THE TROOPS AND THE HOME GOVERNMENT.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXV, Issue 3643, 23 March 1869, Page 4

THE TROOPS AND THE HOME GOVERNMENT.

Thi Nelson, Examine? ot the 3rd says: — For the Britiih Government, in thefaceof the danger* threatening the colony, to withdraw from it the last remnant of its troopa will bean aotofootd indifference to the lives and fortunes of sevaral thousands of it§ subjects which, to be guilty of, will be an everlasting reproach to the British nation. If the colony is treated as threatened by the Home Govern* menfc, And Ministers, and Parliament, and the people of England, imbued with tbe ahopkeeping policy of the Manchester sohool of politioian», stand coolly and iee their countrymen butchered by savages, their wives and children dragged from their beds at night and cruelly murdered, their homesteads given to the fi»mes, their flocks and herds driven > away and slaughtered, and from a spirit of parsimoniousness refuse to give any kind of succour— then on England will rest a foul shame. It is her statesmen and people who will have growu degenerAte, and will give an. unerring token that the might and greatness of England is on the wane. A country which has lost its aspirations for true greatness— that counts money above honour — has passed the turningpoint in its history, and although its decay may be hastened or retarded by circumstances there is the cancer which will work Ha ruin at latst. It has been the evident policy of the British Government, for tome time, to lessen the ties which bind her offspring to her, and it m» y become a question for New Zealand to consider what value the connection with the mother-country has for it. The Colonist asks:— , What shall be said of England? Thab in the utmoik need, when a savage and ornel foe to her rule, in a far-off land, had treacherously butchered her peace* ful subjeots of Anglo-Saxon race, and bad slain help* less women and babes at the breast, she left her colony bereft of all aid from the country we call by the sacred name of Mother 1 She peremptorily ordered away from the very district where oi>]y yester* day the latest instances of such murders had occurred the few we had of those soldiers whom Britain proudly uaes as the sword t« punish injustice, and to protect! the defenceless of her people. It it a new thing uader the sun, and seems akin to national disgrace. The New Zealand Sun remarks:— It may seem inconsistent to suppose that, with the orders he is now giving effect to, General Chute would, a short while back, have seat additional troopa to the colony. Nevertheless, there is no doubt he whs prepared to do so at the invitation of the Governors of / the different colonies; and it is quite certain the Go* vernors of Victoria and New South Wales were pra- I pared to endorse Sir George Bowen's recommendation I to that effeot, if he would have given it. In official I circles, in tbe neighbouring colonies, it was notorious that not only were the Governor* prepared to give the recommendation, but that it was with pain and surprise they found that tbe aid of the Imperial troopl was not Bought in the face of the, horribief outrages on her Majesty's subjeots the cannibal savages were committing. A■ to the inconsistency of sending troops to the colony, at a time when it was proposed to remove tho'e already here, it is worthy of remark that such a proceeding is not without precedent. In 1863, when the war broke out, airangeuenti were pending for removing the resident trooper, and strong were the despatches the Duke of Newcastle was in the habit of writing upon the subject. But the moment the emergency arose, all thoughts about previous intentions were banished. Sir George Grey communicated with Australia, with- India, 4 and Home, and at once, from all quarters, tbe troops poured in. Let it be remembered — not now alone, but in the days to come, when the colonists of New Zealand will bitterly rue the actions and the policy which have abut them cut from the aid of a powerful ally — let it be remembered that the Government of the colony might before the last step was taken have saved to the colony that assistance. It is a glad day for the rebels that sees those troops leaving, and the earnest moreover afforded of their not returning is shown by tbe removal of the military stores. The ablest men in New Zealand have borae witness to the danger of removing the troops whilst hostilities were progressing. Sir George Grey risked the reputation and the rewards of a life time of toil, by placing himself in opposition to hia Imperial employers, because he felt that the colony t would be endangered by the removal of the troops. It is hard to predict now what may arise from tbis shameful step. Great Britain has cut herself off from the colony, and the bus done to in the midst of its danger. She has left thousands of her subjects to battle as they may with a savage foe, who declares his intention of driving the pakeha into the sea. Not from Te Kooti or Titokowaru only do dangers threaten. Without a reliable European force, there is danger even in the most friendly natives. A word of misunderstanding might turn the Ngatiporoos or the Arawaa agaiukt us. Brave and disinterested as tbess allies have shown themselves, it is not in human nature but that th«y and other friendlies Will presume on their own strength and the colony's weakness In the face of the natives' notion that Great Brit%in has entirely abandoned the colony, the North Island at the very ' best will be in n state of- constant insecurity and danger. What would have become of India when the mutiny broke out had there been no regular soldiers in the country ? Great Britain may do more, perhaps, than she intended. iShe n>ay bring not only one colony, but many colonies nearar to the notion, most repugnant to their loyal feelings, that they might possibly do better as independent kingdoms.