New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Wednesday, June 3, 1846.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume II, Issue 88, 3 June 1846, Page 2

New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Wednesday, June 3, 1846.

"We earnestly call the serious attention of his Honor the Superintendent to the dread•ful state of the road between this town and the Hutt, which is so completely cut up by the additional traffic upon it caused by the conveyance of provisions and stores for the troops located at the Hutt, combined with the recent heavy rains, as to be rendered totally impassable for loaded carts, whilst horsemen, as many whose business compels them to travel on it can unfortunately testify, find it neither pleasant nor agreeable to be covered -with mud, supposing they be fortunate enough to escape sticking fast in it. If this road be not immediately repaired, all land communication with that district must soon be stopped. We are informed on the best authority that a person very recently offered to put the whole of the road from the town to the Hutt bridge in an effective state of repair for thirty pounds, which offer his Honor declined because he thought it too much money to give for the work. We think his Honor will stand alone in the opinion that thirty pounds are too much to pay to repair effectively about ten miles of very bad road, especially when we take into consideration the scarcity and high rate of labour in this district. The present dangerous state of the Hutt 'bridge is a matter of still greater importance. It is now extremely hazardous for carts to go over it, whilst every succeeding flood in the river renders it still more insecure, and if some steps be not forthwith taken to clear away the mass of heavy timber pressing against the piles, the whole structure must soon be carried away, .and thus leave the settlers to get over the river in the best way they can until the intended new bridge shall be erected. Look, therefore, in the event of this occurring, at the unprotected state in which all the settlers living at the south side of the river will be placed during a flood, without being enabled to hold any communication with, or receive any assistance from, the soldiers and the militia-men, all of whom are stationed at the north side of the river, they will be left to the mercy of the rebel natives who may come down upon them and, to say the least of it, plunder and destroy all their property with impunity without their having the means to offer any resistance. Should such .a calamity occur, which we sincerely hope and trust will not, how, let us ask, could his Honor justify his conduct in refusing, as he did, to give a paltry sum of five pounds, for which a person offered some six months since to put the bridge, which was then but slightly shaken, in a secure state ? We, however, do hope that his Honor will without any further delay cause the bridge to be repaired so as to stand until such time as the new bridge shall be erected. It is now about two months since the contract was taken for the intended new bridge, but at the present time we see not the slightest preparation *>eing made to commence it. How is this ? Is the contractor not bound to complete his contract within a given time?

The critical state in which this settlement has been placed by the recent attack of' the rebels on the camp, and the serious apprehensions it has excited, has caused their present situation to engross the consideration of the settlers, to the exclusion of all other objects. The Militia has been reembodied, Volunteer corps formed, and so far as they have been able, the settlers have shewn the utmost eagerness to unite in the defence of the settlement, and to assist the military in repelling any attack. Parties of the militia nightly patrol the outskirts of the town, and the chief part of the garrison duty is discharged by this corps. But while every disposition is thus evinced by the settlers' to assist the authorities, no attempt is made by those who have the direction of affairs to restore confidence by any active demonstration. We are still in ignorance of what is intended to be done. The necessity of immediately adopting active measures against the insurgent natives is sufficiently obvious. Let us consider the comparative strength of the two parties. Rangihaeata has with him at present not more than two hundred men. His principal means of subsistence are derived

