Correspondence.

Wanganui Herald, Volume III, Issue 495, 2 January 1869, Page 2

Correspondence.

TO THB. EDITOR Or THE EVENING HERALD. Wanganui, Dec. 31, 1868. Sir, —Till I saw your paper of this |v^ning, I had not thought it possible for the Petition to the Queen, now in course of signature, to be so completely, misunderstood. I actually looked at the top of the page to see if I had not got hold.ofone of the Rimes' misrepresentations by mistake. Your leader represents the petition as asking the suspension of the constitution because " the relations between the colonists and natives have. been, unsatisfactory," " the latter have been treated unjustly," " have been .fighting^for their rights," " the Native lifnds Court is a failure?'"',' the Government have not means to carry- on the war, and the Aisemfcly' will refQse to ,v ; .<«"■" - *

supply them." , Now, if you will take the trouble to refer to the petition, you will see that the first four statements are quite incorrect, and the other two partly so." , The petition spates the case from the colonists' pointof view, as distinguished 'from those both of the Gorernments, Imperial and Colonial, and of the natives ; and asks the suspension distinctly on the ground that the war is an Imperial, and not a Colonial inasmuch as it arose ' from a penny-wise policy, which was instituted and maintained for Imperial ends, was contrary ,to the interests of the colonists, which the natives regarded as a wrong (and which therefore retarded and actually repressed their civilization), and which they ultimately resisted by force. In support of this argument it sets forth, i$ their order and relation to each other, certain circumstances in our colonial history^ and their effect on the native mind. That when the case is thus stated it becomes evident that, to a certain extent, and from their own point 6f view,'the natives had right on their side, is perfectly, true ; but this merely shows that the New Zealand., war is in this respect similar to those between civilized nations, where both sides certainly.think they are contending for the right; It is obvious that if we wish to give the home authorities a correct idea of the orHn and present aspect of the war, i&would ,be absnrdXto ignore the very element which affords the only means of estimating the determined resistance of the enemy, the reliability of the professedly friendly natives^and the extent to which it will "be necessaVy to prosecute the war. The suspension is further asked, not " because the Native Lands act is a failure, but " because the colonial legislature, in it, endeavored in vain to avert the danger."'.. TJiat ,act, as your leader -eccnrMi.to admit, is at this moment our only bope,-xne 3 «,w_^ o£ _ Us^ lmi(l th .darkness. Jt reverses - thepeTnry=Tvi»J2 policy, an<[ oyx'-repiesentatives, fin pass-' ing it, _ declare in the plainest manner that that policy was contrary to our interests; yet no .one, canfdeny that it has failed to arert the danger, of that it has so failed* because it was passed at least ten years too late, and after the progress of the war^made the natives regard it as a result of fear, rather than of a sincere desire to do justice. The \ general sense of the petition is,'that the Imperial Government,. before granting the constitution, and in granting it, got native matters into such a mess, that we, after'striving in vaip to parry the danger, • call on the authors of it'to.remedylhe evils themselves,, We all know that the contest has reached it's present gitch partly through "mismanagement and party spirit" among ourselves.; and as this was sure to be pointed Slit on the other side, the petition \t once admits the fact, and shoVs how even!tbese*evils arose almost directly -from Imperial legislation. In the same way, as it is impossible to ignore the power that Exeter Hall is sure 'to exercise in the matter, the petition endeavours to enlist it on outside, by pointing out how the penny-wise policy counteracted missionary efforts, and how, if we are left to,put down the natives* by our own unaided exertions, the war must almost^ecessarily beconfe one of extermination. . "*

As regards the main question, whether the constitution should be suspended, look at the position in which we stand, and the results of our^ colonial legislation ! Ar'e^they not summed up'm Stafford v. Fox,*provincialism v. colonialism, and capitals v. country districts, with a minus quantity of practical good as the practical result ? Look at. lasjt session ! Seven'weeks wasted, - and, no end of j moneysquahdered, in successive strug- I gles for place and pay, at the very time | when the flame of war was spi'eading over this island,*when every hour was of consequence, and when perfect freedom and ample funds to enable the Government to act with promptitude in suppressing the insurrection were imperatively necessary; and at length, when the unseemly strife was ended,, tnd a little wojk was hurriedly and' perfnric; toril.T done, a sum was appronriated^ Sox,the gear's war expeh»e^i|^Bta^ u/^;1

cient to conduct the contest properly f O i three months. We blame the ministry for parsimony in conducting the war even while we cannot make out where the money they are spending on it comes from; yet Mr Fox's ereat card last session was the cry that "the Government put no limit to native warexnenditnre. c grumble at the present ministry, yet we know that, as the assembly is at present constituted, to turn them out would only be to let worse men into office. \\ hat wonder, then, is it that navmono hope of anything better under the existing system, thinking men all over the colony, from the Speaker of th 9 House of Representatives downwards! sicken at seeing the colony (rows to ruin among continual disputes for selfish ends, and look to the suspension of the constitution as our best hope of lasting peace. I attach very little importance to the present aspect of public opinion as represented by southern island'meetings. We all know how patriotic resolutions are carried by acclamation, an'd^ subscriptions inaugurated at public meetings, and how the room clears as if by magic when the list begins to circulate. On the other hand, Mr Stafford told us, and his words are fully borne put by the. southern press; that "the, most formidable league ever formed by public men in the colony, brfPWen' formed to resist the father expenditure of south island monc ,-> : !n war or native purposes." Howevt' loudly, therefore! south island sympathy .iay express itseff in words, thegrain will bear little proportion to the chaff, so long as those who really hold the purse-strings are interested in closing them. In the saiie way, though you may be correct in as•ummgthat "the colony, if united, .is able to beat the savage," yet the fijct remains that we are not united, ajid cannot be so under a constitution whfch is a-- perpetual source of disunion i I have been surprised to find how general wthe feeling in favour of the suspension. bo one whom I have yet asked las declined to sign the petition, and othlsrs whose opinions I did not'know' hive sought me out in order to sign. ; j Your obedient servant, / j ■•|?; H. C. Fm.il: : [Apart from the pretty little sot-iis-' tries, our correspond^ ,>t'B position is verJF ridiculous. He vliffjfs that all the^riffs consequence- ofvlmpenal" misrule /^! the face of. this admiffiion^^ nr/;»- *?*• for, and advocates, rmpe^ia^^S once more. "The im^erlkV rnent did things wrong, and' they should have opportunity of setting them right"—is the principle our correspondent goes mion. It would be well to ascertain if England would reverse her former policy, before we ask her to step ''

in. Mr Field wishes to show that his sympathies are not with tht Maoris, but Iwith the colonists. We we afraid all his efforts will fail to convince ihe public of this. How many .signatures has he obtained ?—Ed. K. H 1 •