THE "WESTMINSTER REVIEW" ON NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealander, Volume XXI, Issue 2202, 20 August 1864, Page 2

THE "WESTMINSTER REVIEW" ON NEW ZEALAND.

[concluded.] composition of the war partt. The Assembly met. It soon became apparent that the war party were predominant; strong in the Legislative Council; comparatively weak in the House of Representatives, but very determined, and, as colonial majorities are wont to be, somewhat tyrannical. But the composition of it is remarkable, as affording a complete and decisive answer to the supposition—entirely gratuitous—tha*t the settlers had put pressure on 7 the- Governor, driving him into a war, in order that contractors might profit by commissariat expenditure. The great majority of those members whose constituents might have profited by increased expenditure in the Northern Island, were opposed to the Governor's policy; while the members for the other island, where not an additional shilling was to be made, supported that policy, though conscious that they were loading their own provinces with a heavy weight of debt. ■ , • • . |

SUSPENSION OF THE WAR. The war was carried on with varying fortune, until receipt of a despatch informing the Governor that the Secretary of State for the colonies—while thinking it indispensable that severo punishment should be exacted on account of the unprovoked murders committed by the tribes south of New Plymouth [Ngatiruanui and Taranaki] —would learn with satisfaction that William King had been induced to make such submission as would enable the Governor to accommodate his quarrel with him without danger to the British supremacy. ' Accordingly, the head of the Native Land Purchase Department was sent to hear.what terms the insurgents had to offer. He had a meeting with the chief of Ngatihau-i, William Thompson Tarapipipi, the king-maker, who had come down from Waikato as a mediator. But no conclusive understanding was arrived at. An interview, however, took place between Thompson and King, in presence of the Waitara natives, and the leading men of the Waikato and Ngatiruanui, at which it was agreed that the subject of dispute —the land at Waitara, and the question of peace or war, should be left to the decision of Thompson. At once, with Spartan brevity, he gave his order:— ■ " Waikato, return home. Te Atiawa ! To Ngatihaua, Ngatiruanui! Home. Let the soldiers return to New Plymouth. As for the Waitara, leave it for the law to protect." The command was forthwith obeyed. Shortly afterwards, the Governor arrived. King, indisposed to meet him, retired inland with a number of his people. The Governor's terms were accepted by the remnant who remained; the article being as follows: —"The investigation of the title, and the survey of the land at Waitara, to be continued without interruption." It is worthy of notice, that when the report of the investigation, so far as it should have been at that period carried out, was moved for in the House, the Government were unable to produce it.

Thus did the war come apparently to an'end.'as usaal in New Zealand, withou 1 1 any decided advantage on either side. It was not peace, but a cessation of hostilities ; and in the opinion of many of even those who had been prominent in native advocacy, the greatest mis-, take of all. ...

RE-APPOINTMENT OF GOVERNOR GRBY. The peace party, repudiating the title of " peace at any price," had come into power. They, in their turn, defeated a motion of want of confidence, by a majority of one. Shortly afterwards, the Assembly being still"in session, a telegram from England reached the colony, which was read—"Governor re-appointed." But when, the regular mail came in, it was found that two letters—, a G and a y —had been accidentally omitted. Governor Browne received a despatch highly complimentary, but informing him that Her Majesty's Government were about to avail themselves of the peculiar qualifications and experience of Sir George Grey, then at the Cape of Good Hope. Governor Browne.left New Zealand, bearing with him the respect and good wishes of opponents and supporters alike. ~ . ... ~: Governor Grey had a harder task before him than was anticipated in England. It had been expected that the .personal influence which he was supposed to have acquired over the natives would enable him to bring them 'to reasonable terms ; and he seemed at first to be himself ,;pf the same opinion.. But he was warned at the. outset that he would find an essential change in the native mind —that they wo.ulcl stop their ears to the voice of the charmer—that his " mana " was gone. The Maori had made a greater stride in knowledge than in civilization, bringing them up to the most dangerous stage for any people—that of unregulated progress. They had become thoroughly intractable; knowing that our promises had not been kept-—that nothing of a substantial nature had ever yet been done for them by the Government, they had resolved to put no further trust in Europeans, but to think and act for themselves. It soon became clear that Governer Grey could, do more than any other clever and prudent man could do in his place. But no more was expected by the colonists, who showed themselves almost unanimously ready to give him willing support. For it happened that those among them who had the most strenuously opposod'him during his former term of office, belonged (we think with only one exception) to the peace party ; 'an4 with one accord subordinated all past grievances to the common object. For it was already no secret that the " new policy " was to be reversed. -..,..

