SUMMARY OF EVENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 8, 30 November 1863, Page 3

SUMMARY OF EVENTS.

A.fteu an existence of only seventeen da vs. it will not, we imagine, be expected that we, like cnir elder brethren of tho broad sheet, should be enabled to produce a summary of many pages—reproductions of leadinf articles, and other bits of special moment at the time they were penned. This we have not now attempted to do ; for the same argument which Lord Byron applied to poetry is not one whit less, but rather more, applicable to a printing office—" nothing so difficult as a beginning." That difficulty, however, we are daily reducing, and -with the continued and increasing encouragement of our friends and patrons we trust that tho New Zkalant) Herald will speedily be found second ton one of the New Zealand intelligencers.

We have arrived within a month of the close of IS63 —n. year of mournful memory to Auckland, its colonists and protectors'; and yet of more than hopeful augury for the immediate and immense future prosperity of the country, the northern portion of it especially. War, wantonly and treacherously resumed by the natives at Taranaki, has been forced upon us here, and pushed, amidst death, desolation, and ruinous expulsion of our settlers, almost to the gates of Auckland. We have, in consequence, from a race of agriculturists, shipmen, and shopkeepers, been transformed" to an army of soldiers. All capable of bearing arms have been drilled and disciplined;— our seniors have patrolled the city, whilst our juniors have become conversant with the duties of the camp and tented field. Our expenditure in men, money, aud munitions, lias been ungrudgingly borne ; 110 sacrifice* personal, or pecuniary, has been shirked; nor, whilst Huficring from the horrible atrocities inseparable from a war with barbarous savages, has the character of the conflict been slaTned by any unworthy act of soldiers or settlors. But, when tho strife shall bo brought to a successful and final close—as it bids fair, under firm and unshrinking conduct, to bo — wc shall 110 doubt be abundantly repaid by throwing open one of tho finest, most fertile, and oxteiisivo territories in Now Zealand —a territory as yot an unbroken waste obstinately closed against us, but which conquest, coilfitication, and surrender on tho part of; itsvanquishodandcaptive. possessors are about

to throw open to military and general colonisat ion, and which will not only furnish tlo.irwhiug and beautiful homes to'hundreds ot thousands, but a/ford ample room and \eige tor settlement ofthe discomfited tribes, with whom there is not; only no desire to dea I harshly, but on the contrary, an anxious \msli io establish them on lands not held in common, but conferred on and assured to iiulivulual proprietors by grants from the jOtown. this is the only revenge that the Government and colonists of New Zealand desire to wreak upon the rebellious, who, if imprudent and falacious prophets, such as I j' - vainson and his little knot of authorin.uc demitners could L>e credited, were to die io a man—-a thing, by the hve, which no nation or people ever "did, not even the tocon-h Highlanders—before thev would parr ith a foot oj their soil. The worth of .Mr. ouatuson s predications may be tested, bv the action ol lioriori and his nine!v-nine fellow cai.tives now on board tiie ' Cm'aeoa,' These men tia\e made tuiconditional .surrender of llien Waikato lands. And it will speedily , .ie ln.tde to ;tppear wiiether the speeches, i writ ings, and controversial arguments of the iSwauijon-lladfie.'d club, or " the practical and energetic action of the present government have had the, most beneficial tendency in solution of Maori ditliculties. The advocacy of the. one may be said to have encouraged the rebels io court their own destruction the action likely to be pursued In the other, will not only be the salvation ol the tribes, but supply the means of elevating I hem mentally, morally, and mate--1 i.illv 111 the scale of wealth, influence, and yrar.hcul civilisation.

-Lurojican laymen and pastors —men of unquestioned integrity, but of most mistaken and opnuonative tempers,—have not been the only persons to lead the Waikatos astray, they have had a Native as well as well as a European prophet. And they had Native prompters to egg them on to measure themsches against the Pakcha. promising that thev too would rise at the most propitious tune, when the flame of rebellion would then spread from the North Cape to Cook's Strait, and " the Fleas' —the epithet applied by the king to the colonists—would everywhere be driven into the sea.

