THE PRISONERS ON BOARD THE HULK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 325, 26 November 1864, Page 4

THE PRISONERS ON BOARD THE HULK.

Yesterday we showed from the published Government papers that the responsibility of the charge of the Native prisoners, when at the Knwaii, rested on his Excellency, and that their parole of honor had been received by him as the guarantee for their remaining 011 the island. To-day we purpose to review the "Papers on the Native prisoners" iu anot-lier and more serious light. It was in Marcli that the question " what should be done with the prisoners, generally," was raised by the Ministry. In a correspondence relative to the release of Te Oriori, which Sir George Grey was so very anxious to efiect, Mr. Fox says, in a memorandum of the 9th March:

lii reference to To Oriori, Ministers tliink that his exceptional release oil parole at present "would be an net of doubtful expediency, and that it would be better to decide finally 011 the course to be pursued with the prisoners yenerally, -when any special indulgence might bo granted tj Te Oriori to which the circumstances recorded in Ills Excellency's Minu'e may be held to entitle iiim. On the return of the Colonial Secretary from Kaipara, Ministers will bo prepared to take the case of all the prisoners into consideration with a tioiv to immediate and final action. Thus the first real movement emanated from Minister.-!, but one diflieult}- appears to liave arisen as to the proper means lor bringing tliem to trial, and, 'aftwr the lapse of a month, wo lind the Ministry thus replying to repented teasings from His Excellency, who eared nothing for the bulk of the prisoners, but who was anxious to obtain the release of his friend Te Oriori on parole. Ministers then say, in a reply dated the 7th April, "that as J [is .Excellency has pressed them so strong]}' 011 the subject, and appears to entertain so decided an opinion upon it. Ministers are prepared to surrender their own views and acquiesce in that of His Excellency. They therefore beg to

advise that the whole of the prisoners now in the hands of theGovernmentbeforthwithbrought to trial before a Court constituted under the Suppression of the [Rebellion Act, consisting exclusively of Oflicers in Her Majesty's service ; it being, in the opinion of Ministers, desirable that the tribunal should consist solely of persons not in any way personallj- interested in the Colony, as settlers or otherwise." So much for the charges afterwards made by Sir George Grey against the M-inistry, that by tlieir detention of the prisoners 011 board the hulk they were "driving the rebels in the Waikato to desperation."

TVhat his Excellency's intentions were, may be gathered from the reply "that what he is

"pressing for is that, those prisoners shall not be all " brought to trial, but that some decision should " be come to regarding their future disposition.'' Now when his Excellency penned these words he must of course have known that 110 " decision eoukl be come to regarding their future disposition" until after their trial had taken place. It would indeed liave been a disgrace to the country to have punished these men without trial, or to have adjudged their punishment and tried them afterwards. In the same memorandum he charges the Ministry with inflicting punishment- on the prisoners by detaining them, and adds that the uncertainty regarding the intentions of the Government in reference to these prisoners is producing a bad effect upon the Native population generally, many of whom, it app- ars. believe that all of them will ultimately be put to death. On this point his Excellency is sot right by liis i\l inisters, who at, once acquaint him that no such uncertainty exists in the minds of the prisoners, for that " they have fully understood '• from the commencement that their lives were " not in any danger, and they have no apprehen- ■* sion on that point. It is only, therefore, as '"regards the length and nature of their confine- " rnent that any uncertainty in their minds ex- " ists. As to the Native population generally," adds the reply. " the uncertainty regarding the •' intentions of the Government may in some " instances be producing a bad cflcit, although " of this Ministers are not aware : but on the " other hand. Ministers are assured that on '•some tribes, not actually engaged in the rebel- '• lion, but sympathising with it, the effect lias ■' been very good." If we have need of- corroborative evidence that, the persons on board the hulk were not kept in any such state of uncertainty as to their future fate as that alluded to by the Governor, we shall find it in a letter of Mr. T. A. "White, written in reply to a cock and bull story furnished to his Excellency by Mr. George S. Graham. the member for Newton.

s!r White says: "I never interpreted for the Ifon. W. Fox to the prisoners on board the hulk on the subject of their release, oNeept once : thai wax in the mOiil'H of April, ISG4. What was then stated to the natives had no reference to their removal to To Kuwait, of which 1 heard nothing till the date when his Excellency recpn sted me to bring the subject under llr. Fox's notice, viz. : Bth or oth of July, ISO-1-.

