The Star. FRIDAY, FEB. 13, 1880.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3694, 13 February 1880, Page 2

The Star. FRIDAY, FEB. 13, 1880.

We regrot to observe that tbero has been a very general indisposition on the part of the Press of New Zealand to disouss tho merits or other* wiso of the claims of tho Colonists to the possession of tbo Waimato Plains. Wo havo had this par* tioular field all to ourselves. Such is tho extreme sensitiveness of tho Go* vevntuenfc the Press and tho people of this most Christian Oolony, to be sure that in marching on to the lands whioh are olaimed by our race bub wbioh havo always been in the possession of tho aborigiuies, that no voioe ia heard ask* ing if this morally ia justice. Oloarly ib is not tho law of the savage, and we havo advanced enough to throw vory strong doubb whethor ib can bo accepted as the law of tho civilised. In Oypruo there is famine; in Silesia 160,000 persons requiro relief; in Roumelia the people aro perishing by thousands ; in Ireland there is famine actual or threatened, and ac a truly Ohrifltiian people, we sympathise warmly with their distveeDcs, as wo ought to do. We are engaged patriotically, aud as warm-hearted Christian mot), in raising funds for tbo relief of Irish Buffering — most praioewortby and lionourftbk-r-

--an I we should not be in tho loaßt surprised if separate Committees and separate subscriptions woro to be immediately instituted for the relief of the distressed — the famishing people — in every ono of tbo countries webaven&mcd. As a oomtmmity, our Christian instincts are deep and broad and moßt catholic. Tho only drawback to all this fa that here, amongst ourselves, wo aro actually marohing forward to bloodshed without adequate — if any — justification, and tho voice of Pross and people is dumb to question either tho justice, the charity, or the mcroy of the proceeding. Wo have got our Martini-Henrys, our Gatliugs, and other modern instruments of murderous destruction; tbo Maori has been* denied tho uso of arms, he has been kept from a knowledge of that most effective of civilising agenoies — gunpowder. Wccan slaughter them wholesale and rightly or wrongly ; we mean to have these lands. Maroh on boys ! In the holy name of the Most High, march on ! We deoline to stay to ask whether wo have just cause of quarrel or tho shadow of right upon our side ; we refuse to discuss that part of the question ; our most Christian enthusiasm has ken excited, and we shall take possession of the coveted plains. It may bo robbery, it may end in wholesale murder, but our Christianity, our devotion to the principles of love and peace and oharity is unimpeaohable. Surely never was any invasion of a oountry held by another race perpetrated after the manner of that whioh is now in progress under the authority of our Government. We aro not provoking bloodshed — oh no ! Oar Boldiers are not soldiers at all; they are merely road* makers — emissaries of peace — that peon* liarly ecoentrio Christian peace whioh so distinguishes us. If war arises, we at all events shall not have caused it— our men were peaceful men engaged npon most peaceful work. Tho responsibility for the bloodshed will rest upon the Natives. Let us imagine, it possible, the army of 350,000 Russians whioh we were recently iuformed by cable had been gathered npon the frontiers of German-Poland, throwing aside their uniforms and assuming the garb of labourers and .marohing into Germany — taking all their weapons with them of course — for the purpose of pcaocfulty and most magnanimously making new roads through that oountry. Even if they did not claim the soil —as onr Go* vernment in tho case of the Waimate Plains does— is ib at all probable that the German Government would not resent puoh an outrage—craftily disguised as ib might be P If wo claim the Waimate Plains as properly our possession won from the Maori in yeare gone by, if we mean to take them by force and hold them l>y force, why cannot we go about the business in a plain, honest, straight* forward wayP Why not march the armed constables forward in their true oharaoter as armed constables, and assert the military occupation of tho country openly P Whence the necessity for all this humbug of making a road to Parihaki with whioh we have no commerce, nor are we likely to ever have anyPWhom do wo hope to deceive bythese false protences— the Native population, or the people of England P Surely there is something extremely derogatory— ex* ceedingly contemptible— in the exhibibition of onr Volunteers ond Armed Constabulary working alongside of their loaded guns making a roadway that will never be used, solely as an excuse for their being there at all P Surely, if as colonists we have rights, we do not need to advanoe them under such paltiy pre* texts as these. We do not believe that a parallel for such an extraordinary peaceful-nr'itary invasion as this can be found in any history — anoient or modern. We do not Beem to have the pluck to say straight out what our purpose is, or what we really mean, and this shuffling, hypocritical, treacherous course has been characterised as a "well conceived policy." The Government found several hundred armed men waiting upn the boundaries of tho disputed Plains. They eaid in effeob " These men shall no longer stand waiting idly there. We shall employ them straight ; they shall go forward and take the lands whioh we claim are ours ;" and had they sent them forward ?n their true oha«-aoter their oourse would at all events been honest and straightforward. But that peculiarly distorted shrewdness, which is skilful only in evasions and subterfuges, could not fo)tow such a path. Oor rights obviously were nob dear. Wo had no business to invade the Maori lands, and so some pretext, no matter how shallow, , had to be found. It was found, and itj is a pretext that deceives no one. Our; soldiers are soldiers still. They live inj fortified places, keep etrict guard, and: aro never without their arms. Now] they have got on to the plains and the road — that most vain* able monument-- has been com* pleted, the difficulty is to get off again without a most serious loss of prestige. Are they to stay there for ever, and what will happen when they withdraw P Perhaps those who hold that the iiva* sion of the Maori landß wn a wellconceived policy, will answer these highly important queries.