The New-Zealander. DAILY. AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 15, 1865.

New Zealander, Volume XXIII, Issue 2579, 15 November 1865, Page 2

The New-Zealander. DAILY.

AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 15, 1865.

Be just and fear not; Let all the ends thou aim'st at, be thy Country's, Thy God's, and Truth's.

" We have had enough of war " seems to be oue of the vital principles of Mr. Stafford's policy, and there are few who that assertiou now. Since 1&60, when the assertion of the Queen's authority in Taranaki first set rebellion in a blaze, we have had five years of almost incessant fighting ; aud who can look back at that black page of New Zealand's history, and not regret that it should have been deemed necessary ? And who will not feel a pleasure in the knowledge that a new era is to commence, and that, in the words of Mr. Stafford, " we 'do not " propose to meddle with the natives " so as to irritate or provoke them to " outrages, but we do act mean to " repress outrages whenever they " occur, and with that object, to main- " tain a s<nall movable force, which, in " conjunction with the friendly natives " who have shown throughout the "hostilities of the last three years " their loyalty to the Government, " will be the most fitting instruments " for the immediate chastisement of " those outrages which the colony " desires to suppress ? " Thus Mr. Stafford proposes to do at once that which Mr. Weld intended to do only when he had thoroughly thrashed the natives. The one, regardless of the fearful expense that he was heaping on a hampered Treasury, and of the immense liabilities fthat he was incurring to the home country, carried out as far as he could the policy which for a time was the most popular. Whatever his declarations were, this is the only conclusion that can be arrived at from his acts. He talked of sending home the troops, and marched them down to Wauganui, and he and his colleagues set themselves to work to fabricate stringent Militia and Volunteer Acts to force the people to be self-reliaut. There was no thought of approaching peace in this, no intention of letting the natives alone for years to come. Four years of war had preceded his administration, and if the natives were not convinced that they were thrashed in that time, all he has done since has added little to the conviction. Nine miles of a road over which thousauds of pounds were spent and many lives lost, and a Peace Proclamation, are the fruits of his war policy ; while the conquered country of the Waikato was the substantial benefit of that of his predecessors. On the other hand, Mr. Stafford, looking to his exhausted Treasury, and taking a clear view of the financial difficulties before him, decides at once to adopt a more temporising policy. There are but two courses to pursue, either to make every European in the country a militiaman, and pour into it also an overwhelming British a'-my, and thrash these obstinate Maoris into submission, and e. knowledge that they are British subjects; or to let them alone and see il they will not come round of themselves to the belief that cives Britannici esse is better than to be the half-starved dependants of King Potatau. We have had five years of the first, and yet the end sought is still far off. We do not say that no good has beeu done by that war, but certainly no good that was adequate to the blood and money that has been expended on it; for have not the last nine months seen some of the most barbarous murders of the whole time ? The names of Volkner, Fulloon, aud Brocghton, prove pretty clearly that the men who took a thrashing in 1860 could take another in 1865, and yet not be much more civilised for either. So that, unless we are still prepared to go on thrashing them ad infinitum, wehad much better let them alone ; and of the two we cannot but approve of the latter, and are glad to find Mr. Stafford doing so also. In this, however, we must be prepared for an emergency; and it must not be forgotten that not a few have said that these natives waited only the withdrawal of the troops to drive us all into the sea, and we must be prepared to show them that they cannot. We are happily do ; ng this very effectually on the East Coast, and the taking of their prophets and the murderers will go far more to convince them of our real power, than a dozen such military pageants as the Wauganui campaign, or such empty triumphs as the taking of the vacated Wereroa Pa. Nor is Mr. Stafford going to issue any more Peace Proclamations, which of all the feeble instruments that have been used to bring the natives to their senses have been the most feeble. Seven of these we have had, and the Weld Ministry are not to blame for all, for they only sent forth two. Under the first of these there were a few submissions, and under the last two criminals, sentenced to death, walked out of their prison free, while some of their fellowcountrymen are suffering for life, for crimes not half so bloodthirsty as theirs. Well may we congratulate ourselves if Mr. Stafford carries out his determination to have no more of such olive branches as these, which

have gone far to raise up a feelino- 0 f contempt for us in the native mind] by forcing on their belief that we issued them through weakness, not strength, or mercy. Feeble as all n TQ . vious ones were, that which had the ex-Native Minister for its author was superlative in its imbecility, it was evidently hastily concocted, and the few exemptions from its mercy seem to have been chosen at random* but it was brought before the House with all solemnity, as a charlatan would bring his cure for all diseases, and was sent forth to meet the fate that it deserved —contempt from friends and foes, and to have for its only result the death of its bearer. One man's life is as good as another's, we all know ; and we have uo doubt to some wicked minds the thought will have suggested itself that it was almost a pity that the name of the man who bore that proclamation to the Ngatiruauuis was not Fitz. Gerald instead of Kereti. Be this as it may, those who have witnessed the last five years' war and its effects will gladly hail the advent of a new policy. It is no longer talking of sending home the troops and keeping them but letting them go and learning really to do without them. It is no longer letting them go, and turning peaceful settlers into semi-military wanderers in the country, or making of Anglo-Saxon colonisation a system of French exterinitiation, but letting them go and o\ v . ing those settlers a chance of cultivating their lauds. It is uo longer turning the great central marts into mere garrison towns, as at New Plymouth out giving to them their legitimate rights as the great outlets for the riches of the country. The Militia Act and Volunteer Act have, it is true, passed into law almost in their entirety, as originally proposed ; but we uo longer look at them as evils to be submitted to or revolted against on a certain fixed date, but necessary evils that are only to be had recourse to in case of emergency, when we may have to show that British shopmen can fight as well as sell yards of musliu aud pounds of tea, and British husbandmen can handle a musket, if needs be, as well as drive a plough. The yards of muslin and the pounds of tea aud the plough are no longer to be subservient to the musket, as Mr. Weld's so-called self-reliant policy would have made them ; but the musket is to be subservieut'to them, as it should be,, for there can be little doubt that the staff of life is more necessary than the instrument of deatli. The one policy would inevitably have depopulated the richest province in the laud, while the other, if canied out in the spirit in which it is commenced, will re-people it, and will relieve its Southern neighbors from that state of chronic grumbliug at expense which their own friends brought upon them. The one policy, by its bombastic assertions and feeble results, has ruined our credit abroad ; the other is the only policy that can retrieve the past twelvemonth of misrule, and give New Zealand a chance of standing side by side with her sister colonies in the great market of the world.