Oil the occasion when I did interpret for Mr. Fox, hi? remarks were expressly limited to the treatment nf the natieex at the end nf the wur. lfe informed them through me that when the time should arrive, and peace ho made, they w""l I not be tried or punished, but nihil ed tn return to U r ,iU-atn, (excepting any who have committed murder, they would be tried and punished according to law.) The lion. Jlr. Wliituker was present- The announcement was a formal otlicial one, nil the prisoners being gathered to hear it. Noa Te Kauhihi, from Manuwatu, was also presen and heard what was said. It; aj-pears to me that the statement made to Ifr. Graham is a garbled and second-hand version of the above interview. T. A. "Wit itk. October 20th, 18G1-. Thus falls to the ground another charge made against the Ministers by Sir George Grey. Kel'ore his reader passes on we would beg jhis attention to the concluding portion of the first paragraph of the above letter. Therein we have another direct evidence of the tact that Sir George Grey proposed to his Ministers the removal of the prisoners from the hulk. iS' or can it be admitted that the confinement of the prisoners on board the hulk could be viewed in the light of a punishment, but simply as a measure to ensure their safe custody in the only place available for thejpurpose. There is something prophetic in the following remarks of the Ministry in reply to His Excellency's teasings at that time to persuade them to allow the prisoners to be released on parole.

jUini.-tcr.s have considered safe custody of the first importance, as they t'elt assured that if the prisoners should escape or be rescued hy their friends, the result would be to give new life and vigour to the rebellion, and to undo a great deal of what has already been effected towards its suppression. Ministers still think it would be an unwise and dangerous experiment to permit any of them to have such liberty as would enable them, hy a breach of parole on/if, to join their tribe* and friends still engaged in active hostilities against the Queen's troops. Conditions as to residence ur otherwise are easily made, but as easily broken, and there would be no means in the hands ol' tin: Government of enforcing their observance nor of preventing their breach.

Of course the Government would have no means to prevent th;s. How eould they when a parole was once ijiveii r '[ he very nature ot a paiole forbids ali further precautions against escape, and hence the ignorance of those who would blame either Governor or -Ministry for the withdrawal of the guard. In their then position Ministers advised, that of the only two courscs open —release on parole, or trial—tlie latter should be adopted. In answer to the charge made against them by the Governor *' that he entertained u firm conviction that irom the circumstances connected with tne manner in which the prisoners surrendered, and from general considerations, the punishment wliieii his Responsible Advisers advise should he inflicted upon all the uative. prisoners exceeds in severity that- which Great Britain lias ever before 'inflictH upon any people under similar

circumstances, and Tie cannot take -upon Iri™ the responsibility of giving the orders reaniSr to give effect to this advice." I UIS H«

Ministers very properly reply, that They are not aware of" ever having glVen advice which can in any way bear out such a i«w * Thov have never advised the infliction of S '' punishment whatever, except so far as the of liberty neccssary for fa fe custody, may j, e ca n"\ punishment, and the confiscation of land," neither r which is new in the history of rebellions ilfn - s British authority. As fully explanatory of'thetre"?' mcnt the prisoners in the hulk have received at th hands of the Government, Ministers transmit th enclosures specified in the margin ; these' do nt appear to require any commentary. On the suhief ot' imprisonment for safe custody, Ministers mav rif for a precedent tq,the case of the native chief* paraha, who was imprisoned in 1846 under th" express direction of his Excellency, then Governor f New Zealand ; and they believe that an exan;inatf of the circumstances of that case would not tend place tlio present imprisonment of the natives in ° unfavourable contrast. Rauparaha was taken not engaged in actual fighting, was kept for nearlv a year a close prisoner on board a man-of-war w never brought to trial, and (luring the far portion of his whole period of imprisonment no hostilities were taking place between the natives and Tfer Majesty's Troops in any part of Xew Zealand If motives of political expediency at that time jnsti" fled Katiparaha's imprisonment, similar reasons now exist in lar greater force with reference to native Mio were captured fighting, and who are imprisoned while their friends and allies are still war. 3 a

In the commencement of Mar last, die result of this exchange of memorandums resulted in th e following conclusion which we take from the M inistcrs memorandum of the 4th Mav Whether Ministers acted rightly or not in living way to the pertinacity of Sir George Grev on this and other points maybe questioned. Their object undoubtedly was to remove as mueli as possible the hindrances to the real working of the Government of the country, and the ilCaccord between themselves and the Governor which the discussion of these extraneous matters was continually causing, hit object has consistentlv been to delay real business by the prolonged and often frivolous discussions, which we find on almost every point, have been forced on Ministers What indeed did it matter whether these prisoners were "prisoners of war,'' or to be regarded as " subjects in rebellion Y' In either east*; the right of the Government to confiscate their land was clear. The IXew Zealand Settlements Act of 1 80:> expressly provides that every man whose land is taken under its provisions should be heard in his own defence, if he thought fit.

It would appear, from the Governor's memorandum of yesterday, in reference to the prisoners on board !he hulk ' Mai-ion,' that there has been a misunderstanding as to wliat his Excellency desired. Ministers regret this, but certainly they had understood that his Excellency wished to release the prisoner?, or, at all events, some of then, on parole.

In his Excellency's memorandum of the 12tli of Aoril, he favs, " In the Governor's opinion it would be sufficient to bring some of them to trial, whilst there are others who it is unnecessary to proceed against, but who jirght be released on such conditiont as tlie Government thought it neces.-arr to impose and again in his Excellency's despatch of the 29th of April last, to his Grace the Duke of JCewcastle, his Excellency states a« follows: •' My own opinion is adverse to bringing a considerable number of the prisoners to trial, if such a step can in any way be avoided ; I would prefer releasing ihem on parole." It now appears that what his Excellency intended to request was, " That an announcement should be made bv the Government as to what their ultimate fate should be." After a careful consideration of the advantages and f ,; advantages likely to follow from such a course, Ministers are prepared to yield to hi» Kscelleney's wishes.

