AUCKLAND, THURSDAY, DEC. 31, 1863. SUMMARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 41, 31 December 1863, Page 5

AUCKLAND, THURSDAY, DEC. 31, 1863. SUMMARY.

Eighteen- Hundred and Sixty-Thuei has nearly run its appointed course; and i inoro eventful year to us in New Zealand r wouldbodifficultto chronicle. There.liavobeei signs in tho sun, and in tho moon, and it tho stars; and upon tho earth distress o: nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's "hearts failing thenfor fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." "We have Ined amid wars and rumours of wars; butcheries and battles have been rife within our very borders. We have been called to follow the victims of those battles to their early and bloody graves. AVe witness deatli and desolation around us; and turn to whatever country or nation we may, " signs" are written so vividly in the same ensanguined huo, that we are almost tempted to ejaculate, " Can Cumming bo correct?—does'the end ot the world draw nigh ?" In America the work of mutual slaughter as estimated by hundreds of thousands. In China, in Japan, in India, in Mexico, tho laud is soaked with blood. In Circassia the war of independence rages. In Poland tho fangs of the oppressor sink deep into her bleeding, but not despairing, heart. The Danes and the Germans wait but tho word to liy at each other's throats. Tho States, wliether Federal or Confederate, look upon our mother country with an evil, aud scarce more kiudly, eye, upon France. Republicanism and Despotism, exemplified by Federal America and Autocratic Russia, strike palms. Whilst England, France, and Austria are menaced with the of non-intervention in the American quarrel, and for expressive sympathy in behalf of long-suffering Poland. With one half of the numan family in a blaze, and the other half apparently on tho verge of conflagration, we may well say that the year that has passed away has been one to be long remembered. Perhaps the first and most startling incident concerning us in New Zealand was the frightful wreck, on the Manukau bar, early in February, of H.M. ship ' Orpheus,' a screw corvette of 1706 tons, 400 horse power, 21 guns, with a complement of some 230 officers, seamen, and marines. This ship, a stranger to the coast, made her .appearance at an early hour of a line, c.lim, summer's morning, was signalled to take, but struck, the bar, broached to, and in a short time went to pieces, with the loss of Commodore Burnett, many of his officers, and most of his crew. The gallantry exhibited, in a ! moment and under difficulties of the most j appalling character, were worthy of British j seamen ; and the sympathy of the people of ] Auckland in affording succour to the sur- j vivors was alike honourable to their heads ' and hearts. | From an early period of the year, doubts j began to strengthen with reference to a i peaceful solution of the native difficulty. No effort had been left untried by Governor Sir George Grey and his Ministers to bring that difficulty to an amicable conclusion. Happily, the People and the Parliament afforded His Excellency every facility for , carrying out his views; but native feelings ' and native influences ran counter to his wishes. Like all barbarous tribes that had never been subjected to the strong arm of the law, forbearance was misconstrued; the spirit of conciliation was mistaken for a craven spirit. The perfect impunity with which they had been permitted to escape the consequences of the butcheries, the burnings, tho spoilings and manifold barbarities of tho former outbreak, instead of inspiring consideration for our clemency, induced contempt for our assumed cowardico. AVe were regarded aa a people they had cowed, whom it was desirable to get rid of. The lands thoy had wrested from us by conqucst thoy resolved to retain. They had set up a King, and missionaries and others long resident among them were expelled from his Majesty's dominions, the native wives and half-caste children of Europeans being taken wherever they could be seized, and no very equivocal threat thrown out that the time waa not remote when the land would be purged of the " flea«," (under which contemptuous epithet they designated the colonists,) whom they intended to drive into the sea. Notwithstanding all these discouragements, the Governor patiently and peraoveringly sought to carry out the peaceful policy he had originated. Much ridicule was cast upon him, as well by the New Zealand colonists as by Melbourne journalists, for this persistency of purpose. It is fortunate, in our humble opinion, that Sir George Grey was so