The Evening Herald. FRIDAY, FEB. 12, 1869.

Wanganui Herald, Volume III, Issue 530, 12 February 1869, Page 2

The Evening Herald. FRIDAY, FEB. 12, 1869.

The Hon. Mr Richmond is reputed Itojbera. regular contributor to the

press, and. be has the credit of having written one article in particular '' in_ the Advertiser of the Bth inst, on We subject of road-making-, as the quickest way to settle the present war, and most effectual in preventing- the contingency of future ones The writer of the article in question assumes that the enemy have crossed the Patea river, which is a mistake. His, reasoningl, however, is sound enough, as'ifc is not dependent upon the existing or possible movements of the enemy, but rather upon general principles. ".By far the most important part," he says, "of this (the enemy's) force, consists of the Ng-atiruanui tribes. The cultivations, of the tribes previous to the present.outbreak had been ominously scattered for some miles back throug-h . the,4eiise forest behind Kakaramea, Manatahi, Matangarara, Turoturo ■:.- : |fokai, and Kanae.*' He goes on to show that if the bush is the

natural fortress of the Hau-hau, the - rj OjOloDjreannot accept it as impreg-

. V Road making whether in peace p;r in war, is the way by which this j land" must be-subdued and civilised. Had Titokowaru been hemmed in at Turanga Ika or Moturoa, as Kooti .was at Ngatapa, and if above half his force had paid the penalty of their Woodthirstiness and cannibalism, the true .policy for the country would kave been at once to commence Siercing the depths of the forests of fount Egmqnt, the Patea and the Wanganui with roads. If, now, upon" fuller information, it appears tpat the rebels have returned to their former Itaingas, the proper mode of sappiner up to those dwellings is by roads.. The moral effect of such a proceeding must be enormous, if carried out with due deliberation and plan. It would be extremely likely to draw the enemy, if not in a .mass, at all events in strong parties,

to attempt what is so much the difficult warfare—the attack, If not, the mere steadiness of the operation, so typical of civilised as opposed to savage warfare, would infalliaby tend to depress the spirit of the enemy and prove more.than ever to him the hopelessness of the contest he has undertaken. It is scarcely possible to costruct any line of track through the table lands to the westward of the River Patea which would not he of direct use hereafter. The road to Ngutu-o-te-Manu .would be part of the ''mountain road" long-talked of as the proper means of communication between Patea and New Plymouth. We would not speak dogmatically on matters of detail, but it appears probable that the sort of work to be done would consist in the first instance mainly of clearing out broad belts of underbush, or, perhaps better, several parallel tracks with numerous diagonal lines of in-ter-communication, so as to allow flanking parties to catch on each side the main body, and if necessary to fall back upon it at frequent intervals. The distance between the trees in most parts of the New Zealand forest is sufficient for a tolerable dray track, if the ground is cleared of large roots and the abrupter undulations of the ground reduced by pick and shovel."

After discussing" a variety of details, an estimate is given of results.

" A. hundred men, supported by good covering- parties of natives and No. 1 Constabulary (Fraser's division), would, in spite of the manifold disadvantages under which such work must be done, cut ten miles of such a track and make it fit for bullock-carts in a week. The same process persistently carried through the three remaining stimmer months would.cut roads to every kainga of the Ngatiruanui, even the great Ng-aere swamp, where Ahitana, one of our most determined opponents, long held aloof, and perhaps still holds aloof, both from the Government and Tito Kowaru."

Such, we presume, is the Government plan for finishing up the war, and we,.think the colony|will approve of it./

vTrkival or the' Sturtv— The p.s. Sturfc arrived in harbor about 12.30 this afternoon, having on board the Hon. the Defence Minister and thirty Arawas, with a few women and children. She left the Manukau on Monday last, and experienced very rough weather during the trip. The present detachment of Arawas are regular fighting looking fellows, and paraded on deck, in marching order, with more regularity than many of the companies of Colonial troops would h|va done. Their blankets, neatly folded in waterproof sheets, were slung across their/-shoulders; their uniform is similar to that of tHe Armed Constabulary, and they obej*the British word of command. The Sturt starts again for Auckland, to bring down a further reinforcement frpm the game and other tribes, who were not prepared to start on the last trip.

