PEACE PROCLAMATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 302, 31 October 1864, Page 5

PEACE PROCLAMATION.

We give below tho Biost remarkable document whicli has been i.-sucd since the of liesponsible Government on the colony ol JS*cw Zealand. A proclamation has been issued under the hand of tlie Governor, to which the name of no minister appears. The seal of the colony is in tlie custody of the Colonial Secretary, and' all proclamations issued under responsible government are incomplete unless countersigned by a minister. . ..Nevertheless, on the present occasion this fundamental principle of responsibility has been broken through ; a ukase in tho name ot his Excellency has"been published, and it would appear, upon the face of it. that the Governor and the General are prepared to usurp the functions of the Government. to oust the Ministry and the people from their legitimate weight in the scale of power, and to administer according to their own \Vill and pleasure the most important funCtiWis of the colonial legislature. The following is the proclamation which was published yesterday "A PIiOCI.AMATtOX. By .His Excellency SirGrcoisoE Gisey. Ivnight Commander of the Most Honorable Order of the H.nth, Governor ami Commander-in-Chief in and over her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies /nut Vice-Admiral of the same, &c., &c v &e. '• Tlie Governor having been authorised to extend, upon certain conditions. Her Majesty's clemency to those trih.es who have been engaged in the present unhappy rebellion : Now. tin relore, I, Sir George Grey, the Governor of the Colony of iS'ew Zealand, do hereby notify anil proclaim that I will, in her Majesty's name, and on her behalf, grant a Pardon to all such persons implicated in the Rebellion, as rriay come in on or before the 10th day of December next, take the Oath of Allegiance, and make the cession of such territory as may in each instance be fixed by tlie Governor nn<t the LieutenantGeiiernl CornJnatiding Her Majesty's Forces in New Zealand.

All those persons who have been engage! in the rebellion who may desire to return within any part of the ceded territory, or within the limits,of niiy Etiropean settlement, will here, (juifeti lo deliver tip any arms or ammunition in their possession. ... The pardon promised in this p'rO'eiiiination will ;<ot be extended to iny person who may have been engaged ih the im'irilcr of —_ " Samuel Shaw, Samuel Ford, Passmore, Parker, I'ote, Dr. llope. Lieut. Tragei't. and soldiers (4th May, 180o), .Robert .Patterson, Mielitrel J.levpdith. Frederick lUchard Meredith, William Cory Scott, Robert Watson, Hugh M'Lean, Sylvester Calvert; Charles Cooper, Willam .John Jackson, Margaret Enhey. Job >laTTilin, .Richard Trust. Nicholas Trust, J as. Dl'tiWiljjo'.thl, Henry Cnttin. Hugh Corby u Harris, Sarten. .tohii .Hnrford, Gafl'ney (an Artiileryn'iVin): .Richard lirowii. J'jjiliritim Goad, William Outfield Efag,'John,. H awkin."

" Given under my Lind, .if. the. Government House, at ,A iioklnrtiT, and issued under tlie seal of the Colony of Kmv Zealand, this 25th day of October, in the year of our Lord on thousand eight hundred and sixt ylour. "G. Gkky. "J3y His Excellency's command. - " GOT> SAVE THE Qvkkn !" Now, before discussing the demerits of this extraordinary document, tve must take exception to its legality. It is a direct infringement on the Constitution. It is itself us illegal as the attempt of Charles the ?irst to impose taxmoney on the shipping of linglaud. If the British Government, for to tliem alone the Governor and the General are responsible, had intended to take this matter in their own hands, and to have acted independently of, nay, in direct opposition to the will of the .New Zealand Legislature, their legal course would have fi.st been to have obtained from the British Parliament a suspension of tlic Mew Zealand Constitution. Until that suspension has been legally obtained, any acts, such as the present one, taken in opposition to its forms and enactments, arc essentially null and void, arc, in fact, «///•« ctcev as lar :is the power of the Imperial Ministry, which is itself but the servant of Ihe British House of Commons, is concerned. It remains to be seen in what light the JN'ew /• aland Legislature wili look upon this invasion hi their rights and privileges. Of one thing we are certain, that in the support of those rights they will have with them the voice of the colonists toyman."