They submit, therefore, for his Excellency's consideration, tliat tiio prisoners should not be brought to tiial. for that would appear as * farce if before doing so it were nniiounced that no punishment, even if tlicy were foui d guilty, would follow; that it should be announced to ihem at onee that 110 personal punishment bevond restraint of liberty will be inflicted, and that when peace is established they will be liberated, and land allotted to them to settle on.

The plan of bringing these natives to trial having Wen thus abandoned at Jiis Excellency's pressing demand, the next position taken up by iris Excellency was to accuse the Ministry of cruelty towards the prisoners confined on board the luilk. He proposed that a medical hoard should examine the hulk to testify to its fitness as a place of confinement, a view which was cordially met by Ministers, though, from the abseneeof the Colonial Secretary, 110 active steps were taken during the succeeding three weeks. Again, however, on tlie 27tli May, we find Sir George tlnis writing to Ministers, " that he un- " derstands from good authority that the hulk " is not a fit place for the confinement of so " many men ; that some of them are in weak " health, and likely to contract the seeds of dis- " ease, whicli will probably shorten their lives " after tlieir release ; and as he (eels great anxiety " upon this subject, and is well aware that if dis- " astrous results do follow from the close confinenient to which these men have been soiongstib- " jectcd. and from the kind -of diet tliey have " until lately received, that he must incur a " grave responsibility : he feels sure that his " Responsible Advisers will pardon him for requesting them to take action without l urtlier " delay in this mutter." It does uot seem that Ministers were less anxious than Sir George Grey -profaned to be, for the comiort of the prisoners, which may be seen from the following reply — In reply to his Excellency's memorandum of the 26th instant, in reference to the confinement of the native prisone. son board the hulk ' Marion. 1 Ministers are glad to be able to state, for his J.xeelleucr s information, that some time since when it became evident that the prisoners would in all probability have to be detained in safe custody during the winter, Ministers gave careful consideration to the question of the fitnc:s of the hulk for the accommodation of so many, and it appeared to them that having regard to their health and comfort some change would be necessary. Ministers, therefore, iuimediatelv rented a house and a peninsula of 40 acres of land on the North Shore. r ihe house lias been made an hospital for the sick, and the land used as a piace of recreation for them all. A large boat has been procured to take the prisoners backwards and forwards from the shore to the hulk, and to enable some ot them to take exercise by rowing in the harbour. Since then arrangements have ' n ' CTi niaile for the erection of a huildinix with sufficient accommodation for I(K> at- least, and it will be completed in about a fortnight, when a number of them will be removed to "With regard to diet, Ministers have to state that at the commencement of tlieir confinement, the prisoners were supplied with the same rations as her Majesty s troops, with the addition of potatoes, sometimes uiven them bv tile Government, and at other times receive t as presents from their friends, which *'' e ? were allowed to accept ;. that a properly qualified medical man, specially and till lately exclusively, has been throughout in attendance on them : that li» recommendations as to diet have been from tune to time attended to; anu that an important alteration has recently been made by decreasing the quantity o meat and substituting an adequate quantity of potaSurely the same or better rations than supplied to tho men of the .British army detjnicf cm sevete service, were sufficient for the Mao" prisoners living a life of easy indolence on .joaui the liulic, and supplementing their supp>y o rations each day with fish. Surely these na had air and room and space enough when n amount of cubic feet to each wamore than that allowed to emigrants in ger vessels. Surely their coinlorts v , lU> ! 'i tended to when they had tin* regi i ll sole attendance of a qualified medical man. at were furnished with tobacco and booics. a variety of means ot amusement as ( with opportunities for receiving institute • And yet in the iace of all this —on the "TJ''*! 1 tation of two medical men connected >' _ troops, J3i'. Mouatt and Dr. McKiiu.on ot 57th, who visited ami made a very supo'i 1"• examination of the vessel without the pci i.i.** of Ministers, and in direct contravention o _ prison rules—his Excellency writes adssp< i

, Secretary of State containing the grossest ' J most, "unfounded charges against the AJ ixiJptry. °'' cruelty to the prisoners. 'i ,juotes the -words of the two ' mentioned above, " that after an inquest In the body of a native prisoner who had died. Jjj f v had 'together visited the lmlk on board which the prisoners of war were confined ; that it was a most unfitting prison for them, and rVit some of them were there contracting the s,-eiis of disease which, if they did not die in ronfmement. must shorten (heir lives when released. T],e despatch was written at so late an hour before the closing of the mail as to prevent Ministers from availing themselves of the same opportunity of forwarding a counter statement. This has been one of the usual practices of Sir (Ji-eriie Grey in dealing with liis Ministers. It i< thus Sir" George Grey again writes to (ho of State in his despatch of the 7th September, after having himself been the sole obstacle to the trial of these men. ' 1. Jlv 1« sponsible Advisers had an Act passed by the Local Legislature. which enabled til* m to deal Miininaiily with the ease of such prisoners, bv bringtinui to trial before Courts-Martial. provided ;;;; v d.d so at the earliest possible period ; but, of !'i»- they did nor avail themselves, nor olfor to do .">' until the prisoners hail been for several months in . r .KHtv. he usual Courts of the country were at vl limes open to them : they lmd the prisoners in

