THE HEAD OF CAPTAIN LLOYD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 229, 6 August 1864, Page 5

THE HEAD OF CAPTAIN LLOYD.

Pi.eased as everyone ivill be to learn, that tlie head of Captain Lloyd has been restored and decently interred, there is no disguising the fact that, an atrocious outrage, little short of. cannibalism, has been committed by the natives, The head has been filled with clay and baked in .the man- . ner in which Ihe Maoris have always been' accustomed to preserve these savage trophies. It has been set up on a pole ,in the midst of assembled natives,, used as ,an oracle to inflame Maori passions by yentriloquising"tohungas,"orpriests,andsubjected, . to numberless indignities, the very, of which is repulsive to the feelings of all right-minded people. . The natives, who iu India might have committed such air outrage, would have been hung .upon the nearest tree, if not blown from the months of loaded cannon. "We might not wish to take ilich summary -vengeance as thelatter course, and should unhesitatingly condemn it as a; cruel retaliation ; but we are equally bound to condemn the other extreme, where ;these men have it attributed to them as a virtue that they returned the head when .they had no further need for it, and after having used it as they have done for more than, two months, and this tone, we grieve to. see, our Philo-Maori contemporary •of Shortland r st. adopts. "A just and wise diplomacy ■ will. " often effect more than a resort to arms," and then, " 'the head of ■ Captain Lloyd has • been "recoveredby peaceable and judicious means." So says the New Zcalander. But how recovered?' Mien, like a broken sword, it, was nio longer of use to-those who lieldit. Will the -New-Zeal ander- say it was more judicious to wait peaceably until the head was given up and to suffer horrible indignities to be heaped lipon'it in the meantime, sooner than to have, resorted to force,.had such resort been prac-. tible, and to have rescued it at once. , Do: the colonists think so ? do the fellow, officers of Captain Lloyd in. the: Queen's services, think so ? Do • the: friends, and relations at home of ! ten -thousand ■ • British ; troops now fighting in New Zealand,- and'whpse remains might be : subjected' to the same indignities think'so? '" head of Captain Lloyd,", says the New Ttealander, " was -removed:, by "peaceable and. judicious means. : Means " peaceable and judicious.may,likewise soothe " into quiescence the yet. smouldering, elo- " mehts of Maori disturbance"rrr-Tiot] insuiv recti on, nor rebellion, and these,, too, accompanied with the most atrocious: Outrages, buf; as our readers -.-will; remark-.-; distarbqiice, simply- disturbance. • i > ,« ; r The latter' part of the article from which we quofe makes a :direct charge upon the prcssj and upon an; individual, and,but.for this we'should have passed by the remainder as the'ordinary philo-Maori maundering of the journal l in question. But when it goes oh'to'say : : — ! •' ; . .• ; ••. ;!•••; ' " Many horribl'o stories had. i been in circulation ,to ' the'effe'efc- that' tho skull had been 'used; as a .drinking •vossolj'andsubject;to t , f ) rjs itanother.additi'on to the. many, utterly "groundless canards that are generally rite about' time bf.the departure, 6f the lii&il ? . ' The most 'recent-instant® of this kiad<was the-rnmounprevalent i in 'AucklMidontheai-riyallaa.t week.ofthe^Av^dale,' •for.a few, hours the' report; that; the town, of New Plymouth was .menaced l)y 1,200 Maoris wals sedulously propagated through. and 1 doubtless thy ' intelligence ■ would bo conveyed •to England in \~aHo'uß ! lettois-'postponed- to; 'the .latest, date..,-. The •nows that 'i.'arariaki was ,thu3 threatened would arrive .by (he, mail then taking its'departure,'andw6uld no doubt:produce 'its ell'ect in illustrating' the pei-iloui condition 'of the colonists:' ' »t-.!#:•(•:' ' lis amost' 'scandalous' charge .and one Wis to-

•tally tKe'late' fUftiotitpf th® siegev<of New Plymouth' propagated; "through Auckland, "nb.d"so : far from-havingi : arrived in Auckland in time to be conveyed , to England in various'-letters postponed to ■the latest date, the ruiiour actually did not arrive here,until four- hours after' ; t-h'e closing of tho stippl'ementary mail;'' nor until two hours after (liiS'ossiO''conveyinglthe supplementary mail'had'actually sailed. So much •for the accuracy of this charge made by the JVew 7jcalnnJer. The rumour' arrived in Auckland at about tweuty minutes to two o'clock in the afternoon. The vessel containing the supplementary mail had taken jts departure before noon of the same day. The rumour' too was brought up by the * Prince Alfred,' not by the ' Airedale,' and the master; of the former vessel was, it is said, cross-quest'oned closely by the authorities as to his sources of information, and, we have reason to believe, found fault with for spreading such a report without better foundation.. The local press, too, took the earliest opportunity of throwing doubt upon its truthfulness, arid we do not believe that by the next morning a dozen people in Auckland put any faith in the rumour. Such an opportunity of abusing the colonists and misrepresenting them at home could not be lost by our cotemporary, and fully agreeing with hini—that refutation not arriving by the same mail with the canard is little regarded when it arrives at a later period—we now furnish the antidote as soon as we possibly can after the poison has been administered by the Political Speaks—July 15.

