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New Zealander, Volume XXII, Issue 2391, 30 March 1865, Page 4

THE WAR AND THE BILL OK COSTS. THE LON DON “NEW ZEALAND EXAMINER, JANUARY 13.) T'.vo months ago tin- ifivs reached England, that the war the few s .tier d tribes which -till hovered upon the northern frontier of our possessions in New Zealand, had come to a sati-f ctory end The event was scarccV announced as a victory, and it would be idle exaggeration to sav that upon the in <ss of Englishmen it made ai ything like a deep impression. Indeed, the whole affair has been regarded from the beginning rather as a disturbance than as a rebellion. That ten thousand British troops, fighting tihbulder to shoulder with ten thousand local levies, well armed, well trained, and well feed, should have taken so long a time to put down a hand of rude, though brave, Maoris, has been looked upon in England with wonder, not immixed with impatience. The announcement of peace was therefore received with a satisfaction sufficiently intens°, to make the subsequent contradiction of that welcome, intel'igence a matter of some di-appointment. After the inglorious fighting of the last two years, the campaign which had been recently brought to a close left the subjugation of the natives unaccomplished. Sanguine prophets assure us, that •the campaign of 1863 and 1864, if not final, is eertanly ■the penultimate. Let us ope s . For the c edit of our civilisation and the honor of our arms, it ought to be so. One thing is, however, certain. Our troops must again confront the hostile tribes on flie field of battle. Although ihe neck of the war has probably been broken, some stiff work remains to be done before the Maori can be unearthed from his rifle-pit, and brought back to the loyalty which he owes to our common Sovereign. It is now too late to re-op n the old discussion as to our original right of occupation and our subsequent assumption of the government of the c untry. It is too late even to seriooslv argue the merits of the war which we have now on our hands. A great deal might be urged on behalf of the natives ; much more might be said in favor of the policy by ■wh ch a benighted island has become a great? emporium of commerce, and the seat of a growing civilisation. The Governor is possibly not infallible, and the strategic movements of the officer in command are criticisei by some of the people. Volumes might be written, most usefu ly written, upon the philosophy of colonisation, and the relative obligation* of the Impeial Government and the Colonial Legislature. Put at the present juncture we must act, and not argue. To be divided in council at tois moment would be more than a blunder ;it would be a crime. Having proceeded so far, it is as clear as the light of the noonday sun, that only one course is open to us— we must go on. T ie war in New Zealand formed a prominent topic in the •recent address delivered by the Under-Secret ary for the Coloat a meeting of the Maidon Liberal Independent Club The speech of Mr. Chichester Fortescue was substantially a defence of the Government policy in New Zealand. He knew that fears had been entertained by many good men in tills countrv, that the Government of New Zealand had been inclined o deal hardly with the natives, and to deprive them to an unjustifiable degree of their land, or perhaps to continue t ! e war for the sake of their gains to be deprived from Imperial military expenditure in those islands. Of course the right honorable gentlemen took the common sens o view of the matter, and scouted the idea that the prolongation of the war was in any degree due to selfish and so contemptible a motive. The cnlinists are much to shrewd not to say anything about their being too humane, to prefer the dire cal unities of war gfor the sake of a tempory influx of inperial canital, to the invaluable blessings of peace The idea has certainly passe! current in this country for some time, that the settlers are not altogethe" displeased with a prolongation of the present struggle, that they are not as clamorous for sharp figh iiig as the Brirish taxpayers, that the prospect of a confiscation of land is not altogether viewed with disapprobation. And no boubt these sentiments more or less prevail. Thev are shared by the few, who like vultures, follow on the trail of war. But surely, the key-note of public Opinion must not be taken from greedy settlers and gorged Contractors. The Under-Sicrctary was quite correct when the sated that ■* he did not believe in its being the desire of the New Zealand colonists to continue the was longer than c mld be helped. Then knowledge of the great sacrifices hey had*inade and were making, of the shedding of colonial blood, of the spending of colonial money, of the paralysis of colonial trade, convinced him, that neither the colonial Government nor the colonial people would