HAMILTON. MEETING OF THE WIVES AND FAMILIES OF THE 4th WAIKATOS. (FROM A CORRESPONDENT.) February 15.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXII, Issue 2682, 20 February 1866, Page 5

HAMILTON. MEETING OF THE WIVES AND FAMILIES OF THE 4th WAIKATOS. (FROM A CORRESPONDENT.) February 15.

A MEETiHGt of the -wives and families of the 4th. Waikato Regiment took place this afternoon, the resolutions of which I forward for in your next week's impression. A large assemblage like the one this day, gires weight to the question of the rations, &c, which must be supplied, to the families if they are to live. The mothers of children, and the wives of husbands, who came forward are a credit to the colony. The most modest way in which they spoke, and at the uune time the common sense that was manifested, was all that could be expected. The shoeless children, and at the same time the evident attempt by the women to appear respectable in their wornout dresses, was something more than people living in towns and cities might expect to see in a new and thriving colony. The people of these settlements are determined to pursue the right. I The women (mothers) of this settlement nobly acquitted themselves, and will prove themselves to 1 be a prop, if not the main prop of this populous settlement. I enclose the resolutions proposed and seconded at the meeting. For obvious reasons the names of the ladies who took part in the proceedings are withheld. You may rest assured that it was a " grand demonstration ;" and, could the ladies of Auckland only have been present, there would have j been elicited from them, I feel persuaded, the I warmest sympathy. The following are the resolutions :—: — 1. "That this meeting views with feelings of alarm the anticipated stoppage of the daily rations to the men and their families of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th W.R., who were said to have been in the 'possession of their land ' on the 7th March last." 2. "That this meeting, regarding the proclamation of the Governor, dated the sth of December last, as the only legal instrument by which the men of the Waikato regiments can be relieved from actual service, insists upon it that the twelve months' rations referred to in the Waikato conditions should commence from the respective dates on which such proclamation was read to the several regiments." 3. ' ' That this meeting, composed of the wives and children of the men of the 4th Waikato Regiment, ' off pay,' who are at present' in a state of starvation and nearly naked, and who have been induced under false pretences to come to this colony, appeal to {he ladies of the province 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'colomes for ship accommodation, to aid us in returning to our homes which we have so foolishly left."