eiiJtoilv. the witnesses were present, and no just I>xlU <e'tor net bringing the prisoners to a fair trial ,'\;-tcvi : hut 'hey would not do this. Ihey required e to have them confined for many months, without 'irv "S'-'l authority existing for their detention. Tliev were thus, as I believed, illegally detained in 'rlinciiiciit ou heard a hulk, crowded into a most ai-i lllcient space, with nothing to lie on but the deek eVthe icsscl. i:ri"at want of light and air prevailed, •ii'il the ventilation was most defective. I believed .) !t , siiuo.-phere to have been in a most impure state: 1 believed also at ( ' le o;lr '. v period of their eont''unu'iit. their diet was not of the kind their habits r -p.iered necessan. 1 was informed on the best •i v th:it the hulk the prisoners were confined »:is most uu tit ting prison for them, and that they were there contracting the seeds of disease which weuM shorten their lives when released. On the wlio'e. 1 w-as satisfied that the treatment these prisoners were receiving was such as would, when nun's minds cooled down, be regarded as derogatory ~ the good name of Great Britain, and was rendering the Native population, in some in--Mi:ci'?, desperate. 1 have since seen the hulk and the prisoners. I believe that the health of many T -aw am! closely observed lias been permanently in--nu bv the length and nature of the imprisonment tii,v were subjected to, and that their imprisonment jueli numbers, in so limited, biuby-lighted, and i.i-ve'.iti'.a'cd a space, reflects discredit on us. and will iawil'ter be most deservedly censured. 5. Atnorgst the men thus treated were some. •■>!:cse previous . oncluct gave them strong claims on oar generosity, others who. 1 believe, were most prorubiv innocent men—no enquiry had been made into :' e Juilt of any of them. "Whilst I was required to far.ction am! eo operate in this treatment of prisoners i! soe bv her Majesty's forces, important in format ion r.varviii'ig 'heir state was not imparted to me, and the visit to the hulk of the sanitary ollieers, who were, 1 ihiak. ir.v propi r advisers with regard to the condition a:.ii state of these prisoners, was treated as an unauthorised and improper intrusion ; whilst besides iinpr ,-ui.nu lit. the prisoners were to be subjected to cither severe penalties. h. The Ministers who required me to carry out this iileca! Hue of proceeding, of which I so highly disapproved. and who refused solicitations which .1 earnestly pressed on them regarding it, were, as 1 have shewn in another Despatch, but remotely re-

jvtVfil'V to the General Assembly, not at nil to the I'-riTi>h Government. In trutli. the whole responsilliitv. in <he eves of Great .Britain and of future time, would have rested on me. \et my recommendair.v wishes. my feelings were nil disregarded You will therefore. 1 think, male every allowance for ine. when I say that I cannot consent to be put in such a portion in this matter, as my -Ministers wish ii'.e to eivupv. and that I cannot, whilst I am the per.-en who is responsible for what is done, aet as ihtir servar-t to carry out that which I know to be iilfial. ar.d believe, rightly or wrongly, to be such as viill iviieet discredit upon our name.

Jf'nnv man may be cliartrcd with cruelty nnd treachcrv towards native prisoners, tliat man is Sir Gi-iirsie Grey. Our readers will remember Jin 1 capture ot'Jliakn at Kcri Keri. in the early part of the war. wlu-n the Colony ditl not nx vet ju.-stsx a»j/ voire in JS~tr/ire ojfitirx. Our Militiamen will have a lively remembrance of the case, many of them having kept guard over the prisoners at Otahnhn. The following is from the published papers now before us. Sir George Grey was alone responsible for the custody and rare of these men when in confinement. Jt is a scandal to the civilization of the nineteenth century—it is a disgrace to human nature that such treatment should have been inflicted by any man upon his Mow-creatures. Where wore Prs. Mouatt and Mackinnon then, that their oilicions zeal found no field in exposing the treatment of those Natives—pining. dying, while under the charge of Sir George Grev ?

1 lie first croup of Native prisoners who hare been released oil parole, consisting of Ihaka and tlie eurvivir «r members of his party. The circumstances of the case. a? far as can be gathered from Ihe papers in the Native Office, as those printed in the Appendix :o the Journals, are as follows:—

Jliaka and iiu'lto men wire arrested, by a mixed f rce of Queen's and Colonial Troops. by the orders of IJis Excellency, at theie village of Keri Keri, about twenty-five miles from Auckland, on the morning of tiie ff'th July, JSf..'}. Seven women and three of Ihaka's children were taken at the same time, r J hey "ere all retained in the custody of the Imperial troops utl'rury, and afterwards in abut at Otahuhu, tiil the lfitli September, when the opinion of the Attorney General was taken, as to whether " there was suiiicient grounds for taking and keeping Ihaka in ci.stoiiy." *3 lie Attorney General, after perusing the paper", stated that there were " not sufficient grounds for chargirc Ihaka with any criminal w'ence." On the 22nd .September, further papers were laid before him, and be was again requested to advise, when be stated as his opinion vliaf " it was Ten- que.-tioiuible whether a prosecution should lie instituted, and if instituted whether jt would be successful." From this date the prisoners continued in custody at < 'tubulin, till the sth or Otli of November, when the piesent Jlinistry having taken office, the subject was brought under their notice by a letter lrota Mr. an officer of the N'ative Department. who reported that " Thaka expressed great disappointment at the length of f iine be and his people had been in custody, seeming to feel very inu' h ihe loss of his father and two children/'

