The Star. MONDAY, JUNE 21, 1869.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 344, 21 June 1869, Page 2

The Star. MONDAY, JUNE 21, 1869.

As a rule, the North Island newspapers present frightful pictures of the ruin which they allege the prosecution of the Native war has brought upon that portion of the colony. These pictures, we must presume, are drawn for the edification of outsiders. They cannofc be painted for the instruction of the ruined. Indeed,' ifc is pretty evident that they are meant more especially for the " selfish settlers of the Middle Island," as they are pleased to call us. "We find, mostly, that they wind up with some sneering remark about the people of this island being able to cultivate their lands in peace, certain of nofc being disturbed by hostile natives, and being called on " only to pay." Look afc us, say these journals, we have to fight and pay too ; to endure the evils of war as well as to contribute our share of the cost ; you have " only to pay." No part of the North Island ha? suffered so much from war as Taranaki. That will be very generally admitted. Yet we find the principal newspaper of that province, in its issue of June 5, saying — " During the ex- " penditure of the large loans obtained " by the General and Provincial Go- " vernments, and the perennial yflow of " money jrom the commissariat chest, " a degree of prosperity was attained "in this colony of a very fictitious " nature. Jt mas especially so in the " North Island; and seemed of such a " permanent character, that many un- " wise enterprises were entered upon, " both by Governments and individuals, " which the light of subsequent events " soon made apparent." This is candid enough, and as true as candid, but; it is, we believe, the first time it has been acknowledged by any North Island newspaper. "We pointed out on Friday last; that the " vigorous prosecution of fche war " policy was neither more nor less than the prolongation of a game in which the North Island pays £S into the treasury and gets £10 returned to it — we of the Middle Island paying the £7. And all this money is spent in the North Island for the especial benefit of the settlers there. That is nofc denied. Although the Taranaki Herald, from which we have quoted above, does nofc scruple to admit what other North Island journals have studiously denied, our contemporary is the advocate of a scheme which would inevitably perpetuate the evils he professes to deplore. He tells us that the Provincial Secretary not long ago submitted a resolution to the Provincial Council, which was agreed to by that body, and which has for its object " the introduction of " settlers to occupy the waste lands of " the province." This sounds very well, and so does the following description of the particular bit of land it is proposed to deal with : — " "Within ten " miles of a port, there lies a block of " land extending round ,the eastern " slopes of Mount Egmont, of great " fertility, and well adapted to sustain " a large population. Ifc is afc present " clothed with light busb, is easily " cleared, and its aspect is all that can be " desired as regards its freedom from " the blighting winds of the sea coast, " and lying well to the sun." But the very next sentence in the article from which we are quoting discloses a fact which will modify somewhat, if we- do nofc mistake, the pleasing picture presented above : — " It is a part of the confisca- " ted lands through which General " Chute once marched, and latterly the " Constabulary, under Major Sfc. John, " who were fortunately unaware of the " terrible havoc they were making in " the web with which Maori diplomacy " had clothed its green solitudes, in the " vain expectation that it would prove " sufficiently " appalling to arrest the " march of aimed men." So that, at the very time other people are seriously proposing to give up all the confiscated lands as the dilly way to secure immunity from war,, our contemporary advocates a new settlement upon a portion of the

There is a mixture of the poetical and practical in the following, which is positively refreshing : — " This fair land " has basked for ages in the summer's " sun ; and long before the first New " Zealander trod these shores, its forest " waved in the breeze, solitary as " now. Has not the time come when " it should provide food for the starving " populations of Europe ? Is it wise " any longer to admit the absurd pre- " tension of Natives to ownership of " land on which they may have trod, " or looked at, but never cultivated ? " The moral right of the most re- ' cent arrival is as great as is "theirs to land in this condition." Now comes the description of the plan which the Taranaki Provincial Secretary made so palatable to the Council : — " Ifc is proposed to deal " with this land by giving fifty acre " lots to each actual settler, on the " condition of his clearing a portion of " the road fronting his land, aud within " four years clearing ten acres along " his road frontage." It is possible, as the Herald says, " that a large quan- " tity of land would very soon be taken "up on these terms." But, at whose expense ?)C The Herald admits that it would be necessary, in order to secure the settlers from " constant menace " that the lurking-places of the rebels, such as the Ngatimaru and Te Ngaire, should be " occasionally visited." This, we must say, is the most delicate way of putting it which we remember to have met with. " Occasionally visited." ! By whom, and for what purpose ? By a small contingent of that highly organised " permanent force " which Mr Stafford says the colony must pay for. Exactly. So that this proposal, when reduced to a plain business, matter of fact affair, is simply this — That the Provincial Government of Taranaki should be allowed to "give away," on certain terms, a block of confiscated land, and that the Middle Island should pay €7 out of every -£10 towards the expense of keeping a small force to " protect " the settlers. J That is what the affair means. Z3Md, though nofc so openly, that is what we qf the Middle Island are ashed to continue doing for the whole qf the North Island. Pay for the army which is necessary to protect settlers on confiscated lands. Ifc may be called by a hundred other names, but that is what it really is.