THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. "Vérité sans peur.” Wanganui, July 18, 1861.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 5, Issue 244, 18 July 1861, Page 2

THE WANGANUI CHRONICLE AND RANGITIKEI MESSENGER. "Vérité sans peur.” Wanganui, July 18, 1861.

Tins defeat of the Stafford ministry, by a majority of 24 to 23, would not of itself give much occasion for j >y' to the friends of the opposition. ■' But the circumstances in which the victory lias been gained gives it a great importance. - !r -'The- ministry have been defeated oil their own battle ground, chosqn by ihem a year and a half ago, entrenched, fortified, and strengthened, with all imaginary appliances, of party -warfare-—blue books, mer moranda, despatches, quibbles, arid innuendoes. Latterly, driven to desperation, they hurled stink-pots, after the manner of the Chinese .filled with the most disgusting epithets (cowards/ knaves, slaves, &c.) at the enemy ;blit all without avail. The ; opposition, headed by Mr. Fox, advanced steadily, countermining all their insidious underground attacks, defeating all their open opposition, discovering or rendering vain their ambuscades, until now they have obliged them to evacuate the post. Mn Fox boldly attacked them, not merely on what were looked on as more especially their weak points — 1 their finance, and tlieiranti-provincial& despotic tendencies—but on their conduct of the war ; and has exposed so much- weakness and incapacity in its commencement, its conduct, ami its partial termination, as must make the colony believe, that if he' isr able to form a ministry 'strong., enough to carry on the Government, affairs will be in safer and more energetic hands. -There ....has been, we are aware, forsome time back, a considerable distrust of Mr. Fox in the Wanganui district—which began with the lublication of his letter previous to the meeting of : last Assembly. All candid persons must admit that he has acted in an open, honest; and 1 consistent mariner, whatever opinion they may hold as- to the now threadbare question regarding .the commencement of the 7’aranaki contest. A real war seems about to commence. Mr. Fox has unequivocally declared his opinion respecting it. No one here, can object to him on that score now. And it must be felt by every one, that the interests of this province, and this particular district, are likely to be looked after under a Government of-wliieh lie is the head*— not .neglected and contravened as by the late ministry. We need not speculate on the probability of his success in forming an administration. A few days will bring us the result of bis endeavour to do so. If he is successful in this first step, there is every reason to believe, from the-position he has taken up, that we shall have an effective administration both of Native and general Colonial affairs.

The advent of a new .ministry naturally induces a cpnsideratipn .of. the position hi .which the great question of the day-—'the great questiou which,.will, test , the,, ability of the new ministry—the Native' question, ,now stands. It seems as if war, were* inevitable/ The drift in the .Native mind towards what must

be ,a casus belli, has long been evident, aipl no vigorous attempt has been made I ’, to- stopithe current. The Governor has now informed thP Waikatos, —who are the head and front of the movement, —of the terms on which her Majesty is willing to accord to them her protection, and the rights of British subjocts. He has implored them, almost in abject terms, to break up their’ confederation; and- return?’ to ~ their allegiance. .He has told them that their disaffection cannot be tolerated. It is curious that he has not told them, that however great the number of troops required to carry on the war to a successful issue, they will be forthcoming ; that resistance on their part is hopeless ; and that if war is once begun, every acre of their land will be taken from them.

They have replied, that they are resolved to stand by their King ; that they will remain at peace so long as the Governor does riot interfere with them; and that if he employ force against them, they will resist through the length arid breadth of the Iririd/* . v ‘ ' Thus the two pairties stand' opposfed to eaeh other. The question is that of the Queen’s supremacy; for we •do not think, with Dr. Featherston, that it is merely a question of law and order with them. ’ At one’time, no doubt, it might be so; even yet a great mariy of them may not have got-be} ond that idea; but there can be no doubt that the great Maori JTarwick —Wm Thompson, the King maker—and his numerous followers,have the idea of a distinct, separate, and independent kingdom, y/nd a separate government is considered necessary by them, not only for the purpose of maintaining order, but also especially for the puFpose of preserving their; land from the encroachments of our Government.

