A.—No. 1

" I now come to another subject, which, so far as I know, has not been touched " upon in this debate, and yet it is one of deeper interest to humanity—of deeper " interest to Parliament and the Government—than any point yet touched upon. " I may say it is the very core and essence of the whole subject we have been " debating. I may tell the Committee why I was earnestly wishing that there " should be one regiment. I have already said that the great difficulty as to a " Colonial Force is not to be under-rated. It is of no importance what you may " call them. I believe I was the first person to introduce the term ' Constabulary.' " What I intended by that was that we should, so far as possible in this country, " avoid the establishment of a standing army. I dreaded that financially, and as " Finance Minister I objected to it. I saw, however, that by whatever name we " called the force, it was desirable that we should have something like a standard " of discipline,—that you should have some rallying point upon which, in times of " emergency, you should, as it were, be able to hang on your other troops. It is " very important at times to have some rallying point. Very often a country is " saved, an army saved, or a battle gained, by having a rallying point. There is " another question to be considered. What is the great danger this day in New " Zealand ? The great danger is that if the Government—l do not mean any " particular Government—should bo too weak, from any cause whatever, to afford " protection to life and property in this Island, that terrible consequences would " ensue, namely, that the people of the country would take the government into " their own hands. You would in such an event have one terrible scene of " internecine slaughter, that would bring this country not only into absolute " disgrace, but ruin. It has grown upon my mind, and become a deep settled " conviction, that it is of the highest importance that we should have one regiment " to help, by its countenance and presence, to avert such a calamity." 1. I will take this opportunity of forwarding a Memorandum by Mr. McLean, the Minister for Native Affairs and Defence, in continuation of his Report of the 2nd instant.* It will be seen that Te Kooti has again attacked the friendly Natives near the central lake of Taupo, and that there have been several skirmishes in that quarter. Reinforcements from the Armed Constabulary and from the Native Contingent have been sent up from Napier, on the East and from Wanganui on the West Coast. Titokowaru with the remnant of his band is supposed to be still in the dense forests near the base of Mount Egoiont, not far from Taranaki, where it is believed that he is seeking aid from Wiremu Kingi te R.angitaki, the William King of Waitara, who began the present war in 1860. In short, the hostile clans are now planting their crops and endeavouring to recruit their stores of ammunition. They have been hitherto supplied, to a large extent, by renegade European dealers ; and several military deserters are known to be among them. But some emissaries of the rebels were lately captured in the Waikato ; and it is hoped that the organized police which the Colonial Government is noAv creating may be able to stop effectually the illegal sale of arms and gunpowder. The Maoris have a proverb similar to that of old, respecting the " time when kings go to war." Like the Red Indians of North America, whom, as it has been often observed, they closely resemble in many respects, the Maoris are accustomed to renew hostilities in the late summer, when their crops have been gathered. Fresh raids on the settlements may then be expected in New Zealand, as in the Western States of North America; but such partial outbreaks can be dealt with by the Colonial Forces and by the loyal clans, always provided that the moral support of the Imperial garrison is not entirely withdrawn; foi* (as I have already frequently reported,) it is the unanimous opinion of all those who are best qualified to judge, that such withdrawal would probably lead to a general rising of the adherents of the Native King, and. to the desertion of the loyal clans, who would then consider themselves to have been abandoned by the Queen, to whose paramount chieftainship alone they look. This feeling was expressed by one of the leading friendly chiefs to Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, M.P., on his visit, in 1867, to a large meeting of Maoxis on the West Coast of the North Island. I remarked in a previous Despatch* that the portion of " Greater Britain" which relates to New Zealand is admirably true and graphic, and I wrould venture to request attention to the speech now referred to :—f

Enclosure 2. Memo, by Mr. McLean, 17th September, 18f»9. *See Governor of New Zealand to Secretary of State, No. 110, of 3rd September, 1869.

*See Governor o. New Zealand to Secretary of State, No. 41, of 29fch March, 1869. ■ fSee, Sir C. W. Dilke's Greater Britain, Part 11,, chapter 4.

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NEW ZEALAND TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE.