The Star. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1869.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 221, 27 January 1869, Page 2

The Star. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1869.

The Press of this morning contains a leading article in the first part of which there is a graphic description of what Colonel Whitmore called the "fortress" of Ngatipa. If the description is reliable, aud it has every appearance of being so, it ia really no exaggeration, as the Press remarks, to say that the destruction of this stronghold is by far the greatest achievement, in a military point of view, of the whole war. And, doubtless, its capture leads to the conclusion that there is not a " fortress " in the island which cannot be taken by a small force properly handled. We cannot, however, agree with the Press about the smallness of the expense. Our contemporary, if he means anything at all, means to say — Look at the capture of Ngatipa as a specimen of what the colonial forces can do, at an expense far below what we' should incur by employing Imperial troops.%, Was it Sairey Gamp or her bosom friend Betsy Prigg, who, in answer to a charge made against her, contemptuously replied, " who de-, niges i-f it?" It was one or other of these ladies, and the sama reply is very applicable to the.' £%ess sermon ou the expense of a colonial force as compared with Imperial troops. No one, that we know of, denies that the former are cheaper directly and indirectly. It is not a question of whether one system is cheaper than another, but whether " a united colony " can afford even the cheapest! What use will it be to call for papers and accounts to prove what no one doubts? We hope, as the Press does, either that the Government will prepare or that some independent member will move for and obtain an accurate return of the whole cost of this expedition from first to last. But we go a great deal further. We hope that the Government will be made to furnish an .accurate account, if they can, of every sixpence spent on this war from the first actual outbreak down to the latest date ; not the gross amount only, but also the object on which and for which every item of expenditure has been incurred. That account would be especially interesting to the people of this island, as it would probably go to prove whether or uot their money has been spent for the exclusive benefit of the North. The public do not care two straws about the expense of taking Ngatipa as compared with the expense of taking Meremere or Rangiriri. They believe that the expenditure now going on, and the expenditure wbich the advocates of the so-called selfreliance policy say is necessary under any circumstances, is more than they can afford. They want to know whether it is, and for how long they will be called on to pay seven pounds out of every ten spent for Native and defence purposes in. the North Island. That is the practical information which the public want, and not an elaborate array of figures to prove what no one disputes.