The New Zealand Herald AUCKLAND, FRIDAY, JULY 1, 1864.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 198, 1 July 1864, Page 3

The New Zealand Herald

AUCKLAND, FRIDAY, JULY 1, 1864.

SPECTEMUR AGENDO. " Give uvcry man thine ear, but few thy voice: Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. Tbi* above all, —To thine ownself be true ; And it mu>t follow, lis the niirht the (lay, Thou canst not then bo false to any man."

A i.Hiirr has at last been thrown on the hurried and ill-defined telegram receivedwith the late mail, by the; publication of a despatch received from the Principal Secretary of State for ihe Colonics, Mr. C'ardwell. The despatch enters at once upon the discussion of the principle contained in the New Zealand Settlement Act, and that for raising the loan of £3,000,000, and urges several objections to the first- named Act, which, reasonable as they may appear from an Knglish point of view, and with that view specially directed to one aspect only of the picture—do not carry the same weight, however, with persons in the Colony who have the circumstances of the position constantly before their eyes, and who a,re well acquainted not only with certain results, but have seen tiie minute "working of events towards these results day by day as they occurred. Ft is urged by the Imperial Government that this Act renders insecure the tenure of native lands generally—that it; is calculated to alarm those natives who are at present friendly disposed t<•wards us-—that it lays down no distinction between the leaders and contrivers of the rebellion and their unwilling agents and allies, driving those who are wavering into despair and rebellion—that it provides not open, but secret tribunals without argument and without appeal—and that while it leaves a wide latitude for the infliction of punish-' ?iient it specially provides against the exercise of clemency in theaward of compensation to "so called" loyal natives who, not having perhaps actually engaged in rebellion, may, nevertheless, have aided, assisted, or co' if'orted any rebel, or who shall have refused to give up his arms on -being required to do so Ijy proclamation. There can be no better answer to the first of these objections than a reference to the actual position of affairs in native districts generally at the present moment. None could understand better than the natives the; law of confiscation. It is essentially a law and usage of their own, and it is by such usage that they themselves hold nine-tenths of the land in the Northern island. With them the ordinary penalty of unsuccessful war is the loss of their lands by the conquered tribes. This they understood so well, that the Northern natives, wavering between lovalty and rebellion at one time, took the wise precaution of sending commissioners to the seat of war to ascertain which was likely to be the winning side, and so satisfied were thev with the insecurit}' in which participation in the rebellion would involve fcheni, 'is rogarda their land, that they

