The New Zealand Herald AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, DEC. 14, 1864.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 340, 14 December 1864, Page 4

The New Zealand Herald

AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, DEC. 14, 1864.

si'i:cTi:.M I:J: AC r.xi^o. " Give c\cry isjhic c -.v, but -.w ti y v-ioo: Tahu C'scii r»!:aiV «n:u.-urf, i-ai m . i-rvc tiiy This ;;b»ve all, —To 'nc. : i ue ; And it ):m<t i-.»Uo\v, :..s thu di^iit the day, Thou canst j:ol t!:cu be* ialsy to aiiy num."

lin-: lOtli ed i'eeeHiljL-i-, the iiiitil oi' the period fixed by lite ]>i'uchrm;ttion of I]il- October lor receiving the submission <>L' the rebels in arms, expired on !iid.urday, and the results have been, as we predicted tliey would bo, fruitless. e are not aware that ;i single iiisliiiux" lias occurred ol any such rebels Laving delivered themselves up j-.i iiiis province under the terms ol tlie proclamation alluded to. I>mall nuiubi-rs ol rebels iia.vo, it is true, since the issuing of the prochunatiun, "come in" from lime to time and delivered themselves up lo the ntilihu'v eoinj man tiers al one or 1 o posts on tlie Waikato, bill il was before (Ley had become aware of the terms oilered by the (iovej-iior. Jji W anganui and Taratniki the resuit has been much the.sameIn the kit lor place we learn by recent advices that llic following nine cliieis met Colonel \\ arre and l\lr. J'ari'is on the --Slit nil.. and surrendered, agreeing to cede whatever land might he reI ijuired of them. 'Their names are. Iharaira Tuaparo, I'iriliihi Waiaiwi, l'aont [e A\"ati, Jteiviti, ilai'ei'a, Miiai, W'iremi;, I'ai'aun. and. I'.raluu. '1 hoy live on tlie Tataraimaka block, on the boundary ol' tho King's laud, and were al the eoinineiteeinenl; of hostilities forced into rebellion by the .King party. There is not a chief of importance among (hem. li.o h:i„ iJ:-)!, as wo I'lvdic.'cii din-iild U", liti'jied (til led oil;;" lisekrs. but I a, 'jbib*cmvVoH-s \\ o !o:.i!i it;-oti the leller of iiii:i:n Tliompso:,. _ v. Lii-it we lately published, asking lor "the u:i\s after the I'Uh J.j t »_ cember until tiio end oi' l-'ebrunry," as the be.-; cominontary tiiat eemld ha.-.'e been, written on

