THE Otago Daily Times.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 231, 16 September 1862, Page 4

THE Otago Daily Times.

" Inveniam viam aut faciam."

DUNEDIN, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10.

The Maories compare favorably, we believe, with any semi-civilised race. They want, possibly, the delicacy of intellect of some of the native Indian races; and, if the Aztee race is considered a semi-civilised one, cultivated as it was, in some respects, to m extraordinary degree, tlie Maories are inferior to it in subtlety. But tbey are an apt, a clever, and a hardy race; they are of the stuff that has overthrown monarchies and founded empires. Macaulay, who weighed his lightest sentences, did not speak without consideration when he selected the New Zealander to typify his notion of the substitution of a later-day civilisation.

The Maories owe their English allies little; for these have wretchedly misused the power which should have been exercised as a regenerating influence in relation to their dusky protegees. Between the morbid sentimentality of the PhiloMaori party, and the brutal ignorance of those who have brought to bear on the race a purely selfish policy, the well directed efforts of the few who gave to the subject an enlarged and liberal intelligence have been entirely lost. If more humanised than formerly, the Maories are scarcely better mcix. Their very civilisation simply added power, and suggested the will to deeds of evil. Shakspeare truly enough says—

" How oft tbe sight of means to do ill deeds Makes ill deeds done." It is so with the Maori. They have learnt with civilisation a rapacious, mercenary selfishness, wholly foreign to their original nature. Mr. Fitzgerald, amidst the fallacies through which his lofty oratory ctushes its course lights upon many a sage truth and tells it in glowing language. Not idly did he say that the fateof the Maori hangs upon the most precarious balance, and that on the conduct ofthe Europeans depends the future, whether of peace or war, of the race the Anglo-Saxon has supplanted in the Great Britain df the Pacific. We may, nay, do differ with the eloquent member for EUesmere as to the regenerating influences he would exert, but no one can deny the truth of that which he told so toucbingly— in the conduct of the European lies the life or death of the Maori. Upon the rough hewn tablet of the semi-savage mind have yet to be written the characters of an enduring citizenship, or the blurred records of a fast hastening extinction. In cither case, the European must conquer, but ia the one it will be "thecon- " quest of the tomb."

Wherein lies the mistake of the past treatment of the Maories? The answer is simple —as long as we confine it to an-abstract one The Europeans have supplied only the seeming without the substance of civilisation. They have left the Maori institutions untouched, encouraged rather their perpetuation, but thought to graft on the customs of the savage the polish of the civilised race. Those unlucky reservations which the first Orders in Council stipulated for—the preserving intact the Maori customs—have widened and widened, whilst our whole efforts have been wasted on the impossible task of grafting European laws upon Native institutions. We have done nothing to breakdown their slavery or their tribal laws, we have encouraged rather than undermined the powers of their chiefs. "We have offered them distinctive legal tribunals,, and allowed them to make a farce of the administration of justice, the sacred and solemn nature of which wer should/above all, have made them com"-* prehend.' The Maori of to-day and of twenty years back is the same, excepting that in the long interval he has learnt well the, lesson of.dislike and contempt for- the Pakeha

• Mt, Fitzgerald says, take away the sword and use the pen; but the great Cardinal in whose mouth the sentiment is placed, knew well—none better—that the one was useless unless sharpened by the other. To secure peace, be ready for war, isa maxim.of civilized nations. '/How much more should it be recognised in(dealing with, the savage. / The Maori, although not wanting in acuteness, naturally judges from that which lies nearest to the surface. He does not comprehend the. numberless nooks and crannies from which the followers of civilization draw their vlaws of expediency, he forms his deductions from that which lies before him.y When he sees an enemy opposed to himin the field, shrink from warrand submit to inglorious terms of t peace, end even not;enforce these,>he naturally comes, to. tbe • be^hias *tb |eai^ith/!^i(D«e"\ylM) apkndwl^ge bis martial' supremacy./ The savage knows no mercy where an enemy js concerned whom he doe»

not respect/ ' 'War, "and war's consequences, are not evils ,in his eyes, and if ' he have an advantage he deems it, a virtue to pursue it to its last rtsult. > "I have stood" said Mr.1 Fitzgerald,^" beside a lonely mound in wbich I '" lies buried the last remnant of a tribe which *.' fell—men, women and children,—before the " tomahawks of their ancient foes." Such is the result of savage warfare, and if the Maori thought he could destroy the Europeans or drive them from the Island, can any' one doubt that he would try and do so ? Until we have disabused the Native mind pf this impression ; until the Europeans have convinced the Maoriesthat,although !mb3t inclined to idultiyateibeartsdf peace, ffceyare thoroughly masters of the arts of war, it is useless to hope j to exercise a regenerating influence.