'o p camc > 11 °t as the English point r _ view would inter, driven to desperatio but more profuse than ever 111 tl re loyalty oi their professions, ■ and netu: as abstainers from active part icipation in (!i insurrection, But it is not in the Nort alone that similar results have followed th le declaration ol'tho alternative—allegiance o d. confiscation. In Mawke's Bay, wher " Kinqistn is rampant in tho hearts of a m:i ° ,j°i'ity ot the natives, it bears no fruit. Th s, love ot fighting and the indulgence of feeling of nationality, or dislike to the Pakehti > whichever it may be, bceomcs, in these 11 011 subservient to the more earnest desire o e saving their valuable lauds, and though somi eot the young men may. from tho love of ex 1, citeinent, which it is ditlicult for a Maori t< 0 withstand, leave tor the seat of war a: an iiitglish gentleman mav go down to tin 0 Highlands daring tho deer-stalking or grouse shooting season—the main body of tin r natives remain peaceably at home. If wi 1 wish for a more notable instance, wo have ii L . in the recent submission of W'i Tako. Cat any man, here, doubt for a moment \\ r 1 Tako's motive ? Contrast the reception 01 ■Sir George Grey by this same man previous to the passing of the Xew Zealand Settlements Act, and the reception of Mr. Fox the other day 1 alter that Act became recognised as law. Sir George Grey barely escaped from a.deep laid plot against his life, and his words were listened to and answered with contempt. IM>. Fox received at once; the absolute, submission ot the wily chief. The operation which brought abemt this change in the mind of AY i Tako was the confiscation policy. To this policy alone we owe it that so large a number of the natives in the Northern island are not at the present moment in arms against us. But we maintain that the action taken by the Government in the case of Wi Tako cuts tlie ground from under the objections, that confiscation is compulsorv. that no distinction is maele between natives guilty e>f varying degrees of crime—and in fact with the whole undercurrent of the despatch — Lhe tear that the Government will deal hnrshlv and arbitrarily with tho race. As to the objection, that: there is a distinction to be kept in view between " the leaders and contrivers of rehellionand their uiiicilliiii/ agents or allies ' —it is as we have; said before just one ot those which mav appear a reasonable one from on l'higlish and conscijuenllv imperfect point of view, but which, to the colonists upon the spe>t, carries 110 wei"lit;. \\ T e know that the authority of the chiefs is 110 longer what it was in byeg-one 1 imes, that not Thompson or Kewi himself possess power to coerce a single* native to take up arms who does not of his own free accord elect to d.O so. \Yc see this in the strenuous efforts maele' bv Thompson to rouse up the Kast Coast natives—not by threats but by cajolerv. bv the promulgation of lying reports of Maori suce-esses and Pakeha reverses. We' see' it in the ritnangas held in native districts through the country to e-onsieler what e-ourse they shall take, where free discussion is allowed and courteel, and e'ach man speaks his opinion without fear. We see it in the very converse ot the proposition—when the restraining influence of the head chief of the tribe (as at: Opotiki) was insufficient to hedd back the adventitrotts clansmen. The truth is, 1 he power of the chiefs has some time since departed, and '" unwilling allies" there are none, for each man among them acts on his own juelgment ami will. Else whv indeeel the arguments of the Philo-Maori party, that Ivingism was a yearning after law and oreler in place of the lust power of the chi. fs ? Tho despatch " recognises the necessity of " inflicting a salutary penalty upon the 11 authors of the war,'" and " docs not elispute- " the right of the Colonial Government to " obtain from the punishment of the insurgent natives senile aid in defraying the " expenses of the war; or, in either words, •'of including in the contemplated cession "or forfeiture lands to be etispeised of by " sale, as well as lands to be devoteel to the " purposes of military settlement. .!snt ''/hftxc r.rjt/'i/.w have hrni mttiiifj/ lonic /;// " this couulri/, wliie-h has therefore a right" " to require that the e'ession or confiscation "of territory shall not be carred furt her " than may be e:onsistent with the permanent '■ pacification of the island and the honour " of the English name. I must nenv invite " your attention to some dilliculties to which " such a scheme would appear to Iks liable if carried into effect too suddenly and on " too great a scale." Jn this the Imperial Government clearly recognises the justice of the " Act," but; we must take exception to the part whie-h we' have italiciseel. Great as the expense; of the war may have been to the Imperial Government it: has been little less so to the colony—else why the* voting of ;£ 1 .OUO.OOO for the war 'purposes alone. Js the destruction of the homesteads of the settlers in this province and in that of Taranaki to go for nothing y Has the individual loss been trifling to eiur citizens, taken from their business avocations to perform militarv elutv in the tiedd, and in the garrisoning and patrolling of the city P But admitting tho justness of the colonization scheme, the despatch questions its success. Air. Cardwell savs:— " I think it may be generally said that " there is not much modern experience of a "successful military sett lenient. 1 111 he present " case;, it can scarcely be hoped t hat the 20,000 " persons whom it is proposed to plae-e " upon the land will be entirely of the most I " desirable class. * * * Lastly, as the " immigrants would lie witheiut special expedience or capital, bound to a distasteful " military tenure, and perhaps exposed le> the "hostility of tho natives, it is to be feared "that they would have to undergo much "hardship, and would be soon attracted "from their farms by the high wages of "Australia or the still nearer gold-fields of " Otago." To bear out these opiniems, and be it remeinbereel they are but opinions, Mr. Cardwell says:— I am strengthened in these apprehen- " sions by observing that the difficulty of en- " forcing Military Service upon Cedoiiists has '' pressed itself on the notice of yourself and '"the New Zealand Representatives. In ''your despatch of the 2Hh Jul v. 18(52, you '' expressed your fear that labourers and ■'artisans could not; be induced to remain in '' the Colony if liable to Militia service, t' And a somewhat similar anticipation is j 1' expressed in the memorial aeldresseel to I Her Miyoety by the Hou«oe of Hcprewa-

