TARANAKI.

New Zealander, Volume XVII, Issue 1570, 4 May 1861, Page 7

TARANAKI.

[troin the " New Zealander,” April 17.] After a period of anxious suspense, we have a glimpse of the important events which arc passing at Taranaki. We discover the terms of submission which have been offered to Ngatiawa, and we are informed that they have been accepted : TERMS OFFERED BY THE GOVERNOR TO THE WAITARA INSURGENTS. Hapurona and Ngatiawa, —For twelve months you have been carrying arms against Her Majesty the Queen and the authority of the Law ; you have now laid down your arms and expressed your desire for peace; believing you to bo sincere, I hare come from Auckland for the purpose of stating the terms on which it will be granted, and upon which Her Majesty’s gracious pardon and protection will be extended to you. They arc ns follows: 1. The investigation of the Title, and the survey of the land at Waitara to ho continued and completed i without intciruption. 2. Every man to be permitted to state his claims without interference, and my decision or the decision of such persons as I shall appoint, to bo conclusive. 3. All the land in possession of Her Majesty’s forces belonging to those who have borne arms against Her Majesty to be disposed of by mo as I may think fit. 4. All guns belonging to the Government to be returned . 5. All plunder taken from the settlers to be forthwith restored. G. The Ngatiawa who have borne arms against the government must submit to the Queen and to Jthc authority of the Law, and not resort to force for the redress of wrongs, real or imaginary. 7. As I did not use force for the acquisition of land, but for the vindication of the Law, and for the protection of Her Majesty’s Native subjects in the exercise of their just rights, I shall divide the land, which I have stated my intention to dispose of, amongst its former owners, but I shall reserve the sites of the blockhouses and redoubts and a small piece of land round each for the public use, and shall exercise the right of making roads through the Waitara district. On your submission to these terms you will come under the protection of the law, and enjoy your property both lands and goods without molestation. The following letter brings down the local intelligence to the latest date r. — [from our own correspondent.] New Plymouth, April 10, 1861. The trace still continues. Hapurona and a portion of the Ngatiawa have accepted the terms offered, butW. King! and a considerable portion of his immediate followers, notwithstanding the most urgent solicitation of the Governor, refuse to listen to the persuasive eloquence of diplomacy, and remain obstinate ; they have left for the North to meet the Governor on bis return, they have been told that better terms will not he offer-

Ed, and that no communication will be held with them, except at Waitara. Viewed by themselves, the terras do not seem such as to lead to the hope ot a permanent peace, but they evidently only form part of a policy, and it would be premature to discuss their merits. Hapurona has by the step he has taken, become the virtual head of Ngatiawa, and will be recognised as such by the Government; his cunning and courage have been admitted by the Waikatos, and they listened with respect to his advice, but resolutely refused to acknowledge the influence of W. Kingi. The liberal terms offered to the Ngatiawa is said to be in deference to the steady and influential opposition on the right of Tcira to sell. The whole of the Waitara land including land on the north hank is offered for sale. The Waikatos have left Mokau on their return home; no terms have been proposed, nor will any he, until the return of the Governor to Auckland; it is said, however, that they will be compelled to submit to stricter terms than Ngatiawa, and that their acceptance of the Queen’s supremacy will be insisted on as a sine qua non; the Government will be thus brought face to face with the King movement, and its true value will be developed. The Waikatos acknowledge to a loss of more than 300 men. Communication has been had with the Southern Natives, and they have been informed that if they desire peace they must make application, and that then terms will be submitted. There are no grounds for forming a correct conclusion on the present proceedings, as good authorities differ, hut the arrival of General Cameron has had coasiderahlc influence in determining the Governor to assume a firmer attitude towards Waikato, and the Ngatiruanui and Taranaki rebels, than he proposed to do when he left Auckland. P.S.—A deputation of settlers will wait on His Excellency at I o’clock, when it is expected he will state the course he intends to pursue ; if there is time I will send you a few particulars of the interview. New Plymouth, April 11,18C1. Contrary to my expectation the “ Traveller’s Bride” sailed before the “ Victoria” which will sail this afternoon: there is no later news than that conveyed in ray letter of yesterday. The Ngatiruanuis and Taranakis have not returned an answer to the Governor’s message, but war with them is all but inevitable. The deputation which waited on His Excellency yesterday, are perfectly satisfied with their interview, and express great confidence in the policy which has been pursued in reference to Wi Kingi and the Ngatiawa. It has been stated that when the cessation of hostilities was agreed upon, the insurgent natives were given to understand, directly or indirectly, that the several parties engaged in the insurrection would be treated with separately, and that distinct terms would be offered to William King and his people, to Ngatiruanui and Taranaki, and to Waikato. We have now the terms offered to Wiremu Kingi’s people. King himself having apparently withdrawn from the negociation and retired to Waikato, Hapurona, his General, is treated as the leader of the party. As little appears to have been required of Ngatiawa as it was possible to demand under the circumstances, whilst enough has been conceded to satisfy the outraged authority of the law in so far as that section of Ngatiawa were immediately concerned. The “ Taranaki question,” so far as it includes “ tribal right” and “ mana ,” lias been settled by the sword ; the owners of Waitara will now be permitted to exercise their proprietary rights in peace, and the native title will*be “individualized” over all the land formerly belonging to the insurgents which has come into the possession of Her Majesty’s forces.

William King, we have heard, declined to enter into any agreement touching the land without consulting Waikato, because the “ bones of Waikato” were on it. Those who have the best means of knowing all the circumstances regard the settlement with Ngatiawaas concluded. Whatever may be the result of the offer of terms which must be made to Waikato and to the Southern tribes, the Waitara land quarrel has at least been eliminated from the dispute. The Ngatiruanuis and Taranakis will have to account for their dastardly murders, and Waikato for its unprovoked aggression. The first step towards the attainment of peace appears to have been taken with courage and skill, those which must yet be taken are beset with still greater dangers and difficulties. To those only who have the conduct and the terrible responsibilities of these proceedings can all the circumstances be known. Here at least acquaintance with them is imperfect enough, as our own budget of news will show. The intelligence has not been received here with that general satisfaction which we think it ought to have commanded; indeed, public demonstrations of the discontent of a small party have been made in such a manner as cannot fail to be most mischievous. Our homesteads are untouched, our families and our properties are in safety ; if we want a lesson as to the consequences of a state of warfare, we need but turn our eyes to Taranaki. It is very possible that | the alternative of a war of races may hang upon the proposals that will be offered to Waikato; S the question to be settled there may be that of the supremacy of the Crown. Whilst we believe that no colonist desires to see that question blinked or evaded, the Government have at least a right to expect that the people shall not by any violence, in word or act, complicate a situation already sufficiently difficult. [From the " New Zealander,” April 20.] His Excellency the Governor returned from Taranaki on Wednesday last. The effect of the recent negotiations at the seat of insurrection may be judged of practically from the fact that large numbers of troops of all arms are being withdrawn, and are returning to Auckland, and that Taranaki will be held jfor the present by a strong garrison. We have been favoured with the following communication from a correspondent who has kindly transmitted a copy of the Taranaki Provincial Government Gazettte containing the terms of submission offered to Ngatiruanui : New Plymouth, 17th April, 1861. I hear the Niger will sail from the Waitara this afternoon, with a detachment of the 65th for your port, and so just write to tell you there is no news, everything here is very dull, and the proceedings of the Governor arc (notwithstanding the favourable impression his polite reception of the deputation at first produced) beginning to be viewed with great distrust. I send a copy of the Taranaki Gazette, published on the 15th instant, containing the terms submitted for the approval of the Southern natives; they can hardly be called severe, but are sufficiently so perhaps, when it is considered that the natives did not make application for peace, until they had been requested so to do. The unsatisfactory answer alluded to by Mr. Weld was I believe a proposal by the Taranakis to refer the Governor to Thompson, as they were all king’s men. I believe a considerable amount of secret service is going on; yesterday two influential natives were sent south and there is little doubt that the native department is hard at work to bring the noble savages south to terras. New Plymouth, April, 15, 1861. The following letter from the Minister of Native Affairs, and its enclosures arc published for general information. G. Cutfield, Superintendent, New Plymouth, April 15, 1861. Sm, —I have the honor to forward the copy of a letter (enclosure No, 1) addressed by the Native Secretary, by direction of His Excellency, to the Taranaki and Ngatiruanui tribes. No satisfactory answer having been received, it has been thought proper, before His Excellency’s departure for Auckland, to communicate to them the terras on which their submission will be accepted, a copy of which (enclosure No. 2) I 1 enclose for your information. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient servant, Fredk. A. Weld. To His Honor the Superintendent, Taranaki. Enclosure No 1. To the Taranaki (or Ngatiruanui) Tribe. The Governor came down to Waitara at the request of Hapurona, William King, and other Ngatiawa, to state the terms upon which he would giant peace to them. The Governor is now at New Plymouth, and he is informed that you have retired from the European land to your own country, and that you desire peace. If this be true, he is prepared to state the terms upon which he will grant peace to you. The Governor will return in a few days to Auckland, and you

