NEW ZEALAND.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume IV, Issue 203, 2 December 1864, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND.

(From the Westminster Review.J

(Continuedfrom our last.) The grounds of the Governor’s decision are thus summarized in a despatch written bj the Secretary of State for the Colonies j Ist. That William King’s residence, on the disputed land upon the south bank of the Waitara, was not merely, as had been always represented by the sellers, by pennis sion of Teira’s father, but in virtue of arrangement made by all that section of the Kgatiawa tribe for the sake of defence against the Waikatos, 2. That a large number of natives, "not ween 200 and 300, were living on the block at the lime when it was olforcd for sale, whose dwellings and cultivations were destroyed when'possession was taken by the military. 3. That Teira, as he now asserts, never intended to sell the pahs, one of which was in his own occupation, and did intend to except from sale a reserve of 2"0 acres, although no such reserve was named in the deed of sale, as ought to have been done. The ministry base their acquiescence on flic ground of having been previously unacquainted with these facts. For this, deriving our information on this part of the question from papers laid on the table of tbellouse, we arc unable to account. The first of the three points had been most distinctly affirmed by Ihe peace party; so had the second, except with regard to the numbers, which were not known to have been so large. We cannot multiply quotations ; but the following extract from Wi Thompson's letter to Governor Browne is conclusive against the supposition of the fact being a new discovery :

"War was made on William Kins, and lie fled from Ills pa. The pa was burnt with lire; the plane of worship was burnt, and a box containing Testaments; all was consumed in the fire; goods, clothes, blankets,shirts, trousers,gowns, all were consumed. The cattle were eaten by the soldiers, and the horses, 100 in number, were sold by auction by the soldiers. It was that disquieted the heart of William King, his church being burnt by fire. Had the Governor given word not to burn his church, and to leave his goods and animals alone, he would have thought also to spare the property of the pakoha. This was the cause of the pakeha's property being lost [destroyed.] When William King was reduced to nakedness through the work of the Governor, he said that the Governor was the cause of all these doings. They first commenced that road, and he (William King) merely followed upon it.

The third point is based upon a late admission by Teira himself; but the question of the reserves was mooted in the House, as also that of the boundaries; though the attempt to elicit accurate information from the Government was unsuccessful. It appears, indeed, by the reports lately received, that these various statements have been controverted in the House ; but the Governor, on learning the state of opinion, sent down a fair challenge as to fact by message. It must be remembered that the war party wore a hard-hearted majority, as may be supposed from their having gone so far, in 1861, as to negative a motion for attaching Sir William Martin’s rejoinder to the severe attacks—all duly -printed among the Parliamentary papers—which had been directed by the Government, by Mr. Richmond, and by Mr. Busby, against his enquiry into “ The Taranaki Question.” We are not yet in possession of the final proceedings of the session, but expect to receive, before the completion of this article, intelligence from the colony, which will enable us to oifer a more specific opinion on the subject of the question between the Governor and the Assembly. So far everything pointed to a peaceful solution. But the exceptalion was premature. A few lines must bo spared in explanation of the cause which led to the renewal of hostilities. The Waitara, native territory, is on the northern boundary of the province of Taranaki. To; the south of the province is a block called the Tataraimaka, occupied by English settlers under Crown grant. When we*dr6've“Kmg ffdha Waitara, the .natives drove us from Tataraimaka, .and claimed it by right of as, we held Waitai-a. - During the sus: pension of hostilities, it was distinctly announced