the foilv ol'issuing such a proclamation as that which tlie late Ministry were too honest, too chary of their fair repute as Statesmen, and as good citizens, to put their hand to. | As far as it goes, the arch rebel and bloodthirsty exterminator, Thompson, looks upon the proclamation as a mosl desirable bit of diplomacy on our part. It has one fault, however, it is so good that it were a pity there wore not more of it. " Give lo mc the days after the 10th December until the end of February. I would urge rather till the end of April." He adds, however, that he lears so much time would scarcely be granted. " .Soft as pumpkins," though his countrymen say wo are, he scarcely takes us to bo sol't enough for that. The Governor has, in fact, been playing the very game of tho rebels. Time is all Thompson is asking for. Kvery month put past, is a gain to them —a positive loss lo us. It is not the Maori gun or tomahawk that has conquered us, for conquered wc literally are. but it is the extent of time over which this war lias been prolonged. The battle has never been one between the tomahawk and bayonet, but between the endurance of the .Maori stomach as against the inexhaustibility of tho supposed .Forlunatus' purse, the commissariat chest. Thompson calculates wisely that with the days between the KUh December and the. Ist March given to him, the current exi raordinary expenditure to the colony for that time oi' idleness could not be less than £150,000 nor less I ban a similar sum to the .Imperial Government. lie also calculates that a campaign commenced in the hitter end of the summer could scarcely be pushed to any great extent before the breaking up of Iho line weal iter sets in, and thai the time afforded would lie most desirable to his fellow rebels for enabling them lo gather in (heir crops. The rebels too would doubtless like to see whether il is really intended to remove the troops or to paralise the action of the Governor bv removing [ the .Executive from the place where they can act eli'eet ively and sharply. The six weeks amnesty already granted them has been most beneficial so much so, that Thompson is inclined lo have a little more of a good thing. It lias been sought, by those who look upon every point yielded to Maori interests as a desirability, lo make it appear that though the Maori litis not availed himself of the terms oll'ered in this proclamation, siill the issuing of il has put us obviously in the right." Sow we most emphatically protest against any such insinuation against iho character of the colonists as that conveyed in the above words, used by a phiii>-TMaori organ in our midst. The colony was never in the wrong. This is not the lirst, oiler made to the rebels. .Scarcely a week has passed for very many months, in which those who deMivd it have not been received with pardon and kindne.-s : nay, more emissaries have always been busv in the rebel camps and districts, endeavouring lo persuaded these misguided men to submit and receive the clemency of I the lliicen. There was no necessity to have lied up the hands of tlie General, while the rebels were making up their minds how lo act. A'o such proclamation as that was needed to " put us obviously ri n 111 with Exeter 11 all. One ihingit has done I .Il has put- us obviously ifi-m/;/ with the rebels ; themselves, and Thompson'* Jotter is evidence iof this. lie asks time. for w hat that other I rebels .-hall have ail opport unity of assembling ] around him aud discussing the advisability oi' -unvinler. that ho may exercise his influence ' uj nil thi-ni. JN'nw Thompson, if ho have really any power <>r iniluence over the native : min.l, would be able at once to say how such j pr.iclama!i.m would be received, but he really, ' as his n\ui letter indicates, has iml sullicicnt inj llncnco al once to summon a full runanga of ihe ; chiefs : for giving as reason for so many months' delay, he says: —" This is Ihe reason why I ask " for those days. All Waikato is at Taranaki. ! "• .1 alone am here : therefore I desire to have ' " thi> delay. Let the chiefs of Waikato come " lip and In- assembled in my presence, and then '• 1 w ill declare my w.>i\l to (belli, and also to •• you." 11 is quite clear that if Thompson is himself sincere in his reasons for asking I'or this ib-lay. that bis iniluence is small indeed. lie may summon a runanga. but he thus acknowledges that be can only expect the chiefs to si iviggh- in al their convenience, lint it is obvious thai 111<■ treachery and duplicity which form the in tin element of Thompson's character, are at work in his letter to the Governor. It is delay —not the council of the chiefs — thai is sought. They are all, he says, at Taranaki : why (lien, if the mountain will not come, to Mahomet, Miould not .Mahomet go to the mountain li is not desirable to give a .-needy answer. Delay is the Maori's Arnistronggun. his most ell'eclive weapon against us. Il costs him nothing, on the contrary, il is a po.-itivo convenience and comforl and safety to him. It pounds us at the rale of at least .CoOOO a day. It does more, it tiivs out the patience of (hose al home who pay a large portion of this sum. .11 makes recreants of I hose in the ."Southern porlion of the Colony who cannot get out of range ol this Maori artillery as they are able lo keep their skins out of the reach of the tomahawk and the gun. Its shots tell even on the oilier side of Cooke's Straits, and plump right into the breeches pockets of Middle Island men. The result of the issue of this proclamation has not only been that none of the rebels have mailed themselves of its terms. but il has brought us into derision and oontcmpl. I( is clearly a sign of weakness, and as such it has been received by (hem. We take the position of "defeated." and sue, yes, sue for pec.ee, and yet have the effrontery to ask tho men wc court lo come in," lo code their land lo us. Who will not say the Maoris will not look upon this proclamation "as a confession of weakness"—when they couple with it the fact that the Assembly of ISO I- abandoned their policy of a twelvemonth's earlier date, confessedly because they would not find the sinews of war (o carry it out. and that they acknowledged their utter Suability to pay for the use of the troops or to raise troops of their own. Nor was the proclamation of October lastbut simply impolitic and mischievous. It was more —It was positi\ ely contrary in its terms lo the direct ins) ructions of the Imperial Government. It was only as " defeated rebels" that .Sir George Grey was instructed to extend to them the clemency of the Crown. This was emphatically and unmistakeably pointed out to him in Mr. C'ardwcll's despatch of the 20th April. This Northern Island exists at the present moment under Iho rule of Maori terrorism. '.Lbis is a fact —a broad, ptlcul, glaring fact—-to deny which, in this colony, with (he" evidence before Ihe eyes of all men, no man dare. If defeat has fallen anywhere, it is not upon the rebels. We are baiiled. The end for which the colony has been striving, tlie policy which, at the suggestion of' the Governor, the Assembly ' adopted a y.-ai- a.no, has been abandoned in de- . spair. A large sect ion of Ihe Northern natives wait only the withdrawal of the troops and the removal ol the .Kxeculive to a distance, to join in the rebellion. The district of Wanganu'i is threatened, the siege of the town ot ' New Plymouth has nol yet been raised, and in the Waikato ilsclf our own men at the various posts are drawn up for two hours before daylight to repulse ihe nightly expected attacks of the " delealed rebels"— the ln-okon-spirited, sub-I;ind-liearled, loyally-inclined gentlemen ol \\ aikato and Taranaki, who mutilate our fallen soldiers, and rule us through Ihe length and breadth ot tho land with the terrorism of the murderous gun and cowardly tomahawk. . .'rii.-oe u riling the above wo lind, by tin- returns laid o» the I able of the jiou.-c. that one i native in (iiis province /or.v come in under Iho terms ol the proclamation, lie brought no arms, how ever, lluniera llangiidiua.ol'the Ngaiiteata, like the .solitary .Brook-green Volunteer, has it all to himself.]

