MEDALS AND CROSSES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 302, 31 October 1864, Page 6

MEDALS AND CROSSES.

To decorate a British Army for deeds of martial daring may be said to be aii innovation, subsequent to the issue of a medal for "Waterloo. It lias been alleged that the Duke of Wellington was always opposed to decorations, and.that tlie medals . and ■ clrtsps eventually. accorded to the remnant of the veterans he so triumphantly led throughout the great Peninsular straggle were only conceded with the utmost reluctance. It is not for us to determine the value of meritorious badges. That they have no insignicant value must be evident from the desire that there is for theii' acquisition; .Napoleon th(j Great found it a. (idiiSer quence to institute a liegi&i of ; Honour; ana oilr own gracious sovereign, in imitation of tha French example which was found o J "well, has ei'euted the order of the •' Victoria Cross.'" These! seetn to iiifol'd pfoof conclusive that great desert merits conspicuous reward; It is huinaii niiture to dr'siire to shiiie one's fellows. Pe'erS, without,jinj;,d CQinniendalioh beyon'd.ihe iprtiiitous ciruiustahte bf loi'dly birth, take pride in" their stars their Georges, their collars, and their garters Generals and Admirals, •. Cam tains, who by ,tlie .aid. of tlie. sworiis anft bayonets gf thoiir • soldiers and. seiiineh, liav'i? won renofrttj l.bok ttttli, iio le'ss complacency on the respective badges of the . Hath. Then wherefore should the .subordinate grades of the Army and Navy take less pleflsiiri? ill the fed or blue ribband With its. i,ibpt'iid"§t>W silver or broilse-, which they have won af the peril of their lives, and too frequently with the loss of health and .strength. The acquisition of a Victoria Cross" appears to be a matter not merely of inherent difficulty i but one too greatly dependent on the recommendation of whoever may be empowered to testify to the merits of the recipients. It is but iair to infer that with those in authority this high privilege is justly and honestly exercised i and that they who are the witnesses of true desert dre' in no respect slack iii bringing it under consideration in the fitting qilarief, The bestojral of a medal and clasps to an army engaged in arduous and onerous field service is a much more easy affair. And noiv that the principle of decoration is admitted, and 1 P^ a . c^cc conferring it has taken root in the .British Service it seems to us to be only a point of national good faith that the principle iind practice should be honestly followed out in L ' ountr y and clime into which "the banner o t)ld England" is borne by British soldiers and seamen. "

~. e are reminded of. the propriety, of tais act of. national justice to the long neglected soldiers, and seamen who have shed tueir blood in defence of JTew Zealand, becauso , e individual and well-won decorations nat liave been worthily bestowed upon a gallant and fortunate few. llad the .New Zealand strife been but a war with naked savages, as incompetent seofFers have been too proue to designate it, probably the conflict might hare been too insignificant to demand a national arienowledgement. But have the itfew Zealand wars exhibited any sucii insigmficant character? Have thev not, on the contrary, been the most arduous and harrassing of any wars in which British soldiers and S p a ™°! l have ever been engaged? At the sack ot Jvororaroka,.was Wierc any. lack of courage, conduct, or. desert on the part of Captain ltobertson and his" devoted .'Hazards?' At Übaiohai, although well aware of the impossibility oif carrying the pah, was there ant shrinking on the part oi the oSth, !>Uth,'and Jlazards, who, m minutes, iiad more

dead and ■wonadod on tie £<sld, in proportion to "j]ie number engaged, than in -any action 111 oui troops were ever previously Engaged. Throughout the Southern campaign against HaDgihaeta, in 1846, were our soldiers or sailors ever unmindful that " England, expects every jnan to do his duty ?" Was it through any laek of valour on the part of men and officers that the Tarahaki conflict of 1860-61 was less glorious and decisive than it proved to be ? Are the campaigns in the Waikato, the Thames, and Taurangs of no honourable, account ? Are tlio soldiers led by Cameron, Carey, Nixon, and t_jj. ecr , and the sefiinen who followed Cracroft, -XenKins, Jlfcy less deserting than ibose who have upheld tlie national renown in India, China, and Kaffraria ? Medals have been awarded to all who served in those countries. And with medals, in India and China, there was a large amount of "loot" to be gathered. Jsven in Kaflraria, there were cattle and otlicr lesser , spoils of war to be won; but in New Zealand there were but hard knocks with ft. difficult and rugged county .io eofiteiid. against, .tyith an enemy iiilful in contriving and swift in executing surprises—natural engineers—unimpressionable as a body — a 'l hut unassnailble by artillery—dispersing from one stronghold only to reassemble and dispute possession of !V pew and stroii-""-vrort, wilh an overruling authority which compelled inaction, when it should have commanded !iutiring adtiUice, it niay safely be pronounced jliat iio whr could possibly be inorb severe upon a .British soldiery. Without- honour,, without 'lory, without " loot," with constant bloodshed. endless liarrnss, battered constitutions and bruised limbs, demoralising inaction, worthless ind ignorant criticism of actions that heedless commentators were unequal to understand, it is little !o be wondered that war, soj carried on, should become distasteful. But distasteful or not. the British Generals and the British army in New Zealand have never been found otherwise than ready. It is no fault of theirs that the subjugation of the rebels lias not long since }>een made complete. And though there may he ii few Aliiyif Sturgeon# who .might prefer a J-ainpaign oil Wimbledon torn hi on to a {uvii-out at Tauranga, and tout and twaddle like " a '' Field Otlicer" to the Times —still Cameron and his men are all here, and if there were only another Duke of Clarence to ,say, as was mid to the victor of Nayarino. "Go it Ned." siire are we tnat the downfall of rebellion would be " sharp, swift, and decisive that the uprise of colonization and civilization would be extensive and immediate ; that Maori extermination would be avoided ; and that the New Zealand army (past and present) would win and wear the much-coveted medals and clasps to which they have been long and honourably entitled.— October "2lk