THE Wellington Independent "NOTHING EXTENUATE; NOR SET DOEN AUGHT IN MALICE." SATURDAY MORNING. 2nd JULY. THE " WESTMINSTER REVIEW " ON NEW ZEALAND.

Wellington Independent, Volume XIX, Issue 2082, 2 July 1864, Page 2

THE Wellington Independent "NOTHING EXTENUATE; NOR SET DOEN AUGHT IN MALICE." SATURDAY MORNING. 2nd JULY. THE " WESTMINSTER REVIEW " ON NEW ZEALAND.

At the present juncture, when so much of the future prosperity of the Colony 1 depends upon the state of public opinion at home, it is extremely satisfactory to find an English writer taking a view of the New Zealand question substantially identical with that entertained by the majority of the Colonists. We allude to a remarkably able Essay on New Zealand, which, appears in the April number ef tho Westminster Review. ' Never before have we seen the facts of our Colonial history put into so accessible a shape and made such good use of. The writer has either helped to make the history he records, or is largely endowed with what has been called " historical tact." Guided by principles and analogies, derived from history and the study of human nature, he goes at once to the root of th» evil from whence all our artificial troubles have sprung-— lmperial Interference. Others there arc, native to the soil, but, as the Essayist inconteatibly proves, the fruit of the Imperial tree is not only bad, but cannot possibly be good. " New Zealand," he says, " has been the victim of good intentions — of harassing watchfulness, and needless interference— in fact, of over-nursing. The Benjamin of Colonies, — -the youngest and best beloved, — she risked the fate of the apeling that was smothered by its dam. Nostrum after nostrum was tried upon her, though all that was needed to ensure a hardy growth was to have turned her loose to shift for herself. The lesson has now been learned an/Laofced up to, but at no trifling cost and somewhat late in the day. Experience has at least been gained, and a subject for an instructive book (should any one be minded to take such a work in hand), which might be entitled ' Errors of Colonisation,' drawing etamples from the case before us, and showing how all might have been avoided by simply placing a little confidence in the rightmindedness and practical good sense of the Colonists themselves." "The Comedy' of Errors" we should rather have suggested as a title, were it not for the tragic issue — an internecine war, an enormous expenditure, and, by way of anti-climax, a hot dispute as to who shall pay the bill.

After pointing out how far back wemust go, in order fully to understand how baneful has been the influence of the Colonial Office, where Governors advertised themselves as " the real original Maori sympathisers," and as the Colonists maintained, made " political capital out of the Maori — keeping all quiet by palliatives during their respective terms of office, but never venturing upon any effective measure for their permanent benefit ; each in turn looking to the time when he should escape from the Colony, bequeathing his difficulties to his successors," the writer shows how eauily New Zealand might have been governed by being let alone. " Government," he says, "'was' 'or might have been* an easy task, because the character both of the settlers and of the natives was »uch as to make it so. Of the first we need say little, save that in social station, education, and intellectual ability, they ranked far above the ordinary average of Colonial pioneers. Since the days of the cavalierg of Virginia, there has been nothing to equal in this respoct the original body of emigrants to New Zealand." Such men, the writtr justly argues, might have been trusted " to take care of themselves, and as the sequel proves, of the Natives*lso." That the Home Government's vant of confidence in the Colonists was a mistake experience has proved. " For it stands upon record that they saw their way forward more clearly than did the successive officers appointed by the Home Government; the principles enunciated by the leaders ofpublio opinion among them having made their way, ono by one, and being at this moment in practical opera-

tion."

The writer having sketched the salient features of the Native oharacter . with remarkable force and accuracy, points out the mistake made by the Home Government in considering the Natives " not as men ' of like passions with ourselves, equally selfconfident as ourselves, acting from the same motives, and Bubject to the same errors, but as children. The Government,—^ Rome Government be it remembered, — forthwith proceeded to pamper the child, and the .attempt, far from winning confidence, was resented. It was perfectly understood and appreciated."

" The ruling passion of the Maori," saya the writer, " the mainspring of his conduot, is to ' como off quits,' — to be even with every man, whether friend or foe. For everything but hospitality he must have an equivalent : blood for blood ; service for service ; rights for cession of rights. And with an equivalent, though not indisposed to beg for more, he is certain ultimately to rest content. That upon which everything rests in Maoridom, the dominant institution, is Uttj, generally translated payment, ransom, reward ; but which taken in conjunction with its congener, uto, may rather be described as " measure for measure."

The writer then gives a brief but correct history of the land question, which, as he remarks " is substantially the history of the Colony." With the very best intentions, the Home Government did their utmost to demoralise the Natives by their conduct with regard to the land, breaking down those notions of justice which the Natives understood, and substituting in their place forms of law of which they knew nothing. In truth, the whole history of the relation subsisting between the If atives and the Imperial Government may be summed up in one sentence. The Home Government having attempted to serve God once by making the treaty of Waitangi, served Mammon for ever after by land-jobbing.

Throughout, it is evident that whatever cause of complaint the Natives may have, little blame attaches to the Colonists. On all occasions the intentions of the Colonists have been at least as good as those of the Home Government and their knowledge far greater, so far as Native affairs are concerned.

The Essay concludes by expressing approval of the principle of confiscation. "It is clearthafc thelandsof therebelNativesmust be charged, so far as they suffice, with the cost of the war. It is also manifest that, owing to the complication of tribal tenure, nothing short of arbitrary power could deal effectually with the variety of causes that must arise. Nor is there any likelihood that the powei* will he abused." We think this opinion, coming from one who evidently rates native rights very highly, is particularly valuable just now, when there is reason to fear that the old distrust of the Colonists is beginning to revive in certain quarters. We call particular attention to the sentence we have placed in italics. Half confidences are proverbially mischievious, as well as somewhat, insulting. It would be well if people who follow the old system of advertising themselves as the " real original Maori sympathisers," both here and at home, would cease to think that an Englishman becomes a icoundrel directly ho becomes a Colonist. It is surely high time to get rid of a prejudice, totally unjustified by facts, and the source of numerous evils.

It is because the Colonists feel themselves the victims of a course of conduct based upon this prejudice, that they " maintain," to use the worda of the Essayist, " that neither morally nor technically are they specially res* ponsible for the cost of an Imperial war, though far from being unmindful of the efforts made by the mother country in their behalf, they are willing to contribute as far as the limited resources of the country allow. There are no symptoms of a niggardly spirit among the thinking men, by whom, and not by those who pander to the passions of the hour, for the sake of catching a few stray votes at an election, the feelings of a country must fairly be judged." This unquestionably expresses the general opinion and the only thing that can alter, it will be any symptom of a return to the old " want of confidence " policy. It is therefore in the interests of the Imperial Government, as well as of the colonists and the natives, that we advocate the complete abandonment of a system which is irrational in principle, and acknowledged by its former supporters to have " failed " in practice.