Governor Grey forthwith prooeeded to inquire for himself, and was not long in discovering that the statements on which the minority, in the House had based their demand for enquiry were substantially correct. Once satisfied as to that, one course of action only remained —to restore the Waitara, to place himself rectus in cudri, arid then tb deal with the remaining questions according to the exigencies, of the moment. 'ln this hie was eventual!}' supported by the. responsible Government, anions whom were two who had strongly advocated the military occupation of the disputed block. The grounds of the Governor's decision are thus" summarized in a despatch written by the Secretary of State for the Colonies:-

"1. That William King's residence, on the disputed land upon the south bank of the VVaitara, was not merely, as had 'been always represented by the sellers, by permission of Te Teira's father, but in virtue of an arrangement made by all that section of the Ngatiawa tribe for the sake of defence against the Waikatos. " 2. That a large number of natives, between 200 and 300, were living upon the bloek at the time when it was offered for sale, whose dwellings and cultivations were destroyed when possession was taken by the military. " 3. That Teira, as he now asserts," never intended to sell the pas, one of which was in his own occupation, and did intend to except from sale a reserve of 200 acres, although no such reserve was named in tho deed of sale, as ought to have been done.'*,

The ministry base their aoquiescence on the ground of having been previously unacquainted with these facts'. For this, deriving our information on this part of the question from papers laid on the table of the House, we are unable to account. ■ The first of the three points had been most distinctly affirmed by the.peace party ; so had the.second, except with: regard 'to the numbers, which were not known to have been so large. We cannot multiply quotations; but the following extract from Wi Thompson's letter to Governor Browne is conclusive against the supposition of the fact being a new discover}':—r - . . • .'." ' '/. ■—.(> ■■ '

" War was made on William King, and he fled from his pa. The pa was burnt with fire; the place of worship was burnt, and a box containing Testaments ; all was consumed in the fire; goods, clothes, blankets, shirts, trousers, gowns, all weie consumed.. "The cattle were eaten bj r the soldiers, and the horses, one hundred in number, were sold by auction by the soldiers;

"It was this that disquieted the heart of William King, his church being burnt by fire. Had the Governor given word not to burn his church, and to leave his goods and animals alone, he would have thought also to spare the property of the pakeha. This was the cause of the pakeha's property being lost (destroyed). When William King was reduced to nakedness through the work of the Governor, he said that the Governor was the cause of all these doings. They first commenced that roa 1, and he (William King) merely followed upon it."

The third point is based upon a late admission by Teira himself ;• but the question of the reserves was mooted in the House, as also that of the boundaries ; though the attempt to elicit accurate information from the Government was unsuccessful. It appears, indeed, by the reports lately received, that these various statements have been controverted in the House ; but the .GoYenior.anlearning the stare of opinion, .sent down a fair challenge as to fact by message. It must be remembered that the war party were from the first a hardhearted majority; as may be supposed fro.n their haying

