserve their race from a mixture with the European, at the same time they have not the love of country which springs from the old traditions of byegone times, as their traditions only tell of an emigration to New Zealand from Hawaii, and I believe that with a fresh field and sufficient inducement in the shape of stock, tools, money, &c, they would readily go to a land of which they might have undisputed possession. I believe the Galapagos Islands would suit the purpose exactly ; too far from New Zealand for them readily to return, uninhabited (except a Spanish settlement on one of the smaller islands), a fertile coil, and owing to the high J mountains, a healthy climate. In the recent Abyssinian campaign, Lord Napier attributed a good deal of his success to the free use of the almighty dollar among the natives, and a million would be money well laid out if it rid us permanently of our Maori difficulty. If we can only in duce them to go after their recent reverses, well and good, if not, we must make them. It is absurd to think that a handful of Maoris should act the part of dog in the manger so much that a man cannot drive stock from one province to another, or live in safety a mile out of town. Either they or we must be maeters, and if it is to be fighting let us do it in earnest; not send a few men to be shot at, or left alone, as the Maoris choose, but call out all the ablebodied men in New Zealand, get a few Cuban bloodhounds and native troopers from Queensland, to act as trackers in the bush, and then follow them up in earnest. We should have plenty of hands to eurround them thoroughly, and we ought never to give up until we have shipped the last Hauhau from the island. This idea may appear chimerical to many, but if we look at the statistics of the two races, I think it would be considered quite practicable. The last census returns showed a European population of 218,000; there has been a considerable increase since then, bringing up the population to about 250,000, of whom about one-fifth should be capable of bearing arms. If we had a conscription of one-fourth, it would give us 12,500 men j there would be quite sufficient firearms in the country to give them equal weapons to the Maoris; or probably the Australian Volunteers wonld lend us arms for the occasion, and we could have a regiment or two from the same quarter if we are not too proud to ask for them; no doubt General Chute would take the command if asked, and I believe every man in New Zealand would rather fight under him than any other leader. On the other hand, look at the Maoris. Their numbers were about 50,000 at the last census, taken some years ago, of whom more than half are friendlies. I believe that 20,000 is [the outside estimate of the King natives, including women and children, take onefifth for fighting men, some 4000 souls or about one-third of the force we could bring against them, not including soldiers and friendlies, so that with good trackers to follow in the shape of dogs and Queensland natives, we might clear the island in less than a year, and if once shipped off with their wives and children to a distant shore, and left to their own devices, I don't think they would ever trouble us again. From the Chathams was such a short distance, besides their wives and relatives were left behind, whereas, if once fairly cleared out, they cjvld only come back as invaders, and without aid from friends on the island, such an attempt must fail at once. Some portion of the Press have spoken of the use of bloodhounds as barbarous. I cannot see that it is; it has been conclusively proved that the more you improve weapons of destruction, the smaller the percentage of death in action becomes, and there is no doubt that the employment of bloodhounds would assist us immensely in following the natives up in the bush, and the sooner we can get at them the less loss of life there will be. I know conscription too is very unpopular with Englishmen, but in a war of necessity, where neither honor nor profit is gained, I think we ought to put this feeling aside, and. all take our chance alike. If a policeman is not strong enough to take a burglar, he calls on any one etanding by to assist in the name of the Queen, and that is just what we should be doing here. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, Chables Wobslet. Longfield, Leeston, March 10,1869.