GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Wellington Independent, Volume XVI, Issue 1453, 11 September 1860, Page 5

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The following speeches from the debate which took place on the 16th August, show the views of several of our members on the war question. Having already given Dr. Featherston's views on the subject, we now give those of Messrs. Brandon, Fox, Fitzherbert, and Carter. The motion before the House was the following : — " That in the opinion of this House, the interference of Wirernu Kingi at Waitara, and his resort to force to prevent the survey of land there' rendered the measures adopted by his Excellency the Governor indiapensible for the maintenance of her Majesty's sovereignity ; and that the welfare of races Gf her Majesty's subjects perempt rily requires a vigorous prosecution of the war to a successfnl'termination." Mb. Brandon would respond to tbe pall of Colonial Secretary. He thought that on the present occasion no one should fiinch from expressing his opinion. He would assure the hon. gentleman that he (Mr. B.) would have no reluctance to declare on the hustings and to his constituents tbe opinion which he should now express. He freely absented to the latter part of the resolution. Whether the origin of the war were just or unjust he deemed it necessary for the welfare of both races that the war should be prosecuted to a successful terminatipn, — that peace could not be made or any negotiation for a cessation of hostilities entertained, until William King laid down his arms—until it had been made manifest to the natives that fuitber fighting was useless and that the pakehas wou\cl be the conquerors. But he disagreed entirely with the former part, viz., " That the interfeience of William King at Waitara and his resort to force

to prevent the surrey of the land there, rendered the measures adopted by bis Excellency the Governor indispensible for the due maintenance of her Majesty's sovereignty." He could not agree with that proposition, and laid the entire responsibilty of the war and present state of the country on the shoulders of the Governor and his Ministers. They were awaie of the disaffection which had long prevailed throughout a large portion of this island — they had selected the occasion for asserting the sovereiginty of the Queen, and, as he (Mr. B.) had observed on a former occasion, most unhappily did they choose their issue when they made the pur* chase of a paltry piece of land the occasion of hostilities — a purchase in which the Queen was the paity to derive the benefit. Why had they not selected some occasion to uphold law and order among the natives ? Had they done that, nine-tenths of the natives who were now in arms against the Queen's troops would have rallied round the Governor and supported them. He must also come to the conclusion, having care* fully read all the papers laid on the table relating to the present disturbances, and also the pamphleton the King movement which had been alluded to in the dsbates, and as an authority, that very great blame lay with the Ministers for not having done something to stop the movement, allay the feeling, and remove the cause of disaffection which had led to it They had been most neglectful and shewn themsalres thoroughly incapable in their treatment of the natives. Provision had been made in the Constitution Act for, the maintenance of the laws customs, and usages of the natives so far as they were not repugnant to the general principles of humanity. When the Governor found that he could not protect the loyal and well af» fected nativeslin the enjoyment of law and order, why had not the native districts been proclaimed — tbe chiefs restered to their former status and authorised to deal with offenders within their territories ? the chiefs might even been subsidized for the purpose. — " We want law and order, say the natives, — the advocates of the king movement. The Governordoes not stop murders and fights among us. A king will be able to do that. — Let us have order." Now for twenty years have the Maori es been taught civilisation and religion, and of course concurrently, obedience to law. The natives desire law and order. They have asked for protection and support, to preserve law among them* Belves, and have been refused. No remedy had been applied, and as far as be couid see none had been attempted. Could the present move* ment then be wondered f No action had even been taken on the legislation of 1858. The house had been told that the Native Circuit Courts could not be brought into operation in the Waikato, but it had not been told the reason why they could not — and he (Mr. B.) would ask if there were no other districts into which they might have been introduced ? It appeared to him that there had not been from first to last any attempt to put down the movement, but it had been permitted to roll on and on until it had arrived at its present head ; and now, with the greatest want of foresight, Government elected to make a dispute about a paltry piece of land the question on which to commence hostilities on the pretence of asserting the sovereignty of the Queen. He could but attribute the present disastrous state of affairs solely to the neglect and incompacityof the Ministry. It was true the war was an Imperial question, as was also the conduct of it ; and under tbe present relations between the Governor and bis advisers with respect to the Native affairs, the Colonists could not be made responsible for it. HccOuuludedby observing that the war having been commenced ought, he believed, to be carried on with vigour, but he did not believe that the conduct of William King had rendered war indispensable to uphold or assert the sovereignity of the Queen. Mr. Fox said he should not have troubled the huuse on this occasion but for the very pointed remarks addressed to himself and his colleagues, the members for the Province of Wellington, by the hon. member for Wallace County (Mr. Bell) and the Minister for Native j Affairs (Mr. Richmond). Mr. Bell had assured the house that he spoke under feelings of grave responsibility ;he (Mr. F.) did so no less. He (Mr. F.) should not, when this session waa over, return, as many hon. members would do, to tranquil homes far from the seat of war, or to garrison towns where they would be safe under the protection of the guns of the fort; he would take his life in his hand and go back to his homestead on the frontiers of the war — his place of duty — and there exercise whatever little influence he might have oyer the mind of either race in endeavouring to avert the calamity which yet threatened his district — a duty which, however incumbent on them, had been utterly neglected by the Government. The resolution before the House was not that which had originally been placed on the motion paper. The hon. the Colonial Secretary had originally given notice of a far wider and larger motion, but, for reasons best known to himself, and not indicative of any great faith in his cause, he had substituted the milder motion now before them. He (Mr. F.) should have considered the latter motion, like the address, as a mere unmeaning string of words ; but the members who had spoken upon it had given it a significance which it did not originally possess : and he should now be sorry to vote against it, or to walk out of the house without voting (the course he should probably pursue) without saying a few words in reply to what had fallen from some hon. members. First as to the defence attempted by the Native Minister against the charge of " sinister influences" having driven the Governor into this miserable war. He (Mr. F.) did sincerely hope that the hon. member would be able to satisfy this house and the public that he and some of his consti tuents were not the authors of the war — that it was not undertaken at their instigation. But he (Mr. F.) could assure him that such a report was not merely whispered in that house but loudly bruited about outside, and received very general credence. It was commonly thought that if the circumstances had occurred anywhere else than in the Province represented by the Native Minister, there would have been no war. The hon. member bad asserted that he knew nothing of the Governor's intention to buy Te Teira's land till it was determined on, and that he had had no communications on the subject from his constituents. He (Mr. F.) was qaite willing to accept the statement ; but the question was a far wider one ; it was the general desire of the hon. member and his constituents to obtain land at Taranaki, to which he had pointed as the key to this war. It was most unfortunate that, representing that constituency as the Native Minister did, there should exist documents expressing the opinions of his constituents, which the Governor himself had branded as an unworthy " attempt to coerce the Natives into selling their land." It was impossible that the unprejudiced reason of man should resist the logic of a sequence of such facts : — a constituency desirous of obtaining land, — a petition suggesting coercion to obtain it, — and a representative filling the office of Native Minister and His Excellency's adviser. He did

hope that the hon, member would be able to clear himself of tbe imputation— for the credit of the Government, for the credit of the Colony, for the credit of the British name.

Mr. Richmond did not know to what documents the hon. member referred.

Mr. Fox.— -His hon. friend bad an inconre* nient or rather convenient memory ; he (Mr. F.) would refresh it He referred not only to the famous petition of the Taraoaki Provincial Council, he also alluded to the letter of the Private Secretary, to Mr. Carrington of Taranaki. In that letter he said, "by direction of theJGovernor," that His Excellency had "reported at great length on Native affairs at Taranaki, and particularly in reference to a proposal to coerce a minority of Native proprietors who might be dif inclined to sell. He (His Excellency) expressed his opinion that such a course would be both uujust aud impolitic, and Her Majesty's Government had conveyed to him, in a despatch received by him, the other day, their unqualified approval of his views." '-There was no mistake about it ; — here was his Excellency's declaration that there had proceeded from Taranaki a proposal v to coerce a • minority of the natives into selling their lands." Therefore be (Mr. F.) repeated that when be connected that fact with the position of the Native Secretary, there was an unavoidable ground of suspicion, from which no limited or faint denial would clear the hon. member (cbeers from the cross benches.) And there was another point which led to the same conclusion. It had been repeatedly stated that it was the necessity of vindicating the suprema. cy of British law which forced the Governor into a war. Now, had this necessity arisen at Taranaki alone P No, be could point to far stronger and earlier instances of such necessity elsewhere. In Wellington Province a district had been purchased some six years ago by the Government. The purchase was complete — no outstanding claim, no breath ef suspicion tainted its validity. The General Government took possession and sold it in allotments to Europeans for hard cash. When one of these purchasers weDt to occupy his land, he found a jfative cultivating one corner of it, accompanied by a few women and one or two slaves. The Native who had come to the land long after the sale to the Government, refused to let the purchaser use the land he had bought, and cut down the bouse be attempted to build. A sub-Commissioner visited the spot and investigated the case. He told him (Mr. F.) officially and told the Superintendent of Wellington that the Native had not a shadow of a pretence to be there, and that he had ordered him to leave as soon as his crops were off the acre er two he cultivated; in the meantime the purchsser should occupy the rest of the section, and might build his house. No sooner was the Commissioner's back turned than the Native again cut down I the house which the settler commenced, and threatened his life with bis tomahawk. The General Government was appealed to and positively refused to interfere in any way. Subsequently several more Natives had come upon the land of other purchasers in the same block, and set the Governor at defiance. The land inrolved was far more extensive than the Taranaki block— there was no pretence of dispute as to title — the Gorerument had held undisputed possession and! actually sold it to Europeans, and the law could have been vindicated by a couple of constables. Why, then, this difference in the course pursued ? Was it that one case occurred at Taranaki, where the Native Minister was representative, and the other occurred at Wellington, from which there was no member of the Government having access to ' His ■Exeeiiecey's ear? The hen. member for Wallace County had urged that as the Governor bad gone to Taranaki and invited King to meet him, which the latter bad declined to do, but, on the contrary, had built a fighting p&h aud appealed to arms, His Excellency bad no choice but to take up the gauntlet or to come back toAuckland likeadog (as the honorable member had said not very respectfully) with its tail between its legs. This view was based upon a fallacy. The hon. member must go back to the beginning. His Excellency's visit was not till after the proclamation of war had been made, when King had already been told that the fighting law was in force at Taranaki," and he might well say to himself " I have no choice— the Governor has declared war agaiust me." Would any of us after eucb. a declaration have put ourselves in the enemy's power ? As regarded this proclamation, about which so much had been said, it could in no way justify anything done under it by the Government. All lawyers knew it was not worth the paper it was written on. A proclamation of martial law, if it meant anything meant the suspension of the British Constitu-tion-r-a thing which no Governor, nay not Her Majesty herself, could effect without parliamentary enactment. They ought to have red the Eiot Act, not issued a " proclamation of martial law." He (Mr. F.) was sorry to hear an atempt made to lay the responsibility of the manner in which this Proclamation had been issued on Major Murray's shoulders. It was no doubt, a monstrous, an unheard of thing, that a month before any overt act of rebellion or resistance to law had been committed, the Governor bbould have signed a proclamation and banded it over to the Major of a marching regiment to issue at pleasure, and plunge the Colony into war at his discretion. But the gallant M^jjor was not be blamed. Nobody expected him to exercise a political discretipn, or to be responsible in such a case. The whole responsibility rested on the Governor and his advisers, and it was not creditable to attempt to shift it to weaker shoulders which ought not to bear it. (Hear.) In conclusion the hon. member for Wallace County (Mr. Bell) had expressed his astonishment how any one who thought the war unjust at the commencement could vote for its continuance. He (Mr. F. saw no inconsistency. He disapproved of the grounds on which the Govetnor had plunged the Colony into war ; but the w*r was a fact, and it was now virtually a war of self-defence ; we had no prospect of safety but in its prosecution till King should lay down bis arms. Suppose that he (Mr. F.) should see a policeman endeavouring to taks a man into custody, and the latter violently resisting ; ho should certainly aid the policeman in bringing the turbulent fellow into tnecustodyof the law; but would thatprevent his condemning the policemen afterwards, if on inquiry into the case he found that he had been the aggressor ? In the same waj he felt bound to support His Excellency in maintaining British authority against King while in arms ; but that in no way compelled him to approve of the Governor's conduct in provoking a war, or laid him open to a charge of inconsistency for supporting him in it now that it was commenced (hear.)