Ox a recent occasion we replied to that portion of Mr. Gorst'a new work "the Maori King," .which contained a sweeping condemnation of the . Colonial Government, the settlers and tho Colonial press. To-day we purpose offering a few remarks on another portion of the book, that which refers to the future management of the race, and to an ideal plan of Mr. .Gorst's for its future government. The extracts alluded to will be found appended to this article. To the question " how are the Maories to be managed, when the war is over?" we reply " as they should have been managed from the firsts before the war began—left to the sole charge. 0f... the colonists." "Were this done, we do not hesitate to say that the charge :would be held a sacred one —that the Maori would find, himself politically and socially placed, on the same level with the colonists. themselves—his interests protected, his .rights, respected, and with the prospect .before him of merging into the civilizedl race .amongst which he lived. To say that a colonial ministry lias no chance of succeeding in the difficult task of governing a subject-race so long as it is hampered, by: a distrustful and suspicious government at the distance of .10,000 miles —a government .influenced by the feelings of a sensation loving section of the people who drink in with greedy ears the marvelJons' tales of wholesale scandal which men such as Mr. Grorst, do,-not hesitate to make use of as a means of working out their own ambitious schemes—to say that with this dead weight upon it a colonial ministry must be unsuccessful is to, say what is perfectly correct. It is another matter hewever to assert that left entirely to the colonists, to their good sense and moderation, the result would be equally unsuccessful. The colony has a right to expect ' that : before the management of the native race shall have been delivered over to it, that the native rebellion now raging shall have'.been first quelled, the relrfs i/Lsarmp.d, the means of settling semi-military nuclei of population in the heart of the "Waikato, placed in their hands, and the rebels 1 themselves brought to an unmistakeable appreciation of their own defeat. To say that then they will remember that they have been conquered by the Queen troops not by the settlers, and that therefore on the removal of the former they will resist the authority of the colonial government is to talk arrant nonsense. We do not hesitate to say, that were the last soldier removed from' our shores to-morrow the colonists themselves could settle the war in less than twelve months. ; The Maoris know this, and would;hesitate before they encountered war with.the colonists, where they now resort to war against the Queen and the troops as a diversion that may be laid aside at any moment arid without fear of after punishment.' We have shown that we could raise some 15,000 men at a few months notice, and those encounters which have taken place between the colonists and the Maoris, have proved that our local forces are able to give a good account 'of themselves. The Maoris acknowledge this, and admit the superiority; of .the settlors as foes. As it is, the civil gov r erhment has done more to check the spread of rebellion than the military arm- The " bill" as it is called, has been more; powerful to repress the rising of disaffected" tribes, than has been the fear of a mounted train of artillery or of 10,000 bayonets. 1 We'quite agree with Mr. Gorst, that to Maoris when peace shall have been : restored, the'first' step must be to do with the double government,.but not as Be'means it, -that", the Maoris shall be the sole'charge of the Imperial Government, the colonists'be left, as how, to their own government. - This though not the mixed form of government he object's to, would still be a dquble government, and an unworkable one —would make too distinct peoples, living lilongside one another, between whom, there would' be' mutual bickerings, hatreds, and ' '"outbursts, that would end not only in a| rupture between tho two races, but between the r colony and the mother country. This would be the'effect of setting " all districts '"inhabited by the natives free from colo'"•'iiial 1 - jurisdiction and placing thein under the I ' 'direct administration, of Imperial officers;" The colonists would never sub;mit' 'to the locking up of the natural wealth of the country, and for what ? to' continue in:their present ignorance • arid'barbarity the aboriginal race, and to 'Shut out from them" the only chance they ..have. of reclamation by personal intercourse with.more civilised Europeans. Experience ■proves that a small introduction of European . residents in native districts tends not to leaven .' the natives with civilisation, but to destroy, or at any rate, weaken, the refinement and -civilisation of the Europeans so situated. A love of a vagabond life, a state of self abandonment to Maori.concubinage, a forgetfulness of , decency and earlv refinements would soon distinguish the Imperial officers and their ..European , coadjutors. We judge of the . future by'.tia«..paßt\oiid-present, and may. at

