WAIKATO.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 4, Issue 198, 5 July 1860, Page 3

WAIKATO.

[From the.-/Southern Cfoss,l9th June.} No fresh intelligence is supplied by any of Out Waikato correspondents, but the opinions expressed are; upon the ,whole, reassuring. One of the best informed among them thinks that there is every likelihood .of peace. He considers the . flagstaff partly. as a test, or feeler, to ascertain the feelings of the Pakeha, whether for war or peace; and partly as an assertion of nationality. He believes that the king movement, if let alone, will come to nothing ; that if-let alone it will die out like a fire not fed.- There is no bond, in his opinion, to keep the tribes,.together but there, is a strong spirit , of independence to keep thorn apart. When Potatau dies they will be all at sixes and sevens. ■ - ’

We nevertheless still preserve our belief, entertained from the first, that the land league will prove bond of union strong enough to hold them • together. . The reasonableness of the grounds on which it was formed, and the moderation with which-the leaguers proceeded to carry their viewsx- into effect, betokened, from the very ontset, permanence of action. ; -1.',.. .. •

It has been long perceived.by all but those Who resolutely blind themselves to what is going on before their eyes, that .any system of dealing , in lands, not based upon ordinary commercial principles, must! inevitably break down in the long run. It waß: found possible to bolster it up for a while no system of bolstering can be permanent No unprejudiced person, having the slightest pretence to acquaintance, with the -native character, or with their hard-bargainrdriving propensities, can really believe that ‘ the ..natives would remain content to sell their 1 land for coppers to the Government,, that it might be resold for gold. It was idle, from the 1 first, to preach to them about, contingent advantages, telling them that the difference would be spent upon public works, in the advantage of which they would partake. They, like'ourselves, hold firmly to the faith that ofie bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. IB Would have been idle, even had the assertion'foefen true; but it never was true, and even The last semblance of truth has been.. taken from it by the handing over of the .land revenile to the provinces. Even now, land could be had’in abundance by paying the price for "it, 'and although the Government cannot afford- te pay that price, the settlers eanv'iand willi if they have leave. upon land purchases and. sales—is the original cause of the discontent which JiasHed to the land league; and tne presents war is, in fact,a desperate attempt to force < through. a system that has brofam.down:- « /Ahe** Government re--fused to leave the system ; they saw the sysr tem leaving them ; they foundrthey could not get the land on the old terms mfiy longer, yet could not bring themselves to confess that they had been in-the wrong, 1 or that.lookers on had seen more of the game than -themselves ; the more they were reproached .:with their folly, the more.they ; were determined to brave it out ; and the result of what .is now said and done, being; interpreted*, amounts in fact to this:—“ right .system: ;oe wrong system, we will have the laud; ■.even ?if'T fight for it.” /Then the bill comes io be paidt, we hope that the Horae forget;that, in disallowing the TerritoriMdß-ights Act, they have themselves precipitated the war. The land might have been had,on better terms. That other and collateral causes have operated'in. producing' the (feep-s&tecl feeling of discontent which now,' per\spie3 tlie Maori mind, is true ;• tut this, wiu'clrwe haVe named lies at the root of all. The refusal to place them;upon a footing of equality with in spite' of out inucli profession,

they feel anil know that they are treated asj inferiors—lias gone far to keep them aloof fmm.lus ;. but evenVinVtbis,Ahe disability uhder, which they are placed 'th'regard 1 ' t&'Uieir laftdb ;is-intimately connected. - Even what counteracting influence we had 1 at,our disposal, has been '"destroyed by’ ah.error of departmental arrangement to which we .have already adverted; —the conjunction of: the land-purchase department with the native office. Such influence as the Government had'Was exercised through the native secretary and' liis subordinates. It - was they, who: had to soothe, to reason, and to explain. An& so Tong as it appeared to the natives that the native secretary was a disinterested .party: —that he had no latent object to attain, there was a possibility of his retaining their confidence. But so soon as the native office became implicated with the land’ purchasing, motives were attributed. To every argument used the answer was ready,—“ you want our land, and are manoeuvring to get it.” ,; ' f

' If we are to cure the disease, we must remove the cause. The time is past for palliatives. But hitherto we have been trying experiments upon the symptoms, when we ought to have beeu eradicating the malady itself. '