by tlie natives, and especially by the Waikatos, that any attempt to repossess ourselves of Tataraimaka would be treated by them as a fresh declaration of war ; for they held it as an equivalent to Waitara. Consequently, Tataraimaka was Governor Grey’s chief difficulty. Of course, however well disposed ho might have been to temporize with the natives, and to let the sense of injury wear out, it was unendurable that English settlers should remain ousted from their allotments, which had been granted by the Crown. All were agreed that they must be reinstated at any cost. But Governor Grey had made up his mind to restore the Waitara, and had only to proclaim the restoration. What would seem, upon the fact of it, to have been a great error in judgment, was now committed. The troops were marched into Tataraimaka before the issue of. the proclamation. The consequence was, that the natives kept their word, and renewed the war after their native fashion, by a terrible and shocking murder. It appears from the papers presented to the Assembly, that the issue of the proclamation declaring the abandonment: of the Waitara purchase had been delayed on account of the difficulty which the responsible ministry found in making up their minds about the matter; though what they had to do with a purely native matter is not. quite clear. Governor Grey, in his account of the affair, says, fairly enough : —“ I take great blame to myself for having spent so long a time in trying to get. rnv responsible advisers to agree in some general plan of proceeding. I think, seeing the urgency of the case, 1 ought-perhaps to have acted at once, without, or even against, their advice ; but I hoped,. from day to day to receive their decision, — and T was anxious, in a question which concerned the future of both races, to carry as much support with mo as 1 could ; indeed, 1 could not derive the full advantage from what I proposed to do unless I did so.” The admission does credit to the writer; but it appears to us that a fallacy—the ignoraiio elenchi , lurks in the reasoning. The argument, as we understand it, is—that if the Ministers had agreed sooner, the proclamation would have preceded the military occupation of Tataraimaka. This is true, yet seemingly beside the question, which is—Why were the troops moved at all before Ministers had made up their minds? Tim natives had held Tataraimaka so long, that there could have been no great loss of national honour in suffering them to hold it unmolested a short while longer. Almost immediately afterwards, the Waikatos, who are supposed to have instigated and directed the murders, rose in arms. This time, the natives placed themselves entirely in the wrong, and a severe lesson had to be administered. There is no longer a peace party in New Zealand. Yet should justice be tempered with mercy. Let it be not forgotten that the present war is but a continuation of the former one, originally provoked by ourselves.

We must now turn back to (he session of 1862, which was signalized by two remarkable events — the rejection of the Duke of Newcastle’s oiler to commit the management of the natives to the colonists ; and the abrogation, by act of the As-

sembly, of the Government monopoly of land sales.

As to the oiler, it was mistimed. The conduct of native affairs, refused while easy, was pressed upon the colonists, in a time of difficulty- They had moreover been angered by imputations cast upon (hem, almost from the foundation of the colony ; to which color might be given should they fail, as was not, unlikely, to extricate the colony from the difficulties into which it had been plunged; they had heard the war called a settlers’ war, and were therefore unwilling to do anything that might tend to confuse their duties with those of the Governor, which it was now more than ever necessary to'keep distinct ; and they suspected—justly or unjustly —the motives which prompted the offer. For they supposed it to he preparatory to a claim upon the Colonial Treasury for the expenses of an Imperial war. “Settle first the ditfieulties in which you have yourself involved us,” was virtually the reply of the colonists, “start us fair, and we will undertake to govern (lie natives, defraying every stiver of tlie cost of quarrels of our own raising, should we so far mismanage what we undertake. But we respectfully decline, at present, to implicate ourselves with that for which we were not allowed to become responsible.” The refusal seems to have caused much disappointment at the Colonial Office; for Governor Grey somewhat prematurely informed (lie Secretary of State “that he had arranged to consult his responsible Ministers in relation to native affairs, in the same manner as upon all other subjects.” By the N ative I .ands Act, a great act of justice was done to the Maori by the colonists, who, it is only right to say, were stoutly supported by Governor Grey. After twenty years’ agitation of the question by the northern settlers, a measure was introduced, having for its object the unqualified recognition of the native title over all land not ceded to the Crown, and of the natives’ right to deal with their land as they pleased, after the owners, according to native custom, had been ascertained. The promise implied in the Maori version of the treaty of Waitangi—that natives of New Zealand should bo allowed to have.as good a title to their lands as Europeans, and that they should in the event of their selling or leasing, be allowed to obtain the value of such lands, has been fulfilled. The New Zealand land question is ended.

The foregoing pages were already in type when the latest intelligence from the colony reached this country. Concerning this we are unable to speak with that positive knowledge which thus far wo have brought to bear upon the subject; being henceforth obliged to rely on the papers presented to.the Assembly, on newspaper articles, and the reports of the debates. The lirst are probably trustworthy ; the second must be received with caution, colonial newspapers being mostly characterized by strong party spirit, and much employed in contradicting each other. The debates are not very well reported, unless when the speeches are supplied or revised by those who delivered them.

