The Evening Star THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 1872.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2783, 18 January 1872, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 1872.

The romance of the North is fast passing away, and with it the fame of those Native Chiefs whose names were associated with deeds of daring and savagely. One by one they become stripped of the halo which military fame threw around them, and are seen to be after all very ordinary specimens of the human race. Our wars, that used to alibrd exciting topics for Home newspapers, have lost their importance, and are beginning to be spoken ol as mere “ guerilla” a Hairs, well enough for the Colonists to deal with, but not suited to the arrangements for wholesale slaughter for which the British and all civilised armies are especially trained. It is acknowledged there is a sort of division of labor even in preparations for war, and, as in the case of boot making, in which one man attends to the welts, another to the upper leathers, and a third to closing, a soldier trained to regular lighting is not fit to seek the savage in his lair. In this instance civilisation only assists in providing the best weapons; all the rest depends upon the physique and habits of the man. It is now about four years since every day the journals of the Colony were filled with tales of cruel savageries. Kereopa, Tito Kowaru, and others whose names we do not remember at this moment, were harrassing the North Island, and the ornamental regiment of British troops looked on as the “ guerilla ” war was prosecuted. The Government of the day had, however, resolved to conconquer a peace, and thought it necessary to destroy pah after pah, and to follow up the Natives, as driven Irom one stronghold they made a stand in another. We often pointed out the absurdity of the system, but a voice from Otago was then unheeded, Mr Stafford had a special dislike to a province that would not bend to his arbitrary dictation; and no doubt, to this day, looks upon opinions from such a quarter as suggested by faction. N’importe —wisdom is justified of her children. Just as the Duke of Wellington immortalised his name when he said, “ I will not consent to risking “ the life of a single soldier without “ some object to be gained by itthe present Government, acting in the same spirit, deserve the country’s ap probation. Mr Stafford might have succeeded, but at what cost 1 The extermination of the Natives, And what would have been gained ? A tangled wilderness—roadless, trackless, worthless for settlement, until a way had been made by which to connect the interior with the seabord. It does not seem, however, to be sufficiently acknowledged that conquest is not necessarily achieved by arms. There are two ways of securing victory—one transient, uncertain, expensive, and demoralising : the other permanent, consolidating, and civilising. Force re presses; nurtures hatred and revenge in the vanquished, and fosters pride and oppression in the victors. The gains of force must be kept by force constantly prepared for action, it always implies an antagonistic power ready to be exerted if the pressure is removed. The conquests of peace, ou the other hand, induce habits of order, respect for law, and recognition of mutual rights. What Mr Stafford’s vast preparations could not do, the present Government’s defensive system has done: Kereopa has been tried, condemned, and executed : the very Maoris who would have flocked to his standard as a conqueror, and gone back to their savagery and cannibalism at his bidding, expressing approbation, and acknowledging the justice of his death. And now wc have Tito IvoyrAßU, another brave whose prestige has gone, forsaken by his companions in arms, and tired of being an outcast exposed to the justifying power of the law, submitting himself, and expressing his desire for rest and peace. Nor need this result surprise any one. The folly of Mr Stafford’s system was, that to push the war into the interior was to throw human life away without object. The destruction of a pah weakened the attacking force without injuring the Maoris attacked. It is related as a joke in a certain religious society, that one of their ministers commenting upon the folly of too great anxiety after worldly success, expressed herself thus :—“ What a foolish thing it is for “ children to throw stones to bring “ down apples from the trees —if they “ will only let them alone, they will u drop off of themselves. What a fC foolish thing it is for the young men “ to run after the young maidens—if ‘‘ they will .only let them alone, the “ young maidens will iy.n after them.” A more apt and equally true illustration would have been furnished that pious instructor lived in t^rese

days in New Zealand. She might have added, “ What a foolish thing it “i s for the Colonists to try to disperse “ the Maoris —if they will only let “ them alone, the Maoris will disperse “of themselves.” True to the letter they have done so—they have been let alone, and without excitement their warlike zeal has worn itself out: they have given in of themselves.