■■ "As ••■ long as we "continue to give them all they wantj the Natives will not fight, but each day the insolence of their demands will increase.. It needed not the late incident supplied by the wreck of the .Lord Worsley for an example. It has come to this that the Maories claim even the coast line, and say to their fellow subjects,, you shall/or shall not land*. How long and to what extent are the .settlers to submit to these indignities? Are they to subject themselves to the Government of the insurgent Maories, and to allow T the insult to their Queen which every fresh actof deliberate ' ostentatious, renunciation of her authorit/, is designedly meant to perpetuate. It has come to this, either they must bear and bear, until their submission goaded into madness, culminates in a war of extermination, or tbey "must at once assert, and if necessary, enforce that authority that alone opens the possibility of ultimately gaining the ends of the Philo Maori party. As stated by Major Richardson—swift retribution is mercy to the rebel.

It is far irom our wish to sneer at tho> opinions of the Piiilo Maorist. We sat off by saying that the Maori race has the elements of a noble people. It is in that conviction we' write so earnestly.. Were the race less noble, it's possible extermination might be regarded with less compunction. Its savage instincts subdued, its powers aud capabilities would know no limits. In the interests of humanity, no. efforts should be spared to regenerate this people, and afford it a scope for the future, suitable to its large capabilities.- He would be a poor surgeon, who for fear of giving temporary pain to his patient, would scruple to perform a necessary operation. It is ueither humanity nor mercy of the Europeans to hesitate to assert tbat authority, without which the Maories cannot be elevated to the destiny that otherwise may await them. Wbat though the lesson be sharp; the momentary pain may gave long years of agony. Who can watch the course the Maories are pursuing now and not discover the rock on which they are drifting. Day by day encouraged to grow more bold and insolent, from the immunity which they enjoy, they will at last amuse a spirit of resistance that will retaliate on them a terrible vengeance. Then will be realised the dread future that Mr. Fitzgerald paints:— "These feeble and artificial institutions you "are now building up will be swept away like M houses of paper in the flames. Tribe after v tribe will be drawn into the struggle, and "y©u will make it a war of races. Of course "you will conquer; but it will be the conquest ofthe tomb. Two or three years of 44 war will eradicate every particle of civiliza- " tion from the Native mind, and wjll elicit "all the fiercest instincts of his savage " nature: the tribes broken up with"out social or military organization, "will' be scattered throughout the ** country in merciless banditti; the conflagra- " tions of Taranaki will be lighted up again "in every border of the colony; and in self- " preservation you will be compelled, as other " nations have been compelled before, to hunt '? the miserable native from haunt to haunt, M till he is destroyed like the beast of the "forest." j But, see the reverse of the picture. -' The Maori, taught to respect European laws and to reverence the moderation which, whilst it has the power to oppress, metes out to him equal rights and privileges with those his English fellow colonist enjoys, will bring to the pursuits of peaceful industry the skill and the ability which now, perverted, are a curse to him instead of a blessing. In far-off times succeeding generations of the Maori race may thank the" Europeans for the; well-timed severity that brought Within the bounds of civilization their ancestors, more than l^alf inclined to wed themselves to the lawless freedom of a hopelessly savage state.

