OUR MILITARY REINFORCEMENTS TO NEW ZEALAND. [From the Sydney, Morning Herald.]

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 119, 21 July 1847, Page 3

OUR MILITARY REINFORCEMENTS TO NEW ZEALAND. [From the Sydney, Morning Herald.]

The intelligence brought from Nqw Zeala;id\by thc t Comet, ami circumstantially reported in our paper of] yesterday, should serve to allay the indignation, oft the people of this colony at the removal of our troops., When, a few weeks ago, the subject was so intemperately diwmssed in the Legislative Council, andj 'so warmly, but we trust not intempeqately handled ! in our own columns, there bceracd sufficient reason I for believing that, through the mingled firmness andj j conciliation of Governor Grey, the turbulent* Maories, had been effectually subdued. To. this effect-, cer- [ tainly, the latest accounts then received iv Sjdiiey spoke wnii the utmost confidence. Contrasting theseaccounts with the warlike tone of the despatch in which Earl Grey had' ordered the permanent removal of one-hall of our military force, we naturally felt an. acute- sense- ofi injustice. The- necessity for a, measure so injurious to this comparatively great and populous colony being expressly repudiated by> the parties best- qualified, to speak qu the question, even by the New Zealand settlers themselves, we could not, but suspect that the counsels, of the Home Government had been operated upon by sinister influence—that, in fact, the. selfish policy of, New Zealand landowners, moving within the preqincls of Westminster, had caused the just interests of New South Wales to be sacrificed to their own colonizing speculations. It was this suspicion, amounting uuder the circumstances to little shou of positive conviction, that provoked the strong feelings of disgust expressed both in the Council Chamber aud by the Press. We perceive, however, that amongst our fellowsubjects in New. Zealand these feelings have been widely misunderstood. " Our Sydney contemporaries," says the Wellington Independent, "will pechaps believe us when we say that troops- are urgently ; required. We give them.) credit foe wamn feel jugs;; but we think they exhibited spleen, on a late occasion ! more from a decrease of Government expenditure, than owing to the mere ivilhdruwal of the military" To vindicate ourselves from this gratuitous calumu £ we need only icfcr to the energetic manner in which, two years ago, when the destruction of Kororarika had just come to our knowledge,, the people of New Soutli Wales urged 1 the immediate despatch of troops from Sydney. At a public meeting, held at the Royal Hotel, on the 3rd April, 184&, the following resolutions were passed unanimously :— | " That it is the opinion of this meeting; that a large number of troops and two steamers should be immediately forwarded to New Zealand, for the protection ,of the white inhabitants ; and that one of the steam - , ers should be despatched direct to Cook's Straits, and the other to the Thames. i "That a Committee, consisting of • • •, be requested to convey the firsfr resolution to His Excellency Sir George Gipps, the Governor of New South Wales, and to urge upon His Excellency the immediate despatch of the troops and steamers to New Zealand." We find that similar sentiments, both before and after the meeting, were expressed in our own leading columns. In our aiticle of the sth April, 1845, discussing the question " Who is responsible lor the Massacre at New Zealand?" our own government came in for no small share of the responsibility. " The New South Wai^ Government," w,e then alleged, " is blamcablc for its unjustifiable delays, of military succour. And the Brttish Government for having turned a deaf car to the cries of the settlers for protection. One of Her Majesty's present Ministers had the effrontery to declare in Parliament, that if the New Zealand settlers needed protection, they must protect themselves— if they wanted a military force, they must form themselves into a corps of yeomanry and militia ! Why not say the same of New South Wales or Van Diemen's Land, or any other of the British colonies ?- Nay, why not bay the same of Her Majesty's subjects-, in Great Britain and Ireland i We thought it had been a national axiom — the piide and glory of Englishmen — tha,t the, protection of the Crown was commensurate with iti authority; that the sceptre and the sword always went together ; that whatever shore was touched by ' th,e ono was defended by the other." J After specifying the. parsimonious considerations

wlii'cll had led our. authorities.to delay the sending of troops for a whole month, the same article proceeds --"Under the alarming circumstances of Governor Fit? Roy's appeal, not one moment-ought' to have been lost in responding to it, at whatever cosh This might have been, accomplished in ihreo days from the arrival of the despatches; .and thisipromptuess, in all human probability, would have prevented tho bloody tragedy at the Bay of Islands. For the fatal consequences of the pounds«shillings-and-pence delay, our Colonial Government is morally responsible." In our leading article of the Bth of the same ' month, commenting upon the abovcnientjoncd mi etingat the Uoyal Hotel, we find the following amongst similar observations ;— " We are glad'tu find that tho authorities of this colony are endeuvouring/tu atone, by zeal and prompitude on, the present, for th,eir former lamentable remissness. We mentioneilyester-i day that two vessels have been chartered for the immediate conveyance of troops to Aucklsud aud Port Nicholson. Besides these vessels, it was stated by one of the speakers at the meeting, on the authority of the Colonial Secretary, that the Government were then in treaty for two steamers, to be despatched without delay. Happy would it have been for themselves, and still, happier for our unfortunate countrymen of the Bay of islands, had.the jaine alacrity beea displayed after the arriyal of tljq Tryphena."- ( And when, in addition to these public expressions of- sympathy, we remind' our New- Zealand brethren that collections were made in ourchurches for the relief for the relief of the sufferers at the Bay "of Islands, we shall surely stand acquitted of, any want of kind feeling towards them in their days- of trouble, and of any sordid motives in resenting the recent dismemberment of our garrison. Now that; we perceive strong military reinforcements are re.ally-need-ed in that colony, we can no longer look, upon the dismemberment with anger or regret. We fcel'as w« felt in 1845, that the sufferings of our- fellow Britons who have the misfortune to be scttlediainongst. those savage and bloodthirsty hordes, demand all, the succour, military or other wise, which it is in our power to afford. We. must qualify these admissions, however, with the proviso, that (his withdrawal of one of our- two regiments is to be regarded only as a temporary, mea- [ sure. Into the question o£ what, should be the strength of tbcstaudinj? army of' New Zealand, we presume not, to enter ;• that it no|t our province j, but 1 we do maintain that the standingarmyqf New, South j Wales cannot be justly reduced 1 below two complete I regiments. Not only do our circumstances need this number of troops, but- our claims- upon the British Government entitle us to- it- as a maker of' rig/it*— Wherein this necessity and these claims consist, w,e are not on the present occasion called- upon to show. We merely advert to them as the grounds upon which while we do not- grudge the sending of reinforcements to onr unfortunate neighbours, we cannot admit that such reinforcements are to involve a permanent reduction of our own garrison.