THE TARANAKI DIFFICULTY.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 46, 17 April 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE TARANAKI DIFFICULTY.

(From the Wellington Independent.) At last we are fairly face io face with the Taranaki difficulty. Tlie fact that Sir George Grey has moved the troops southward as lar as Omata or Waireka, is in itself of little importance; but as a step towards taking possossion of the Tataraimaka and holding it, it possesses a very considerable significance. In "order that ouv readers may not be misled by such a high sounding phrase as *' moving the troops southward," we must ask them to bear in mind that Oniata is only somewhere abottwn miles from New Plymouth, •-r a little further than Kaiwarra-warra is

mmm~*^mimimmimmm*mmimmmmmo*mmiimii^^*m^mmmm ' : from the po&t-qffice j while Tatarairoakt is only ten mjl^s, or a Tittle further thai the >Hutt^ bridge;.? ;Bi^6nd? the^T^tcrw makaj the. purchased lands at Taranaki d» not extend ; and in i > : i ;dcsterfmmo^';.-tp/:hoU that block the reinstatement^tta wholiji 6tf the settlers on their lands is therefor* implied. The weary waiting time appea** .to have ntrw expired;;^ seen Whether Sir George is master of the situation, or whether a renewal of the wiS will follow; We* profess to^ ;^h^ jgreafi faith that the ftfnste* will be; the case;: and not the latter; "tVe cannot think- ithiat after waiting so Jongy the Governor ha» now made a haphazard ftiOtementi; v h\»i rather that he has sufficient reaspri for believing that the |fgatir f nanhi^;*wi!l not be countenanced by their former, allies, and that the only opposition which i- his troopt will really meet with, will- be< that of |B« tongue — that while the southern/ native are debating as to whether' they ouglit'ti prevent the occupation of the TataraimakaJ the occupation will have become complete. If Sir Georgn is not thus master of tht situation, and war is renewed,c-we ; may rest thoroughly satisfied that it is no mere pipeclay as it was before ; but conducted with the most thorough earnestness.. If Sir George Grey can reinstate the" Taranaki province without bloodshed, then will be no man in the Queen's dominions whom we should so much feel disposed to envy ; but even if Sir George is onlyvable to reinstate the Taranaki province, by s waging war with the Ngatiruanuis, and by confining it to there, can teach .them n severe lesson without injuring the pro specls of the other provinces, there will be no Governor anywhere who will deserve te he raised to such a height of popalarityi Success has heretofore been Sir George's ttfendant goddess, we pray that on th« card he is now playing she may smihjj Rpprovingly k There is scarcely any price too dear to paji for thequiet and speedy settlement of this native difficulty. It is the curse of this island, and checks progress in every direction. • In all quarters the same story is told, and until it is finally settled, thtereis no probability of our taking, or of any pro^incgin this island taking, anything like the strides^whidTcpm. mufiities ought to take in a young country with resources and climate such as ours possesses. It is no argument to point to -Auckland as an exception — it is her vast commis-: sariat expenditure and metropolitan prestige which forces her onward in a far greater ratiq than would otherwise be the case ; yet even' Auckland daily finds herself hampered inj her attempts at interior settlement, and whatever may be her progress, it is far less than she would make were it not for the obstacles which the Native question is constantly pre-; senting. In Hawke's Bay, the harrier it proves to progress may be seen to perfection j and here in the Wellington Province it pre-: vents the introduction alike of capital and labor, and reduces us to very little beyond a merely natural increase and progression* What'is it that makes a new settler with capi-j tai to be regarded amongst us as a rara avis, — a sort of black swan to he looked upon with wonder ? It is not because there are no means by which he ought to be able to invest his capital in land and stock ; but simply b& cause he considers that he has nc guarantee that his well stocked station may not at any moment he the scene of a foray, and his capital be materially dissipated. Except Auckland, for the reasons before stated, the whole of this island .is at a discount with wealthy English inquirers who have thought* of emigrating to New Zealand, and they al' mcst invariably find tlieir way to Canterbury or Otago. This is the testimony o. every returned colonist we talk with, and wi see the same reasoning occasionally exempli^ fied by the departure, from, us, of men whosa capital may he profitably turned in the South, while here it is obliged to remain compara-: tively idle. In Southern Provinces, money is caught up as fast aa it can be offered ; but in this Province it goes a begging— any one having security to offer readily getting Whatever he wants.

New blood, settlers with capital, a larg? labor immigration— everything which developed a rapid progress ia kept back by the uncertainty and consequent insecurity which the native question induces ; and however satisfactory our natural progress may be, and indeed is, yet as we ought to look for far more thau this, and shall look for it in vain until the native difficulty has been consigned to the tomb of the Capulets, we catch at any straw, — at any scrap of intelligence— which inspires the hope that Sir George Grey may have at last succeeded in breaking its neck.