LATEST FROM TARANAKI.

New Zealander, Volume XIX, Issue 1825, 23 March 1863, Page 3

LATEST FROM TARANAKI.

The s.s. Airedale , Captain Kennedy, which sailed from the Manakau on Friday last at I'2o p.m., with a portion of the Royal Artillery and horses, arrived at Taranaki on Saturday morning at 6'50 a.m., having experienced a boisterous passage. She succeeded in swimming the horses on shore through a very heavy surf, with but one casualty .the loss of a mare. Left New Plymouth at 7*15 p.m. same day, and arrived in the Manukau yesterday at 1 p.m. The Native Minister (Hon. F. D. Bell) has returned by the Airedale. Matters appeared to be progressing satisfactorily at New Plymouth.

We have received a copy of the Herald of Saturday last, from which we make the following extracts; —

The following arc the questions which the deputation have submitted to his Excellency the Governor at his request in writing:—

“ 1. Is your Ixcclleney in a position to place the settlers in immediate possession of the lands at Tataraimaka and in other parts of the settlement, which they hold under grant-* from the Crown, and which they have been unable to occupy during the past three years, in consequence of the hostile attitude of neighbouring Native tribes; and, if not, will your Excellency name a time at which your Excellency thinks it probable that they will be able to resume possession?

‘‘2. Can your Excellency inform us, without injury to the public service, what measures von are taking, or have in contemplation, for ensuring to the settlers quiet possession of those lands, either immediately or at some future time?

“3. Having in remembrance the hardships and dangers to which the Taranaki settlers were subjected in the late war, the long period of suspense ivhieh they have since had to endure, and also the fact that many of the settlers are past the prime of life and -'more or less broken in heart and in spirit by their trials; and remembering, moreover, that the measures for ensuring the ultimate safety of this settlement, which, with a due regard to the peace of the whole colony, and to the wishes of her Majesty’s Government, your Excellency may feel yourself iu a position to adopt may be much slower in their operation than such as you might think fit to take if justice to the settlers of this Province was the sole object to be aimed at—does your Excellency consider that it would be fair or justifiable on the part of your Excellency’s Government, to exercise a pressure on the settlors in ordei to retain them here, either by withholding from those who leave such compensation for their losses as may be granted to those who stay, or by refusing such assistance as it. may be in the po«-cr of the Government to give any who. desire to establish themselves elsewhere; and re mombering that such a pressure must tend either to keep men here in inaction and iu dependence upon government support, or cause them to return to their farms and invest capital upon them against their own judgment, for how long a period, if any, does your Excellency consider that it ought to be exercised? “ 4. Supposing your Excellency to have fixed some definite limit to the period during which it would be fair in any way to discourage those who wish to go elsewhere, would your Excellency and your Advisers be prepared to recommend to the General Assembly at the expiration of that period the purchase, on behalf of the Crown, of the lands of those who then desire to leave at about their estimated market value before the war; or what other measures would your Excellency approve, with the view of assisting those who wish it. to establish themselves in someolher place?

“5. Does your Excellency consider that it was the intention of the General Assembly that any portion of the sura of £200,000 mentioned in the Loan Act, 1862, as for the reinstatement of this Province and its inhabitants, should be devoted to liquidating the actual losses of the settlers on the basis ot Mr. Sewell’s award, and, if so, what is about the amount which was designed for that purpose; or if your Excellency should be of opinion that this point is left in a great measure to the decision of your Excellency’s Government, how far, having regard to the circumstances under which the amount was voted, would your Excellency consider yourself justified in entrenching on the £200,000 for other purposes than that of liquidating the actual losses of the settlers ”

It will be seen that, when these questions arc fairly answered, we shall know very well what we have to expect. The first part of the first one, asking ‘ whether his Excellency is in a position to put the settlers in possession of their lands at once,’ might have seemed unnecessary, especially to those acquainted with the state of the settlement, if it had not been known that his Excellency had asked, soon after his arrival here, ! how it was there were so many settlers in town, and why they did not go back upon their farms?’ The question, therefore, was not only fair, but necessary. The second question, which is properly guarded, is intended to ascertain the means to be used in putting the settlers back upon their lands, i.e , in reinsiatiug them. Ordinary men, of course, are not competent to judga of the wisdom of any given policy for securing the great ends of state-craft, but every man can and must judge for himself, whether the state of things is, or is likely to be, such as will induce him to invest more money and labour under it. To put an extreme case. Supposing that the only result of his Excellency’s visit to th:s place, was to obtain the assent, tacit or avowed, of the hostile natives to the settlers reoccupying their lands, and the only guarantee of security in the future was to be the condonation of the past —it is evident that, without pretending to say such a course would not be the wisest for securing the ultimate good of both races, ’the plainest man could see that Taranaki would be no place for peaceful industry. It will be argued against us, that the case we put is an impossible one, which is no doubt true ; but, nevertheless, it will serve for illustration. The second question was asked, therefore, to avoid deciding a most important point on imperfect evidence.

The third, which is a little unwieldy in form, is to ascertain the nature and extent of the pressure which His Excellency may think right to put upon the settlers to restrain them from leaving. This was necessary because His Excellency had expressed to the deputation in very strong terms his objection to the abandonment of the settlement.

With regard to the fourth question we may say that the notion of the Government s buying the land of those who wished to leave did not originate here, but was first spoken of during the last session of the General Assembly, several of the Southern Island members recommending it as a desirable course. On the filth question, concerning the £200,000, it is not necessarv to say more than that it is desirable that the decision of the Government upon it, as upon all the other po nts, should be given as soon as possible. All the questions have one object in view—to get materials for a practical decision of the first importance which we have shortly to come to. If they do not show any great confidence in the future that lies before us here, it is because no such confidence exists. Whose fault it is that this is so is another question which we need not enter upon, but there is no doubt of the fact. Nor is it surprising that the depressing effects of the last three years should not have been dispelled by mere assurances of good will and good intentions. The time, however, has now come for action, and we have no doubt his Excellency will answer these questions by deeds as well as words On Tuesday his Excellency the Governor had an interview with Te Tcira and his people, and visited Mataitawa and Waitara on Thursday. The 57th, at Wilkinson's farm, have finished the redoubt and moved into it yesterday. Our only news from the South is that a body of the Ngatiruanui arc in the Taranaki country, and we are informed by Tamati Kaweora that the Taranakis are “ pakeke ” [obstinate] about Tataraimaka. We understand that the remaining portion of the Artillery under orders for Taranaki will embark on board the Airedale this morning at 10 o’clock.