POLITICAL SUMMARY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 355, 31 December 1864, Page 4

POLITICAL SUMMARY.

Thi: past month lias been an eventful one for -New Zealand and for Auckland. From the session of the Assembly, lately silting, Auckland had nothing to expect but spoliation, and the combination of Southern members has effected all that it hoped to do in this respect. The scat "' r ' i r ° vi ' 1 ' u -""' u t is to be at once removed to Wellington, en route for Christchurch, and the troops are to be moved down into the province of V\ ollinirton, where as yet tliere is no call for ■•I'oir servicjs, from TV'aikalo, where everything be okens the breaking out of another summer's c mpaign. Atr. "\Ycld, the Premier, made, as the basis of Lis policy, the immediate withdrawal of the troops. His supporters, however, found on their arrival in Auckland, that this idea was chimerical, and though the present Ministry had made this question of withdrawal a purely ministerial one, they found themselves eompel--J?4 qualify it. If ever the people of Great Jjriluin had cause to complain of the local Government of ]N"ew Zealand, it is now. The pre.ii'iit Ministry could not hold their position without the aid of "Wellington members, and W elliugton members have been bought, firstly, by the immediate removal of the'seat of Government to Wellington, and secondty, by the stationing soldiers in that province, for the ostensible purpose of road-malcing, but really fur the purpose of driving Natives, now living quietly, into insurrection,'and thus affording an excuse tor the confiscation of their lands. , <>f the acts of the new Government has ikvu Ij Liiivaio the customs tariffbj- about onethird. This is done solely on account of our expenditure, Let the people of England realise • he* idea of the national taxes being increased n \ third, remember what we have done, and then declare whether they can any longer justly say that the colonists of Auckland' which pays the largest proportion of taxes are urging on Cse continuance of a war, undertaken for their benefit, and towards the cost of which they contribute little. The truth is, the cost of the M iir has fallen with crushing severity upon the co onists, and more especially upon the settlers of tins province andTaranaki, who, unlike those oi Wellington and the Middle Island, have given personal service and risked life and limb, an 1 suffered special pecuniary losses, in addition to general taxation, winch every man in :, ej>' Zealand feels alike. It is some comfort, under these circumstances, to know that the Inn-.- having passed when, according to Sir George Grey's proclamation of the 2«tli October it was given to the rebels till the 10th December to come in and submit, a second proclamation has been issued declaring the whole of the lands m the Y\ aikato country confiscated to the Crown. I here is here the means, if right and .justice are fairly carried out, of settling the country so that future insurrection shall become impossible, and also of recouping a large portion of war expenditure—an expenditure entirelv owing to the conduct of those men from whose property it is now in our power to draw the inetin.s of meeting it. It does not seem, bow-

ever, that we shall be allowed altogether peaceable possession of the "VYaikatO. Kewi and his tribe, the Ngatimaniapoto, are at their own -place, JTnngitikci, on the borders of the confiscated territory, ready, when the troops are removed southwards, to swoop down in detached guerilla parties \ipon the lands iiow ill our possession. Theif o\vn hinds are untouched by the confiscation, and therefore it will be seen that it is not desperation which induces these men to remain in arms, but inherent malignity against the Supreme power of the Queen, and of law and order. In the North matters have anything but a cheering aspect. The matter is, however, not one in ■which the colony has any control. The question rests entirely in the hands of Sir George Grey, who is alone responsible. The house of a settler was forcibly entered on (lie 21st instant by seventeen armed Natives belonging to Tawhiti's tribe living at Omaha, and some twenty pounds worth ol property was taken away, This was done in open daylight, and the act was accompanied with thrcaths of death to the inmates if they resisted, loaded muskets being presented at them by the Natives. The excuse for the commission of this outrage was | that the owner of the house. Mr. Meiklejohn, had I

destroyed some whares built by the escaped rebel prisoners on the laud of the Crown about the pa to which Oil their escape from the Kawau they had betaken themselves. Mr. Meiklejohn retired for assistance, but though he raised a party of armed settlers, lie reluviiea too late to tind the marauders who had made good their escape. A meeting of the Matakana settlers was held on Monday last, and a deputation appointed to wait upon his Excellency with a memorial, the uopj r of which will be found in another column, as will also his Exeellenev's reply. Affairs in the North may now be said to be truly in a critical position. Law and justice for the European there is none. The people are themselves the law, and it is owing ent-irelj' to the

