The Evening Herald. SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 1869.

Wanganui Herald, Volume III, Issue 501, 9 January 1869, Page 2

The Evening Herald. SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 1869.

A Court of Enquiry into circumstances connected; with active opera-* tions in the field, while the war is in progress, is not the reflex of martial wisdom. War is not exactly conducted on the humane principles of a game of chess, where if your opponent is in danger you give him' warning to shitt his position. There are, however, observances among civilised nations, such as respecting the wounded" and prisoners, which are not, violated with impunity, and do assuage somewhat the horrors of war; hur, with a few exceptions, the object of all military rules is success. If there are isolated cases of cruelly on either of the hostile sides, they are put down as the incidents of war, and*overlooked. When the Federals made bonfires ■of pianos in the American civil war, it did not provoke any great feelings of horror or discord in the North, simply because the people were at war, after the Csesarian and Alexandrian models.

There was no sickly or puerile senti--1 ment about what others would say: 'there was no home country, with fte bands of missionaries telling- the .■people ■ that "ignorance was bli&s" am^ng themselves, but that they should be continually giving to have the heathen instructed.—the sequel . being that the money filtered through missionary hnnds. Suppose a play is put on the stage, and that amid the rattle of musketry a Court of

Enquiry is sitting upon some poor fell< w who has been killed; what would the audience say ? -What is the Colony to say, then, about a Court of Enquiry uion two Hauhnus being killed, and twelve men

taken from us in battle, while the enemy is still at. our g-ates, and a ruinous expenditure g-oingl on ? Our Government must surely be in that, demented state which it is sain the gods induce previous to destruction. Our readers will hardly believe, but it Js a fact, that f.he enquiry is to turn upon Kemp's letter about. Mr I'd win Wood, which appeared a short, t'^me since in a contemporary! l^ha Government are seeking1 hy «T<>i-y means in their power how not to settle the war, and their industry

is being- rewarded. Hostilities we suppose are to be suspended until the court closes ; for a great many officers will, nr> doubt, he called to. jxive evidence of one kind or another, | whose services are required in the field. And after the oourt has elicited all it can know, what then is to be done ? Matter will he afforded for a fortnight's discussion in the Assembly, when the White Maoris will p-o into the raMes! It is strange that this distrirt, which has always expressed itself st.ronp/ly on the subject, should have been cnrsed by the presence of a native ng-ent. The sis'ht of Mr Parris drew forth execrations from all classes; but a worse than P;irris is here, and the people raise not a protest against it. We sne-cest that the Court of Enquiry should consider the propriety of having a native agent, of low intelligence, nmong-st us, and whether the native office is not a nuisance which, the Colony should immediately blear away.

The Fire.—We regret to notice that Mr P. A. Chavannes, late of the Rutland Hotel, has declared himself insolvent.— Mr. Chavannes will receive the warm sympathy and consideration of all parties as he is the victim of a ruinous calamity. Although but newly resident in WangaI nui, he has made many friends. His ruin was effected in a couple, of Christmas hours. We hope to see him rise again, Ph(B|fix-like, from the ashes ! T^leinforcements. —Nearly 100 armed constabulary have arrrived in Wanganui during this week. The Charles Edward, from the Grey River, came in on Tuesday, bringing upwards of 30 recruits ; and the Wanganui, yesterday morning, landed a further addition of 62. A very large majority of them are young, strong, and hardy-looking men, and no doubt will, after a little drill at head quarters, be found doing good service at the front, whither, it is rumoured an onward movement will shortly be made.

Caledonian Society.—The members of this society met at the Jockey Club Hotel, yesterday afternoon, when it was unanimously decided, that the funds, amounting to £24, now in the hands of the Treasurer, shall be equally divided between the Patea Defence Fund and the Ladies Benevolent Society. This is as it should be, and the committee have acted wisely in the matter, seeing that the latter bodies are in active operations, whtfst the Caledonian Society will be a de/d letter for'some months to come. In these disturbed times, when so many persons are leaving Wanganui, it is gratifying that a great number of those who went away a short

time since are returning—a sign of confidence in the ultimate prosperity of the district. The Wanganui, yesterday morning, brought back a goodly number, in addition to whom were several new arrivals by the Wild Dnck from London. Amongst the latter we hail with pleasure the return of an old and much respected col6nist, Mr P. Strachan, of No. 3 line, who left this on a visit to the old cluntry about twelve months since. \J Cavalry Parade.—Col. Lyon inspected the Wanganui Volunteer Cavalry this morning on the Market-place. He read a despatch which he had received from the Defence Minister, censuring the Cavalry for deserting the Commanding Officer with a paltry excuse, and making a rash attack upon the enemys 1 pa; and praising them for their daring and brave conduct on all occasions. *,Col. Lyon was most willing that by-gones should be by-gones, and hoped the cavalry would distinguish themselves in the future, as they had done in the past. Trooper Hughes was then brought forward, and the finding and sentence of the court martial were.read by Col. Gorton. The court found prisoner guilty upon all the charges. The evidence did not show that the revolver was pointed " at them," and he would get credit for this. The sentence was, three month's imprisonment with hard labour, which the Commanding Officer remitted. Capt. Hnnimore, on behalf of himself and Troop, thanked Col. Lyon for the leniency be had shown, The Troop will leave for Camp on Monday.