THE MAORI WAR.

Otago Witness, Issue 621, 24 October 1863, Page 6

THE MAORI WAR.

(From the Saturday Review.) th-? e Jj te #J new * ?T Nev> Zea a " d leaves » 10 doubfc h.it we. too, nre to have our little War «t Indepen11 P-Th' "J «".»i«?«opl- SeceS' to squelct). P € i haps the visitation mf y have reached ' w opportunely, to warn us against genenS 00 ?n !S r »bM» of wffiT yMSSI* ?;!?"; ITm a deaL The fj ™<* 45* observe that ihe Maoris were, five-am) .twentvvearsßtr^ 7t ■oveiMgn Baton, who vo'untarily entered in?f an agreunenf to 1 ye under our flag ujon spec fled c nItton*, and that they are nSw retmKg & tlmt greement in consequence of the breach of ft tmditionp. By the treaty of WilteS the riehS iie natives to their land., were scrupulous y iwed

end it is to an alleged infraction of tho3e rights by Governor Brown that the present hostilities ulti--mat' ly owe their origin. The Russian might urge, on his side, that it the difficulties of Russia in Poland have been attributed to " the inheritance of triumphant wrong," we were even in worse ca-e, for that we are suffering- from the inheritance of an m successful attempt at wrong. The idea of such a parallel strikes the mind as absurd the moment it i< suggested. But the»e is sufficient technical reason in it to warn U3 against the att'mpt to justify or to condemn conflicts hetween the governors and the governed on purely technical giounds. The real condemnation of the Maoris is that they are attempting r>n impracticable prop ct. They could not govern themselves as a nation, independently of us, even if they were to succeed in cooping us up within the boundaries of one or two large towns. Cn the other band, we have distinctly in view an end which is rot only humane and reasonable, but perfectly attainable. Theiei*) no impossibility, nor even any preatdifliculty, in. conquering and holding the country, though it will hi for the 'Maoris to decide at what cost it must be done And when we hive ma c ourselves masters o, it, we have already shown that our possession will make them both richer and more civilized men. _ j

Happily, however, we hay», ci the present occasion, by a &omeThr. v i<tie good fortune, a technical as well as a substantial justification for our operation". There can ho little doubt that the war which was commenced by Colonel Biownc was flagrantly unrighteous It: w?s produced by the unhappy determination of the Governor Jo seize land of which the title was contestd, not by prottess of law, but by military force. In resisting that despotic proceeding, the natives had so much right upon their side that they can ied with them a la' «re amount of English sympathy, even at the time when they were in arms against the English Crown. But that account is settled and closed. Not only has peace been restored sine? then, but the block of "land tha f . was in dispute has b.en given back. There is but one way by which wrong can be wiped out, and tint is by absolute- r?paration, But the stern^t stickler" for aboriginal rights will not uphold the right of natives to exact vengeance when fu'l reparation has ben made. Any code of mora'ity tint shouli ju^t'fy the Maoris in resuming the war after (he Waif ara had been given back would make peace imposs'b.e upon earth, at the same time it must be remembered that though the present hostilities are in no way justifi'd by the Waitura dilute, they might have been safely predi--ted as iU suro result. Peace, one? broken,' is h.ird enough to mend even among civilised communities Amoug savages, the taste of Woo 1 rouses an appalUc for s'aughtci 1 that will no* be stayed by reparation cr by the most scrupulous care in abstainirg from ire h ollence. The shedding of blood cannot he avoided now, but the true responsibility for it rests with that arrogant contempt for law which indncsd flic Noiv Zealand Government to establish a doub'ful proprietary claim by marching a body of soldiers upon the laud that was in dispute. One of tl.e mo«t painful crcumstanne3 o r this war is the s v . stein on whii-h it mmt necessarily be waited. It id not war in the sens e in which we are accustomed to use the word. Thereis no niancevring. no strategy, no pitched battles. The tactics on one Fids and the other moie nearly resemble the tactics of the Iri-h pcßf ait v/hen he makes war upon his landlord. The only drill which is much servii-e to the =oldier is that which teaches him to get within shot of his antagonist before his antngon'st can get a shot at him. The sjs'era of warfare may, perhaps, best be described as a kind of man-stalking. The Maori steals out to shoot a stray settler; and the soldiers steal out on their side to get a shot at the Maoris. Occasionally these opeiations are relieved by a siege in which, after a formal bombardment with Armstrong guns, some rifle pits are carried by storm, and the eraemy retreats with tti3 fea:ful loss ot two dozea men. Personal exploits naturally occupy a prominent position in a warfare conducted on this scale. The martial annals become dramatic and p'cturesque wl'en the teJious element of large figures U withdrawn. The military operation of thrusting- a Maori through the eye is described iv due detail in letteis from the seat of war; and the heroes whobayonetud six Maoris in a pit will enjoy a fame in t'le annals of New Zealand equalled only by the glory of the Hebrew champion who killed a lion in a pit on fl snowy (hy Little quarter appears to be given or taken on "e\Uitr side. Altogether, the operation of killing 1 , which is imperatively demanded by the interests of the white p^'pu'ation, is carried on with as litt'e sentimental d'sguise aa possible. No doubt it is necessary sometimes to be taught by your enemy ; and forjrer con flicts have fully impressed our authorities with the conviction that it is of little use to fight the Maori unless you fight him in Maori fashion. We have no doubt that as many of the conventions of war will be dispensed with as may be necessary for the purpose of conquering the country. _ The Maori*, we bJieve, instead of put 1 ing their prisoners on paro'e, aro in the habit of eating them. \Ve hope that it will not le necessaiy to adopt retaliatory measures of the same' kind upon our side ; but no doubt Gere al Cameron will perform whatever the exigencies ofjiis situation may demand.