firm; because, having exhausted overy means of establishing peace by peaceful efforts, his hands became the more nonourably and completely unshackled to compel pacification, and to cause the enemy to pay the price of the war they had so determinately and unscrupulously rushed into, by confiscation of their conquered lauds. Having in vain made every effort, employed every insulting aggression, to induce us to strike the first blow, they at length wero unable to forbear, and the massacre of Lieutenant Tragett, Dr. Hopo, and a military 63cort at Taranaki on the 4th of May, was the butcherly way in which they made their atrocious declaration of war to the knife. The time, tho place, and. the season were by no means the most desirable for such a declaration. The abandoned Tataraimaka block from which the Taranaki Bottlers had been forced in the outbreak of 1860-61 bad been ro-occupied by troops, comprising portions of the 40th, 65th, and 'oth regiments, and Royal Artillery, drawn from Auckland for that purpose. General Cameron and tho Head Quarters were removed to New Plymouth. The Naval contingent waa almost ail. There was no 6bkh The senior officers' ship ' Miranda, suffering from dry rot, was at Sydney, undergoing a heavy repair. The ' Harrier,' Btationed in the Manukau, waa, for a time, the only available ship, and she worked, indefktigably and well, as a troop and store ship. Subsequently the ' Eclipse' arrived, aud has proved no less zealous in discharge of her many and onerous duties. General Cameron, on his arrival "at Tara-

naki, entered into active ami vigorous prose cu ion ot the war. Eschewing saps an = v d °[>' m S "fle-pits, ho induced his soldiersnothing loth-m "face to face" tactic, treating the rebels to a tasio of the Britis bayonet—carrying their works-and scatter nig them ltko oh ait'. - i l ' B > >r^'eri l juncture, Auckland, as sh had been in ISfiO-Gl, was left in an almos = defenceless condition, until the Governmen and t}]>; colonists became aware of the fae that the Native Confederacy aimed at mud E higher game than an outside war at Taranaki a and that an assault upon Auckland, its sack t iuidtlie slaughter of its citizens had beei 1 skilfully devised. This intelligence, of course l altered the entire conduct of the war. f The whole force tl\cn in Now Zealand wa: 3 exceedingly limited, it consisted of oneortwi l companies of the Ist battalion 12thregiment 3 2nd battalion 14th regiment, distributed ii ' till 3 Province, Ilawke's Bay, and Welling- ; ton, their head-quarter division at Queen"i i xtedcmbt; 40th regiment, head tjunrtiira, ii > the Auckland province, with detachments al Taranaki, Melbourne, and Adelaide; 57tli i regimeut, head quarters New Plymouth and ■ a large detachment at Wanganui ; 70th ivi;i- ---; ment, head quarters at Otahuhu, ami detach. I ments at Taranaki and Otago; the Koval , Artillery and Engineers, with the exception of a very few in Auckland, were in the field at Taranaki. There was no ship of war in ■ Auckland—' Harrier' and ' Eclipse' being employed on the west coast, between Manukau i and New Plymouth. i When it became imperative to remove the seat of war from Taranaki to Auckland, a 1 wot, weary, and protracted winter had set in; > the roads were frightfully cut up : the country was thoroughly water-sodden; and tho means of transport for commissariat and military stores extremely diflieult; and became daily more so as the General pushed forward.aridpost after post, in various quarters- required to be organized. The authorities, nevertheless, military and civD, encountered their increasing diflieulties in an admirable spirit. Tho Auckland Hi ties and Naval Volunteers were forthwith organized. The Defence Force, comprising tho Otahuhu and Auckland Cavalry Volunteers, were equipt. The Ist, 2nd, and 3rd class of Auckland Militia were successively called out and trained ; the city was nightly patrolled by armod bodies of men ; block houses were erected; a Minister of Defence was appointed ; and active and energetic measures concerted, not merely for the immediate security of Auckland, but for conducting the war in such a mauner and to such an issue as should placo the colony in a posture bevond tlio power of the most inveterate native lirebrands ever hereafter to disturb. After much anxious consideration, it was wisely decided that as the natives had compelled the war, and as the confiscation of their lands was the only possible means of | punishment, that confiscation should be I adopted as source of utu, and as a re- ! source to procure tho restoration of a | secure and lasting peace. To this end | three