WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIV, Issue 3509, 14 October 1868, Page 3

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14.

The so-called confiscation policy of New Zealand is at this moment under a cloud. Members of tho colonial Executive join with Church Missionary Bishops in denouncing the policy as a gross injustice and an almost fatal blunder, while the representatives of the Southern parts of the colony are almost ready to join in the cry which would demand restitution. Nobody, we observe, has yet gone so far as to talk of restoring the confiscated lands to the natives lately or at present engaged in hostilities against us. Yet, after all, this is the only logidal and honest deduction from much that is said on the subject ; and, if anyone would boldly make the proposal, we could almost hope, for the sake of common consistency, that many would be found to re-echo the sentiment. It appears a very plain matter of fact that, if we did so wrongly as we are told we have have done when we confiscated the native lands, our proper, indeed our only honest, course now is to retrace our ste^s and give it back. If this would not be right and wise, it follows, we imagine, that there is some doubt about the moral evil of the course we pursued in taking possession of tho lands of the natives in arms against us. The matter, however, is one which requires us to come to a decision at once upon it. If we are in the position of having done a great wrong, we should at once set about retracing our steps ; if we have only committed a great folly, even then it may be well to see what we can do to make a new and better start. The moment a position of this kind is openly canvassed, it must be decidedly met one way or other. It is useless to dream of letting the thing pass, for that only means weakening our own counsels and our own hands, and giving others, with or without cause, an opportunity for maligning us. No harm, on the other hand, can come of grappling boldly with it. The half recantation which might seem implied on our behalf in such speeches as that of Dr. Pollen and the Bishop of Waiapu are of no earthly value unless they are acted upon, and they will do serious injury unless the sentiments they express are either fully adopted or disowned. For the question is not yet settled. The confiscations made, with the one exception of the Waikato, are but little more than nominal confiscations, so far as any real change in the position either of the natives or Europeans is concerned. We indeed are more affected than they are, because we have given away Borne of these lands although we dare not occupy them. "We are told then that the confiscation of native lands was a great error, and a great injustice on our part. We are told to believe that it is this that makes peace and harmony no very difficult to reach, for the. simple reason that we are wrongdoers and oppressors of the very people we are so apparently eager to live^o^^^d^term^umtjj^ If, however, we " come to a plain commonsense review of this matter, we shall probably* find ourselves first asking what injustice we have done when we confiscated tjie laud of! the natives in arms. It is no ajaswer to, thisto say that there was something doubtful in our title to the Waitara block, because, w^d. had we been altogether wrong about that' block, no confiscations were made in consequence of the Taranaki war of-1860. The con fiscations made were made because we were attacked and forced to fight by the natives, and were intended more as a punishment to them than as any profit to us. Looked at from this point of view, it is rather hard to see where any injustice was done. No one can say the confiscations were a sudden thought suddenly ,acterl upon, because the reverse of this was most emphatically true. Full warning was given of the punishment which we intended to inflict unless the natives in arms ceased to fight ; the natives did not cease to fight, or to waylay and kill our people when and where they could. Two things then made it necessary to confiscate land : one was by way of punishment, which might act as a warning to others ; the other by way of security for ourselves. We had ■een so much of an exposed frontier that we were eager to secure a safe frontier ; we had so felt the terrible evils of an unwarlike European population fully exposed to a warlike Maori population that we thought it some gain to have land on our frontier on which we could settle a warlike population of our own. In all this there was nothing of injustice. The cause of punishment was a restless and bloodthirsty hostility to ourselves, which we were bound to punish, whether manifested in subjects or in mere neighbours. Warning was given of the punishment, and time allowed for reformation and escape on the part of the natives, but they refused to listen. The object of employing this particular mode of punishment was simply this, that it was one known to be felt by the offenders, and expected to add to our safety for the future. In all this there is no element of injustice that we can discover. That it was a great erroris assumed perhaps hastily by many people even of those who see no injustice in the measure. It is true we have not made anything in money by the measure, but this we hardly expected. It is true that at Whanganui it appears to have kept up an irritation, which led to a new war, but it may very well be that it was rather the mode than the principle that was here in fault. Confiscation can only be reasonably followed by occupation when it follows upon conquest. The Whangauui natives were never conquered, were never indeed fairly beaten. In Waikato, so far as we have gone, confiscation has been no failure, but a complete success. True it has cost more than it has brought in, but we did not confiscate primarily with a view to making money, nor at all with the view of getting a quick return in cash. It does not, of course, follow that the success of tho Waikato experiment is to be looked for everywhere. Circumstances have been very propitious in Waikato ; they may be less so . elsewhere. But this ought to affect rather the . mode than the principle. So. far from its