Mr. Fitzhebbert bad not intended to speak on this subject, but as it had now become a general debate, he would assist in it. The main question had been shirked by Government in every way (" hear" from the Treasury table). Since hon. members could not define " mana" he would give them a definition. It was the principle of counting beads as excer-

cised by Ministers. Ministers cosnted and finding that they bad a majority, they say — " Now then say if the Governor was not right in the war." It was the " mana" or influence of Government over that House for favors past and favors to come. Ministers bad acted a treacherous part towards the constitution, and he in common with some other members imputed to those gentlemen in that oracular corner, all the difficulties in which we wtre involved ; from the evasive and unconstitutional manner in which the business of the country had been hitherto during the Session oonduoted through that House. And then they came down with that mana of theirs, that " head counting" system, at which no one was more adroit than the hon. gentleman at the head of the Government. Well, it must be very clever, but it was not very manly, indeed it was most unconstitutional, and mush to be regretted. The hon. member who had just sat down had been putting sentiments into the mouths of hon. gentlemen, and when he had set up bis imaginary nine.pin he knoked it over. He must have been very hard up for arguments indeed. Instead of Government coming forward at the very commencement of the Session, as tbe proper custom was, and as they ought to do with a full statement of their policy, it had been only dragged from bit by bit. Any Government that acted in that way (professing to act on tha principles of responsible Government,) acted a false and treacherous part towards the constitution. He protested against the sham of responsible government, which was attempted to be put on the House. Tbe Ministers had done all they could to lose tbe confidence, the way to have secured it would have been to have presented to the House their policy promptly, in a proper shape; But now, under the influence of the ministerial mana, they dared them to a division, and what effect would they have ? Then the amendment itself he thought was a mischievous one; he wondered what the hon. member for the Bay was driving at (laughter). What iudeed was the effect of their talking, if it were not to deliver their mind freely f Representative men assembled there when the Colony was trembling in the balance for its existence, seemed to think that that was a minor consideration, so long as they could avoid giving offence to the Government " mana." But whilst Ministers did not perform their part, he (Mr. F.) was free to confess that other gentlemen did not perform their part as a constitutional opposition. An inquiry had just been commenced, when scarcely were the mouths of the two first witnesses closed, than already at the Government table was framed a resolution which would have the effect of shutting their mouths. How, could Ministers account for such an extraordinary proceeding? Supposing in the case of the Crimean war, on a committee of inquiry being commenced, the Prime Minister had, when one or two witnesses bad been examined, endeavoured to choke the House of Commons with a resolution to the effect that " they were the best and wisest counsellors that had ever advised her Majesty," having first taken the bold precaution of procuring in his pocket a majority of votes. If, indeed, hon. members were only so many votes, then let them leave off calling them by the name of bon. member for the City, or hon. member for Wellington, but Nos. 1, 2, 3, to 40. (Laughter). But this original resolution had been altered ; he had thought that it was not in any member's power to withdraw a resolution without the consent of the House, but tbe Speaker had informed him that the resolution had not reached the stage at which that rule was binding. There was no prime minister in England* who would have so insulted the House of Commons by proposing a self-laudatory resolution, one inviting coafidence in themselves and blowing their own trumpets. (Laughter.) And then the hon. member for the Bay had taken issue on a minor point only. But this could not be made a party question, and be should decline most decidedly the invitation to vote upon it ; but if he had gone out without expressing hi 3 opinions he might have been liable to misinterpretation. Whereever lay the blame, William King had been treated in a most cruel and inconsiderate manner. That House and the people of the ' country had had nothing to do with the war and he would not endorse it. The result of Buch a vote would be that when ministers came to the House and said " We want so much to carry on the war vigorously," how could they decline it. The resolution was a trap. They had none of them considered the cost, they had had no estimates before them. They ought to have had before now full and particular accounts of what Government had spent and what they were likely to require. They had had a good deal of loose arithmetic talk but no state, ments, figures, and totals, such as Englishmen require. Was that the way to give their " generous confidence," which the hon. member for Wairau invited the House so freely to bestow. Ministers bad exhibited a great deal of virtuous indignation at the bints of sinister influences and motives which have been brought to bear on this, but they had not disproved their existence. He endorsed