regiments of Waikato military set- ! tiers have been raised in the adjoining j provinces of New Zealand and neighbouring | colonics of Australia. These are, in addition I to their pay, to receive a town allotment, and j a grant of land, varying according to rank, I from 50 to 400 acres, to be held on militarv tenure. Upwards of 2000 such military colonists are already serving : and 8000 more are about to bo enrolled, their wives and children beinrj conveyed hither at the expense of the country. In addition to those colonial contingents, 15,000 military colonists, also with their wives and children, are, if possible, to be raised in Great Britian, or the continent of Europe. If the project be well worked, it will be of incalculable benefit to the colony, at the saino time that it will confer inestimable advantages upon those who may take service under such liberal and easv conditions. Should the movement meet with approbation and encouragement from the Imperial Government, they could give it the most vital effect—say by establishing a New Zealand Fencible Corps, holding out inducements to the rural militiamen of Great Britain, officers and men, to volunteer. Such a forco could be held together, either for training, actual service, or anv sudden emergency, and equally to the advantage ofthemen, the colony andthomother country. They might also be conveyed to the colony by some of the old sailing ships of the navy, manned for the nonce by supernumeriea for j the Australasian squadron; whilst the ships themselves might remain and be transformed into block ships for harbour defence. Whilst gratefully acknowledging tho prompt and powerful assistance which England has rendered us in our utmost need, it is only fit and properthat weshould demonstrate how we liave strained every possible meaiiß to provo that wo are not undeserving of that aid. If apprehension of tho intentions of France gave life and being to the Volunteer Movement of Great Britain, tho Maori rebellion haa converted our peaceful citizens and colonists into a camp of aoldicrs, some of whom have been privileged to render good service and distinguiah theniHelvee in action against the wily and sanguinary foe. Men, money, and munitions, have been ungrudgingly supplied. Ever)' expedient for assisting our brave and excellent General in carrying on his operations has been adopted. A small merchant steamer called tlie ' Taamanian Maid '—now ' Sandfly'—was purchased, fitted as a gunboat, and placed on the Waitemala. Another small steamer called the 'Avon was similarly converted for service on the Waikato, where she is now stationed, together with a much more powerful and costly vessel called tho ' Pioneer.' There is likewise the lirst ot two smaller iron built steamers, of very light draft of water, just arrived from Sydney, the second to follow shortly. To these may be added four cutters, of about 15 tons each, converted j to gunboats —a series of train boats lilting bow and stern and detachable from each other a number of flat bottomed scows —and other light draft boats of large capacity. Many of these are already at work, and aIJ will j be so"in a short time. The Waikato has been carefully surveyed from its entrance to the discomfitted King's palace at Ngaruawahia. A town has been laid out at the Heads, and is progressing favourably. The impediments to the navigation of the river arc in course of being removed. Abundance ofcoal, readily available andaltogether suitable for steam fuel, exists near to Ngaruawahia. A most important commercial port can therefore liardly fail to spring into rapid and flourishing existence at the Waikato Heads; whilst the river itself,

- one of the most beautiful that can be imayiipd, will become as quickly studded with thriving villages, fed from the rich and fertile country of which the AVaiknto and its tribui tanes Hie lae grand arteries, and by means of w Inch a dense and prosperous population \\ ill quickly take root, creating a large and 3 beneficial intercourse with Europe and fc Australia, and pushing forward Auckland to t a foremost, position among the cities of the t South Pacific. i The military road, formed in ISGI-62 be- , tween Drury and Maungatawhiri, enabled , General Cameron not only to cross that i stream, and advance into the AVaikato, but , to maintain his communications with Auckland. Ihe traffic on this road, b.v which ■ supplies of food, with all tho munitions and ) materiel of war were conveyed to the front ; may v\ell bo accounted stupendous, taxing the i energies of man and beast to the uttermost. Ihe forest which skirted this road, and > which