another time, have,..more to say on this 'themeithnn ,may he ;! agreeable;to. some, , J "To all reasoning men here, it.is .clear that . there::is'nothing can ever save the Maori . race hut to put it upon exactly the satire footing with our own. Mr. Gorst says ; " If. " therefore, New Zealand vrai"s arc not to be "perpetuated, either the Maori must be " destroyed, or some scheme must be devised " by which they can be civilised and governed, ■" without lofting their national indepen- " ilencrlt is just this independence which, if allowed to remain, will work their destruction. Ifkept distinct as a weaker and inferior race—as they are, and must physically and mentally continue to remain, eiviliso, elevate them as we may—they will, like weeds perish out alongside of the stronger, healthier plant. To save them we must incorporate them with ourselves, and make them politically and socially British subjects. We must say to the Maori, there is your land —you can keep it, use it, mortgage it, or sell it, as could one of us, were it ours. Here are our laws, and from them you may claim the same rights and protection as we do, but to them you also must pay the same deference or expect the same punishment as we might. Bring the Maori at the close of the present war to such a state of submission as that he will accept these terms, and the race is saved from extermination—to conclude a peace with the rebels before they have been so far humbled as to accept of this future, and their extermination will be the inevitable result—we do not mean that it must necessarily, though it might very probably be the extermination of the sword, but it would certainly be, if they escaped this doom, extermination by that law of nature which causes the inferior aboriginal race to die out when placed in ju.vta position with our own. It is just a state of juxta position which would be the ruin of the Maori race. " It must have another position altogether if it will be saved, and that is absorption or amalgamation with our own. Titles to land must be individualised, andtlie native people scattered up and down the country on tlieir own pieces of land, the family tie substituted for the tribal one, one law insisted upon for both races alike, administered, perhaps, by a mixed bench of magistrates in Maori cases, and then we shall have some hope of the future of the New Zealander. To introduce the system of setting apart native districts to be governed on some such principle as the countries of the semi independent liajahs of India, would be to seal the doom of the native race, would be to precipitate what may be avoided for many long years to come, the severance of the colony of New y Zealand from the Crown of Great Britain. — July 16. "We must at least give Mr. Gorst credit for i the display of a considerable amount of Jesuitical cunning in his work of the "Maori King." It is clearly written for the purpose of misleading tlie British Parliament and people, and contains just so much of a semblance of truthfulness as to enable him to do so, where, as must necessarily be the case, the reader is but ill-informed on the subject of which he reads, and where Mr. Gorst's academical position is likely to be taken as a set-oil' to any doubts which may arise in the mind of the reader. To the settlers of Auckland Mr. Gorst is well known as a thoroughly unpractical man, a wild theorist, to whom unfortunately was committed a most important trust, in the execution of which he signally and disgracefully failed, and then hurried from the country, chagrined and mortified, in ill humor with himself, and with every one i here. He is reported to have said at the moment of his leaving for Melbourne, when i asked by a friend if he intended to return, ! that he would give the people of Auckland ! leave to hang him if he returned among them i again. His work on the Maori King may be ! looked upon as the ebulition of a revengeful . and unchristian spirit, which ever seeks to r injure those from whom it has received kindness and whose kindness it has once abused. Mr. Gorst has not even the virtue of sincerity which is possessed by some of the Philo- - Maori party, Bishop Selwyn, Sir George . Grey, and others who mix freely and on terms of equality with the natives, and who carry out in practice that which they profess. Mr. Gorst on the contrary preserved in his demeanour