must therefore send me an answer to this by Wcdncsday* morning, the 10th day of April. (Signed) Donald McLean. Bth April, 1861. Enclosure No. 2; • - To the Chiefs of the Taranaki (or Ngatiruanui) Tribe. Before I leave New Plymouth I will state to you the terms on which lam willing to grant you peace. In dictating these terms I cannot overlook the outrages that you have committed. Whatever may have been the dispute in reference to the land at Waitara it was a matter with which you had no concern. Without even pretence of a quarrel with the Queen’s Government, or her European subjects, you have taken advantage of the disturbances caused by another tribe to set the authority of the Queen and the Law at defiance; to attack Her Majesty’s troops; to bum, destroy, and steal property; and treacherously kill without provocation Her Majesty’s subjects while engaged in their peaceful occupations. Moreover, you hare driven off the settlers from land which,’years ago, you had sold and been fully paid for, and have avowed your intention of repossessing yourselves of it and retaining it by force. However much I may condemn the offences committed by the Ngatiawa, I look on those perpetrated by you to be of a far more serious nature, and before I can consent to grant you peace I shall require restitution and compensation for the past, and explicit declaration of your intention to conduct yourselves as peaceable and orderly subjects of Her Majesty for the future. I require—(l) Entire submission to the Qneen and the Law. (2) All plunder now in your possession to be forthwith given up, and compensation made for that which is not returned, and for property destroyed and injured. - (3) That all mails shall be permitted to pass without interruption, and the mail-carriers protected. (4) That people, goods, and cattle shall be allowed to pass without molcstation. The grave offence of killing unarmed settlers and children is one against the Queen and the Law, and will not be overlooked. Whenever those men who arc charged with having committed that offence are taken by the Ofiiccrs of Justice they will be tried, and the Law shall declare whether they arc guilty, and, if guilty, what punishment they shall suffer. (Signed) T. Gobe Bbowne, Governor.

Ngatiruanui, holding apparently to the idea of the unity of the Maori, have declined to accept terms independently of William Thompson and the King-party. |The Governor is reported to have informed the deputation of Taranaki settle rs that, if his “ terms were not quickly accepted by the Southern tribes, he would put the affair in Major-General Cameron’s hands, and ask him to do his best.” If the surmise of our correspondent however be correct, it would seem that, the “ Native Department” have not lost hope of overcoming the fears or .the obstinacy of that scoundrel mob. The policeman will be in any case their fittest opponent. It is becoming, day by day, more evident that the Natives have suffered very severely during the struggle of the past year. Waikatps alone, it is admitted, have lost 300 men ; bounce and talk as they may, they have been thoroughly beaten at Taranaki. If the experience they have thus slowly obtained will but teach them the ultimate hopelessness of their struggle against the supremacy of British power and British law, if it will cure them, as we sincerely hope it will, of that conceit of sovereignty and of national independence which has recently driven them to folly and to crime, that possibility of union amongst the Native tribes, which events have shown not to be problematical, might, as we have long ago said, be hailed as an epoch in their civilization, and might under judicious management be turned to the noblest account for the advancement of their race.

It is needless to conceal the fact that the sword is at this moment suspended by a hair. If it fall, the] suicidal folly of the Natives themselves will bring it down, and, through a long vista of blood and wretchedness the end is visible enough. How a war of races would terminate cannot be in doubt. But, whatever the consequences, the supremacy of the law must be asserted and maintained. We have repeated at Taranaki the lesson of Ruapekapeka, and proved to the Natives that we do not seek to deprive them of their lands by force, even in cases where according to their own usage those lands should have been forfeit. Amongst our statesmen, in office and out, there is an intelligent appreciation of the wants of the Maori in the matter of Civil Government, and there is an anxiety, which amounts to a rivalry, for the honor of inaugurating a new system and a new era. But the one indispensable condition is peace. In this supreme moment then it behoves all those who have still some remains of influence in Waikato to strain that influence to the utmost to bring back the erring people to the paths of peace. Out of doors, amongst ourselves, there is a senseless clamour for violence, which might be mistaken for an expression of exuberant courage, if it were not attendedsby circumstances which, in this moment of public danger, illustrate the truth of the adage that “ fear is always cruel.” [From the *• HeiaU,” April 6.] Saturday Afternoon. The week has been again a blank. Gossip from the visitors to the camp is the only relief to the monotony. The Ngatiawa natives shew no shadow of irritation or mistrust, and they are treated with kindness and consideration. Hapurona’s followers arc perfectly frank. They willingly show the wonders of the Pukerangiora position to all who have permission to visitrit. They state that Hapurona made peace because the Governor and the Bishop wished it, and they estimate the Waikato losses in killed at 300, the Ngatiawa only 14. Three large graves at Pukerangiora corroborate this statement. On going down to visit tte Governor, Hapurona was dressed in a gunny bag ; on his return he appeared in a blue shirt and trousers. The men generally arc eager for clothing, potatoes, spirits, and tobacco. Money is at a discount. The natives describe the artillery as having effected little ; one man only was killed by a shell—the man who attempted to remove the second sap-roller. Much powder was got from dead shells. The rifle did all the execution. There is no foundation whatever for the statement that General Cameron brought special instructions to Ilia Excellency. The Home Government have not tied his hands one way or the other. Such is the substance of the most trustworthy reports that come from Weitara, and the week is wound up by the publication in town of the terms offered to W. King. Noon to-day was the hour appointed for the acceptance or rejection of these terms. Friendly natives in Town tak freely in blame of the Governor's offer. They consider that the overtures should have come unequivocally from W. King to make a solid peace probable. General Cameron left for Auckland in the Airedale on Sunday, and is expected back daily in the ! Fawn. On Monday the Naval Brigade left Waitara, in the Niger for Manukau, and on Wednesday the Victoria took her departure for Melbourne with Major-General Pratt and Staff on board. The Airedale is expected from Manukau on Monday morning, and will take the mails for England and Australia. The threatening aspect of the weather necessitates the posting of letters and newspapers by to-morrow evening.

