HOW TO SAFE THE MAORI RACE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XII, Issue 609, 2 April 1864, Page 4

HOW TO SAFE THE MAORI RACE.

[From the Spectator (London, Jan. 23.] Tho Maori war lias given rise to a scheme magnificent in conception, and which, if executed, may lie entitled also to be called beneficent. Tho leading men of Now Zealand proposo to sfcud the North Island with villagos of military settlers, so distributed npon groat lines of communication that they will constitute a coi^plete and well-knit system of defence, scgregratethe natives, and cover tho country with cultivation. To accomplish this they will require 30,000 men and a loan of two" millions and a half. The figures. are largo, but the project looks feasible ; and if it be Carried out, few greater works will have been done, with premeditation, this een'lury. By some sucii process alone 'can tho Maori -toco bo Saved from extinction. Wh£t "the"colonißts desire is the cessation not only of war, but of the fear of war, with the savage tribes on the fringes of whoso far-spreading butdeEolato lands they dwell. They have tried the 'htissez-aller method, they have tried empirical plans of con uliation and nursing ; both Have failed. Neither non-intervention nor the bribes of Sir G. Grey have sufficed to raise the Maoris to tnat state which we call civilization, and which would fender the land habitable. The Maoris have imbibed a notion that it is practicable to set up a Maori kingdom, self-govorned and independent ; and for this they are fighting. They have, of course, a perfect right to act on what ideas they please ; 'but it is plain that a Maori kingdom and a British colony cannot subsist Bide by side. No Maori kingdom imaginable could limit the growth of a British colony. Persistence in the Maori idea means perpetual war, and perpetual war means extermination, sooner or later, of the^laoti raco. But if, by a skilful occupation of the country, the Maori can bo made to feel at once his weakness and the bene» fits which flow from thriving settlements, then his 'iilea may be extinguished; he, too, may settle down into the poaceful cultivator, and thus be ->eaveJ. Otherwise, as it appears to us, not. For in a series of wars he must lose, and finally pass away and Bo s6"cn no more. Wherefore it is not loss for tho benefit of the Maoris than for the benefit of the colonists "that no pains should be spared - to make this war the last, by making it at the " same time, tho rueani of binding togother the whole of the settlements in the Norfliem'-Islands with bands of warrior agriculturists. There is something Eoman in tho project, the authentic details of which we have before us. It proposes to do a definite piece of work at once and for ever. It proposes to do it in a large and effec- •* tive way. Instead of leaving settlement to chance • ' and irregular and cruel warfare, it proposes to ■ make settlements on a plan based on the military topography of the country. ; It proposes to mako • the land itself pay the cost of the project in part, and looks to tho effects of increased population upon revenue to pay tho remainder. This is a schemo of pacification which merits the word " thorough." It is, of course, tho reverso of tho bootless measures of Sir George Grey, which his admirers call " wise and' beneficent." It is, of course, based on " confiscation," which so shocks tho gentlemen who have signed the memorial to the Governor. But, with all due respect for them, and in opposition to them, we say it is a statesman-like scheme, and the only one which includes the faintest chance of saving the Maoris from extinction. If the lands held by the Maoris wore highly cultivated estates, and it were proposed to seize them, we should agree with the memorialists in condemning confiscation. Then confiscation in -New Zealand would be like confiscation in Lithuania l ' : cr Ireland. But the' land in a wilderness. The j Maoris can make ancMo make no use of it. Ab- j Btracted from them it would 'be no loss to them — would rather be absolute gain, for theumple tractsH of land which would remain to them would then acquire a value. Thus confiscation, instead of depriving them of something, would really bo adding 1 to their material- wealth, and the result of confiscation, colonization, would brftlg 'among them law and order, tho essential conditions of civilization. It is only on the assumption that the Maori is incapaclo of a higher development, that those ' "bitter fruits" would follow front a' "policy of '' confiscation " which the memorialists deplore. On their principles he would bo as surely pressed back by the energetic British colonist, ond' finally extinguished, aa the Red Indian or the Carib. If the Maori can be civilized and saved, here is tho only plan whereby that can be done. Tho colonial Government proposes to make a thousand miles of road, and on these roads to establish military settlers. The lines of road selected are intended to give not the best, but tho best. '■ practicable command of the island. A broad belt' of open land," having its base between the Waikato and tho'Thamaq, stretches across theislan'd to Najrier, on the .eastern coast. It includes the basin of tho Waikato and tho Waipa aa far aa their confluence, passes north of Lake Taupo, and descends to the sea at Hawke'a'Bay. Through this central belt,' in a sbuth-eastcrly line, it is proposed to con. struct a road, having Auckland at its northern and Napier at its south-eastern terminus. Upon and near this road the eettlers who would make it would have their farms. The belt of settled country beginning at the mouth of the Waikato Would lie mainly on tho left bank, as far a#the 'confluence of the Waipa ; there the line would turn eastwards, and stretch across from the Waikatoto the Thames, and thence to Tuaranga, on the coast. A branch road would connect Raglan on the west with the great trunk road, and another would Btrike out from it to Tuaranga. Thus the frontier of the . province of 'Auckland would be covered, rendered secure, and reclaimed from the wilderness. At the other end of the road the province of Hawke's Bay would be protected by a group of settlements lying around a point where a branch road from Mohaka, on the northern sweep of the^bay, would strike tho trunk line to Napier, supported on either flank by weaker settlements at Mohaka, and at the mouth of an openingiin the Kuahine range, throngh which "the Tutaekuri river makes it way to the sea. To connect Napier with Wellington it is proposed to Barry a road trough the bush, following a native ■path, and to plant on it small groups of settlers at points. From Wellington tho defeneive settlements would follow tho coast line, beginning at the mouth of the Manawatu River, and continuing as far as the Waitara. A road, of course, is to stretch along the coast the whole way. The settlers would lie thickly about the mouths of the 3lanawatu and Whanganui, and from Waimate a road, duly protected, would ran on the east or inland side of Mount Egmont, and extend to the Waittira. At both extremities of this road the set.tlors would 'be in '.considerable force, as "well as all .along the -coast, «o that Taranaki might bo made* secure. But at the present it is not proposed to make ,a road from Taranaki northwards into Waikato, as far as the central trunk lino. A wall of rugged mountains interposes ; the only path lies down the banks of the Mokau,at tho mouth of which it emerges on the beach, thence it follows the shore southward, and reaches the inland country again by the pass of Pukearuhe, fourteen miles north of the mouth of the Waitara. It was by this pass that Wetini marched to join William King, with that contingent of Waikatos who were defeated at Mahoetahi. .By occupying this pass with a stockade the road is barred, and any hostilo body coming from Taupo towards Taranaki must descend from the Upper Whanganui to the ~Waitarn, which, aocording to the scheme, they would find well guardod by the military colonists established on the road from the Waitara to Waimate. Thus it will be seen the project involves the planting of a great central colony between the Waikato and the Thames, and a series of semi-maritime colonios on the west coast between Manawatu and Waitara, tho ollcct of which would be that these districts

