The Evening Star MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1869.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 2037, 15 November 1869, Page 2

The Evening Star MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1869.

We were not aware, until the receipt of the telegram on Saturday, that ’Tawhiao considered himself at wai with Her Majesty, and therefore were quite unprepared for the jubilant tone in which Sir G. F. Bowes telegraphed that Mr M‘Lean had arranged “ term? “ of peace ” with him. Wo suppose we must not be over-fastidious about matters of this sort. The old proveii: tells us to “ praise the bridge we get “ well over; ” and if by a skilful diplomatic move Mr M‘Leax contrive? to establish peace in the North Island, there is every reason to say with hi? Excellency the Governor, “ This is ex ■“ cellent news.” But the questior •again recurs, Was the Colony at wai

with Tawhaio 1 The general impression has been that our enemies were only small parties under Te Kooti and Tito Kowaku. Is it at length going to turn out that those tocmen were acting under the authority of the Native King, and that what has been considered only a Hau-hau raid has really been a political war '! Under the circumstances curiosity is aroused as to the terms in which the “ peace ” with Tawhiao has been secured. W c do not much care about them, whatever they may be, provided they are not derogatory to us as colonists ; and we have too much confidence in Mr M'Lean’s tact to believe that he would consent to anything of that character. We have always believed that when the people of the North Island know they were not to be helped by either British or Middle Island money, they would easily contrive to put a stop to war. Circumstances have latterly materially tended to this course. Auckland has become deeply interested in peace, and the increased value of several estates in which influential Maoris are concerned, point to greater advantages to be derived from peace than from war. >So as both sides find it convenient to come to terms, the way is paved for an amicable settlement of differences. The determined refusal of the British Government to fight our colonial battle has been a pressure of another kind brought to bear upon the North Island colonists ; contractors and others begin to see that the game is up, and the determined attitude taken by the present Government in organising an efficient well armed force must have had a deterrent effect upon the Maori mind. We may now hope that the tide has turned, and that although 1 there may, and no doubt will be, occa- | sional outbursts that require repression, ! the end of the Maori difficulty is looming upon us. Under these circum- | stances theoretic objections would be : out of place, but we cannot help specuI lating as to the logic by which, his Excellency the Governor, and his advisers get out of the dilemma in which they are placed. On the 3.‘3rd of June the opinion of the Hon. the Attorney General was requested on the concluding paragraph of Earl Granville’s despatch, No. 130, of the 26th Feb. 1869, which “ implies that the Maoris now “ in arms against the Government are “ a foreign enemy, or, at all events, “‘belligerents’ with whom the usual “‘laws of war’ must be observed.” The honorable gentleman in an elaborate reply concluded “ There can be no “ doubt that the rights of sovereignty “ extend to all persons within the ter- “ ritory over which the sovereignty ex- “ tends. It is, I think, clear that “ those of the Maori race now inhabit- “ ing New Zealand, who were born “ before the assumption of sovereignty “ over the land by the Queen, became “ naturalised subjects of the Queen, “ whether the sovereignty was ceded “ or not ; it is clear that all “ former dominion, if any such “ existed, must be taken to have “ been extinguished by the Queen’s “ assumption of sovereignty, and that “ such persons arc now, for all pur- “ poses, naturalized subjects of New “ Zealand, and equally bound by the “ same laws, and owe the same alle- “ gianco as natural born subjects, “ whether born of the British or Maori, “ or any foreign race.” Acting upon this authority, the General Assembly passed “ The Disturbed Districts Act, “ 1869.” The intention and spirit of that Act is to deprive Natives taken in anus against the Crown or Colony of belligerent lights, to enable the Government to treat them as criminals, and to award to them such punishment as their newly created crimes may require. The first crime enumerated as coming within the scope of the Act is that of High Treason. Now, according to Hale’s pleas of the Crown and other works, it must be concluded that “ almost every act that could be in any “ way considered as a breach of alie- “ gianco due to the king, or a construc- •- tive assumption of royal authority, “ was deemed to he high treason as an “ ‘accroachment of royal power.’ ” By the Statute of Treasons 25. Edward !3, “ Levying war against the King within *• his realm, and being adherent to the “ King’s enemies in his realm, giving } “ them aid and comfort in the realm i “ and elsewhere',” is declared troasou- “ able.” For our own part we cannot see how Tawhiao, if he can make terms of jeeace, can escape being placed in the category. Of course we cannot say what the terms arc on which peace is henceforth to depend, but if it was competent to negotiate with the Maori King, and to treat him as a foreign enemy, entitled to belligerent rights, on what shadow of justice are the Maoris imprisoned in Dunedin Gaol denied them'! We do not for a moment doubt the expediency of the course pursued towards them and towards him ; but do not let it be pretended that it is defensible o;j the score of justice. The Attorney-General certainly provides for such a contingency when he says : “ It may bo sufli- ■“ dent to say that when rebellion has

“ assumed such proportions that those “ who are iu arms against the Sovereign “ would be able, if forced to do so by “ tlie conduct of the Sovereign towards “ them, to take such reprisals upon “ those who adhere to the Sovereign as “ to insist u])on the observances of the “ usages of war, then, probably, those “in rebellion should be treated as “ enemies with whom the usages of “ war should be observed.” That is, we presume, as much as to say. .If you are strong enough, treat rebels as criminals : if not, treat them only as enemies. Tory convenient, truly. The Government have proved themselves apt scholars.