The Star. MONDAY, MARCH 1, 1869.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 249, 1 March 1869, Page 2

The Star. MONDAY, MARCH 1, 1869.

Xsr a letter to The Times, which will be found in another column, Sir John Burgoyne discusses the subject of warfare in New Zealand an what appears to us a very practical, sensible/ and- businesß'like manner. haye several lames to doubt ihe utiliisv of expending our force . in attacking pahs, which, when we do capture them, -are generally-found not worth the labour, !expense,*arid danger incurred. As Sir John Burgoyne points put, the Maoris always contrive to escape from the pahs and to make good their retreat to some other fast-ness,-which has to be similarly assailed, only to be similarly captured. And co the. game of war goes on. The enemy loses little ; we lose,< often, a great: dealp The second point in Sir John Burgoyne's letter ia not less important than, the one just alluded to, namely, that : the Maoris, after fighting till their Tesources are exhausted, sue for < peace, and agree to terms which they are ready to break whenever they fancy themselves strong enough to renew the war.*- If our readers will look backs oii the history of former wars, they will find that this game has invariably been played by the rebels. The.wonder is, that we should have allowed them to do it, when it is so obviously to their advantage. It is clear that the Natives do not, when they ask for peace, believe themselves to be beaten.- r. lt is simply part of their policy, and we may be assured that I at our simplicity in allowcarry it out. Such tribes gatiruanui and Uriwera reated as enemies till they to that condition in. which signify whether they are hey never will be friendly can muster a few fighting bile they can rely on regies, it .does not seem to have mch attention, we may again; point out another fact which appears to us of great importance in our relations with the Natives. It is Bimply this, that some tribes systemaj tically adopt *c plan which was not unknown in Britain during the Stuart

civil wars — a portion'^ fctief tribe goes out to fight against us, the other portion remains at home and professes loyalty. If, the matteris carefully. inquired into, it i willi we think, be -found that this plan has been pursued by several tribes with gVeat success: It is surely possible, to prevent such double dealing, or, at any rate, to treat ib iv such a way as it deserves. Practically, Sir John Burgoyne's suggestion about employing one poiv tiou of the Natives to fight agaiust the other haa been adopted. It is open to the very obvious objection which attends the employment of all mercenaries, but it has advantages which we could not otherwise secure. The capture of Ngatipa could not have been accomplished had it not been for the co-operation of the Arawa and Ngatiporu. But we think it was hardly judicious to move a portion of the former to the Wanganui district. There are signs that trouble may yet arise from that step; Use the Natives by all means as allies, or rather call upon them, as fellow-subjects of the Queen, to assist in putting down rebellion ; but it is hazardous to take them from their own district to fight in another. There are old feuds, the memory of which has not yet died out, and new complications might arise at any moment.