JL,r~ No. 1

4

DESBATCHES EROM THE GOVERNOR OE

minds of the loyal Natives by the official announcement, in the midst of the most dangerous crisis that has ever occurred in the history of this community, to the effect that the last British soldier will be removed in next Eebruary from New Zealand. It is of course impossible to explain to the Maoris the grounds of the complete change which has taken place of late years in the views of the Imj.erial Government with regard to the military protection of the Dependencies of the Crown, or the mixed motives which induced one of the conflicting parties in the New Zealand Legislature to advocate the so-called " self-reliant policy," without taking any steps to create a permanent or effective defence force. 12. It is earnestly hoped and believed here, now that the Colonial Barliament has signified its compliance with the conditions offered, that the Imperial Government will not insist on the immediate withdrawal of the single regiment which still garrisons (besides Auckland) the towns of Taranaki, Wanganui, and Napier, that is, the chief centres of European population in the districts where the present rebellion is raging. The recent massacre of the English settlers at Boverty Bay* was accompanied with atrocities as dreadful as any perpetrated during the great rebellion in India. The Colonial Government is making every possible exertion to raise, throughout New Zealand and also in Australia, recruits for the permanent force which it maintains in the field ; while almost every adult male resident in the disturbed districts is enrolled in the Militia or Volunteer corps. Still it is often urged that raw levies, if deprived of a nucleus of regular troops, are sometimes liable to sudden panics, and that the garrison of Lucknow, and of the other places in which our countrymen held out so heroically in India, were composed mainly of trained soldiers. In short, many competent judges believe that the entire withdrawal of the Queen's Troops from New Zealand at the present crisis, may lead probably to a general rising of the disaffected Natives throughout this Island, and possibly to tragedies as dreadful as those of Delhi and Cawnpore. 13. If any disaster of this nature should ensue, I am confident that your Grace will acquit me of all blame for want of foresight; for it will be remembered that I have repeatedly, in my official and confidential communications to the Colonial Office, respectfully but earnestly solicited attention to this question, showing that the Colonial Barliament and the practical men of all parties in the North Island are now convinced that it would be as dangerous to remove every British soldier from New Zealand in 1868, as it would have been to have removed every British soldier from Scotland in 1715 or 1745, from Ireland in 1798, or from British India in 1857. The impression made on the minds of the rebel Maoris by the announcement of the proposed immediate withdrawal of the English Troops from New Zealand, soon after the massacre at Poverty Bay, is naturally similar to the impression which would have been made on the minds of Nana Sahib and the Sepoy mutineers by an announcement of the immediate withdrawal of the English Troops from India soon after the massacre at Cawnpore. 14. It may appear strange to superficial or ill-informed observers that the English settlers in the North Island are unable of themselves to subdue the Maoris, seeing that their numbers are as two to one —about 80,000 Colonists to 40,000 Maoris. But it will be remembered that the Maoris were not subjugated during the years when an English Army of nearly ten thousand (10,000) regular soldiers, in addition to the Colonial Eorces, was employed in this Island. Moreover, the great majority of the settlers in New Zealand are emigrants from the labouring classes in England, and had probably never carried arms of any kind until they found themselves enrolled in the Colonial Militia. On the other hand, every Maori is a born soldier; strong, fleet, and intrepid: accustomed from his infancy to the use of weapons and to the sight of blood, and trained to great skill in bush fighting by the guerilla warfare of the last eight years. Again, the Colonists occupy settlements placed chiefly along and near the sea shore. They occupy, as it were, the circumference of a circle, whereas the Maoris are entrenched in the almost impenetrable mountains and forests of the centre, whence they can send forth forays in every direction. It will be further recollected that, in 1745, 4,000 Highlanders easily conquered all Scotland, except the few fortified posts garrisoned by English

* See Governor's Despatch of 7lh December, 1868, No. 125.