The New Zealand Herald. AUCKLAND, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1863.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 4, 20 November 1863, Page 3

The New Zealand Herald.

AUCKLAND, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1863.

SI'ECTEMriI AOFjXDO. Give every man thine ear. hut few thy voider Take each man's etmsprf. hut reserve thy judgment. This above all, —'lo ihWv ownself he tfuu; And it must i* -How, :i«? Urn night the (lay. Thou canst nut then ho fake to any man."

Ik we road the signs of the times aright, we take it for granted that tiro ministerial polity of colonising the Waikato and other rebellious districts by means of military settlements will be energetically and eth'ciently carried into effect. When volunteers from the other provinces and colonics were first sought to be enrolled, the requisite force was estimated to amount to lire thousand men. "With the enlistment of two thousand of that number further recruiting was suspended, although it is generally supposed that there would have been no difficulty whatever in obtaining the full comI pigment, it is now reported that recruiting is about to lie resumed ; and something more (bun <?/? itllo whisper has been circulated ot a desire on the part of the authorities to obtain the aid of 11.M.5. 1 Himalaya' m conveyance of a couple of /Lot/sand levies from Melbourne. Whatever means m.av be adopted for military colonization of the rebellious districts, it is to bo hoped that they will be not only prompt but effective. Men's eyes naturally turn, when such a subject is under consideration, to the suecesa which, despite many obstacles, has attended the settlement of the now beautiful and thriving pensioner villages;—Onelmnga, Otahuhu, Ilowick, and Pannmre, rapidly growing up into prosperous t owns. From around these, the wastes and wilds of a few bygone years have entirely disappeared ; a country unsurpassed in beauty and fertility has been' reclaimed ; the bounds of civilization and cultivation have been pushed tar forward; and it is argued iliat by a repetition of the same process a steady and prosperous advance much further into the heart of the land could not fail to be speedily and successfully achieved. It strikes us that such an element of military colonisation might once more be beneficially employed, and with much more advantageous effect, if the men introduced were restricted to a Certain age. But there is another, and in our humble opinion, a far more important element in working out the plan of military colonisation which it would be well for the New Zealand Government to turn their earnest attention to ; and that is to induce some of the rural

regiments of English militia to volunteer in battalions, officers, start', and all, as militarycolonists for New Zealand. It lias been alleged that the Imperial Government would never sanction such a course. Per "cur <>vriv part we cannot see why they should object'. They have sent troops of tlio line, many of the finest regiments, to our assistance. None of these regiments return to JSarope without leaving a large portion of their rank and iile behind them. Now, were the home authorities disposed to tbrCrw impediments in the way of the military colonisatioz; of this country, we should seek to find stieli impediments rather in. prevention of the weakening the ranks of the regular army than by obstruction of militia corps who mjglit be willing to volunteer for military colonization amongst us. Wc need but to refer to the Army List to ascertain that during the Crimean war there were ten regiiAents of English militia who volunteered and were employed on foreign service in various parts ofthe Mediterranean. These were the Eoyal Berks, East Kent, First and Third Koyal Lancashire, Third "Westminister, Northampton and Rutland, Oxford, Eoyal Wilts, Second West York, and First Stafford, which last was reported I to have volunteered for New Zealand, and was at one time expected to come out in relief of the 58th regiment. e Now, if the British Government- will authorise, and the New Zealand Government can hold out sufficient inducememts to one or more Militia regiments from the rural districts of Great Britain to volunteer for Service in this country, we cannot- but think that the project of military colonisation and bonelicial occupation of the forfeited territory would be parried out in the most complete and effectual manner. Trained and disciplined bodies of men, ready for i».nmediate service, would be at our command, their wives aid families would accompany them; the combined elements of soldiers and settlors would come out incorporated; and even aft or the rebellion shall have been suppressed, and peace again restored, sufficient- of a skeleton staff might be kept up, so that a force (when the regular troops may have been withdrawn) may promptly, if necessary, be organized, for repression of internal disorder, or lor protection against j external aggression.

