MR. CARD WELL ON THE COLONY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1431, 14 July 1865, Page 2

MR. CARD WELL ON THE COLONY.

Another Parliamentary paper, published at home and sent to the colony, serves to throw light upon our relations with the Imperial Government. The dispatch of Mr. Cardwell, which will be found elsewhere, is the latest which has reached the colony, except only that which may have been brought in mauuscript by the mail just arrived. We have previously obtained in a Bimilar manner and published Mr. Cardwell's dispatches of the 26th Jan. and 27th Feb , to which the present is in regular sequence, so that our readers are in full possession of the views of the Colouial Office concerning NewZealand affairs down to the most recent dates. The dispatches from the colony are, of course, very old, being dated in the beginning of January. Among those from Sir George Grey only one is of any moment. It is that which transmits the petition of the Auckland Provincial Council for the separation of that province froin the rest of New Zealand. The Governor's opinion— which is his alone, not approved by his advisers—is favourable to the petition, and worded with remarkable strength. " Unless some such arrangement is carried out," he says, " it will be impossible to bring to a satisfactory termination the difficulties prevailing in this country." No mere opinion could be more"forcibly put thau this is, by the man in whose judgment the Colonial Office has to confide. Practically the Governor says, without separation peace and good government are impossible. But what sort of answer does he get? Mr. Cardwell declares that he "sees no reason, as at present advised, for giving any encouragement to any such proposal." Surely Sir George Grey's opinion does not weigh much with the Colonial office!

Then we come to Sir Duncan Cameron and his opinions. The whole of the correspondence, both English and colonial, in this part of the papers is new. It does not amount to much, for the General is plain-spoken, and his hopes, fears, and diiticulties are on the surface. What we now learn is, that the programme of Mr. Weld, on coming into ollice, as to a campaign betweeu Taranaki and Wanganui, met with the General's strong disapproval. He had not men enough to carry it out in his own stvle, and of course it never entered into his head that a warlike movement could be performed by any other forces than those under his command. Besides, the campaign was a ne\v aggressive movement, and General Cameron was fully aware that the Imperial Government did not choose that their troops should be employed in such a thing again in New Zealand. We can pretty plainly see how the serious difference between the General and the Government began. Holding the objections alluded to, General Cameron first tried to oppose the campaign by argument. He told the Governor that, if the Ministry meant to follow out their progamme, he must apply to England for reinforcements; and he naked for the full plan, that he might know how many more troops to apply for. Of course, the General knew how fruitless such a request would have been, and the Governor knew it too; and the correspondence was merely a protest against the campaign altogether. But the Ministry insisted, the programme was drawn up, and the Governor distinctly called upon the General for his assistance. So called upon, he could not refuse; but he had I said that the number of troops which he could spare would be insufficient for the purpose, and the.opinion seems to have been either true or the cause of its own justification. It is obvious that General Cameron was acting willhiglyandundercompulsionthroughout the Wanganui campaign ; and the troops underhiscommandwerecertainly not effective. The bitterness of his feeling would be intensified by the greater successes gained by a handful of colonial and native forces here and there. And it is no wonder that a campaign so begun, and so carried on, should serve no purpose but to corroborate Mr. Weld's opinion that the Imperial troops may be very well spared from the colony. Mr. CardwelFs dispatch has, like his others, a strong flavour of the newspaper article. It is clear, terse, and argumentative, and quite free from those conventional phrases which we are accustomed to read in official dispatches, when the writer wishes to look like giving an opinion without having any. Mr. Cardwell has views, and is not afraid of expressing them. Sir George Grey is very plainly told that the number of troops in the colony must be reduced ; that whether any are left or not depends on himself and the General; that those which are permitted to remain must be used only as a reserve for defence in case of an extraordinary outbreak ; that they must be paid for at the price stipulated ; and that no reduction will be made in the former claims of the mother country upon the colony. All this is very plain speaking ; if we want to be quite sure what the mind of the Home Government is, here we have it. And besides, the colony is told that the policy of the new Ministry was acceptable at home ; that their proposed dealings with the rebel natives are just; and that they may confiscate as much land as they may choose, provided they arrange to retain it by colonial and not by British forces. Practically, this is the meaning of the paragraph relating to Taranaki. We have, therefore, every confidence that the later news from the colony will be most acceptable. The offer of payment (even in debenture*) of the whole Treasury claim will satisfy the Colonial officeof our honesty at least in intention; and the successes of the local forces at Wanganui will show a real prospect of getting back 1 lie troops without the colony being left defenceless. There is one point, however, on which we venture to remark that Mr. Cardwell is not quite clear. That is, as to tho responsibility for keeping the troops still in the colony. He talks, to be sure,

of the Colonial Ministry being anxious to diminish the number. But behind all is the direction to the Governor and the General to judge for themselves on their own responsibility, VVe do not suppose the General would care to keep a single soldier in the colony, but the Governor may be very unwilling to let them go. And we must recollect that great stress has been laid in Parliament upon the point that the Colonial Ministry is not to interfere in any way with Her Majesty's forces. " Suppose, then, that Mr. Weld and his colleagues hold the opiuiou that if any troops go they should all go ; but the Governor, ou his separate responsibility, decides that two or three regiments are to remain; is Mr. Cardwoll's absolute dictum respecting payment by the colony still to take effect? This is a point upon which the Colonial Office policy evidently differs from that of the War Office; and both recognize the fact that any sudden withdrawal of the troops, followed by disaster in the colony, would excite indignation in Parliament not to be allayed by any excuse. We should like to be distinctly informed whether the colony is liable to be called on to pay for troops, without having any choice whether they shall stay here or go.