0 " tiitives, and mentioned in your despatch n, " of the Gth October, 18G2." 10 Mr. Can] well forgets the difference 11 between settlors specially enrolled IV n par.e Ucular service and purpose, and men like the li people ot Auckland, su Idenly taken from e their shops aud homes, from their placcs ot' r business and professional employments, to e perform the menial duties of common soldiers - —duties which had never, in the remotest e decree, entered into their calculations of s colonial life. The eases arc not antlagons; there is no paralell between them. AVe , accept, however, the succeeding paragraph, f which contains the whole gist of the des--3 patch, and which is as follows:—- " This in a matter irhie.h more proper!/ he--1 " lotu/.t to //////r oteti (t/frixer.v on. the xpot, rexpon--5 •' sible as the,;/ aye for the eondnct of Native. 1 ra; and I do not urge i hese objections ; " ibr the purpose of discouraging within ' moderate and practical limits, a scheme j "from which you expect I he best results, " but only trust in order to ensure success, i these limits may be carelully considered in i " the first instance." We do not see in this tho matter of solf- > congratulation indulged in by the Ne.uS Yiea- ■ lander on 1 he receipt of the telegram, that the whole power was virtually thrown into the hands of Sir George Grey. Nero, in this instance, fiddled before Nome was iu (lames, and tho self-congratulations on the ruin of the Northern Island, for such would be the elfect of giving unbridled power to Sir George Grey, were empty and premature. Sir George Grey does not possess the confidence of the colonists, north or south ; neither docs he possess tho confidence of the natives. The; former distrust him from a knowledge of the man, the latter look with the contempt with which all savage nations look >n failure—and failure is stamped on the whole of his Native policy. Jt has been a miserable tissue of political intrigue, a j curious mixture of fear and rashness, of ruckling and irritation, —as the natives themselves expressed it when comparing his policy with that ofhis predecessor—" the one "'nobly .soared like an eagle in the face of the "sun where all could see him, the other bur- " rows like a mole underground." "We do not recognise in (ho following terms, with which the consent to the operation of the act is finally given, any further delegation of power to Sir George Grcv whatever, beyond that which is laid down in the despatch defining the relations between the Governor and Ministers. Considering that the defence of the •' colony is at present effected by an Imperial " Force, 1 should perhaps have been justified " in recommending the disallowance of an "Act couched in such sweeping terms, capa- " blc therefore of great abuse—unless its "practical operation were restrained by a " strong and resolute hand—and calculated, "if abused, to frustrate its own objects and " to prolong instead of terminate war. But " not having received from yon any expression of your disapproval, and being most " unwilling to take any course which would " weaken your hands iu the moment of your "military success, Her Majesty's Govern- " incut- have decided that the Act shall for " the present remain in operation." It is only to prevent any direct injustice from being perpetrated on members of the nat ive racet hat such " rcsolutehand" is needed —such power of acting independently ofhis ministry, is already delegated in the despatch before alluded to, and t he posit ion is not one in any case, aswe have said on a former occasion, likely to be forced upon the Governor bv any act ot'the colonists, who are more likely to err on the side of mercy than of rigour, hot h as a matter of inclination and of interest. Then follow the recommendations as to how to carry out the Act. " I have, therefore, to convey fo you (he i following instructions, as embodying the decisions of Her Majesty's ( Joverumcnf: — ".It is in t heir opinion verymuch to be desired "that the proposed appropriation of land "should fake the form of a cession imposed " by yourself and Genera! Cameron upon " the coni|iiered tribes, and made by them to "the representative of the Queen as a eon"dilioii on which Her Majesty's clemency is " extended to them. The advatages of such " a settlement (in which, however, I need " hardly say the position of the Maoris as "defeated rebels should be equivocally ex- " hibited) arc too manifest to need exphinaWe wish that a Hairs were in a position to render the carrying out of such a cession possible, but circumstances have notarrived at any such a point, nor can they do so until the rebels as a body lav down their arms and submit. The alternative proposed is as follows, and we particularly draw the al iention of our readers to it:— "The aggregate extent of t he forfeit ures "'should be at once made known, and their "exact position as soon as possible. "A Commission should be constituted for " the special purpose of enquiring what lauds "maybe properly forfeited. The members " of i his Commission should not be removeable " with the M inistry, and should be so chosen " as to guarantee a fair and careful cousider"iion of the matters brought before them." if the aggregate extent of the forfeitures can be at once determined, for what purpose is the Commission ? and by whom are the Commissioners to be named, by the Governor, or by the Ministry, or by both conjoined ? "If left: with the former we could understand the work of the Commission—namely, to npset in detail the decision, as to the aggregate extent of" the forfeitures and their exact, position, which had been already arrived at. Jf not; for this purpose, lor what other? for practically the tho work of such a commission would have been already done. Wo are led by a careful perusal ot the despatch 1o the belief that it. was origin- ' ally drafted in Auckland, and this still strengthens our belief. We know the bitter opposition which Sir George Grev bears to us and ours, that he is here as the Protector of the Maoris rather than ' the friend and ruler of the European j population. The paragraph in his dispatch j which has probably led to premature rejoicings on the put of a few is as follows :—" Sub- 1 ject to these cautions and conditions, and in ■' lull confidence that; you will act on the " general principles which J have before laid " down (andinwhich 1 anticipate your cordial " concurrence) Her Majesty's Government are prepared to leave in your hands the " power with which you have been entrusted " by the Legislature of the Colony." The power entrusted to tho Governor by , tho LttjjUlatur# of tho Colo!i,y is simply that

of seeing the Act practically earned out and put 111 force. * The question of the Loan Act is next -red upon, and the entire subject is one iu wi.i,- 1 ! we shall shortly return. The dispatch itsek will be found entire in another part of to-day's paper.