Withdrawal of Troops—Stram Communication. Government House, Auckland, November 27, 1849. (Received April 3, 1850.)

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 557, 16 August 1851, Page 3

Withdrawal of Troops—Stram Communication. Government House, Auckland, November 27, 1849. (Received April 3, 1850.)

My Lokd. —l only ye-«terday receired your Lordship's confidential Desfntsh. of "the 16th July last, iiiformsng me that, in the judgment of Her Majesty's Government, it had become proper and practicable to adapt tbo military establishment of Ken- Zoslend to the altered and improved general condition of the colony, ornl »(]umntmg me that, in order to ghe effect to these views it waa proposed to rednce the «st.<blwhm«»t la New Z<jnhnd to two regiiwnta, compose! of "it companies, oi 90 men each, * Inch would make tho «trengtli of each regiment 540 men, and the iorai force aervuig jr ti-wse Islands about 1,030 rank &nd £10. 2. From my Dcap&tch No. 145, nulitaiy, of the 11th October laa6, your Lordship will Pud that your intentions have Rlrerttlf been anttcqured by me to one-half of th« proposed extent; and that I had aln ady sanctioned 4he adoption of the means your Lordship proposes to irtlie use of fur U<<» purpose of bringing about & redaction in the forco semtig her* 1. Whaty in effect, has bct>a done ia this; the forcp »t>mnpr here consisted of about 1,800 men; tbout SW of this number are lmmediately to bo permitted to puichase their discharges ; the force will thus be reduced to shout l,)O0 men. Your Lordship, however, intends to have it r'duced to about 1,080 m<'fi; it will therefo»B bo requisite to make a iurUtor redectron of 4SO men , stid I think that (liat number of men will be cnaM-d «o puichtu-e their dischar R(-B »n ft further per.'oJ of about 12 to 1(3 momhs which kohW make tke wiiolfl mi'iibrr of men w l>o luvl parchfHeil their dischars-es ?iO; »nd, ft-fcuiiunjj the Rferajje sum paid by fach man for his dischaigc to Imj'jClO the total aniotmt m> paid would be £7,200. 3. lour Lordship'-intcnuoui on this subject bnn% so precisely in acconlni'ce wi'h v. h«t htd been anticipate here, I shall contitmo to ao» ha heretofore re»nivldiijgth© reduction of the fosw in Now Zealand, by sanctioning tho purch.isp of th.ur dweharsffs by such non-commissiom-d officers «nd mpa as apply for them, uatU your further iiittiuct'&i'i reach me. 4. I bo" 1 ho^n^",t(l po 11 1 out t0 yur Loulship that I tbmk it in every roap^ct de'jirible, not only to lender the reduced force which h to sci vo in New Zealand as efficient ag pcwble, but al»u to look forward to a still further ieduction o' the military force to one reyiment ot S'IQ rank and file ; ami by no means could tli^se objfcta be so speedily and ceiton-1 v atlamcd a'! by the eatabhsbmi'iit of steam coinmnniotion beureen the vanoua sottlfinpnt^ in Ni'iv Z^ril.md; tiipuantof which haa Iven most tspnouslv Mt daring tue lu^t jpar and ahalf, dvirnig which jvuot! ct time theie has b^en no armed steamer on tnc^o coi-it 1:. ft. I think, t!iPipfou? ih.'t in m I'.inEf t!io piojio=rJ large redu<t\<Mi <n lhf i^ilitory ioirp «.i\mj m thw colon, ond < oii^< (jncntlv in thp mili(.u\ cvpomlnnro hen 1. U t"" mill t\> u wim. 1 me 'mho ct piwMuiion, niid uitimitiA inJ< pilot very «ivit « ohomij., Uh' i' ulument to '■aii^non the eip"'Kiit.iit' (I iceita.n „11111 innutilly' to i\v\) iv a jioi (ton of tV> pn.jh'ucps nl ii £ipiini>r to inn. between (Ik 5 --pvp' i! •'ft l! i'tim-^. '! ho piiib.iblo fi'lditioi.iil &un\ ilia* > ouiil \i» nvii.no 5 h.i 'his uuriiuho wt.ulil bo inkn' 1 in; on tho meat libei.il ba^-is, about £0 00!) p^i an. 11 m. 0. T!»i c/oim » oi \.liich thi* c^ l! nl^ii'iii 11 bf-fl iiica- I 'low . liia Uu> pirl'wi 1 oi l,i i'l f<t uilt \\a Despatch to iii\ piwipccv or, No. ,S'^ nt lue lTlh Alipilst lull, II ilJip>Ml-> tll.t! lllli It \ 1 -IK UV\O CO^t Oi% II r M'i'^'\ ■sK.-kii \f-t> 1 \i'(r ipofui tio c'ner vais ]'J'L, 1" 'i\ <jih' IB)'] uih i(i,i'lo jici nnnui 1. I (i=ssiiiiip Hi it lh'- i» in um<l 1 osiimalo, mid tli, t it v\ ->uJd m> cvi • to 0 iV.'ki >j 1. c .in,., $r co-t ot ,t oi tho ■jijjt' oi it j \ oli^diij .u .'.ojw'JO pa tumutu.

To meet this sum of £8,000 ppr annum the following funds would be available annu. lly: — £2,000, the amount annually voted by Parliament for thecolonul brig. ,£2,000, tio amount set apart by the Provincps from their revenues as a bouus for the establishment of steam communication. £1,000, the probable amount which would be realized by the carriage of passengers and goods. £3,000, deficiency to be jnovided for. I £8,000. ! Leaving a deficiency of £3,000 to be annually provided ] for by Parliament in addition to the present vote : arid, j as a justification of this additional expenditure, I think j it could be shown that more than that amount would be at once saved by the leduction that might then be j made in the naval expenditure, and by the saving that I Tr>iuld be annually effected in the cost of the transport of troops and the passage of officers; whilst, after a very few years of such rapid communication from settlement to settlement, bo great a change would be wrought in the country that one regiment of 540 men would be quite adequate to its requirements. 7. Should your Lordship see fit to sanction this arrangement, then, in conformity with the terms of the letter from the Secretary of the Admiralty to Mr. Hope, of the 13th of August, 1841, a bmall steamer of the proposed size could be sent out to New Zealand by the Admiralty, under the command of an officer and manned by a crew who could be attached to one of Her Majesty's vessels on these coasts, and who, having handed over the steamer to the colonial Government, could join their vessel, the steamer being then taken charge of by the Government in the oame manner as the colonial brig now is. 8. I feol quite satisfied that, should your Lordship see fit to sanction this arrangement, a grpat saving would be speedily effected, and the piosperity of this country more certainly promoted than by any other means that could be adopted. I have, &c, ( Signed J G. Grey. The Right Hon. Earl Grey, &c. &c. &c.