Untitled

New Zealand Herald, Volume IV, Issue 1128, 26 June 1867, Page 4

Recent events and arrangements have, we have reason to know, afforded a sufficient guarantee to.tlie people of this Province that

the attempt made last year by the Province of Hawke s Bay to alienate a portion of thiq Province and annex it to that of Hawkc's Bay, has been abandoned—nay more the land purchased within our territories by tlio Superintendent of that Province is ready to be transferred to our own government on payment of the money given for it bv JJawke's Bay to the Natives. "With this disturbing clement of alienation and annexation set at rest, and with the permanent settlement of Imperial troops at Lake Tanpo, in early prospect, it behoves U3 to turn to as a Province and show that we are ready to use as well as to retain the territory wliicli Las been prevented from passing away from us s and ifc may be that our rep re sent ati\ es in the Assembly can by their action assist the Province much in this matter. "Wo have lost too much already to afford to be indifferent any longer on such a point. The question now arises, what ought to be done or rather what can we do to utilise and consolidate our valuable possessions ou the East Coast? There are magnificent districts owned by this Province, stretching alon® from the iiast Cape to the "Wairoa, embracing an extensive area of the finest country in New Zealand, adapted both for agricultural and pastoral purposes. a A large proportion of this territory, no doubt, is still in the hands of the natives; many of these, however, are well disposed towards Europeans, and are anxious even to see the white men come among them as purchasers and settlers. Such of them as yet remain turbulent, there is every reason to believe, arc gradually thinning down in numbers, and from various causes ere long, if judiciously treated, will cease altogether to be a cause of alarm or anxiety to our settlers. There is, therefore, opening up to us in this part ot the Province an extensive field for profitable colonization, where thousands of prosperous settlers may find happy homes, and from whence wealth and plenty in superabundance must yet overflow the entire country. "We know better how to dispose of our possessions on the East Coast than to lop them oft for purposes of profit or aggrandizement to other Provinces. "We ought, certainly, to be able to govern and colonize our own territory as at present defined, else what probability is there that we shall succeed by and bye, when, under other circumstances, we hope to exercise a much more extended jurisdiction ? It cannot be denied that hitherto we have not sufficiently attended to these matters. But, though we cannot boast of any large experience as a Province in colonizing out-

lying tracts of territory, such as are now thrown open to lis in the "Waikato and along tlie East Coast, that is no good reason ■whatever why -we should not at length set about the work vigorously, and carry it out successfully. To do this will he the true way to preserve and consolidate our geographical boundaries, and, at the same time, build up and improve politically our prestige and influence as a Province. The districts referred to, and which at present are comparatively unrecognised and uncared for, ought at once to have the attention bestowed upon them, which, in so many respects, their value and importance demands. The East Coast country especially, so long ignored by our provincial authorities ouglit now to be looked after, and its qualifications and claims brought fairly into notice. Communication should be opened up between the settlers already located there and the executive centre of the Province, as well as such further steps adopted as will tend to encourage colonization, and promote order and good government throughout the district. Heretofore the chief notoriety of the East Coast in Auckland has been in connexion with certain atrocities 011 the part of the rebels during the war, and with the movements from time to time of the Colonial forces under direction nominally of the General Government, but actually, and we maj T observe, somewhat irregularly, under that of the provincial authorities at Napier. We need not say that these arc not the elements of distinction we would like to see permanently attached to this fine country, to far as the conduct of the Natives is concerned we believe, as we have already observed, that their hostility to us is fast dying out, and that- on the whole they are increasingly well inclined toward the settlers. !Notbing, however, can be more inimical to the prospcct of ultimate success with regard to the permanent occupation of the district than dilatoriness in the work of civilian colonization. So long as tlie chief feature of European settlement on the East Coast takes the form of military preparation, as usually exhibited in camp life at the several outposts and redoubts here and there planted throughout the country, wo fear the effect upon the natives generally will be to excite suspicion, to irritate their passions, and to provoke occasional acts of lawlessness and hostility. We do not, of course, deny the necessity or question the wisdom of the semi-military character of our pioneer settlers on the East Coast and elsewhere, but we have always regarded the system as preparatory and exceptional in the work of colonization. The part it must play can be justified only where it is followed closely by more civilizing inj iluences. The arts of peace and the pursuits of industry alone, apart from moral considerations, will be able to bring a people like the New Zealanders permanently and effectually within the pale of civilization, and keep them there. If therefore the territory referred to, forming as it does a part of the Province, was needed in the first instance to be taken possession of by military force, professedly in the interests of peace and geod_ government, it is clearly our duty now to follow up that occupation by such a course of active colonization as alone is calculated to secure to both races the benefits contemplated. The people of Auckland are deeply interested in this question. As a province our status is involved in the manner of its solution ; our rights and privileges in relation to the rest orf the colony are directly and remotely at stake, and even the prospect of a timely return to a normal condition of prosperity here in no small measure depends upon it. ___________