The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1869.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IV, Issue 289, 10 December 1869, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1869.

; Should there be' amongst us any who have been sanguine enough to hope that Great Britain would, at the earnest appeal of* one /of- j the youngest of - her colonies, render that assistance which was, by some, deemed necessary to the very existence of that offshoot from the parent stem, their, hopes must have been sadly disappointed by an item which appears in the English telegrams, wherein we are told that " a despatch from Lord Granville to the New Zealand: iGovernment, published on the 7th October, declared that the Imperial Government adheres to the policy' that the Queen's troops are not to be employed in hostilities between the colonists and. the natives, and that the removal of the 18th. Regiment from New Zealand is insisted upon, &nd it is ordered to embark without delay.". It has been decided then that her Majesty's troop? are, not -to (be-* employed, on sotrivial a- service as that of protecting the lives and properties of New Zealand colonists, pnd.whp , will wonder at it, for what can .it possibly matter to Earl Granville and his coadjutors if a few more names be added to the already painfully long list . of . those who have fallen . victims to the bloodthirsty propensities of the Maoris ? Sixteen thousand miles, even in these days of rapid travelling, is a long distance, and, by the time they have been* wafted over that expanse, the death cry of the murdered settler, and the wail of the widowed mother of his children, have lost their intensity, and strike but . very feebly on the ears of those who wield the destinies of England and her dependencies.- We -need, none of us, be 'Surprised at the . news brought by the mail ; gradually,, but surely, has it been, forced upon our notice that :the mother's tender .care has proved unequal to our \vants, and that our litte grievances have fallen 'unheeded upon her apathetic ear, and ';bow" matters have ..reached their climax, and we are told clearly and without possibility of mistake that the policy of the ImperiarGovernment, that no assistance is under any circumstances to.be afforded, us, will -, be strictly adhered to. Such is" the" line they have marked out. for themselves, and if there is.one man better fitted than another to forward such a policy to the very letter, that man is JEarl Granviller * Consistent in his principles, unswerving in the means that -appear to-him best calculated for successfully • carrying them - out, . he has rigidly fixed his eye upon the goal he is striving to : reachi ;^d to which he is month by month : drawing nearer;, and the day upon which he 'sees his efforts crowned, with success by the complete- severance of every link that has bound andj in "spite. of every provocation,still binds her offspring to* the mother country, will .be; a proud land a triumphant one for that-raember of the English, .Cabinet to ..whose especial keeping Vis committed ; the^ charge, of the ' •'■' ii 7;-«i ; ,.:7. ;.,;-;:(,■(; *,*'■■.'' I I .-■■■ v ' '•'• icoloniesi-^' /•■';; :;;■<., y,^ -;;;- \-\r' .-.-;../-.,"*.'. ! • v "Fortunately Tor- affairs do not .-,„. just jiow present the threatening!iaspe.ct,j;|hey: P didcs6tne ; months : since,! but ''•at 'i* thetf sanAe- Itime^ -we ' are compelled to 'Jcfbk^u'poh ithe ;Maoris, and their, |;'prpi^i^je^tliat^^ they will -behkve Abetter for" $h^ " and as syet : -w I that: ■ thoseifiwho •now.; 'inake 1 the-, most friendly ' .professions will noj,- at.the^rst available ! Ife'pj^rttf^t^'tu^ ; in|p';*, -swords and ;l^err i ible scenesi 7 which New Zealand has witnessed within ■

| our own resources!;;' and luhdec-jno; cir- ;' .cumstances ■ whatever fare, ! ; we:? to ; , loofc for. >! any . aid frOm England.' '"'Self-reliance in its integrity is to .be forced upon -us '■". ■ •* whether -we,, will or no, not even will the , mqral ( supoort afforded by the presence in " ' th*e colony ofca single 'regiment be accorded to us, but we. are to be left wholly and eutii-eiy ~%o ourselves togetjout of our difficulties as best we 1 ' may. • • ' ■ ; : '•''•■"- --! ;It does seem somewhat .absurd that only a few days previous to the receipt of this by no means unexpected intelligence from England we should have been despatching with a great flourish of trumpets a couple of Commissioners for the purpose of entreating the Home Government ta be a little more considerate, "in their dealings with us. Does any one for a moment believe that the , solicitations of Dr. Featherston and Mr. Bell will have the slightest effect upon Earl Granyille, or that any chance whatever exists of our obtaining, through their representations, that which the news of fearful massacres and wholesale destruction of property has failed to procure for us ? It really seems idle to suppose that, after the telegram just received, the mission of these two gentlemen is in any way likely to be attended with success, and the sending home of a Commission just at this moment is the acme of folly. Messrs. Bell and Featherston. have for a long time been resident in the colony, and doubtless they willenjoy their little holiday. We heartily wish' .them a prosperous voyage and a pleasant time of it at home; but we should be ' far better pleased*-, if the cost of their trip; were to be borne by themselves instead •of by .the, taxpayers of New Zealaud, who, we 'fear, will not benefit in a degree proportionate ,to .the expenses entailed upon them by the visit of these two gentle- ■ men to the home country.