afforded cover to predatory bands of l wily natives, has been cut down and cleared , away on either side at tho cost of much time and money. The operations of tho General . were consequently more steady than rapid, it being much more easy for him to beat the enemy when he could meet him, than to induce him to risk a meeting. Considering the force at his disposal when lie opened the campaign, calculating the number of men required for the transport corps, the man v that were detached in the occupation of posts, and the harrows of escort work through a long and heavy line of country, the unbroken successes and uninterrupted advance of General Cameron, and the gallant handful ho was able to carry into the field, have stamped him as a chief ot equal conduct as couragc. lie was well into the winter before any reinforcements had arrived, or before the Militia, Volunteers, and Military Colonists, who have since rendered such good service, were eallcd out. The ISth Royal Irish were the first to arrive; and, iu a day or two after landing, they were in the thick of the fight, and showed the sterling stuff they are mado of. Tho military colonists, now known as the AVaikato regiments, followed in steady drafts, aud Hie General's command was strengthened by the calling in of the detachments of the 12th and -lOth regiments stationed in Tasmania. Victoria. South Australia, and New South AVales. To these have since been added the uOtli Regiment from Ceylon, and the 4:jrd Regiment from Calcutta. The GSth Regiment from Rangoon, 820 strong, is hourly expected; and the 'Chariot of Fame,' from Gravosend and Cork, with drafts for the different regiments, to the number of y.'JO j , officers and men, must be close at hand. To recapitu!ate.--the army in Northern New Zealand will shortly consist of ten j battalions of infantry or U),OOU men ; each i battalion being to be made up to a thousand j • j strong: to these have to be added something i ! like 240 of the Royal Artillery, and probably ■ | some 50 or <>0 of ihe Koyal Engineers. The infantry are Ist battalion 12ih regiment; : 2nd battalion 14th regiment; 2nd battalion Ifsth Koyal Irish; lUth regiment, now on i their second tour of .Australasian service, i having been stationed in Tasmania from i 1525 to I\2o. being the first regiment that • ever established their head-quarters in j Jlnbart Town ; lord regiment. i Fiftieth Regiment, also their second tour ; of duty in Australasia, having served in Van ( Diemen's Land and New South Wales, for ] five or six years, from lN:i5. i j Fifty-seventh Regiment, likewise well known to Australians and Tasmanians,—a portion of this gallant regiment having been , engaged in the Tasmanian Black AVar of: ' 18150, in command of Captain Donaldson and j the late Colonel (then Ensign) Shadforth. who fell in the Crimea, if ere, as elsewhere, the 57th have invariably distinguished them- 1 selves. They arrived in .January, hSfjl, and ' shortly afterwards were moved to Taranaki, 1 where their head-qiiaTters have ever since * remained, the command of the forces in that ' Province being iu the able hands of Colonel ' AVarre. The 57th has been eminently sue- 1 eessful in every affair that has taken place since the renewal of the native outbreak. 1 Although encompassed by 1000 or 1200 ' rebel Maoris, less than 500 of this regiment, 1 assisted by the local forces of the Province, i suffice to keep the enemy at bay. These. 1 well knowing the importance to General 1 Cameron of every soldier in the AVaikato, buckle on their belts, and without, a murmur share the onerous duties of the garrison and ; s outposts. Sixty-fifth—a regiment, which after an 55 arduous and honourable service of close upon s eighteen years—may, like our never-to-be- ' forgotten friends the sSfh, well merit the ? title of New Zealand Guards. The conduct 1 of this regiment in camp, in quarters, in c action, and in all its relations with the colo- 0 nists has been exemplary. During its pro- * longed tour of duty, many have been dis- a charged and are now to be met with as ener- 1 getic and prosperous colonists, many moro intending to follow the like eoursc whenever their relief shall arrive. H The Sixty-eighth Regiment is looked for J' hourly. The Seventieth Regiment arrived from . India early in 1801. They are a very fine j, body of men, orderly and well conducted, and ! have rendered good and faithful service in various parts of the country. f Of the Royal Artillery and Engineers, * some are old acquaintances, some comparatively recent arrivals. Both as gunners and eavairy they have done yeoman service, and I have been found, as their