gone so far, in 1861, as to negative a motion for attaching Sir William Martin's rejoinder to the severe attacks all duly printed among the Parlian entary papers—•which had been directed by the Government, by Mr. Richmond, 5 and Mr. Busby, against his inquiry into " The Taranaki Question." I?! Rj \ RENEWAL OF THE WAR, A few lines must be spared in explanation of the cause which led to the renewal of hostilities. The Waitara, native territory, is on the northern boundary of the province of Taranaki. To the south of the province is a block called the Tataraimaka, occupied by English settlers under Crown grant." When' we drove King from Waitara, the natives drove us from Tataraimaka, and claimed it by right of conquest, as we held Waitara. During the suspension of hostilities, it was distinctly announced, by the natives, and especially by the Waikatos,- that any attempt to repossess ourselves of Tataraimaka would be treated by them as a fresh declaration of war; for they held it as an equivalent for - -Waitara. - - Consequently, Tataraimaka was Governor Grev'S chief difficulty.. Of course, however well disposed he might have been to temporize with the natives, and to et the sense of injury wear out, if was Unendurable that English settlers should remain busted from their allotments, which had been granted br the Crown. All were agreed that they must be reinstated at any cost. But Governor Grey had made up his mind to restore the Waitara. and had only to proclaim the restoration. What would seem, upon the face of it, to have been a great error in judgment, was now committed. The troops were marched into Tataraimaka before the issue of the proclamation. The consequence was, that the natives kept their word, and renewed the war after their native fashion, by a terrible and shocking murder. ' ; It appears from 'the papers presented to the Assembly, that'the issue of the proclamation declaring the abandonment of the Waitara purchase had been delayed on account of the. difficulty- which the responsible ministry found in making up their minds about the matter; though what they had to do with a purely native matter is not quite clear. Governor Grey, in his account of the affair, says, fairly enough:—"l take great blame to myself for having spent so long a time in trying to get my responsible advisers to agree in some general plan of proceeding. I think, seeing the urgency of the case, I ought perhaps to have acted at once, without, or even against, their advice ; but I hoped, from day to day to receive their decision, —and I was anxious, in a question which, concerned the future of both races, to i carrv as much support with me as I could ; indeed, I could not derive the full advantage from what I proposed to do unless I did so." The admission does credit to the Writer; but it appears to us that a fallacy—the ignoraiio elenchi, lurks in the reasoning. The argument, as we understand it, is—that if the Ministers had agreed sooner, the proclamation would have preceded the military occupation of Tataraimaka. This is true, yet seemingly beside the question, which is—Why were the troops moved at all before Ministers had made up their minds ? The natives had held Tataraimaka so long, that there could have been no great loss of national honour in suffering them to hold it unmolested a short time longer. Almost immediately afterwards, the Waikatos, who are supposed to have instigated and directed the murders, rose in arms. This time, the natives placed themselves entirely in the wrong, and a severe lesson has to be administered. There is np longer a peace party in New Zealand. Yet ' should justice be tempered with, mercy. Let it be not forgotten that tho present war is but a continuation of the former one, originally provoked by ourselves. . . ■■,.:■ ■■ RESPONSIBILITY IN NATIVE AFFAIRS. ". The"conduct of native affairs, refused while easy, was pressed upon the colonists in a time of difficulty. They had moreover been angered by imputations cast upon them, almost, from the 'foundation of the colony; to which colour might be given should they fail, as was 'not unlikely, to extricate the colony from the difficulties, into which it had been plunged; they had heard the war called "a settler's war," and were therefore unwilling to do anything that might tend to confuse their duties with those of the Governor, which it was now more than ever necessary to keep distinct; and they suspected—justly or unjustly—the motives which prompted the offer. For they supposed it to be preparatory to a claim upon the Colonial Treasury for the expenses of an Imperial war. " Settle first the difficulties in which you have yourselves involved us," was virtually the reply of; the colonists;" start us fair, and We will undertake to govern the, .natives,. defraying ever}; -• J ~-'«-t of the eost : of quarrels of our own raisiug, should' far mismanage what we undertake. But we respectfully decline, at present, to implicate ourselves with that for which we were not allowed to become responsible." - t The refusal seems to have caused much disappointment at the Colonial Office; for Governor Grey had somewhat prematurely informed the Secretary of State, " that he had arranged to consult hi 3 responsible Ministers in relation to native affairs, in the same manner as upon all other subjects." ~ NATIVE 'LANDS ACT. By the Native Lands Act, a great act of justice was done to the Maori by the colonists, who, it is only right to say, were stoutly supported by Governor Grey. After twenty years' agitation of the question by the northern settlers, a measure was introduced, having for its object the "unqualified recognition of the native title over all land not ceded to the Crown, and of the natives' right to deal with their land as they pleased, after the owners 1 , according to native custom, had been ascertained. The promise implied in the Maori version of the treaty of Waitangi—that the natives of New Zealand should be allowed to have as good a title to their lands as Europeans, and that they should, in the event of their selling or leasing, be allowed to obtain the value of such lands, has been fulfilled. The New Zealand land question is ended.