The .NW Ministry, which had taken ollice only a f'.-w days previously, on looking into the subject, iounii it a matter of great delicacy how to advise Hi? l-iceiletiry. y/, t j,rixmierx had been taken at n p-r>,,i\ „ ;, tn fl l( . Colonial Ministers iverc nut responsible iijiihy>■• o specific charge had beein made ■'gainst them. They were held under nn legal warT'lHt, ami the Attorney-General ha<l twice advised ' «'.t th-:r>- wis no evidi-nce to establish any criminal uurse ag'-tmst them. It was difficult to suggest any |.our.-o ""Inch should not compromise either those who >m iiaj.n<r.ni-d <.r those who were to release them ; ■ilia tlii- <1 iflic-u!ty was enhanced by the fact that the ™ „?'."' str . v ' Ku l accepted ol' responsibility in 2S~a-

- fur mucii consideration, his Excellency was adt,';;;t. these Natives should, with their own con--Mit, bt. on i s ] ;i: ,d (,i Arakino. in ITauraki KUU, hbout t.n or fifteen mi'es from (he City of * m.h 1 his course appears to have been dis'"P'l between his Excellency and his previous j 'nisiiTs in September, but no action liad ensued. > 1 -it the middle of the survivors of the '»" >r / ' '' u, li"g lhaka, were removed to Araliino. ••I ri\ i"T l> ou se was built for tlicm, and a ni'i]' ' ' purchased l'or their use, by the Colus,' • ' "J"' ,lll 'y, and us it appeared that they had been Um • ' i ' a " " 10 ' r property at the time of tlieir cap- ■ t an.i had neither food nor the means of procuring ti if 1 U 1 W" ,e -«-ere given tliem by the Colonial Secretary ' tial aUe to provide for themselves. To t_iei" t° do the latter, a pair of good horses and other agricultural implements, tliVir and suiiicient seed to finable II" . l . nt . tro l»''no"/"' f ' !il '.' cr two of his children appear to i-i not'/.. "•'/"'isoiud. The Colonial Secretary C.I-jni V! r "" one of thom did not die in the '*• ♦liifpital a* the eamo data. Ihaka himself

did -not long svmve 7ris captivity, dying a wcei or two after ho was placed at Arakino. Tho rest of tho party are understood to bo still there. Kow lot us see what the Ministry ltave to say in answer to the portion of the despatch of the /th of September, which we have quoted. They reply—

Iho tenor of his Excellency's despatcli exhibits everywhere a desiro to built up a case against his Ministers, iliey find evidence of this both in the material allegations which ho makes in such strong terms of inculpation, and also in tho peculiar colouring in which lie depicts their acts. For instance, his J'.xcelleney, alluding to the Suppression of Rebellion Act, says, "My Responsible Advisers had an Act passed through the local legislature," &c. Tt would hardly be supposed from this language that this Act was originally drafted at tho express request of his Kxeellencv, who himself indicated the Acta of the Imperial Parliament of 179S and 1833 as those which he wished to he taken as the model. Tho Act which his Kxeellencv say his Ministers "had passed bv the local Legislature," was really the Governor's Act and not his Ministers, who in framing it and " having it passed, merely carried out his urgent request, exactly according to tho precedents which lie selected'. (Memoranda made at the :'me bv tho Colonial Treasurer and Attorney General prove this bevond a doubt, and are appended.) Again, his Excellency five or six tunes in succession, uses the expression that his Ministers " required him," or " required him virtually as their servant, to do illegal acts, of which he disapproved. These expressions convey an impression very different from I the actual fact. Ministers never " required" I His "Excellency, much less "required liim as their servant to do illegal acts." They never did anvthinij more than is always done under 'Responsible Government: they simply advised liis Kxeellencv to do that which they believed to be right; and so far from ** requiring him to act as their servant/* thev in very many (they tear to many) instances gave vav to him when he declined their advice, or passed it over without, acting upon it. For instance, on live oth of April Inst, they advised His Kxeellencv to have all the prisoners tried under the provisions of the Act aoove referred to, which had been passed at his own request. 3Te refused to have it done, on which Ministers deferentially acquiesced, and there this matter ended. So also the relaxation of the eontinement of the prisoners in the hulk by their liberation on the island of Ivinvau, His Kxecilenev's private estate, which lias terminated so unfortunatelv, was entirely a concession to His Excellency, and the adoption of a proposal which emanated to enable them to keep faith with the Military Settlers, bv providing hiwl for their farms in Waikato, which still remains undone. '1 hese, and innumerable other instances which might he given, savour verv little of the dictatorial temper which liis Excellency imputes to his Ministers, when he complains that they " required him virtually as their servant to carrv out illegal acts." But even if there were any foundation for such alienation, which they entirely deny, his Kxeellencv had an easy remedy in his hands, (that indicated by his Grace the Duke of Newcastle), an appeal to the Assembly or 11 change of his Ministry : the latter a step which Ministers 011 more than one occasion offered his Excellency every iVcilify of accomplishing."