motto imparts, 1 " Übique." c By reference to a map of the Province t of Auckland, it will lie seen that General Cameron is carrying out the plan for the ' military occupation and colonisation of tho 5 conquered territory in tho most aide and ) effectual manner. What may be termed his - own central advance by the river AVaikato a has been supported by a movement on the 1 Thames, where a chain of posts eommuuiea- c ting with the (Queen's Redoubt have been ' established under command of Colonel Carey ' of the I.Bth regiment. In further support; of these, aud to hem in the rebels on all ' sides, Colonel AVaddy, with 30t) of the 50th " regiment, and Colonel ITaultain, with a like number of the 2nd Waikato regiment, have been conveyed to Raglan, so that with simul- J taneous action on the part of these three i divisions the rebel natives may expect to 1 have their hands fully employed. A'erv J: conflicting opinions are entertained witli I reference fo the probable duration of the y struggle. Did it depend upon a series of s conflicts, the issue could not be long doubt- t fill, but when war is waged against an im- <■ passable foe who avoids the risk of contact, i

i is extremely difficult to surmise when i he revolt may be extinguished. One b mug is clear, wo must pel-severe in - tiarrussing the rebels until their absolute * subjugation shall be accomplished. Engi land has magnanimously placed ihe means | at our disposal ■. she' approves of the just and straightforward course we have ) aken; she sympathises with our difficulty J and distress, and has sent out aid to extricate u.s. Our true character and condition • Has become patent to her ; our long-suffer-ing and forbearance has been recognized am appro\ed. V e are no longer taunted ' as robbers and spoilers thirsting after pos- ■ session of native lands. Wo have been dei nionst rated to be the sufferers from native ■ insolence and native rapacity—the victims . ot native butcheries—and very nearly of ' p l ' hidian Massacre—all these are facts o which England is at length fully cognizant. , . } vc :u 'e happy to perceive the Times \ pointing to the only possible means of com-' pensation for past loss, and the preservation of future peace-—namely by confiscation of the lands ot the rebels, and by their military colonisation and occupation. it will, we prove gratifying to the Times to learn tuat our present ministry have adopted the most energetic measures for carrying into immediate and effective operation* the verv system it suggests. It has been morethan fortunate, that whilst we have been so hotly embroiled with the AVaikato.s and other Southern tribes, the natives have continued unshaken in their friendly relations with us. The sincerity ot that friendship has recently undergone a perilous test, by means of the late ferocious murders at Kaipara. Bv some, those murders were regarded as precursors of a native outbreak, and much alarm, in consequence, prevailed. But thanks to the judicious conduct ot the Government, and the sound sense of justice manifested by the assembled tribes, the murderer was at once surrendered to the law. and the murder demonstrated to be not one of a political or rebellious character, but one of individual rapacity and barbarity. This result is satisfactory for a variety of reasons. First because it does not entangle us with further native cinbarassments. Next, because had it been of a political nature, it would have spread northwards, and would have had a most injurious elleet upon some of our young and prospering set tlements, and might have intimidated the Alberfland settlers,' who have established peaceful and beneficial relations with their native neighbours, aud wiio are being augmented by a vast and continuous influx from l!ie old country. Immigration has been marvellously little impaired throughout tho course ot the present contest. And now that the strife is going so continuously in our favour I ■ now that our hands are being so mightily strengthened—-now that military colonization is being so effectually carried out.