THE NEW ZEALAND WAR.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 47, 24 February 1864, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE NEW ZEALAND WAR.

.*. V -■*'■*. (From the Times.) It is now nearly --twenty years, since the; Government of JSTew. Zealand was engaged in its first, great war with the; nativesv The contest was long, and, for! a colonial war, bloody. Hostilities began in 1841, andthe islands-, were not wholly tranquilised till 1848.. y { In that time thef'British'trpqps inflicted on jthe Maories many severe -defeats, but it is ; doubtful whether they did not leave them : more skilful warriors .and resolute enemies- than they were at ithe beginning. Thenative forfcificati6n ;;i of;' H;he "pali yielded everywhere sooner 1 or later to the courage , of our troops; ; but ih& Maories.^ have* neiver been convinced that it is impossible for them to hold the countiy except by alliance with the English. They .have, never even been persuaded tliat it ' is " out of their power to ruin tHe*colonial settlement; and recover the lands of the white, man for themselves.* i |Fpr years past the settlers have found themselves dn presence of a race which cherishes ; a belief in fits superiority and future good fortune. There are Maories who ! are hostile, and others 7 who are friendly; but,- whether hostile 'or "friendly, they' have been encouraged by events, and perhaps by the action of our home Grovernment, to consider themselves/a powerful and independent race, able to deal on at least equal terms with the English who are their neighbors. There is every reason to suppose that the outbreak which has lately occurred is tho result of a long prevalent feeling. Naturally clever, and learning something year after year of the qualities and weaknesses of the settlers, the Maori has faucicd that be has come to be a match for them and the handful . of regular troops which ordinarily occupies New Zealand. lie has his gun and his ammunition, sometimes his horse and cart ; he has learnt by contact with civilisation the art of combining wifch secresy and forming able schemes. The war which has broken out in the neighborhood of Auckland would probably have been the most formidable in which the Grovernment has been engaged, if it had not been for the promptitude ofthe colonial authorities, the courage of the settlers, and the generous help that has been received from «the Australian mainland. * * * The fault of this war has been so wholly with the natives this time, the atrocity of their conduct has been so undeniable, the danger to tho white population has been so threatening, that even the ordinary spokesmen and defenders of the native have been unable to say a word for him. The clergy, who. have ever stood between the Maories and the white man, are now read\ r to admit that the (.rovernment and the colonists must lose no time in putting down the revolt and punishing its instigators. A*--? to the conduct of the settlers themselves, it is worthy of ail commendation, and the same may be said of the people of New South Wales and Victoria, who have given all the help in their power to their threatened brethren. * * * The time has come when the Australian colonies are populous enough to carry on their own local wars, and we hope that tranquillity will be restored without farther demands on the liome G-overnment. But, when that has been done, both the British and Colonial authorities will have the scarcely less arduous duties of peace to perform. It seems that there has been a strange mixture of weakness and false security in the conduct of our administration. The G-overnment has left the natives so much to themselves that they have come to look upon their tribes as independent; while the white man, with his habitual disregard of a lower race's self-esteem, has done much to put enmity between himself and the Maori. It is the history of the North American Indian over again. The two races, if left to themselves, would pro- j bably carry on desultory warfare for a generation or two, till the Maori would disappear like the red men east of the Mississippi. But the Government owes protection to the natives at the same time that it has a right to exact obedience. It is said that many of them desire a stronger and more active administration, which will really make the governor their chief. "When reduced to submission, they may easily be retained in it and made useful subjects by a truly vigorous and paternal rule.