There are very many people in Auckland who have no homes. By this statement we do not refer to persons who are not heads of families, and who, because they are bachelors or widowers, come under the denomination of the homeless. The condition of the persons referred to differs in this respect: they have no shelter at night, and they have no food in the day. They are guilty of the daily crime of " wandering abroad, lodging in the " open air, and having no visible means " of subsistence." This heinous crime is usually visited with imprisonment for three months ; often, it must fairly be said, out of compassion for the offender, who stands so sorely in need of a home. It may not perhaps be altogether an evidence of very bad times that so many persons are at present unemployed in Auckland, and. perhaps, there were times when the unemployed were more numerous than now; but there is this feature about the unemployed class of the present day: they are mostly persons of education. It is usual to bestow more than ordinary compassion on sufferers of this class, because they are supposed to be less inured to hardships, and the mode of their previous life has been in direct contrast with their present circumstances But those circumstances of themselves are sufficiently harrowing to excite compassion on behalf of any one—educated or otherwise. What is it to be homeless ? There are many whose happiness it is to be unable to answer this question, but perhaps we can answer it for them. To be homeless is to bid "good night'* toa friend who is about to retire into his comfortable dwelling, and afterwards to face the darkness, knowing that you "have not " where to lay your head." Then where do the homeless go ? The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the homeless !—what sort of nests have they ? Perhaps the police could explain. Perhaps some trod den-down fern could tell of a weary midnight watch, and of a dismal waiting for daylight ; perhaps some empty shed has covered the houseless wanderer until daybreak, when he was compelled to quit his temporary roof. There is a sad chapter of description to be written for any one who likes the subject, and who i 3 possessed of the information. It is not perhaps possible to say how many persons in Auckland are Fituated in the manner we have described, but we are assured they are very numerous - persons who for days consecutively hare not broken fast, or slept under a roof. This condition of things must be to maay inconceivable, but it is a painful reality to a very large number of people in the place. Many may remark that it is useless to raise a cry about grievances without being provided with a remedy. The remedy is in our power to na-nc, but not to supply. A gold-field at Wangerei, a livelier state of commerce in A nek land, a larger amount of employmen_ for the working classes, would doubt t

le-j-i confer pleasure and profit on many who are now dispirited and sad; and we believe this consummation is not very distant. But we can state with certainty that a more distressing condition of affairs perhaps never was to be fouudin a young province. Not that, we have said before, it was a proof that Auckland is rained—far from it ; (nit ihe province is a locality which at o ne time attracted the attention of the tnemployed "gentlemanly interest," the dnnand for which has not equalled the and the consequence is a glut of that particular description of labor. It is rather notorious that in most civilised communities the impecunious gentlemanly interest is atadiscount, which fact tl ];iV arise from one of two circumstances, either that the enjoyments of that clnss of life are so attractive as to collect a larger number of persons than society requires, or else that there is less difficulty in fitting, the untrained laborer with employment than the gentleman. There are undoubtedly more things he can do. The gentleman's first exclamation is, " I cannot *• Jig, and to beg Tam ashamed." But to the laboring man, work is absolute play. He can shoulder a pick, wheel a harrow, or make a cutting through a -steep embaukment with ease to himself ; while to the gentleman, every stroke of work is a real penance. Does such a state of affairs call for reprobation ? Have we got too many gentlemen amongst us ? Are the men of good manners and cultivated minds too numerous ? It is to be hoped not. And yet it is difficult to perceive in what ■way to get rid of this painful difficulty, which is now almost notorious ~:n Auckland. It is no proof of the poverty of Auckland, for plenty of circumstances tell a contrary story ; but it is a sad grievance, which it would be desirable to see removed very soon. In great cities in England, luring times of famine, thousands of men perambulate the streets, plunder the bakehouses, and the magistrates compassionately inflict on them only a small penalty for the offence ; such must happen in Auckland before long. The Provincial Government, we are informed, confers upon an applicant for relief one and a quarter pound of bread, and half a pound of meat daily. This donation will be valueless to many who have not the opportunity or the facilities for cooking. The quantity will sustain life and do little more ; but why should there not be a cadet corps of gentlemen soldiers to take the place of militia, numbers of whom are anxiously desirous of obtaining substitutes and retiring from the service? Let us get rid of this painful and distressing feature in our social arragements.