j it wo look at ii»e substance of the nroHa illation, we shall find that if. is in itself „ tV r ° c _ ihl l Mm *'°V kablc; Who, we ask, v.vc to cedo tins land, .is it likely that all the individiml owners Hi this l?uid will come in to S e the feovcrnoiv and thus uiiike n good and clear title to the land IV e think it is j'ur from likely tliat.sueli tvjll be the Case; and yet if is absolutely necessary toobtam a cession at all, that ever,/claimant shall come in. But let us suppose even that they do so, that all rebel claimants collie in what, even then, is to become of tho claims of the Jnendly JNalivcs intermixed Ihioughout the ceded block, under Iho " cession." VV'e baldly ' .in that iu> title can be inuile hi/ this farce of ee'xKin, even though ever so fully carried out and assisted by the action of the Natives themselves, for if a single rebel, refuse to conic in then must tlie Government con/lscafe thatmau's land or allow him to go scot free. We do not believe that this scheme is likely to bo favorably received, even among the JNatives themselves. do not liesitaie at least to assert that it will not convert one rebel into ti peaceitble and fnilhl'ul subject. A portion ot the Maoris, -.'cry likely; may make it ser> e their turn, as they have ever done when they could get his Excellency to agree to "a -talk." They will come in for the sake of obtaining breathing time, and in the hope of seeing the country lulled into a false feeling of security —or to obtain time to plant and" to procure more guns find ammunition, but we must remember that tlie acceptance of such terms is not, nor will it be considered by them ns any evidence of defeat, and is no guarantee that the very man who cedes today may not take back hi* land to-morrow, /chu/i he thinks he /tax an opportunity of rfoimj no witll impunity. Settle the war on the foundation ol" this cession, withdraw the greater part of the troops, riild before six months have passed the colonists and the Sla'oiis will ,haye entered on a war of extermination, and the of England to prevent it will make good the old couplet ot tludibras, with respect to the consequence of interference in quarrels. YY hat security indeed have we in the guarantee ot peace and luture order linely to result Irom such '' C-ession." .Have w"e nop, the farce ot Ivawau parole be tore our eyes—the perjured laitli, the broken pledges of two hundred of the principal chiefs <>t Waikato—not tu/nax, slaves, supposed to lie unconstrained by a feeling ol honor, but the so-called chivalry of Maoridom. And yet these men at the very time when they solemnly gave their parole, not lo leave the kawau without the permission of the Government, had already, accordi?ig to their own contessions since matte, sketched out- in their minds the plan of escape which they subsequently carried oti'. With such an example before us, what trust shall we place in Maori pledges !

For it must he remembered that while the proclamation seems io contain all that could be desired ii? to the giving up of anus, it really does not do so. .His Excellency will not, ire suppose, indeed lie could not if he would, demand t.hc cession of any laud beyond tlie lines already held by the troops. Within these lines ai'o large tracts of lands held bj- neutral tribes, wrn; do not of course come within the meaning of the proclamation at ill. On the boundary and beyond this line is the country of the Ngatimaniapoto.s and others who have been in arins against us. \\ hat do those rebels care for permission to conie to reside inside the lines? Will they not rattier prefer to live on their own territory outside the lines, to accept the amnesty, and lo retain i/iiir arms Are they not shrewd enough to see this bearing of the second paragraph of the Proclamation Are there not those who will point it out to them if they are not? Or again, supposing that the rebels possess no territory beyond the lines, whai is fo prevent them from coining jn, taking the oath of allegiance, receiving the pardon and either taking up their residence, in the neutral territory, icit/iiii the lines or in the mn'-edeil territory beyond them, in either case., retain in;/ j>ii.*sc.wiori of /heir arms. The surrender of arms is not made a condition of the pardon, but only of the future place of residence. Thus the rebels now in arms against us may avail themselves of (lie free pardon without the surrender of a single stand of arms !

