VIII.—THE CRITICAL PERIOD.

Otago Witness, Volume 25, Issue 1004, 25 February 1871, Page 17

VIII.— THE CRITICAL PERIOD.

Such was the general state of affairs when Mr Gladstone's Ministry took office at the end of 1869. The party in England which desires the separation of the colonies from the mother- country had" acceded to power ; in the colonies, men's thoughts were unsettled, and independence was freely talked about, while the precise nature of England's liability for the defence of her self- governed dependencies was not only undefined, but actually being discussed. It happened, at this juncture, that the Native disturbances in New Zealand, which had ceased for a time, broke out again with great violence. This colony, owing to its peculiar circumstances, and the fact that for many years the Imperial Government retained the control of Native affairs in itß own hands, had been treated with some indulgence in the matter of troops. For a considerable period, however, a correspondence had been going on between the Imperial and local Governments, relative to the terms on which troops should be stationed in the colony for the future ; and aB no understanding could be arrived at with regard to the control of the troops, which the colony desired should be employed in active operations against the Maoris, when necessary, it was finally determined to withdraw them altogether, Unhappily the Home Government decided to put this resolution into execution just in the midst of the rebellion. The colony was at its wits' end. The rebel natives were ravaging the country on tho East and South- West Coasts of the North Island, burning and destroying everything before them, slaughtering many of the out-set-tlers, and committing the most frightful atrocities. For a while the New Zealand Government was powerless to check the marauders. By culpable negligence, it had permitted the local forces to fall into a state of utter inefficiency, and the refuse of the towns had to be hastily collected together and sent into the field as a temporary barrier against the onward progress of the Natives. As might have been anticipated, such men only served aa " food for powder," and the rebels did as they pleased. All this time, there were bodies of British soldiers posted in various places not far distant from the Mene of hostilities, and from Wanganui

they could almost see the plunderers at their work ; but were unable, in consequence of instructions from home, t& move an inch in defence of the settlers. Governor Bowen urged, in the strongest terms, the necessity of retaining at least one regiment in the colony ; but his remonstrances, and those of his Ministers, were entirely lost on both the Duke of Buckingham and his successor in the Colonial Office, Earl Granville, and peremptory orders were issued to the officer commanding to remove the troops at once. The order was, however, owing to circumstances, not fully executed until tome months later.

It is bad enough, when you are fighting for your life, to see a man, whom you have always counted upon as one who would prove a friend in need, stand by and refuse to assist you ; but if, in addition, he begins to administer a lecture on your past misdeeds, and utter lack of claim to assistance, he is simply intolerable^ Tet such was the position assumed by Lord Granville. He thought it a fitting opportunity for writing a series of logical despatches, proving that the Imperial Government was perfectly right and the colonies entirely wrong ; and that the colony had not the shadow of a claim upon the Home Government for help. At the end of one of these epistles, written in a Btyle whioh the hardeßtheaded Scotchman might envy, would appear the following: — "I have read, with deep regret, the account of the crimes which have been committed by a portion of the rebels, and it is needless to repeat how much Her Majesty's Government sympathises with the settlers In their misfortunes. But these considerations, however painful, cannot affect the course which Her Majesty's Government believe it to be desirable to pursue in the best interests of both the mother oountry and the colony." Now, even if we concede that Lord Granville's logic was faultless, and that the oolony had no legal claim to assistance whatever, it is nevertheless clear that it was highly impolitic to choose such a moment for enforcing rigid justice ; and perfectly natural on the part of the colonists, who looked merely at the broad facts of the ease, viz., that rebels were in arms against the Queen's sovereignty, and j destroying the lives and property of loyal citizens, while Imperial troops were prohibited from fiihting against the insurgents — to say bitterly — Of what use is our connection with England to us ?

Other colonies began to ask the same question. They reflected that the princifie applied to New Zealand might also c applied to them. Moreover, certain indiscreet utterances of Lord Granville, teeming to indicate that the Gladstone Ministry would be rather pleased than otherwise to see the Empire dismembered, ran like wildfire through the newspapers ; while broad hints had been given to both the Canadian Dominion and the Cape of Good Hope by officials in high station that no hindrance would be offered to their becoming independent. " Tou may go, if you like," was br«adly stated, and yet remains a part of the policy of the Gladstone Cabinet. The Times and other influential London journals took much the same view as the Ministry. Those who did not think the disruption of a great empire a trifling matter began to fear that it would be accomplished by some rash or intentional act of the Ministry, without the subject being either fairly discussed, or the people in any way consulted ; and their apprehensions were increased by the fact that Lord Granville teemed quite ignorant of the real state of feeling in the colonies, and to be inclined to treat the whole affair as a good joke. At this period a large number of colonists were residing in England, who had returned home, either for the purpose of takingjup a permanent abode in their native land, or of a passing visit. They did not, however, cease to take an interest in colonial affairs, and among other measures for the promotion of colonial interests in England, had formed a Colonial Society, It is a significant fact that such a body of men, possessing the very beat means of forming a judgment on the merits of the case, should have almost universally condemned the policy of the Imperial Government, and felt greatly alarmed at the course that was Being pursued. Some of these gentlemen, thinking to bring matters to a head, constituted themselves into a Committee, and issued a circular inviting the various colonies to send representatives to a conference to be held in London in February, 1870, for the purpose of discussing colonial affairs. The circular fairly stated the case, us it appeared to the colonial public, in these words :—: — " The policy announced by the Home Government towards her colonies (ap})lied to the particular case of New Zeaand) appears to be this, that (except to the extent of partial protection in case of war with civilised Powera)> the mother Country recognises no responsibility for ttwfr w»Uwe or safety, nor any $o holp $be» stop, in cirewapt*ncei <?f

