The Lyttelton Times. FRIDAY, JULY 26, 1867.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2058, 26 July 1867, Page 2

The Lyttelton Times. FRIDAY, JULY 26, 1867.

The correspondence which has just .been published between the Gover-. nor and Executive Council of New •Zealand, and. the Colonial; Office of England, contains about as much plain,: but-spoken recrimination as we can suppose might be found in the correspondence which resulted in tha independence of the United States. The this colony under something, like martial law. Not, indeed, in the position which would legally be so described' or by means of. any formal proclamation. But it has. done something more than it thought necessary jn Ireland for the suppression of Fenianism. It has withdrawn the military forces from the control of the Civil Government, that is, from the control of the Governor, the responsible Ministry, and the Parliament ■■ : of the colony.. ■The reason alleged for thisextraordinary course by the Colonial Secretary is, that while both the Home Governmeat and the colony were desirous of the removal of the troops, tlieir wishes could not be carried . into effect owing to the hindrances caused by the Governor. The reply which Sir George Grey gives to this is, that he has shewn every disposition and afforded every facility for the removal of the troops, but that it has been a matter of the greatest difficulty to him to effect the necessary changes in the location of the colonial as well as the Imperial forces, inasmuch as both were under the immediate orders of General Chute, while General Chute's headquarters were distant fifteen days from the seat of Government. The withdrawal of the Imperial forces necessitated; new dispositions of the colonial forces, while neither the one nor the other could be effected save by the orders of the-Governor, transmitted through the /General.The length of time which had to elapse between every communication, and the receipt of the reply to it, rendered the attempt to issue orders almost wholly futile. The Governor does not say it in so; many words,-but-He evidently feels that the reason given by the General for not removing his headquarters to Wellington was a frivolous one. Most people will both think and say so. It was, that he could not find a suitable house, for himself in the town of Wellington. We scarcely. think such a reason for declining to do what was needful for the public service would have been given by Sir Charles Napier, Lord Clyde, or Sir Duncan iCameron.

fThe . great;. constitutional question still remains—are the Governor and colonial authorities to be deprived of all control over the forces? We do not ;wi«h in the; slightest degree to, exaggerate the importance or the objectionable character of such a step; but it would . in reality be somewhat difficult to do so. So far as the Governor himself is concerned, it implies the twofold disgrace of the troops over which he ought to have control being placed under the orders of his junior officer, and of his being denied the exercise of powers which all colonial I Governors are held entitled to wield,! It was evidently intended by the Colonial Office that the Governor of New; 'Zealand should be made to feel deeply all; that was implied in thesp ; two proceedings; ; Whatever consolstion can be found in the thorough recognition on the part of those he governs, that the blow dealt at him wag still;;:more;, meant for them, is fully accorded to him. It is because ho has ho far identified himself with the honourable views and just interests of the colonists, that ho has incurred this treatment at i the bands of Colonial Secretaries. The gross and shameful calumnies against, the colonists, to which some departments of the Government." have fit to lend i a willing ear, - may bo taken as a partial explanation ;6f this novel course of procedure. There seem to bo two sources from which these cal umniei proceed, The fine is ecclesiastical, and dates from the very foundation of the colony, or rather I'rora the. commencement of the attempt to found it. We had a notable illustration ofit in the Maiiawatu affair of last year, which can hardly have passed "from: the trecollection of our readers. The other source,ia military, and. dates.from s the first failure of the British troops in the late war. We can honour and reaped the esprit de corps which pervades a distinguished branch of the Imperial service, and can only regret when, through untoward circuinstaiices'

it takes a hoslilo attitudo towards the I colony, But wo can find no oxcuse, nor do wo caro to seok one, for the hasty assumption of the moat absurd camp rumours as perfectly true, and tho careful transmiasion of thom to England; in tho hopo thnt: tliey may bo made .known tlioro and bo tho means of chocking tho ..inhuman practices of the colonists, It is-not to bo iloniotl that a strong fooling has existed in tho colony tlmfc tho iiiovomoiits of tho British troops woro conducted in sucli a way as to do tho.least possible injury to the enemy, and to incur the greatest possiblo oxponso to tho colonists. Whothor right or wrong, this fooling oxisted, and waß vory plainly.oiprossod. Some have even, pretondod : to say tliat tho late war in Now Zealand has afforded to thorn au explanation, from suflicient cauaos, of;'tho manner in I which the rebel American colonies j defeated the British armies that wero j sent, against, them, and . successfully ! asserted their independence. What had been an absoluto puzzle to them on the large scale was satisfactorily explained by tho smaller model which i they saw near at hand. We regret those recriminations, and wish that there had beon no occasion for thein. But we cannot allow that such disputes ought .to away the conduct of the Government itself, and to induce it to aggravate, instead of alleviating and removing, the misunderstanding. It may bo worth while ' to state in; plain terms what this withdrawal of the troops from the control of the Colonial Government means,. It is. precisely the stop that would betaken, the absurd idea were a reality, that the British Government, meditated the overthrow of our liberties. IS T o. one entertains tho absurd idea ; but why should the British Government act in any way which would be a legitimate and natural course of action only in the event of that idea being wellfounded ? We all know what would be thought and said in England if the military were instructed to act in any .town without the authority of the chief magistrate; or it, in the event of war, the movements of the troops were directed from the Horse Guards :at the will of the Sovereign, irrespective of the instructions, of the Cabinet, .conveyed through the; Secretary at War. New Zealand is something: more than a municipality, and intends that .the instructions of its responsible: Ministers shall be duly respected afr the military head-quarters in the colony. Mr Stafford certainly employs unusually strong language when he says that a practice, " unhappily so often illus- " trated of late in. some Imperial departments of state"—saps the: foundations of all Government and destroys all confidence in public men —arid " tliat it is beyond the power of " a Secretary of State to issue iustruc- " tions" such as those which Lord Carnarvoa has issued, and denounces : his attempt' - £ to set- the Conati- " tution:by a formai de3patcll; ,, But the language is true in every syllable, both as representing the .{acts of the case and the feelings with which the people 1 of New Zealand regard them. ;;. It will be everywhere a matter of cordial satisfaction. that the Ministry have so completely identified themselves with the policy of the Governor in this case, It remains for the Gene? ral Assembly to shew that he has tho unanimous and hearty support of the colony in the action he has taken, and its sympathy in the . which ho has been compelled to endure.