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Daily Southern Cross, Volume XX, Issue 2239, 23 September 1864, Page 6

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" Quor homines, tot renlenluv " If ever there ■was a case in which tins statement n.is almost literally tiue, it is m rcgaul to ISTcv\ Zealand aftaus No two men seem able to agree on every point involved in the question. Some, and "men of eullnro and position among the number, bay, in effect, '"Bother the colonies , they are moie plague than piofit to us , leave them to their own devices and lot them go' Then again v\ c aie told by economical patnots, "It is most desirable that our commercial lelaUons -with our colonies should be kept up, but we cannot be expected to be at any cost on their behalf. If they have troubles, lot them get out of them as best they can, and, if we are obliged to send help to tkern, it must be afc their own expense. " A llnid view, and this is taken by people who are so ieri/ humane, is that the war has been occasioned by the oppicssivc conduct of the Government and the settlers towards the Maons, and some of these philanthropists carry this opinion to the extreme. " Lust of land, and love of bloodshed— these," say they, ".no the motives which actuate the settleis." These extreme views have been twice advocated in the Times with'ii a few days. On the first occasion the chaigc made was that the loss of English life in the war isprincipally clue to thoscttlers, because they were induced, by gieecl of gain, to supply the Maoris with weapons and ammunition. This charge is answered, and, as it seems, to us, very satisfactorily, in a letter which appears in another column of our present impression. It would be absurd to say, or even to have expected, that among a large number of colonists there weie not a icw scoundiels, m whom love of gold pi cpondoi'ales over honesty and patriotism. ]3>it the charge 13 made against "the settlers," and not against half-a-dozon black skpep, aud, fuitherinoie, it is assertion meicly.

Tho reply, as given, by our correspondent, is lo this effect, The charge is false, because many of the guns — good, double-barrelled flint guns — weio in the possession of tho Maoris before the colonisation of Now Zealand, having been procured from whaling vessels. As to the other portion, it appears that the missionaries dismally encouraged the sale of guns and ammunition to the natives, believing ' that they would never use them for other than hunting purposes, and having great faith in their Christian humility and peaceful disposition A lime came, however, when it was thought wise to interdict the sale of these articles to natives, and this, for a short period, was done. Unfortunately Governor Browne lemovod tho interdict for reasons which, though plausible, arc unsound. "Wo ought all to be equal, and have equal privileges; it is, therefore, unfair to forbid to the Maori what you allow to tho white man." All very well it tf'c two peoples were in. precisely the same position towards the Government, though even then not unanswerable , but they wcionot in tho same position. The Maori had laws, customs, and privileges of Ins own, fiora which tho colonists wore excluded. They were not on equal terms. Tho authority claimed and exercised over the one was neither claimed nor exercised over the other. On the other hand, it must be remembered that the Maoiis wcic depnved of any sh.uc in the representation. This one fact made a breach of the peace, sooner or later, inevitable, and it would therefore have been kind and not ciuel to keep from the hands of Maoris, except under certain restrictions, weapons without the posssession of which they would haidly have dared to do what they have done. The second communication to the Times (Monday last) fs very violent indeed. Tt dec Lues that " <i feeling of unmitigated disguifc is beginning to be felt in the .umy at the way in which they aic being used m this reckless, and unrighteous war." The authority of the w liter for tins sweeping assertion of the existence of a feeling ot unmitigated disgust is a letter Irom a bi other oQiccr, out in New Zealand, who ascribes the action of the Government to a de3iic for " pationagc, the extension and glorification of the Auckland provinces, and then* own glorification and advantage in paiticular." Now, theso arc certainly very sliong statements, and very violent charges to be bi ought ag.nnst public officials, on the single unsuppoifced ip&e dm I of an anonymous oJlicer in her Majesty's service The correspondent of the Tune-, ha: ing thus thundeiod forth the charges of his fijond, and using m his own words the most ex.iggciatecl phiases, goes onto sn3 r , with a ludicrous humility, " Sir, I have neither suflicicnt knowledge nor the ability to enter into the phases of New Zealand politics." lie has neither the knowledge nor the ability to entci into the phases, &c (whatever that may mean), and yet he has spoken above of the indignation w Inch must be felt in tins countiy at bloodshed to "satisfy the cupidity and giatify the ambition of a sot of men who care nothing for the honour of our name, and still less for the higher considerations of public moitilicy and justice " JLe has made up Ins mmd very decidedly in spite of his want of know ledge and ability , but what is that opinion w oith 1J When he goes on lo say, m a much quieter way, that if these tilings arc hue, they ought to be investigated and put a stop to, w o quite agree Tith him ; but would it not have been moic fair, nay, only strict justice to the colonists, to have called for some definite proofs beloic he allowed so violent an attack of Mituous indignation to overcome him J This fit of humility is only transient. A few sentences after lie is quite as -\ lolent is c\ er, making assei lions simply, without proffering an atom of pioof, or quoting any aulhouty The Maoiis ' know that they cannot get justice, be their cause ever so just, that the colonists arc thu^tinc for their blood, as tho most speedy way of obtaining tho land which they co\ et ; th.it it is we w r ho ai c the aggressors, while they aic lighting for life and death" Were ever more audacious statements published, unsupported, by a man who his just confessed to want of knowledge and ability t* According to tins letter the settlers seem to be little better than demons, and the Maoris to approach ncaily to the angelic nature. The facts known to us do eeilainly by no means bear out this now Do wo then mean to asscit thai the re\ crso is the case— th.it the colonists aie all goodness — the natives all evil ? Ccitainly not But we asscit tbat the colonists in the mam desire the good of the country, and if some feelings of sclt-mterest mingle with this desire, ■ire tho two ever sepaiated. J We asset t also that the Imperial Government has had but one object m view, and that object a just and a wise one, simply apart fiom all impoiial considerations — " What is the best thmg for New Zealand?" They have made mistakes, and so have the settlers. They started on a wrong pimciple. An impel mm in impciio must always be a f.ulum Had all the inhabitants of the colony been placed under tho same authority, full recognition being given to the customs and rights of the natives, and had that authority been exercised without cruelty, but w lth lite needful firmness and even seventy, the Maoiis w T ould have learnt to a much greater degicc to icspcct our institutions. Theie is no greater cruelty to a people than to be unw isely lenient on the giound of humanity We deeply regiet to hear of temporal^ failui c, for it can be but temporal y, but we trust neither f.uhuo nor success will lead tounncccssaiy severity or bloodshed, and we have f.uth m Mr Cardwcll.