The Lyttelton Times. WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1863.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XX, Issue 1110, 1 July 1863, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1863.

We prefer publishing in extenso Mr. Ward's very able pamphlet on " the relations of Great Britain with the colonists and aborigines of New Zealand," to attempting a summary of arguments which are already put very clearly and concisely. It may be well to recapitulate briefly the results he arrives at in reply to the charges recently brought against the colony. First, he traces the history of the double government, and proves that the colonists are not technically responsible either for the administration of, or legislation on native affairs; that the hands of the responsible Ministers were tied, and that the Governor acted entirely on his own responsibility. Perhaps the point which is more prominently brought before the general public by this pamphlet than it ever has been before is the fact that Governor Browne, on arriving in the colony, was not compelled to make any exceptions in handing over the management of affairs to 'responsible' advisers. In withholding from the colonists the management of native affairs, he was chiefly guided by the Missionary party, which has so often and so mischievously interfered with secular affairs in this colony. Governor Browne made a mistake at the outstart —a very natural mistake for a Governor new to the colony and its peculiar circumstances. But having taken his line, he did not shirk his duty or his responsibilities. Before he left New Zealand he probably saw reason for regretting that he had gone to the Missionary party for advice. They led him from the first into trouble, and aggravated his difficulties by their conduct towards him in the hour of trial.

Mr. Ward, by a short but clear narrative of events, goes on to show that the colonists are not morally responsible for the war, and to repudiate the idea that they wish to shelter themselves by taking refuge in technicalities. Having refuted the fundamental charge brought against the colony, he proceeds to deal with minor accusations.

He tells how the Taranaki settlers fought and suffered in support of the policy' and in defence of the dignity of the Crown; and how the colony has burdened itself with a liability, equal, in proportion to population, to a charge of £200,000,000 on the revenues of Great Britain, for the expenses of a war of no advantage to settlers. He then states the objects of the Imperial policy; the willingness of the colonists to co-operate in the beneficent work of saving the Maori race, and the real history of the offer lately made by the Duke of Newcastle in a despatch which evoked the address to the Queen of last session. As to future prospects, it is shown that the colonists are hampered by treaty engagements made by the Crown with the natives—engagements which the colony is determined to respect. It is only such a force as can be employed by a great nation that can initiate a system of real government among savages. The colonists could easily enough conquer the natives, and make the war pay by confiscating all native lands. But if it is determined to repudiate obligations, the colony will not bear the reproach of a breach of faith. It is not (as has been j suggested) because the colonists are afraid of the natives that the former demand the assistance of England to fulfil her own obligations; but because they do not wish to sacrifice the natives. A war with savages, unless conducted by an evidently overwhelming power, must end in a war of extermination. The Maori may, and probably will submit to the power of the British Crown; they will not submit to that of the colonists, after the events of the last war. The offer of payment made by the colony is generous, and it has a right to ask for an Imperial guarantee. It will pay the interest, but the mother country ought to reduce that interest by giving us the benefit of her credit in the money market. Of the three courses open to the Imperial G-overnment, as stated in the conclusion of Mr. Ward's letter to Lord Lyttelton, the last is the one which would be most acceptable to the colony at large, and the one which we have no doubt must be ultimately adopted. Much that is unreasonable and intemperate has been said on both sides of the question of relations between the mother country and the colony ; but we have great faith in the effect of so calm and able a statement of the case as the one now before us, published so opportunely by a member of the New Zealand Government in London.