Evening Post. THURSDAY, JULY 4, 1895 THE URIWERA EXPEDITION.

Evening Post, Volume L, Issue 4, 4 July 1895, Page 2

Evening Post. THURSDAY, JULY 4, 1895 THE URIWERA EXPEDITION.

Mb. Siddon may consider himself fortunate that he has not the lives of many men to answer for. Had the ill-considered Uri. wora expedition resulted in bloodshed, the responsibility wonld have rested upon him. It is through no foresight or oaution on his patt that he has escaped this responsibility. The sending of a small handful of police into a district teeming with more or less exoited ■natives was a proceeding ra%h even to reokleesneaa. No soldier would have sent such a weak force, nnproviaioned and without support, into a posßibly hostile country. No one really acquainted with native affairs wonld have advised suoh an expedition Mr. Sxddon's was the audaoity of ignoranoe. Fortur-atoly, tbe good sense of the Uriwera natives, and the exoeilent condnot of the men of the force sent, have averted the danger arising from the ill-considered step of sending suoh an expedition. It would have taken very little to have induosd a oatastrophe as bloody and disastrous as any recorded in the history of native affairs in this colony. That the men sent were fully alive to the danger ot their situation, we know. They were quite consoious of how entirely their lives were in tbe hands of the Maoris by whom they were surxonnded. We have before us now a letter from one of the force to a friend, in which the following significant passage oooura.—"lf we were to start a shindy I know who would oome off Beoond beat. They (the Maoris) would wipe the floor with us." But the men have never flinohed for an instant. They have maintained an orderly behaviour and a firm front, and have patiently endured much hardship, living Ireqnently on potatoes and salt, damper and tea. Flour coat them £20 per ton, and everything else in proportion. Mutton was only procurable from the natives, who oharged exorbitantly for it, and the work of road-making was difficult and exhaneting, owing to the olimata and the oonntry. Under all these diffiouHioß and dangers the conduct of the men has been exemplary, and it might have been expeoted that the Government wonld treat them fairly and even liberally. Aocording to the gazetted Polioe Regulations, men npon temporary duty are entitled to expenses at the rate of 6s per diem for the first six days, and 5s per diem after that dnring their absence from their station. Suoh allowances would not have been in any degree more than sufficient to recoup the extra sxpense these men have been put to. When they left Wellington in auoh a hurry they were only permitted to take with them their uniform and two blankets. Living in tents far from watertight, and working d»ily in wet bmh, their uniforms have qniokly been rendered unfit for town use. They have also had to supply themselves with extra clothing, both for warmth's sake and to ohange after getting wet at work. Their duties have baen most arduous and their expenses great, and now after two months' endurance they have been informed tbat the usual allowances are not to be made to them, and that the 'Government will deduct the oost of their rations from their ordinary pay. In addition to the gazetted regulations, the allowances, ther allege, were distinctly promised to them by the offioer in charge before their departure, and even if paid wonld barely recoup the extra expenae they have been pnt to. They will all require to provide new uniforms when they return. Under these ciroumstanoes it is not to be wondered at tbat intense dissatisfaction exists amongst the men. They oonsider that they have been deceived, and treatsd in a scandalously shabby and unfair manner, and we fully agree with them. Faith hat been broken by the Government with man who deserved well of it, and whose lires were placed in most serious jeopardy by the aotion of Ministers. Mr. Siddon may be frightened by the total biU the oonntry will have to pay for this mad Utiwera expedition ; bat the men who took part in it, •nd have done their duty well, should not be defrauded of their just rights in order to make the total appear leas. We direot the attention of Parliament to the manner in 4rbioh Ministers propose lo treat these men.