THE ENGLISH PRESS ON THE POVERTY BAY MASSACRE.

Otago Witness, Issue 905, 3 April 1869, Page 11

THE ENGLISH PRESS ON THE POVERTY BAY MASSACRE.

[London, Correspondent of the Argus.)

The terrible tidings of the Maori atrocities at Poverty Bay made everyone feel what The Times so well expressed, that in the presence of such barbarian horrors, the discussion of abstract arguments is an impertinence. Action, immediate action, is our necessity. It is possible, says the leading journal, of Jan. 22nd, though we are far from saying it is true, that the colonists may have given more offence than was necessary in the appropriation of the land ; but it would be puerile to blink the fact that unless tbe Maoris could be civilised, they must needs, sooner or later, retire before the advance of civilisation. What General Grant said recently of the Western plains of America may be said with equal truth of New Zealand, and of all countries in which the white and coloured races are brought into contact. As the competitors for the possession of the soil cannot be reconciled, one side must give way and disappear. It was hoped for a time that means might be found for postponing, if not aver ting, the probable destiny of the Maori s; but the recent intelligence goes to prove the vanity of such expectations. Unless we are prepared at once to say that we had no right to do what the Maoris themselves did, and settle on the soil of New Zealand to the prejudice of the previous occupants, we must assert our claims mth. a strong hand, There is but one alternative before vs — either to leave the savages in possession of the country, or to bring them into subjection by force pf arms. In discussing our military policy 'at the present juncture, The Times contends strongly for the enlistment, arming, training, and paying of ao . adequate force of the friendly natives, officered by competent Englishmen.

The Daily News says : — The responsi* bility for this calamity rests from first to last with the people and Government of New Zealand. They well knew what they were about when they effected their wholesale confiscation of native territory. The best advice which England could afford was given against that measure, but it was overruled. The settlers were warned that they were sowing the seeds of inevitable future war, but they replied that their Confiscation Act was a measure of wise policy, and they persisted in it. A colony which takes this line ought to be very careful in also taking all needful precautions against the reprisals it provokes. Instead of this, however, we fear it ia impossible to acquit the Government — or at least the military authorities of New Zealand — of great neglec'c. They have evidently been surprised. We shall, of course, be told that the mother-country ought to proceed at once to the succour of the colony. We hope, however, that nothing in this direction will be done, without a proved necessity. The New Zealand settlers are not the first colonists who have encountered dangers and disasters of this kind without a thought of calling upon the mother- country to help. Only a couple or three years ago, they themselves were deriding the inefficiency of the Queen's regiments in native warfare, and refusing to pay the military capitation money to the Imperial Government on the grouud that the British troops were lingering in the colony after they had ceased to be useful. We believe they are now quite able to take caro of themselves, and a candid review of their history ior the last ten years will show that if they had always been allowed to do so this catastrophe would never have befallen them.

The Daily Telegraph, which perhaps more truly interprets the popular instinct, after describing the horrible atrocities of Poverty Bay, says :— Help must be sent to the colonists, and that speedily. Perhaps the requisite number of troops may be sent from India, but, at any rate, there must be no delay. In the excitement of the moment the colonists may have tinged their reports with, exaggeration. Nevertheless, it is clear that a most foul and cold-blooded, outrage has been committed upon our fellowcountrymen in New Zealand. The case calls for prompt and speedy action. Whatever disputes and misunderstandings m*.y have existed between the Ministers in Downing street and the Government at Auckland, this is no time for engaging in political disputes. The men, women, and children massacred at Poverty Bay are our own flesh and blood, and we must protect the other New Zealand settlements from a like fate. The obligation may be disagreeable, especially at a time when our Cabinet is most lauda ly anxious to rer r> nch the national expenditure ; but the duty cannot be avoided, unless we are prepat ed to abandon our Imperial position. Our history, however, has thown that England is never unmindful of the ties which connect her v ith those among; her subjects who reside in remote and barbarous countries ; and the power which rescued a handful of prisoners from the heart of Abyssinia will cc tainly not allow one of the finest possessions of the British Crown to be handed over to the mercies of a horde of savages- Indeed, the feeling of the nation is so likely to be unanimous, that the risk is rather of ovv doing too much, than too little. Troops must be despatched at once from the nearest depots in sufficient numbers to restore order in New Zealand, and to teach the M.ioris that the lives of English men and women cannot be taken with impunity. Until that simple, obvious, and straightforward duty shall be performed, it is idle to discuss the errors, whether on our own side or on that of the colonists, which * have led to so lamentable a catastrophe. The colonial forces have been placed upon their trial, and have proved unequal to the task rf protecting the settlers from the attacks of the Maoris. Hence the Imperial army must uphold the authority of the Queen in New Zealand. With, the accomplishment of that task, and the re- establishment of peace between the Maoris and the settlers, will come the time for deciding the future relations between the colony and Great Britain. We are not about to wage a war of extermination against the Maoris for the benefit of enterprising settlers in want of new locations ; nor are we going to maintain 3 •oevmanent army of occupation in New Zeal md that we may enable the colonists to dispense with the necessity of paying and equipping troops for the protection of their own frontiers. As we must come to the rescue of the dependency, we may fairly demand guarantees against the repetition of such a necessity. But, for the time, we may dismiss all considerations of the kind. The path of duty 13 clear before us ; and that duty requires the massacre at Poverty Bay to be the signal for sending troops to New Zealand.

The Alexandra correspondent of the Southern Cross states that a report is current among the natives to the effect that two white men were present at the White Cliffs massacre, and that the Rev. Mr Whiteley was murdered by one of thenr.' It is said that the war party were discovered, after the massacre of the wife and children of Lieufcen.ant Gasciogne, by the unfortunate gentleman ; that the natives were unwilling to kill their matua, or parent, as they called him, and told him to go away, but that the whiefc men insistsd on the folly of allowing him ot escape, as he knew them all, and might some day give evidence against them ; that one of them, followed Mr Whiteley, and shot him with his revolver.