THE NATIVE QUESTION.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 73, 17 July 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE NATIVE QUESTION.

' (Fiom the ptago Daily Times.) The presents Native War has been amply' discussed -in its bearings on t he European population, and we may fa'ely assert there-is a 'very unanimous opinion throughout the colony that the time has arrived when, for the interests of the colonists, the contention between them and the native population should be terminated by the only effective means— a sharp and decisive proof of the power of the Government to assert and maintain its authority and power. But it is worth while to consider the question in its bearings on the Natives themselves. We are not so blindly advocates of war as to recommend extreme measures in behalf of only one section of the inhabitants of New Zealand. Starting from the assumption that all — natives and Europeans — are equally subjects of Her Mejesty, wo are bound to consider what measures are best fitted under present circumstances to ensure the welfare of both races of Her Majesty's subjects. A careful consideration of the question in all its bearings indubitably points to the same course of conduct, as the most likely to establish satisfactory relations between the colonists aud the natives. The quasi peace which has existed since the last war until the recent outbreak, has been fraught with more injurious effects to the natives than all the evils of actual warfare. A thousand influencs have been silently at work, sapping the foundations of whatever confidence the Maories may have felt in the Government, and now we have to indulge in vnin regrets at the destruction of the whole fabric of Native Government. It is no use disguising the fact that for all beneficial purposes the authority of the Crown is absolutely dead amongst the Native population. And no wonder that such should be the case. The foundations on which has been erected the structure of native government have been of sand — nay, a very quicksand. Year after year has seen the authority of the Government become weaker and weaker, and instead of prompt and decisive measures being taken for strengthening it, we have sought to meet the difficulty by temporising measures of expediency which have, we now find, utterly failed to accomplish their purpose. The conduct of the Government in respect to the Native difficulty has been pretty much like that of a man who, finding his dwelling threatened by an inundation, has striven to keep it safe by means of embankments of sand. There has not been any want of material or of dimensions in the barriers we have erected against the dreaded evil. After much pains, and expenditure of time and means, we constructed works which from the amount of consideration and ingenuity which had been displayed in their elaboration, we vainly assumed were perfect. But the storm came, and the waters rose, and have rushed madly and without check over the feeble structure we had erected. The material has proved to be unsuited to the emergency — there ha& been no firm foundation, and we now can only gaze on the ruin which has been made, and curse the fatal folly which so blinded our understanding. Those who have had any opportunity of judging of the effect of the suspension aud mistrust of, and want of confidence in, the Government which has grown up amongst the natives during the last two or three years, can bear witness to the fearful retrogression they have made in all the conditions of civilisation. Their cultivations have been neglected ; habits of restless excitement have been engendered; and whatever influence the religious teachings of the missionaries have hitherto exercised, lias been smothered and subverted by the absorbing and unhealthy tendency of political disturbances. The last two or three years have, with a large section of the native population, thrown them back to a position from which it "will take many years of the most enlightened government to elevate them. Unless the most prompt and decisive measures are now taken, we shall find that the causes of degeneracy which Iliave been at work will speedily assume ■ such an uncontrollable influence, that ■ nothing short of a war of races — and ■that means the rapid extinction of the Inatives — will remain as an alternative. •The foundation of all authority is Power I— the power to punish, aud the power ■to reward. It is true that this power ■may be a moral or a physical one, and ■in many cases the One is as influential las the other. But in dealing with a ■semi-civilised race, we cannot dispense ■with the physical element. It is im■possible to drive home to the mind of & race whose only estimate of authority ■s based on physical might, the truth wf Mr Fitzgerald's apt quotation, " the ■Jen is mightier than the sword.' 1 We Wtiust assert and enforce the power and Authority over the natives we have »lways assumed but seldom aud but aFeebly exercised. Let that but be Accomplished, let the natives once •learly understand that absolute subAnssion to the laws and authority of the jJßueen will be enforced if necessary at j»he point of the sword, and we may ?fft°P c to see them elevated to a condition they can never otherwise attain. jB-'he instincts of the Native population £fe|p assist us in bringing about this reWpit. They can respect the strong hand »f authority, and we doubt not that if mfre power we undoubtedly possess Were jMut firmly exercised, we could mould |fte Natives into good citizens and subtjftcts, raise them morally aad physically !■) the scale-of humanity, and possibly preserve them from that extinction to 'jjftu'ch they are rapidly hastening 1 . sg-M Never was tiere a time more oppprmm ncre *° r accomplishing this purpose, r Jlnd, moreover, never was there~'a time |phen a decisive line of conduct was

more imperative.. Already we have rumors of uneasiness and excitement amongst those Native tribes which have been looked upon as firm allies of the Government. Separated as the Ngapuhi and other Northern tribes are by ancient feuds, geographical barriers and European influences from their Southern brethren, they are yet members of one family, and it is impossible for the warlike Ngaphuhis, to view unconcerned the struggle that is going on. However much they may be well disposed to the Government, they are but savages, and the halance of their sympathies and support must weigh towards their countrymen. The Native, difficulty is rapidly assuming the aspect of a national question ; we see tribe after tribe not intimately interested in the proximate cause of quarrel, gradually being drawn into the vortex, aud unless this tendency be checked speedily and decisively, we can no more count on the neutrality or support of the Northern Natives than we can on that of the most insubordinate tribes in the island. At any cost, this must be avoided, and it can only he done by unflinchingly persevering in a firm and authoritative policy. Se\ere as the storm is, and difficult as it may he to guide the vessel of State, there are more treacherous breakers a -head which must be avoided, if we would not see wreck and ruin. The wavering, unsettled state of those tribes not yet embroiled with the Government is even more serious than the open hostility of others ; and we can only hope to secure the balance on our side by holding out the certainty of severe penalties for insubordination ; and there is no penalty so likely to influence the Natives as the forfeiture of their land. Announce the certain confiscation of the laud of tribes the members of which are guilty of treason or rebellion, and we shall in all probability decide the wavering in favor of that course which common prudence and their own interests would dictate.