DIFFICULTIES OF SUBDUING REBELLIOUS NEW ZEALANDERS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 4, Issue 195, 15 June 1861, Page 3

DIFFICULTIES OF SUBDUING REBELLIOUS NEW ZEALANDERS.

New ? ZsiiiiAKD. it ;raust =, be allowed is -a difficult country to. govern. Pur; peculiar relations ,to the native r populatipn, and their , peculiar character render it the "easiest thing in. the world to commence a quarrel with them, or rather the most difficult .thing to 'avoid: being.drawn into one r ■ the nature of the country is k such, thatj few anticipate great results when at last. hostilities; become inevitable, and many good judges believe that complete military success is not to be looked for ; and finally: as we- -see at the 'present time ; a most anomalous < state. of things may be the result of hostilities. . We. have neither peace nor war :' ; the country is full of soldiers, and the natives have returned to their peaceful avocations, for the winter months, are possibly sorry for. what they have done, but certainly do not act as if they were and at all events show very few signs of fear. Subdued they, are not.

A very able letter appeared on this subject in a. letter addressed to our contemporary, the New Zedlunder, which was published in Saturday's number of that journal. It bears the signature, Fabius. v The writer's object appears to be . to point, out the difficulties to be encountered, if. hostilities are ever commenced' in the enemy's country, and the great sacrifices which must be made if they are to be effectually surmounted. At the same time he refrains , from hazarding a suggestion as t.o the best manner of facing the present crisis, a line in which we shall follow his example ; but thoroughly convinced though we are with many in Che community holding similar opinions to those of Fabiua, that the wort of subduing the native race by force of arms is one not lightly or thoughtlessly to be entered upon, nor without a perfect recognition of the losses and sacrifices which it must entail on all in the country, we hold it useful to analyse the true nature ef the ch*cumBtances which enable a population of some fifty thousand souls to bid defiance for so long a time to the British Government.

It is not the high fern, nor the snags in -the rivers, nor the bushes, nor the gullies, nor the ranges merely which we have to contend with ; it would be an insult to our soldiers to allege that they could not soon overcome these. It is not the indomitable courage and determination of the native, which some say would cause him to die rather than surrender an inch of land : for we belieye that there is no great difference between him and any other human being ; that he is a brave man enough, but like our Celtic and Saxon ancestors to be beaten, and to be forced to give in — and yet able to survive such an event without any suicidal temptations. The real obstacle in our way is a diiierent oue. It is simply to be fouud in the Maori system of tenure of land. It is communism in"iand amongst the natives, which enables them to carry the bjld front which they do.

In every civilised country the proprietors of land form the main strength of the Conservative party ; and the . mere fact of his holding real property ia generally regarded as a pro A that a man is anxious for the maintenance of the laws ■which guarantee him certain and /undisturbed possession. Judging by a rough analogy one might assume that the natives, who are all more or. less ownera of land, should be strong Conservatives, content with holding what the law allows them to hold, and afraid of all innovations. One would expect to find them shy of a wiar carried on in. their own country, and destructive to property there. Bub they are not. They are as turbulent as any red-cravatted habitue of the Eaubourgh St. Antoine, who may help to subvert an empire, and yet run" no greater risk in so doing, than of losing his life and what he carries about with him. ' They act as if they had no stake in the country, as if there was nothing for: them, to forfeit : they ruin others, and seem regardless of the possibility of reprisals being made, which may prove serious to themselves. They seem to think that -they are playing the game of war on velvet, and the truth is, they can do bo, and are doing so.

: The insurgent in. a civilized country is dangerous, because there is nothing which, belongs to him. The New-Zealander is dangerous, because everything belongs to him in common over a wide extent of country. The latter is nowhere at home, because he is everywhere at home, and so it becomes, impossible to strike him a home blow. His altars are not national 'enough for him to shed his blood in their defence, unless they happen to be erected on a good military position, well adapted for rifle pits ; and as for hearths, they are not worth fighting about when he can make one in any suitable place with a few stones in a few minutes. The injury done to his tribe or. his tract of country by a war would be great, but it would -not have the same effect, as amongst civilized men. •, It is the thought of the ruined -farmer sitting. down upon the blackened remains of what was once his own home in the midst of his own piece of ground, which deters men generally from pushing quarrels to extremes, and allowing cotmtrieato be ravaged as the Palatinate was ravaged by Turerine^ The torch is never used in modern welfare •• till the* sword has failed, and then only reluctantly,; but the knowledge that it can be used asra' dernier J resort tends more to preserve peace and order than the fear of. slaughter on, the battlefield^ -Where c individual property exists, and the righfe r dif.'-p^opertyare_reßpected, ; a mighty power is obtained for the, prevention of evil^ a power seldom exercised, r[ but never lost sight of. No such power exists in. New Zealand. Seize a tract of land^and the loss to each of the -joint proprietors: is infinitesimally small. No man makes submission when" an overwhelming force', approaches his place of residence ;' he merely marches off to another belonging "to his tribe, and leaves 1 Mb G^n to be burned. No. place can be seized as Becurity, for onevman ? 8 good, behaviour, and so no man. 1 "' ' feels ■■ himself ■ personally responsible or accountable for: what he;does. • He knows that he miußfcs^aridsor. fall in a goodly company, who.will Bhare'hie' fatejVand such knowledge will convert timd : s into ;tirtiYB J ;:men; :for. they v^ fear less great dingfi|ftHth ; reii&ning\^llec.iively -jbJ^e'- race. or party to'.wfhiish .^hey^, belong,?; than evett^Bmaller to ; whichjthey art-theiaffiei^ and :i^iyiijnjaL^s.| .p^tenj bacdnae;; 'br^eatt-maßse^i; and in^hq -same-way. t reckless -where property vis^con-

ceßnisd^.-for theyiiprefer losing ; it; r with i many- 1 fel* iow-.suffere.rs to being ;suddenly ; deprivje^QfesQune'thing exclusively ..their, own.' ; ;The strong "feeling of ownership gradually loses itself where we have many parties. " • ' .' .

And so it is with the; native war. We : might possibly- shoot the natives>ail!down in a few years, —but it is only in English newspapers ;that -we find men discussing the possibility of an English community • being desirous of seeing such a consummation brought'about : the only real hold we shall ever have on the Maori race will be through their lands. We do not suggest such a thing, as. general confiscation, but merely say that the Government has a right .to demand, who are the real possessors of land from which we have been threatened, and to impound it like uuclaimed ; cattle till the real owner shows himeelf, who should then be made, to put his own brand upon it before it is returned to him.. We may then consider him— and he will be — personally responsible for. any further damage, so ; far as that land is concerned; In short, we shall have no hold on the natives till they individualize their property ( till they have Crown Grants given them for what, is justly their, own ; — till their property is branded. -

It will be said that this is the very thing which it is so difficult to do, and it is'so : bat still it is a definite object- to work for, and one which may be attained by means even from a military point of view most judicious. A road through the country — no mere track, we mean, — would serve to. individualize the ownership of the,land abutting on it. As mile after- mile was completed, the natives would begin to appreciate the increased value of their, property, and become anxious to have their titles to- portions recognized. They would receive Crown Grants, and every man with one would be a man lost to the enemy. It will take much time and labour to bring about such a result, but we are not sate in trusting to any half measures, and should never be deterred by difficulties from doing what must sooner or later be done, but rather study how best to surmount them effectually.