The town has been in consternation at reading a printed document addressed to Hapurona and Ngatiawa, purporting to be “Terms offered by the Governor to the Waitara insurgents," and authenticated by the signature of the Superintendent. Three views arise respecting this paper; either it is a hoax practised upon the Superintendent, in which case it is sufficient to observe that it is among the silliest hoaxes that ever were devised. Again, it may be a document needing no explanation from without, but shewing the spirit in which His Excellency proposes to patch up a peace, and the sort of consideration to which he things the British colonist entitled in the adjustment. Or, lastly, it maybe part of a plan of policy ; . and. however objectionable standing alone, may be excused if no* justified when seen in connection, with the rest of the plan ; and at the last view we have arrived. « Quod miter i nimis volunt hoc facile crectm!,” . exclaims a sceptical reader, “ the unfortunate colonists ofTaranaki arc accustomed to clutch at any straw of hope.” They have resolutely refused to doubt that Governor Brownh has grappled with the New Zealand difficulty in a manly way, and that he intends to relax his grasp only when the difficulty has ceased to exist. But it must bo confessed that, read in its baldness as it appearsdn the handbills in town, all food for hope seems removed by this singular composition.. The most painful part of the matter, as tending to show that this is a bona fido offer, standing independent of all other arrangements, *The time given to the Ngatiruanui tiibe was Saturday, the I3h inst.

and one likely to be acceded to, is a letter with which it is said to have been enclosed, and which states that these terms are not to bo offered to the southern tribes. When Paddy, apologising for his tattered coat, informs you that “ this is not the one he has at home in the chest,” you perceive at once that he is ashamed of his rags, but you will be very credulous if.you look to sec him much better dressed on Sunday. We can hardly bo blamed, then, for deep and bitter anxiety about the result of a pacification, the first authentic account of which comes in so astounding a form. For what is the actual amount of the offer of his Excellency ? He is willing, on the first indication of weariness, not of submission, on the part of the “ Insurgents of Waitara,” to condone the offences of twelvemonths, —the death of a hundred loyal subjects,—the destruction of two hundred homesteads, —the robbery or slaughter of two thousand head of stock, —and to allow a return to the status quo ante, requiring only the individualisation of native title over a district vaguely described as “ in possession of Her Majesty’s forces,” He makes no show of punishing a single rebel except Wi Kingi, who is to be received to “ the protection of the law” with the rest, on the easy terms of surrendering his mana so far as regards the same vague district. This individualisation of title, indeed, so far from being any punishment, enhances the value of the land of the rebels, by restoring it to them with all the advantages it gains from the presence of the civilization they have scorned and trampled on. (Unless—but surely this was not in the Governor’s mind—you consider the curse of wealth like the gift of a grog bottle, to be one of the heaviest punishments that can be inflicted on a savage.) We discover, therefore, in the acceptance of these terms, if they are accepted, no evidence that the future will be other than the past ; no concession to show that the tribe has received and adopted a lesson of obedience ; no assurance of peaceful occupation to induce the resumption of work and expenditure on our farms. The Governor, it is true, asserts that he believes the Ngatiawa arc “ sincere,” —they may be so, but they arc a volatile race, and the Governor’s belief Is not guarantee enough for the capitalist to risk his property on. The black patches which mark where once our homes stood, speak belter than a column of type on the security which largo military force affords. And putting its value as high as you will, who is to guarantee us the support of troops for any lengthy term ? The war was not undertaken truly for the acquisition of territory, but the fact that such a war has been carried on for twelvemonths, demands an increased strength in the settlement, which only increased territory can bring. But the ruin of the settlement is not even mentioned in the terms. Twelvemonths of risk and anxiety, the upsetting of all our habits, the loss of our men, the ruin of twenty years’ labour, and the indignities to which a mixed community is subjected, when turned over to irresponsible power in the hands of men of little education, —these things borne with loyal patience might, one would have thought, have been cited as matters in which the Governor —(the father of us all according to Maori notions) —was in sonic degree interested, and to have caused which was an offence not easily overlooked, and requiring some security against its recurrence. Viewed by themselves then and without light from outside, these terms are certainly as bewildering and as feeble a state paper as ever dribbled off the pen of a man in high authority. The very ecstasy of fear could go no further ; they seem born of fear,—the fear of the Maori, the fear of the opposition, the fear of being thought grasping, the fear of seeming afraid, —the fear, in short, of everything but of doing unjustly and being unmanly seems, at first sight, to have dictated them. A very generous theologian of the Church of England staggered at the prodigious bigotry involved in any literal acceptation of the A’hanasian Creed, came to the conclusion that it could not have been introduced into the Liturgy in such a sense. But there stood the creed—it must have a meaning ; and so he found an inner sense in it, the very converse of the more obvious one, in which the founders of the English Church, he was satisfied, held and adopted it. Our predicament is similar. After a hundred perusals of the paper the truth grows plainer upon the mind that another interpretation is the right one. His Excellency perhaps finds he has been brought down on a fool's errand. Peace is not intended by the leaders of the Maori National party, except on terms destructive of the Colony. The Governor offers his terms as a test. They arc such as the constitutional Mr. Fox, the holy and just Dr. Fcathcrston, the charitable and loyal Archdeacon Hadtield, must own to be liberal. The Reconciler-General, Mr. Dillon Bell, who can “ Distinguish and divide A hair’ twixt North and North-East side,” the impetuous Bishop Sclwyn, who cannot distinguish at all, but who “demands” a great deal ; Sir W. Martin, the Maori “ Coke upon Lyttelton,”—all must admit that these terms ought to be preferred to war, and the omniscient Saturday Reviewer himself would grant as good a settlement even to the rapacious colonist. To refuse these terms is to refuse even the ghost of sympathy from the Colony or from home. His Excellency probably knew that they would not be accepted ; he knew the leading voices were still for open war, and he has asked his very least, and so has proved the purity of his position by a perfect reductio ad absurd urn. The game is a perilous one ; not quite a candid one, but diplomatists to a man would justify it ; and, successful, it will be the very bcst'that cotdd have been played. This, or some other explanation, the case admits of. It is forced upon us, to the point of conviction, by the almost incredibility of the other hypothesis. Wc do not hear that the Ministers responsible to the country have protested. Wc do hear that Waikato left three hundred men buried on the banks of Waitara ; that the game was in fact in the Governor’s hand. We cannot believe that any Governor professing to carry out the humane desire to preserve the maori side by side with the colonist, would take so effectual a step for rousing the devil in the breast of the latter ns this heavy inclination of the scales in favour of the former. The colony would not sit by dumb to sec us the victims of such a travestic of magnanimity. England would enquire into the wrong. The course would conciliate neither Bishop or Archdeacon, neither the Wellington faction, the merchants of Auckland, nor the natives themselves. All would join in a chorus of contempt at the man whocould sell as a flock of sheep a band of settlers whom Governor after Governor has declared to have shown exemplary patience and good feeling to the Natives-good qualities recently cquall* ed and illustrated by their courage in the field, their endurance under loss, and their loyalty and obedience under every sort of discouragement. And last, but not least, His Excellency has a real good will towards us, which he could not entirely swamp, and a sense of duty which includes us. “ Dam spiro spero ” has been the motto of Taranaki, to which we cling to the end. Some practical good effects would arise even on the worst interpretation, but in the present darkness it is premature to discuss these. Meanwhile wc have ground enough to reject such an interpretation. The real fault lies, and it is one heavy enough, in letting week after week pass away with no information, no word to the settlers as to their future prospects ex* cept what they darkly gather from this strange publication. No government has a right to tax the confidence of its subjects so severely. But in all earnestness wc beg our readers to believe that the more dismal view, however natural, is untenable. A few days —perhaps a few hours—will dissipate the mist of Celtic diplomacy and show us our deliverance. It is, however, the duty of the press to give voice to the bitter anxiety which the silence and insane mystery awaken. (From the “ News,” April 11. The following letter from the Secretary for Native Affairs is published as supplementary information to the terms of treaty tendered to the Ngatiawa; and explaining His Excellency’s communication with the Taranaki and Ngatiruanui tribes:— New Plymouth, April 9, 1861, Sik, —In reference to the terms of submission offered by His Excellency the Governor to the insur gents of the Ngatiawa tribe at Waitara, a copy of which was enclosed to you on the 4th inst., I have the honor to inform you that as finally decided upon they contained an additional sentence to the following effect: “In conformity with the declaration made on the 29th of November, 1859, the rights of those who may prove their title to any part of the piece of land at 'Waitara will be respected,” I have also to inform you that the terms laid down by His Excellency have been accepted by Hapurona and his followers, that Wircmu Kingi after having declared that the Governor’s words were clear and endeavoured to induce His Excellency to make peace first and discuss the terms afterwards, has finally left Waitara for Waikato with a small number of followers without accepting the terms, from the benefit of which he will consequently bo excluded according to a notification previously communicated to him, I may further state that His Excellency the Governor has despatched messages to the Taranaki and Ngatiruanui tribes informing them that if they desire peace they must immediately come forwaid, in which case ho Will be prepared to state to them terras upon which he will accept their submission. I have the honor to be, v, Hir > i(, ui most obedient servant. To His Honor, *' A ' VVr,a °' The Superintendent of Taranaki,