great danger and pressing need," and the writers add that such a policy " seems to point, as an ulterior result, to a severance of the connection between the colonies and the mother country, perhaps hurriedly and in an unfriendly spirit, disastrous alike to the mother country and to the colonies." But however good their case might be, these gentlemen were acting without authority, and their invitation could meet with only one response. The Home Government refused to have anything to do with them ; and the colonists regarded the invitation as a piece of impertinent presumption, Nevertheless, the proposal had the useful effect of provoking discussion in both England and the colonies, and discussion of the question was exactly what was wanted. Let public opinion once be aroused, and all fear of disunion at the mere will of a Minister was at an end.

The next proceeding on the part of the returned colonists was to hold a series of meetings, with the view of discussing the relations existing between England and her colonies, and of awaking public attention still further. The debates at these meetings clearly showed the indefinite nature of the tie which connected the various parts of the Empire, and likewise the difficulty of welding the whole of the parts into & solid mass. The London Times and other journals whioh supported the Ministry did not neglect so favourable an opportunity of ridiculing the idea of confederation, and of treating ultimate separation as a certain fact. Such opinions, however, met with no response from the nation at large. .The public had not been accustomed to discuss colonial matters, and had never conceived that Gold win Smith's doctrines were likely to have greater value than speculations. The people, generally, were not even now fully roused to a consciousness of the danger threatening the integrity of the Empire, and seemed to look upon the contest as a mere logomaohy between political idlers, until the growing warmth of the dispute attracted their attention and evoked some utterances of popular opinion ; those utterances being wholly in favour of preserving the Empire intact.

Had Lord Granville been a man of original genius, and really desirous of preserving the Empire intact, he might have seized the occasion to ascertain the real wants of the colonists, and the best mode of consolidating the Empire. Breaking through official forms, he could have invited the returned colonists to express their opinions on particular points, and to shew how the evil which they deprecated might be averted. Instead of doing this, he pooh-poohed the whole affair, and affected to regard the colonial difficulty as a goblin conjured up by a few idle gentlemen to amuse their leisure. A reference to any colonial paper of standing would have shewn his Lordship that he quite misapprehended the state of the case, and that the matter was looked upon in a far more serious light in the colonies than in England. Perhaps the most irritating part of Lord Granville's demeanour was the cavalier style in which he spoke of disunion, constantly alluding to the disruption of the Empire as though it were a matter of no moment, and not worth the trouble of preventing. Of course, if His Lordship had really made up his mind that separation ought to take place, the course which he pursued was admirably calculated to hasten that result ; if, however, such was not his object, he evidently did not comprehend the situation I am almost inclined to believe the latter is the correct view, when I find Lord Granville saying in the House of Lords (on the 14th February, 1870), in reply to a speech of Lord Carnarvon's— " The speech he (Lord C.) made at the end of last session contained not one word of attack on the colonial policy of the Government ; but it would appear that our relations with New Zealand are in a most unsatisfactory position— that our relations with our great Belf-governing communities have produced irritation and dissatisfaction. All I can say is, my Lords, lam not aware of it." Had Earl Granville possessed that inestimable oarpet of which we read in the "Arabian Nights," and been enabled to transport himself to Australia and New Zealand, even if it were but for a few days' residence in each country, what a sudden flood of intelligence would have illuminated his mind !

The Cannon street meetings, having no definite object before them, came to a somewhat ignoble end, and expired beneath a shower of ridicule. Their promoters, nevertheless, had done excellent service to the State by compelling at least partial discussion of a vital question, and by forcing moat persons to acknowledge that the present bond of connection between England and her self-governed dependencies ib unsound, and cannot be lasting. Still more. The discussion revealed the opinion of the nation so clearly that the Ministry found it prudent to disavow all wish to cast off the colonies, and

defended against foreign attack by the whole strength of .the Empire ; while the London journals changed their tone in a remarkable manner. The difficulty, however, was only smoothed over, not settled. The Native troubles in New Zealand having been partially settled, an immediate solution of it became unnecessary ; but it did not drop out of sight. In England, the great pauper question kept it constantly before the eyes of both statesmen and people ; and, bat a few months later, the Franco-Prussian war broke out, and compelled the colonies to meditate deeply on their relations with the mother couatry. . They did not now ask — Ought England to defend us ? but, Can she defend us ?