In the meantime, we may confidently anticipate the pericd when, a certain number of Maoris having fc<K>« kajvmHoititt-pxta, <jl oiliei whe disposed of, peace and order will be restored to the much-distracte 1 island. When that is dove, it will be high time t > take measures for ensuring tb,at for the future this kind of work shall not be perfoimed by the agency of British soldiers, or at the cost of the BritMi Exchequer^ It is eminent y fitted for the eff>rtsof a ioca! militia, and will be an appropriate subject for the expenditure of local funds. If the Queen'subjects in India quarrel with their native neisrhl ours, they pay for the amusement themselves. The only reason why the same plan is not pursued in New Zealand is that the New- Zeilanders, being pnsscsjed of self-government, are able to decline the burden of self-defence. They say in effect, "We absolutely object to pay for the protection of our own homesteads, or the conHuct of our own quarre's; and if you refuse to pay instead of us, why then we will stand still and be shot," As the young lady of romance always believes in her lover's intended suicide, so John Bull is never weary of crediting the tale of threatened martyrdom. He believes that his shrewd childnn will really sacrifice their property and lives to establish the sacred maxim, " Base is the slave that pays." There niu^t be an end of this at last. The objections which have been fit on this side of the w orld to abandon the management of the !ntivc3, both asregnrJs its powers and its burdens, <o th" colonists themselves are gradually fading away. They can be no longer regarded as «i young and struggling community. Th°yout number the natives considerably, and have the power, if they choose to subject them selves io the necessary self-restraint, altogether to deprive them of ammunition. Nor, in the face of recent experience, does the argument from humanity continue to parry much weifrht. The wars arc as ruthless as they well can be; and they are 'V more frequent than they would be if the whole cost of them fell upon the settlers. In a recent memorial addressed upon this subject to (he Queen, the ColoiJj,' Legislature did indee-t threaten a considerable increase of inhumanity, if they w^ro competed to make war at their own expense. But as they did not specify the paitVular btrl ariti.-s which they cdhtemplatpJ practising, we have no means of d< Wmmiug whether it is worth while to buy them off a* the price which we are now paying, Before proposing to us to enter on a negotialiuu of this kind, they ought to furnish us with a price current of atrocities, and to name the subsidy in consideration of which they will conset to foreco each one of the various degrees of inlnunanity th^y have in view. If they contemplate eating the native-, or even burning them, it mi^ht be worth our while, as a matter cf sentiment, to treat. But if they are only thinking of such lighter matters as fuyonettnig them through the eyes, the bargain would e'early be an unthrifty one. The difference between the nresent and the future mode of warfare is too imperceptible. We should not ba justified in taxing the ttrglKhroan for the sake of ransoming the Maori from so small an aggravation of the lot which he hn% even as matters now are, drawn upon hitns If. At all events, the experience we are reaping now wiij suffice to save us from the e'ror of again colonizing countries whe r e the natives are too numerous to be easily subdued, nnd too few to justify the maintenance of ft despotic form of government over the whites. Collisions bre comparatively easy to avoid if we can keep tither the one race or the other in order. In Australia, the native" are miserably few, and therefore they give no trouble. In India, they are overwhelmingly'numerous, ar.d therefore the whites must submit to be governed with a strong hand. But such ca«es as New Ze land present a problem which is practically insoluble, exespt at vast cost of blood and treasure. " Wherever the two races nre in close proximity, anl in numbers too evenly balanced to fear each other, a collision is inevitable. They must fight about the posses-ion of land, if they fight about nothing else. Tha colored man naturally thinks that lie baa a right to what he possess; the white man goes out with the belief that lie hat a rieht to whatever lie can pet; and neither party i3of a temper toFubmH to any arbitrament but tint of arms. The only wise cour.se for a country like^ England to pursue is to take good care that never BRdin shall she be ple-Jped to take either one side or the other in such a quarrel.