By some accident our usual Port Chalmers report did not come to band last night., ? A very successful experiment was made during the last week by an old couple, the joint propria-* tors of a small garden in the neighbourhood of Pelichet Bay/" It was proposed to toy whether the flowers growing on the side beds, of the walks, made up into bunches', would find a sale in the open market. The two set to work j the flowers were cut, sorted out into small parcels, tied up ■ and placed into a basket On being brought into Duuedin and offered fbr .sale, the whole were purchased within three or four hours at the profitable figure of dne shilling per bunch. The sum of £3 tbus earned so pleasantly, would doubtless serve as a strong incentivq to turn the proprietors' attention to.the continuance of so profitable a speculation. ::•...•■.,: -'.■?;--■,:-./..-*,• ■;'."••' '"//',

'-'• '■' '' -•' '-■■■■ ■"* i j;_ 'Vi ■ When gentlemen visit either of our theatres, and leave befote the performances are concluded, they should, especially when coming from /the box department of the house;exercise a little judgment as to the class of applicants they give away their ' pas 3 " tickets to. One young gentleman, with habiliments sufficiently soiled and smeared with, mud to have spoiled any number of ladies dresses' and whose only upper garment! was a mere apology fbr a shirt, was rather pertinacious in insisting, an evening dr two I^k,u^i being admitted to'the dress circlei, upon thestmi^thof a " pass? which he had managed to posses'Mmself of '<"■■« Can't gd up^ «.Can't I ?^retorted tbe ladr " Wellvy:? .Thatfsall now,vy?" .Upon it being explained by the man at the entry that his attire and general appearance were, decidedly against bis admissioi), the lad first became very abusive, )?Mch finding jipt; he/tlire^tened the door-keeper with the police, fhcif with an action at law, and lastly with a dab of ijjud,