The proclamation entails the necessity of inaction until the tenth of December. AY hat if its fruit." shall have then boon found to have turned to ashes on the lips of the Governor ! J Another season' will have been lost. The Maori will have become strengthened and more determine;! ly | prepared; and tue enormous expenditure of maintaining an army of 10,0iM m?l> will be still going on. und above all, the time will have pissed Vfheii the troops rati be spared to remain in Zealand. Cei'-a'nfy,• if } niperial inaction causes this unnecessary expenditure.- it. cannot be wondered at if tlio colony rei'uses to pay rC-.kM.KWVpcr annum for regiments which might have done their work previously to the otst December. IStS I , had they been allowed. We stated on the occasion of the resignation of the AYliitaker 31 inistry that the resignation was made because the .Ministry would not gi'J'o their concurrence to the issue of a proclamation ottering free pardon to the rebels, unaccompanied by the condition of the surrender of their arms, or embracing a lair and just measure ofconli'si-alion. .77//.v /.y not theprmuamatinn ir'vt/t ■ i which the Ministry ijuui i'C/A.-a his Ji.i'cc/IciiCij. '.Hint proclamation contained no r;Jcrcncc iv/uitercr to ai'm.j. There is, however..in tins proclamation a distinction ivirhont. a. dillercnce. Jivciitually, in its results, it would have the srtnie effect, as the other would have had. There is no doubt lull thai !iir George Grev, having lound. from the firm attitude of the Ministry and tiie outspoken sentiments ot t'ie ; whole Colony, that a determined opposition ■ would be raised to so palpably liollov,- a peace, drew back and flung over it the present lllinsv veil in which it now appears. \V o have raised the drapery, however, and J lie puolic may for themselves of the skeleton beneath it, vflucli ; sits grinning in their midst. •Yf.vl then" another thought strikes us, what about liewi and Thompson . J Js the amnesty lor them y JI is Excellency does, not speak plainly. What are we to understand by the term " engaged in murders" ? .Uewi certainly did not lire the fatal bullet at .Dr. Hope or at. Lt. Ti'iiggott, but he wrote the letteroraerin" it to he done. Thompson _may not have tomahawked the two infants at Kennedy s iartji,bul lie wrote ti letter stating his intention to do such , things, and, .Is the Head of the rebellion, thus sanctioned every murder which look place subsequently to the writing of that letter. YY as not this letter clearly written to excite the murderous propensities of his bloodthirsty countrymen i J And will the Queen s pardon be oll'ered to such men as these. Are the, ,-it> nundered men, women, and children, whoso names, appear appended to this proclamation to remain for ever unavenged. In? pal don will not be granted to tlieir actual slayers. Is this •dl' J 1 Low will these men be sought lor. im Governor would lei slip I he only means lie has of obtaining posse.'-sion oi the inuruerers. can bo taken in but one way, and that, one way is to defeat tlio rebels before ollermg terms, to make them feel their deleat, and to ma.<e t u surrender of the murderers one ot he !»■"»•«.» conditions oir>hich pardon shall be ■ Leave the demand for their surrender ot the murderers till afterwards, and they will esiap the hands of justice, to a man. This then is the scheme oi his Lxci dt.no feu George Grey, for forcing the greatest ol all d>* asters, a hollow peace, upon Ivew/ca and. Lu us see in xvluit it diilbrs irom the policy o Assembly ns entrusted to the eha ge ot tlx Minify. and consisiently adhered to by then, until an appeal to the country became nec.essai >. The plan of tlio Colonial Governmciit was.ti. have reduced the rebels to SlibmiSSUm- 0 lwu extinguished the .Native title over a certain aru

by bringing the " Confiscation Act " into operation over that area. By this method the Governi>ie]/twould_liavo been tree to have dealt, with the whole of the lands within .that, block; the 'claims of friendly natives would luive'been" surveyed and grants would have been issued to them t'er such lands as they wished to retain, whiie the Government would liare purchased from them such as they wished to sell, the whole oi the rebel lands, and of the purchased lancTs within such area would have been available for purposes of military settlement—for sale —for the location of immigrants and men of capital around them, without which they could not nourish, or become self supporting— and for the location of such rebels as.

were really penitent and • would give a material guarantee for their got)d faith. Certainly the Government never contemplated anything less than the entire surrender of all arms, ollensive and defensive, and of all ammunition. e say the whale of'the rebel lands— we mean the whole of tin* rebels within certain limits, tor under the " cession" idea every rebel must agree, or the farce ends. "\V ill the Assembly be prepared to stand by, and see such a peace made ? Will the colonists stand rriutely by and see the home of their adoption handed' over to them, on- the departure ot tlie troopy, as the arena of a sharp and bloody contest, a v.'af to the knile between themselves and the Maori r "We do not doubt the result of such a struggle. The policy of the Ministry and the Assembly clearly aimed at averting the necessity of so deplorable a catastrophe, the carrying out of the present Proclamation renders it imminent.—October 27

