A.—3a

26

sumer of British-manufactured goods, and a contributor to the revenue. The loss to Great Britain by engaging in an unnecessary war would also have been great ; every hundred soldiers that had fallen must have cost at least £10,000. Moreover, Great Britain, in dispatching two regiments to this country, had made great exertions, which it could not continue or repeat without considerable inconvenience to the public service. Tet even a very few false movements might have entailed so considerable a loss upon the small force in this country as to have rendered large and continued reinforcements necessary. It is perhaps not too much to say that during a considerable period of time any signal failure in an operation which had been entered upon would have led to a simultaneous and almost general rising, the effects and cost of which may easily be conceived. 15. It was also certain that even if the anticipations which had been formed of the benefits which might spring to both races from delaying military operations had not been realised, and it had proved ultimately necessary to embark in a war, yet that each month's delay, by increasing our knowledge of the country and of the Native language, and by enabling us to complete our roads and to consolidate our establishments, would be of the greatest advantage to Great Britain, by enabling it to enter on the contest with greater means and more certainty of success. 16. Mercy, justice, and prudence all appeared therefore to point to delay as the general rule on which the Government should act. This line of policy has therefore been in all instances unswervingly pursued, and the result has quite equalled the anticipation which might reasonably have been formed ; lor whilst the rebellion which existed, and the disturbances which naturally sprang from that rebellion, have been in all instances crushed, the total loss, of all ranks, sustained on our side through so long a period of time has amounted to only twenty-eight killed and fifty-three wounded ; and, in as far as human judgment can form an estimate of such matters, no probability exists of any extensive rebellion ever hereafter breaking out in the country, and even should such disturbances again unhappily break out, our knowledge of the country is now so much more accurate, our alliances with the Natives have become so much more numerous, our military roads have alread}' been so far completed, the number of persons acquainted with the Native language and customs so increased, and the Natives' supplies of arms and ammunition have been so much diminished, that we should enter on such a contest with infinitely greater advantages than we formerly possessed. 17. The efforts which have been made by the Government of this country for the removal of the second class of difficulties alluded to were of two kinds: (1) The resumption of the Crown's right of pre-emption, which had unfortunately been abandoned; and (2) The adjustment of many of the almost innumerable land questions which existed. The task of resuming the Crown's right of preemption appeared to be one of great difficulty and danger, but the natural good sense of the Natives, and their continually increasing confidence in the Government, have rendered its accomplishment much less difficult than was anticipated. The various steps which have been taken for the adjustment of the disputes in reference to land have been so fully detailed in the despatches from the various authorities, and the large mass of documents which have been transmitted to the Home Government, that it may be unnecessary to say more than that, with very few and trifling exceptions, every land question in the southern province has been already disposed of, whilst in the northern province nearly all questions connected with lands have been also arranged, with the exception of those which, resting upon grants issued by the Crown, can only be dealt with by our Courts in the ordinary manner. 18. The measures taken to remedy the difficulties detailed under the third head —namely, the want of a revenue, the existence of a depreciated paper currency, and the failure which had taken place in the confidence and expectations of the settlers, have also all been fully detailed in the despatches which relate to those subjects. The objects contemplated by the Government, in reference to these subjects, may be generally stated to have been the imposition of duties which, by a system of indirect taxation, might raise from the Native as well from the European population, a revenue which would increase with every successive step of their advancement, and yearly yield the means for their more efficient control and government, whilst in aid of and in connection with these plans the depreciated paper currency was partly withdrawn, and the remaining portion of it was converted into a funded debt. 19. In order to remedy, in as far as possible, the evils enumerated under the fourth head —namely, the difficulties which had been created by the Crown's right of pre-emption having been waived in favour of certain individuals over large tracts of land, and the claims of others having been entertained to enormous tracts of country —every effort has been made to adjust these claims upon the most liberal terms, and to carry out these arrangements in the most conciliatory manner. This being, however, one of those cases in which individuals have been led to form extravagant expectations which it was impossible for any Government to realise, no efforts, could probably have prevented much disappointment and bitterness of feeling ensuing, and it is probable that nothing but time can completely eradicate this evil, although, from the settlement of so large a number of these claims and from the arrival of so many disinterested persons in the colony, the proportionate number of individuals whose expectations have been disappointed is gradually decreasing, and their influence as a party will soon cease to be felt. 20. But little would, however, have been accomplished if the Government had confined itself simply to an attempt to remove the various evils under which these Islands were labouring. It was necessary that active measures should at the same time be taken without delay for the amalgamation of the two races ; that the confidence of the Natives should be won ; that they should be inspired with a taste for the comforts and conveniences of civilised life ; that they should be led to abandon their old habits ; that the chiefs should be induced to renounce their right of declaring peace and war; and that the whole of the Native race should be led to abandon their barbarous modes of deciding disputes and administering justice, and should be induced for the future to resort to our Courts for the adjustment of their differences and the punishment of their offenders. 21. Thoroughly to accomplish a change of this nature would require a long series of years and a succession of generations. 22. The utmost, therefore, that any Government could hope to do was to establish institutions which might imperceptibly, but certainly, lead to so complete a change of manners in a barbarous nation as was contemplated ; and to secure these institutions by such laws and by such a constitution as appeared to afford a reasonable guarantee for their perpetuity ; the first step to be taken to ensure