E—No. 3.

NATIVE INSURRECTION.

Enclosure in No. 41.

To His Excellency Colonel Thomas Gore Browne, Companion of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand, and Vice-Admiral of the same, SfC, Bfc. The humble Memorial of the Provincial Government and Settlers of Taranaki,— That rumours have reached this settlement from Auckland, that strenuous efforts are being made by several influential persons to bring about a premature peace between your Excellency's •Government and Wiremu Kingi, in terms which would place the British population*at Taranaki iv a more humiliating attitude than the one they occupied the commencement of the present hostilities. That for many years, and especially since the murder of Rawiri Waiaua, , the settlers of Taranak i have felt the insecurity of their position in face of a jealous native population which has never been thon ughly subjfcttd to British authority. That when your Excellency took up arms to assert Her Majesty's supremacy, the whole British population here cordially tendered their support. They knew the dangers and privations they would have to encounter, but they wore cheered by the hope that they would emerge from the war, free from future insecurity. That the settlers of Taranaki have well sustained their promise, as has been warmly acknowledged by your Excellency. They have had their homes devastated, and their fellow settlers and their children murdered by hordes of savages, biought from Taranaki and Ngatiruanui at the instance of Wiremu Kingi. They have been compelled to abandon to the chances of ajjsavage war, their well cultivated farms, and their numerous flocks and herds. To secure* the safety of their familips, they have had to endure the deprivations and discomforts of a crowded town, and the deportation of their wives and children. They trust this endurance may meet its reward at the hands of your Excellency. They are still prepared to brave, as they have braved, the inevitable dangers and trials which a continuance of the war will entail, but they entreat your Excellency to consider the position in which they would be placed by anything short of a complete establishment of the Queen's authority. Many would rather abandon the hearths for which they have lately fought, to commence again the arduous labours of founding a new home, than run the risk of being again subjected to the domination of a savage race. That the opposition of Wiremu Kingi to the sale of Teira's land has been uniformly based by him, not on any unsatisfied claim on the s:<id land of his own, or of any other member of the tribe, but on his pretensions, as chief, to control the sale of all lands belonging to his tribe. The exercise of such an authority, with the consequences necessarily flowing from it., is incompatible with Her Majesty's sovereignty in this Colony, and most fatal to the interests of both races. That the present war has been undertaken by your Excellency, in consequence of your determination to uphold Her Majesty's supremacy, in opposition to the aforesaid rights claimed by the chiefs of tribes ; and the conclusion of any peace with Wiremu Kingi, or any other native chief, by which the aforesaid pretensions are not finally annulled, would therefore, in the opinion of your Memorialists, be tantamount to a declaration that Her Majesty's supremacy cannot be maintained in these Islands. Your Memorialists, therefore, pray that your Excellency will not make peace with Wiremu Kingi, upon any terms in the least compromising the Queen's supremacy. And that as regards Taranaki and Ngatiruanui Natives, that no peace will be made with them, until they have been severely punished for the barbarous murders committed 4 by them, upon unoffending and helpless settlers. And that compensation will be exacted from them for the various losses sustained by the settlers, in the marauding expeditions of these natives. (Signed), G. Cutfield, Superintendent. And 22 other signatures. New Plymouth, Taranaki, April 25th, 1860.

No. 42. MR. TANCRED TO SUPERINTENDENT OF TARANAKI. Colonial Secretary's Office, Auckland, 28th April, 1860. Sir,— I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Honor's Letter of the 26th instant, transmitting a Memorial to the Governor from the Members of the Provincial Government, and other Inhabitants of the Province, praying that His Excellency will not make peace with " Wiremu Kingi" upon any terms in the least comprising the Queen's supremacy, and with the Taranaki and Ngatiruanui Natives, until they have been severely punished for the barbarous murders committed by them, and compensation exacted from them for the ruinous losses sustained by the Settlers.

207.

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