Just as it would seem by Hie altered, toue of the Time*, and by' other signs, tl'iat there was to be something like energy infused into thi.-s New Zealand war, comes fiiu peace proclamation of Sir George Grey, and the inaction which has characterised the period of the last lire months must at any rate be continued for two months longer. A considerable number of troops are on their way to New Zealand ; but it is not by sending more soldiers, lint by using the iorce that is now here,-' that the insurrection is to he put. down. If nit army of 10,000 British troops, supplemented by four colonial regiments', and rendered available for active .service" by -the assistance of a sulticient number ol' eoiouial volunteers and miiilia to hold in safety the centres of population. cannot cope with the enemy, then, indeed, l may we ask, '• What has become of the name, the honor, and the courage of Englishmen in i.hi.i war?" J f with this force iu the country the only resource left is to condone lsiurder, to beseech those who choose to lake the oath of allegiance to do so either ■» it}; or without the surrender of their arms—if this be all that the legions of .Uvirain can effect, then indeed, may the question tie asked, "'What has become of the name, the honor, si'nd the courage of Englishmen in this war?" We must look, how-

ever, for another solution to tills difficulty, | mul it will be found in the anomalous position 6f our enemy. lie is both friend and foe. We try to kill him without injuring him. We destroy hi 3 cMtivarions, and then supply liiin with Hour and potatoes from our own stores. We follow him up from pah to pah with artillery aird men', and at the s'f.Trne time allow any number of the race, friendsor toes as the case may be. to roam about oiueity and settlements,' watch our movements, and obtain supplies. We threaten him, if obstinately rebellious, to confiscate his land, and at the same lime hold out a prospect that 'if lit continues in his resistance the Imperial authority mav be induced to forbid any such extreme measure ; and iiaally.- having havvassed hiin through the summer months,- and driven him to the verge of starvation, wo sit quietly down, during the winter aud spring, until lie J>as had sudicient lime to cultivate and plant a large enough breadth of land to maintain him during the next year's campaign; and, as if such opportunity were not sufficient, wc supply'him with seed potatoes, as at Tauranga, and with Hour aud otliei' provisions. To cap all, we hud Sir George Grey in his opening speech to the Assembly in -X ov ember ISG3, thus speaking " I. " rely with fen<idence on your cordial support in my endeavours fo ''arry on the present war '' with vigour, and to make i;, ifpossible, the last '• whicli shall alllict the European and aboriginal " inhabitants of IN'ew Zealand. To do this —to " provide a material guarantee for the preserva- *' tion of peace—such measures will be necessary

"• s will render future insurrections* of tlie '•natives' hopeless,"—!>iit having obtained the co-operation of the Assembly in providing these measures, and having duly sanctioned and Approved the]) 1 ., we iind His JCxeellency in Oct. ]«()•{.. ofi'offnjs any aud every ivbel a free pardon, with the fullpcniii.---.iou to retain his arm.-*, so as to l«o in a lit position to recommence the war as soon as they may see a iavourable cpnoriuuity i'or—as hi' J'"xcelleney himself c.xpiessed it ill nnother part of Ihe > :i lli y speech,—" the iudiscriinate slaughter of (lie !Lu>-opean inhabitants of the Colony," and for which purpose, says h:s .Excellency, the Yt'aikato tribes "have for some time past'been endeavouring to form a general combination'/' The cause of this state of tilings is easily to be discerned. A large army is sent well provided, and JiHini'ioned into the Jield, but it- is commanded not by the General nominally at its bead, but by a Governor whose sympathies are with the enemy, and whose mission is a peace policy burlesqued, which, carried oiu.iii itsfulk is simply (he toleration of lawlessness; and harbari'snv. The war is made neither an Imperial nor a Colonial one. The two Governments, against which tlu> Maori j: are quarrelling and bickering with ou'e another, and u°' Jl become thereby lowered in the eyes of the Natives and counted worthy only of -contempt. This unfortunate position lias been bi-otiglrt about by the conduct of a. single individual, usin" as bis means a studied and persistent misrepresentation of the feelings of the colonist and of the Natives. "Whatever may nave bee (he motive there are none but can see tne rcsut We are reaping the fruit ot this co-existent double policy among us in a protracted war that is at the present moment, exhausting the finances of the colony and retarding the development o, its resources both Isorl-b and South. jt is to the meeting of the General Asscmbly tliat we can alone look for an end to this state ot thin-'s. Britain must unmistakealny be j the position in which she stands. It she intends to take the whole matter ot the disposal ot tin troops into her own hands, and to leiue the (iiiestion of liow much land shall be confiscated to the Governor and the Genera,, then she must clearly understand that, the Colony will viav nothing towards the expenses ot the «J . and should the emergency be never so grea. villi not furnish a single militiaman or •■ It, on the other hand, the policy ot the A^.nWj,, alreadv recognised and approved in Ml. Caldwell's of the-lUh April, is to he earned out then the Colony will have neither the wiU the excuse to back out ot a taw proportion of the liabilities of the cost ot the war—but it is unreasonable to expect that it JMigland choose to make what might be a very simple and casilj s 'ttled all'ail - » long imd protracted and expensive undertaking, the Colony should also be involved in the consequences of so /unions a course,. When the Canlcrhnr,/ 7W, is ound advocating the expediency of our hgliUug the Maoris"™ tlie cnrlv American s,ttle. lought the Ited Indians, it will be seen to what this imbecility and vacillation of the Imperial Government must inevitably ]„. u ! Vlreadv the opinion is fast gaming ground tint the .Natives will never be overcome until British troops have been entirely withdrawn and the settlers have talcen the matter into thenown hands. The .i J rc-ia, alter alluding to_t le , miserable conduct of the war, the want oi dash . ;uid energy, as far as it has at present L gone, says " Let any ol our readers read the

