THE COLONIAL COMMISSIONERS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 14, Issue 741, 6 December 1869, Page 4

THE COLONIAL COMMISSIONERS.

(From tlic Echo.) The Commissioners will go home. Since the King Maoris have evinced a disposition to settle the war themselves-, without Imperial interference, the lion. Francis Dillon Bell and the ljoix. Dr. Featherston have displayed an extraordinary anxiety to enter upon the onerous duties of their mission. They evidently have realised the fact that if they do not go home at once they will never go home at all. The peace negotiations between Mr M'Lean and the "Waikato chiefs has spurred them on to almost supernatural activity. Mr Bell, who, when His name was mentioned in the House as one of the Commissioners, pro- , fessed a rel uctance to accept the office, private affairs requiring his presence in the Colony until after the sheep shearing season, has suddenly discovered that "sheep shearing" can go on as well without his person al superintendence, while the delay would be fatal to the Commission. The glorious opportunity of visitingEngland at the public expense, to implore at the feet of the Downingstreet magnates pardon and forgiveness for the sins of Mr Stafford, who dared to remonstrate with those Imperial gods, upon the injustice of their treatment of Now Zealand--was a chance of distinction which, in his patriotic mind, it would be criminal to let slip. With admirable generalship he has succeeded in putting the ocean between the withdrawal of his commission and himself. Dr Featherston has been less fortunate. Unlike his colleague, he had other business than sheep-shear-ing, and other men than shearers to consult, before he could shoulder his carpet bag, and slip complacently from our shores. He has found it not easy to fling from him the responsibilities of his office as Superintendent of Wellington- and, not- , withstanding the efforts he is making to follow in the track of his brother Commissioner, he is still in the Colony, and his chance of participating in the honor of being presented at Windsor, are daily growing "small by degrees and beautifully less.*' What a calamity ! We have ever looked upon the ap pointment of this commission as a degrading and fatal blunder. It never had the sanction of the country, nor would it ever hive received the approval of the Assembly, unless illegitimate means had been em ployed to obtain it. When the Fox Ministry assumed of lice the proposal was before the House, and viewed with manifest disfavor. There was an evident disinclination to eat the dirt its adoption would necessitate. However, the Fox-cum-M'Lean party had made it a cardinal feature in its piogramme—it was the bait thrown out to secure the obedience of doubtful supporters —and had to be carried by hook or by crook. Thus at the time when the fate of Imperial aid resolutions was trembling in the balance, the House was electrified by a Ministerial statement, to the effect tliat the Government were in possession of secret information of a character Loo threatening to be fully explained. Sufficient, however, was shadowed forth to convey the impression that a general rising of all the Maori tribes had been arranged, and the retention of Imperial troops, and further Imperial assistance was imperatively demanded. The game was a bold one and well played. Honorable members palpitated with nervous emotion —the iron frame of Mr Stafford was shaken, and he jerked out a petition to the House to grant Mr Fox's request without asking questions. The ruse was a success—the rough and obstinate Oppositionists became meek and docile. The result is too well known to merit comment. The Imperial troops in the Colony were retained, and Messrs Dillon Bell and Featherston received, the price of their Ministerial support.

This Royal Commission jo])—we can call it by no other name—is now so patent to the public that we have hardly patience to discuss it. Still, we find, journalists who have labored hard to expose the folly of permitting Imperial interference in Colonial affairs, and advocated the cultivation of self reliance, in anticipation of the time being near for a declaration of independence, now attempting to make the public believe that the Commission may be produc fcive of good. The Daily Times is one of these Ministerial apologists. What is the good it anticipates 1 ? Not assistance to crush out the Maori rebellion, but the establishment of a better understanding between the Imperial and Colonial Governments. In a late issue appeared a labored article intended, no doubt, to be laudatory of the statesman-like tac tics of the Fox Ministry in providing sinecure offices for Messrs Bell and Featherston. The meaning we can extract from the twists and turns of our contemporary's effusion is, that the Colony should feel proud ol having sent Commissioners home to whine at the footstool of Royalty, for no higher purpose than the obtaining for the Government an infinitesimal dose of Imperial civility, Verily, people have leason for rejoicing at the patriotic cleverness of rulers, and the clear-sightedness and outspoken honesty of the journalistic leaders of public opinion in this Province.