THE WAR MUST BE FOUGHT OUT

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume IV, Issue 195, 7 October 1864, Page 3

THE WAR MUST BE FOUGHT OUT

We take from the Taranaki Herald of the 17th inst., the following article, which will bo read with interest by the people of this Province. We, too, must insist that the war shall be fought out, either by the troops of the Queen or by the rifles of the settlers.— N. Z. llcrald.~\ A report was current here shortly after the arrival of the last mail from Auckland relative to the movement of troops to this place, which, if true, is of the first importance. It is said that 3,GUO men were under orders to como here, but that Sir George Grey countermanded the order, saying that the troops should not bo moved until he had offered fresh terms of peace to the rebellious natives ; if afterwards it should appear that they would not accede to these terms, then he would recommence the war. We are the more inclined to pay attention to the report as it appears to be believed in by the military authorities here, but more especially because it has a strong antecedent probability in its favor.

Now we do not at all object to the intention—if such an intention exists—of stating to the hostile natives the terms upon which peace will be made with them. Wo think the Government has made a great mistake in not stating to the hostile natives the terms upon which peace will bo made witli them. We think the Government have made a great mistake in not stating more distinctly what it is they have been fighting for. Clear words, followed by decisive action, would soon get to be respected by the Maoris, and in this way a first step would be taken towards re-establishing among them a belief in our sincerity and truth, and a first step, therefore towards a lasting peace. There can be little doubt that false and grossly exaggerrated reports of our aims and intentions have been circulated and believed among them, and certainly nothing should have been neglected which might have tended to produce in their minds a juster notion of why we were fighting, and on what conditions we should cease to fight. But the question

occurs—How is it that this proceeding has not been determined on sooner ? How is it that a step so desirable in itself should have been defered till the exact moment when action was to have recommenced ? If it had been done from a laudable desire to give the infatuated natives every chance, it would surely have been done not at the latest, but at the earliest possible moment; and in the same way if it had been intended priucipally for the benefit of the colony by saving an unnecessary expenditure of money and life, it would not have been so timed as just to baulk General Cameron when he was about to move. The real explanation, we believe, is in the character of Sir George Grey, and the peculiar position he has been called upon to occupy. Never very fond of doing things thoroughly, he has been all but distinctly invited by Mr. Cardwell to leave things half done, if they can be made to wear a decent appearance—for this is what his instructions really mean addressed to Sir George Grey. He is told to make peace with the natives when he sees a chance without the consent of his Ministers if they did not agree with him—in other words, he is authorized to make a peace which would not be approved of by the colony, and which might be therefore in any degree adverse to its welfare. In the term colony we include both races, for the interests of England are as distinct from those of the Maoris as they are from those of the settlers. The immediate and obvious interests of England are to put an end to an unpopular and unintelligible war, and to save a large annual expenditure. Our interests are the real interests of the Maoris, whether friendly or hostile, demand that war should be made impossible for the future. The effect of a sham peace now would be to leave the settlements in this island stagnant for years to come, and Maori turbulence and lawlessness to fester unchecked until they were finally suppressed with the extermination of a third of the race. Whereas firmness and persistence for the next few months would lay the foundation for permanent prosperity to the settlers, and give the Maoris a better chance of thriving, both morally and materially, than they have ever had yet.

Sir George Grey has been called upon to serve two masters, but it is not fair to expect that be more than any other man can serve both, and the question is which of the two he will choose to obey. We shall say, looking at his past history and his imperial tendencies, his somewhat limited success since his return to New Zealand, and the high opinion in which he is held at home, that he is more likely to prefer his English to his Colonial master If then he should insist on acting up to the letter of Mr. Cardwell’s instructions, and propose to conclude a peace upon conditions which to the Ministry and the Colony appear disastrous, what is to bo done ? Either we must passively submit to the fate marked out for us or wc must be prepared to take the matter into our own hands, and to show Mr. Cardwell that one of the main arguments he relies on his false. He appears to reason in this way—that we must have troops to carry on the war, that England supplies the troops, and therefore England alone has a right to say when the war shall be discontinued. Wo should argue from the other end takiny as a first premise, that the war must be fomdit out till the one object is attained, and should be fully prepared to accept all the consequences which follow from it. If England will not allow her troops to carry on the war it is very much to be regretted ; we must fight it out by ourselves as well as we can, but we must fight it out. And this we have little doubt would in the end inflict a lighter burden on the Colony and less distress than by relying on a hollow truce. Supposing the Colony was thrown upon its resources aud the war as it were localised or handed over to the Provinces, are there not men enough in Taranaki to exact perfectly satisfactory terras from the Ngatiawas, Taranakis, and Ngatiruanuis ? We believe there are, and at a not much greater cost to the Colony than the present outlay upon doing nothing. Of course the great obstacle in so large and so new an undertaking, would be the wonderful amount of stupidity there is in human nature, and the difficulty of getting the right men uppermost, but this might be overcome in a time of emergency and danger.

If Sir George Grej insisted on going too when the matter was taken out of his hands, we cannot see how that could be helped. Even without this, is it not probable that he will soon be wanted back at the Cape?