Another session of the New Zealaqtl Parliament has been hold. In the previous session the colo-

nists had declined to accept the management of native affairs until immediate difficulties should have been overcome. This time, however, gratefid for the prompt and efficient aid rendered by the Home Government, they consented to undertake the task, thus doing away at last with that system of double government which ought never to have existed, and which had proved so fertile of imbroglio. A change had, moreover, taken place in the circumstances under which the previous refusal had been made. The main points of the question had now been brought into prominent relief; much misconception had been removed, and the colonists could now venture to accept without fear of incurring responsibility, for previous events. They had no longer to guard against the possibility of the rebellion being considered as a “settlers’ war.” The Waitara incumbrance had also been cleared away by the Governor, to whom, in our opinion, the whole credit is due. For it is doubtful, to say the least, whether any responsible Ministry could have ventured on a measure so distasteful to the majority in the House.

In this matter Governor Grey seems to have been not very fairly used. Ho had laid before the Assembly the facts and evidence on which he had based his restoration of the Waitara. In consequence of the manifest hesitation to accept them, he offered a fair challenge, inviting the distrustful to join issue on the question of fact. The challenge was only productive of the two following resolutions, which do not meet the ease :

1. That this House, having supported the measure taken hy His Excellency the late Governor of New Zealand, to repress the armed interference of W. King at Waitara; because, as set forth in its Resolution of August 1(1, IHtio, in the opinion of the House, such measures were " indispensiblc for the maintenance of Her Majesty’s authority”— considers that the r.-nswed and definitive recognition by His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, in his despatch of August, l-'ii.'i, “ of the justice of exerting military force against IV. King and bis allies,” has happily rendered unnecessary for this Ho isc to emtrovert or supplement statements made by His Excellency Sir George Grey, in his despatches on the Waitara question.

2. That, in the opinion flX&his House, the good faith of the Crown and the intercsljpjf both races of Her Majesty’s subjects in this colony, dehiand that the chief Teira and his people should be protected from possible illegal aggression ; and that in justice to him, and in compliance with the request contained to his petition of this House, the investigation into the title to the Waitara block, promised by Governor Gore Browne and Governor Sir G. Grey should he completed at the earliest practicable period.

Much is implied, but little is expressed. Surely this is not the manner in which a public question should be dealt with. It is deemed “unnecessary to controvert or to supplement statements made by his Excellency Sir George Grey, in his despatches on the Waitara question.” The time has been when bis despatches, during his former tenure of office, were treated with merciless severity ; but then they were tangibly and downriglitly impugned. The controverted statements were specified ; the counter assertions and disproofs setdown with minute precision ; opportunity for vindication was freely offered. Kmv the Duke of Newcastle's authority is resorted to, apparent!}' for shelter ; but bow his Grace’s “recognition” in England could settle questions of fact in New Zealand it is not easy to understand.

The second resolution ! a mystification. It is clear that Teira, and all other of her Majesty’s native subjects, ought to bo protected from possible aggression. But such has not hitherto been our practice in New Zealand. For our own case and quietness, we have allowed them to maintain their fends at pleasure. If the resolution implies no more than a change in our previous policy, it is a step in the right direction. But it seems to hint at more. In regard to the conclusion—that investigation of the title to the Waitara should be completed at the earliest possible period—it is gratifying to observe that in this matter, all are now of one accord. But it is remarkable that the mover of this resolution should have been one of those who opposed investigation in the session of lSi.il i.

A bill out it uled “ Tlio New Zealand Settlements Ai;l” was passed, which wo trust will receive careful attention from the law officers of the Crown. Divested of technical phraseology, it is in reality an Act empowering the Governor to confiscate land on suspicion of treason, giving subsequent compensation to such of (ho owners as shall ho able to prove their innocence. While regretting with the Governor that it should have been “ found necessary to pass laws conferring temporarily on the Government powers which, under the British rule, are only granted by the Legislature in times of great public danger,” we freely admit that some such enactment is required. It is clear that the lands of the rebel natives must be charged, so far as they suffice, with the cost of the war. It is also manifest that, owing to the complication of tribal tenure, nothing short of arbitrary power could deal effectively with the variety of eases that must arise. Nor is there any likelihood that the power will be abused. But a very serious question still reinai s behind, —whether the Act be within the powers of a Colonial Parliament. What if the Assembly v. ere to go one stop farther and pass hills of attainder. While carefully avoiding anything bearing even the semblance of a legal argument, we take occasion to observe that the New .Zealand Constitution Act prohibits the enactment of any law repugnant to the laws of England ; not only to statute law, but also (a prohibition too often lost sight of) to the common law, which nothing but an Act of the Imperial Parliament can override. There is no desire in the New Zealand Assembly to transgress their legitimate powers, hut there is much difference of opinion as to the extent of those powers. If the law officers of the Crown should deliberately affirm that the Act in question is not ultra vires , there is an end to ail further dispute. Should they feel themselves obliged, on technical grounds, to advise its disallowance by the Crown,

