THE NATIVE WAR.

Otago Witness, Issue 490, 20 April 1861, Page 6

THE NATIVE WAR.

The steamer " Airedale," from the other. Provinces, arrived here on Tuesday afternoon. The news from Taranaki informs us of proposals of peace having been offered by the Governor to the Waitara insurgents ; and from what we can learn it appears to be his intention to deal with each tribe according to their merits. The other intelligence is of no great importance. We take the following particulars from the Nelson Examiner of the 11th instant: — THE PROPOSED PEACE WITH THE NGATIAWAS. The intelligence from Taranaki on Monday last is of a most unexpected character. We have been so long in the habit of hearing once a fortnight that the sap is progressing, that a new redoubt had been erected, that a very hot fire had been kept up for hours, and that our guns and mortars were worked with the greatest precision, and doubtless with very heavy loss to the enemy, that we had ceased to look for anything further. When, therefore, we learnt that the Waikatos had all returned home, and that William King had laid down his arms, that the Southern tribes had broken up their camp at Omata and had gone back to their own place ; in a word, that the war was virtually at an end, the excitement was general. We are sorry to add, that after comparing the different accounts, and becoming acquainted with all the particulars, so far as they could be learnt, the general impression was unfavourable.

Before going into the discussion, we will briefly recapitulate the facts, as we gather them from the Taranaki papers and own correspondence. It will be recollected that our previous intelligence came down only to the 16th March, or four days after the despatch of the last mail to Europe. On the 12th, a flag of truce was hoisted by the Maories, in consequence of the arrival of the Waikato chief, William Thompson (or Taripa-pipi) among them, and his wish to have a conference. After numerous interviews, hostilities were again resumed on the 16th ; the Armstrong guns and four mortars, 6-inch and 10-inch, having been landed meanwhile and brought up to the front.

On the 17th we lost the gallant young MacNaughten, and on the 18th an attempt was made to break through our line of skirmishers, which vras repulsed by a loss on our side of three killed and seven wounded. On this day Mr. Maclean arrived on the scene of action, accompanied by several Waikato chiefs. Another truce was granfed, and on the next day (Tuesday) a long interview took place, the particulars of which have not transpired, but which resulted in the withdrawal of Thompson and 400 Waikatos the day after.

On Thursday, the 21st, Mr. Maclean met William King, who retired in consequence some distance inland ; whilst Mr. Maclean started the same evening for Auckland ; hostilities being suspended altogether. Simultaneously with these transactions, the tribes to the South broke up their encampment at Omata, and retreated back about fourteen miles to Kaihihi, from which post Colonel Mould expelled them some little time back.

On the 27th, the Governor in person, Mr. Weld (the Native Secretary), Mr. Whitaker (the Attorney General), and Mr. Maclean, reached the Waitara. During this interval, only one occurrence happened worthy of remark, namely, a. notice from General Pratt, requesting that, duting the cessation of hostilities, " the most amicable relations should be kept up between the natives and the settlers."

On the 28th arrived General Cameron and Staff, with the English despatches ; the General visited the Governor at the Waitara, took a short survey of the scene of action, and went on to Auckland; followed the next day by Commodore Seymour and the Naval Brigade in the Niger. Two days after, on Wednesday, April 3rd, General Pratt and his Staff sailed for Melbourne. The same day, Hapurona, with some thirty Ngatiawas and William King's daughter came down to a conference with the Govornor ; and it was rumoured that peace was made with with the Ngatiawas.

On the 6th, the "Terms offered by the Governor to the Waitara insurgents" were published by the Superintendent of Taranaki. There seems to be some doubt whether William King was to send in his answer on the 6th (Saturday), or on the Monday, but no answer was known to have been received when the steamer Corio sailed. TERMS OFFERED BY THE GOVERNOR TO THE WAITARA INSURGENTS. Hafuroxa. and Ngatiawa. — For 12 months you have betm carrying arms against her Majesty the Queen, and the authority of the law ; you have now laid down your arms and expressed your desire for peace ; believing you to be sincere, I have come from Auckland for the purpose of stating the terms upon which it will be granted, and upon which her Majesty's gracious pardon and protection will be extended to you. They are as follow :—: — 1. " The investigation of the title to, and the survey of, the land at Waitara to be continued and completed without interruption. 2. " Every man to be petmitted to state hia claims "without interference, and my decision, or the decision of such person as I shall appoint, to' be conclusive. 3. " All the land in possession of her Majesty's forces, belonging to those who have borne arms against her Majesty, to fee disposed of by me as I may think fit. { 4. " All guns belonging to the Government to be returned. | " 5. All plunder taken from the settlers to be i forthwith restored. ."6. The Ngatiawa who have borne arms against the Government must submit to the Queen and to the authority of the law, and not resort to force for the redress of grievances, real or imaginary. I " As I did not use force for the acquisition of land, but for *he vindication of the law, and for the protection of her Majesty's native subjects in the exercise of their just rights, I shall divide the land (which I have stated my intention to dispose of) amongst its former owners ; but I shall reserve the sites of the blockhouses and redoubts, and a small piece of land round each, for the public use, and shall exercise the right of making roads through the Waitara district.

