The Lyttelton Times. WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 1865.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1442, 26 July 1865, Page 2

The Lyttelton Times. WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 1865.

Grnebal Cameron has at last been relieved by the War Office of his New Zealand command. It appears that he long ago tendered his resignation ; but it is only now, when the withdrawal of the troops will reduce the importance of the post, that Sir Duncan's resignation has been accepted. We cannot regret his departure ; but we are sorry that it has not taken place under more pleasant circumstances. Sir Duncan Cameron came to the colony with a high reputation as a soldier. When he superseded Major-General Pratt; the colony was in raptures at the advent of a fighting general, one trained in the best school and fresh from its practical lessons. He had the admiration and respect of us all, as a brave old soldier of high rank and undoubted reputation in the field. And from his personal character and the large force under his command the most lively anticipations were conceived of future success. But more than four years have passed by since General Cameron's arrival; and the colonists are tempted to say, what they would be pretty nearly justified in saying, that general and army have been useless. True, there has been the "Waikato campaign of 1863 —4, in which the natives were swept from their lands and the heart of the North Island left bare for our possession. But at what an enormous cost of life and treasure was this conquest made! Looked at with the light of our later experience, the "Waikato campaign appears a frightful waste of men and money. It was the form of attack by regular troops which made it so. General Cameron had but his own tools to work with and his own experience to guide him; and therefore he did his work as it was done. He himself must have been one of those least satisfied with it. His skill and his soldiers' lives were wasted, along with hundreds of thousands of pounds, for no adequate result —for no result at all that he could care about. The General could not but be disappointed with the colony; and the colonists with the General. They could get their work done better; and he did not want to do it. It was better that they should part; and now they have parted. We cannot but pity Sir Duncan Cameron, who has lost so much in New Zealand; but for our own sakes we cannot regret his going, for New Zealand has lost much by his presence. And when the General g«es, bo may the army.