account of the conduct of the American colo-' " nists ia their early wars with the Indian?, and? " compare it with ihe tone of the New Zealand.* " colonists i'or t.he past two or three years. The' " one no more thought. of appealing to-I£nglan<J '" than tlieyth'ought of flying.' The great race> " whose leaders went into tlie forest to la}' the " -foiiiidatioiis bl'ji new empire, and-who had .ever " before their eyes the grandeur cf their task,. " well-knew that they must look to themselves " alone for success. And so in those early '" struggles the national 'character was moulded! " and tempered for the independence it was one" " diiy to w'in.' Here the idea of fighting our' " own battles has been the last thought which " seems to have occurred'to us." The JPress, however, forgets, in reprobating the New Zealand colonists, that they have never been allowed to act. He forgets : that the settlers in the North are even now 1 compelled to sit'quietly by and see their property destroyed—their cattle slafn, and to know that the lives' of their w omen and children are held on sufferance of the will of armed savages, who prowl by day and night from house to hous'c unhindered, liay, protected, by the Governor. TVoirkl the early American settler have rested quietly' under such a state of things ? The crack of his rifle ha.-! answered the question over and over iigain, and has finally settled the matter. It is u slur upon the manhood of the settlers of the Northern' Island to taunt them with the'charge that- they have devoted themselves the' oae to hit; farm, the other to his merchandise: and looke'd to England to send.soldiers to fight rheir battles, and to English tax-payers to> bear the cost. It is in obcdicnce to' the will of the British Groveriinieht that the settlers of thisisland have refrained from taking the Settlement -'of''the mutter'into their own hands, and Britain, therefore, is the more bound herself, to do that in her own way, which; out of regard tor her, we, as yet, refrain from doing in our's. It will'liappen, however, if she but half do her duty, that the forbearance wijl be no longer exercised by the colonists of the .Northern Island, and that they will prove themselves to be as well able to cope with ihe lU;oris in New Zealand as ever were the early settlers of •America to defend themselves from the wily treachery of the lied, lhdiaiv:—■October i 8: ' ''

