The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, JUNE 7, 1869.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IV, Issue 131, 7 June 1869, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, JUNE 7, 1869.

It is with' no little anxiety tbat we look forward to tbe result of the debate which must very soon take place in the House of Representatives on the question of how we are to prosecute the native war. From the correspondence that has taken place during the recess between the Governor and the Secretary of State, there can be no doubt whatever but thai we are to be left to ourselves to get out of the difficulties by which we are surrounded. It may be remembered that during the last session of the Assembly a resolution was agreed to by the Legislative Council recommending the postponement of the departure of the 18th Regiment. The reply of the Duke of Buckingham to the Governor's despatch enclosing this resolution was as follows: — " Whilst deeply deploring the fresh disturbances which have given rise to this application on the part of your Council, Her Majesty's Government do not consider themselves at liberty to depart from the terms of the agreement under which the Colonists of New Zealand were to take charge of Native affairs, and to undertake the duty of defending the Colony against internal disturbance; and they are supported in this decision by observing that Mr. Stafford does not make any proposal whatever as to the terms on which this regiment is to remain in the Colony. I have therefore no alternative but to inform you that its departure must not be delayed." Later iu the same session aud shortly after receiving intelligence of our disaster at Te Ruaruru, where Von Tempsky and so many others of our brave officers and men were slain, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution somewhat similar to that agreed to in the Upper House, and, in order to give it more weight, it was proposed by Mr. Stafford, seconded by Mr. Fox, and supported by most of the leading men of all parties. This was forwarded home, and in due conrse the following answer, which seems to ring the funeral knell to all hopes we might have entertained of receiving assistance from the Mother Country, was received by the Governor. After regretting the intelligence contained in His Excellency's despatch, the Secretary of State goes on to say — " However lamentable this disaster may have been, it affords no reason for doubting that the European population of the Colony, now amounting probably to near 220,000 souls, aided by the loyal Natives, are fully able to defend themselves, if they make the proper arrangements, against a few thousand disaffected Maoris, of whom a few hundred only appear to be at present in arms. " The abandonment by the Home Government of all control over Native policy, and their consequent noninterference with a line of policy, in respect of the confiscation and occupation of Native lands, which they considered highly dangerous to. the future peace of the colony, was conditional on being totally relieved from any responsibility in respect to the military defence of the settlers. Warnings to this effect have been more than, once given ; and the reverse which has just occurred furnishes no sufficient reason for changing the settled policy both, of the Home, and Colonial Government!}."

Two memoranda of Mr. Stafford's are then referred to, one written in April, 1867, and the other in August, 1868, in the former of which it is stated that, "Ministers accept the removal of the troops aud the couseqnences," and in the latter that "since October 1860 Mr. Stafford has decliued to advise that Imperial tcoops should be employed iu the field, or to accede, on behalf of the Colony, to any formal conditions on which the single regiment now in New Zealand should be retained. Mr Stafford does uot now propose to depart from the course wliich, as indicated above, has beeu consistently pursued for the last three years." The Secretary of State then proceeds to say: — "The Government and Legislature of New Zealand might have wfthdrawn from the position thus taken by Mr Stafford, and have sought, if they considered the emergency so great, to retain the services of a portion of Her Majesty's troops, while organising their own force, on the conditions on wbich those troops are retained in the neighbouring Australian Colonies. They however have not seen ground to take this course, but have merely requested that a British regiment may be allowed to remain iu the Colony without any condition whatever. I find therefore no reason to vary the instructions already given, that the troops are to leave at once ou the arrival of tbe Himalaya; aud having regard to the numerical disproportion of the two races, I fiud it difficult to imagine any such change in the state of affairs as cau render it necessary for you to adopt the responsibility of detaining the troops after the receipt of these instructions." Such was the Duke of Buckingham's last despatch to the Governor of New Zealand, aud a fortnight later EarlGranI ville writes to say that he avails himself of the earliest opportunity after receiving the Seals of this Department of expressing his entire concurrence iu so much of his I predecessor's instructions as required the immediate departure of the troops now j remaining iu New Zealand, on the arrival of the Himalaya. We thus see that we must at once lay aside all hope of military assistance from England, excepting upon such terms as it is oot deemed advisable to accept. True, the hearts of those in power seem to beve been somewhat softened by the receipt of the intelligence of the Poverty Bay Massacre, wheu a telegram, of which the following j is a verbatim copy, was despatched to General Chute. I From London to Ceylon — from Quarter-master-General, London, to General Com- ! manding. Send following by ' Himalaya ' to General at Australia. Governor of Government has decided that under any circumstances Fiftieth is to come home in * Himalaya,' even if Eighteenth Foot is temporarily retained Zealand in New which case Fourteenth must be redistributed in Australian Colonies. True Copy. G. Hyde Page, D.Q.M.-General. This telegram General Chute construed as conferring upon him the discretionary power of retaining one wing of the 18th regiment in New Zealand, and con sequently he, " having just made himself acquainted with the real state of affairs in the Colony " took upon himself the responsibility of doing so. But this, as it appears from later despatches, was merely a temporary assistance, and there can be no doubt that for the future we are to be left to fight our own battles, and we sin cerely trust that the two parties in the House of Representatives laying aside for the time all party feeling will unite in devising some scheme whereby the incubus which is now weighing the Colony down may be removed.