The Star. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1869.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 280, 7 April 1869, Page 2

The Star. WEDNES DAY, APRIL 7, 1869.

IfeE very urgent importance of the aubject must be our excuse for again referring to Native affairs. In another columu our readers will find the latest intelligence from various parts of the .. IS" orth island, and we ask them to -study it well. They will, we are sure, -rfiud matter for most anxious consideration. In the first place, they will notice that a fresh complication is 1 feinted at between two tribes who have not been mentioned hitherto. The aubject of dispute is again the land, and it bids fair to end in a. serious dis feurbauce. The information about Te Kooti is not very clear;* and what is •said does not correspond with the intelligence which we have every reason to believe reliable. Then, again, we •are informed that the G-overnment have demanded the surrender of the White Cliffs murderers by the King. ' _3bis is very well, if they are in a posit ion to enforce their demands ; but are they ? That is the question. We think it will be admitted by every one who has given attention to the subject that thoy are not in a position to present so determined an ultimatum to the r 3_!ing. What if he refuse to give up she murderers, which is very probable ? •■Will the Government declare war, and so bring the whole of the King Natives Lfictively into the field ? That seems to fee their intention.

It would appear that Colonel Whitmore's force has been split into two iparts, the main body under his own leadership having gone overland to Taranaki, while a small detachment fcas been sent to the East Coast under Captain Richardson. The fact that the latter go to Taupo is a confirmation of the statements we made a day or two ago. The length and issue of the campaign in Taranaki, for we suppose -it must be taken for granted that we Are to have a regular campaign there, will depend entirely on the King Natives. • If the King, or Eewi rather, should resolve to assist the enemy, we • _nay expect a protracted fight. And it raußt be borne in mind that. the King and his advisers can assist materially without declaring open war. They can supply the rebels with stores and ammunition, which they appear to liave been doing all along ; they cau receive those disabled in fight j and they can replace any losses by -fresh levies of well trained men. This, we are convinced, they have been doing. All those who have joined Te Ivooti or Titokowaru know well tbat, in case of defeat, there is a refuge to which they can flee ; and this nerves them for the conflict, if* we. must cany on war, why not try the policy of striking a blow at tbe head of the evil ? The friendly Natives have cvadvißed this all along. The Go-

vernment might as well try their hand at "crushing" the King and Eewi, leaving the lieutenants to be dealt witb by such local forces as could be brought against them.

There is yet another point in the Native policy propounded by the Press which we have not beeu able to touch upon. It will be remembered that our contemporary started with the assertion that we had driven the Natives into the bush — which is not the case — and must keep them there. He then said — " Let a line be drawn, as far in " advance as cau be, at such a point as " military authorities pronounce most " suitable for purposes of defence, and " let that line mark the limit of Euro- " pean settlement." Is that not exactly what we have been doing ? Have we not pushed ourselves as far aa possible into the Native territory ? Is it too much to expect Mr J. Cracroft Wilson, C.8., or some other representative ofthe province in the Assembly, to ask for a return showing the number/position, and other particulars, of runs held from ihe Natives on the borders of the disaffected country ? Is it not true tbat Mr Alfred Cox, lately one of the Canterbury members, holds a run in the province of Hawke's Bay, and is it not true that this said run comprises country mhich the rebellious Natives say belorigs to tliem ? How many other runs of the same description are there ? How many of the members of the Assembly, directly and indirectly, from pecuniary or other motives, are interested in the runs we have mentioned ? Can it not be shown, conclusively and beyond any doubt whatever, that the holding of these runs endangers our relations with the Natives? Is the line mentioned by the Press to include these runs ? The public will do well to pursue the enquiry into this subject. They will find that there is an overwhelming interest in the Assembly which is simply bound to vote Jor mar. Further, the Press speaks of a permanent force of 500 men being "at " once thrown on any spot where dis " disturbances might break out." Exactly. Erom Patea to Poverty Bay, from Poverty Bay to the Bay of Plenty, from the Bay of Plenty to White Cliffs, from White Cliffs to Patea again, and so on all round tbe island " where disturbances break out." And this is to cost, w ith other extensive machinery, " much less than half " the £1000 a day" wbicb we are now supposed to be paying ! For tbe sake of those adventurous men who have pushed themselves into the disaffected country aa far as they can, who hold runs on precarious terms, and whose sheep or cattle are liable to be " lifted" at any moment by a marauding party of Natives, the colony, the "United Colony," is to pay till not a farthing is left, till the country is depopulated, and till general ruin has overtaken us! Most assuredly this is a pretty device Jor encouraging the acquirement qf runs iti the North Island and Jor retarding \ the inevitable buying up qf runs in the Middle Island. It is about the most ingenious example we remember to j have seen of killing two birds with one i stone. The gentlemen who advocate such a policy as that which the Press has made public may be easily culled from the roll of the House of Kepresentatives. Do they really believe that they will continue to gull the public ? Do tbey suppose for a moment that people are not so blind as to see what they are about ? The public can bear them as plainly as if they were proclaiming it in the streets, saying to one another — It is not population that we want, to aid in bearing the burdens of the colony and subduing the waste places of the earth. We want to keep the runs that we have, and to acquire others if we can. War is our game, and we must keep the game afloat. Peace means our destruction ; let us vote for Stafford and war.