all practical inconvenience might be avoided by substituting an Act of the Imperial Parliament. 1 n any case, such procedure would be advantageous. Such an Act would obviate, among the natives, much heart-burning, jealousy, and suspicion of interested motives. it might even be cheerfully acquiesced in. For although they look down upon the “ White llunanga,” they pay willing allegiance to the Queen, by whose authority they would suppose such a law to have boon made.

The signal success of General Cameron, who assaulted and carried, after a desperate resistance, the

entrenched position of the Waikatos at Rangiriri is supposed to have brought the war “virtually to an end.” Wo refrain from anticipating the future ; but believe the announcement to be premature. Should the natives change their tactics and avoid making a stand in force, hostilities may yet be prolonged for an indefinite time. They are perfectly well aware that we cannot follow them (away from the water)* any faster than we *can make roads; and that while their commissariat costs them nothing, we are expending at the rate of so many pounds an hour. The question of war orfpeace depends solely upon the present temper of the natives engaged ; upon which no one in this country can pretend to offer an opinion. It must also be borne in mind, that when we shall have done with Waikato, Ngatiruarmi’and Taranaki, whose atrocities cannot be condoned, have st ill to be disposed of. Be this, however, as it may, an intricate and troublesome question still remains between the colonies and the mother country —that of the apportionment of the expenses of the wav. Wo incline to believe, that if difficulty arises, it will bo only on questions of account. The colonists, while steadily maintaining that neither technically or morally are they specially responsible for th*e cost of an Imperial war, are far from being unmindful of the efforts of the mother country in their behalf. They are willing to contribute as far as the limited resources of the colony will allow. There are no symptoms of a niggardly spirit among the thinking men, by whom, and not by those who pander to the passions of the hour for the sake of a few stray votes at an election, the feelings of a country must fairly bo judged. Close interpellation must be expected in committee of ways and means, concerning that additional penny in the pound of income tax which the colony is accused of having inflicted on the tax-payers at home. But It does not appear that tie ultimate charge, after subtracting the ordinary expenses of the troops, who have to be supported in one part of the world or another, will be nearly so heavy. As a matter of course, the laud confiscated on account of rebellion, in theory escheats to the Crown ; in practice, the colony will have to account for the market value, whatever that may be. It appears indeed to be supposed in New Zealand, that these lands will be found capable of bearing the whole of the burden. We are not so sanguine, but have no misgivings about the feeling with which the question will be entertained on either side. It will be liberal and becoming to both. Yet it is high time that some definite arrangement should be come to about the cost of “England’s little wars.” The colonies, when once allowed the management of their own affairs, have no right to depend upon the mother country for defence, cither from rebellion from within, or against aggression from without, so long as they contribute nothing, by way of taxation, to the maintenance of the Imperial armaments. It is easy to raise the well-worn cry of “no taxation without representation but it is as easy to raise a counter cry against taxing one portion of the empire for the exclusive advantage of another. All alike are bound in fairness to share the burdens of the empire together with the benefits ; and until this be agreed to, it will be difficult to withstand the arguments of those economists who maintain that it would be better for the mother country to sever the connexion, turning her colonies adrift. The equitable arrangement would be, for all alike to contribute, on the principle of mutual insm-ance, the British Government in return rendering "assistance whenever it might, be needed, free of additional charge; mid this, if insisted on, might be readied with less difficulty than experience would lead us to suppose. For the tables have been turned. In the old times, whenever a colonv felt herself aggrieved, her first resource was to threaten to “cut the painter.” Now, on the contrary, that the value of the connexion is better understood, and that all real causes of complaint hare disappeared, England could bring any one of her dependencies to order, by simply retorting the threat ; provided only that she could succeed iu inducing belief that she would act up to her expressed intention.