from the cultivations in the neighbourhood of his pa, on which he has chiefly depended for the last two months, and which, if a strict hlockade were established and maintamed, would be speedily exhausted, and he would be starved out. In such a case, any accession to his numbers, instead of giving additional strength to his party, would in fact the more speedily operate in breaking it up. On the other hand, the number of troops at present in the settlement is about five hundred, the number of natives acting under Epuni two hundred and fifty, about two hundred militia, and fifty armed police are enrolled, and three hundred volunteers. In addition to these, we might count on the assistance of at least one hundred men from the Ca/tfqpe.inanycaseof emergency. So that while the friendly native forces are superior in numbers to the rebels, we have, in addition, the effective aid of more than eleven hundred men, the greater part trained to arms, for the purpose either of offensive or defensive operations. With such a force, under efficient direction, there ought not to have existed the slightest ground for apprehension or alarm: with such a force, the question naturally arises— Why is not the war carried on in the enemy's country, instead of our own ? With so superior a force, and with the means at our command of cutting off all his supplies, it may be conceived that there would be no great difficulty in establishing a strict blockade by which Rangihaeata and his party could be completely hemmed in and confined to the immediate neighbourhood of his pa, and the settlement be relieved from the fear of any further incursion. But if more active measures were adopted, it may be as readily conceived, that however desperate their resistance, the rebels, with their means of defence, could not long hold out against the superior appliances of Eui opean warfare, especially when their provisions began to fail them. Instead of this, Rangihaeata is permitted to select at will his point of attack, wherever from previous information he is led to imagine a want of sufficient precaution, or the absence of a sufficient force may hold out a prospect of success. Within a week from their previous attack, the fires of the rebels have again been lighted in sight of the camp and their bands are eagerly on the alert to take advantage of any unguarded point to work further mischief. Their foraging parties are busily employed in obtaining fresh supplies of food from their former cultivations on the Hutt, where the potatoes have been suffered to remain in the ground for their convenience for the last three months, and it is only within the last week that an order has been issued for their removal. Another argument for the adoption of active measures is to be found in the nature of the contest itself. A few desperate savages are banded together for the purpose of plunder and bloodshed, they know that their crimes deserve and will ultimately receive condign punishment, and with this knowledge are bent on doing all the mischief in | their power until the Government effectually interferes to put them down. The sudden surprize, the secret murder is their highest aim, their greatest glory, and to these dangers the outsettlers are constantly exposed until active operations are adopted to surround these murderers and confine them to the neighbourhood of their pa. But the inactivity of the authorities is open to the worst construction by the natives, and the very alliance now formed with the friendly tribes of the Ngatiawas, however much we approve of it on principle may be turned to our disadvantage ; for the emissa- | ries of Rangihaeata will not fail to profit by the time lost by present delay, to revive the old jealousies and feuds existing between these tribes and the Ngatiraukawas, so as to obtain the active assistance of the latter ' tribes ; and if those who have the conduct of affairs profess themselves unable with j the force at their command to quell the re- | bellion when there are ©nly two hundred ; men opposed to them, what will be their .position if Rangihaeata should succeed in j obtaining a reinforcement from these tribes , of from six to eight hundred men ? We do not now allude to the stagnation of industry, the prevention of cultivation for this year at least in the settlement, the harassing anxieties and insecurity of the settlers, particularly of those residing in the rural districts, and the losses they have already incurred, these are the immediate and necessary consequences of the present state of things. But the inactivity and irresolution of the local authorities, may have the effect of producing a war of which it will be impossible to predict the duration, which will undo all that has been done for the improvement and civilization af the aborigines, which may be productive of great loss of life and individual suffering, and may retard for years the future progress of the settlement.

Since the above was written our anticipations have in a great measure been confirmed. Early yesterday morning the rebels, who are reported by our allies to have received a considerable accession to their numbers from the heathen natives of the Ngatiraukawas dwelling at Otaki, commenced firing again on the camp from the other side of the river, and during the day frequent shots were exchanged between them and the troops. They told our allies "that it would be better for them to quit the field, as they had no quarrel with them, their quarrel was with the Pakeha," and stated their intention of attacking the camp again in three days time, when the river should be sufficiently low to allow them to ford it. They have burnt down M'Hardie's and Storah's houses, and taken possession of Welch's barn, have killed several pigs belonging to the settlers, and committed various qther depredations. It is also stated that several stacks of corn have been set on fire. It is reported that the rebels on the Hutt are about one hundred and fifty strong, and that they are headed by Kaparatehau. During the day two parties of them attempted to ford the river, one above and the other below the camp, but the water was too high. Kumete who, it will be recollected, after having been convicted of participation in the riots on the Hutt, was pardoned by his Excellency before his departure to Auckland, is said to be one of the party. The bugle taken from the bugler who was tomahawked in the late attack on the camp, was also displayed by the rebels in triumph. The Te Aro natives intend going up to the camp, early to-day to join the friendly natives under E Puni. It was piteous yesterday to see the settlers flocking into the town from the Hutt, with their wives and children, carrying their bedding and a few other articles of clothing, having abandoned their houses and the rest of their property to the mercy of these plunderers. Will nothing move his Honor and the officer commanding the forces to adopt active measures, or are they resolved to wait until it is too late?

