The Daily Southern Cross.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXII, Issue 2682, 20 February 1866, Page 4

The Daily Southern Cross.

LTJCEO, NON TJRO. " If I have been extinguished, yet thtre rise A thousand beacons from the (park I bore."

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20.

Once more we direct attention, to the state of things in the Waikato. On Friday last a meeting of the wives and children of the men of the 4th Waikato Regiment was held at Hamilton, at which the deplorable condition of these people was considered from the housewife's point of view. We regret that we are unable to publish any of the remarks made upon this occasion. We are, however, in a position to publish the resolutions ; and they are sufficiently eloquent to appeal to the sympathies of every man and woman in this community. We say unhesitatingly that the state of the Waikato regiments and their families is rapidly approaching utter destitution. Starvation is staring these people in the face. They are legally entitled to back pay and a year's rations from some time in last December ; but it is sought to withhold the arrears of pay, and almost immediately to stop the ordinary rationß, by giving effect to the action taken by the Weld Government. Whether the Government of Mr. Stafford will persist in this course remains to be seen. The delegates from the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Waikatos, recently in Auckland, have secured legal advice, and mean to prosecute their claim in the Supreme Court,

[ should the Government not give way. But in the meantime, what are these poor people to do ? The women almost without any decent ] clothing ; the children shoeless ; the fathers without employment to procure the ordinary means of subsistence ;— all, with starvation staring them in the face : this is the picture. It is not overdrawn. It is the bare outline, and we leave our readers to fill in the details. What is to be done ? we ask again. Auckland cannot stand still and witness this great calamity unmoved. An appeal has been made to the ladies of Auckland by the wives and children of the men of the Waikato regiments ; and that appeal, we believe, will not be made in vain. They say, in the fourth resolution, that " the wives and children of the 4th " Waikato Eegiment off pay, who are at " present in a state of starvation, and who have " been induced, under false pretences, to come " to this colony, appeal to the ladies' of the pro- " vince of Auckland, knowing that such appeal " will elicit their sympathy, assuring all parties " concerned that, unless some assistance be " afforded us, we shall be compelled to appeal " to the Australian colonies for ship accommo- " dation to aid us in returning to our homes, " which we have so foolishly left." This is an appeal which cannot be set aside. It goes to the very root of the matter. It brings home to the people of Auckland their responsibility in connection with the Waikato settlements. Do what they may, - our fellow - settlers of Auckland cannot get away from it. These people are here in our province, on the skirts of the settled districts, occupying the outposts of civilization, and standing between us and the enemy ; — and they are wanting bread. Winter is approaching, and they want clothing. The Government of the colony may be, and doubtless are, bound to provide pay and rations for the Waikato Militia according to agreement ; but meanwhile the Government decline to do anything of the kind, and by a dishonest pretence endeavour to evade their engagements, and throw the entire responsibility on the province. And as the seat of Government has been removed to Cook's Straits, where the voice of remonstrance can hardly be heard, it is very plain that the province must act. The General Government has only to continue doing as it has done, namely, putting off the settlement of every question from day to day, to coerce the province of Auckland into assuming the entire responsibility of maintaining the military settlers and their families. That is very evident. It is also clear that some such policy is being pursued at present. But whilst all this is going on, thousands of our fellow-colonists are pining in Upper Waikato, nominally in the possession of valuable town and farm sections, but really in absolute want, and without even a chance of being able to remove their wives and children to Auckland, were labour available here. Under such circumstances, the Provincial Government ought to interfere at all hazards. The necessity for interference has now become imperative. Work of some kind ought to be found for the military settlers, who must be kept upon their lands if Auckland is to overcome her difficulties, and become a prosperous community. We do not pretend to suggest what .kind of employment ought to be given. We leave that entirely with the authorities. But we might hint that encouragement might be given to the military settlers to gather kauri gum off the confiscated land. The tools required are very simple and inexpensive, and with moderate industry fair wages might be made at it. £16 per ton would be readily given for gum in Upper Waikato, and judging from the quantities gathered by the Maoris in that district, we believe the experiment of searching for it by the Europeans would be tolerably successful. When on this subject, however, we desire to point out to the agent of the General Government in Auckland, the great danger there is of a conflict between the military settlers and the Maoris, if the natives belonging to Thompson's tribe, or to any other tribe, are permitted to enter upon the fifty-acre sections of the militia regiments, and dig gum thereon. This they have already done, and gum, in considerable quantities, has been removed by them. One military settler complains of a loss of gum, taken from his allotment by the natives, for which between £40 and £50 was obtained. The Eesident Magistrate can give no redress ; and the question the agent of the Government will immediately have to decide will be— whether the civil power is to protect the military settlers in the quiet enjoyment of their land, or whether they must take the law into their own hands and protect themselves. This is an important question, which admits of very little delay in its adjustment. The military settlers are anxious to live on friendly terms with the natives, but they mean to retain what they are entitled to by law. Reverting to the condition of the Waikato regiments, we have just one other word to say, and it is to renew our appeal to the community at large, and to the Government of the province, to take active steps to afford relief. There is no time to be lost. If by any chance the Waikato settlements are abandoned; — if by any unfortunate combination of circumstances, the men composing the three regiments struck off pay, and about to be struck off rations, should be compelled to appeal to the Australian colonies for the means of transport from our shores, we may make up ourjuinds to the curtailment of this settlement for the next twenty years. The colonisation of the North Island will be thrown back a quarter of a century ; and the commercial prosperity of Auckland could hardly survive the shock. There is a plain duty before the province ; let us set about discharging it manfully. The moral obligation is on us, as a community : the legal obligation rests with the General Government ; but when thousands of our fellow-creatures are crying for bread it is no time to stand on legal forms.