THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. "Vérité sans peur.” Wanganui, June 21, 1860.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 4, Issue 196, 21 June 1860, Page 2

THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. "Vérité sans peur.” Wanganui, June 21, 1860.

The “ White Swan” arrived at Wellington from Auckland on the loth inst., with Mr. McLean on hoard. She-is to wait for the Chiefs in the Southern part of the Island, who intend going to Auckland. The “ New Zealand Advertiser” publishes intelligence from Taranaki to the Bth of June. At thaf date Mr. Brown’s life was considered in danger. Nothing bad taken place at Waitara. On the sth of June some houses in thes Bell Block were ransacked in the sight of the settlers who were not allowed, to. interfere. The troops are to act on the defensive in the mean time. It was rumoured on. the Bth iust., that the' Ngatiruanuis had arrived at, .King’s pah. The “ New Zealander” and “ Southern Cross ” give details "of the Waikato Meeting, publication of which we are obliged to defer till next week. .....

The excitement which has prevailed, in this settlement for the last few days is.of a more serious character than that which brought so many of the settlers into, town two months ago. It is more serious, not because it is more reasonable, but because it has been occasioned by thp authorities in the place, and has caused much greater inconvenience. The authorities, how k ev;er, are not so much to be found fault with as the Vigilance Committee, as it was on their* earnest as will be' f seen from.;the. -report ofqeedings in another column, kindly furnished us by their learned and excellent chairman—that the measure’ was taken,; which 1 egused what mpy. be almost called a panic among many of;the out settiersi* It is with extreme reluctance that we call in question any part.of the proceedings, of. this committee, as the. gentlemen composing it have, done good service in-the performance of an important duty, and are entitled to the gratitude of the community

for the Rouble they are taking, and for the l 1 made for the protection of'the district. But we doubt very much fh*e propriety of the resolution they passed last Jfriday, in. consequence of which some of »the?r owninumber so kindly undertook to give ! t¥e alarm'’to the out settlers, and did so on Saturday, in some., cases where only women and children were at home, and where therefore the greatest terror was occasioned,. • until, those'returned who ‘could.'estimate the intelligence at its true value. • *. s, ’ • Whether there was good reason for any alarm will be seen from the following statement offsets.- On the 15th,-a letter dated the Bth.of June at apa abont 50 miles up the river, came to Putiki. It does not greatly: matter who,wrote it or who received it, otherwise we woHld? mention the names, 1 although gentlemen representing the . Vigilance committee haverthought it more prudent not-to do so. ' TlAe can be no - doubt- .as to the tlie/ letter; and ifctfs.'iHur. titled to full consideration. seen by the extract, which "contains ail in it that bears on the apprehended attack, that a proposal was made at Waitara, on , what day, does, not appear, by chipf, that part of his tribe along with* the Waikatos there should attack- Taranaki, and the other part, go' to Wanganui. To this proposal , the Waikatos agreed; and the writer of the letter requests the Putiki natives' not to allow the Ngatiruanui to pass to Wanganui.. The first question that naturally, arises- in the inihd : of the ‘ fbader of this letter is—was the .-meetingj, referred to a meeting of the Ngatiruanui tribe? Maories are not very particular as to a few days, and not much reliance is to be placed on their;.dates ; but we suppose that -the-mes-senger who. Jbrqught: the- intelligence gto the writer of the letter, could not have left. Waitara than from the..first',.t#' .the .third of -Jun& ;p'the journey froijft Kingi’s pah up the Waitara'aud across to the Wanganui may be accomplished in three days, but it is more likeJy to take a native five or six. From a comparison of dates we have been led to . the conclusion, that there were * only about 60 iVgatiruanuis. at Waitara at the date of the meeting, and that consequently it was not a meeting of the tribe, next point obvious in the letter is, that there was nothing more than a proposal; Jt may -be supposed that those of the NgatirUanuis ; present agreed to it —although of that there is no evidence-^—but it is extremely improbable that the whole tribe had given their consent. Before that consent was given no action could take place; while no doubt such an important movement —a, movement "changing entirely the nature of the war-pwas not likely to be agreed to JeaLotLsneakincr and consultation; so that such a rapm movement as was apprehended was extremely improbable. But, further, that the letter is.intended to intimate a hostile descent is exceedingly doubtful. The : natives who received it did not understand it in that sense. The Maori scholars here concurred 1 indeed in supposing-that that was the meaning of the terms used, and to their opinion we are inclined-to. py all due defe- > rence ; but on the supposition that the Putiki > natives said what they thought, we would be inclined■ to. believe their version to be the coirect one.

Keeping these considerations in view, and adding to them the fact that the Vigilance Committee resolved on. giving the alarm before they really knew the contents of the letter—we think the conclusion justifiable, that they aUmwed!their feelings to':get-the better of their judgment, and acted in the matter too hastily.

To .the- Circular sent round to the outsettlers there are grave objections. Those , who received it must have at.once, concluded that it was the natives in this district'who were referred to instead of men who a few days before were distant 150 miles, and that the peril must be imminent which rendered- such a warning necessary, when in three or four days accurate intelligence would be obtained. We say nothing about the alarm caused in town, or at, Turakina and Rangitikei, in the course of Friday afternoon and evening ; because it is exceedingly unpleasant to allude to it; and we are. only induced to refer to the matter at all, because it is absolutely necessary-r-unless all cultivation is to cease, and the settlement be reduced in the course of a few months to a state'bordering on poverty—that the minds of the outsettlers should be tranquillised by a statement of facts,-so as to enable them to proceed.iuninterrupiedly with .their, usual avocations/

Since these remarks were penned we learn that three Maories, who were sent out to the north in order to. gain intelligence,-have returned with the information, that if any Ngatiruanuis come south it is with the view of holding their pa at Wlienua Kura, which, it will be remembered, theywere lately strengthening to serve as a place of refuge in case they met with a reverse at Taranaki. These Maories-also report,-that-the Waitotaras threaten, to shoot any white mab who ventures on their land, but that they have po idea’..of attacking:us.i- J >’l ? .. 1 ‘ ~ From our local intelligence, it will no doubt r be observed with much satisfaction, that the civil and military authorities are so ready to co-operate with. the. inhabitants by -means of ihp- Vigilance Committee, and also more direc£jy, in the measures that may be necessary for the protection of the district; .'