be inclined to continue the war a day longer than could be avoided.” But. granting that all are equally anxious to see the speedy conclusion of this wretched struggle, who is pay the costs? Jt would be absnrd to ignore t e bit! er misunderstanding that rankles between tie colonists and the Home Government upon this point. A proposalhas been made, that those whose material interests are directly imperilled, whoee homesteads are actually within the area of the war, and whose very live! are placed in imminent jeopardy, should contribute two fifths toward the expenses of the war. But the proposal has been received with outspoken indignation. We imagine that if the facts of this family misunderstading were embodied in a grief, and argued at Nisi Prius before one cf the learned judges at Westminster Hall, the proceedings ■would be stopped after the opening of the planrifFs case, with a qaerry from the bench addressed to the learned counsel on both sides, “ Is’nt this a proper case for some arrangem mt ? ” and with a little concession and good sense on both sides, the dispute would no doubt be settled. Unfortunately, we have no forum for the trial of issues which may he raised "between the colonies and the mother country. Our best and on'y available substitute for such a tribunal is a free and jrnpar ial pr-ss. What, then, is the case on the part of the Colony of New Zealand? Their argument is this : The Imperial Government is bound to pay for every war waged for Imperial objects, and every object is to be looked upon as'an Imperial object, which every Governor appointed by the Crown has had a hand in bringing about. Thus, when ex-Go-vernor Browne seized William King’s land by main force, on the ground that his title had been decided by one of the Governor's own officials to he invalid, 'hey maintain that, being the act of an officer appointed by the Home Govern ment the act itself, and all the consequences arising there from, are matters with which the colonists have noth! g •whatever to do. The wars which have followed must he held to have the same ohj-ct in view as the act itself. Thev are waged for Imperial purposes, and therefore the British taxpayer must pay the cosi s. (>n the other side it is argued, that it is simply unjust to expect the people of Englan I to pay the whole cost of defending another people who live at the antipodes, and the mass of whom are much richer than the people of England. No doubt this is a very nice question—a question which, considering the momentous interests at st ike, and the disastrous consequences which even aVight error might entail, ought to be treate 1 with the greatest delicacy. Family quarrels are always painful, but with a little forbearance, a little concession, and a little good feeling on both sides, even a serious domestic quarrel may be got over without any prcceptible loss of dignity or self-respect to either party. Things will go wrong sometimes “ even : n the best regulated families. ’ The co dness between Mr. and Mrs. Smith, although, generally speaking, a very loving pair, may sometim s threaten to reach the zero of conjugal affection, and point distantly to a judicial separation. But it blows over, and the quarrel of lovers turn out to be the renewing of love. The other day things looked very ugly and unpleasant between England and Australia. Angry words, very anerv words, were spoken ; indeed something wassaid about actual blows. Thank God, that little quarrel has been made tip, and we are going on as comfortably as ever. A like result so doubt, wi 1 follow, and thit at no distant period, the misunderstanding between the mother country and New Zealand. The common object of both the colonists and the British Tax-pa' ers is their commercial prosperity, and they will only have themselves to blame if, through a miserable haggling ever items of account this great boon is not speedily secured. We are glad to find, that h;-- the official returns published in November last, in spite of tnis war, the commerce of the country has flourished. It appears that in 1863 the computed real value of imports from New Zealand to Great Britain alonO, amounted to £740,397, being an excess over 1862, of £ 108.952, and more than double that of 1859. The exports to N e "'^ e! »hand show even a greater increas ■, and impress upon us afaettoo often over! ioked by the British tax-payer, that England has no mean return for the expense ana trouble cf d. fending at least this colony. The declare 1 real value of the exports from the United Kingdom in 1863 amounted to £ 1,791.438, while that of 1 86 1 was £1,221.632, and 1859, £6 2907. These facts require no comment, and they are only an earnest of sti'l better things to follow. So soon as toe little war ends New Zealand will, we are confident, outstrip every other colony in tli- march of progress.

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