THE WAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume VI, Issue 1753, 5 July 1869, Page 8

THE WAR.

The management or rather mismanagement of native affairs which each day discloses, indicates most strongly the valuo of the course we vesterday poiuted nut, as one of the chief duties of the Assembly, namely, that of coming to some definito understanding as to what our relations really aro with the Maori race—how far we are prepared to insist on exercising a real responsibility in dealing with them— and then to lay down a course of action for tho conduct of the war, bold, vigorous, and decisive. The late reverse at Opipi, the Into capture of rebels at Patea, events cntirely dilTcrent in themselves, both cause us to arrive at the same conclusion. In cither event wo have tho pernicious result of divided authority, of the want of a firm, vigorous -policy. In the one the interference ofthe Native'Ollicc leads to death and disaster, in the other what might have been a valuable victory is. by tho same agency, made a very doubtful benefit. For we learn from private sources that the reverse at Opipi was purely the rjsult of the anomalous position in which the men of our forces are placed—that of being sent into disturbed districts where they are brought face to face with Maoris of whom they cannot tell their friends from their foes till the hitter openly show themselves as such by striking the first hlr.w. This is one reason why we so often sutler severely. It is the cause of our reverse at Opipi- A single inutriih'd llauhau came up to Cornet Smith's partv: a survivor of the party asked him who" he was, and the reply was Queenite. and that he came, haviig seen the smoke of the cam]), to a.-certain if the party was a Ifauliau (una. Presently three or four iiinirmrtl Ilauhaus came out of the hush, and when the lirst mentioned was asked who they were, the reply was that they were friends who came with" him as a support, and who only appeared finding the party were their friends. The man first mentioned kept the trooper, and others of our men who were outside, in chat, with their backs turned to the huts. A passing suspicion of having seen in previous skirmishes the face of one of the men who had lately come up, and who with the others in the meantime had gono to the rear towards the huts, convinced the member ofthe European force first accosted that all was not right, and he turned to go for his weapon where the men wore sleeping and tho arms were piled. On turning he saw the unarmed Maoris, tho men who had just sauntered to the rear, unconcernedly standing 'iiir> at the door of each hut, and on walking to the hut in which were the arms and attempting to enter he was ordered back by the native. Seeing that the party was fairly trapped, he made <br the nearest bush, the Maori running into tho hut for 0110 of our own breachloaders to fire upon him. Then armed men hitherto unseen closed quickly in from a patch of bush in the vicinity and tho massacre commenced.

Now, that it should be possible that an armed party of" constabulary, amongst whom were two commissioned officers, and two commissioned officers serving as privates, should have been surprised and cut off from all means of defence by an unarmed party of the enemy, is a thing that could only happen in New Zealand warfare ; and that it can happen hero is sblelv owing to the influence of that drag upon the war, the Native Office, and the too great attention paid by those in authority to the maudlin sentimentality uttered at homo and in tho colony by those who can see nothing but goodness in a black skin—nothing but greed, cruelty, and avarice in a white colonist. The JTauhaus dared to advance unarmed against ovr part}- at Opipi because they knew that the protecting mantle of tho Native Office was about them. They knew that even though our men recognised them as ITauhaus. they dared not fire upon them till first fired upon themselves. "We cannot stand against such a condition ot affairs as this, and if the war is to bo conducted on our side with a European force we must place the occurrence of such a dilemma beyond all possibility. Those who are not for us must be content to be considered as i against us, and those who will not come out from disturbed districts and reside in certain places appointed for them must be content to he shot down when met by our men. On the West Coastwe have the good result of Major Noake's expedition altogether stultified by the action of the Native Office Commissioner who accompanied it. Tauroa was fairly in the bauds of Major Noakes and his expedition when the Commissioner, who, it seems, really controlled the party, wont ahead by himself, and entering the pah, besought Tauroa and those with him to surrender. At first tho rebels tallced large, even of getting ready an oven for roasting the Commissioner, but ultimately sent down two or three of their number in a canoe to surrender. The consequence is that instead of having some fifty foes less to contend with in our future operations, we have a number of prisoners, whom we shall doubtless, with our admirable wisdom in all such matters, feed comfortably through tho winter, and turn loose in the summer to swell the ranks of T<; Kooti and Tito Kowaru. Truly, the colonists of New Zealand are literally the most practical Christian people in the world, for they feed their enemies, and do {;ood to those who ravish, slav, and oat their wives and little ones! Tt would seem that there can be too much of even puch good things as charity and forbearance. But this is not all. AVith the assistance of Mr. Booth we have gotten possession of our white elephant, in tho shape of 122 men, women, and children. When we have actually refrained from destroying their whurc.i and their cultivations ; wo bring them down to our settlements, and show' them—and all other natives, too—how much dearer a black rebel is to us than our own toil-worn soldiers. We leave the local AVanganui journals to give a description of tho after interference of the Nativo Office officials. Our readers may draw their own conclusions and opinions from it. The rupture was arranged and carried out in Iruo Maori diplomatic stvk\ From information received a force was ordered to proceud up tho I'atca river in canoes under tho <m'i n'iblti ciiiilnnce, hut tin- actual cont-01, of Mr. Booth, as >a!ivo Cummisnionrr. Previous to our men starting the vVunginui Veteran Volunteers put their tentn ii order, dry fern upon which to stretch their weary limbs on their return, and other little nrnm;;eniimts to fecure a. comfortable night's rest when they enmo back. Having proceeded u long way up the river and made the capture they were told by Mr. Booth taut the oanoes

wore wanted for the Accommodation of the priaoners, and our men mntt-maroh overland for Patia the best way they could. Tho notorious rebel Tanroa, with the mon, wainon, and ohildren of his hapu, were c-omfor'ably accommodated in the canoes, and started triumphantly down the riyor lor Pateo, whero thoy knew that Mr. Booth would feed and aecoinmoda'.e th»m at the oxpenso of the colony. Having seen Mr. Booth's pets away in the canoos, our poor fellows started to trudgo it on fo-t over precipitous cliffs and through dense fore-its, through which they had to cut their way. On arriving at Tatea, perfectly done np, they at onco procendod to their touts, but lo and behold! they found them occupied by Mr. Booth's pets, and were perempt ri!y toM that thoy must seek quirtora elsewhere Captain Kolls remonstrated hut Mr. Boothe's arthatity as Civil Commissioner was supromo and our foot-so:o Volunteer Veterans w. rh obliged to eo into tho town and find quarters ind pa)' for lii4t-.i th.-i b.-jt »i.- tliey conl.i. Next diy, the nrrli rebd Tjutoh, finding himself and coi-eb.-Ia comf-.rtably ncoummodaiod and fed at tho expense of the colonists, informal Mr. Booth that a great many more men, women, and children would "surrender ami came in if he, Taiiroa, and his friend ifori Grey w<y.e authorised by him, Mr. TSooih, to go out and bring th-m il. Of cour-o Mr. Booth ( ;-.ve tho order an-1 wo hourly expect 10 hour of ami'her batch of lhe r.ibel», perhaps Tito Kowaru hitus.lf :.nd his followers coming in and finding -heller und.T tho wing of Mr. Ujolh at tho expense of the taxpayers of the. colony.