THE WAR IN NEW ZEALAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2235, 5 April 1869, Page 3

THE WAR IN NEW ZEALAND.

(Tlia Times, Jan. 29.)

However abundant may be the newa, and however urgent the political questions at homo, we never need offer an apology for calling attention to tho colony of New Z'jaland. Tbat young settlement, tho little Bent'amin of the Anglo-Saxon family, has always teen a favourite with the English public. Tne insulair position, the fine climate, the beanty of the scenery, make people glad to contemplate in it the Britain of the Sonth. A now experiment in colonisation has been tried thero, which, though a little fanciful, lias been very attractive of sympathy. A vei.ical section, as it has been called, of English society was to t c transported to the Antipodes to reproduce:, as far as it was possible in a new country, tho polity and habita of life of home. The enthusiasm of a class higher than that which usua'ly emigrates haa taken a very large number of educated people to a fine district in ono of tho islands, and these have given a tone to the whole colonial Society. The country has been abundantly snpplied with clergymen ond professional men, and it has, perhaps, been overbishoped j hence, though the progress has not been so rapid aa in those parts of Australia where the hand of nature has strewed broadcast the most precious of metals, yot New Zealand is the first place to which a young gentleman desirous of emigrating would turn his thoughts. An easy competence, if not sudden wealth, awaits him ; a fertile soil never scorched by tho torrid sun of the Australian continent; a quiet and industrious community, with a fair proportion of men brod among tho more refined associations of England. It is this hopeful country which is now disturbed by tho outrages of a remnant of barbarians, luleed, there never has been a time in its short hiitory when tho lives and property of tbo settlers havo been secure, and the English colonists of New Zealand have had reason to envy their Australian neighbours, whose lot it has been to deal only with the weakest :.nd most shiftless of the human race. This has been the drawback to the advantages'of tho Colony. Maori wars liave always been in progress or in prospect, so that the colonists, far from the trouble of European politics, and the fvar of civilised enemies,, have had to face dangers unknown to any other inhabitants of tno Empire. Tho Mother Country, as usual, has been generous to prodigality. To help this infant community she has sent soldiers half round the glome, and expended immense sums of money. Somo time since no less than 10,000 British troops wore stationed in the islands, under the coinmuid of a General officer, and with all the apparatus of transport and commissariat which are fitted to regular war. Regiments fully equipped for a campaign were employed in tracking parties of savages in bush and forest, attacking the native " pahs" and (riving material for formal despatches to the War Office. For a quarter of a century this policy waa persisted in. and though it is difficult to appor ion the military expenditure of the Empire to its several destinations, yot no one is 1 ignorant that millions cf English money have been spent in fighting the Maoris. The extravagant coiit and the doubtful success led to remonstrances which were in tho end successful. It was said, with probably a great deal of truth, that there was a olass of settlers in Now Zealand to whom a Maori war was hy no means a calamity. If a formidable chieftain desolated tho farms of a district, thero appeared aa the consequence of his outrages & large fleet of British transports ; ships of war of the Pacific squadron entered the Ixarbours ; commissariat officers, with unlimited powers of making purchases, investigated the resources of tbe country; tho price of beef, pork, and corn rose in the market; and the local traders mado their fortunes by driving hard barjpiins with their deliverers. No wonder that advanced politicians at homo complained of tho colonies as drainers and not feeders of the national! wealth, and demanded tbac England should torn them all ndrift, and stand again alone in the ocean. These things were, howover, rather a tradition of the Colonial Office than a necessity of a Colonial Empire. When the public opinion was unmistakably declared, this system of extravagance was abandoned. As far as a theory of tbei duties of the Mother Country towards the Colonies exiitfl at present, it is that tho Imperial array and navy are bound to do their best to protect the Colonies against foreign nations who may [attack them in consequence of a war with the United Kingdom itiielf, but tliat the settlers shall deal with tho domestio foes whom thoy may find am mg the aboriginal races. The New Zealand colonists have accepted this principle as reasonable, and a considerable numbor of Militia and Volunteers have been enrolled. How such a force can be best adapted to fight the Maoris has not yet been ascertained ; but the knowledge will come with experience, and it is at least a point gained that the colonists have been made a wai ft that they will have to do the work themselves, and must not expect any more English armies. Necessity may be relied on to give thera a will, and the will is sure to make the way. We cannot, therefore, enconrasre the hopes which animated Mr tfitzherbert's speech at the New Zeidand dinner on Wednesday. He told his friends he relied on the sympathy of this great Empire, aad hoped its sympathy, would sot be a barren one, confined to mere words, As thin groat coantry has not refuted to extend to another colony the benefit of her guarantee for its bonds, go he .maintained that "tho grant of, some assistance to New Zeidand in the form he had intimated, bo fair" from injuring the British taxpayer, would in the end greatly benefit hftn, inasmuch as the prosperity of! that country would stimulate the trade and commerce oi: the mother country.*_ There is 'no need to criticise proposafa which are so vaguely indicated, but we must remind Mr Fitzherbert that our sympathy has already been for yw,rs very far from a barrjen one, 'except to 'ourselves.' In fscfc, we have paid far more than enough for New Zealand, and onr people mrill rather lie disposed to approve the sentiments of Major Atkinson, who is " firmhjr convinced the colonists are capable of taking care of them«el «cc." ' 'It was a difficnltraatter," ho said, " for ft young and sfcrugglingcolony,, in debt, andwithbntasmail population, to extricate its-jlf from its present troubles, yet if the settlers were" only true to themselves, as he believed they would be. they would come out of the fiery trial all the stronger and better for the ordeal they had undergone." Tbis is tho manly tone, in which we desire tohearmen of our raecepoak, and it is satisfactory fo find that Lord Gran- . ville did not c mmit the Home Government to any other policy than tbat which has recently received the approval of the country. Ho stave the colonists credit for the steady, steadfast determination they exhibited in confronting their dangers; ho had confidence in our Anglo-Saxon fellow-oountrymen, who in distant lands appeared to display more self-reliance than we oould do in our older and artificial society. The greater the efforts of thY &I6hista to ihfirit Lord Granville's eulogies, the otronger wUI be that