to the fullest extent tbe remarks made by his hon. friend the member for Wanganui. A Native Minister to go into war with the natives under his protection ! He could not forget, and the country would not forget, and it would not be forgotten at borne, that the Native Minister came from the seat of war and represented it. The bon. gentleman must recollect that in 1858 he (Mr. F.) had brought under his notice the condition of the people at Wairarapa who had been ejected from thpir land by the natives. The reply of the Native Minister was tbat it was too trifling a case for the Government to occupy their attention with. He (Mr. F.) had answered that they might be trifles to him, but were of the utmost importance to the unfortunate settlers themselves. One settler owned 600 acres, part of which was occupied by the Natives till that day. The Town of Featherston was not a purchase like Teira's, but it was an indisputable one, and of all purchases ever ' made, the least liable to exception ; but not only that one settler but others also had been driven from their land. A short time before he left to come to that bouse, another owner of 1000 acres wanted his money back from Government, because he could not get his land. This happened in Featherston Township, in the district of Wairarapa, in the Province of Wellington, and tbe General Government were acquainted with the whole of the circumstances. But there had been a prompt mode of action at Taranaki which was not exercised at Wellington, for what other reason, he would ask, but because it was to give Taranaki 600 acres of rich fat land — the vineyard of Naboth — the much coveted site of a township, and for that Government had entered upon the war, which they were now to call " indispensable," if there be any meaning in words, " that there was not a single loophole at which they could have crept out." Let them compare that case with the one he had put before them. Was there not a marked difference ? On the one side, a Crown Grant, with an indisputable purchase, and upon the qther, a purchase incomplete

disputed, and the money not paid. It wa impossible to say, on companion of the two cases, that the same degree of justice had been used in *ne as in the other. This is what he (Mr. F.) called sinister influence : vis., an in • fluence which was exerted in one direction when it was hoped to be likely to favour the constituents and immediate dependents of the Native Minister, but was disdainfully withheld in another direction when it was supposed, likely to hamper the settlement of a Province which had already been dismembered by the Minister for Native Affairs, without however, having satisfied his political vindictiveness against that Province. But who was this so sensitive about personal insinuations. Why, the very, Minister who had hesitated not to hurl anathemas at the head of a high dignitary — like another Hongi, claiming a monopoly of firearms, but deprecating the use of the samte weapons against himself. He (Mr. F.) would decline voting at all on this resolution ; and be would equally decline the invitation to fall into » trap. He again repeated, that there might be no misunderstanding in the matter, whilst he would hold no parley with men in arms ; yet he would guard himself against being cajoled into the acknowledgement that it was an indispensable war. The hon. member for the Wairau could not comprehed how they could say the war was unjust and yet vote for its con tinuauce. But they must recollect that they were at war with an uncivilized race who would deem us cowards if we made the first stop. The Governor had driven us to that course neces* sarily either to go on or to be charged with cowardice, and be exposed to the imminent danger of such an opinion amongst an uncivilised race. It was monstrous for the Government to get into this war and then ask the house to whitewash them; — a house whose opinion they had never asked before plunging into war. They were told that the war was indispensable — that it must have come a year or two hence, and that the country would then have been more defenceless than now. That was a most preposterous doctrine which he could not find sufficient words to repudiate They wanted to wash their hands of it, but it was impossible. He said the civil conduct of the war had been of a most disgraceful character. As the time for adjournment was at hand, and he thought he had performed his duty, he would not interfere with the arrange, ments of the house, but would merely observe that the war had not been proved a just one, and it was certainly highly impolitic. He could not call that indispensable which they owned might have been delayed for three years. It was monstrous to call it indispensable ; they placed in one scale the honour of the Governor and in the the other the possible massacre of the inhabitants of this Colony. He had heard reflections made by the Government on the military conduct of the war ; but, if it had been as bad as the civil conduct of the war, it would have been bad indeed. He (for one) merely regarded that as a herring drawn across the scent ; and the Ministry of this country would never be able to justify themselves before the great tribunal of public opinion (whether British or colonial) for having first armed tbe Maori by removing the restrictions upon the purchase of arms, then disarmed tbe settlers by permitting the exportation of arms, and then surprising tbe settlers one fine morning in Febrdaty by a proclamation of martial law!