being unjust to mulct the Whanganui natives now in arms against us, we should consider it a great injustice to allow them to go wholly unpunished. If in puniaMng them we can in any degree repair theJPfchief they have done the colony, that, <fc|^ill be simply jiist. It is evident that no such effects can be produced by confiscating, and attempting to occupy, the land. We are too poor to do it. In the meantime our neighbours are, in some important respects, stronger than we are, and we are losers, even when we triumph m fighting them. Our fund of strength lies in the future. We can wait, and grow stronger by by waiting. Our enemies, if they wait, must grow weaker. Once more, then, we assert that confiscation is both just and politic, but the occupation of confiscated territory may easily be very much the reverse. In the meantime we should like to see all the lands of our bloodthirsty enemies at Whanganui confiscated ; but we should wait patiently before talcing possession.

We have received by the Suez mail a copy of "The Social Economist : Industrial, Partnership*, Record, and Co-operative Revie*." The journal, which is well got up, ami contains some able articles, is devoted to the discusuon of the numerous questi >ns comprised under its title. It is sent to us by Mr. George Jacob Holyaake, who is, we presume, the editor; or, at any rate, one of the principal contributors. There is, however, nothing in the journal savouring of Mr. Holyoake's well-known opinions ou religious questions. Iv another column will be found an extended report of the proceedings of the Genoral Syuod of New Zealand during the last two days. Mr. Mackay, Civil Commissioner, left Shoitland yesterday for Coromandel and Whangapoua, to arrange about the openiug of the ground for £oldmining. The Choral Society gavo another performance last evening in the new Music Hall, which was crowded iv every part. At the conclusion of the fir&t part of the programme, an address from tue Choral Society was presented to the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of New Zealand and Lichfield. The eloquent speech delivered by the Rev. D. Bruce in presenting the address, as well as his Lordship's reply, will be found 'n our report of the concert. As a proof of the excellence of the acoustic properties of the building, we may mention that our reporter wan euabled to take down the remarks of the speakers while standing at the extreme end of the building near the door. * The address was beautifully and tastefully engrossed i.y Mr. T. S. Hall, who is a member of the Society. The trustees of the Dedwood Highway Board met at the office of Mr. Oldhauj, High-str- it, yesterday afternoon. Present : Messrs. Darby, Oldham, West-, and Cheesemao. Mr. Daltons map was examined, and » wteW was given for preparation of a lis»t of occupiers, owners only having been furnished with the same. The Board adjourned till 3 p.m. on Tu. day mxt. Yesterday morning the stock imported by Every Maclean, Esq., per ship 'Siam,' was brought on shore in a cargo boat, at d landed without accident. The whole of the animals are in splendid condition, and it was difficult to believe that they had only jrst landed from a long sea voyage The animals irrported by Mr. Maclean are a you *q bull calf (valued by its owner at more than 500 guineas), two rams and five ewes, and a boar and sow pig. Ihe followi. q is the pedigree of the pigs :— The sow and boar pies are pure Berkshire (blacks, with grey face), bred by her Majesty»the Queen at Windsor Castle, Berks. The sow : From Ist prize sow at the Royal Agricultural Society's Show, at Batterssa ; sire, bred by the Queeb. The boar : Dam, a prize-taker named Old Bess ; sire, now at Windsor, bred in Ireland by a celebrated breeder of Berkshire pigs. Last evening the animal soirge iv connection with the Edwardes-stresb Sabbath-school was held in the room adjoining the oliapsl. A report appears ia another columu. A meeting of the parishioners of St Paul's was held yesterday afternoon, the Very Her. Archdeacon Lloyd in the chair, for the purpose of taking into cmsideration the question of presenting the Bishop of New Zealand with a suitable testimonial on his final departure from this colony. Snbtcriptious will be received for the above object by