Ihe Maoris are a singularly imaginative race, and the. religious education they have 1 eeeived not untrcf|uently leads them to draw preposterous conclusions. Here is au episode derived from the captives now 011 board (he ' Cunujoa.' ■Treating ot the rebellion, the colonists ei>3 Invciied to tho Philistines, of whom trmieral Cameron, we presume, was the 'Goliath. ' 'i'he Maorie* were the Children ot Israel, and William Thompson, we take the liberty to infer, was their " David." Now comes the argument. Did David, of himself, overcome Goliath ? By no means. It was God who fought for the Israelites, as 1)0 would light for the Maori and overthrow the Pakelui. And their native wizard prophesied that they were to be vanquished in three conflicts, but were to come out triumphant in the fourth. The fourth action is said to have been that at Kangiriri, and the result having been the most disastrous defeat ot all, it is quite possible that it may have had an influence in inducing the vanquished to unconditional surrender of their persous and territory, and sue for peace.

Of the extent and excellence of the territory thus acquired, we shall not ourselves speak, nre'erring to adduce fair and unprejudiced testimony—that of the hon. E. AY. Stafford, member for the City of A T elson. and recently Prime Minister of Xew Zealand. In scouting the motion of Mr. Fitzgerald, for removal of the sent of Government from Auckland, Mr. Stafford depicts the great and growing capabilities of tho north in the following eloquent and emphatic terms. We transfer port ions of his speech from the pages of the 'Daily Southern Cross. It had been said—

That it was a great error of Governor llobßon, against the warnings and protests of certain persons interested in another locality, to disregard their warnings that ill settling here in the midst of powerful tribes, lie was certain to involve the colony in future war and disaster. The lion, gentleman had stated that what the Middle Island was now asked to do was to pay for the mistakes thus made by the first | Governor in selecting Auckland as a place in which | to plant a colony, because there were near it powerful tribes of natives, which would be certain to give rise i to war. That was an altogether different opinion j from that hitherto expressed by the lion, gentleman, I who had previously said that if we liad only acted rightly there was no innate reason why there should j ever be any conflict. between the races. Ho (Ifr. [ Stafford) would undertake to say that Governor ( llobson made a very wise selection. The very fact j that ihe position was between two large divisions of | the tribes of ?s~civ Zealand was a reason why it should | have been selected. Situated as Auckland was, on a narrow peninsula, which the hon. gentleman had on j a previous occasion very truly stated, could be easily defended. With seas oil both sides, it separated those warlike tribes, so that they could not pass with j hostile intentions from one to the other without tho' j consent of the Government. It was just the place of i all others which a Government having in view the propriety of a commanding position dominating over the natives, would on 110 account neglect. Ho believed that was tho main reason why Captain Hobson selected; and he thought most wisely selected it. Had he remained at the Bay of Islands, he certainly would hare made a mistake. Believing that Auckland had superior advantages to those possessed on any other part of the colony as the I future capital. Believing that if it were not so, it I would be, he might almost, say, wicked, to agitate the question at rile present moment-; he had moved this amendment, and in doing so lie had not thought only of the present ; for while at present, it was improper to moot the question, in future it would be still more so. He had previously in this session stated his belief that so soon as the difficulties of the native qustion were got rid of, which was merely a question of time, and he believed but a short time, the great, natural capabilities of the Northern Island would ensure its possessing and maintaining a much larger population than the Middle Island. And, therefore, he could not bring himself to think it wise or judicious to remove the scat of Government, merely on account of the possible presence afterwards in the Southern Proviuec of a largo oiass of persons, drawn there by an accident which might at any time occur in other parts of the colony. It would be most, unwise and unstaK'smanlike if the legislature of what must be a great- country were to shift the scat of Government backwards and forwards, because a large number of gold-digger 9 had for a time located themselves at one extremity of the country, which they might leavo in another twelve mouths; and many of whom were now going to the "West Coast diggings in the Province of Nelson. The Weal Coast, if it should become as attractive as the gold-fields in tlio provineo of Otago, could be as well governed l'rom Auckland as from Cook's Straits. Sailing vessels would reach it ns easily from Mauukau as from Wellington, and with more certainty than if llicy had to beat through the straits. While, therefore, Auckland liiual be tho best position for governing the natives, find had &n equally good position,for managing gold-fielus in any position but thai in whieli they happonod chleilv tobo .just now jar.d while Cue Northern Island would ultimately contain a much larger' agricultural end elation ary population' Ikan the Middle Island, it would bo unwise and unstnteemauliko to ; remove tho ee&t'of government bccauso thero was a small numerical preponderance of population in tho Middle Island just now. FitiClerald: double.] Well, it might be