Is there, then, in this state of things, any possibility of avoiiling' a 'collision ? Theextreme’desirableness of avoiding a collision, is evident. Wot to mention otherconsiderations, there are those. It is really the Tault of the Governrnent’ that this’ideplorable antagonism of the natives .exists.; has bought land from them, allowing no one else to do so, and is in their eyes an unjust monopolist. They -foci themselves aggrieved by the very measure framed for their protection. They have been petted and spoiled, arid allowed to fight among ; themselves " as they pleased. Afeminally under our government, they have really been under none; and the evils of anarchy have become so great; that they have been"olliged to establish a government of their own. They feel the benefit of it. 7'iieir self-importance has "been greatly increased by it. They apprehend . their reduction into a kind of political serfdom if they leave their present position. 7’he admiration which their acuteness ami energy, called into action by the Government’s neglect, exeie, , makes a ; collision exceedingly deplorable; 7 T hen there is the more selfish, hilt most important ■ consideration/ of -the' ihevi table 1 and heavy loss that must be occasioned to/the -et tiers, should the last resort of arins be appealed to, and the war' not-be ‘confined to Waikato. We pointed out last week the amount of property in this district exposed to l loss, and urged the necessity for taking measures to save as much as possible. But though all is done that can be done, a great immediate loss must be sustained, directly'from plundering, and indirectly from the present cessation of farming operations, and a great ultimate loss from the limitation of these operations in consequence of' crippled resources. Another consideration is the ddficu’ty of bringing the war to a successful issue. We'have ; no faith in the exaggerated ideas of the Maori strength, so industriously circulated since Sir George Urey said that it would require 50,000 troops to subdue the natives: To carry on a successful war in the old stereotyped fashion might require -such' s 'Bint a number of well directed siiriultaneous attacks on the disaffected districts, from various quarters, in’small jarties of a few hundred men each, properly armed, and fighting in the only way the natnrei of the country will allow, would very soon stiike such wholesome terror into the Maoris, as would induce unconditional submission. /Still, a considerable loss of life must be expected, and it is probable that one summer might not # see the end of the contest. A fourth consideration is the heavy expenee of the contest. It is impossible to come to any approximate idea of the expence, but looking at it in the most favourable light, and- supposing the colony has nothing further to pity than the charge of keeping iii arms her own population, the expence must he very heavy. Debt means taxation. Taxation means diminution of immigration. And that means.stagnation of trade, and want of capital to -develope the resources of the country.- It may be said, that it cannot be worse than it is. No. But the question is,' whether it cannot be. made better, without involving the' settlers irngreat personal;l6sst'and! iiL'hekvy national; debt. But what means can be' used for this purpose ? In the offers-of Ilis Excellency and in tlie proposal of another conference of Kohimarama there is evidently no virtue. Why ? Either because the offers themselves are. disagreeable and. unsatisfactory.to the natives, or because they -have-lost confidericri in the Governor, or for both of these reasons. The latter of the two is to some extent done away with. His Excellency indeed is still there, but the change of ministry, and the recent great change in His Excellency’s views in regard to the Land Purchase Departirieut and system hiay have a powerful influence in inducing the natives to look without'prejudice at . the terms offered to them. The terms already offered by the Governor' Mr/ Fox has endorsed; and lie lias pledged himself,- if.'.able-to form an administration strong- enough io carry on thegovernment, to act on them as the basis of negociationS with the natives. But these terms if appears are not agreeable to them. What proposal added to the terms would swCetea

the .bitter pill ? There are these. 7’he King : may ;be .-allowed,io cotitVmje.’as trustee of .their land/which-is virtually., his present; office, but under another name, " They may be-allowed under certain regulations to bring their land into an open market if disposed : to sell it. , A government of. their own for themselves under the superintendence of British magistrates may be given them. This .last proposal in volves the payment of native magistrates. It is very possible that some sucli proposal will be made to them before active operations commence. It is not improbable front the desire evinced by the Waikato runanga for delay and discussion that such proposals might meet acceptance. They might consider them a concession on our part equivalent to what we demand from them in the pulling down of the King .flag and opening up of the country. Nor , would such , terms be objected to by the ' '' :.

• ...If some such proposals were made and accepted, the whole of -the,, present difficulty would' be terminated-;, but for some time a considerable military force would be required in the- country, until all the new machinery of government was set agoing, and any jarring which might accompany its first operations fairly settled. /f some. such proposals are made and not accepted, .-then it must be evident to the warmest admirer of,the maori race that the utmost limit of forbearance has been reached, that past leniency has had an injurious influence on their partially enlightened minds ; and that they must now be driven, as they cannot be enticed, into the path of obedience.

Tire following are the ayes and noes in the division on the motion of want of confidence by Mr. Fox, after, three days debate—the 3rd, 4th, and sth insts., arranged according to the Provinces.... No ; good report of the debate lias yet reached us. ; Ayes 24. Auckland, Messrs. Wood, Munro, R Graham, G. Graham.O’Rorke, Carleton,! C. J. Taylor,;\Villiamson, Henderson. Wellington, Messrs. Fitzherbert, Carter, Brandon, Rhodes, Reuall, Featherston, IV. Taylor, Fox. Nelson, Mr. Saunders. Marlborough, Mr. Eyes. Canterbury, Mr. White. Otago, Messrs. Mantell, Kettle, Dick, M'Glashan. Noes .23, Auckland, Messrs. Russell, Mason.. Firth, Butler, oWeill, Nixon, Hawke’s Bay, Mr. Ormond. Taranaki, Messrs. C.- W. Richmond and J. C. Richmond. Nelson, Messrs. Domett, Wells, A. J. Richmond, Stafford, Curtis. Canterbury, Messrs. Wilson, Weld, Hall, Cookson, Rowley, Jollie, Creyke.; Otago, Messrs., Frazer & Bell.