THE Otago Daily Times. "Inveuiam viam aut faciam." DUNEDIN, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 285, 18 November 1862, Page 4

THE Otago Daily Times. "Inveuiam viam aut faciam." DUNEDIN, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18.

If "hope deferred maketh the heart sick," the unfortunate settlers of Taranaki should be at the lowest stage of despondency. Month after month have their appeals for redress beau made in vain, or at most dealt with in a temporising spirit, which is gradually wearing out the patience of these most patient of sufferers. When Sir George Grey arrived in the colony, the dispossessed settlers of New Plymouth indulged id the fond hope that hisExcellency would see the policy and necessity of at once putting an end to the anomalous state oi affairs that ex ibted in their once flourishing settlement. It would be an insult to Sirtxeorgt Grey's foresight to suppose that he did not at once see the advisability of reinstating the settlers upon their farms. It was the step pur excellence most calculated to indicate something like energy in the future conduction of aifai.s, anl it was perhaps the only step which it was. in the power of the Governor to accomplish, without any considerable difficulty. The moral effect of such a course of action would have been in a much greater proportion to its cost. It would have evinced, a policy of determined justice, and would have induced the Natives to think that the new Governor would be no less likely 10 deal out a just measure of retribution to them selves. Sir George Grey evidently intended in early settlement of the grievances of thi. Taranaki settlers, and from time to time h*. has held out hope of a speedy relief to them — uopes which have as often vanished into tiiin air. It is really most puzzling to account for che vacillation of the Governor in respect to Taranaki, the more so as he would have les^ Jifficulty in adjusting matters there, at any rate to a great extent, than he has already i encountered in his multifarious dealing with the Maories. The real pesition oi che Taranaki settlement is liable-to be misunderstood by the inhabitants of,. large and Nourishing provinces. The settled portion of Taranaki lies iv a ring fence within a very few miles of the town of New Plymouth. The homesteads which have been destroyed may be all taken in at a glance, and a stranger in the town if inclined to take an appetising ramble would find himself oa deserted and ruined farms before he had well warmed to his walk. It is something preposterous to ordinary common-sense mortals that under such circuaistauces the farmers of Taranak. should be as much unable to occupy their farms now, as at any time during tue wa-r. Tne town of Taranaki is stcongiy fortiiied and Hedged round, by a cordon of strong block aouses, pushed out in every direction and all within easy distance of each other. Since the ;essation of hostilities a strong military force has been station.d tie re, and every able-bodied man in the settlement is accustomed to the use of arms. The whole native population round Taranaki, including friendly native.? rebels and all, .does not number a thousmd fighting men, and yet a handful of ua'ted Maories has kept the whole district in terr red' for more t an a year!

Time after time has Sir G-eorge Grey intimated his intentioa of visiting Taramki, anl yet he has nsver fulfilled his promise. , The place where, above all others^ he ought to have proceeead at oacs, he has not planted his foot in, and the evils which ha ou^ht to haveremeiied months a^o exist now in a worse torm. The settlers have waited and waited until they are tired. They have seen manth after month pass and nothing done. T;ie once prosperous and happy farmers have had to break stones, on the very i\nh which lead to firms they are debarred from ocaiipyin^. They have seen their own cattle driven into Taranaki, and sold by the very natives who had stolen their property and devastated their houses. And yet, they are told to wait like so many Micawbers, they are to depend upon something turning up. But unfortunately th"n problematical something seems as far off as ever. They hear of £2JD,000 havin^ been voted as.compensation to them, bat they have no idea when or how they are to receive it. If they are to. be reinstated in their farms, vvhy was it not done t^lve m )tnhs a>o ? It was quite as easy, to do then a3 no.v, and they might at any rate have..danta so uethin^ towards resroriag cultivaiioi by this tine. As it is they have had to pass the weary timis as they,best could*and live oa exp^cta-

" tions." Thej7 would have ploughed with arms in their hands, if necessary, instead of which they have had to grasp the stonebreaker's hammer.

The utter defoliation of the country round Taranaki none but those who have witnessed it can imagine. What was once proudly called the Devonshire of New Zealand is now a waste. Its once smiling fields and verdant pastures are now forests of weeds and thistles. Its happy homesteads are swept away, and the whole picture is one of ruin. And yet the settlers would not willingly leave the Province—they are still attached to the scenes of their former prosperity; but when they see month after month pass away without anything been done to assist them, they may well think of betaking themselves to a more favored region, where they at any rate can freely claim their own. '

Sir George Grey ha 3no right to keep these people any longer in the dark. It may seem very profound on his part, but it is a policy fraught with the most injurious consequences. As yet the only official declaration respecting Taranaki has been, that it was "expedient" to reinstate the settlers—a view of the question which the colonists have all along taken—and there the matter has been allowed to rest Meantime, Sir George Grey steams past New Plymouth, and although he was ready enough to fly up to the North, to settle a paltry squabble amongst the Ngapuhis, and we willing to eat any amount of dirt at Otaki. he leaves the Natives around New Plymouth to do just as they like, whether it be plundering a mail steamer or her Majesty's subjects. As for the settlers of New Plymouth, they shall speak for themselves in the following remarks from the Taranulti He/aid: —

" On the one hand, we have a Governor, who tells us, as often as we a*k, what he wil\ do for us ; thai he lias our welfare at heart—which, when not reducarJ to practice, is somewhat varue; and, on the ofchar hand, we have Ma.ri neighbors who prohibit uf om again occuping aud using our farms—which is definite enough. For wl ether we look upon these threats and prohibitions as mere bombast or not, does not uch matter, because the fact remains thai we are not in occupation of our laud, and dare not Sjjcnd money or labor on it.

" And if it is true that Sir George Grey's plans are really so profound that they are v y.t to be brou.hr to ijlit, we shall have to act as if th-*y did not exist i'h question for us is, are we to coatinue pensioner, of the (iovci-urneiit, a d objects of mild commiseration m the rest of tha colony, for an indefinite period i .we\er 'ong; or shall we lake our fate into our own ha d , as far an possible,, aud say that after a certain irajwdwih d'Cidefor ouiselves, and do what we de ;ide on ? Whatever we do must ba done uuitedly— by the whole community ; or, if this is not possible, by a large p riiou of it -if we want to make ourselves Uiard. Historical cries will not hiip us, not sueli s ia-.modic efforts as have been made liithert1). liut if once we reso veil, as a whole people, to take one settei course,-we should get much more attention paid us by Sir George Gh>y thau we ever received yet Let us always bear in mind, it" fate compels, that while we have courage and iife, " Tis uot too late to seek a newe? world." " There are places in the Suutli Island where w should be received willingly, and where, still members of the same budy politic, we mi-hb finJ a new Tara uaki without the nightmare on us of a native question, which; as it seems, those who coul I, dare not face, ana those who dare, may not."