patience, the temperance, :uid moderation ol the Northern settlers themselves, that, so. Air, the danger has been tided over. One good feature is observable in the present state of affairs, and that is, that, at last the escaped prisoners arc about to leave the I'hiropean districts and pass over towards Waikato. Yesterday they passed through the "Wade district, in large parties, on their way to Ongarahu. 011 this side of (he Kaipara Hivcr, and Air. I'ogan, the Resident Magistrate at Tvnipahi, " ill leave town to-day,

we believe, to meet them and make further arrangements for their passing on to Waikato, where a portion of their lands, now confiscated, will be returned to them. A large number of immigrants have arrived during the past month from the home country, forwarded either to the Provincial or General Governments. They have been at once provided with suitable accommodation until such iimc as they can be placed upon the lands intended for them. Thure is now 110 reason win* immediate

action should not be at once taken by the General Government to populate the forfeited lands in "Waikato, and that, too, without as yet trenching upon lands in dangerous proximity to the rebel frontier. It is intended that blocks of land shall from time to time be handed over to the Provincial Government, for settlement. and with them the necessary fund*. We shall thus, subject of course to the approval of the General Government, be able to indicate the exact nature of the settlement scheme which experience tells us will best suit land, climate, aud people, the money advanced by the General Government being a charge against the province. The principal subject however which has agitated the public mind during the past month has been the Separation question. Auckland men have virtually been excluded from ihe Government of the country—our t-i vot.es out of o(> have been rendered nugatory bv a combination of Southern men formed openly for (he purpose of excluding Auckland from interference, in Government matters, while with equal jea-; lousy Auckland men have been carefully ex-, eluded from the cabinet. Now to any community this virtual disfranchisement- would be a most serious matter, but to us in this part of New Zealand it is truly a momentous one. Hampered as the Coloniui Government is in the management of native affairs, it still exercises great power in that direction, the effect of which, for good or ill. is not felt by the men who no\V exercise it, but by the people of Auckland, who live in the midst of a large native population. "We cannot afford to live in a jiowder magazine and allow strangers, for(southern men are, to us. literally si rangers, to' play with matches in our midst. The war wc are now suffering from lms been fanned into a brighter glow. uian it wow hi ever otherwise have'' assumed, by these very men. The people of. Auckland ask that New Zealand limy be dividedinto two colonics. The Northern one to remain under the direct control of the Imperial Go-; vernmenl-, the other to continue to enjoy its present constitutional rights. We would place the whole native question—the native war—the native government -the reclamation of the

native race, entirely in the hands of the Imperial Government; and ihat this should be effected, political separation of the IsortJi and South is an obvious necessity. jVone better than Governor Browne eould testify to the truth of what we are now saying. During the hitter part of the month tBo people of this city have been mainly occupied in the prosecution of the Christmas holidays, a work which thev have entered into with hearty good will. .Business lias in consequence been partly suspended. Towards the middle of the month, however, some very large and important land sales have been held, and old prices have been maintained. Auckland is to (irmly rooted to be shaken by an}' temporary political depression. Auckland is. in fact, nearly tho only solventprovince in ZScw Zealand. At least, as one ol the three great provinces, she is the only solvent one. In Diniediii there has been for some time past a great commercial depression whi'-h is likely to be increased when it becomes kno>v:u that the debentures which she had already mortgaged will have been sold at a price whic:i will amount to only 70 per cent. Canterbury is in the throes ol a social and commercial pan, I .*:. The greatest distress prevail among the],working classes ; public meetings of these poor creatures, rendered desperate bv hunger, are held in various places', but all accounts of these meetings are carefully suppressed bj- the local journals, jlatlers have come to such a pass that it is not work but food that they are asking for. " Give us bread they saj', lost we die, and our children also." 'Ihc Provincial Government is doing what it can, and the rich settlers of Canterbury are, we arc told, to their credit be it said, doing all they can by private means to alleviate the misery with which they are surrounded. A considerable number of troops has been embarked within the last few days at the Mnnukau for Yv'anganui, and the General will, we believe, shortly take his departure for the same place. It is said that their first movement; will be towards a pa, some twenty miles inland, which, it is reported, is one of the strongest yet constructed by the rebels.