PEOPEIITY AND INCOME-TAX. In the House of Representatives yesterday, Mr. Stafl'ord, tlie member for Nelson, pressed upon the Government the necessity of preparing a bill during the recess for tlio imposition, of a property and income tax, in order to raise a fund lo meet tlie annual charge for the sinking fund of the £3,000,000 loan. The Government, however, although Mr. Weld in his Canterbury speecli had expressed his willingness to pay the one-half of his property in taxes, if necessary, to reinstate Taranaki alone, refused to entertain the motion, and, after some discussion, to which we draw the attention of our readers, the motion was withdrawn . The present session, which . reflects most gravely on the New Zealand Legislature, has come to a close. Measures af the utmost importance to the colony have been llippantly discussed end jKixxcd, or, we should rather use the term, intshcd, throughtheHouse. Party purposes have been cflccted, the sops have been swallowed, and the Ministry is safe—safe at least as far as the Assembly is concerned —until another session. One amongst the evils which have arisen from the lowered tone given to the Legislature of the colony by the conduct of Southern members is, that the abler and older politicians amongst them- -the men whose names, and views, and words, gave weight and dignity to the Councils of New' Zealand —arc able no longer conscientiously to take part in public alfairs. Yesterday we announced the resiguatiou of Mr. F. Whitaker, (he late Premier ; to-daj r we announce the retirement from public life of Mr. Stafl'ord, a man who has held the reins of government during more than half the period that we have possessed responsible government —a man who would have been an ornament to any Legislative Assembly in the world—to whoso states-man-like views, upright principle, and manly independence men of all shades of political opinion in the colony will bear willing testimony. The policy and acts of the present Ministry, and their • supporters, have driven these men into private life. The loss to the colouy,eannot be replaced, for we have no men of the same mental calibre and experience within or without either Jlousc of the Legislature.