The despatch from Mr. Fox, the Company's Resident Agent at Nelson to Col. Wakefield, the Principal Agent of the New Zealand Company, which appears in this day's Spectator, places Mr. Spain in a very humiliating position. From the indorsement on the map of the Wairau district, Mr. Spain is convicted, by his own hand, of having deliberately and knowingly stated in his Report that which was untrue ; for we cannot suppose that he made no minute of so important a piece of evidence as the formal submission of the Company's claim to his Court, and his acknowledgement of the fact. As we have previously (in our 80th No.) entered into this subject at length, we need not pursue it further, we therefore refer our readers to Mr. Fox's full and satisfactory refutation of Mr. Spain's statements. For the edification of our readers we have printed, side by side, the statement made by Mr. Commissioner Spain in the Nelscn Examiner (as proved by the certificates of the proprietor and printer of that paper) while all the facts were fresh before him, and the statement made by Mr. Commissioner Spain in his Report a year afterwards. After this full and complete exposure, we can hardly imagine much respect can be shewn to the justice or equity of Mr. Spain's decisions. Mr. Spain's Report, Mr. Spain's Article in 31st March 1845. the Nelson Examiner, 31st August 1846. lam now come to " Which question" speak of the Wairau * (the Wairau) " could * * * I was natu- not be entered upon, rally very anxious on owing to the absence this subject when I op- of the tribe claiming ened my Court at Nei- that district, son, and certainly did not anticipate that it would be passed over entirely, without any evidence being offered on the subject. Such, however, was the case. The very first act of "The Commissioner the leader of the Nelson plainly intimated to the preliminary expedition natives in open Court, in paying over again through the interpreter (for such was the real that he considered they state of the case) the had been previously actual residents whom amply P.aid * or tn . e he found in occupation, land claimed m this for the very land which district, at the rate of two years before had a larger sum per acre been pretended to be than for any other land conveyed to the Com- that had been purchaspany by two or three ed in New Zealand, chiefs of another tribe, That it was first pur- & . c chased at Kapiti from Rauparaha and other* by Colonel Wakefield," &c.

Yesterday afternoon the Militia were inspected at Thorndon by his Honor the Superintendent and Major Last, the senior officer in command, for the purpose of ascertaining that their arms were in proper 'order.

A Humpback whale has been caught at Mr. Frazer's station at Mana, which has turned out three tuns.

In addition to the English news given in our last number, we learn that it was the intention of the British Government to devote three millions to public works and improvements in Ireland, with the view of employing the starving population.

On Friday night the party of Police stationed at Karori, having reason to believe that some of the rebels were larking about the district, a messenger was despatched with the information to Wellington, when a detachment of the Militia was immediately ordered out to support and reinforce them. The detachment remained at Karori until daybreak, when they returned again to town. The native attached to the Police Force declares that there were rnaories in the neighbourhood, but no traces of them have been discovered in the district.

The Sarah Berry arrived yesterday morning from Kawhia. She left Auckland about three weeks since, and Mr. Spencer, one of the passengers, assures us that he saw a statement in the New Zealander to the effect that his Excellency the Governor had sailed in H.M.S. Castor for Nelson and Taranaki. While the Sarah Berry was at Kawhia, the Victoria cutter came in from Taranaki, but the Castor had not arrived at that settlement previous to her sailing — neither had she arrived at Nelson when the Government Brig left that settlement a fortnight ago. The Sarah Berry sails for Nelson on Saturday, being the first direct communication from Wellington since the late outbreak on the Hutt. We sincerely hope his Excellency may be there on her arrival, in which case it may be supposed he would lose no time in proceeding to this settlement. The Sarahßerry is three days from Kawhia, and confirms the account we gave ia our last number of a fight having taken place among the Waikato tribes, with great loss of life on both sides. Heki and the natives about the Bay of Islands were all quiet.

As some misapprehension appears to exist in the public mind on the subject of the Teuders for Debentures advertized for by the Trustees of the Savings Bank, we may state that the Trustees are prepared to purchase Debentures for the lowest suras, and that the present will prove a very favorable opportunity for the holders of small amounts to exchange their Debentures. In purchasing, the Trustees will allow for the interest due thereon.

Wellington Savings Bank. — C. Clifford, Esq., Mr. James Blyth, Major Baker, and Dr. Dorset, the Managers in rotation, will attend to receive deposits at Mr. Ross's office, from six to eight o'clock on Saturday evening, the 6th June, and at the Union Bank of Australia, from ten to twelve o'clock on Monday forenoon, the Bth June.