to the Maoris the same " d d nigger" style of condescension which he is the first to accuse the settlers of using, and was consequently as a rule even morie unpopular with the Natives than he : was with the Europeans. Knowing the real facts of the case—all that really did and did not occur before Mr. Gorst left New Zealand, all that has since occurred, we are able, as we read paragraph after paragraph of his book, to detect at once the untruthfulness of his assertions and conclusions. To say that the whole native population of New Zealand is made to atone for the crimes of Ngatimaniapoto may be believed in England, where it is used to hamper the working, of the " New Zealand Settlement Act," but in New Zealand it just passes for that which it is worth —nothing at all. In nO case has the war' been carried into the territory of Natives who have not first fullv committed themselves to the rebellion. The natives at Patamahoe, Maiigarei, and other settlements close into Auckland, who were so clearly proved to be involved in the wide spread conspiracy to burn Auckland and murder thewhite population are not Ngatimaniapoto—neither are the natives of the Thames, to whom was committed the special charge of burning the City of Auckland itself.' -The ranks of the rebel army were recruited, from the first,, with' men of almost every tribe in New Zealand, south of Auckland, and we do not believe that a single tribe, from the North Cape to Cook's Straits, would have remained loyal or even neutral if our focres had met with serious disaster . at the first off-set. It has been said that at Tauranga we took possession of the country and so drove the rebels into rebellion. It must be remembered, however, that parts of the East Coast tribes had some time been openly in the field, and that it was not until the "European settlers were obliged to fly for their lives that the military movement towards Tauranga took place. It is quite true, as remarked by a cotemporary, that Archdeacon Brown returned to Tauranga after his precipitous flight, arid that he is still there —but so are the troops, and it was not until the troops were sent down that Archdeacon Brown returned.

Mr. Gorst is one of th'ose who sees, or professes to see, in the carrying 'out of the " New Zealand Settlements Act the extermination of the natives " upon false preten- " ccs, ; nt the cost of the British Government, " and for the benefit of the colonists. Hi goes on to state that the propounded of tl e scheme knew it to he impracticable, but wished for the continuance of the military expenditure, which, he states, "is so profit- " able to New Zealand colonists." Now to English readers, whose idea of the colony may e\en lead them to suppose that Dunedin is a rising suburb of Auckland, all this may appear very convincing; but Mr. Gorst wrote these words with the palpable intention of deceiving—he must have known thai the lie was in hi?, heart while his pen traced this false accusation against the colonists. He knew that the authors of this bill, the Representatives of the House of Assembly, were the majority of them men who represented constituencies, which, instead of gaining one fraction by any military expenditure, however great, would, on the contrary, be large losers by the war. Had this and other bills been passed only by Auckland, Taranaki, or even by Hawke's Bay and"Wellington members there would have been some semblance of reason for making such an accusation. The people of the middle island, however, have all to lose and nothing whatever pecuniarily to gain in tho process of the carrying out of tt.ese measures. In the establishment of a sound and solid peace they have much to gain. They were willing to vote £3,000,000 of money, of which they will bear the larger portion of the charge, to settle these Maori barbarities once and for ever ; they desire to preserve from disgrace the British honour, and as good subjects to assist in quelling rebellion within the colony. All this thev have to gain by carrying the war to a successful termination, but not one sixpence in the shape of commissariat expenditure, not one local improvement in the construction oi roads, or location of settlers, will result to the people of the middle island. They have all to pay and nothing directly, and as Mr. Gorst accuses them of having pecuniarily to receive, and these are the men, and Mr. Gorst well knew it when lie wrote, who passed the "New Zealand Settlements Act," an Act which Mr. Gorst aflirms was propounded " for the pur- " pose of involving the British Government " in an undertaking which will require the presence of a large body of troops, thus " continuing that military expenditure which " is so profitable to New Zealand colonists." —July 20.