The New Zealand Herald AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 25, 1863.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 6, 25 November 1863, Page 2

The New Zealand Herald

AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 25, 1863.

SPECTEMUR AGENDO. " oive every man tliiioG ear. but few thy voice. Take eacti inau's censure, but reserve tliy judgment. This above all,—To thine ownself be trm;; And it must f .llow, as the night tlie day, Thou canst not then he false to any man.

The Acts necessary for the carrying out of the comprehensive policy which has been boldly enunciated by the present ministry, and which provides not only for the immediate suppression of the rebellion, but for treading out tho very seeds of sedition, and for placing the future of the colony on such a basis as shall render it impossible to fall again into tho state of anarchy and confusion now existing, have necessarily formed the chief point of interest during the present session of Parliament.

As might have be-3n expected, violent but ineffectual efforts have been made by the pro-Maori party in either house to thwart the passing of the two principal bills —the New Zealand Settlements Bill and that for the Suppression of Rebellion —stigmatising the one as the infliction of a state of terrorism on the European population, the other as one of injustice to the natives, and calculated to drive the whole race to acts of despair, rather than to bring them to terms of peace and submission.

We confess to sharing in neither of these apprehensions. The Suppression of Rebellion Bill undoubtedly gives large, and we had almost said unconstitutional, powers to the Governor for tho time being; but the emergency under which it has been found advisable' to introduce this measure is no ordinary one ; and it must be borne in mind that between the adoption of some such course and that of proclaiming martial law there was no alternative. The ordinary law does not' meet the cases which must be daily coming within the knowledge of the Government. Take, for instance, that of Pirimona, an ordained native minister, whose conduct in endeavouring to arouse the northern natives to rebellion by the promulgation of false reports, calculated to act prejudicially against us in the native mind, was so guarded as to escape the interference of common law ; and it was only on reprouontatiou of the acts vc mis men vi dual by the Governor to Bishop Sehvyn that his recall from that portion of the island was ecclesiastically effected, and the mischief stopped, although the offender of course remains unpunished. Had the Suppression of Rebellion Act been in force, it would have been competent to have tried Pirimona by drum-head court martial; and if the Establishment had suffered in tho loss of one of ils native deacons, the corps diplomatic of the rebel King Matutaera would, at least, have been shorn of one of its craftiest and most mischievous members. This bill will undoubtedly become that which its opponents may very naturally feel somewhat alarmed at—" a terror- to evil doers," and for this very reason it carries with it, in the minds of upright men and honest citizens, none of those feelings of apprehension which have been craftily sought to be excited against it out of doors.

It is not that which has been alleged—a law enabling any person whatever to arrest any other person whatever on the mere suspicion of any third person whatever; for, in the first place, it rests with the Governor to apply it only to such districts as to him may seem to require it. And, secondly, only those he may appoint, of the rank of" field officers," arc competent to carry out the provisions therein contained. To suppose, therefore, that this Act can possibly be applied to purposes of private hatred or official intrigue, is to suppose a corrupt Governor, an unprincipled ministry, and an unscrupulous indulgence in some of the worst passions of human nature by the higher members of an honorable profession, distinguished for conduct of an entirely opposite character. The very limit to the duration of the Act —the next meeting of the General Assembly—renders the occurrence of such an abuse a matter of the extremest improbability. To us it seems that the power given "by this Act will be one the want of which has been most injuriously felt, as witness the tedious and fruitless attempts to enforce commensurate punishment against rebel natives in our courts of law; and the escape unpunished of scores of prisoners taken, if not with arms in their hands, at any rate with arms concealed within a very short distance of where they were taken, and who were allowed to escape the just punishment they so richly deserved because of the absence of all power to institute a court upon the spot, and at once, without the uncertain delay and loss of time to those whose services are actively needed, which would be sure to follow a resort to ordinary courts of law. That there are in this community those who dread the application of this measure is to us conclusive evidence that the measure itself is nccessary. Those who have no intention of affording assistance directly or indirectly to the robels need have no dread of such measure becoming law. We rejoice that we can give an equally hearty assent to the broad principles contained in the other bill, that entitled the " New Zealand Settlements Billnor do we believe that such a measure is calculated to have the effect alleged by its opponents, that of driving the natives generally into rebellion, through iiheor desperation!.'' Ihthia Act- it is clearly stated that the lands only of " any native tribe, or teectioh of tribe, or any considerable number thereof; against whom it has to the satisfaction of the Governor in Council that they have been engaged either directly or indirectly in

rebellion -will be confiscated.; and if within the boundaries of those lands any portion of the lands of innocent persons "be situated such will not be taken without the award of fair compensation to the owners, whether native or European." We can neither see the injustice of confiscating the lands of actual rebeb, nor that of taking the land of any private individual, and appropriating it to works of public necessity and usefulness provided, of course, thai; a fair (and in such cases a more than fair) compensation in always granted. This is a principle of lav daily occurring in England, and can at any time be brought to bear by special Act upon the property of European settlers here—ami why not then upon that of the Maori ? The time has passed when there may he two laws in New Zealand, one for the European and one for the Maori. British subjects in the full and unmistakable meaning of the term they must henceforth be, answerable to our laws, and subject alike to their protection. This is .a , principle essentially part, we conceive, of the policy of the present ministry. They may not put their hand to the plough and then look back. The old temporising policy of accommodating ideas of law and justice, nay, even humanity itself, to the barbarous notions of a savage race has been found an utter failure, the best proof of which appears in their present armed resistance to all iawful authority.

Of the value of tbis measure to New Zealand in a colonising point of view we have alluded on a former occasion. That the full measure of its utility to the country, accompanied by a thorough a,nd honest regard for the interest of the whole native race, will be secured by those who have the practical carrying it out we have equal assurance.