• Messrs Holt 'and Le Boy seem r determined | arc that there should beplenty of norelty, or of va- stn riety, iv, the • entertainments/ p& the Theatre to BoyaL Last evening they -presented.to their be! patrons, the great sensation drama "ThoCorsi. pn SSh " Brothers/ * which . was made' singularly few popular at home by ,the style in*which it'was so brought but by _Mri 7 Charles Kean at>' the th< Princess's Theatre. Fatten, and Louhrde en< Franchi, the brothers, are represented as pos- fey sessing so extraordinary a sympathy with each gii otber, tbat one cannot suffer without the other tb< feeling the shock, 110 matter how great the dis-; ha tancethat separates them; and of course.they an hold tbe Corsican creed as to revenge.* They an have both loved Emilie de Lesparre, who co I becomes the wife of another; and an wi | insult offered to her leads to a duel m< in wlrieh aM. de Chateau Eenaud kills Louis de lai Franchi. Fabien, Informed snpernaturally of the in event, starts at once from Corsica to Paris, having lei sworn to avenge his brother. 'On the spot where ta the first duel occurred, Fabien overtakes Chateau vi Renaud; he forces instant edmbatjiind of course .-./ is victorious and keeps his oath./ _ Such, are the h£ leading points in." the plot of: tlflJB; drama, which jj depends for, suoc£ss r raffier upen.the catching t jj effect of some''^J^^'TandTl]ie/&^UC:^WBy jto $ which the last duel scene is wrought up. than upon its own merits; iuthe matter of eharaeterisa- \\ tion. Louis deFrandri offers Vut little scopeyto f 0 an actor, but Fabien is a somewhat stronger part, w as he is "represented asan: iriresistible:; instrument j^ in the hands of Fate.'y TMr.T Holt as Louis told a , thetdeofbis Jtove./wjth a quiet and; dignified earnestness. AsFabien he /played admirably, tbe stern bearing, and the wholly unimpassioned °' tones in wbich be announces bis conviction tbat ~ Chateau Renaud will iall-b/ bis hand, telling witb fine eflect Mr. Wolfe made a very good Chateau n Renaud; and several of the minor characters g were ,weli played. Mrs./ Ciarance Holt as g| Madame de Franchi, acted witli a sweet pathos; - add- Madame Duret pla/ei Emilie most excel; a lently. "■ The tableaux were all well got, up; the t extraordinary duel between Fabien and Renaud was capitally, managed in all its stages; and the appearance of the gliosi, of Louis, was ii very smoothly and effectively worked. There p was a hearty call for Mr. Holt after the fall of the a curtain, and a similar compliment was paid to Mr. r Wolfe. The drama was exceedingly well re- v ceived throughout ...,,'"■.-..;■ ... •.-....- { t Unlike the butchers, the bakers find a difficulty I in becoming unanimous in the matter of settling l the price of bread.' While oncyfirm yi chaiginj* * Bd., others are selling at 2d. beyond this, and 1 there are a few who still maintain the old rate of . ls. for the 4lb. loaf, £,U/T. t The Drama of " Robert Macabre," which was s : the first piece at the Princess Theatre last even- < ing, afforded a fine field for the comic powers of < Mr. Charles Young ia the amusing part of i t Jacques Strop, that queer compound of cowardice, ; Cumiing, stupidity, aad rascality. His alternations from the most abject terror, to exaggerated < bluster, were particularly amusing to the audience. Mr. Tom Fawcett, as Bobert Hacaire, played carefully and well, and the other characters were respectably sustained. Jocrisse concluded the evening's entertainment, and went off . as well as on previous occasions. We have on 1 more than one occasion noticed that the band had ' omitted to play overtures, when set down in the : bill, but we must do them tbe justice to say that t they appear to have reformed this fault, and that i their playing of the overture laSt evening was • really capital 1 The duty levied upon pickles shipped to • Dunedin tells so heavily upon the importation of : them, that an enterprising market gardener is t about commencing the manufacture of Uie principle varieties of pickles upon a somewhat ex- • tensive scale. It is not essential that pickles, to f be thoroughly, wholesome and palatable, should . be enclosed in showy bottles, with colored labels > and patent capsules, y Well grown fresh picked , vegetables, preserved in good sound vinegar and spices, ought to command a more ready appreciation than the chemically prepared pickles o* [ London or Paris. Our gardener will not. un- ' likely find his speculation one of a very profit-" ' able nature. , * Inadvertently it was -stated yesterday in "our . Commercial intelligence, that the steamer City of Hobart would probably bring down the English mail. Such is not likely to be the case. Her [ contract is merely for taking the mail back to ' Melbourne The Omeo is expected to bring the English mail. I v; The formation of the/New Zealand Steam Naf ~ vigation Company at Wellington has been followed by the initiation of a similar undertaking at Nelson. The Nelson Examiner of tbe 9th inst says :~a The sale, a few days ago. of the Tas- | manian Maid to go to Auckland, and the conse--1 queht absence of any steamer for our coast traffic; ! has stirred the people of-Nelson to endeavor,: by ' mean's of a company which shall embrace' a large: ' number of shareholders, to aecure for the trade of I the Province two steamers in every way: suitable F for the service, and which shall not be liable to .' be taken off the coast. A meeting, ..called/'at /aj i few hours' notice, was held at the Odd Fellows' HaU last evening, when a prospectus of the intended company was read.* The capital of this company is to be L 20.000, to ibe raised by i2OOD shares of LIO each, and nearly 200 shares Vere taken in tlie room. From what we hear, it seems 1 highly probable that the company" will be at once ; formed. At this meeting inquiry was made ofthe .* Trustees of t,he Trust. Funds, what theyintended T doing with the steam fund of Lsfoobj which they » hold for the public benefit; and, in reply^ Mr. ~ Elliott stated onbehalf of the l^fe,: i^t, /in s order to secure to the. Province" an efficient i steamer, they intended ordering by the mail, > which waaabout to leave fpr England, a steamer I with a draft of water sufficaeWy light for the » Wairaurivex,aticl a'f th*^ same time ef sufficient . iwwertoc^^iiat»d^;wth-the WestfCoast. t Thit vessel, on her, arrival" in the. Colony, ihe; i Trustees • /would - beT* happy to find ia < company* - formed pw^red to ;take * off their /hands^ and s tb 'perform, the;»eryice for -which theydesigned her." ' / , ' .7- yxA:.Ay.7-7 7 I > Nelso^'enjoys ihe notoriety- of being about the r radsteasy-going province in New Zealand. The : want' oif;. energy manifested by;, THs/ PirovijttcM t Ctovernment/ forms tthe: subject of general com- . plaint bythe more enterprising portion of the i inhabitants. The Exatqiiter, in a recent article, L lather dolefully, contrasts theyqatio^ of: kelson 1 with that ofOtago. ItT «ays:~a Nelson issin- | gularly unfortunate. With gold fieldsof the/very , richest character (for this/^eba?e^e> authority . of tiie eminent ( Bsvron Hocbstetter^ and which f produce, in proportion to the number cf hands i engaged upon them, as much gold as any diggings J' in the world, we'just ho! 4 pur^q^j^hil^all t% » rest of the colony w adwcinjf.y I^^ta^ithe 5 gdi&'fieldsj vrit^/twdye^m r population of the^ proving/;n^d/^ jCwtc^i t revenue from 'vnt created .theyaW^property 1 in" iQuuedin from i 200 to 500 per cent,'and gave an immense stimuI(js to eTer^ kind of productive industry. Tljey

