The Hawke's Bay Times. NAPIER, THURSDAY, 18th JANUARY, 1866.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 7, Issue 342, 18 January 1866, Page 2

The Hawke's Bay Times.

NAPIER, THURSDAY, 18th JANUARY, 1866.

“SDIXIUS AUDICTDI JDR4.BE IN VERBA MAOISTM."

THE CONTROL OF THE WAR. Although a policy of colonial responsibility has for some time past been in existence, and it*is well understood that this implies the paying of the war bill, —so far as the employment of her Majesty’s forces is concerned, the colony is quite as fur as ever from the power of exercising any control.

• To many of our fellow-colonists as well as to ourselves it must have been a matter of surprise that no action was taken by the forces in the case of the late murders on the West Coast—first of the nktive who was employed to convey to the rebels the news of peace, and afterwards of the Government interpreter, Mr C. Broughton—and no doubt great odium was cast upon the ministry and the Governor, upon whom it was reasonable to suppose the responsibility rested in the matter; but a recent parliamentary paper has set the matter in its true light by publishing certain correspondence on the subject.

It will be remembered that Brigadierueneral "Waddy was, with a body of her Majesty’s forces, iu occupation of a redoubt close to the scene of the murders, aud he it was who should have taken prompt and active steps to rescue his messengers if alive, or, if they had already been murdered, to have inflicted due punishment on the treacherous murderers; but he did nothing of the kind. On the other hand, his first letter to Major-General Chute after the murders, was

for instructions how to act under thiypace proclamation, (set at defiance by the'reUels), supposing he is attacked by them I His letter, with other matters, was for* warded by Major-General Chute to the Governor, by whom it was taken up in just that spirit that we might expect it would be. He remarks:—

I cannot say bow shocked I was to learn these particulars, and my concern has been increased by-finding that the Brigadier-General, who had a large force at his command, has allowed so long a time to elapse wit hout taking prompt and energetic means to ascertain tiie fate of his- own messenger, whom he had despatched on a message of peace, and, if nesessary, either to have rescued him or to have indicted punishment on his treacherous murderers. The whole circumstances connected with tiiis case-appeat at present at once to be so sad, and to. reflect such discredit on the'authorities, that I think the Brigadier-General should be called on to furnish an explanation in relation to them.

1 cannot but wonder that the Brigadier-General two of whose messengers on errands of peace have been treacherously murdered close to uis posts whilst obeying the orders of a British General, should retuaiu on the defensive in the post he occupies until he receives your instructions whether ho is to continue to do so or not. it appears to me that his duty under such circumstances was obvious, that his having failed to do it is greatly to be lamented, and must produce most Unfortunate results; and tiiat he snould be instructed to explain what has taken place, and not to lose an hour in attempting to punish or bring to justice the murderers of his messengers.

—Truly the fact of the Brigadier-General's supineness under the circumstances is almost unaccountable. His reason,-it would appear, may be found iu his acceptation of the mean* ing of the peace proclamation, which he professes to suppose would justify him in submitting (without special instructions to the contrary) to any attack upon his orderlies and couyoys, and even upon his post itself, without exerting himself in defence or to chastise the offenders ; and we think it is not hard to find a solution of the difficulty. It is the fashion for the leaders of the Imperial forces in the colony to combine the study of politics with that of their own proper profession, and as they have heard or read a great deal on the subject of the ultimate loans for the cost of the war, they suffer their political views to influence their conduct. We may suppose that in the above case a process of reasoning something as follows may have been used ;—“ The colonial government has proclaimed peace ; therefore they have acquitted themselvesof the responsibility of any action I may take now. If I take action in respect of the murder of my messenger or of Mr Broughton without instructions it will lead to complications, ami possibly involve me in trouble. I had belter wait,lor instructions before I a#t,” &c.