Mcsirs.Bowden, Booker, Baber, Hurst, Hookar, Kisslmg, Lewis Leighton, Oldham, Pierce, Roberton, Tquks, Walker, and Shirley Rill (T.eisur,*). -OuVrepoit of the pro-_^eul^g3"wrn~beii3>und-elBe-wher«»-- ■ v \ A child, ab'-ut 18 months old, was found wandering 'bovu Parnell lasT evening by Mr. Clark, of the 'AletandrafFotel, and as he was unable to give any aocoiiufclof himself, and was unknown to the people in the vicinity, Mr. Clark veiy thoughtfully conveyed him > fa»b> own home, and will take c -.re of him until he unclaimed by his friends or relatives. A man namfed Willhm Busbe was apprehended late last night by Detective Murjjhy, charge 1 with -•teiling a watch and chain, a pair of boot", two UaTiketß, and o her articles, the property of one Daniel Pecker. It seems that tho prisoner arid the piosecutor were a short time ago mates at the Thames and occupi'd'a™ eatae Iffhar*-, and that Bushe took advantage of the absence of Pecker to appropriate the articles mentione-l above, and "akbdaddle 1 to Aucklpnd, no doubt thinking ttmtbe would'b- quite safe here and out of the re.ich of the uuau ha had robbed. The theft, however, coming to the ears of the police, F.cker wa3 scut for, and arrived by steamer last night, wheu he was met by detective Murphy, wbom he accompanied on a visit round the town, and the pusoner was ultimately found drinking in the Exch\nge Hotel, when h« was at once identified by Pecker as the mm who had robbed him. He waa immediately apprehended and couveyed to the lock- up, where, ou being searched, the watch aud boot*, which he was wearing at lha time, were found up -n h'm. A woman, named Elizabeth Smyth, who 13 well known to the police, was apptvheudtd last even'"ug for using foul and di-^u-t-ng language in the pnblic streets. This claas of offences seems to be largely ou the increase of late, nolwitUUndint; the heavy flues which have beeu inflicted iv such ca=»es. A meeting of the Auckland Cavalry Volunteers was convened to be held in the Catholic Institute last evening, but only a few members of the troop a'tended. Those present wore put thr>ugh vaiims ex* reins by Sertjeint-Major Ryland. A number of ge-.tlemen desirous of promoting the fcrmntion of a Caledonian Club met in the -tar Hotel, lavt evening. Mr. Matthew Whi'elaw wia called to the chair. A resolution was passed constituting a Caledonian Club, au.l a cumm.-teo appointed to draw up acole of rules. We are gad to r erc-.ive that stepa ere ben? taken to perp-tiute theathe'etio sports so (successfully initiated lust year. The Caledonian Games arc-now look'd upon with great favour by all closes at horn*, and we have no d»u' t thai the Club formed last evening will meet with the encouragement of the Auckland public, and we confidently anticipate that the foi-tcomiug gathering will be a successful on»*. There will be a grand performance at the Prince of Wales Ilieatie to-night for V very excellent object, and we have no doubt that we shall have the pleasure of reporting an overflowing housf. 'I he pincß chosen for the occasion is " Love's "Sacr fiee, in which Mrs. Robert Heir w'H take the character of Margaret Elmore ; and the object, a3 we need hardly remiudour readers, to which the piocesds of the night's performance will be devoted, U the rahef of the sick and destitute. Whatever objections there might be to paying a poll tax levi-d by a a Provincial Council, there cannot, we are sure, be a-iy to reli ving the sick and destitute in this way. There was a good attendance at the theatre last ni»ht, when "Tbe Meichant of Venice" aad "Whitebait at Gieenwich" were performed. A loctur.' on chenrstry, illustrated by i-xperira nts and diagrams is to bo given on Friday evening next, at the Mecha-.ic.' Institute, by Mr. C. A. Robertson. 'Ihe only bnsineM at the Police Court yesterday was the punishment of three drunkards iv the usual naautter. We hive been requested to state that the gates of the Albert Barracks will be cosed on Thursday next, the 16th instant.

PROVINCIAL LUNATIC ASYLUM. ItETITR^ for the week ending Friday, October 9, 18G8 : — Remaine I last weak, 79 ; admitted ►ince, 0 ; re nov«l by hu<.b.tiid , 1 ; died, 0 ; remaining, 78, iOHBisting of 54 males and 24 female?, classed ai follow :— Mania, 41 j melancholia, 11 ; dementia, 19 j epilepsy, 3; idiocy, 4— Total, 7*.