AND THE GOVERNOR OE NEW ZEALAND.

19

A—No, Ib,

" nothing, in fact, has been done in the direction of self-reliance beyond the very " inexpensive proceeding of passing the resolutions in its favour." 4. It will have been perceived from my previous Despatches that, in pursuance of the terms of my instructions, I lose no proper opportunity of impressing on the public men of all parties that it is now the settled policy of the Imperial Authorities to leave this Colony to rely entirely on itsoAvn resources and exertions for its internal defence, and that " the Home Government will not resume the " responsibility of controlling the Native affairs of Ncav Zealand." 5. I will address your Lordship in a separate Despatch on the important questions raised in the tAvo last paragraphs of your Despatch No. 30, of Eebruary 26th, 1869. I have, &c, The Right Hon. Earl Granville, K.G. G. E. BOWEN.

No. 7. Copy of a DESPATCH from Governor Sir G. E. Bowen, G.C.M.G., to the Right Hon. Earl Granville, K.G. (No. 83.) Government House, Wellington, My Lord, — New Zealand, 7th July, 1869. It is my duty to report that strong comments have been made by the leading public men of all parties in this country, in the Colonial Parliament, and otherwise, and by the principal organs of the Colonial Press, on the two last paragraphs of your Lordship's Despatch No. 30, of the 26th Eebruary, ultimo, viz.:— " I see it stated in the ncAvspapers that you haA Te offered a reward of £1,000 for " the person of the Maori Chief Titokowaru —I infer alive or dead —and £5 for the " person of every Maori rebel brought in alive. " I do not pronounce any opinion at present as to the propriety of these steps. " But I must observe that they are so much at variance Avith the usual laAvs of "war, and appear at first sight so much calculated to exasperate and extend " hostilities, that they ought to have been reported to me by you officially, Avith " the requisite explanation, which I should now be glad to receive." 2. It is contended here that this passage implies that the Maoris iioav in arms against the Queen, and, in particular, the cannibal Titokowaru and his band, are foreign enemies, or, at all events, "belligerents," with AA rhom " the usual Laws of "war" must be strictly observed, and it is felt that the question thus raised is of the highest practical importance. It has, therefore, been referred by the Colonial Ministers for the opinion of the Attorney-General, which I now enclose, soliciting for it careful consideration. 3. It will be seen that, so far back as in 1842 and 1844, the then Secretary of State for the Colonies (the present Lord Derby) Avrote as folkyvvs : —" The Queen " has, by the most solemn acts, asserted her own sovereignty over the Avhole of " New Zealand, and has, with equal distinctness, announced and asserted it to all " foreign States. Parliament, by their enactment of the Session of 1842, have " affirmed the same principle. I repeat, therefore, that the most implicit acquies- " cence in it is the indispensable condition of the tenure of any public office in "the Colony." The Attorney-General proceeds to show that the ground thus taken up more than a quarter of a century back, has since been, strengthened by a series not only of Royal Charters and Commissions, but also of Acts of the Imperial and Colonial Legislatures ; and, further, that even if Titokowaru and his followers were to be regarded as foreign enemies or as "belligerents," they have still, OAving to their own savage cruelties, forfeited, by the law of nations, all right to be treated according to the "usual laws of war." " The Maoris now in arms have put forward no grievance for which they seek "redress. Their object, so far as it can be collected from their acts, is murder, " cannibalism, and rapine. They form themselves into bands, and roam the country " seeking a prey. "In punishing the perpetrators of such crimes, is the Sovereign to be " restrained, by the rules which the laws of nature and of nations have declared

F.c._App.,lB69 1 A. No. 14.