This view of the case is home out by tha> course adopted by another official, whose correspondence is brought before the public in the same papers; this is the Commissary* General, Mr Jones, who has considered it a part of his duty to address the new General upon his arrival on the various questions lately, raised by the Imperial Government res* peeling the employment of the troops in the campaign, the parties who should bear the cost of transport and loss of supplies, &e. ; criticizes the military proceedings on the Wanganui river and West Coast; gives, his judgment as to how the troops should ba used in future ; how much the colony ought to pay at once before further aid be given; and recommends that this said aid should, only be given as remittances are forwarded home in payment by the Colonial. Govern* ment; with various other matters * crown the whole, sends off home to the Lords Commissioners of her Majesty’s Treasury a copy of his letter, before even it is seen by Major-General Chute, to whom it is addressed. We much regret that we are unable to find space for these interesting documents. The Governor is at no greater loss to deal with Mr Jones than he was with Brigadier-Gen-eral Waddy, and he remarks in the course of his reply, after severely condemning the action of that officer:—

I would again remark in reference to the heads of extraordinary expenses, which it is the opinion of Commissary-General Jones must be paid by the colony, that with a view to my exerting some control over the military expenditure, the Com-missy-UeiKTal was directed by the Home Government to submit the estimates for such expenditure to mo for any remarks that I might have to make and that for two years he has failed to do so j that I am of opinon that the expenditure incurred by the military •uthoritieswas in many- respects

and unnecessary. I therefore think it that I should in the first place be prevented from exercising the control over this expenditure which, by direction of her Majesty’s Government I was authorized to exercise over it, and then that the colony should be called on to pay for an expenditure which its Government neither desired nor approved of, and which I believe was in many respects extravagant and unnecessary. "Whether Commissary-General Jones had or . hae not been instructed lo submit his estimates to me, I think if he intended to expend such vast sums of colonial money, it would hava been his duty to have given the Colonial Government some control in the matter. I can only say that if he had the power of spending the colonial money as he pleased on the various items of extraordinary expenditure be has named, and of making the colony answerable for every act of extravagance, carelessness, or worse, of every individual in Ids large department, then the colony has been placed in a most unusual puai.ion. Mr Jones appears to have been very much hurt at the severe criticism of the Governor, ■ and especially at the words “ Extravagance, carelessness or worse,”;'and he wrote another letter, explanatory, and somewhat apologetic, in which, to say the least, he does not , shine; but the Governor fully justifies the ■tise of the terms, and adds, — I regret that I must adhere to the opinion I have expressed—that the military expenditure in this colony has been in many respects wasteful and unnecessary, and that had I been allowed to exercise that control over it by which by right belonged to me, I could have saved very large iuras to Great Britain and the colony. I feel it my duty to state this because no circumstance has ' more tended to damage the colony of New Zealand and myself with the Government and public of Great Britain, than this expenditure to which I so much object, and which has brought such arils on this Government and colony. It may well be supposed that this constant meddling on the part of the military officers, in the political affairs of the colony, was particularly distasteful to the Ministry; and that they lost no time before making their sentiments known on the question,, in a memorandum as follows: Memorandum from Ministers to his Excellency the Governor. A perusal of the letters from the Major-General Commanding to the Governor, with their inclosures, which have this day been submitted to Ministers by his Excellency, confirms them in the opinion which Ministers hive repeatedly expressed to his Excellency, that the removal of her Majesty’s Imperial troops is absolutely necessary, in order that the Governor may exercise that full and undivided authority over the whole of the military ’' power employed within the colony, which is essential to its safety. Feed, A. Weed. Wellington, October 10,1865. We have no doubt that the Stafford Ministry will cordially endorse this Memorandum and it is quite certain that a state of affairs capable of admitting the possibility of that it protests against, is, in every sense, an un- . paralleled anomaly. A General sees his messengers of peace murdered by a savage crew, and at his side : and yet tamely stands aside while a question is discussed, concerncertain political relations subsisting between the Imperial aud Colonial Governments, and the decision of the question of liability ! before he will take a single step towards their punishment ? At the same time an Officer of another branch of the service gives unasked his peculiar views andadvice, astowhatshould be paid by the colony, and how and when these sums should be paid, under penalty of the suspension of Imperial assistance an assistance often ungraciously rendered by men who, to all appearance, bate a warfare that promises neither glory nor gain, and who have neglected no opportunity of expressing the disgust they feel at their employment, and of vilifying the colonist, who has, after all, to,pay for this assistance at the rate of £4O per man, per annum, foregoing at the same . time the right to exercise any control over that assistance even then. We are not of that sanguine class who believe the war to he near its end. We can foresee a long and an arduous struggle yet for the colony, before the Native Difficulty is overcome; hut arduous as the task may be, we should be loth to advise a continuance of such assistance as that which would he afforded by Imperial troops, at the price that must be paid for them.

