OUR OUTPOSTS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 14, Issue 712, 26 August 1869, Page 2

OUR OUTPOSTS.

[communicated.] The two military policies, Mr Fox's and Mr Stafford's, are now before the country.. Mr Stafford has certainly quenched the war on the Coast, where, except Titokowarn and sixty men, there is no enemy to fight. Mr Stafford next intended to mass the Constabulary at Taupo, taking such steps as the season allowed of against the XJriwera, while he was pushing his road onwards from the sea with a suffi. cient working party. Mr Fox step, ped in just in time to frustrate Col. Herrick's part of the TJriwera opera, tions, and instantly drew back the road party, which had already made a dray track as far as Fort Galatea. Col. Herrick's intention was, when he had finished operations at Lake Waikarimoana, to have pushed on to Lake Taupo, but this was not allowed, and the force from Fort Galatea was scattered along the seacoast. The band of Te Kooti—so, long at our mercy at suffered to reach the Maori King t and the concentration of a small force in Waikato became a necessity. When once our forces had retired from Taupo, or even from the road to it, of course the Uriwera at once swarmed out on the Bay of Plenty, and war was threatened in the Waikato. In fact, as we have retreated they have advanced, and now the troops are kept carefully behind the out-settlers and the friendly natives, from one end of the East Coast to the other. Instead of protection these, which should be the first object of the solicitude of a Government, Mr Fox actually uses them as buffers to avert attack from the troops,—he actually exposes them, if he does not invite incursions ujDon them, by leaving them defenceless. Where, from Wairoa round to the Thames, does not this apply ? Indeed, nowhere. But we are far from wishing to be understood as implying that it is possible or easy to protect all out-setilements. Even with a large number of armed and paid men in the Poverty Bay redoubt, a dreadful massacie occurred. The difficulty is great in an Island in which the enemy holds the centre.' But, at all events, a large force at Taupo would be the best security—the best protection which could be given; and we lament to see that

strategy towards which so much had been contributed, is now renounced, in favor of the miserable system of small detachments along the coast. These are everywhere too weak to be of use —everywhere so inaccessible as to render it difficult to communicate with them / or to allow of concentration, —and each of them likely 10 be reduced to a skeleton under the " Defensive Policy" Mr Fox announces himself as having adopted.