(From the •• Herald,” April 13.) The week has been full of excitement though barren ot events. On Monday evening the Governor arrived from Waitara, accompanied by Messrs. Whitaker, Weld, McLean, and Capt. Steward. A considerable number of people were assembled to sec him enter the town, who received him without any demonstration, owing to the anxiety and doubt felt respecting the terms of peace. On Tuesday a meeting of settlers was held as reported in another column. On Wednesday morning an abandoned house at Henui was burned. Suspicion turned on the natives ; but no evidence has appeared to show who were the authors of the mischief, or that it was more than accidental. The house had been used by both Europeans and Maories for discreditable purposes. A deputation of settlers waited on his Excellency. On Thursday an adjourned meeting received the report of the deputation. Major-General Cameron reviewed the force at Waitara and in town on Friday. The Maori prisoners of war were released this afternoon. An answer of an unsatisfactory character has been received to His Excellency’s message to the southern tribes. “W. Thompson,” they say, “ made peace, and the arrangement is with him.” A Ngatiruanui chief in town has suggested terms, including, among other things, payment for the injuries to private property. His Excellency and Ministers have ridden over to Waitara this afternoon, While we write the artillery is entering town from Waitara. The bearing of the terms offered to the Ngatiawa is no longer matter of doubt. They are consistent with many practical advantages, and indicate a favorable change in the disposition of the natives ; though it is going too far to say, as it has been said, they arc the only terms that could have been beneficially determined on. The terms themselves, indeed, do not effect much ; but, as it has been repeatedly urged in these columns, the first guarantee for pence and order in the future must be, not in any stipulations of a treaty, but in the fact that war and anarchy have been proved a losing and painful game by the natives. So far from its being true that “the quarrel can never be settled by arms, and must, therefore, be turned over to diplomacy,” it was utterly hopeless to have obtained any concession by negotiation, which wc were not in a position to exact by force. The departure of the Waikatos suggested the belief that they had been beaten ; and the fact has become perfectly certain since, from their own admission that from and including the attack on the Redoubt to the end of the war 200 of them had boon killed.

The statement is not likely to be an exaggeration, and Ilapurona’s tale of the 300 from first to last is confirmed by it. Three hundred men out of a force not amounting in the gross to more than fifteen hundred, and many wounded besides is a loss which might well lead to a practical confession of failure, though Maories seldom admit so painful a fact in terms. The temper in which Wi Kingi left for Waikato is that ot a conquered, if sullen man. He alleges that he. is bound not to make peace without his allies, and goes ns their slave. His influence is utterly broken : but as he and his adherents have had liberal treatment, no anxiety need be felt respecting their movements. They have no injury to rankle, and the dream of Maori independence is not one that will make a freebooter of the indolent and sensual cx-chicf of Waitara. The first and most immediate guarantee of peace we have, then, not in the terms, but in the events which made them acceptable; and his Excellency’s Government tire alive to the necessity of securing the second and permanent guarantee —the enlargement of the settlement by prompt purchase from the natives whilst the impression of the present crisis is fresh. Hero, again, the terms give nothing, hut indicate and are consistent with what wc most need. It is probable that, not only is the land-league broken in Taranaki, but the desire to hold land is gone, and will not revive in the Ngatiawa tribe, except, indeed, that portion of it which is under the spiritual guidance of the Yen. Archdeacon Hadfield. For the poor ignorant Maori is sadly betrayed by reason; he has not the noble tenacity of purpose which clings till death to the word once uttered. He is sadly too ready to accept the actual facts of existence, and once convinced that the British Colony is an inevitable circumstance, and the law will be carried out within that Colony, he will even hug his chains, and become as unconscious of his piteous state of degradation as Canning’s knife grinder. This terrible callousness to the wrongs and rights which Bishop Sclwyn and his allies imagine and “ claim’’ for him may alienate those friends of humanity, as in the case of the knifegrinder, but will prove the third guarantee for our future peace. It is not too sanguine to believe that the Ngatiawa tribe, with its feuds set at rest, will be the first really to enter into the British Empire.

Attention then turns itself to the southwards The message of the Governor to Ngatiruanui was to be answered to-day. Some unsatisfactory reply has already been received, it is said from Taranaki. The hope lingers still among the insurgents that the union of their several tribes may be tolerated. There is too much reason to believe that, in this effort to maintain union, they are backed by the advice of some of the clergy, if not of Bishop Selwyn. We give what publicity wc can to this statement, which we have no doubt is based upon fact. The Colony has a right to ask a disclaimer, where it is possible, from the clergy of the so-called Philo-Maori party who have been most prominent in their advocacy of the native claims. It is idle to speculate on the course that will follow the adoption of such advice as wc have just referred to. No doubt the utmost speed is for some reasons desirable in bringing the question to trial. No time for preparation should be given the enemy if it can be avoided. But on the other hand, more force is yet expected in the island; and if the tactics of the insurgents should be to open a war of destruction in the several places together, their knowledge of the passes ot the country, and celerity of movement, would enable them to do great mischief unless a force competent to take the field against the greater part of thorn can be brought to bear in three or four places. These arc things we must be content to leave in other hands; the main difficulties are indicated here that no reader may be impatient or suspicious if the course of MajorGeneral Cameron is not at first so rapid as his char acter and special mission lead us to expect. With respect to the terms to be offered if asked for, we hazard the conjecture that on the south the repayment of the settlers’ losses, the formation of a road, and the establishment of one or more military posts along it, will be the main features. While on the north, the lowering of the King’s flag, the acknowledgment of the Royal authority, and the formation of roads may be, perhaps, held sufficient submission for the bold race who have already suffered so severely. It is, however, doubtful whether the formation of a special settlement in the interior under military protection would not in the end be the most secure, and therefore humane way of bringing the tribes of Waikato within the pale of the British Empire. In all the questions arising out of the adjustment of the present quarrel, it must never be lost sight of that the interests of the two populations arc really identical. Once let the point be conceded, which under cover of a cloud of dust of his own raising, Bishop Selwyn and his coadjutors are really fighting,—once admit, that is to say, that the independent sovereignty of the Maori in this island cannot be, and the next object must be to establish the confidence and organise the efforts of the Waikato natives who arc by far the best qualified to give a tone to the race. We must let them feel that wc deeply confess the truth of the sentiment of our greatest poet

Oh it is beautiful To have a giant’s strength ; but it is tyrannous To use It like a giant, At the same time, wc must never assume that all that wc should feel ourselves if wo were in the position of a vanquished race, will he felt by the Maori ; still less that the claims or ideas of Bishop Selwyn and his followers arc really those of the natives. A wonderful frankness, as we have said, in accepting a fait accompli, distinguishes the Maori, and the higher members of the race have that geniality which Englishmen recognise as belonging to real courage ; they can sit down m good temper by the side of an antagonist at soon as the fight is really ended. Add to this, what cannot be too often repealed, that the wrongs of the Maori exist only in the distempered fancies of a few most unpractical minds ; and there is some around for believing that the immediate colonisation of Waikato, on terms as honourable and favourable to the natives as cun be devised, would be a practicable and politic course.