double, exclusive of tlie 60,000 natives—but surely tlie lion, member was not going to exclude those natives who a select committee of the House had said should have direct representation ill this House. Men whom the hon. gentleman termed brothers, just men like ourselves, and who ought to l>« treated like ourselves. Was it treating tliem like ourselves to totally Ignore their presence ? He could not believe the lion, gentleman meant that, and he trusted ho would take

| an opportunity of retracting that word " double." It was true that the Middle Island was a very great island, and it bad increased in an unprecedented manner m the last iour or five years. i'lveil before gold was discovered it had increased enormously in its production ot wool, because nature had given it largo pastures of natural grass, which at once became a means of producing -wool, and by the sale of it in England, bringing gold into the eountrv. Tiio Northern Island was almost destitute of t'hnt (Treat natural advantage, and therefore had not made the Fume great and raj'ii UiCrerse in its exports of wool, but as certainly as i.io Mobile It-land bad (superior natural advantage* ">r the production of wool, so had the XoriUeni I>!and infinitely greater advantages only they v.nuld be, in a great pnrt, the result of bard labour ami some delay. That labour having been given, as Englishmen were accustomed to give it, ami had already given it -n places, as the green pastures in sight, ot tht-c windows evinced, three or tour times as much stock wont; l>e carried ou the pastures of tlie Northern than on those of the Middle Island. In tho iaeility of water communications also the Northern Island imineasuroahlv eeliped the Middle Island : having for instance such rivers as the AVailoa, W aikato, \\ anganui, and Manawctu, besides the Thames, Piako, and others of a character utterly unknown in the Middle Island. Willi tlie exception of the Molyneaux or Clutha, (lie trusted he should not o/l'end his friends of the " old identity" by- the first term, which was always heard on its banks.) and a few unimportant exceptions, tlie rivers of the' Middle Island might be said to be not 'only unfit- for communication, but really huge incumbrances too ; interrupting communication and entailing loss of life that could be calculated on lrom one year to another, j so regular were the accidents.

In relation to steam communication, likely ere long to be established between New Zealand and Panama, Mr. Stafford speaks in the following terms, and we ourselves have good reason to know that Mr. Stafford is an unquestionable authority on that point.

The lion, gentleman [Mr. Fitzgerald] had made a statement "which it "was dillicultto disprove, and equally clillicult to prove, and therelore lie would simply state that ho did not give in hie adhesion to it, on thecontrary, liis own recollection of the results of computations made by nautical men when the question was considered with reference to the Panama route, was entirely opposed to that stated by the hon. member for Mlesmere, who had said that the shortest distance for the Panama steamers would be through Cook's Strait's. IS T ow that happened to be exactlv the longest route. (Hear, hear.) If the hon. member took a flat map as Mercator's projection, and drew a line from one point of departure to the other, it might appear to bear out his statement, but il" he took a globe, which represented distances on the surface of the earth pretty accurately, and if he knew anything of the principles of -great 'circle-sailing, the principle universally adopted now-a-days for chips going home from Australia and China, he would ;iuJ that to go by Dunedin was really shorter than tiu-ough Cook's Straits. There were also in the route to Panama, winds of the nature of trade winds which blew with such regularity that they could be reckoned almost to a mile or two ; and it would be found that in coming from Panama the assistance of tile trade winds was such that by keeping to the north the voyage was much facilitated; a fact pointing to Auckland as tho port of call for vessels on their route lrom Panama. Iu the return voyage it would be neccssary to avoid these winds to keep towards the south, which pointed to Dunedin as the fitting place for vessels to call at in going back from Australia to Panama. The fastest and best route therefore would be for vessels bound from Panama to call at Auckland, and those returning to Dunedin; while the route through Cook's Straits would be the longest, most objectionable, and least economical.

