AN IMPENDING- CALAMITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 290, 17 October 1864, Page 6

AN IMPENDING CALAMITY.

(From tho Wellington Independent, Sept. 29.) It is said that misfortunes never come singly, and the course of events in this colony has lately allbrded a forcible illustration of the truth of the adage. The misrepresentations of the colonists hj- the British Parliament, and press, and the consequent damage of our reputation and credit in the money market; the failure of the honourable Header Wood to negotiate the three million loan ; the unjust terms which the Imperial Government has attempted to exact, aro indeed very serious misforf lines to the colony, but it, appears from tho tenor ol' our A upland advices, that one more serious than all these i? likely to befall us shortly. Sir George Grey, it is said, is about to make peace with the natives, not merely in Waikato and Tauronga, but in Tnranaki and tlie South as well, indeed everywhere throughout Now Zealand. Wo do not wish to mislead our readers in pniiing forth this momentous statement. It is not made by tho Auckland journals, and, so far as wo are aware, it has not as yet been published anywhere in New Zealand. Ihifc wo have evely reason to believe it to be true, and the events of the next few weeks. —perhaps the arrival of the next northern mail—will, it is to bo feared, fully justify the conviction wc now express.

"What docs this intention to issue a pcacc-procla-mation rcnlly mean ? It is not difficult, to answer the question. It means that the determined struggle of the Ministry to tarry out the policy of the .Assembly, to settle the native difficulty finally and for ever, and to assert the Queen's supremacy everywhere throughout the island, has been made in rain. 31 means that the Vooii of responsible Goviramcnt, conceded by Great Britain to the colony, whs a snare and delusion ; it menus that Sir George Grey is to be the dictator of New Zealand ; and, that bet nuse the Colonial Office is tired of tlie war, it is to be broight to a sudden close, while the Tamnnki and southern natives are still in rebellion, while New Plymouth is Mill held on sufferance, and the exasperated tribes of the north, driven forth from their lands, may, when they have gathered strength, attack the settlements in the south. Such are some of the existing circumstance under' which it. is proposed to make peace. All the anticipations in which we have indulged of a final settlement of that difficulty which has hampered our progress in every direction ; all our dreams of a settled country r.oith of this province, of trunlc-lincs of rood, of communication between Wangnnui and Taiaimki, of reinstatement of the latter unhappy province—" the dark spot of NewZealand"—have been rudely dissolved. For Mr. Cardwell liath said there shall be pence, and £?ir Gcorgo Grey will forthwith carry out his wishes. We think the Ministiy arc in 110 way responsible for this. It is true that if peace be made now, ■Auckland will gnin as much as the other provinces will lose. She has acquired fresh territory, and within her new frontiers the rebellion has been crushed. The powerful and hostile tribes that threatened lier ccntre of population have been driven south, and she is lor the time rid of a danger to which other settlements arc exposed. Put still we do not blame, the Ministry for this. Their programme included a. the suppression of the rebellion in the south. They pledged themselves to this, and strenuously tliey have fought to fulfil Hint pledge. If Fir George Grey, backed by overwhelming Imperial power, has been able to frustrate their plans, it is their misfortune, not their crime. One thing, however, is clear, that if Sir George Grey can ride roughshod over Ministers, the mission of tho latter is ended. Thev were placed in power by tho Assembly to cairy out a certain policy, and if they, from the pressure of circumstances, cannot do it, Then the time has conic; for the Assembly to be called together. It is possible that Hr George Gicy will not conscnt to convene it. In that case, constitutional government would be at an end, New Zealand would be under the ru!c of a military dictator, and able men would no longer conscnt to hold office. Hut if tho Ministry are thus compelled to abar.df n thereius of power, it would be well that they should address a solemn protest to the country against the acts of the Imperial Government and its representative in Kew Zealand, which had brought about so lamentable a result. 1