The Royal Mint in Melbourne.— Mr Verdon, the Agent-General in London for Victoria, has, it seems, been successful in his efforts to obtain the establishment in Melbourne of a branch of the. Royal Mint. The Age, noticing his report, says :—Arrangements for the establishment of a mint here are pro- I gressing satisfactorily. The Orders in Council constituting the mint and describing the coin have been passed, and the machinery, which is in course of manufacture, will be completed by the 7th of February, and ready for shipment in a fortnight from that date. The architect (who is to receive an appointment in connection with the establishment) is now preparing the plans for the i building, and will leave shortly for Melbourne.

Goto Expoet.—The total value of gold exported from New Zealand in 1868 was £2,504,326; in 1866 the value of gold exported was £2,700,275. Auckland exported, in 1868, 43,611 oz, amounting to £168,874, against, in 1867*, 6,637 oz., value £20,700. The exports of the different gold producing places

for 1868, are as follows :—Nelson 9.599 oz., value; £38,396 • Westport, 127,376 oz., value £509,504; Brighton, J 4,340 oz., value £57,360 ; Greymouth, 97,279 oz., value £389,116; Hokitika, 156,959 oz., value £627,836 : Okarita, 6,222 oz., value £24,888; Dunedin, 163,089 oz., Invercargill, 8,548 oz., value £34,192. In Hokitika and Greymouth there has been a great falling off in the past year. In the former place the value of the gold exported in 1867 was £957,712; in the latter, £503,8-26. Since September, 1867, the Auckland gold has been entered at £3 3s, and the gold from, the .other provinces at £4 per ounce.

Health op the Forces. —The health of our little army fluctuates to a most marvellous extent. To-day, sickness may be almost unknown, and to-morrow the majority of the men may be going about doubled up, : and with pallid countenances, as if some epidemic had got in amongst them. The cause is so apparent that the men can tell beforehand when they are going to be ill. The fact of the case is, that the water, in some places where the men camp, is so bad that it is unfit for horses. There may be no running stream, in which case a well has to be sunk, and, as time will not permit to dig to any great depth, a swamp is the readiest place to reach water, which soon presents itself with a rery muddy appearance. The consequence is, that the men, in two days, are down with diarrhoea. The camp is removed to a different part of the country, where there is a running stream, and the men quickly recover. The worst of it is, that money would not buy a drop of rum, and the water has to be drunk, or they go without. At the redoubts there are canteens, and men are privileged to get drunk; but in the field, where two rations of rum a day would act like magic on the spirit of the men, it is not to be had. Colonel Whitmore would remedy this if he had the power, but the Defence Minister is what Ben Jonson called his plutonic majesty, and sees everything with an intellect sadly deficient in refracting power. At Wereroa, on Wednesday week, the divisions marched up, some of them without breakfast, and the whole of them fairly " baked." A march of six miles over broken country, in: a broiling sun and clouds of dast, without breakfast or a prospect of any at 12 o'clock in the day, and after twelve hours work with the spade on the previous day, cannot easily be imagined without experience. Most of the men were in this state when they were ordered to thread their way down and up the sides of gullies that fairly took the wind out of the writer, who had been on horseback previously, and is not physically weak. In the state described, with their lungs like a half-inflated balloon, a portion of- them were thrown into fern five> feet high, under a smart fire from the enemy, in the midst of such conditions the men naturally blanched—their souls had been shrivelled up because their bodies had been ,so much abused. A person remarked at the time, " O that the3e men had had a tot of rum at Wereroa! the Ilau-haus wouldn't long .remain in that gully." Colonel Whitmore admitted afterwards that the issue of the_ skirmish might have been different if the men could have had stimulants before going into action. We know that nearly every officer and man in the force will agree with us, that men on the march and in the field often require a little artificial excitement, and that a tot of rum at the right time is equal to a dinner and a few hours of rest; and where these are impossible it can be easily had!