THE POSITION OF NEW ZEALAND.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume V, Issue 210, 6 January 1865, Page 3

THE POSITION OF NEW ZEALAND.

(From the Sydney Herald, Doc. 12.)

The New Zealand are full of gloom. There is h.Q aetirity in the war. 'there is no probability “of qjejttfe. Ten thousand men, imposing a heavy charge both upon the parent country and the colony, are awaiting the result of expedients which never seemed to promise success, and which are now apparently hopeless. The instructions of Mr. Cardwell have been interpreted by Sir George Grey with rigour. The Minister must accept the responsibility of his directions. He, in pointing out that kind of policy which would be acceptable to the Government of Kngland, did not fail indeed to indicate conditions under which it would be inapplicable and impossible. The Governor, however, will no doubt find supporters for that inaction which wears an insidious aspect of peace, whatever may be its issue when its full consequences shall he established. We should not regard much the hostile feeling of Auckland to the removal of the General Government. The interest of the people of that city is assuredly compromised, but the ultimate benefit of the whole country ought not to be subordinated to any local pretensions. Nevertheless, it might have been well for Sir Geoegk Qkky to remember the homely proverb of the American President who said, “ It is never safe to swap horses in the midst of a stream.” The establishment of peace ought certainly to have preceded any great change in the centre of authority. The terms, however, on which Sir George Grey seems' to'etafid with liis fellow-subjects in New Zealand, may not indispose him to exercise his discretion in defiance of local considerations.

The question propounded for the community. ..viz,, whether they will accept the responsibility of their own defence must surely be accompanied by another: Whether in the prosecution of the war they shall be hampered by the dreams of British philanthropists,and compelled to stand unarmed or impotent while the Maori insurgents make their military preparations—provide their store of subsistance and prepare for the critical moment when an onslaught may surprise the Colony and prove successful. The civilization which has readied the New Zealander has only produced a superficial effect upon his character, and the retirement, of the military will certainly leave the impreseion of a retreat or an abandonment—either that the British Army despairs of conquest or th&t it repudiates that task in hostility to the settlers. In arguing tliis point before the New Zealand tribes their orators will have all the advantage of our dissensions—all the stimulus of our recriminations. , ’ j

If, therefore, the colonists of New Zealand un dertfike their own defence, they must, certainly be, authorised to effect it in their own way. They most be permitted,to take those precautions which may prevent a surprise,' and 'to acquire that ns cendancy in the country which v, ill save them and their families from massacre. To live upon the terms which Sir George Grey condescends to live would be impossible to any Government looking forward to permanence, or to any statesmen supplied from our Commissariat—their chiefs entreated with vain solicitatious, which they meet with scorn—a feigned submission allowed in order to cast upon the colony incumbrances with which it should never be. burdened—these are not the methods by which the war can be brought to a close, oKthe Maori taught that it isjiecessary to live in peace. 'f'he haw Ministry, however, is com-

posed of men who seem to sympathise with their coiouia! brethren, ami it is scarcely likely that they vviii act under an authority which shall prove itself to be adverse to the common welfare.

The deterioration of the native character since the outbreak of this war is certainly most discouraging. That the natives have yielded easily to stiuer-tition, and have expressed towards their former teachers feelings of hostility is uo matter for !i<tonish:uent. Such aberrations are found on tue puses of history in much higher stages of civilization and against, influences much more ancient, it is not at all impossible that tlie.se wild ideas by which they are now infatuated will lead to consequences ultimately fatal to their projects, and prepare the way for tho separation o! the friendly from the disloyal. This wo are bound to believe is possible, since it is sought with so much eager* ness and perseverance. It lias always been , the custom of States in such circumstances to bold one part of the population in subjection by the authority and influence of the rest. Hitherto acting in view of the Aborigines Protection Society the necessary steps have not been taken, but- it is extremely probable that by a judicious exercise of patronage on one side, and of firmness on tha other, the natives would learn even from their own race and by examples among themselves, to respect the authority which could both exalt and pull down.

When the whole subject is surveyed ip all itt bearings certainly we have as little reason to boast in Aus! ralia as our country men in England. Every foreigner would say, and we should scarcely know how to rebut the charge—that a few savages had defied an an arm always surpassing them in numbers and possessed of weapons of modern warfare. It will he said that (he resources of tbs English nation after the year’s conflict, have not given any assurance to the Royal authority, but that it still is a moot question whether one of the fairest provinces of the British Crown shall become the slaughterhouse of its white inhabitants, and finally relapse into the hands of barbarians whose courage has hitherto relieved their natural cruelty, and who have certainly tlie right of experience to treat our flag with contempt. 1 he condition of Taranaki seems hardly improved by the occupation of a portion of the disputed territory. J.lit? intervening space is yet in the power ot the natives who have surprised and murdered a soldier a short distance from the Fort. Tnat crimes are committed need not astonish us, for they are perpetrated under the strongest Governments and in every country j still the impossibility of intimidating criminals, or of pursuing them into their justnesses—the moral countenance tney receive from their kindred and the general conspiracy of which they are the representatives, and by which they are covered, presents.a spectacle hardly less humiliating and deplorable than the gathering of the hostile tribes to dispute for sovereignty in the face of day.