The present is. ire tliinlc, a fitting plaeo t.o interpolate certain copies of memoranda containing evidence that liis Kxcelleiicy was the author of the ISupprcssion of Rebellion Act. These additional papers in reference to Isaac's conduct, together with a statement, of certain information received hv the Governor upon the subject, are referred to the A ttomey-General, who is requested to state whether tiiev disclose, in his opinion, sutlicient grounds for taking and keeping- Isaac iu c us tody. Header "WOOD. September 20, lS(io. These papers disclose facts which implicate Thalia in transactions and intiigues clearly showing that he was a dangerous person to have at hirgo. Hut as to a prosecution in the Civil Courts, it must be borne in mind that some of the most important evidence would he that which could bo given by persons who have furnished secretly information to the Gove-i nient. and whose lives, they say, depi nil uvon secrecy being maintained. Their evidence, I assume, would not be available. Having regard, then, to this circumstance, and to the general state cf the case as regards evidence, 1 think it very questionable whether a prosecution should be instituted, and if instituted whether it would be successful. PI:KUEI:ICK Whitakeu. September 2(1, ISO 3. The Governor thinks that an Act should he submitted to (lie Legislature, empowering the Executive to deal with cases of this kind iu a similar manner to the way in which authority was given by the Irish Statute of 17!'S, and the Imperial Aet of 1833, for the Suppression of Disturbances in Ireland, as far as these precedents may he applicable to the state and condition of this country at the present time. "Will you be pood enough, therefore, to prepare an Act for submission to his Excellency. Iveadlu Woon. October 2, ISG3. Draft Bill returned herewith. October 7, ISG3. Kiikheuick "Whitaxee. This draft was submitted to his Excellency, approved, and subsequently with no alterations of principle, passed the House of Assembly. AVe now return to the memorandum, to the substance of which already quoted, the above digression refers. Ministers now approach that part of his Excellency's despatch which is of the greatest importance to them personally —the sweeping charges made by his Jixceilency as to tie manner in which the prisoners were detained in custody. It is unnecessary to follow his Excellency through the allegations I.e has made on this subject. If true, he is indeed correct in saying they would be derogatory to the eood name of Great Britain. If (rat, it was his Excellency's duty not to have contented himself with recording his belief on the subject iu an official despatch, but he ought at the very least to have caused an investigation to be made at the time as might either have established the truth of his charges or allowed liis Ministers the opportunity of disproving them ; but when his Ministers, in the month of .Tune last, twice challenged liis Excellency, in writing, to proceed with such an investigation, he declined to do it, though he had but a few days before alleged the necessity for it. They accepted this as an acknowledgement (though not a very handsome one) that he lncw that an enquiry would not support liis assertions. But now. when several months have elapsed —when the prison hulk has been taken away from Auckland, and the prisoners released from it, when a full and fair enquiry can not take place, his Excellency arraigns his Ministers on a charge alike degrading to them and •' to the British name." And .the onlv shadow of evidence ho adduces in support of his statement is a memorandum, said to have been writen more than three months ago, by a person who obtained access to the prison ship without the knowledge of the Colonial Ministers ; against the prison rules ; who remained oil board for a short half hour; who never communicated to the Colonial Ministers, cither the fact or the results of his visit: ami who now, after the lapse of three months, produces this memorandum at his Excellency's request , which his Excellency sends to Her Majesty's Government without the Colonial Government having the opportunity of reply to, or comment upon it, till the mail after its transmission.

Ministers will not now discuss the fairness of the propriety of the course pursued by his Excellency, nor criticise the memorandum of Mr. Mackiunon. •They do not rest their justification oil any such narrow' grounds, or limited range of evidence. It is tlieir in tention, in another memorandum, to discuss the whole sub.jcct. of the custody of the rebel prisoners, and they will append to it the whole of the duiiv, weekly, and half-yearly reports of the surgeon and superintendent, of the prison ship, with other documents, which will exhibit u faithful contemporary record of tho whole transaction. They propose, also, to place on record the history of other cases in which Maoris have been kept, in custody for political o/l'eiiCJ3 by his Excellency himself, as the representative of Imperial Government, before Responsible Government. was bestowed on the colony. A. comparison can tiien be drawn which perhaps will not. be unfavourable to the Colonial Government.

The remainder of the memorandum contains nn account of the state of the hulk, treatment of the prisoners. &c. The kindness, care, and Attention of the Colonial Government towards these men is a matter too well known in Auckland. Many and many a deserving European

family here would have been gra Leful for the same treatment.

