THE WAR IN NEW ZEALAND.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVI, Issue 1501, 1 March 1861, Page 3

THE WAR IN NEW ZEALAND.

Recent events in two different quarters of the world suggest two very different estimates of British prowess. In China nil army of 10,000 men, mostly English, have defied an empire the nominal military force of vtliicli exceeds that of any Western Power, fighting their way through a difficult oountry, carrying by assault strongholds fortified with all the resources of Chinese ingenuity, scattering in wild confusion that Tartar cavalry which was once the terror of Eastern

Europe, aud finally pitching their tents aud dictating terms oa the very walls of a capital containing 2,000,000 o*' inhabitants. Contemporaneously with these I events a drama of a totally opposite | character has been proceeding in New Zealand. There a force of 3000 effective i men, comnaimdetf by a veteran general, aii.il with an unusually large number of colonels and other officers, amply equipped with artillery and all the munitions of war, drawing its supplies by sea, and backed by a British fleet of six ships of war, cau hardly hold its own against a horde of naked savages, never exoeeding 600, and now probably reduced to some 120, armed with wretched flint aud steel rnuskots aud tomahawks, unprovided with the sccuitiest apparatus of warfare, and almost destitute of subsistence. The last advices from the colony of Mew Plymouth passed for satisfactory, for we were assured that most of the natives had returned home to plaut potatoes, and sanguine hopes were entertained that advantage might be taken of this inglorious respite to accomplish some decisive operation. But the mail which has just arrived damps all such expectations. It is true that the uative force was reduced to much less than one-tenth of that at the disposal of General Pratt, but it is equally true that the throe expeditions which had been made since the former acoounts had proved futile, that the most brilliant exploit of our soldiers was the demolition of a few empty pahs, and that wherever resistance was offered, even on open ground, they fell back. It would be ludicrous, were it not so disgraceful and disastrous, to hear that a tiumpery stockade interlaced and strengthened with green flax, cannot be breached by a 68-pounder, or that an Europeau force nearly as large as that with which Clive won Plassey, and aided by aitillery, must wait for mortars before it can advance agaiust another similar positiou. Yet these are simple facts, and give by no meai)3 an exaggerated idea of our dis> comfiture. The northern natives, whose voluutary retirement* has alone relieved ! New Plymouth from a state of seige, have carried with them " horses, sheep, cattle, carts, and plunder of all sorts," the property of our ruined settlers, whose wives and families have been, deported for safety to Nelson,. aud who are themselves huddled together in the little town, without being able to strike a blow in self-defence. Meanwhile the tribes about Wellington, as well as those which inhabit the Great WaikatoValley aud still profess friendly intentions, are said to be deliberating — not how they shall make their peace wiih the Government — but whether having already sent Wiremu Kingi large reinforcements, they shall extend the theatre of war by making an attack upon i Auckland.

Seven attempts seem to have been made iv the course of the present year to dislodgo the Maories from their rude fortifications, and in every case we have sustained or simulated a reverse, though in one it was retrieved by the gal lav try of Captain Cracroft. The first was on the 15th of March, when Colonel Gold had an unfortunate skirmish with the natives near Waiiara. The second was Colonel Murray's famous attack on the pah at Waireka, on the 28th of March, when, after the regular soldiers had been recalled, the pah was carried and the volunteers rescued from destruction by 50 blue jackets. The third was Major Nelson's less discreditable repulse at Waitara on the 27th of June. The fourth was on the 10th of September. Reinforcements had iv the meantime been received from Australia, and General Pratt took the field with 1500 men. No sooner did the natives open fire than a retreat was determined upon, though the volunteers were ready to advance into the bush, and we blush to add that one dead body and several military accoutrements fell iuto ihe bauds of an enemy variously estimated at 100,50, and " less than 50" strung. The fifth was on September 19, when Major Hutchins, with 600tnen,|abandoned the attack of a large pah for want of mortars. We are unable to fix the date of ihe sixth, but the force which retired, numbering 500 bayonets and three guns, was under Colonel Leslie, and was said to have had strict orders not to return the enemy's fire, in case they should interfere with the filling up of certain treuches which served as a cover for native marksmen. The last was ou the 9th of October, under General Pratt, with about 1000 men and some heavy guns. This expedition had uot returned to eanip wheu the mail left, but it had already declined the siege of a pah of somewhat more than average strength.