" On your submission to these terms you will come under the protection of the law, and shall enjoy your property, both lands and goods, without molestation. In conformity with the declaration made on the 29th of November 1859, the rights of those who prove their title to any part of the piece of land at Waitara will be respected." The terms speak for themselves. They begin by assuming that the natives have laid down their arms ; they require that the survey of the Waitara land shall be completed ; that the Governor's decision on all claims that may be preferred shall be final ; that all Government guns and all plunder shall be restored ; that all the land in possession of the troops shall be given up, and that it shall be disposed of among its former owners, without any distinction or reservation whatever, beyond that of the sites of the blockhouses and redoubts. Such are the facts of this very extraordinary transaction, so far as they are at present known to us ; and they have been generally received with very considerable surprise, hesitation, and distrust. The comments of the Taretnaki Herald faithfully represent the conclusions which are adopted here. It is believed that these terms of peace form but one part of a scheme of policy, and that it is thus intended to destroy the connecting link between the .Waikatos and the Southern tribes, and then take each of these separately and on their own merits. . We hope it is so ; we think it must be so. It cannot be intended to blink the two great questions, the Land League and the

King movement, or leave these sefeds of future wars without destroying their vitality. We have first the Governor's clear and straightforward declarations to the Waikato' chiefs in Auckland, and we trust his word. We have next Mr. Secretary Stafford's declaration. that the retirement of the Maori combatants simply afforded opportunities of negociating without any conditions being specified, though we confess ourselves totally at a loss to interpret the Delphic utterance with which he concludes. He declared that the Government would not agree to any peace which had not the elements of permanency, " in so far as permanency could be secured by an honest adherence to, and a carrying out on each side of, conditions well understood both by the Government and the natives." Lastly, we have the Duke of Newcastle's answer to the deputation which waited upon him in London, as reported by a gentleman who was present. The Duke declared that, witliuut being actuated by a vindictive feeling, they were fully alive to the necessity of securing z permanent peace ; that they had sent out the best man they could find, and that he would be in command of a force sufficient to put down all opposition.

Taken by themselves, we see no guarantee for permanent peace in the " Terms " we publish to-day. They make no distinction between the men who have been in arms against us for a whole year and those who, like Ropoama te One, have remained quietly at home, and declared themselves one with us. When the Governor claims the land traversed by the troops as conquered territory, we still think, with every allowance for his anxiety to show that it was not a land quarrel, he should, in his terms of peace, have debarred those claims which had been forfeited by open rebellion, even if he gave the land thus forfeited to others. The Taranaki Herald treats the terms either as a hoax, as a confession' that we have been in the wrong from the beginning, as offered with the knowledge that they would not be accepted, or as part of a plan not yet developed. Apart from these questions, it was good policy to begin with the Ngatiawas, the principals in the war, and yet the most inconsiderable section of our opponents. They formed the connecting link between the Waikatos and the Southern tribes. To strike at and destroy this would leave the two other portions (which never had much sympathy with each other), quite isolated, and easily to be dealt with.

The arrival of the "Airedale" confirms the conjecture we had ventured to make ; and shows how premature would have been any censure upon a policy of which but the first and most inconsiderable portion is as yet known to us. The term 3 offered to the Ngatiawas, and accepted' by them with the exception of some thirty or forty, the personal adherents of Wiremu King!, who, with Kingi himself, have sulkily retired northwards, dispose of the petty land sale question at Waitara, and, so far as Ngatiawa is concerned, of the land league also ; but the King movement in Waikato, and the marauders in the South have still to be reckoned with. The retirement of the Waikatos without any stipulation as to terms, but simply as a necessary preliminary to any negociation with them, shows at all events that they are in a more reasonable frame of mind, to which their late losses may have contributed ; but we suspect that the Taranakis and Ngatiruanuis must he dealt with after another fashion ; and we have confidence that reparation for past offences and security for the future will be the only terms that will be listened to for a moment.

Upon the terms offered by the Governor, the Taranaki Herald of the 6th iustant observes :—: —

" The town has been in consternation at reading a printed document addressed to Hapurona and Ngatiawa, purporting to be ' Terms offered by the Governor to the Waitara insurgents,' and authenticated by the signature of the Superintendent. Three views arise respecting this paper ; either it is a hoax practised upon the Superintendent, ' in which case it is sufficient to observe that it is amongst the silliest hoaxes that ever were devised. Again, it may be a document needing no explanation from without, but showing the spirit in which His Excellency proposes to patch up a peace, and the sort of consideration to which he thinks the British Colonists entitled in the adjustment. Or, lastly, it may be part of a plati of policy ? and however objectionable standing alone, may be excused if not justified when seen in connection with the rest of the plan ; and at the last view we have arrived."

The Taranaki News publishes a nominal list of persons who have had their houses totally destroyed in the rural districts. The number of houses in the country was 212 ; and we find those destroyed amount to 177, while- those that are left standing have been so broken to pieces that they might as well have been burnt also — many of them would have been had the fire applied to them-taken effect. Query — Are the rebels to be made, under the conditions published above, to restore these houses as welt as the stolen property, and what guarantee has been given that they will do either ? Where are the hostages, and what security has been taken that the terms agreed upon will be complied with. The Taranaki Herald, published on last Saturday evening, says nothing about the terms offered by the Governor having been accepted by the Ngatiawas, and we know that Kingi himself has not been a party to their ratification.