Let us now see what is that rccord of the hisforj/ of oilier rases in which jifaorix hare been kept in confinement that was promised by the ministry. We find it in Memorandum No. 7:!. of the :iOth Sept., and we give it entire, and beg for it the careful consideration of our readers.

Ministers will now proceed to place 011 record the facts of those cases in which liis Excellency Sir George Grey took, and detained, Maoris in custody ou political grounds, at times when Responsible Government in Native affairs had not been established; when his Excellency's word was law in such matters, and ho was not. under the control, or in any way bound even to ask the advice of Ministers.

Immediately before the commencement of hostilities in Waikato, his Ex '•ellency issued >i commission, addressed to Mr. Gorst, and several other ollieers of the Native Department, directing then to proceed to certain Native settlements near the City of Auckland, and require the Maori inhabitants io take an Oath of Allegiance. The greater part, of the Natives refused to take the oath, and prepared to leave the distiict for "Waikato. A considerable number of these collected at Ken' Kori, about -0 miles from Auckland, 011 the road to Waikato, and the principal resident C'hief'of which place was lhaka Takanini. Jlis Excellency bearing this, ordered an expedition of Queen's troops and Colonial forces to proceed there, to seize the disaffected Natives. After a forced march, performed during a dark night, the force arrived at Kori Keri at early dawn on the Kith -Inly, ISG!J. A largo majority of the Natives made their escape, but. lhaka, who \vtts extremely ill and confined to his house, did not attempt to do so, and, with twelve of his men, seven women, and three small children, was captured by the troops without, resistance. Under his Kxcelleney's orders they were-retained in custody of the military—first at Drury, and afterwards in a hut at Otaluihu, about 11 miles from Auckland. Their imprisonment is reported to have been of a very Miingent character, not oven the women being allowed to leave the hut withoutasentry standing over them while they performed those otlices which even men perforin in secret. This close custody continued till the lGtli September, without any attempt beiny made to bring them to trial, or even to legalise their detention by the issue of a magistrate's warrant. On the I' th September, his Excellency sought the opinion of the Attorney Geneial as to whether there were sullicient {.'rounds for taking Ihein or keeping them in custody. The Attorney General held that "then' were not sullicient grounds for charging lhaka with any criminal oM'euee." On (lie -'2nd September further papers were laid before him, and he was requested to advise again, liis opinion was, that it was

"very questionable whether a prosecution should be instituted, and if instituted whether it would be successful." Eroni this date the prisoners continued in close military custody in the hut at Otaluihu, till the •ith or (ith November: when the present Ministry having come into otliee the subject was brought under the notice of the Colonial Secretary by a letter from Mr. Hozan. an ollicer of the Government, who stated that " lhaka expressed great disappointment at the length of time he and his people had been in custody, seeming to feel very much the loss of his father and t wo children " (who had died in iheir prison.) r ) he new ministry found it a matter of great ditliculty to advise his Kxcellency 011 the subject. The prisoners had been found taken by liis iLxcellency's express orders, on suspicion only, having been guilty of no overt act of rebellion no specific charge had been made against them ; thev were detained under no letral warrant ; Ihey were in !h" custody of Imperial ollieers, ami not. of the Colonial Government : and tile Attorney General had twice advised that there was 110 evidence to convict them of any oM'ence. ll was extremely dillirult to suggest ally course which should not compromise either the Governor, who had arrested them, or the Ministry, to whuse lot it fell to release I hem.

After much consideiation, the Colonial Secretarv advised that the prisoners shuld be invited to go to the Island of If tirakia, about ten miles from Auckland. This plan hail, it is believed, been discussed between his Kxcelleney unci his previous non-res) oinible advisers, after the Attorney-General bad declared the prisoners eould not be legally detained ; but no action had been taken.

About the middle of November, after in close confinement, the survivors of tile {arty, inchii ling Ihaka were, with their own consent, removed to llurakia. The Colonial Government built them a good weatbor-boaid house, jjave tliem a whale boat, and as all their food anil personal property bad been destroyed when they were captured, clothing, food, horses, ploughs, and other necessary implements were also provided by the Government, till such time as they might be able to provide them for them selves.

1 haka hiin=elf did not long survive his captivity, dying a week or two alter his removal to llurakia. The last time the Colonial Secretary saw this chief, which was in J Sfil, lie closely resembled in appearance, dress, and manners, a poitlv Knglish emnitry gentleman, of 14 or 15 stone weight, He was a man of great natural humour, ami much courtesy of manner, anil hold a high position among the t-rihes connected with Waikato. At the time of the l'atumahoe jising, when the lives of the Native Secretary, Mr. McLean, .Archdeacon Maunsell, and others, were i:i imminent peril, and a general massacre of outsettleis on the point of occurring. Ihaka, by his personal influence at the last moment, cured" the passions of the Maoris, and averted the calamity.

