ENGLAND AND AUCKLAND.—IS IT PEACE

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 253, 3 September 1864, Page 6

ENGLAND AND AUCKLAND.—IS IT PEACE

To the Editor of the Mythic;/ jirurniiiy lhrnld. Silt, — Two leading articles in your issues of the ISth and iOlh instant—the former on the attiLude of England in relation to the state of continental affairs, the other with rospect to tho outcry raised by the English Press, Parliament, and Pliilo-Maori detainers of the much-injured and long-suffering colonists of Northern New Zealand —are conceived in such a philosophic spirit as is well calculated to attract the serious consideration of intelligent and patriotic readers. In reviewing tlio position of Great Britain at this ominous moment, and in commenting on the scornful tone and temper of other nations with regard to her, you have so massed and marshalled your arguments and illustrations, that one almost quails under the apprehension that she who, half a century since, could say, in the language of her immortal bar— " Come the tliroc-quartuM of the world in arms, And we shall shock them," now appears to ho in such a condition of political paralysis as almost to argue her approaching " decline," inasmuch as she evidently provokes the contempt more than the consideration of those who in former times relied upon her might. The subject is a painful ono to all who love their native land. It is one, however, which you have so fully and faithfully placed before your readers that it would be but supererogation on my part further to advert it, except in as far as concerns Hie second branch of tho question —the cruel and intemperate denunciation of the colonists of New Zealand.

The New Zealand colonists who, some fivc-and-twenty years since, were lauded Ly Archbishop Whately and a host of approving commentators as paragons of British enterprise and integrity, have latterly fallen into sad and unmerited disrepute. Hard words and harsher suggestions arc cast in their teeth. They are taxed with a desire to exterminate the native race—to slay and tako possession;—'and these ruined and much maligned men are grossly aeeused of rintsiii'i a udfire inir, which, being of greater dimensions and of more difficult suppression than was imagined by " gentlemen who live at home at ease," the Time* now counsels should be left to the colonists to dispose of—withdrawing the troops so recently dispatched to their assistance, and at the very time when, with the aid of the large levies of local forces, and by means of military colonisation, the possibility of future Maori outbreaks would assuredly be set aside.

H is positively infamous to charge upon the colonists of New Zealand tho crime of provoking, much less of ' making ' a native war. The colonists were much too \vi 11 aware of the courage, conduct, and preparedness of the natives to engage in eonlHct, and of their own unarmed, untrained, and unprotected position, to invitean attack from a peopleto whom war is a pastime and a delight-—'who have nothing to lose, but everything to gain, by despoiling scattered and defenceless settlors iu their isolated homesteads. Let any one conversant with the state of affairs in the Province of Auckland take a retrospective glance of the events that preceded and that followed the Taranaki invasion, anil t hen say in the spirit of sincerity and tiuth, whether the desolation that had overtaken so many once happy hearths and homes is traceable to colonial pugnacity, or to the imbceility of lhitish misgovernment.

Tho Taranaki strife was commenced in Februarv, ISCO, when -->0 of the (>3th regiment—then the on'lv line battalion allotted for the entire military service of New Zealand— embarked at Onehunga for .New Plymouth. At that date tin •re was no idea of calling out tho militia, or of training the colonists ; and possibly for the best, of reasons, —that neither the colonial Government nor people were possessed of arms or ammunition. Not so the natives. They, on the contrary, were armed to tho tooth ; for, by a singular infatuation, and as if to enable them to shoot down settlers and soldiers alike, the u Anns Prevention Ordinance," enacted by fi>ir George Grey on his first assuming the government—an Act which lie widely i ousidercd to be one of the most ollbetiial means of curbing tho native passion for war—this Act was rescinded by Governor Browne, notwithstanding the nigent remonstrances and protest of the late General K >Krl Henry Wynyard, who pointed out the inevitable result. f!iO»ri iug his emphatic warnings by reminding his Kxccllencv that his own regiment—the gallant oSth— was about to bo withdrawn from tho c■ lonv without relief. "Were these the actions of col mists desirous of mukiuij >< nut in- ir.vr, and wishful to take possession r Strangers have frequently asked the question how tho natives acquired such vast stores of anus and ammunition. Tho reply is through rescinding tlus '* Arms Prevention Ordinance." No so«nier was the hariier cast down, than all the gunsmiths and hardware shops of Sydney, Melbourne, Jlohart Town, and Adelaide, poured their contents into Auckland; and these supplies, largo as they wero, were followed by vast and continuous importations from Great Britain ; and of these supplies the Maoris as lavishly took advantage, so that when the war did break out, they, a people fully armed and equipped, found themselves opposed to a scattered body of unarmed and inoffensive colonists, and to a single regiment of her Majesty's line, broken up into detachments doing duty nt Auckland, Tarunaki, Hawke's liay, Waugamii, and Wellington, and not numbering more than 800 effective men. These, sir, are incontrovertible facts, and they aro facts that should suiliee to demonstrate that this Now Zealand war was undertaken not for the aggrandisement of New Zealand colonists, but. by a .British Governor —then the sole arbiter in native alfairs —for the maintenance of the Ou -cn's supremacy, and can, therefore, by no ingenuity or casuistry be tortured into any other than a native war for imperial purposes.