Mr. Carteu said, Sir, the time of this Assembly is precious ; by law, its duration cannot exteud to more than between three and four months from the date of the opening of this Session: — yet the business of the House has hardly commenced ; and when I say, there never has been, in the history of this Colony, a period so fraught with peril to settler, to native, and to the prosperity of the whole Colony, I think I shall not be overrating the difficulties of our present position (hear.) We have had Maori disturbances before, but, then*, our wealth and population were small, and in considering the present state of the Colony, its importance is greatly augmented by the increased njagni* tudeofthe interests at stake. It must be remembered, taking only the last ten years as an example, that the New Zealand of 1860 is very different to the New Zealand of 1850 (hear.) At the close of 1850 our population was only 26,707 ;in iB6O it is upwards of 71,000. Our live stock in 1850 numbered about 300,000 ; now it numbers two millions (hear, hear). In 1853 the total revenue of the Colony was about £149,000— while for the year 1859 it amounted to nearly £460,000 ; and other sources of wealth have increased in a proportionate degree (hear.) Yet while this rapid progress has been achieved by the British colonist, the aborigines have decreased from a supposed enumeration of about 100,000 souls, to about 56,000 souls ; and while the former have full ofhope for the future, the latter have become gloomy, discontented, suspicious, and apprehensive — nay more, an actual state of war exists, which at first only counted its hundreds of sable warriors, but now numbers its thousands, and is hourly being increased and fed, by adjacent tribes ; and if not speedily stopped, must draw into its vortex tribe after tribe, until all are swallowed up in a general state of rebellion, when the destruction of life and British property will be something fearful to contemplate, (hear, hear) Sir, the Ministry have laid on the table of Ibis House a mass of valuable information : they have had it some time in their possession, yet we have been favoured with no complete or general statement, as to the real condition of the Colony, or what they propose as remedies, in the shape of a policy, for its present diseased state ,• and when the Colonial Secretary rose to propose the resolution now before the House, he seemed to treat the subject very lightly. I listened with regret and disappointment to his speech, which simply introduced the subject in a style somewhat flippant, not becoming the high position he holds. One would think from his manner, that the war would be finished to-morrow, or the next day, instead of knowing as he did, that three thousand armed men, our brave soldiers and settlers were hemmed in at Taranaki by 'a horde of Natives. We have also been left without explanations of theii policy as to the past, present, or future conduct of the war. (hear.) This House will bear in mind that the Colonial Secretary and his Colleagues — the Ministry responsible to this House — have by this house been treated with great forbearance : we must not forget that. They entered on this war on their own responsibility and unprepared for it; — they have continued it for six months without calling together the Representatives of the people j they, at each new step taken have planged deeper into it ; they have been worsted in the conflict ; they have been driven off British territory ;— they have shown us the way into a war, but not shown .us the way put of it. (hear, hear.) Sir, I trust in the grave situation in which we are placed, they will not long delay or conceal their intentious as to what is their war policy. We are, I think, all agreed that the war should be prosecuted vigorously— that W. Kin£ has taken the law into his own hands— and we cannot ireat with him till he has laid down his arms. In the Province to which I belong there is a deep, a

heartfelt sympathy for the settlers of Taranaki Wellington knows what a Maori war is on a small scale. The Hutt settlers barg not forgotten the time when their homes were plundered, and six of their fellow settlers murdered by natures ; aod while I thank the hon. member for Lytteltou (Mr. Ward), and the hon. member for Dunedia (Mr. Gillies) and other members of the Middle Island, for their kind offers of support, as regards the expenses of the war, I would ask them to excuse Wellington member* for feeling more deeply, and speaking stronger than themselves, on this war, living as we do on the; confines of the seat of war, and believing that! if the war continues, there is a great probability; of its extending, first to Auckland and Wanganui, . next to Wellington', and then to Ahuriri. I . may here mention that in the Wellington Pro* ' vincial Council, I voted for a resolution, ■ supporting His Excellency, in the vigorous prosecution of the war, but I guarded myself, against giving an opinion as to the justness of the war; and while I rejoiced at the spirit of His Excellency in taking up arms, as be said, in a just cause, I assumed three things, — first, —that W. King had no right to interfere in the sale of the Waitara land : but, from what I have heard in this House, I have now my doubts about this ; secondly, I concluded the Government were prepared for a war — such, was not the case, but just the reverse ; thirdly, I supposed the war would be prosecuted with, judgment and