NEW ZEALAND AFFAIRS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume IX, Issue 454, 18 February 1867, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND AFFAIRS.

p'rom the Sydney Morning Herald.] The death of the Maori William Thompson removes from the scene of strife in New Zealand one who had been a subtle foe to the British power when he was a declared foe, but one who had never been a bitter foe. His influence with his countrymen had often been exerted in favor of peace, although the terms on which he wished to make peace were impossible. After a desolating war, the status quo ante is never possible. Thompson’s influence with his countryman was great, and yet not great enough always to carry them with him. It was greater before the war than during the war. The change was one illustration of the fact that a politician’s influence with his generation depends not upon his intrinsic genius or power of will, but on the degree to which he moves with the tide. Before the war, Thompson was the leading man among his countrymen, the “King” being really an inferior power, lie represented the Maori aspiration after some approach to European civilisation and government, but he did not represent the Maori assumption of superiority to the European, or the Maori disposition to refer the settlement of that superiority to the arbitrament of the sword. He did not promote or precipitate war, but when that issue was un- j avoidable, be took his side fairly with his I own countrymen. If he did not wholly J approve, he accepted it, and gave it his I support. He was not, however, distin- I ■'wished as a wa-rior, and the more fiery I ,pirit of Rewi was more congenial than his I to his martial countrymen. He could not * restrain them or control them when their I blood was up, and his influence came back I principally in those pauses of the war when h diplomacy seemed again to become possible. It was with difficulty that he reconciled himself to the forfeiture of the Waikato country, or surrendered his con fictions to the inexorable logic of accomplished facts. And it must always remain a matter ( _ of regret that the budding Maori civilisa-. 5 tion which had begun to develop itself in Waikato before the war, and that largely under Thompson’s auspices, should have been destroyed. But that destruction was j inevitable in the nature of things when the I Maori community in Waikato constituted I itself a menace to Auckland, and when the I Maori race under its King definitely ar- -j rayed itself against the colonial inter. st« When of two Powers the weaker forces a trial of strength, it must inevitably be crushed, and no sentimental regrets will over prevent this catastrophe. The war is not quite over yet, but it can never again assume its ancient proportions. The Maori race has been largely / / wasted, and it does not replace itself;.' ! while the European race has largely in- , creased, and contains great power of rnuK * tiplication. The relative force of the combatants, therefore, is not what it waa

before the war, and the hopelessness of SUCCeSii tilUot lx&?6 its CucCt OH vhv mind. Auckland, too, will bo secured against danger by the European colonisa* tion of the Waikato valley, and a strong and permanent foothold has been secured at Tauranga. Taranaki is perhaps as defenceless as ever, and several small settlements remain exposed. Bat these are email matters compared with the general advance of fixed colonisation in the island. If the projected settlement at Taupo is established, and cross roads made through the heart of the island, the pacification of the island may be considered complete. It is not worth while to force this project at any risk of an immediate rupture, but it must be an announced policy—one of those “ ideas " that are always pressing to their fulfilment —an inevitable destiny only delayed by those human hindrances that in unbelligerent or unrevolutionary times impede the march of events, but which are bound sooner or later to decay and yield. On financial grounds alone, however, it is expedient that even desultory war should be brought to an end as speedily as possible. There is not only the interest on the war debt to be paid, but there is still a heavy aunual charge for military expenditure. The colony is already more heavily taxed than any other of the Australasian colonies, and the war burden has made the inhabitants of the Middle Island grumble at being perpetually tied to a Maori pro hlem wnich is no concern of theirs, and has thrown them into an agitation for separation. And separation could at least do the Northern Island no good. It would not promote unity of interest or opinion among the provinces; it would weaken their power to deal with the Mao i difficulty, and it would make their taxation proportionately heavier. It has been a fortunate thing for New Zealand that while the war has been carried on in the Northern Island, such extensive and profitable gold fields have been discovered in the Middle Island. The gold has brought population, added wealth, and contributed largely to the revenue. The exhaustion and desolation of the work of the soldiers has been far more than replaced by the labour of the miners. There is no indication at present that the auriferous deposits are approaching exhaustion. The West Coast, harbourless and rugged as it is, will attract an adventurous population for a long time to come. New ground is always being opened up, and nearly the whole of the west coast ol Canterbury, and part of that of Nelson, seems to be more or less auriferous. And after the alluvial deposits have been pretty well worked out, there will still be the qnartz reefs, from which the alluvial gold has been washed out in the course of ages. It is, perhaps, to be regretted that the richest gold fields of New Zealand should be in a part of the colony so little adapted for permanent settlement. It is estimated that the.e are at least one-half the population of Now Zealand on the West Coast, They are mostly immigrants from other •colonies. But they do not look to be fixed inhabitants there. The popula ion will always consist of diggers and those who wait upon diggers. Had the gold been in a less rugged and inaccessible locality, sc large a population would have inevitably led to some of it being fixed, and a permanent settlement would have been formed which would have remained even wher every digger had departed. But for tin gold-fields the West Coast would have re maiued uncolonised for generations. It ii not suited for pasture, and only in smal patches for agriculture, and it is too iso laled for the producer of anything but gold Hoads are being made to it, and its gulliei are being traversed and ransacked. Bu its harbors are almost unimprovable, and i ever diggers desert the place it will be de sorted altogether. For the purposes of dealing with th< Maori dilficulty, as well as of securing fixec colonisation, it would have been no doob very convenient to have discovered a gooc gold-field somewhere in the heart of tin Auckland province; but hitherto thk hope though still cherished, has been disappointed, and though some gold is found h the Northern Island, no rich gold-fiek that can prove attractive to a largo body ol miners has yet been disclosed. The people ot Auckland, however, amic their many discouragements have lately received one consolation, and that is tha the troops are not going to have theii head-quarters shifted. Auckland is still ti be the military metropolis. The hope i also still entertained that Auckland may become the port of call for the Pauaui steamers. Wellington was chosen by i Wellington (ioverumeut. But it will no remain the port unless it can be clear!; shown that is the best port for the speedy delivery of mails all round. The peopl of Auckland think they can prove not only that New Zealand but that Sydney am Melbourne would be better served i Auckland were made the port of call The point is qu.te discussable, and wil have to be ultimately settled iu the interes of the majority.