would ba self-sustaining and solf-dclensivo. To carry out this great scheme the colony as^.s for 18,000 men from England — labourers and navvies, capable of working and fighting — fourfifths of whom should be married. They would receive, each man, forty acres of land, and rations for one year. Their duty would be to complote, every twenty of them, one miln of road in nine months, cultivate their ground, and fight if "•need be. The number of inhabitants iv each settlement would vary with the requirement of th<3 c6untiy, but the average number would be 'a hundred in each, settlement, and the average distance between settlement and settlement would be about a mile. The cost of immigration and armament is estimated at £084,000, the cost of road-making, £1,500,000, the total expense would therefore be £2,381,000. This sum, included in a loan to be raised by the colony, is regarded justly 'as an investment. In great part it can be repaid out of the proceeds of the sale of Confiscated lands. .Thus there are available 2,292,000 acres between the Thames and Waikato, and SOtyOOO in Tarauaki. Of these 500,000 will H)e set apart for the natives, and 500,000 for the settlers in the former, and 100,000 for fiheiiativea, and 200,000 for the settlers in tho latter, leaving a total of 1,492,000 for sale. Tho prdceods of these are estimated, taking a low value, at 2,192,000, or nearly in itself the whole cost of the scheme of defence by settlement. The land reserved for the natives is ample, being about 150 acres per head, or forty times as muclras they haveover cultivated. Such is this gigantic plan for terminating what will otherwise be a chronic border feud, distinguished, at least on one side, by relentless and recurrent murders, and finally ending with, the 1 death of the last of 'the Maoris. Without some such stroke of statesmanship the Maori race must ■Wither and expire j with it there is at least a possibility that btftii races in New Zealand may live, side by side in peace and prosperity. :

The Photographic Fixing Agent. — To fix photographic pictures, a solution of the hyposulphite of soda has beon the common agent employed. In tills the picture is treated, and 1 is thus prevented from changing. The days of this agent in photography are numbered, and sulphocyanide of ammonium will tako its place as a superior agent, 'by tho use" of which a faded positive picture will bo unknown. The "original source of the cyanide of ammonium is thick tarry liquid remaining after tho separation of the free ammonia from gas liquor, this has long been known to contain largo quantities of sulphocyanide of ammonium, but hitherto all attempts to separate it from tho impurities which accompany it have failed. Photography. — A new discoreiy, or rather application, of photography has been made by a Mr. W. S. Shirras ofAberdeen, who is busy" trans ferring photographs from paper to china. The portraits are quite perfect. We may now expect to see household tea services adorned with the likenesses of our friends. It would be an improvement if the cup were prepared photographically, so as to take the likeness of the person while he was sipping his'bohea. Absence of Mind. — The most iccent case of absence of mind is that of an editor, who lately copied from a hostile paper one of his own articles, and headed it, " Wretched attempt at wit." What will the female world think of the heroic act of a young lover at Washington, who, to prevent a ball taking place at which his mistress would be compelled to "dance with another young man by her stern parent, strewed the floor secretly over with cayenne and snuff/ The scene on the commencement of the first set was most ludicrous, and, as neither mopping nor washing got rid of the powder, which was now floating in the air, the ball came to an end. Thf&attarat Star is informed that a solution of two and a half ounces of arsenic, in one gallon of water, sprinkled on the "stubble after -cutting the thistles, has been used in the Port Faiiy district with perfect success. The arsenic is dissolved in hot water, and the solution applied either hot or cold. We believe that arsenic is not a very expensive commodity, and if the thing be a cure it is worth knowing. Sheep Branding. — We are given to understand that the best preparation for branding sheep consists of boiled oil thickened to the consistency of cream with lamp-black, and with a gill of turpentine to the gallon of oil added. For many reasons, this is a far better preparation to use for branding than pitch. It is easier of application, far more permanent, and in no way interferes with the working up of the wool, as pitch is sometimes apt to do. We believe the scab inspector has expressed his opinion that this is the best material that cau be used.— Hamilton Spectator.