Of the selfish pretexts for removal of the seat of Government from Auckland, the following is Mr. Stafford's straightforward exposure:—

j There was p. time when there was no steam com- ! munication between the settlements. He could remember the time when the settlements were Terr small, with no communication existing between them for commercial purposes—with no steamers and but few sailing vessels passing from one port to .mother —and the eommunicatio.i with the seat of Government only kept up by an occasional visit once in six months by the old GovenrneuL brig, for tile purpose of taking up to Auckland t;ie balance ot the Customs revenue collected at the dii'.erent settlements. Under these circumstances there liave been some reasonable ground for moving that the seat of Government should be brought nearer to those settlements. But no such motion was then made, and that state of things had entirely disappeared, and they had now got regular communication by steam with the seat of Government lour times a month, frequently supplemented, also, by other steamers coming up on other business. A large portion of the colony was also at this moment engaged in constructing the electric telegraph, which would bring them in still more frequent communication with the seat of Government. The honorable mover attempted to establish that an absolute geographical centre was neccesary for the good government of a country. He would take leave to Bay that such a statement was the merest piece of moonshine, —as great a delusion as he had ever heard, even from that lion, gentleman.

Otagan gold and Canterbury sbeep runs have had no effect in arresting the progress of Auckland. G-old we possess, and pastures with which the Canterbury plains— soon to be, if not already, overstocked—can never hope to compete, we can readily and richly create. But lor the native land-league, the King movement, and other chapters in the native difficulty, we should have as much outstript Canterbury in European population as we have ever transcended her in maritime, commercial, and geographical position, and in salubrity of climate. Mr. Fitzgerald and his .Cook's Strait contingency are well aware of this. They know that by opening the "Waikato, the Waipa, and other territory confiscated to the Crown that the energies of Auckland will no longer be circumscribed within a narrow belt of seaboard ; but that a vast and invaluable area of the finest land will be made available for British capital and labour; that population will flow in, that the pastures green, and the fertile meads so eloquently panegyrised by Mr. Stafford will bo increased a thousnncffold; and that in the large and successful culture of the wastes by an European yeomanry, the natives, for whose well-being Mr. Fitzgerald affects such boundless sympathy, will be co-cqually elevated in the social scale. Mr. Fitzgerald and his motley band of supporters know this and fear it. And hence, ere the native difficulty (day by day diminishing) can be solved, they are striving to carry the seat of Government by a rush. But, strive as they may, the prosperity of Auckland is beyond their power of mischief, and Canterbury must be content with her comfortable position as a grand New Zealand sheep run. Of the war, the most reoont information is to bo derived from our correspondent's letters from Itangiriri. Meremore having bcveu evacuated without a blow struck, but little, if any, opposition was expected at Rangiriri. Its capture, however, was one of the most Bangiunaiy affaire that ever was fought in New Zealand, and the conquest was purchased with tho J. 038 of many of our beat and braveat. Tiio whito flag fiies throughout-the Waikato; but uo accommodation can be granted until the robela Jay down their arms and submit. !