.Itlias been alleged thatthe " vigorous prosocution'' of tho ivur is desired by tlie colonists, in order that they may profit bv a large military expenditure, and 111i:L they may acquire the native land forfeitures. That a given number of contractors, publicans, and purveyors will pro lit hv that expenditure no one can deny. But let any impartial person make a tour, and look 011 the forsaken farms, the desolate dwellings of the houseless, homeless, ruined settlers of Auckland and XariuiuUi—men anil lads pressed iuto

military service, and the enrichment of thoso ill-starred peoplo through the prosecution of this war will bccome patent to the most obtuse intellect.

That the war should be vigorously prosccuted to a full and final conclusion must needs be the aspiration ol'every true colonial heart; not that the Maori may be exterminated —not that the white man may becomo his heir —but that botli races may hereafter be enabled to dwell together in lasting peace, and to combine in promoting the progress and prosperity of tlieir common country, and in developing its great inh<*tent resources. Such desirable consummation will never be achieved by patching up another hollow and evanescent triu.'o. Will tlmt besotted party, eullccl the Philo-Maori, who seek to acquire a borrowed lustre by mock-heroic sympathy frith the rebels —who are the purveyors of false and defamatory intelliijenc.i to Aborigines Protection Societies—who employ tools to cook books and pamphlets, a hi Gorst—who strive to impress their own false notions upon the generous minds of inlluential but ill-In-formed English noblemen and gentlemen ; —will this party, some of them, by the way, the pensionaries of the colonists they traduce, —will they never learn to "be just and fear not?" Have their teachings so profiled their Maori neophytes—so improved the attitude of the colonial struggle—that they should persist in their instructions to the grievous wrong of the colony, and to the mischievous embarrassment of the able, energetic, and intelligent Ministry appointed by public acclamation to its difficult rule. .Sir, confiscation is a very different matter from spoliation. The land of the rebels alone becomes the sacrifieo of leboUion. Jt is confiscated as the means of purchasing and maintaining peace, and as tlio sole sourcc of ] aying the cost of the Imperial War, which Governors appointed by Imperial authority have entailed upon New Zealand. You have informed us that "the London Timis proposes that the colonists of Auckladd should bo lelt to deal with ' savages' in their own way —that the British troops should bo withdrawn, and that the colony should settle its own quarrels."

If this proposition means anything, it must mean that tho colony is to take tho conduct of the war into its own free and unfettered keeping. If so, there are many, no doubt, who would bo well pleased to accept the suggestion of the Times. Let us suppose the troops to be withdrawn, and the rebels flushed with the triumph obtained through the instrumentality of their philanthropic friends, pouncing upon the forsaken colonists: what would be tho inevitable and bloody result ? The speedy extermination of the race for whom the peace p'irtii affect to entertain so warm an interest.

Sir, the colonists arc no longer at tho mercy of "the savages;" they arc tliorougldy armed, well trained, and accustomed to bush warfare. Of themselves alone they are now prepared to cause their hands to defend their heads ; and with war conducted by themselves, they would merely require to invite the co-operation of the fiery spirits of neighbouring colonies to raise an arm'/ ( >f occupation to dispose of the confiscated lands. Indeed, they would scarcely require to seek for recruits beyond tho confiiiess of the province of Auckland. An invitation to the more northern tribes to unite with them in tho subjugation and share in the spoliation of their old enemies, wendd draw numerous warriors to the Anglo colonial standard —so that the question of future peace or war would be speedily and summarily sot at rest. Is this tho sort of solution desired by the 'I'inies ? For my own part, if England considers the protection of New Zealand too costly, she might probably find Franco well disposed to treat with her for its acquisition, and to compensate the colonists for past and prospective losses. Rome, in her extremity, withdrew her legions from Britain. Has England arrived at a like extremity with her colonies ? and can it be possible that the hour draws nigh when tho Now Zealander is to take up his position on the ruined aieli of London Bridge •" I am, Sir., Ax Aistualasiax.