FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1869.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IV, Issue 35, 12 February 1869, Page 2

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1869.

® It will be extremely gratifying to our readers to find that all our little native troubles are past and gone. No more war, no more taxation, no more bloodshed ; the Maoris are completely quellexl, never again to rise in arms against us. Ancl this devoutly wished for consummation has been attained — how ? Hag Colonel Whitmore gained some fresh victory — has the earth opened and swallowed our dusky foes ? No, the means by which our warfare has been accomplished 'are of a far simpler ! nature. A stroke of the pen in the sanctum of the editor of the Melbourne Argus has effected that which we have failed in doing at a cost of millioua of money, aud scores of noble and useful lives. This is how the Argus, in its "telegraphic summary for England, coolly disposes of our three-million-loau-devouring Native War: 'The war in New Zealand may he said to be nearly over. The white force and the native auxiliaries have given Te Kooti's band a signal defeat. No alarm need now be felt on this subject.' Well, we are really glad to hear it* there was a time when we felt some slight uneasiness with regard to Titokowaru and his followers, and it takes a heavy load off our mind to find, that after all, we were frightened at a mere shadow, that tlie dreaded cannibal was nothing more than a phantom of the brain j that Te Ruaruru and Ngutu-o-te-Manu are names which should call up no painful associations, that Te Kooti's band comprised all our enemies, and that;, they being signally defeated, 'no alarm need be felt on the subject,,' We have for so long been accustomed to be completely misunderstood by the people of England, and to meet with so little sympathy from those in office there, that, however painful ifc may be to us to find that the ties between ourselves and the mother country, through no fault on our part, are gradually being severed, we are beginning to look upon it as the normal state of things, and are rather surprised than otherwise, if occasionally we find that auy of the leading journals in England, have a word to say in favor of the much maligned colonists of New Zealand. But that a widely circulated and influential paper, such as the Argus, should be so ill-informed of what is taking place in a colony within a few days sail of, and so closely connected by business transactions with, Melbourne, the city in which that journal is published, is to us a matter of great surprise, as the residents in Victoria are without the excuse of want of reliaable information that can be made for those living in England. In the latter country, the apathy and ignorance that prevail ou all subjects relating to New Zealand are perhaps, after all, not to be much wondered at, seeing that there are two causes constantly militating against our interests. In tbe first place there is the vast distance that separates us from '* Home;' this, though much abridged within the last few years by steam and telegraph wires, is still sufficiently great to weaken to some extent the apron-strings

"which, under different circumstances* would bind us to our mother. .Another^: and much more formidable, obstacle to a thorough understanding between, mother aud child is the missionary influence which is, and has been for years* constantly at work in misrepresenting — not wilfully we honestly believe—the Maoris and the white people, elevating the former into demigods, and by consequence lowering the colonists in a proportionate degree. We would not be misunderstood in our remarks upon the missionaries. Amongst them are to be found some of the noblest, most devoted and unselfish men — men, of whom any Country might well be proud — but in common with all mankind they are subject to one weakness, — they are human — and the proueuess of humanity to enis proverbial. They have erred, in viewing their work amongst the natives, and its results, iv too sanguine a light. They wished to see a change in those whom they came to teach, and they wished so earnestly and so long, that at last they eagerly caught at the first outward and visible sign of the wished for result, aud on viewing it, concluded that their work was really bearing good fruit. They would not see that the Christianity of many of their converts wasbut a cupboard Christianity; that they would not wait for a heavenly reward, but desired something earthly and tangible in return for their allegiance to tho new faith — and here we are reminded of what , took place not long since in India, where ■ at a certain missionary station in time of faniiue, an allowance of two annas per | diem, wherewith to purchase rice, was i made to the Christian natives. This soon spread abroad and the number of conversions that were effected was almost incredible, until at last the purse began to empty, aud the members of the Church were told thafc for the future, their daily allowance would be reduced by one-half. Then arose a great outcry, and the Christians went to their benefactors aud said * Sahib, one anna a day will not fill our bellies, we shall hava to return to our homes and our old habits,' — and they went. As it was with the Hindoos, so has it been, we believe, with the Maoris, but the missionaries in their zeal would not see it. They believed that as they were in earnest, so were their so called converts, and this same hopeful spirit has colored all their reports ; their failures in Christianising have been toned down, and their success painted in strong light, and thus ifc has happened that the people of England have obtained false impressions of the native character, and of the conduct of the colonists towards them; for, as events have proved thafc we cannot live together in peace, those who had been trained to believe that the Maori was a being almost too good for this world, would naturally conclude that ifc was we who were the aggressors. Under all these circumstances, ifc is not much to be. wondered at, that English people have no very correct notion of what is taking place in New Zealand j but the same reasoning wili not apply to Melbourne, where, in the first place, they are living at no great distance from us, and in the second, they possess a great deal too much of the ' cuteness ' of colonial character to suffer themselves to be led astray by the glowing accounts written by men who, from being enthusiastic and earnest to a degree, are apt to become a little visionary when dwelling upon their favorite theme. We hope thafc on the occasion of publishing its next summary for, Europe, the Argus will have become less visionary and more correct in its statements, as in England they are already, without its aid, V sufficiently misinformed with regard to New Zealand affairs.