THE WAITARA QUESTION IX 1863. In this matter Governor Grey seems to have been not very fairly used. He had laid before tfie Assembly tho facts and evidence on which he had based his restoration of the Waitara. In consequence of the manifest hesitation to accept them, he offered a fair challenge, inviting the distrustful to join- issue on the question of fact. The challenge was onlyproductive of the two following resolutions, which do not meet the case : • "1. That this House, having supported the measure taken by his Excellency the late Governor of New land, to repress the armed interference 6t W. King at Waitara; because, as set forth in its resolution of August IGth, 1860, in the opinion of the House, such measures were 'indispensable for the due maintenance of her Majesty's authority,'—considers that the renewed and definitive recognition by his Grace the Duke of Newcastle, in his despatch of the 25th August, 1863, 'of the justice of exerting military force against W. King and his allies,' has happily rendered it unnecessary for this House to controvert or supplement statements made by., his Excellency Sir George Grey, in his despatches on the Waitara question. ' "2. That, in the opinion of this House, the good'faith of the Crown and the interests of both races of her Majesty's subjects in this colony, demand that the chief Teira and his people should be protected from possible illegal aggression ; and that in justice to him, and in compliance with'the ! request contained in his petition to this House, the investigation into the title to the Waitara block promised by Governor Gore Browne and by Goverr nor Sir G. Grey should be completed at the earliest practicable period." Much is implied, but little is expressed. Surely such is not the manner in which a public question should be dealt with. It is deemed " unnecessary to controvert or to supplement statements made by his Excellency Sir George Grey, in his despatches on the Waitara question." The time has been when his despatches, during his former tenure of office, were treated with merciless severity ; but then they were tangibly and downrightly impugned. The controverted statements were specified ; the counter assertions and disproofs set down with minute precision ; opportunity for vindication was freely offered. Now the Duke of Newcastle's authority is resorted to, apparently for shelter; but how his Grace's " recognition," in England, should settle questions of fact in New Zealand it is not easy to understand. The second resolution is a mystification. It is clear that Teira, and all other of Her Majesty's native subjects, ought to be protected from possible aggression. But such has not hitherto been our practice in New Zealand. For our own ease and quietness, we have allowed them to maintain their feuds at pleasure. If the resolution implies no more than a change in our previous policy, jt is a step in the right direction. But it seems to hint at more. In regard to the concluding observation—that the investigation of the title to Waitara should be completed at the earliest possible period—it is gratifying to observe that in this matter, all are now of one accord. But it is remarkable that the mover of this resolution should have been one of those who opposed investigation in the S*«ifm ctf 18<?0i

MAORI ALLEGIANCE. Although they look down upon the " White Runanga," they pay willing allegiance to the Queen. APPORTIONMENT. OF THE EXPENSES. The colonists, while steadily maintaining that neither technically nor morally ,are they specially responsible for the cost of an Imperial war, are far from being unmindful of the efforts of the mother country in their behalf. They are willing to contribute as far as the limited resources of the colony will allow. There are no symptoms of a niggardly spirit among the thinking men, by whom, and not by those who pander to the passions of the hour for the sake of a few stray votes at an election, the feelings' of a country must fairly be judged. IMPERIAL AND COLONIAL BELATfON. The colonies, when once allowed the management of their own affairs, have no right to depend upon the mother country for defence, either from rebellion from within, or against aggression from without, so long as they contribute nothing, by way of taxation, to the maintenance of the Imperial armaments. It is easy to raise the well-worn cry of " no taxation without representation ;" but it is as easy to raise a counter cry against taxing oni portion Jof the empire for the exclusive advantage of another. All alike are bound in fairness to share the burdens of the empire together with the benefits; and until this be agreed to, it will be difficult to withstand the arguments of those economists who maintain that it would be better for the mother country to sever the connexion, turning her colonies adrift. The equitable arrangement would be, for all alike to contribute, on the principle of mutual insurance, the British Government in return rendering assistance wherever it might be needed, free of additional charge; and this, if insisted on, might be reached with less difficulty than experience would lead us to suppose. For the tables have been turned. In the old times, whenever a colony felt herself aggrieved, her first resource was to threaten to " cut the painter.'" Now, on the contrary, that the value of the connexion is better understood, and that all real causes of complaint have disappeared, England could bring any one of her dependencies to order, by simply retorting the threat; provided only that she could succeed in inducing belief that she would act up to her expressed intention.