The arrival of the Airedale made it necessary to defer the meeting advertised in last Saturday’s ‘ Herald’ to take place on Monday. On Tuesday, at 11 o’clock accordingly, about one hundred and twenty persons’ including those most active in the public affairs of the place, assembled at the boat-house, and the Superintendent was called upon to preside. His Honor read the requisition calling on him to convene the meeting, and stated the object to he to obtain such information as His Excellency would j^ive respecting the arrangements for pacification now under consideration. He considered that under the circumstances the meeting would do well to appoint a deputation, and then adjourn till the deputation should have waited on His Excellency. At present they were in the dark, and to get information first and discuss after would be the wise plan. r

Mr. Ilulke hoped there would be no attempt to narrow the subject which the meeting was to consider. They had much to discuss besides the peace. There were the wrongs of the militia—and the old abuses were kept up in town with respect to the natives who were not subjected to the same law as the settlers. Mr. Glcdhill was hardly audible, but spoke generally to a similar effect. Mr. J. C. Richmond hoped the settlers would take a business view of their position. His friend Mr. Hulkc seemed rather warm, but it was surely better for a small and weak community to take a conciliatory tone. We could not afford to lose a friend or make an enemy. In con-idering the terms recently published he thought we should do well to leave all talk about the honour of the country to others. The Queen’s dignity was only in a very small degree committed to our keeping. The civil forces had done everything that they could do to maintain it. Waircka was after all the darkest and brightest page of the war. Let the settlers confine their criticisms and enquiries to their own special concerns in the peace. Indemnity for past losses, and security for the future, were the things to be sought. He was himself at case ; he was satisfied from conversation with one of His Excellency’s advisers that the policy of the Government when fully exhibited would be satisfactory to the settlers generally. Ho did not wish, however, to anticipate the enquiries of the meeting, but thought they might be hopeful Mr. Gledhill moved— “ That a deputation be appointed to wait on His Excellency to lay before him the state of the settlement, and to enquire the views of the Government as to its future prospects.” The motion being seconded, Mr. Upjohn said he thought the motion was not explicit. He moved that the words “ respecting compensation for the settlers’ losses” Uc inserted. After some desultory discussion the amendment was put and lost, and the original motion earned. It was then moved and carried, That the deputation consist of five persons to be named. Many names having been proposed, the chairman called for a show of hands for each, which was in favour of the following gentlemen -. Messrs. Richmond, C. Brown, XL Atkinson, Good, and Hulke. The meeting then separated.

On Wednesday the deputation waited on His Excellency, and a written paper was read by the Foreman containing the views, and enquiries of the deputation.

His Excellency replied verbally to the following effect:—He was sensible of the difficulties alluded to by the deputation, but would not be induced by any pressure of opinion cither in the colony or elsewhere to swerve from his duty. He desired to do the strictest justice to the settlers of Taranaki whose sufferings had his warmest sympathy. To answer the main questions raised in the paper just read more definitely would be to disclose his plans prematurely, which would be mischievous. The terms granted to Ngatiawa were determined on with a view to simplify the issue in the present struggle. It had been called a land quarrel, but though it arose out of a land quarrrel, it was itself a question of jurisdiction. It was thought right by himself and his Executive Council to rid the issue of this extraneous matter at once, and he thought the settlers would sec shortly that this was right. The land league he believed was broken up for ever in Taranaki, and as the natives, now that its pressure was gone, were desirous to sell land, all that was necessary for the consolidation and security of the settlement would, he had great hopes, be very soon obtained. W. King and his people held very little of the conquered land, and he saw no important principle to be satisfied in taking that, but great benefit in the plan lie had adopted. He would not say what terms would be offered W. King hereafter. lie bad sent messages to Taranaki and Ngatiruanui saying he had heard they wanted peace, and if so they must ask for it, and they should bo told on what terms it could be had. No great time for negotiation would be allowed, and if the terms were not quickly accepted, lie snould put the affair in MajorGeneral Cameron’s hands, and ask him to do his best. It might be that peace would not be asked for, in that ease he would prefer to have kept his terms secret, and if any were granted at a late date they would not be the same. With reference to the return of the families he thought it premature to enter on the subject. He (the Governor) thought they were best away at present. The reorganisation of the Militia under last year’s amended law was under consideration, and that might meet the wants of those who wished for their discharge. The men were to be classified, and a part would form a reserve. He presumed no one wished to be without a musket to repel an attack. He had given instructions that British law should be enforced strictly for the future among the Ngatiawa tribe, not only as between natives and Europeans but between native and native : and the caution which the deputation suggested had been given to the officer in charge of the native department. He hoped, however, there was no fear tl at any scandal would arise from the want of self control on the .settlers’ -side. The request that the town pa should be abolished had been anticipated. It was impossible that the existence of a pa in the town should continue. The loyal proprietors would be compensated, and the shares of the rebels taken from them. A commission was already valuing it. Mr. Whitaker, on the part of the Executive Council, stated his belief that the terms printed were judicious, but he wished to reiterate that they had no reference to any other limn the Ngatiawa men. It was aa error to have published them without this caution, which was contained in a letter to the Superintendent enclosed with them.

The Foreman observed that the reply His Excellency had given did not quite meet the anxiety of the settlers. They saw no means by which the wrongdoers could repair their destruction of property but by a surrender of territory, and they read the 7th article of the terms to Ngatiawa as announcing as a general principle that land was out of the question, was in fact tapu. His Excellency replied that those terms were quite special—he had never held such an opinion as that land was tapu —but he could promise nothing, because if he bad taken territory from the natives, it was not in his power to give it to the sufferers, —the General Assembly, they were aware, had control in that. Besides, it would be promising to dispose of a bird which was yet in the bush.

Mr. Whitaker, in answer to a question from the deputation, said that to answer directly was to expose the intended terms to the rebels. If there were no other means of restitution but the land, to say that compensation was part of their policy would be to promise to confiscate land which it might be inexpedient to do.

The Foreman had not said land was the only means: he knew there were large (he could not say how large) herds of cattle down South. The sufferers had no right to indicate what was to bo the source of their relief: all they desired was relief, and it would remove anxiety to know their claims were admitted. They felt that complete compensation was unprecedented, hut justice did not require a precedent. Of course they could not expect impossibilities, but they would be satisfied to know that compensation was part of the present policy. His Excellency agreed that it was most unjust that loyal inhabitants should bo left to suffer great loss whilst the rebels went off scot free.

Mr. Hulkc observed that the town pa was not the only valuable property held by rebels in the settlement—there was land held undpr a Crown. Grant in the Hua Block—would that be confiscated?

His Excellency could not confiscate land held of the Crown. The land of a rebel convicted of high treason by the Supreme Court would be confiscated of course. He would refer the deputation to the AttorneyGeneral.

Mr. Whitaker could not promise that the Government would prosecute for high treason. The Cabinet must consult on such a question—it was a doubtful and delicate one. He would make a note of the circumstance mentioned.

Mr. Hulkc said there was other land reserved for the use of rebels, not under Crown Grant, which he hoped the Attorney-General would make a note of. After thanking His Excellency for his patient attention, the deputation then withdrew.