There is another point of scarcely Icsb importance, to whiiih we take the liberty to advert. And it in this: "tVould it not bo more advantageous in conveying military colonists, be they pensioners, militia, or else, by other than hired transports ? Why, for example, should not the funds appropriated for passage money be invested in the purchase of one or more obsolete slaps of war of which England has so man}' laid up in ordinary to rot in her ports and havens ? Having already assisted us so much, we incline to think that England would be disposed to aid us still further by parting with one or other of such ships at an easy iigure. Having named ten militia regiments, let us mention ten ships, which have been removed from the active list of the. British Navy, but which, as block or guard ships, might be to tha most advantageous purpose for harbour defence of the Waitemata. Of the 2(5 gun class of sailing frigates, there are ' Amazon,' ' Amethyst,' ' Amphitrite, ' Creole,' ' Diamond,' and ' Iris,' measuring about 1,000 tons each; and of the 40 and -i-i gun class there are ' Plcva, 1 ' Sybitle,' ' Nemesis,' and ' Africaine,' measuring from 1,1(58 to 1,63-1 tons. 3s ow one of these frigates reduced from a 32 pounder 2G or 44, but armed with (5 or 8 of the hcuviebt Armstrong guns, would suffice to convcv a battalion to these shores. (At all events the ' Apollo,' an old -16,.when converted to a trooper, did so most conveniently and comfortably.) Stationed oft* the Bream beacon, as a protection to Auckland her services would bo of the utmost value. She might also do duty as a Light Ship. Armour plates might be prepared and fitted . ready for fixing on her arrival. She might be made a training and gunnery ship for our naval volunteers and cadets, ana might render many other services which we need not pause to enumerate. Such a ship, or ships, is urgently required for harbour defences. We feel persuaded that if not bestowed upon our necessities, they would be sold to us cheap ; and considering the interest that England must needs entertain not only in promotion of our prosperity, but in strengthening our position as the out-lying picquet of the Australasian group, we feel confident she would navigate such ships free of cost to our shores by drafts of seamen to be afterwards distributed among vessels of the squadron. The proposition for the military colonization of this country is an admirable one. If the execution only equal the conception — and of this wo are under no apprehension — the result to the whole of New r Zealand will be beyond calculation beneficial. It will place her in the van of the South Paeiiic; and to English enterprise, capital, and emigration it u ill open up a field for industrial and healthful occupation not to be surpassed.

The cO\vntv:y may be congratulated on the large majority with which the second reading of I ho. Loan Bill was carried through the House of Representatives. A majority of some five or six votes was all, we believe, that was expected by the supporters of the bill, and the result ol'the division, a majority of 22, must have been as gratifying to, as it was perhaps unexpected by, the ministry. In the debate which took place on Tuesday last, the opposition to the measure was lelt entirety to the special pleading of one, who, though perhaps the most able debater in the house, could advance but little argument in a bad cause, and sought beneath the flow of discursive eloquence and disconnected rhapsody, to overwhelm his opponents, and carry the opinion of the house by storm. The only connected forcible appeal in the whole speech, was that mqde to the interest of the diil'erent sections of liia hearers; but even this, calculated as it might have been, had it been based on solid reasoning, to stir up feelings of selfishness and the approval of ti narrow minded policy, fell to the ground from the simple fact that the data assumed for the occasion were fallacious, that the question was one, oil the minutest details of which individual members were intimately and correctly informed, and that it was itself so momentous in its character, so fraught with life or death to the best interest* of European colonization in this Northern Island of Now Zealand, that the theoretical Utopias of the small Philo-Maon party who still tenaciously cling to these mischievous principles which haye brought tlia

