A.—No. 1

42

DESPATCHES FROM THE GOVERNOR OF

State for War has directed 2,000 Snider rifles to be forwarded to New Zealand for the use of the Colonial Forces. Ministers have to request that His Excellency will convoy to Lord Granville their thanks for the readiness with which his Lordship and the Secretary of State for War have assented to the request for these arms preferred by his Excellency. For His Excellency the Governor. William Eox.

No. 21. Copy of a DESPATCH from Governor Sir G. E. Bowen, G.C.M.G., to the Eight Hon. Earl Granville, K.G. (No. 128.) Government House, Wellington, My Lord, — New Zealand, 19th September, 1869. In continuation of my Despatch No. 110, of the 3rd instant, I have now the honor to transmit, and to recommend to favourable consideration, a further Ministerial Memorandum respecting the Commissioners who will shortly be sent to England to confer, on behalf of the Colonial Government and Legislature, with the Imperial Government. 2. It will be seen that Mr. Eox states the heads of the instructions which will be given to the Commissioners, and concludes with these words : —•" One great " object the accomplishment of which is hoped for from the action of the Com- " missioners, is the re-establishment of cordial relations between the Imperial and. " Colonial Governments, which appear to have been more or less disturbed by the " manner in which the question of the maintenance of Imperial Troops in the " Colony, and some other matters, have lately been discussed." 3. I am confident that the advances of the accredited representatives of the people of New Zealand will be met in a fair and generous spirit by Her Majesty's Government. The views of my present Ministers will be found in the Papers which I now enclose, and in those which I have forwarded on several previous occasions; and I would request permission to draw attention to the opinions on tho same subject which were recently expressed in the Colonial Parliament by Mr. Eitzherbert, the Treasurer and Delegate to England of the late Ministry. In a debate on internal defence, Mr. Fitzherbert, in common with the leading men of all parties, strongly urged the necessity of the provision for the maintenance of a garrison of regular troops, which has now been made in the Acts transmitted with my Despatch No. 110, of the 3rd instant, and recommended that the application to the Imperial Government on this subject should be put something in this way :*■ —" We inhabit a country of mixed races. We have at any rate " inhabited it with your sanction. We have attempted a difficult work of " colonization. We are at war with the Natives. That war began when you " were ruling the country. Whatever our faults may be, we will not attempt to " hide them. We are not here to cast recrimination on you; but the fact remains " that we did relieve you of the government of the country at a time when it was " disturbed. We have solved, or endeavoured to solve, the greatest problem ever " given to a country to solve—to carry on colonization and settlement among an " uncivilized people; and we ask you not to encourage rebellion among this half- " civilized people by permitting them to believe, by your withdrawing your-^ " countenance from us, that you have deserted us for ill-behaviour. We have to A " appeal to them on these well-known grounds, and to ask them to endeavour to " influence the Maoris by an appeal to that higher chieftainship, to the Queen, " which operates on a senii-civilized people, and on the Maori race particularly. " We should remind them that many of this race are still friendly to us, and that " the withdrawal of the Imperial countenance and protection might have the " effect of prolonging for years a civil war that would reflect upon the character " of Great Britain by injuring, not the hostile Natives with whom we have not so " much sympathy, but the friendly Natives, who have so frequently shed their " blood for us. Let the Government at home be reminded of that. lam not " one of those who believe that a Government has no conscience. There is a " public conscience, and I say that the Government at home would answer to " that appeal." Mr. Eitzherbert further said, in the course of the same speech :—■

* See New Zealand Hansard, Cth August, 1869.