A meeting was held on Thursday, the lllii inst., to hear the report of the deputation, which was given by Mr. J. C. Richmond in u short speech embodying the matter of the foregoing minutes, and corroborating the general impression he had received by the testimony of the Rev. Mr. Wilson, who approves of the policy of the Government. He (Mr. R.) thought two or three weeks more patience would see the reasonable desires of the settlers satisfied. Mr. Hulke confirmed the report of the foreman and recommended patience, but reserved ids prophecies till after the event. [From the “ News,” April 18. - ] Tim complexion of affairs here partakes of so many variations that it is with difficulty and with uncertainty that wc arrived at any conclusions. Last week wc had occasion to give the terms of peace offered to the

“ Waitara Insurgents ” illustrated by a letter from the Native Secretary, and by ilie explanations given by His Excellency to ibe deputation that waited on bint, to ascertain this views of bis government ; and out of which much that had been previously Considered unsatisfactory disappeared and an approach to reliance arrived at. The Governor’s reply isalready before our readers. Then there was no idea abroad of the immediate

departure of His Excellency, and preparations were making for punishing as they deserve theconturnacious natives of the south, if prompt and satisfactory submission were not made. This view of affairs has undergone an entire change. * His Excellency has departed for Auckland, leaving behind him some additional information regarding the proposals made to the Ngatiruanui and Taranrki tribes —which we have furnished in another column; and the Niger has come down and carried away part, of the 65th, and will it is understood return with the Fawn to embark more. The military force here is to be reduced to some 750 or 800 men to be divided between the camps at Waitara and the town ; and the General and staff will leave for Auckland before the end of the coming week. —These are simply matters of detail and we are constrained to confess they set our powers of speculation at defiance. The key to all this is said to be the state of the Waikato district brought by the Niger. In the outlying places of Auckland, as here, the friendly natives have itseems given partial notice of mischief brewing, and those who hut the other day said, stay were you are—now say go, it is not safe for you to stay. The movement of the troops then seems to indicate that the war if further war is to be, will presently be transferred to the north, and we must wait with what patience we can muster the development of the diplomacy at work. Turning to the prospects of the Province in the position in which it seems, likely it will be left wc see nothing but gloom. Twelve months of military imbecility have sufficed for the destruction of nearly all tha: was valuable of property, and by fiction wc arc described as at peace with the murdering hordes of Taranaki and Ngatiruanui. We do not pretend to offer any solution of the inconsistencies we have described —but we foresee that if the Governor’s pledge that restitution of property from the natives south be not quickly insisted on, and accomplished, his peace proposals will not prevent the settlers going down to claim their own. A practical way of treating the matter which might possibly inconveniently disturb his diplomacy. Since our last H.M.S.S, Fawn came up to the anchorage waiting for His Excellency, w)r> had it appears made arrangements for a more speedy departure than was anticipated. —On Monday the Niger arrived from Manukau, and as soon as Captain Cracroft had waited on the Governor, both steamers left - The Fawn for Manukau with His Excellency and suite : the Niger for Waitara. During the day the S.S. Corio arrived with cattle and sheep for the contractor from Nelson, On the Kith Rig Joe escaped from the Court House prison between (J and 8 a.m., and has not been heard of since. The Superintendent has offered a reward of £lO for his apprehension, A portion of the 57th Kcgt. stationed at Waitara marched into town to join the head-quarters, they were met by their band and a large concourse of civilians at the Henui. The Niger left the Waitara with 205 of the (55th Regt. in charge of Col. Young for Manukau, the remainder of the regt. will follow at the end of the week. The Corio also sailed for the Manukan, and we understand it is proposed to run her fortnightly between Nelson, New Plymouth and Manukau. A military board set to-day at the Brigade office from 11 to 3to receive parties claiming for damages sustained by the miliitary works about tlie town since the commencement of the war— Thursday the 18th inst., is the last day for preferring claims by a notice posted purporting to be official from the Brigade office, but bearing no signature. It will no doubt be quickly discovered that the short notice given is quite incompatible with any idea of justice to the claimants. The scattered condition of the population requires and will no doubt on mature consideration by the authorities, receive the sufferance it demands, and full and fair opportunity be given to all just claims.

On Wednesday morning it was rumoured that the rebel Tamihana of Kaipakopako, and other natives of the Pukctapu tribe, were coining into town to submit to the terms offered by the Governor to Hapurona and the Ngatiawas. Considerable excitement prevailed, and lus Honor the Superintendent was requested to accompany a few gentlemen of the late deputation to wait on Mr. McLean, and remonstrate against their being permitted to enter the town for fear of consiliences, and to protest against their being admitted on the same terms, after having refused to submit within the time prescribed.

On being made acquainted with the nature of the visit, Mr. McLean said that, lie was not surprised at the violent feelings entertained against Tamihana and the rebel Puketapu, and regretted that he had no instructions as to others terms than those made with the Ngaiiawas. It was urged that those terms wore far too lenient for the heinous offences of these men and that it would be desirable and prudent to treat with them beyond the boundaries of the town. The deputation left the affair with there premises in Mr. McLean’s hands. We hear that the whole ef them have since decamped advised by their compatiiots in the friendly cam]) that they might find the place too hot for them. Gen. Cameron rode into town to-day. It is stated that lie has consented to the return of families from Nelson. Under what conditions has not transpired, hut will no doubt he presently notified officially. [from OUU OWN COURESI*ONDKNT.] New Plymouth, April 27th, 1801. The position of affairs here has not materially altered during the last month, and the leading incident may he summed up in a few words; Kingi, true to his nature, has remained obstinate, having left with his followers soon after the acceptance of terms by Hapurona, for the north, where he intends to discuss terms with the Governor in the presence of Waikato. Tamihana of the Kaipakopako still remains at Mataitawa, whither he returned after his visit to the Waiwakaiho pa on the 17th inst., in consequence no doubt of the protest made by some settlers, who objected to him being permitted to come so near to the town until his real position was known, on the grounds that he had been concerned in several murders and especially in Sarten’s at the Ilcnui on the 4th December last. Mr. McLean’s reply to the deputation who waited on him in the absence of the Governor was significant; he stated that he could fully enter into the feelings of the settlers with reference to those Natives who had committed the murder referred to, but that he could not depart from the terms already made with the Ngatiawa —and which he was instructed by the Governor to carried out —but added, that he should advise the natives alia ' to, as having committed the murder, not to make their appearance in townjor same time. Tamihana has not, it is believed, absolutely come to terms, hut it is understood that there is no serious impediment against his doing so. The Waitara question may thus be considered as settled, and the celerity with which this satisfactory position has been arrived at is not a little duo to the easy terms at first offered, and to the readiness with which they were afterwards modified to meet the views of our late enemy —a portion of whom it appears was no enemy at all, as Whatitiri and his party though living at Hurangi during the late struggle remained neutral. It will be remembered that one condition in the original terms provided for the retention of the different redoubts and blockhouses at Waitara and a small portion of land round each, but Whatitiri claimed the land on which the redoubts stood; there was only one course to adopt under the circumstances, namely to withdraw the obnoxious paragraph—and the troops: this was done and the soldiers marched to the lower camp, leaving 6nly the blockhouses at Pukctakucrc and Nga-pukcturua (Mahoctahi) in our possession, which, it is reported, will be garrisoned by friendly Natives; the former will be under the immediate charge of Hapurona, and the latter under that of Teira and Co. There will then oidy remain the disputed block of land to locate troops on, and. ns the investigation of Teira’s title has to he resumed, reasons may arise why they should he removed from there, apart from a necessity for their presence at Waikato. Yesterday an answer was received from the Taranaki tribes, they are willing to treat under the terms proposed with the exception of a small hapu (the Tatukai) who prefer to wait the issue of events at Waikato. The Ngatiruanni for the same reasons refuse to enter into negotiations. In the mean time the troops arc fast leaving fur Auckland, whither the whole, with the exception of the 57th, will be removed, and to-day the General and staff leave by the “ Airedale’’ for the same place. Yesterday the first instalment of refugees returned from Nelson, and a further number will arrive by the “ llita,” now hourly expected. A stranger mightalmost he tempted to enquire, whether the removal of troops and the return of our wives and families, when so small a number of rebels had laid down their arms, when some had refused to enter upon the consideration of terms, and whilst negociations were pending with others,might not prejudice the firm attitude which the Governor professes to assume. Thus far the peace proceedings here have not been satisfactory, but grave reasons may have compelled the Governor to adopt a course which it requires but 1 little reflection to sec must lead to future troubles; the assertion of the Queen’s supremacy, and, ns a consequence, the overthrow of the Maori King movement, may yet severely test the skill and resources of General Cameron and be sufficient cause why diplomacy should have formed so important an element in the production of peace here. It is in Waikato then that we must look tor the solution of the Maori King problem, and it is to be hoped that General Cameron and his good troops will be the means employed for this purpose, and not the influence of the Native Department. Illness, I regret to say, has been very prevalent, principally dipthcria and a low kind of typhus fever, and which the late severe weather has considerably increased. The Militia duties are now very light, and