At jio former period of the history of the colony has the calling together of the representatives of the people been associated with the eonsideratiou of matters of graver import in conncxioa with its interests tliiin that of the present summoning of the General Assembly for tlie 21st of IVovciuber jn'xt. Ac its last meeting, scarcely twelve monthsago,thecriticalstatcof thecountry, in consequence of the'total failure of Governor Grey's so ea'Ued peace policy, engrossed the chief attention of the legislature,- and on. that occasion its proi'oundest deliberations were called into exercise, ;;nd all its energies exerted to devise a practical remedy for the evils that had been.so recklessly brought upou us.^ : . . The imperial lieutenant, it will be was at that time sulHcientiy • crest-fallen in. the presence of the still patient and self-possessed men, whose warnings as to the issue of bis late insane experimeutalization with the Natives lie bad. heretofore disregarded, to permit some rational business to be entered 011, and was even complacent enough to sketch for the despised colo--jiist.s over whom lie rules a policy which, whea it. met their concurrence, lie cordially pledged, himself to cany, out for the subjugation of th& rebels and the settlement-, of the , , i'ron; two t-o three years had been, givefl; the' Governor to prepare the .Maoris for their third) trial of strength with the : British power in> JS'c'w Zealand, but the colonists had underrated the. spirit of lawlessness which, possessed the ..Native race, they had altogether formed an unj worth}'' estimate of tile potency of " flour and I sugar " to ripen a people for revolt, for barely twenty-one months had elapsed from his Excel' lency's advent until his work bore fruit, and themassacre of the oliicers and soldiers-at laranakE for the" moment! opened men's eyes and:, brought with it even to, Sir George Grey himself, humiliation if not conv.ictioii. Humiliation,, however, sujierinduccd by personal mortification, in the case of a man ,of Sir George Grey s w«w. known idiosyncrasy is not to be trusted, as the- : event in this instance fully proved, for no soonerhad the immediate influence of the orcnerai Assembly worn off from the Governor's nitud, ana the results of Exeter Hall intrigue up era the- ■ Colonial Oiliee become apparent, than " 1C whilom mouse of twelve months ago is to be seeil taking again to the lion's skin, and the man who in tiic hour of danger was glad enough to be rescued from the consequences of his own folly, gradually gains courage to attempt the subversion of the very measures whish had saved himiself from positive disgrace, and the colony fromi utter r-.iiu. ■ . To meet this man and to dccide upJ*n his extraordinary conduct, will be the chief businessof the Parliament of the country in its ioTih.--comiug session. The people s representatives are not culled together on this occasion lor the transaction of ordinary business- The General Assembly of iNew Zealand is not needed to correct or reform anything done by it at its last sitting, or to supplement anything left undoneAs lar as the current business of the Colony lK concerned the country might have been sparedboth the inconvenience and expensed thelorth--coming session, at least lor some time longer. The policy which the Colonial legislature inaugurated in .November last, to which theGovernor then gave his sanction, and to carry out which in the interests of permanent peace both to Great Britain and the Colony, it placeci a competent responsible executive at iioccellei i cy's service. This policy has not failed nor" broken down, its provisions and resources arc* not exhausted, it needs no legislative pruning ow

tlie uno hand, nor are wc aware tliat there has been discovered anything practicably deficient in its working 011 the other, that it shouldneed to be added to at the present time. Tlie Homo Government, it is true, has not received our policy with open arms. It any one ever expected it to do so, sueh persons must be taken to know little of tiie principles which ordinarily T ovem human actions. It is a critical thing to> stand in the relation of instructor to one WllO esteems himself your superior. Such, however, Linfortunatelv was the position of the Colony toivard Great Britain in the matter ot tne JNative dillicirlty Tw f nty years of blundering under nclvice and patronage ot Aboriginal Protection. Societies in England, and other certain interested parties there., and in the Colony,, clamouring incessantly for Maori dommancy, was not, it appears, sulhcicnt to convince her of her error. Again aud again, in spite of repeated failures, "the attempt 'is once more renewed, and her former schemed bribery and corruption, with the absurd view of inclining a barbarian people to peace, is had recourse to ; but as. on former occasions, only aggravated by repetition, the same result infallibly follows— the country, for the third time, is involved in a native war. » At this crisis, however, Imperial capability ot device appears <•' reached 'its . minimum - Like her representative in the colony, the British Government at the time ot the last native outbreak, may fairly be said to have arrived at her wits end. She had now no tur- , ther suggestion to make-she had no intelligible policy to oiler. lioth then, as 011 the subject of the anarchy it had wrought m the | colony, the Colonial-office was morally and it'tould do. or .t lcart it could get°ol]icrs to d. (»d 5 ««»t tiie parties would esteem it), lz -> _