As we read the catalogue of these disasters, bloodless enough, it is true, but infinitely damaging to our reputation in New Zealand, we are driven to review all our notions respecting the military superiority of civilised over barberous races — of disciplined over untrained troops. Either the Norman conquest of Ireland, the Spanish conquest of America, our own early campaigns in India, and the French in Algeria, must be mythical events, or the fortunes of the Maori insurrection must be regulated by some very exceptional causes. If a new " Robinson Crusoe " should be writteu while this story is still remembered, the relative numbers of the savages and the Europeans must be reversed, and the latter must be made" to retire "in good order " before a handful of uatives, without even waiting to be shot down. No one of our many correspondents attempts any explanation of the matter, except the obvious presumption that the military authorities, to whom an übsolute discre-

tioa has been given by the goverooir^;^ must be unequal to the responsibility^; "S Can it be that the very insignifioauois^;^ coupled with the boastful iasoleaoe,'-;o'f : |v;,|| the enemy unsteaclies our men and :p\izo. : f% zles our commanders, just as at chess : a ■!''■% bad and reckless player is sometimes/ a ; ;J more formidable antagonist than -a masV ;;; 3 ter of the game? The phenomenon / would not be absolutely without parallel^ 1 4 for the famous British column of Fonte- V Y noy was made of the same stuff as those ;r Dragoons who fled like sheep before tKe v^J famished and half-armed High lan- ;- ; J tiers at Prestonpans.. Undisciplined r < valor, though no match for superiority pf Sf^ organisation alone, has sometimes proved ; .;v,j!| more than a match for organisation and' v:l numerical superiority together. It is^; very natural that the colonists Bhouldci% clamour for reinforcements from England,- :; aud much is expected from, the arrival of; r the 14th Rogim^ent in December. ;Jbut the ;f home Governtiaeut may well feel that if / numbers could insure success the troops now at Tarauakt are more than enough [;::': to crush auythiug short of a general Maori rebellion, and of this the best 00---counts assure us that there is little pros- V pect. What the true remedy 'may be it i9v- 'i for the Colonial office to discover ; o^^;^ duty is done when we have eliminated thfcil "■■' J salient facts, so as to exhibit the magni-'v tude of the evil.

It is not the most peculiar, but it is one of the most vexatious perplexities connected with this war, that the legality of those proceedings out of which it arose is openly challenged. Be this, however, *s it may, we contend that the primary question is purely military. Whether! Tom Taylor and William King (designated in native doggerel as "Te Teira" and "Wirerau Kiugi'V were in t the "joint ocoupaucy" of the disputed block, or whether the laud substantially; belonged to. the former, subject to a tribal veto on its alienation — whether the, selfish desire of the New Plymouth settler* to secure a good site for a new port and capital, represented by JViiv Richmond, influenced the governor to violate a principle which he bad already laid down — whether the subsequent investigation of title was ex parte or fairly conducted — whether this plot of land was appropriated us " a wedge to oust theresidue" of the southern natives from the choicest districts of their own soil — are points that may properly be reserved for subsequent discussion, and ought not to be prejudiced by the issue of the present oontest. .Or_der must precede liberty, and^no government can listen to armed renjonstances, especially wheu they take the form of outrage and rapine. Many of the natives vow in open hostility to the Queen's authority have not so much as the pretence of a grievance, and are ravaging our homesteads, after the manuer, of border warfare, out of mere lawlessness and love of plunder. If we left the management of native affairs to pur colonists we should not, strictly speaking, owe them any assistance in the present crisis. J3ut from motives of justice and humanity we reserve the control of this department for the home Government, aud suoh a reservation of power involves corresponding obligations. One of these is that ot sacrificing all consideration for individual feelings and interests to the pnramouut necessity of re establishing the Queen's authority and protecting her subjects, however humiliating the confessions or engagements that justice may. afterwards require to be made. — Times (of December 20). , ;;;

[The following remarks on the' New Zealand question we extraot from ail Article ia the Spectator of December 22: — "It is to the activity of the eoclftgidistioal allies of the natives in rebellion that we owe the misrepresentations of Cotbtiel Browne's oonduot at home and in the colony, A.ichdeacon Hadfield has done his best to destroy the political character of the governor, and he has only been too well supported. The English publio, however, are always open to any broad and candid appeal to their sense of fair play ; and we are glad to see that Protessov Browne, of Cambridge, has undertaken the task of vindicating, his brother's character. We refer our readers to his pamphlet, entitled ""The Case of the War in New Zealand Stated j" and we do so with confidence, beoause we have travelled over the same ground, investigated the question from the same authentic sources, and oan therefore testify to the fairness of Professor Browne's statement of the whole case of war. Those who have been' busy in demonstrating, by means of convenient omissions, and strained interpretations, the sneering proposition that Colonel Browne;is an 'expensive -Governor,' will have to revise their views. We -have' had many, 'little wars/ but it would b& vefy difficult to find a little war which has sojustifiable an origin, and which there was no way of avoiding but by dastardly submission to the lender of the Ribbon Lodge of Turanaki."] — Home Neio>, Deo, 26,