leave the men time to practice for the prizes to be Riven in May next, and in many instances to attend to farming operations. During the last twelvemonth the Scotch thistle has nearly overran fie settlement, and in some cases it will require more money to eradicate it than to replace buildings destroyed by the enemy. Last Tuesday night the schoner “ Sea Gull,” from Wanganui, with a cargo was compelled to s run on shore in consequence of a heavy gale from the S.W.; she was beached at the mouth of the Huatoki in front of the town, neither cargo nor vessel were much damaged, but the owners considered it advisable to sell the latter; she fetched, it is said, £250, —a very low sum. The names of the two Taranaki Chiefs who are desirous of availing themselves of the Governor’s terms, arc Wm. King Matakatca of Tcumuroa and Arama Karaka. [From the •• Herald,” April 27.] A falling barometer at the end of Inst week shewed the approach of bad weather, and on Saturday night the Wonga Wonga and Sea Gull, the last to leave the anchorage, got under way, and the roadstead waf empty the first time for many weeks. On Sunday tht wind abated and the sea was comparatively quiet, but the barometer continued to fall, and at night a gale o great violence broke upon the coast. The wind was very unsteady both in direction and force, shifting between N.N.W. and West, in short squalls of grcai (my, accompanied by deluges of rain. On Tuesday afternoon —wind 'due W., the barometer rising, ant with every prospect of more moderate weather—a schooner under scanty sail was observed heading ir shore. She was made out to be the Sea Gull, o; Wanganui, and ran down for Moturoa with the design of anchoring, if the state of the sea would allow. She was, however, too far too leeward of the islands to gel much shelter, and finding the sea very heavy she wa< put about, and when abreast of the flagstaff she bort down for the shore and van up high and dry, ant without losing a spar, sail, or rope, in the mouth of tht Huatoki, half an hour after sunset. Avast number o people crowded to the shore to give assistance ant satisfy their curiosity. Kot less than two hundrec were lor an hour waist-deep in the surf, cudeavourin. to steady the vessel by ropes. The scene was vert curious, for the weather, though moderating, was stil wild, and white surf ran up a hundred yards at eacl wave, swinging the mass of human beings about liki a tress of sea-weed, under a moonlight partly obscurei by westerly scud. No casualties occurred, and a largi part of the cargo was uninjured. The ship, thougl hardly a wreck, has receive! severe damage, and is t( be sold at auction to-day as she lies. On Tuesday a mail was despatched overland tc Wanganui, in charge of a native of Ilapurona'i party. During the week a letter has been received from W Kingi Makatea, of ♦Umuroa, and Arama Karaka—leading chiefs of Taranaki, stating that they wish t< accept the Governor’s terms. A large meeting hat been held, at which the tribe generally concurred will these chiefs, hut a section residing at Warea are dis sentients. They arc busy collecting cattle and horse; and sheep taken from the settlers, with a view to the! restoration. As yet no news had come from Ngati ruanui. It has already been stated authoritatively in thes< columns that no sort of solicitation has been used t( induce the Southern tribes to accept the terms offered and it is satisfactory to be able to say that none wil lie used. They are probably not aware of the exten of damage they have done, estimated in their onh coin—land, lint it is said, and we trust truly, tha no mistaken kindness will interfere to prevent th< fullest justice, either by discounting the losses, o putting a rack value on the means of restoring them. The settlement of the Southern country is absolute!] needed to guarantee security against marauders ir future, and the exclusion of the European from th< million fertile acres that lie unused in Ngatiruanui am Taranaki is no benefit to the natives, and helps then only in preserving an independence of governmen which, if preserved, must one day lead to their entin destruction. The Airedale arrived in the roadstead yesterday bringing sixteen families from Nelson. The Rita wai to sail to-day with a number more. The Aircdah brings the February mail from Europe. Genera Cameron and Staff, and Colonel Mould, sail by hci this evening for Auckland. A very hearty desire pervades the settlement to support his Excellency and not lightly or hastily to say f word that may ernbarass him or throw the smallesi obstacle in the way of Government at the preseni crisis, so full of difficulty, and of importance for tht future of the colony.—There is, too, an undcrcurreni of general confidence that we are really entering on f new era. Rut a number of small circumstances an cropping up daily, which keep doubt alive at least or the surface, and make it difficult lo believe that old ihings are vet quite passed away. Thus the old error of courting and petting particular chiefs is persisted in Hapurona, among the late rebels; Poharatna, and others, among the loyal natives, arc the objects 01 especial favor, whilst others are left to complain t( unofficial hearers of a neglect which to them seems i positive injury, A proposition has also been on foe to establish a native village on the sections near Henu where the pa now stands. What abomination it covered by the name of a native village, near f colonial town, no one in New Zealand need be in ignorance. and it is surprising how the authorities whe decreed the impossibility of re-establishing the Kawai pa could errtertain the proposition for an hour. Out readers will be glad to hear that the proprietor of tin Henui sections in question has been informed that the plan is abandoned. The Kawau pa has been valued, by some Waikato chiefs on the one hand and the Resident Magistrate on the other. What the result may bo does not yet appear. But the absurdity of tlu transaction is equally great whether tire value has been assessed at £lO or Xi.OOO. The sura to be paid was quite in the breast of His Excellency to decide on Hit was lawful for him to say the pa must not exist, it was for him to settle the terras. If he only purchased in the ordinary way a valuation was not a desirable method of coining to terms, and in any case political and commercial considerations ought to have come in question of which Tarnati Ngapora and his brother assessor could know nothing, and it must be feared a very dangerous and bad precedent has been established in taking Maori views of value as our guides in such a case. There are other matters ot a like kind all pointing in one direction to this, viz., that the sagacious gentleman at the head of the Native department has not yet abandoned the ancient ways. There arc two ways of guiding ignorant men, by the darkness that is in them, or by the light that is in the guide. You may “ manage” or you may govern them. To manage is to study the foibles and prejudices of your subject, lo flatter the one and press lightly on the other. We all know what this means when said of a weak husband and a prudent wife; the process of managing is not honorable to the managed nor improving to the manager—it degrades both. To govern on the other hand is to guide by the higher views and better knowledge of the Governor—(wc speak of course of the only sort of government recognised among Englishmen)—and to govern implies to educate and to raisc both the governed and the governors. The momentary satisfaction of individuals or of classes is a secondary consideration with a real government, whose office is always to be looking forward and never to do any act by itself, alone and without reference to the broad principles which must bind act to act and year to year in a wholesome and prosperous state. Never was an hour or a race more propitious for a real governing mind than the present hour in the Ngatiawa tribe. Weary and disgusted with an unmeaning and losing struggle they conic to us with more than the usual docility of the Maorics; they seek to he cured of their feuds and jealousies and to learn something of the secrets of our peaceful civilization. They ask for bread, woe betide us if wc give them a serpent I Mr. McLean has the opportunity of laying a great obligation on this place and colony. We ask of him | not to shift the jealousies from one man to another, and by indulging the pleasure of giving presents to I friends new or old, making the salaries of magistrates a means of rewarding real or imaginary services; not to lend a needless support to the unwholesome communism of the pa by erecting fresh nuisances of the kind close to our town; not to complicate the land questions and dry up the means of local improvements by raising unreasonable notions of the intrinsic value of waste lands; fostering the delusion that prices arising out of European improvements are really or honestly the property of the Maori obstructives. And last and most important wc ask of him not to “ pamper a hasty time, nor feed with crude imaginings,” men who already are much readier to claim than to perform. Years must roll over before Tamati Ngaporas can bo our legislators and magistrates ; and those who hoist them prematurely into such a position arc wronging them and us, and sowing seeds of discontent and more disaster. Mr. McLean should take the time by the forelock. He has a ductile material. He lias but to direct, and bis subjects ask no better than to obev. Bat a bad beginning has been made ; feeble government half justifies insubordination, and the hour of extra docility will soon pass. Enough has surely been done to satisfy squeamish sentimentalists. The “ terras to the Waitara insurgents” arc sacrifice enough to the-altar of the clerical Mrs. Grundy, and if the course isplsevered in Government will earn the contempt as they have already

