THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4 1881. THE NATIVE CRISIS.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2368, 4 November 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4 1881. THE NATIVE CRISIS.

To-moekow will bo a day which is likely to be remembered for some little time in this colony. By oarly dawn, a section of onr troops will be en route for Farihaka, and, as that pah is bat a mile and a-half from Pungarehu, it will take bat little time, if no obstruction is met with, before it is occupied. It would seem from all intelligence received, that there is no great likelihood of blood being shed, although of course when two bodies of men are brought into collision, both of them being armed, such a sad eventuality might result. But the Government have taken the strictest precautions to prevent any such catastrophe, more particularly by having in the neighborhood such a large body of Constabulary and Volunteers as will render all resistance on the part of the Maoris hopeless, and will, moreover, give them a valid excuse for refusing to refer the dispute to the arbitrament of arms. There can be but little doubt whatsoever but that this policy is at once Ike most sound and the most humane. An advance on Parihaka with inadequate forces, or even with forces numerically about eqnal to the fighting men among the Maoris, would with certainty bave led to bloodshed. Indeed Te Whiti naively confessed as much at his last meeting. He tben admitted that in his September meeting he had counselled resistance, " but at that time," as he said, " there were very few soldiers in the land. Now, however, the land is covered with armed men, and every south wind blows up more soldiers." A more striking confirmation of the humanity of the Government policy it is

impossible to imagine. Having resolved that the law shall no longer be defied on the "West Coast, and having, with singular patience and long-suffering, given to the Natives every chance of redress for any grievances they might have, the Government have at last determined to vindicate the majesty of the law, and to do so in the manner which will best temper justice with mercy. And we are glad to say that the Ministry are entirely backed up by the country at large. Of all the papers of any standing in the whole of New Zealand, the only one that blames the Government is the " Lyttelton Times." That journal stands alone with its strain of sickly sentimentality, fully prepared to sacrifice the peace of tho West Coast, to see the good intentions of the Commission laughed at by Te Whiti, and to retard the progross of the colony generally. Of the opinions of tho minor papers it is more difficult to tako account, but certainly it may be broadly affirmed that almost all, even of those which take the side of the Opposition, back up the efforts of tho Government. In point of fact, tho move to take place to-morrow is not one advocated by a party aloue, but it is one entered into with enthusiasm by the nation, who are tired of having their well-moaning efforts at a settlement of tho Native question tampered with by a. body of individuals who have shown thomsolvos not be be amenable to reason. MODEL CANDIDATES. Our contemporary the "Star," having searched tho annals of history for a fit and proper comparison for a model liberal candidate, has come to the conclusion.

that a candidate after its own heart fliould be such a ouo as William Pitt or Charles Fox when they woro thoroughly well drunk, and the " Star" introduces a neat littlo anecdote as a sort of model, we presume, on which the alnmni in this bibulous school should frame their Parliamentary utterances. According to the " Star's" showing the following very racy conversation is a fair example of what hearted and patriotic senators should go in for : —" Hi ! Johnnie," says James expletive —"I can't see the Speaker." "By something," says James, " Hie! I can see two." The reasoning of the " Star" for preferring gentlemen as representatives who are very willing to " look npon the wine when it is red " appears to be that the plentiful absorption of generous fluids produces a mellowness of view highly favourable to the liberal platform. A slightly beclouded -intellect throws a poetic haze over everyday occurrences. Hence a vigorous treat-

ment of the most prosaic matters. Large financial measures are evolved with great facility, and with a total want of obstructive details. Besides, a devotion to the bottle keeps a man poor, and, above -everything, well-to-do mon aro to be eschewed, as unlikely to sympathise with the masses. And, in addition to a proclivity to mellowness, it would be also well, our contemporary thinks, if voters were to guard against men who are too respoctable and too virtuous, such qualities being apparently much in the way on occasions. The " Star " appears quite the sort of journal to bo taken in by parents who wish their children

to figure in prominent places as liberal lights. The training inculcated is an easy one, and would " jump with " tho inclinations of many a promising youth. " Eschew, my son," the parent might say, *' virtue, respectability and sobrioty, and in course of time you will arrive at a very desirable state of poverty and seediness of character. Then you may well expect tp be elected to Parliament, and, if yon survive the first few sessions, are certain to become a Minister of tho Crown."