sympathy which is asked of tho English public.

When the relative proportion of tho population iB considered, it ia easy to see that the settlement of theso diiEculties is qui.o within the power of the colonists. They arts tipwarde of 200,000 in number ; the diiaffectcd Maoris aro probably not much moro than 20.000. Furthermore, thero is a largo body of loyal Maoria who are^aaid to bo quite available against thsir turbulent, brethren. In such circumstances there is not tho smallest need of Imperial assistance. Let the colonists remember the position of the early settlers of America, when tho tribes of Red Indians, far moro numerous and even more ferocious than tho Maoris, lurked in the wooda aboui each village, and by their cunning, cruelty, and malignity oncouraged the supers'ition of the time that they wero specially animated by tho Powors of Darkness. The Nev Knglacd Puritans lived in a otate of constant warfare ; scouts wero posted, watches wore k*pt, tbey went armed to tho meeting-houso, and at times the whole settlement turned out to repel or punfeh an invasion. Yet they dealt with their enemies by their own unaided strength -. how much moro would they havo depended on themselves if thoy had outnnmbercd the savages by ten to ono ? tvery one will hear with regret of the now ?£ S h ™ New Z^knd; but it only shows that tho time ia come for the colonists to make an end effectually of Maori inßiirrcction. thia there are no better means than the levy of a few hundred of the loyal Maoris who miy be depended upon to light tho rebels after thoir own manner, and in this respect to be more efficient than European troops, whether Regnlars or Volunteers. The Sepoy fought against men of his own race ; the Sihb nelpol to save our Indian Empire in 1857 ; the negro serves under our colours against negro Kings on the coast of Africa. Why should not the Now Zealand native be equally amenable to military discipline? A single campaign with such auxiliaries would pro' ably suffice to I'reak the spirit of the rebellious Maoris, for the sight of their own raco in arms against them would probably cause a terror which the white man might fail to inspire.