A ease vcy similar to that last related occurred during his Kxce'lency's previous administration ; so closely resembling it in its principal features as would suggest that in his treatment of such he acted on some settled principle which he was well able to justify, and which was consistent with a -regard tor " the good name of (ir< at Britain." It happened in the year 18-tfi, when a disturbance occuiTed with the Natives ot the \\ <st (Vast ot tin l 3'rovince of AVellingtou. A section of them was in arms, headed bv ltaiigihucata, a Chief of great note, the principal warrior of the Ngatitoe tribe, Te Rauparaha, the head of that tribe, professed friendship for the Government, but iell under his Kxcellency's suspicion. As far as his Excellency's do.'patches, recorded in the Parliamentary papers, shew, there was no other evidence of his complicity with the hostile natives than a not very explicit intercepted let t< r written by another native, and a vague story about pigs, "which Kauparaha said were in one phil-c when the Governor had some reason to believe they were in another. His Kxeellency, with v«.iv cn nsiderable adroitness, seized the persons of Te 'Rauparaha, and two other Chiefs—Te Kanae and llohepii. Ill: placed them on hoard H.M.'ti S. 'Calliope,' where they remained close prisoners for a period considerably exceeding six months, jluring this period his Kxcellcncy was endeavouring to tind evidence which neght legally justilY their detention and trial ; hut having at the end of that time tailed to procure, any, To Kauparaha and llohepa were placed in a sort, of honorable custody among their old enemies the W' aikitos. Telxanue appears to have been allowed to return home, Kanparahii continued in this honorable banishment for another year, he also was allowed to return to his own place at Otaki, in Cook's Straits.

In citing these two cases of lhaka and Kauparalm; Ministers clcsire to express no opinion on the question, of polity involved in Diem. 'l'bey may both have been wise strokes of statesmanship, and necessary for the "safety of the Republic." But it is certain that; in all their leading features tliev were censurable on precisely the same grounds as his Kxcellency censures I he acts of his Ministers in reference to the detention and treatment of the prisoners in the present rebellion. Indeed the acts of his Excellency were much more so, lor neither Rauparaha nor Ihak.i wore taken in open rebellion, as the NVaikuto prisoners were, but. on mere su.-pieion, to justify which no evidence could ever be obtained of su'llieieiit weight to sustain a prosecution before the tribunals of juMice. iliey were taken under no hgal warrant, and were detained for many months without any authority of law. '1 he ordinary tribunals of tlie'country were open, but the prisoners were never brought before them. In one of the ciuc-s, at least. the nnprisonment appears to have been attended with t'.reat haislmess, which ''it is believed" hastened the deaths of two or three out of tiie seventeen or eighteen win) were subjected to it, and most probably ... other lms "sown the seeds of disease lor lite. _ No '• generosity' - seems to have been exercised in either ease; anil indeed what room was there for generosity to men taken only on suspicion and detained for so many months" without authoni v ol law Y

_ Ministers repeat that tVy do not desire to eritieise, on the merits, ol tlie course pursued in these ( Jiut 'hey eiunn.t help most, respect fuilv submitting that it is not just nor consistent with iioiiimou lainii'ss toward them, that his Kxeciieney, Inning himself established Mich precedents, should UMfuipt to impugn llieir eonduet up_ii ebiirgri? rhe truth of which they entirely dent-, but whie.h, it" fullj proved, would find its exact parallel in caeuu

where his Excellency was tho solo agent unrestrained 'V,, by tho " requirements" of Responsible Government.

Ministers cannot but deeply regret tho course which his Excellency has pursued in reference to this subject.. Had his Excellency been contented to repose confidence in tho ability of his Ministers to conduct a very simple branch of administration, which the General Assembly bad, among others, confided to them ; and if he had abstained from personal interference in a mailer on which he was very imperfectly informed, and 011 which tho information lie .mil. Api ears to have been incorrect; tho prisoners would at Ibis moment almost to a certainty have been in safe custody, in eonfortable quarters ill tile harbour or Auckland and on the North Shore. A course of action 011 the part of his Excellency which lie has been pleased lo term "generous" towards the prisoners has terminated in their escape, and in a very serous complication of the dillicultics of the colony. In tho meantime while so much "generosity" is shewn toward tlm Maoris taken in anus, his Excellency's sympathy is withheld from the unfortunate knglish colonists who have been driven from their homes and reduced to ruin ; and tho Colonial Government is unable to provide for their reinstatement, or (0 compensate Ihein for their losses, because h;s b.xcellenev declines to confiscate the lands of those who have indicted so much misery npoil them. is Excellency appeals lo the judgment of " posterity for a verdict ou his actions : he cannot mean (lie posterity of those who are thus left in destitution, while a morbid and unaccountable sympathy is extended towards rebels (who have themselves made 110 complaint, but) who have shown the most marked inm-atiturle for the forbearance, lenity, and kindness expended upon tlicm. Will Sept., 181)' I,

We leave his Excellency to tho scorn of all honest, men, which the above exposure evokes. There is nothing we can say or add which would put; the matter in a clearer or more forcible light.

MILITARY iMOVEMENTS. Tin: • Alexandra ' arrived yesterday, at noon, in the iWamikau from Tarunaki, and" leaves again Ibis day with Kit) men and (i ollieers of the 13rd Light infantry, and a quantity of Commissariat stores.

The ' Alexandra ' brought up with her from Taranalci, Lieut.-General Sir Duncan Cameron and stall'.

The ' Daring ' had arrived in the Manukau from I'ort Waikato.