crowded the harbor wjth shipping, filled the streets with people, the shops with customers, le to the establishment of an electric telegraph between tbe .town and. port, and advanced.tbe province generaUy twenty years in the space of a few months? How is it that a gold field has done so much for Otago and so little for Kelson? In , the one province the -Government devoted all its ;- i energies to forwarding the gold fields, and, for a few months, every'other interest was made to give place to this one. In Nelson, the conduct of tlie Government has been just opposite. What it has done for the gold fields it has done badly, and at too late a day. It has, therefore, checked, and not encouraged their development, and the consequence is what we have shown. Otago, within a few months, becomes the wealthiest, the most populous, and most influential of New Zea- " land provinces; and Nelson, the richest of all in mineral wealth, sticking- to its snail's pace, is left the last in the race, its streets empty, its' trade r ,Hdull," aud without animation, without vitality." '■' . ' We are informed tbat in consequence of the heavy calendar at' Canterbury, His Honor the : Judge has ordered the Registrar here to adjourn the sitting of the Court to Bth October next for Criminal, and to- 15&; October next.for Civil business. 5; His'Hondr trill probably .arrive^ here , about the.3oth inst;, in timeto prepare cjyfl cases-~V-' for trial. >Fhe,Criminal roll has now tweniy-three casesyand the .Civil roU 7 isy<sry heavy including an immense number of cases to be tried before special and common juries^/y y , The Canterbury papers state that the Airedale on her last down trip took back 180 diggers to . Lyttelton from tiie new rushf-r; Z'f 1 Some Tery necessary, additions are now being 1 made to the new jetty. Pilss have been driven ' for tho erection of three sets* of double landing \ stairs, for use by boats, one on each ride of the ■ jetty, about midway from the shore, and the third ; 1 at tbe end. ■ The works will, no doubt, soon be ''' completed.; } The Town Board will have an adjourned meeti ing this afternoon, for the consideration of, the j proposed"Buildirig Ordinance, and the discussion j of a motion by Mr. Hatdy concerning the bor- . rowing'powers by tlw Improvement Ordi- ; - nance, as well as the transaction of other business. There, have lately been constant com--7 plaints by members that Monday is the most , inconvenient, day in tbe week for the meeting of r, the Board; and to day, we believe, it will be proj posed to substitute Tuesday. 77. - 7 ' nWhen the Volunteer Fire Brigade had their ~~ first practice parade, on Wednesday evening, the a small engine given to them by the Town Board i- was found to be xhoked with dirt and otherwise : »f out of order. Having been cleaned and got into )f tolerable condition, it was "worked for a while i, yesterday afternoon near .the engine-bouse, in i- Princes-street; but "the display of its utt^r want^ / d of power might well strengthen the wish for the i- speediest possible arrival of the new engine c, ordered from Melbourne by the Brigade. j. Tbe work at the TH^b-street cutting, is to be ,g- resumed at once, tbe Town Board having agreed - , n at their meeting, yesterday; to allow tbe contractor £85 advance upon the original amount of his , e )cbntract. "

The following item of news'from tbe kenzie country, is fronx acorrespondent of tiie Lyttelton Tunes t~"I have seen most of the sbeep farmers here, and have .heard .very- good accounts^, of tbe late lambing. The lambs are strong and healthy, and promise to turn out ar heavy .per centage. Some few farmers have avoided lambing during the past winter, and this example will soon be more generally followed. heaviest fidl of snow during the winter was five Liches in depth, but it did not remain long on the ground. There have been several heavy rains from N.N.WT. and N.E. The frosts were severe till the middle of July, but we have seen /nothing of what the Times spoke of some time ago, about drays crossing the TWaitakai on the ice. A bay in Lake Tekapo was frozen sufficiently hard for skating, but no part of Uie river wbich issues from the lake, and which is almost still for half a mile, VVas frozen over. The passengers at the ferry had to be crossed over as usual ia a boat, and missed the satisfaction of avoiding the toll by walßng~bv<ir the ice." •-i -~: .~:z-: 77: ■'-,•■■- >.- '-'-^