E—No. 3b,

NATIVE AFFAXBS,

No. 1. COPT OP A DESPATCH FKOM GOVERNOR SIR W. DENISON, X.C.8., TO HIS GBACE THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. Government House, Sydney, Bth June, 1860. Received, August 10th, 1860. My Lord Duke, — When the Governor of New Zealand applied to me for assistance in the difficulty which had arisen between his Government and the Maories, he sent up for my information a sort of a manifesto drawn up by Mr. Richmond, one of the Members of his Executive Council; a copy of which I transmitted to your Grace with my Despatch No. 42, dated 12th April last. In my correspondence with Colonel Gore Browne, I alluded to the exposition of the policy of the Government contained in this document, and I received from him the more formal document (which I herewith enclose) drawn up by Mr. Richmond as the mouthpiece of the Ministry at Auckland, explanatory of the opinions entertained by the advisers of the Governor, of the state of the relations between the Maories and the white population. In a private letter to Colonel Gore Browne, a copy of which I take the liberty of forwarding herewith, I have commented upon the document put forth by his advisers, and have at the same time sketched out a course of policy, which would as it appears to me, remedy many of the evils which have arisen out of the anomalous system hitherto pursued towards the Maories. If the present state of relations between the two races is allowed to continue, outbreaks like the present will occur periodically, demands will be made for Military assistance with which it will be difficult to comply, and claims for assistance from the Imperial Treasury which will not be willingly responded to, and which, if entertained, will only serve as precedents for similar demands from other Colonies. A change; therefore, in the mode of dealing with the Native Race in New Zealand is urgently required, and I trust that in bringing, as I have done, my views of the character of this change before the Governor of New Zealand, and in submitting them to your Grace, I shall not be deemed to have meddled presumptuously in a matter with which 1 have no concern. I have, &c, W. Denison. His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, &c, &c, &c.

(No. 63.)

Enclosure in No. 1. Government House, Sydney, May 16, 1860. Mr dear Gore Browne, — The mail having closed, lam more at leisure to look into and discuss the contents of the printed documents which you sent me, containing the expression of the views and opinions ef your Responsible Advisers in the present state of Maori Affairs. Ido not think that you have derived much information from this document. The views and opinions of your Responsible Advisers are to all appearance confined to these : First, that they ought to have something to say in the discussion of questions having reference to the Natives (of whom I may observe, by the way, they are in no way the representatives); and second, that as they are unable to defend themselves, England should step in to help them. With reference to the first of these opinions, I may observe that the collision between the races would have been precipitated, had the settlement of questions affecting the Maories been left to the white men, who have a direct interest in obtaining the principal article which the Native has to dispose of—namely, his land. With reference to the second opinion, every one will of course admit that the Mother Country is bound to defend the Colonies, and to help them out of difficulties; but there yet remains these questions—Against whom are they to be defended? and, What is the nature and extent of the assistance to be afforded? Mr. Richmond's papers, however, open up a much wider question than was, I think, contemplated by him and his colleagues—nothing less than that of the whole policy of the Government as regards the Maories; and to this I will now address myself, taking as correct the statements made of the facts relative to the establishment of the Presidency of Potatau, but exercising my own discretion as to the admission or rejection of the inferences whether as to the motives which have influenced the Natives in their movement, or as to the results which are likely to flow from it.