; had the abuse of that venerable lady ) the colony demands that the GovernmcnTv 2 march lo its own tune, and not become ? Do* 1 harp responding to the wild unpractical e Bishops, Archdeacons, or Wellington speech

i Two letters from Head Quarters are nri a which, by their kind and considerate i the satisfaction which their substance a ff i “ Zealand may well congratulate herself 1 General Cameron is found an officer who * ***»• 1 the end without ncclecting the means to j mnem Wi * that Great Britain docs not send her’ soWg!^ make empty exhibitions of power, but to affo i ° Dt to e tion and guarantee law' to her subjects in n ]i I ’ rotec * s Brigade office correspondence wc have cot t I as a dry formal sort of thing which, without I to the sense and with great gain in the grammn, y • . be committed to machinery like a barrel o’ ground off as occasion required. But Maior q Cameron writes like a human being, as well a.« r |t mandcr ; and in his hands martial law will b7 & I o of or^ nizin * a, | - for a T nn T cnd > an en“& i .8 overriding any thing and any body who interfeSJ? f c the uppermost desire of the military chief e lt commander will not find the spirit ot volunteeiin * I f tinct among us, even after the benumbing inflmivL 6 *: ” the last fourteen months. b muenc^of <r The plan indicated in General Cameron’s letter l. ! ” been matured thus far—that it is proposed to « y blockhouses. One on Hcniy'EPuni’s claim q Katcre pa, one at Puketotara, one at R. LethbruW* one in the “ absentee section,” Frankley road n fifth at the pa in P. Elliott’s land. The military q tliorities undertake the work if a supply of n obtained free of cost and conveniently near the !u! e named. There will be little difficulty about this , t it is understood that the garrisons of these stocked ' s as long as the strength of the troops here allows Jh! , e he formed of men picked for their good character ani q who will be allowed to work for the proprietors e at a price and within regulations fixed by the General )f The immense importance of getting our farms into ( j remunerative state again is obvious. Militia pav m * q cca.se at any hour, and the heavily burdened colo^ , may refuse or he unable to grant more in any shape / y our Necessities ; and Englishmen always feel that ind jj pcndcncc is their right and natural attitude. A vera p few months of work will [nit us again in this positimf c That General Cameron really means ami will practi! !(] rally carry out the above scheme there need be no , e doubt Wchave, indeed, had specimens of vaccillatioa jj and indifference in high places that may make seen ;o tical minds pause and refuse to trust'to the honL* raised by one letter. But it must be remembered Q that though the English army system provides for • s promoting indifferently the capable and the im* [table, the wise and the foolish, and though j the title of General is by no means a certificate J of statesmanlike qualities, yet, when an cracrecncv 0 called for him, England has never wanted a man for d it; and such wc have good reason to Itclicve is the p present commander in New Zealand. Sent out for the special business, we need not doubt he lias special J qualifications, and it will be wisdom in us to trust cor•r dially to the kind feeling exhibited in this letter, and j. to co-opcratc energetically under a gentleman who’doeg not slight ns because we arc a handful, or our losses , c because “ only wooden houses” have been destroyed. to I, Head Quarters II Camp, Waitara, 22nd April, 1861. it Sir, — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt ly of your letter of the 19th instant. I need hardly it assure you that it will give me great pleasure to assist ic in alleviating the distress which the late insurrection >r has entailed upon so many of the inhabitants of this i. Province, and to co-opcratc with yourself and the Proy vincial Government in any measure which you think n will promote that object. Ie The first part of your letter refers to the duties red quired from the Militia, and you recommend that they n should be relaxed so as to allow the men time to work, it At the present time a considerable portion of that fora •e furnish garrisons to the blockhouses round the town of New' Plymouth, and to those of Omata and the Bell r, Block. is * * * > le Others arc employed ns boatmen, or in the Engineer il and other Departments, and receive allowances in ad;r dition to their Militia pay. I shall be happy to reduce the number of men employed, and, generally, to exact from the men as little military duty as is consistent with a due regard to the convenience of the public a sendee. q In respect to the importation of coal, there is no Dirt tention of continuing it after the supply now on hand, e and that which is expected from Sydney, has been conq sumed, or otherwise disposed of by the Commissariat; a but this quantity is so great that a considerable time • e (probably a year) must elapse before a further supply n will be required for the troops. (j It is certainly most desirable, on every account, that , r means should be taken, without delay, to enable the j settlors to resume their ordinary' occupations in safety! q and you arc aware that lam at present engaged, in ,f conjunction with Colonel Mould, in considering a plan 0 for the protection of those whose property is situated at a a distance from town. When that plan is matured I )t will communicate it to you, anil shall be happy to at- ,} teml to any suggestions you may wish to offer on the is subject. a Should the settlers desire the assistance, of soldiers in restoring their farms, I have no objection to the em--0 ployment of men of good character, under proper reguu lations, in this manner. ir I quite concur with you as to the necessity of exerlC cising some caution at first in allowing the return of e families from Nelson, on account of the danger of en--1 gendering disease by overcrowding the town; but I 2 will authorise the return of the class of persons referred | t to in the notice you have published as soon as yon ine form me that it can be done without risk. >s I have, &c., d " D. A. Cameron, , Major-General. i t " His Honor the Superintendent, Taranaki. d e Hoad Quarters, d Camp, Waitara, 24th April, 1861. a Sir, —I am directed by the Major-General Comr mantling to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of a yesterday’s date, and to acquaint you that he has given d orders that the familscs of the persons named in the - 1 list you have transmitted may be permitted to land at New Plymouth. ? The Major-General would feel obliged by y fl ® r ■ giving each of these persons a certificate signed by 1 yourself, which they will give up, with notice of the 'f arrival of the families, to the Officer Commanding the l > Garrison, when they wish to bring them on shore. y I have, &e,, 8 G. S. Whitmore, 3 Major and Military Secretary. J J . I His Honor the Superintendent, Taranaki.