The New-Zealander. DAILY. AUCKLAND, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1864. THE COLONIAL RELATIONS.

New Zealander, Volume XXI, Issue 2265, 3 November 1864, Page 4

The New-Zealander. DAILY.

AUCKLAND, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1864. THE COLONIAL RELATIONS.

Be just and tear not; Let all the ends thou ai n'st it, be thy C3iintry'«, Thy God's, and Truth's.

Setting aside the party politics of the hour, we are strongly impressed with the belief that among the inhabitants of this Colony there is but little real difference of opinion on the great questions of public affairs that await a future consideration. We do not expect, as some persons appear to do, that the General Assembly will go into any lengthened or elaborate discussions of an abstract character; for it will be found, we think, that the great relations of the Colony will almost spontaneously determine themselves. There are certain subjects on which we cordially agree with our political opponents; and it is this ultimate agreement, we confess, that renders other than intolerable the unhappy state of discord aud mutual recrimination, in which we are at present involved. We are decidedly of opinion, as we have before now taken occasion to observe, that this Colony, in its rapid progression, has attained a stage in which it is perfectly competent to manage all the affairs of these islands, so far as pertains to the whole of our internal concernments. No one can reasonably suppose that the Native difficulty would be too great for the colonists to cope with, or that any force which the insurgent Maori tribes could set up, would be too formidable fo;' the Colony to subdue. We will go further and say, as we have said before, that when the Colony shall have deliberately assumed the unrestricted and unaided management of Native affairs', we shall, for our part,have full confidence in the justice and magnanimity of the Colony. We have no doubt whatever that the liberties of every class and section of the colonists, as well as the equitable rights of the aborigines, would be in safe keeping, when entrusted unreservedly to the deliberate action of the Colony. Exceptional circumstances, indeed, have existed, mainly because these Provinces have been the scene of a war which combines some of the peculiar ills of a civil war with a struggle between alien races. But circumstances have been exceptional, and must be temporary. The grand fact survives, that the Colony is composed of Englishmen, of Britons ; that the immigration to New Zealand has been, upon the whole, of a character decidedly above the average ; and that, as the rich resources of the country are still attracting a larger population, there will be an increased power given to the wholesome influence of public opinion.

Li We feel, therefore, no distrust of the prospective action of the Colony in reference to the colonises and to the aborigines, whatever the hands may be to which the reins of the Colonial Government may be consigned. The men in power will either be the genuine representatives of the colonial sentiments, and that is precisely what ws should most desire; or, at the worst, they will more and more fiud it requisite to bring into conformity with such sentiments the tenor of their administrative action.

As little, we think, will there be found any lasting occasion of disquietude in the relations between the Colony and the Mother Country. It is now an established principle in England, that the boud between Britain and her colonies is simply one of mutual good-will. Most assuredly the colonists of New Zealand will not submit to anything that they may consider unreasonable dictation from Down-ing-stree: ; and on the other hand not less certain is it, that no such dictation will be attempted, or, if accidentally practised for a moment, it will not be persevered in. The relation between Britain and her colonies is now purely that of mutual goodwill ; and really it is a peculiar glory of the British name that it is so. We are accustomed to speak of the British Empire as one whole, and to hear now and agai < of the realm upon which the sun never sets ; and it is an admirably unique circumstance, in the history of mankind, that the principle of union between the remote parts ami the centre of this vast body is simply that of voluntary coherence. We need not now discuss the question, whether some federal compact of a more express character will not hereafter be deemed expedient, or what other changes of a different character will be thought requisite; but as things now are, and as they are likely to be for some indefinite period to come, the people of this country, like those of the other British colonies, are politically connected with Britain by no other ties than such as are dependent upon the reciprocal action of a mutual goodwill.

At the same time, as everyone knows, New Zealand in particular holds hi some respects a singular relation to the Imperial power. The war in which the Colony has been engaged, aud from which we have not yet emerged, was in its commencement, and iu the earlier portions of its progress, a purely Imperial war. The Colony had no right of control over the management of Xative affairs, wheu the war was commenced iu 1860; nor had the Colonial Legislature accepted the responsibility of Native affairs, when the war was recommenced in 1863. Indeed, the only important procedure of the war, for which the Colonial authorities are fully responsible, has been the undertaking of the Tauranga campaign ; aud it so happens that it is precisely this department of the military operations, which may be regarded as having attained a definite termination. It was probably au error to invade Tauranga at all ; but at all events, Tauranga is now tranquil while the Waikatos are still wayward, and the Taranaki natives still turbulent or truculent. We have always thought it incumbent upon the Imperial Government to bring this war to a satisfactory termination, before finally transferring the responsibility to the Colony. As to this matter of Native affairs in New Zealand, we fully agree with our Australian contemporary, the Sydney Morning Herald, that first and last th* Imperial Government has " made a '•'mess" of it. We are confident, at the same time, aud we feel sure that our Sydney contemporary would agree with us iu saying so, that, in every part of their oftoti blundering procedures, the people at home nave been ac-

tuated by the best intentions. The affairs of our Colony are, we think, better known in London now, than at any former period; and the consequence is, that while many Englishmen have been hurling against the colonists indiscriminate denunciations, nothing of the kind has been heard from the members of the British Government or their enlightened supporters. It may be thought hard by some, that the Colony should be called upon, after next year, to pay onehalf of the cost incurred by keeping the regiments in New Zealand ; but on the other hand we must remember, that the present war is not expected to endure beyond that date. We agree, then, in considering, that the Imperial Government has played fast aud loose, in-a manner seemingly very capricious, with the question of responsibility and power in Native affairs ; but we are certain that the caprice and inconsistency have uot been wilful, nor have originated in any mean motives. If the British Government has not seen its duties, as to Maori affairs, in precisely the same point of view as we regard them, at all events they have been prompt to succor us, vigorously aud liberally, when it was considered that our wants were argent, and our dangers imminent. It will also, we are inclined to think, be found to be the fixed opinion of the Colony, that a divided government—a joint rule carried on by two mutually independent powers —is practically intolerable. The administralion of Native affairs mu3t be lodged eutirely either in the hands of Imperial functionaries or in the hands of Colonial functionaries. It is impossible to avoid this conclusion. Now much might be said in favor of putting the Maoris, for some time to come, under Imperial rule ; but it is useless to debate the point. It will uot be done. Eugland and the Imperial Government have, we believe, made up their minds on the subject. But the present crisis must first be disposed of.

On the whole, then, we conclude that in the forthcoming session of the General Assembly, the work to be done will not be that of predetermining the prospective relations between the Colony and the Imperial Government, or the terms on which those relations are to be adjusted. All such questions, if we are not greatly mistaken, will spontaneously adjust themselves. The work for the Assembly to perform, in the session of 1864, will be that of pronouncing its judgment on the presently existing complications, and the remedies to be present! v adopted.