—now that land of the finest and most, feri ih-quality is becoming largely available for occupation now that magnificent rivers and noble harbours, hitherto closed, are being thrown open for the exercise of agricultural, commercial, and maritime industry,—the Province of Auckland is hastening to accomplish her grand colonial destine, and the emigrant population'of (Treat Britain are at length to be presented with the rare opportunity of acquiring a hontr, unsurpassable, it to be equalled, by any other possession of Her .Majesty's dominiojis. The Parliament of New Zealand has been prorogued after a short, but in some '-espeets stormy session, hav ing decided that the next place of peripatetic convocation shall beat Christehurch in the Province of Canterbury. A measure, in tho form of a series of resolutions, transmitted with an address to the Governor, was carried, under very peculiar circumstances, in both Houses of the Assembly. The object aimed at by these resolutions was to get Sir George Grey to make application to the Australian and tasmanian Governors, to appoint a Commission —not ro investigate the most fitting place for the seat of Government—over that tliev are debarred from all control—their choice being restricted to " somewhere in Cook's Strait"— that being a locality the most detrimental to the interests of the most important Provinces —.Auckland, Otago and Southland. This I movement, originating from the insignificant Province of AVelliugton. has been aptly ' styled the Cook's Strait Cabal." Auck- i land, Otago, and Southland, may be con- t sidered to be agreed in offering the most 1 strenuous opposition ; as such an attempt if carried into effect could only end in tho separation of the Northern and Southern ' islands, a separation which very many are 1 of opinion would conduce to the best interests of both. Auckland has taken the iuitia- ) tivo in opposition to the resolutions. A calm < and well considered protest has been pre- 1 pared and adopted by the Auckland Provin- i eial Council, and transmitted to his Excel- J leney Governor Sir George Grey for pre- i Bcntation to the Australian Governors 1 whose intervention in matters beyond ' their sphere it deprecates. To give further and full eifeet to this Protest, we 1 hope to see a similar document transmitted from a monster and universal meeting of the ' inhabitants of the City and Province of J Auckland. A% hen the State is threatened, , it behoves every true colonist to speed to the rescue. ' The question of steam communication via , Panama is exciting a very lively attention, i Wellington, although entirely otit of the way : either in coming or going, would fain hope ' to engross (his traffic. And Mr. Crosbie , AVard, ex-Postmaster General of Now Zealand, now in England, has in this, as in bther matters, far exceeded the power entrusted to him. But tho great commercial ports of' Auckland and Dunedin will no doubt have a few words to siw on that subject. A. AVelliugton print, iu anticipatory be-glori!i-cation, says, " what comparison can there be between the harbours of AVelliugton and Port Chalmers?" None whatever, we should be inclined to reply—any more than there is between the provinces oi' "Wellingtoii and Otago. There are some men of stirring minds in AVelliugton—some have organized a " New Zealand Steam Navigation Company." and in this they would fain absorb the'Otago, A\ anganui, and other steam companies. Such an amalgamation does not seem likelv. | Is or do Auckland shareholders appear to be anxious anxious to take up scrip. Tlicv seem to prefer the services of a well established English company —thinking tls.it capital can be more securely and profitably invested in less experimental pursuits.

FROM THE FIIOST.

[ K learn that General Cr.ineron Ims proceeded from Kgaruawahia to Watawata, on tlio Waipa. The road from Kaglau to AYaikalo leads through \\ atawata. and we coneliidc that the 50th in command of Colonel Waddv, C.8., conveyed to Italian by the screw stoftm ship ' Alexandra,' will speedily establish communion I ions with the troops oil the Waipa. The road we speak of is less than twenty miles iu length; and when it is completed, it will afford a means for the transport ot munitions and supplies, of a much more -easy and practicable character than that pi the existing toilsome process of carting goods in flie first instance overland, and then transporting tin-in lip (he V\ aitiiiio river in bonts. We are happy to learn that the Great South Ivoad is to be placed upon a sounder basis. Mr. Charles Heaphy, who lias entered the service of the General Government, has left Auckland to confer with Colonel Mould as to the most fitting positions for throwing permanent bridges across the streams falling into the AVaibito.'and as to the best line of road to be constructed through the country. .'We have, thus, every reason to anticipate that energetic, measures will be adopted for_ rendering the Great .South Ko-ul passable as tar as jSgaruawahia before the close oi the present summer; We do not expect to see Park roads, but shall be quite content with good tracks for the present, such as can be traversed by h<Jrso and bullock teams.