To The Editor of the Nelson Examiner.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 72, 22 July 1843, Page 287

To The Editor of the Nelson Examiner.

Sift — I hope you will not deem me obtrusive Ofi&e space devoted to general correspondence, irl address you on a subject which imperatively demands the attention of the colonists. It is a current opinion with the people of Nelson that the calamity of Wairoo has resolved itself into a question between the Government and the aboriginal/ and that we, as settlers, will be neither immediately nor remotely concerned in the policy pursued. Sir, with all due deference to constituted authority, there are times in which public opinion should be fearlessly ex- { pressed with reference to what it or may be the conduct of our rulers. It is quite as possible for those administering our affairs to make a false step in the discharge of their duties as it is for individuals to do wrong. Governmental blunders, it is true, are the errors of calculation rather than outbursts of passion, but they are not the less fatal in their consequences to individuals and nations. Governments, in their endeavours to avenge their insulted nationality, too frequently add a second disaster to the first, and nothing but a bitter experience will teach them the necessity of prudence and decision. It is seldom their policy in the first instance to proportion the strength of their armaments to I the power opposed to them. In a small cominanity like ours, it is a fearful thing to lose at one stroke the prime of our strength ; but Governments have neither the same feelings nor the same interests with the governed. Soldiers are mere hirelings of authority, and are marched off to the slaughter with the most lamentable indifference. A fallen soldier is but worn-out machinery, as readily replaced by new. Despots never weep over the rum of their victims, for sympathy with suffering is blotted from the <sreed of cabinet*., Look at the war in Affghanistah, and mark the cold-blooded composure with which a handful of men were marched through mountain defiles in a hostile country, where millions were in arms : death appeared inevitable, and death was their doom. See how that war has been protracted, not from a deficiency of courage, but from the inadequacy of the force at. first employed. Now, what was misdone there may be misdone lures and who can foretell the result of a second defeat at the hands of barbarians I That' result may be seen in an invasion of our settlements, the plunder of our property, and an indiscriminate butchery of the whites. If the arm of the law has to be raised against the aborigines, it must be done in a manner which will overwhelm all resistance. We should not give to them a chance of mastery. The law should be turned against them in a voice of thunder, and as quick as lightning. The Maories are an awkward people to deal with. They know their ground ; they have been familiar with bosh-fighting for centuries. They have defiles through which no enemy could pass. They have forests out of which no force could drive them, and they have food which we could not eat. Besides, a red coat is a better target for theae savages than the dingy garb of a settler, whilst the dirty blanket and tawny face of the Maori is badly seen amongst brushwood and stumps. Suppose, I then, Mr. Editor, our force is again defeated, I what can we expect? Perhaps an inroad on

our homes, where they would be opposed by-— who? Where is our available force? Can sixteen drilled men save us at such a crisis from the tomahawk ? or a sleeping watch save us from the torch? These remarks may be attributed to fear, but precaution is less an attribute of cowardice than of true bravery. Indifference and rashness are but two extremes that meet. They both imply a want of care. I do not pretend to say that we are in danger nowj but, that that we soon shall be, I have no doubt. I have no faith in Government protection; nor do I think the colonists can see anything in the past to induce a reliance on either its courage or its competency. Hoping that these remarks may lead to the making of some complete system of defence, by the organization of our adults, and that we may in future strive to rival the activity and public spirit of Port Nicholson, I am, sir, Yours most truly, Nelson, July 18. A Settlhr. ]