MONTHLY SUMMARY OF EVENTS.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXI, Issue 31, 12 April 1862, Page 2

MONTHLY SUMMARY OF EVENTS.

POLITICAL. It will scarcely be credited at a distance from New Zealand, how little we, who are living in the southern part of the colony, know of what is taking place in the North. Several months have now elapsed since Sir George Grey arrived at Auckland, and of the progress made by him in settling the " Native difficulty," we are utterly in the dark. His Excellency has no doubt been very actively engaged ; but his labours, as far as we can learn, have as yet borne but little fruit. 111-conducted by us in every way as the war was at Taranaki, the natives found that fighting and plunder had its dark as well as bright aide for them, , and that the pleasure of destroying an European settlement, and killing such of its inhabitants as they could get hold of, brought upon themselves losses and privations which went far to outweigh the advantages they had reaped ; and before Sir George. Grey arrived in the colony, the rebels had signified a willingness to abstain from further outrages against our countrymen, if the Government would suffer by-gones to be by-gones. This, then, is what Sir George Grey has done since his return to New Zealand; for this has his Excellency been sent to us, armed with we know not what extraordinary powers; this is the grand policy which distinguishes our new Governor's rule from that of his predecessor : that whereas Colonel Gore Browne held antiquated notions about, upholding the dignity of his country, the supremacy of the Crown of his Sovereign, aud the protection due to her subjects, Sir George Grey, who is of another school, thinks it better to submit to an injury than to resent it, to- buy off rebellion rather than put it down by the strong arm of authority, and to wink at robbery and murder in preference to incurring the cost and trouble of seeking out and punishing the perpetrators. New Zealand wars have been found expensive, and England is neither rich enough nor strong enough to prosecute them, so she must " hide her honour in her necessity," and her representative is to keep the Maoris quiet by talking to them of " new institutions " for securing " law and order," instead of reading them a practical lesson for having violated the one and outraged the other. Following the course which Sir George Grey laid down for himself, there has been no fighting since his Excellency's arrival in the colony, nor was it likely that there would be any. But the absence of actual fighting does not necessarily imply that peace has been established — that is, peace on a permanent and reliable footing. So long as the force now present in the colony is maintained in it, and the natives are humoured, and "soft sawdered," and everything is made smooth for them, they are not very likely to take the initiative in another war, but lessen the number of the troops in the 2STorth Island, and attempt to bring the natives under British law, not for offences committed amongst themselves, but for offences they may commit on our countrymen, and we fear we should speedily learn the value of Sir George Grey's " peaceful settlement of the native question." It comes then to this — What force is necessary to preserve peace in the colony, and for what period of time ? And out of this arises another question, Who is to pay for the maintenance of this force ? No one will be bold enough to say that, under the plan now being pursued, the presence of a large military force will not be necessary in the North Island for several years to come, to give anything like security to the settlers ; and he will be equally bold who will assert that such protection can be long calculated upon unless we burden ourselves with nearly the entire cost of it. If we could see in Sir George Grey's policy any guarantee that it would secure the future peace of the colony, we would try and reconcile ourselves to it, but we can see in it nothing but a costly flattery of the Maoris at the expense of our own nation, which will only augment their arrogance, and sooner or later end in bringing fresh troubles upon the country. We wish every success to th Governor's well-intended efforts, and shall be heartily glad if their results are different from what we expect of them.