The Star. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1868.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 189, 19 December 1868, Page 2

The Star. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1868.

It is as impossible to arrive at the intentions of the Press as it is to understand the reasoning by which the advocates of a ao-called self-reliance convince themselves that they are true to their principles when, scouting the idea of sending for Imperial troops, they yet advocate a petition to the Queen for English money and English arms. Aud this is not to be wondered at. The principle of self - reliance, when first enunciated by Mr "Weld, was not placed clearly before the colony, or rather, it was associated with another in such a way as to produce a confusion of ideas. Mr Weld did not say to the North Island, in which alone is there any necessity for self-reliance — You must depend upon yourselves, you the settlers in each district, and be always prepared to hold your own against the Maoris. That would have been true selfreliance, and would have placed the matter on a proper footing. "What Mr Weld did say was — The colony must maintain a standing force of 1500 men to fight its battles. In this way, the Middle Island, in which there is no enemy to be always prepared against, was mixed up with the North Island, in which there is such an enemy. It is this species of union, or unity, that lies at the root of the diSiculty in which the self-reliance men now find themselves. If the colony is one, it follows that the Middle Tsland ought to rush to arms as well as the North when the signal of war is given in the latter. But it is simply absurd to suppose that mien in Canterbury, Nelson, or Otago — the real settlers in these provinces — can feel that they would be fighting for their oivn, their heartlis and homes, their wives and little ones — aa the Press put it the other day— in "Wanganui, Poverty Bay, or Waikato. How \can they have such, a feeling? It is impossible. And hence it is that we hear of such phrases as "sending kelp to the North." Self-reliance is applicable only to those who are in danger, or who have something against which i they must rely on. themselves. If, therefore, the settlers in the North j Island ask for men from any place beyond their own settlements, they are asking i'ov foreign assistance, and, consequently, are not relying on themselves. The fact is, Mr Weld's selfreliance was a spurious article from the very first. The sort of self-reliance that he probably meaut to enunciate was that self-reliance which animated the early settlers of America, when every man knew and felt that his own life and the lives of those dear to him, depended on his own stout heart and strong arm — when every settler, in short, was a soldier at a moment's warning. But Mr Weld, in spite of his high courage, did not dare to tell the North Island plainly what self-reliance meant. And so, for want of a little honest dealing and plain speaking— for which, be it noted, \v< do not now blame Mr Weld — the North Island settlers, to whom alon* the term is really and truly applicable came to believe that self-reliance meant

— not being themselves always prepared to fight for their own, their hearths and homes, their wives and little ones, but that The Colony should pay for a small army to do all the fighting. True self-reliance was never boldly enunciated ; a Bham article was adopted ; hence all our difficulties. It is far better to admit this at once. The Press of this morning, quoting with approbation an article from the Wanganui Times — and the article is worthy of all praise, as being the only really self-reliant appeal which has been made to the North Island settlers — says : — " If the settlers of the North " Island were all animated with such a " spirit, native disturbances would soon " be over. .We should never again hear " of a country laid waste for a hun- " dred miles, post after post aban- " doned, and even the townshps " threatened by the marauders. There "is strength enough in the colony " utterly to overwhelm and crush this " rebellion now and for ever ; nothing " is wauted but the determination to " use our power. But in the teeth of " such a fact as this, that to meet at " the most 800 Maoris the invaded " districts can turn out 1500 able--bodied men, without reckoning the " paid forces or the friendly natives, " with what face can we ask the " mother country to undertake our " defence ? or can we expect that our " appeal will meet with any other fate " than to be received with derision " and rejected with scathingconfcempt?" Two things have to be noted in the above quotation from our contemporary. In the first place there is a distinct appeal made to " the settlers of the North" and to them alone. . It is they who are told that it is necessary to be animated by a certain spirit. Then comes the assertion about there being strength enough " in the colony" &c. What does the Press mean ? la it impossible for our contemporary to speak out plainly and honestly ? Is he afraid to say what seems to be in his mind? He must mean one of two things — that the settlers of the North alone are in a position, if they choose, to beat back the Maoris, or that it is the bouuden duty of the whole colony to do so ; the bounden duty of the Middle Island to fight as well as pay. It serves no good purpose to beat about the bush in this fashion, and again we ask the Press to speak out clearly and distinctly. There is another fact in the quotation from the Press which deserves to be noted. It is, that the invaded districts can, if they like, turn out " 1500 able-bodied men" to meet "at the most 800 Maoris." If this is really the case, and there seems no reason to doubt it, it is no wonder that the Press says — " with what face can we ask the Mother Country to undertake our defence ? With what face indeed ! But why did the Press not go further, and urge the question to its inevitable and legitimate conclusion ? Why were the little words "we " and " our " introduced into the question? The Press should have said, addressing itself to the invaded districts only— Gentlemen, you can turn out 1500 able-bodied men to fight 800 Maoris; with what decency, therefore, do you ask the Mother Country to undertake your defence ? The Press evidently means that because the invaded districts are able to send out 1500 able-bodied men they are able to defend themselves. Exactly, and we therefore say to these districts what the Press ought to have said in order to make its argument complete — With what face can you ask us of the Middle Island to aid in your defence ?