THE RECENT ATTACK.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVIII, Issue 1881, 13 June 1863, Page 3

THE RECENT ATTACK.

(From the Taranaki Herald, June 6.) i It is very cheering that tbe first important move of General Cameron has resulted iv a decided success. The plan of action at Tataraimaka on Thursday last seems to have been equally well devised aud executed, — especially iv the all-important element of rapidity — and the result was wbat might bave beeu expected aud shows what English soldiers can do when properly led, and tbat the way to deal successfully with rifle pits iv open ground is to take them at the point of the bayonet, aud not bur row timidly and painfully up to them to find them empty at last ; the latter way being, as is generally the case with courses dictated by moral cowardice, by far tbe most prodigal of time, of labor, and of life. The loss inflicted on the enemy was large considering his slippery nature ; and it seems at first sight a little curious that not a single Taranaki should be among the dead, but it is accounted for by remembering that they were all in the pas on the hills, and had hardly time, even if tbey had been so minded, to come down to help before it was all over. If among the killed there are, as is probable, any up-river natives from Wanganui tbe position of the outsettlers of that settlement would be critical, and we hope the Governor has taken all the | means in his power to make them aware of the danger as early as possible, seeing that the natives of that neighborhood will probably get I the news of the battle to-day, and, if inclined for mischief, may tuke their measures very promptly. Tbe effect of the news on the natives generally will be, we think to hasten their decision, as was immediately the case with Mataitawa mentioned below. There is a question of serious importance to which we wish to call public attention. On what principle are the wounded men and others of the hostile natives who fall into our hands to be treated. It is certain that some at least of those returned as dead in the fight on Thursday would have been among the wounded it the battle had been between two civilized nations; that is to say that some wounded Maories were killed by our men. Is $jbis the prinoiple wbioh is lobe adopted hereafter throughout the war? We

I will not say absolutely that it is wrong, morally i and politically, tbo'ugh we firmly believe it to be so— to be neither Tight nor expedient. We cannot plead the dire necessity of a. struggle for I existence which might justify such a course: and it seems to us that it is not by killing those whom we have already made helpless that we shall convince the natives of our power, or of anything else what it is desirable they shonld he convinced of. It is certainly not the natives who can complain if we treat their wounded as they treat ours. Tbe injury is not so much to a savage enemy as to our own character when < we follow such an example, — though it is diffig cult to blame men who have not been warned against it for retaliating upon the natives the cold blooded butchery of their comrades and friends almost within tbeir sight. But it is not for us to say whether sufficient reasons exist for adopting tbe law of retaliation, which is a rough and not a very high onf# What we do say is that if snch a law is adopted it should be done openly and avowedly, not left to be decided by men in the beat of action j and if it is not to be adapted, let every appearance of it be repudiated aud carefully guarded against. It cannot be denied that a great part of the exasperation of the men, soldiers and settlers, comes from the way in which the half-caste prisoner lately taken has been dealt witb, or rather not dealt with. At the time of bis capture he had upon him tbe strongest presumptive evidence of being concerned in the unprovoked murders at Wairau, and yet not a single authoritative word has the Governor or Government said to show that he is to be bronght to justice. The leniency exercised and the severity allowed are unacci)U"table ; and we hope that the colony will hold the Governor responsible for what is done until he speaks out authoritatively on both point 9.