"What shape the war is likely to take it; would be difficult to surmise. The Thames rebels instructed to oppose the landing of our troops to the last man, have disappeared. The ' Miranda' and the expeditionary force, part of the 12th, 70th. Waikato Volunteers, Defence Corps, and Naval Volunteers, are still in that quarter. But there and elsewhere, the fall of Rangiriri has gi\*en a crushing blow and sore discouragement to native enterprise. Rebels already in arms have taken themselves off. And those ripe for revolt and ready to rise at our expected reverse liave changed their note to pitch it in a remarkably piano key. In Auckland the garrison ia few in number ami varied in character.

At the camp of Otahuliu, there are sometiling liiie S(X) men composed of the 50th regiment, the militia, and the "VTaikato volunteers.

_The head quarters of the 50th, under Col. Waddv, are at Drury. The"l2th, 14th.. is'th. 10th. 63 th, and 70th with the "Royal Artillery, Engineers, and Nav.'il Brigade are distributed from the Queen's.Redoubt to Merc-mere, Rangariri.and other posts on the "Waikatct, where General Cameron at present remains ;—-and where military settlements are to be laid out and occupied forthwith, Government in furtherance of that purpose having decided on sending Colonel Pitt once more to Sydney and Melbourne in order to raise an additional force of 3,000 men, and to bring down the wives aud families of such as are already here, aud who may desire to join their husbands. Fortunate will they be who may be located on the Waikato where they will be granted a goodly heritage of the fmest soil in one of the finest countries in the world.

H.M.B.S. ' Himalaya,.' after debarking tlie oOtli regiment, remained a fortnight here, the wonder and admiration of the port. She sailed for Sydney early on Saturday morning. Having filled up -with coal, she will proceed to England via Cape Horn, calling at Ascension.

The steamship ' Lady Jocelyn' is expected from Calcutta, with the 43rd regiment, some 700 strong on board. As she sailed on the Bth October, she may be considered to be fully due. Ihe ships in which the 68th, Durham Light Infantry, are coining from Rangoon are ' Arratoon Acpar,' an iron screw of 1480 tons gross, 938 tons nett, 250 horse-power, built by Henderson of Renfrew, in 1861, and classed A.l. for 9 years. She is 261 ft. long. 35 ft. 1 in. beam, and 25 ft. depth, The second ship is the ' Armonian' of Calcutta, an auxiliary screw of 789 tone, 70 horse-power. 31.n regiment from China, and tha 33rd regiment iVom Poonah, are also said to be under orders for this country. It has been alleged that with the prospect of peace before us, such a force will ba altogether superfluous. AY ere peace secure, were it put beyond all suspicion of Maori guile, the allegation might no doubt be correct. But hex-e, as well as in Katlirl&nd, we have had evidence that the native mind which bows obedient to the presence of superior force, falls back into revolt when that force is prematurely and unadvisedly withdrawn. TFe trust that no premature or unconsidered withdrawal will be permitted here. This must be the last' Maori war; and until peace, real peace, not another hollow truce, bo firmly established, we trust there will bo no relaxation of that vigorous prosecution, which has so far been conducted in a spirit worthy of Englishmen, and which has preserved the Northern Inland from repetition of the atrocities of the Indian mutiny.

The shipping trade lias been active, but. the balance greatly to the debit of the Province, the native purveyors of other daya having become foreign consumers of thepresent; whilst out' European agriculturists have, of necessity, ceased to cultivate, with the exception of vegetables and dairy produce, and those within a limited radius of the city. All these, nevertheless, are but passing evils, which will disappear with the accomplishment of permanent peace. In the meanwhile the expenditure, from which the colony derives little or no gain, is enormous.

It is cheering to think that emigration from Great Britain ha 3 been so little discouraged. They who are bending their steps hitherward, or who are preparing to do so, will be apt to arrive at a favourable moment, when the TVaikato shall be open to priority of selection. The field there is a vast one, with ample range for thousands upon thousands.

Twelve vessels (two from London) of *1,650 tons, with 303 passengers arrived from foreign ports ia the course of the month.