The New Zealand Herald. AUCKLAND, FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 1864.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 126, 8 April 1864, Page 2

The New Zealand Herald.

AUCKLAND, FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 1864.

SrECTEMUF. AGENDO. " Oive every man thine cur. lmt tew thy voice : Take each lining censure, bin reserve thy Judgment. This above all,—To thine mvnself be true; And it must Mlow, as the the day, Thou canst not then bo false to any man."

AVrrn tlie fall of Maungatautari active operations in theAVaikato may. perhaps, come 1o ;i stand still, until the Spring 1 , but we are of opinion that another engagement has yet to he fought upon the East Coast. The firing upon the Durham !Reiloubt, at a range of* a mile anda-half. on the 2nd inst., was not, in our opinion, a simple piece of Maori hounce, but an invitation to come out and light. AW sav this because we know that at the present time the rebels in arms about Tauranga are far more numerous than is supposed.that tlicv are a remarkably fine and warlike bodv wf men.and are weil armed and supplier' m ith enormous quant it ies of ammunition. .For some two or three years past, they have been laying in stores of powder and caps at the different settlements between Tauranga and the East Cape, and this year a larger breadth of produce has been grown at these settlements than heretofore. In all probability, indeed with the information before us, we may safely say that the natives who fired upon our men were not the actual natives of Tauranga but those from Opotiki. over six hundred of whom have left that place for Tauranga. Some little time since the natives of Opotiki despatched one of their chiefs. Hori te Tamakai, a man of notoriously bad character, to the natives of Tauranga requesting to know if they required assistance against the Pakeha. Te Tamahai, who was anxious for warandwhohad excited the war feelings of the Opotiki natives to an ungovernable pitch, in spite of the remonstrances of Te A wanui the principal chief, whose extreme age lias caused much of his power to lapse into other hands, returned with the report that the natives at Tauranga were only waiting for such reinforcements. "Upon this Te Awanui gave consent to his people to engage in the struggle and a large party of natives from the various settlements, AYakatnne. Ohiwa, Onekawa. AYilangi. "Waiho. Torere. and Tinupohoiv whii h lie within twenty miles of one another, round Opotiki, set off for Tauranga under the command of I'e Tamakai arid Waka Tat in. a young and influential chief, the nephew of Te Awanui. On arriving near Tauranga they found no preparation made to receive them by the natives whom they came to assist, and thinking this strange they sent on a second messanger who returned from the Tauranga natives with the intelligence that Te Tamaka had deceived them and that their sen ices had never been asked for—that they (the Tauranga natives) I-.ad no intention of attacking or molesting the Queen's troops so long as they remained on te Papa, which was governmeti land.

On -hearing this a portion of the parry determined tm returning to Oputiki -while another portion determined on joining the rebels in the "Waikato. We know how that ])ortion was repulsgd by the Arawas. hut we now learn that so many as thirty did succeed in crossing the district ot the Arawas, and have no doubt found their way in time to come in for a few of the casualties at Orakau.

At Opotiki. however, the war spirit once roused, the influence of a few well disposed natives was of no avail, and the whole male population declined themselves our enemies. A party of six hundred started for Taurauga, composed of natives from the Opotiki district and from tlie various settlements between that river and the East Cape itself, and these were in all probability the natives who tired upon the Durham Redoubt on Saturday last.

In Opotiki settlement itself there is a population of about twelve hundred souls. Of these about four hundred may be set down ;ts lighting men. fine athletic fellows, well aimed, with stores of ammunition and food, in the various settlements composing the district of Opotiki, the names of which are mentioned above, there is a population of nearly four thousand, and the whole district is capable of turning out fifteen hundred armed men. The settlements between OpotikiandtheEastCapeeouldttirnout as many more. A\"e make these statements advisedly, and upon the very best authority. Now that the natives along the East Coast have so openly ami unmistakeably declared against us. there is. we believe, but one course to be adopted—to put them down with the strong arm. Our cotemporary has, we think very wisely, pointed out the course to be adopted towards the rebels, —to starve them into subjection, and this we can do if we only set the right way to work. A great number of their settlements are ou the coast itself, or within easy access. AVe have armed steamers at command capable of taking down large moveable parties of invasion, and capable of landing on the coast bodies of three to five hundred men. These, with proper guides, who might easily be procured from tiie settlers who have been driven from these

settlements, could make a continual succession of raids upon the kaingas of our enemies—destroying their stores, of provisions and cattle, bunting down their wltares, and destroying their cultivations. This may seem ii cruel course to advocate, but it is the most merciful one we could adopt. We have all heard of the sentimental owner of itn unfortunate pup, who cut off the animal's vail a bit at a time because he could not bear the idea -\f putting it to so much pain iis would be occasioned by cutting it all off ;U once: and this is just what we are doing with tiie .Maori. The slaughter of a thousand of thi-iii in some lata! action, tlie cutting off of their supplies, and the destruction of their stores and cultivations, would bring them at once into subjection, would render ub able to bring into active operation

those kindly intentions towards them which really actuate the New Zealand Government in their desire to carry out the " New Zealand Settlements Act,' 1815:3," "" Act which will leave-even the rebel Maoris iu afar better position than they deserve. Our best hope of saying the greater portion of the Maori race lies m bringing'this' uiihappv struglo to a speedy terininatidn. The aspect of ail'airs in Europe renders it quite possible that before the conclusion of the next summer the troops may have to be withdrawn. In such case England must leave the settlement of the war to the colonists thomselves.and they iu such a case would havebut one alternative —to be driven from the Northern island or to carry on a war of extermination. It is just to prevent such a state of things as this that we advocate the most vigorous prosecution of hostilities which can now be brought to bear upon the enemy. The war must be concluded as speedily as possible, but that conclusion must be nothing less than positive and entire submission, disarmanent, and future settlement as the Government may dictate.