Maori race to ruin, and .-o greatly retarded the advancement of European settlement in this island —were overwhelmed by the practical good sense of the House. The main point on which it was sought to alienate the support of the Middle Islam! members from the loan, was that a sum of .■£1,200.000 was to he expended in introducing and settling a body of 20,000 military settlers upon the conliseatcd lands of the rebel Maoris. Financially and sentimentally this portion of the bill was opposed. Financially, as an injustice to the Middle Island, in that its money should be taken to introduce colonists into the Northern Island; and sentimentally, bv the pseudo-philo-maori party aforesaid, who argue that it is unjust to punish the murderers of our settlers —of mere children and even women —and that to confiscate- native lands, g" order to pay some portion only of the expenses of a war which the natives have wantonly provoked, is unjust and harsh. That all* that we were justified in doing was to "go in and thrash them," accept, thankfully "the first offer of reconciliation they might be pleased to make, with no security flmt suph a peace would be anything more than a mere armistice, and settle down to cultivate new fields to be ravaged at no distant day, and introduce new settlers to be again butchered whenever the blood-thirsti-ness of his nature and the contempt of the law actuated the "noble savage" of New Zealand once more to resort to the ambush and the tomahawk. The experience of the past has shown, however, that a very different course must he pursued, and those were the truest friends of the Maori who supported a measure which, when he is once subdued, will not only prevent any recurrence of disorder to the European population of this island, but will deter him from rushing again upon his own destruction. No right-minded man ever wished for one moment to see the utter extermination of the Maori race. The. only hope of the future existence of that race depends upon the thorough carrying out of the confiscation of the lands of the rebel Natives, and their settlement by a large body of European military settlers. There is no middle stop bet»"" . thus overawing them i«ui so rendering future rebellion impossible —and extermination. There is 110 other course which can render secure the lives and property of our own people, and preserve the laws of the Queen from being insultingly trampled upon, as has been systematically done for years past, than that of settling in the heart of the country a strong, and above all, permanent, European population, attached to the soil, with strong arms, and willing hearts, and military training, who will be here whenever the Imperial forces may he. withdrawn, to uphold, if necessary with the sword, the sovereignty of the Queen and the supremacy of the law. Who can toll at what moment the exigencies of the Mother Country, in the present over-clouded aspect of affairs in Europe, might not require the abstraction of a part, or even of nine-tenths of the Imperial forces in the colony? And in what position then should we be placed, if the appeal made to the petty jealousy of a portion of the colony had led to the sanction only of one part of tiie policy -of the present ministry, the quelling of the insurrection, and had not provided for the necessary, the humane, the statesmanlike precaution which is contained in the sought-to-he-called objectionable portion of the Act? What alternative but that of extermination would have remained ? Unwilling as the settlers of this colony might have been to have brought themselves to the task, stern necessity would have taught them that there was 110 other alternative. They or the Maori must yield. The late of the native Now Zealandcr woukl have been that of the Red Indian of America, and the guilt of his blood would have rested on the heads of those who, herc in New Zealand and at home, have persistently acted and still continue in the blind attempt to sacrifice European interests, justice, law, order, and civilisation to the barbarism of a savage, and, as Captain Baldwin justly remarked, in a previous debate, an ungrateful race.

•But viewed financially, we deny lliat this portion of the debt will, otherwise than press unjustly upon the South, :; as was sought to be represented by Mr. Fitzgerald. Setting aside the fact th.it it •provides for a scheme as essential to the termination of the war as are the offensive -and defensive measures provided for by the £1.000,000, which Southern men stated they would willingly have made £5,000,000, if such a sum had' been required for those purposes, it will be seen upon the very face of it that this system of military colonization is ■of so reproductive a character as to contain within itself the repayment of the cost of its introduction at no distant date. It must be borne in mind that the loan itself is a charge upon the 8,000,000 of acres in the Waikato and Thames, over and above the - land which will be required for European settlement and native reserves, and what is 80 well calculated to give immediate money value to these 3,000,000 of acres as this very sprinkling of a settled European population amongst them P to provide, in fact, the means for the repayment of the £1,200,000, that portion of the loan to be devoted to the cost ot its establishment. Nor must we hesitate to take another view of the position ot the several Provinces. It is quite true that at the present moment by far the larger proportion of the interest of the loan will tall to the charge of the Middle Island; but will this state of things continue? The gold fields of Otago have nearly reached, it is supposed, "the climax ' of their productiveness: nay, the increase of the returns of the past year are but as 30 to 50, compared with those of the previous one. The pastoral acres of Canterbury and Nelson will soon have become stocked, and in the absence of new runs their wool-producing resources will for a time have reached their limit. Put will it be so with this Province? We think not. The fertile valleys of the Thames—the rich plains of Waikato and AYaipa—the magnificent soil at Tauranga, Oputiki, and all along the eastei-n coast, the tribes of which lands are even now taking part in the rebellion— all these fertile lands once opened to European colonization will in a very short time render the proportion of revenue derivable from the Northern Island as greatly in excess as it now falls short of that derived from the live Southern Provinces. On one. point, ninetenths of the House, and nine hundred and ninety men in a thousand out of doors, are agreed, and that is the justice and necessity* Ql' confiscating the lands of all

natives, whether directly or indirectly engaged in the rebellion. *We call upon the inhabitants of this Colony to watch narrowly the ('(induct of those amongst us who would attempt secretly, and by working on the prejudices of a narrow minded and illinformed, but powerful, class of persons at home, to thwart the best interests and future safetv of this country, and, as we maintain, the true welfare of the natives themselves. We do not know whether the Suppression of Rebellion Act may not- meet such cases. We trust it does. At any rate we hope that the fear of public opinion, directed to the mat ter, will have the effect of shaming all such from the advocacy ot murder and rebellion and the upholding the continuance of anarchy and rapine in this Colony.