SATURDAY, OCTOBER, 22, 1881. "THROWN UP THE SPONGE."

Manawatu Times, Volume V, Issue 168, 22 October 1881, Page 2

SATURDAY, OCTOBER, 22, 1881. "THROWN UP THE SPONGE."

John Bryce, to be Native aiid Defence Minister, vice the Hon. "William "Roivleston, retired. Tf there be any truth hi the saying that a fault confessed is half Tedreßßed, then the recent action of the Government goes a long way to make amends for its former blundering. When Mb. Bbyce m his pre-seps-ional speech, stated that the cause of his disaffeoiinu or retirement from the Ministry, was on account of the refusal of his colleagues to endorse Ms scheme for the capture of Tb Whiti and the destruction of Parihaka, the unanimous voice of the Colony was with him. At that time it- was the prevailing opinion that the determined measurp« proposed by Mb. Brtce were~ the only panacea fp^ the Native difficulty, and experience sfrice i then has shown that it was correct. It was even more thaitf r 'hinted that one member of the Cabinet did not care for a peaceful solution of the problem, as while the agitation was kept alive and the scare 'uppermost m the minds of the people, the Constabulary would be retained upon the Plains and Taranaki be the recipient of » large amount of the public money. If we take the cost of the Native Commission, the expenses of "Ministers, and the £10,000 a month for the maintaining of a standing army, and contrast that with the prices which have been or are likely to be realised for the land, it /will De found that every acre m possession of the Government will have cost double or treble its value. . It is now ■omewhere about twelver months isince Mr. Buyge resigned, and, after the useless expenditure of oter

£150,000, tne loss of prestig* m the eyes of the Natives, sneered at by the wily Tf, "Whttt and jeered at by his fanatical followers, the course proposed by the senior member for Wanganui has to be fallen back upon as a " dernier ressort." It is certainly a feather m the cap of that gentleman that what Mr Rolleston has tried m vain to accomplish, he phould be callod upon to undertake. "We presume he has consented to resume his task upon the district understanding that he is to be the head of his department, free, uncontrolled and untrammelled. If iuch be the case, of which we have little doubt, we feel convinced that the reign of terrorism inaugurated by the so-called Prophet is at an end, and that his prophecies and threats will become things of the past. The Rubicon has now been crossed ; the Ministry have taken their first step on the advance march, and there is no such thiug as a retreat. The gauntlet of defiance has been thrown down, and we fee?, convinced that, notwithstanding the mass of bathos and blow to which the people of the colony have been treated by the Seer of Parihaka, when the fourteen days lia-vo oxpired the Government will be masters of the situation. They have commenced to grapple with the question with an iron hand, and all it wants to settle it for ever is to be firm, determined, aud resolute.