THE WHITE CLIFFS MASSACRE.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 13, Issue 667, 25 March 1869, Page 3

THE WHITE CLIFFS MASSACRE.

(From the Sydney Morning Herald. sth March.) There is nothing new in the character of the Massacre at New Zealand. The same unprovoked cruelty, pursued with the subtlety and treachery, cha racteristic of the race, has marked this sacrifice. A frequent repetition of such deeds takes from them their private character. They are parts of a system of warfare which, with more or less complicity on the part of the chiefs and people, is seeking the destruction of the English race. To pursue a lot of marauders, who are, in every moral sense, a detachment from the main body, unless their capture is easy, is a task without promise of beneficial results. There is a danger that the force of the New Zealand people should be dissipated, and their strength exhausted by a continual effort to bring individuals to punishment, leaving the mass of disaffection untouched and uncured. -

The position of the people exposed to these massacres is one of great peril and deserving of deep commiseration; but to treat the matter effectively requires national resources. According to the opinion of the best informed persons of New Zealand, the sudden removal of the British troops, and all the circumstances connected with that transaction, had upon the native mind the very worst effects. If, with 10,000 men at command, the British Government was unable to accomplish any permanent result, they might conclude that the loss of this force would leave the field open and place the colony at

their mercy. The British Government has laid down the principle that the colonies are to defend themselves, and that the military outskirts of the Empire are to be confided to the hands of those who may happen to represent it—often helpless women and children. The language of the British Press three or four years ago was cold-hearted and unjust. Of course the statesmen of the

day took up the cry, and established their policy upon this absurd—not to say cruel—system. The value of colonisation to the parent country —the importance of the protection of present effort in view of future returns—the necessity of maintaining the prestige of the British power, and giving confidence to its subjects, in their enterprise, were entirely ignored | and it was argued, as a matter self-evident, that if the colonists wanted military they should find them. We believe that such a doctrine was never before propounded by any State in the world. Its novelty is its only recommendation. The Sovereign that defends the extremities of his empire by the same Act maintains his power at the heart. It was for this object that our armies were sent to destroy the Abyssinian tyrant. They were despatched not on account of the persons imprisoned considered as individuals, but because they happened to represent the British nation.

There are parts of New Zealand where the effects of the war are not felt. These also refuse military aid in the suppression of the insurrection. A large amount of indignation might ibe expended upon such settlers for an apparent selfishness in disposing of this question. But have they more to do with those disputes than Great Britain? The seas divide them from the foe. They are not in the smallest peril of violence. The natives had, before the present inhabitants set foot in the co lony, destroyed one another. Whoever may be in danger, they are free from it. They may fairly say, what i have we to do with the Northern Island of New Zealand any more than the people of Kent ? Why should we exhaust and impoverish ourselves? Why should we leave our own homes unprotected ? They have only learnt the lesson of egotism taught by the highest authority, and in the most imperious tone; or, perhaps, to be just, there is no more right to expect their interference in such a qnarrel, excepting from an accidental political relation, than from that of New South Wales, by which the first colonisation was prosecuted.

The census shows that there are in the Northern Island 40,000 natives, including men, women, and children, and that there are 80,000 Europeans. The prepoderance of numbers is therefore highly in favor of the European race, but in every other respect the advantage is greatly on the side of the natives. They have far less to lose, Their residence is less permanent. Their habits have caused, to an enormous extent, the destruction of their children. In reckoning the population therefore, as a source of strength, we have to regard numbers as an encumberance, and the adult census as a force. Every Maori is a soldier. From a child he has been used to arms. He is constantly prepared for that kind of warfare which is hapily unknown to Europeans, until they come face to face with savages like himself. When, therefore, we reckon the effective strength, the 80,000 melt away and the proportion who can be made available for service are too few to be successful.

In the face of this danger the 18th Regiment is peremptorily recalled. No discretion is left with either the Governor or the General. The colonists are told to look to themselves, and they learn from the Times that the eyes of the whole world are upon them!

In dealing with such subjects the Liberal Ministry have been hardly so successful as their predecessors. The Tory Government has shown itself more anxious for the honor of the nation than for its gold. The doctrines of political economy, wise and good as they may be when they are applied to questions of a purely economical character, are hardly safe when they are applied to questions of State. So long as we are able to carry on our business, the principle of exchange is the right one. if savages can be made by moral influence to bow to the laws of arithmetic, it is all very well; but when life is at stake, and when a most determined and deadly enemy has actually declared war, and is prosecuting it with savage vehemence, the principles of political economy become inapplicable, impotent, and odious. To say that we ought to permit our fellow-country-men to perish— to give up to a wret-

ebed tribe that have violated <

iaw and broken every treaty be

they have sunk into an exec

superstition—is to barter the bono? as well as the safety of the British dominions. "When the proposal was made to withdraw from New Zealand the forces of the country, we did not omit to warn the Government of the perils of this step. These have been realised to the full. Precious life has been sarcificed in a manner too awful for minute record. Persons who have spent their lives in the service of the New Zealanders, and from whom they have received nothing but goodwill, have been mercilessly sacrificed, and the time is come when, if it be possible* the dominion of law should be asserted by lessons which alone such criminals can learn. Condolence with the sufferers is unavailing. We know that there are persons in this colony whose tears will flow at the recital of names which we find upon the list. New Zealand for many years past has been a volcano ever agitated, and every now and then bursting forth in devasting flames.

The Maori King does not, for tha moment, take part in the war. Every--thing will depend on his views andconduct. If he should rise all will rise. He might, perhaps, ask ior terms if brought to see that war will be total destruction, There waa some idea, at the date of our last, of entertaining negotiations to place him in amicable relations with the Government by legalising and limiting his, power. Sir George Bowen has a task of immense difficulty—one which will require consumate skill and patience.