Government, and clutched at by Sir George Grey, for securing enduring pence to "this country •was not, therefore, likely to be veiy graciously in certain xiuarters, however necessary it might bo to give it a Reluctant sanction. There lackcd the magnanimity which can _ confess an. error. Probalily it was felt to be too "bad that high authority should stand coi*rected ' at the hands of men whoso position heretofore had been simply to suffer and obey. Magnanimity of a high order we certainly do jiot look to find, in Ac common run of Cololiialoffice officials; though a late head of the department did 011 one occasion make an approach to . the display of such a sentiment when he ingenuously confessed to the utter failure of the British Government in the matter of governing . the New Zealanders successfully. To snub Colonial, statesmen, however, is apparently the first impulse, and hence the puerile attempt of the home authorities to cavil at what they could not improve—to offer vexatious obstructions to •a policy which they dare not disallow. They liave not disallowed the main provisions of the ■Colonial scheme for the subjugation and scttle- ' rment of this country, but they have in an underhand way instructed and encouraged their representative in this Colony (himself giving them the cue) to resist its action, and to take "unfair advantage of his position to retard the legitimate business of the country. It is to inquire intothis matter that the General Assembly is now convened. The peoples' representatives are called upon in the forthcoming, session to consider points of grave import to the future peace and welfare! of the entire Colony. They will, we are sure, among other things, desire to be informed to what extent the Home Government claims the privilege of playing fast and loose with the interests, the property, and the lives of the colonists. They will be anxious to define the boundaries of Imperial interference iu matters of detail, on points on which action had been previously agreed on and approved. They ■will have to look very narrowly into the whole question of our relations with the British Government at the present time. The subjcct of the three million loan, and the manner in which the Home authorities have hustled our not over astute representative at Downing-street into something very much resembling a breach of trust with principals, will need to be thoroughly sifted and enquired into. The .recent proposal to'grant Sir Grey a fresh lease of the colonial purse strings to the tune of fifty thousand per aim tint for irresponsible distribution by the Native Office as heretofore, will, we doubt not, receive all due attention. ~Wc only hope that the consideration of a question so confidingly put by the Home Government may not imperil the gravity of the House, and unfit it for the sober review of matters requiring weightier deliberation. Both on this subject, and on the cognate one of accepting the services of British soldiers at £50 per head, the Assembly is bound for the satisfaction of all parties to express itself promptly and unmistakeably. This will be a time of action, therefore, on the part of our representatives. The affairs of the Colony have arrived at a crisis when, we are persuaded, they will feel convinced that it is no longer safe to remain undecided about the course that ought to be pursued. Our ; interests are being trifled with with a recklessness as to consequences, and our safety imperilled with an apparent stolidity as to results, so undisguised, that as citizens we must be less than .men, and as a Colony we must be beneath the ordinary standard of British communities on the score of demonstrativenesss, if we remain longer passive while such things are transpiring before our eyes. We cannotthink, whatever difference of opinion may exist on minor points between individual members, that the great body of the peoples' spokesmen, will sit tamely by and permit faith to be broken with the Colony on the main points of its • accredited policy—that policy, let it be remembered on which alone we will consent to have anything to do with Native affairs. If the policy of the Colonial Government is to be accepted and acted on at all it must be accepted and acted on as a whole, and in no other \vay. The Asssembly has a right to insist upon this. The credit of the colonial scheme for the settlement of the country is imperilled if its plans are to be cut up and varied at pleasure to suit the interests or prejudices of a faction or a class in the colony or elsewhere. The public character of our statesmen also is at stake in this matter. Whatever progress has yet been made toward the subjugation of the rebels has been accomplished in virtue solely of the measures proposed and matured by the colonists themselves. The practical wisdom of those measures must not now be frustrated by impossible conditions. Their operations must not be paralyzed by vexatious interferences and instances of bad faith on the part of Great Britain or her representative in the Colony, unless it is intended that we " are to withdraw altogether from the contest, and cease any longer to co-operate with the Home Government. It is perfectly competent for the colonists so to withdraw, and to do this with -good effect. In any event we will not allow ourselves to be compromised by the sanction or countenance of half measures. If British statesmen, in their poverty of resource, can see nothmg better for New Zealand than a return to the miserable flour and sugar policy of Governor Grey, the colonists at least will be no party to the suicidal act. They will bide their time, secure in what they have already achieved. The YVaikato and Tauranga districts, they are determined, will never again be trodden by the foot of lawless barbarians; and when the next biennial or triennial episode shall " come off," as assuredly it will in due time, between the petted proteges of Maoridom and their long-enduring Bri- • tish patrons, we of New Zealand will not despair of being in a position to pass safely through the inevitable ordeal, though possibly wo ttuiy not find ourselves honoured on the occasion by .the presence of the British troops as allies, at the cost of fifty pounds per head per annum — October 29.