THE GOVERNOR’S PROCLAMATION.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume IV, Issue 199, 4 November 1864, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE GOVERNOR’S PROCLAMATION.

His Excellency the Governor has played his last card’. He has promised a free pardon, in her Majesty’s name, “ to all such persons implicated in the rebellion, as may come in on or before the 10th day of December next, take the oath of allegiance, and make the cession of such territory as may in each instance be fixed by the Governor and the Lieutenant-General commanding her Majesty’s forces in New Zealand.” This, it will be seen, is a general amnesty—a condonation of treason in the fullest sense ; but, as if this were not sufficient the Governor goes further, and promises that any rebel may unmolested take up his abode upon the ceded territory, “ or within the limits of any European settlement,” on condition of delivering up any arms or ammunition that may be in his possession. Certain parties are exempted who were implicated in the murder of twenty-nine Europeans, whose names are recorded. We have not been taken by surprise by this proclamation. We knew that the draft was in existence; and we likewise knew that the responsible advisers of the Governor resigned, rather than participate in an act of political felo de se. It is Sir George Grey’s own individual act. It is his own proclamation, issued in direct opposition to bis responsible advisers, and contrary to the letter and spirit of bis instructions. The master of 10,000 soldiers has at length trampled upon the Constitution ; let us see what is to be the end of the struggle. The General Assembly of New Zealand cannot ignore the great Constitutional question that has been forced upon them, viz., whether a Governor appointed by Downing-street has absolute power withiu the colony ? If the Constitution is of no account, let this clearly appear. Better once for all be reconciled to our fate than to live on in the pleasing dream that we have certain rights guaranteed by statute and solemn agreement, when in reality our Constitution is not wortli the parchment it is printed on. Sir George Grey has declared thus much, or he has committed an act of folly unparalleled amongst the many acts of his eventful life. Has he done so in pursuance of instructions recently received from Downing-street, or does he in this way pretend to carry out Mr. Cardwell’s celebrated despatch ? Or is it the last desperate throw of the gamester who has staked everything on the cast ? Or is it the act of a driveller, who essays to think after reason has abandoned its throne? We cannot tell. In form, the proclamation appears intended to carry out Mr. Cardwell’s early instructions ; in fact, the Governor’s secret embassy to the Waikato rebels leads to the inference that it is the last desperate effort to effect a peace at any cost before Christmas, when he will retire with the reputation of having reconciled the natives to the SMpremacy of the Crown. A fact that came to our knowledge yesterday throws a light upon the proclamation which serves to interpret it preety accurately. The Governor has despatched the chief Te Wheoro up the Waikato, to the rebels still in arms, whom he is to visit, with the message whether it is to be peace or war, and giving them to the 10th December to decide ; and his Excellency gives it under his hand at Government House in Auckland on the 25th of October, and it ‘is issued under the seal of the colony, that all rebels may come in without surrender of arms or confiscation of property, up to the 10th December, and receive a full pardon in her Majesty’s name. Is not this the last throw of the political gamester, who has staked all upon the result ? Truth, trust, honour gone —every thing that man holds dear; everything that can shed lustre upon a name in the future, or create respect and reverence in the present;—everything which an honourable ambitious man strives to achieve ; —all this sacrificed at the shrine of self! Crooked policy ; mean ambition! And where, after all, does Sir George Grey find himself? In the dust. Low in the dust before the implacable Maori, banished from bis lands, wandering houseless, famished, and dispirited, the Governor finds himself suing for peace, humbly beseeching them to grant him respite, and accept the Queen’s clemency. “ Go, Te Wheoro, my brother, and ask them is it to he peace or war. Say I have had enough of it. Let them return to their lands and all will be forgotten and forgiven only the murders ; and that need not trouble them. No one,-will inquire about the murders now, and of- course none amongst yourselves will tell.”

This is substantially his language to the Waikatos and other rebels who have been at large ; and the second paragraph in the pro-' clamation is intended for the men of “ the broken parole,” who are within the bounds of European settlements already, and who refuse to return to Kawau. The Duke of Newcastle wrote on the sth of June 1861. “ You will take care that neither your own mission, nor the cessation of hostilities when it arrives, shall carry with it any appearance of weakness or alarm. It would be better to prolong the war, with all its evils, than to end it without producing in the native mind such a conviction of our strength as may render peace not temporary nor precarious, but well grounded and lasting.” How Sir George Grey obeys those instructions will appear from the foregoing. If any act was more calculated than another to impress the natives with an idea of our weakness it is the last act of the Governor’s, following so close upon the Kawau episode. On the 6th of July, 1863, the Governor confiscated the Oakura block ; is that act rendered null and void by the amnesty, should the Taranakis accept it? On the 11th July, 1863, the celebrated confiscation proclamation was issued by the Governor alone, declaring that all who should rebel “ would forfeit the right to the possession of their lands guaranteed by the Treaty of Waitangi,” which lands were to be occupied by military settlers; does the proclamation of the 25th of October, 1864, also issued without Ministers’ consent, supersede the aforementioned proclamation? If so, the Taranaki special settlers and the Waikato regiments are trespassers. They have no right to the land, although guaranteed by solemn engagement, by and with the consent of the Governor, and with the sanction and approval of the Crown. What is to become of the military settlers who are on their way hither from the Cape Colony and Great Britain ? Is faith to be kept with them ? What are we to do with them when they arrive if the military settlement scheme which Sir George Grey inaugurated is thus summarily abandoned ? There is no use in asking these questions; what does the Governor care ? It is true he has deceived the colony. It is true, he has deceived the natives. It is true he has deceived the Imperial Government and misled the English people; what of all that ?he is the master of 10,000 soldiers, and can do what lie pleases. If the force at his disposal cannot be used to coerce the rebels, of whom he said in his opening speech of 1863, that “no means were found effectual to induce them to relinquish their schemes of conquest and plunder, and to try their strength with the British race,” the troops can be at all events employed to coerce the colonists. “You are few and weak; we are strong, therefore we will compel you to accede to any terms we choose to name ; and, what is more you must pay all costs ou demand in full, on pain of instant demolition.” His Excellency acts upon this declaration of his Government trampling, as we have said, the Constitution under foot. But he will find that the colony will not submit. He can go on for a time, but the Assembly must protest against his illegal act, and memorialise the Crown for his removal. There can be no half-measures now. The spirit of alienation from the mother country is daily growing. It is gathering strength almost momentarily ; and unless the action of the Assembly be prompt and decisive, we fear the estrangement will soon be completed by the reckless conduct of a Governor who has degraded his high commission, and proved false to both races and all parties in the colony. —Southern Cross, Oct. 27.