The Hawke's Bay Hearld SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1865. THE MAORI PRISONERS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 8, Issue 713, 30 December 1865, Page 2

The Hawke's Bay Hearld SATURDAY, DECE MBER 30, 1865. THE MAORI PRISONERS.

Since the commencement of the New Zealaud war, one of the most difficult questions the government of the day Ijas had to grapple with has arisen out of the disposal of native prisoners. The angry correspondence between the Whitaker-Fox ministry on this subject will be in tbo recollectiou of most of our readers ; as well as the circumstances which led to it. The escape of the prisoners from Kawau and their consequent dispersion among the several tribes to which they belonged, there to sow further disaffection, has, no doubt, been the fruitful cause of trouble and anxiety to the settlers of the Northern Island. The same difficulty is felt at the present hour. Indeed the question of native prisoners is now assuming a magnitude before unknown. The large number of natives who have been taken on the East Coast with arms in their hands, with the great probability of further accessions ere the war is brought to a close, has proved a source of very great embarrassment to the Government. To havo refused the surrender of those people was a thing which could not be entertained by civilized men. To keep them in idleness is not to be thought of in these hard up times, or indeed in any times j while to liberate them would be an exceedingly dangerous, nay almost insane, experiment. Mr. Stafford proposes to meet the difficulty by placing the labor of the prisoners at the disposal of the chief provincial govern i ents of the Middle Island, more especially that of Otago, in return for their safe keeping and maintenance during the period of undergoing sentence. This arrangement would, to some exteut, answer tho purpose. It would be expatriation on a small scale ; and would, while thus bringing a tolerably severe punishment to bear upon the prisoners, relieve the colony of the heavy burden entailed upon it for their support. The scheme, however, is not freo from objection ; and, indeed, it is ! yet doubtful whether the offer of the Premier will in any case be accepted. Whether or not, the scheme can only be regarded as provisional ; and it is incumbent on the General Government to devise some plan of a more permanent nature, providing for a difficulty which there is every reason to believe will become, day by day, more formidable. The idea has been mooted of a Penitentiary in the Chatham Islands, to which convicts of this class could be sent. Tho moral effect of such a mode of punishment would be infinitely greater than that involved in a simple removal to the Middle Island. Expatriation would be felt as a reality, while the chances of escape would be all but nil. With ordinary care aud management such an institution could be made self-support-ing. The Chathams possess a rich and productive soil, capable of yielding cereal crops of every description, aud for which a ready market could always be fouud. We know.iiio more effectual method of checking any further attempts at insurrection than the introduction of such a system of punishment ; and we trust the goverumeut will see its way towards giving tho suggestion a careful consideration.