' . WANGANUI. A Distinction without much Difference.— An active aud intelligent officer, whose knowledge of the Maori language is unfortunately not equal to his zeal in the public service, thought lie had managed to do a good stroke of business last week in arresting a Maori and having him sent down the river to Wanganui, in the belief that he was concerned in the murder of the late Mr Hewitt. A native woman accompanied the prisoner as a witness in the case. But the best-laid schemes sometimes miscarry, and this one came to nothing and “no mistake.” It appeared that the suspected man was of the same name as a Maori who had been hanged some years ago for murder, and this woman, who saw the execution, had recently been describing it with sundry significant signs —drawing a finger across her throat and jerking her body—within sight and hearing of the officer referred to, who, coupling the name of the living Maori who with the pantomimic action descriptive of the exit of the dead one, belived he had made a discovery of some importance. • Hence the arrest, which terminated after a brief investigation at Wanganui. The joke of the thing, however, or rather its grim earnest is to bo found in the fact that, supposing the captured man had been the muderer, and that proof against him, strong as Holy Writ, had been forthcoming, he would have been liberated all the same. The late peace proclamation (that scrap of statecraft, for which we are indebted to Mr Weld and Mr Fitzgerald, and of which they are accustomed to boast) condoned nearly all murders up to the date of its publication—the murder of Mr Hewitt included —and the result is that the perpetrators of this crime may walk our streets any day unarmed and untouched.—Chronicle, 6th January. Death by Deowning. —We regret to say that a fine little boy, about seven years of age, son of Mr Neill, Quarter-master Sergeant, of the Wanganui Militia, was aceidentaly drowned this morning, while bathing in the Kiver, opposite the soldiers’ huts.—lbid, 10th.

Embezzlement Case.— John M. Broughton, who was formally committed, on Saturday last, to take his trial at the next sittings of the Supreme Court, in Wellington, on a charge of embezzling money, the property of the New South Wales Bank, Wanganui, has been liberated on bail—two sureties £250 each, and himself in £2so. —lbid.

Captain Boss. —Some of this gentleman’s friends have heard that he was wounded at Opotiki; wo are glad to state that this is not the case He is quite well at the date of last despatches from the Expeditionary Force. The mistake must have arisen from the fact that another gentleman of the same name, an Ensign, is unfortunately wounded, but he is stationed 150 miles from Captain Boss’s Camp.—lbid. Melancholy Death.— Joseph Chandos, who had been until lately in the service of the theatrical company here as a violinist, died suddenly between, eleven and twelve o’clock last night in one of the cells of the Wanganui jail. The unfortunate man had been drinking hard for some time, and yesterday having shown symptoms of incipient delirium tremens he was removed, at the instance of Mrs Chandos, from his lodgings to the jail for safety to himself and others. Deceased, we believe, was also subject to epileptic fits. Dr Gibson vis.ted the man and prescribed for him, but without any beneficial effect. An inquest will be held this afternoon.— Ibid.

Inquest. —An inquest, before Hugh Boss, Esq., district coroner, aud a jury was held on Wcdnes day afternoon, touching the death of Joseph Chandos, which took place, as we stated in last Chronicle, in one of the cells of the jail on Tuesday night. After hearing the evidence on the subject, the jury returned the verdict—" Died of delirium tremens." On Thursday afternoon, the body of the unfortunate man was decently entered in the Cemetery, the funeral being attended by all his professional brethren.—lbid, 13th.