energy ; but instead of that it appears to me to have beea completely mismanaged ; still after all this, I am willing to take it as I find it, and afford the Government support in bringing the war to a successful termination. At the same time I think it is very important, that this House should understand what the Ministers mean by prosecuting the war with vigour, — by what means the war is to be carried on — and where the money is to come from. (Hear.) I was glad to hear the Colonial Secretary say, a few nights ago, that the amounts paid out of the Colonial chest had been small as yet, but he did not say how much we shall have to pay, on account of the pledge he has given, if the Imperial Government refuse to pay the Militia expenses, &c, the cost of which up to this time cannot be far short of £20,000. (Hear.) The House would like to know, if the war is carried on with vigour to establish the Queen's supremacy, whether the Govern* ment intend to put down the King movement execute the Omata murderers — and make the rebel natives pay the expenses of the war in. land (hear) This is desirable, but the Ministers must firstshewtho feasibility of the scheme ; if they intend to do so. In the district that I . represent we shall require five or six stockades, and every settler a rifle— and pay. Thus far, Sir, I have endeavoured to confine myself to the question before the House, the war, to the discussion of which I have listened with pleasure, except in one or two instances, when I felt pained when the speakers alluded to, and found great fault with Sir George Grey's native administration. Now while I admit that I never did agree with Sir George Grey's political principles, yet I will do him the justice to say that he restored peace, he maintained peace, and left the Colony in peace. And how was it done ? He travelled through the country, enduring privation and fatigue ! he interested himself in the social affairs of the natives ; he studied their language, their manuers, customs, and traditions, by personally visitiug them ; and when he left the country, his policy ought to have been continued, ora better one substituted for it (hear.) The natives iv the district which. I represent, very much complain that they have never received one visit from His Excellency ; I say this witn all due respect for the Governor ; | I say it believing that it is the duty of a representative to state frankly the wants, wishes and complaints, of the district which he represents, (hear, hear). The Government, too, have sadly neglected the district I represent, the natives have in two or three oases taken the law into their own hands, and when remonstrated with, reply, " we have.no justice to appeal it, what are we to do." The natives and settlers complain of the inefficient state of the administration of justice. At one time we were entirely without any ; now the district Judge, I believe, has only been once since bis appointment, and instead of going at fixed periods, cases or no cases, like a Judge on circuit, he considers it his duty to go only when there are a sufficiency of cases to try. Recently, a gentleman has been appointed as Resident Magistrate, priucipally I understand to adjudicate in Maori cases, yet I believe be labours under the disadvantage of not speaking the native language. I think it must now be apparent to this House that the present system of managing- native affairs, has resulted in a war ; and that a new system is required, to initiate, to restore peace, and prevent future war ; and I lake this opportunity of declaring that so long as the Imperial Government persists in retaining in its hands the exclusive control of native affairs, so long must it be held responsible for the payment of the cost of native wars ; and this was an Imperial, not a settlers war. Sir, I trust as this debate is about being brought to a close, that all angry feeling 1 that may have been engendered in the course of it, and the preceding ones, may subside into a general desire, to expedite and get through the real business of the Session, so important to the future welfare of the Colony. (Applause.) MISCELANEOTJS~KX1 > RACTS. Shovelling ojtf a Sidewalk. — Last winter an Irisbmau, reoentiy landed ou our shores, applied to a merohant ou the wharf for work. Willing to do him a kindness, the latter handed him a shovel, and pointing to the back of his store, told him to * shovel off the sidewalk. The merchant forgot all about the Irishman, until the lapse of an hour or two, when Teddy thrust his head into the counting [ room (which was up stairs,) and iuqnir- ; cd:— 'Mayhap yees'ud be haviu' a pick sir ?' 'A pick to get the snow off?' said the merohant, smiling. 'The suow'ud be aff long since/ replied Teddy, 'an' the bricks too, for that matther, but it's the si7e(soil) that sh'ticksl' In some alarm the merchant ran to his back window, and sure enough, the fellow had thrown nearly all the pavement into tho street, and made quite a hole. ' Good gracious i man ! I only wauted you to shovel off the ; suow !' 'Arrae, sir', said Teddy, 'didn't yuor honour tell me to shovel off the sidewalk?' The Moniteuu de la Cote d,Or.gives anaccouutof an extraordinary combat between a wolf and a ram, in which the latter was victorious. The wolf had seized a lamb in a flock, and was charged by the guardian ram with such resolution ' and success that he remained totally disabled on the field of battle the lamb being resoued.