THE "CONFISCATION POLICY."

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 34, 18 August 1864, Page 7

THE "CONFISCATION POLICY."

(From the.SouTHiA~OT'-TiMES, July 28.) The debate, on 26th April, in the House of Common's; relative 'to the war in New Zealand, and more especially [to the Acts passed /some, months ago by the .General Assembly, embodying; what is, known 'ds the " Confiscation Policy," shows clearly howj little -the; present difficulty' of the Colonists is^^:-reaUy imderstbod by/ those who profess/ to have made the subject their study .$ /and. how small a share, both of intelligence and humanity, New Zea- ; land -legislators are credited with. It is no new featirre for home philanthropists to assume a degree -bf knowledge on colonial affairs very much greater than they -possess; ;is .itnew for them to wrest 'ihe "plain riieaning of words and acts, .m-prde^tojmeet. their own peculiar yiews^aSOur colonists are pretty well f-accußtomed-by;;tMs' ? timb to abuse and misrepresente^^/#lthe .hands .of/these " gentlemen ; but in the debate to which we are alluding, language was used and sentij ments. xexpres^^lncii^ust be peculiarly galling to tho^^p^J^avrise and iar-seeing poHe^4kve % put a period to the preseirEldisastrous/^ar. Mr. Ai Mills rosejfcb mbye;.an"/*'^address.for cppy : bf-aU JcoCTbsponderiee^hat ; hadl;akeh place between Sir.- George, Gretj and the Colo-1 nial Qffic.e^jrelatiirg.tathe policy of con-j fiscatipn which had... been adopted byj ,by the .New ; Zealand Legislature." * - W,b ; Pam&t^oilpw him^^piu^ouir/the coursej of his* remark's,^ suffice dtito; say;; that: he constituted:-- /himself , t , the/^champion . pfj the Maories,, and;, denounced the action taken by the, General Assembly as certain, tb ; result in^; war of /inas-j much, as* were lithe^c/pn&catipn ; carried put,; thematives would be -Jh dared- to; fight forj ' their hearths andhpmes ;"l and-he/fihiShedj by 7sayiri£; i^i^^^^:^^^^!^ 7ruinbtis,7"b^:tl£^ lint<^st£i^^ motion, and went;dif possible,;furtherjthahi the mover.^The treaty: of -Waittogi:ihad; been^brokeri'; the Eirig\ mbveirien-b j could? not- be -pbiiside/red as^a^^/;-jliema^acre| of 'thP , ea^^/M^'^^wM" pf^ialf /.its) ati-pcfty^'j^d-^the,.: ppucy . ,whic&- ; thel eAsseinbly ~had> rafter j due . denberatipri, 'adopted as the' only one calciilated f t6 : Sayb j'th'e' Colony; was .stigmatised as a "; poh%r;' -;V Xn7 oth^j^^dij^^tiie iiipnpjrable; gentlemanjmshiuated ., that ithe object of the^Assembl^ was to extirpated race which %tbo r (l ; inQ;he way T of European civilization." s^OtHer/members expressed themselves . ln'^^auy^ong^ terms ; and .evepSJ^^ - iyig^uj^-n^^ ithati.the/Goieiinnent prepared ' to disanowi'ntne "obrio^ fied his remarks that his defence was little better than an attack! ; Our readers are aware that, in his despatch to Sir G-eobge Gbey, the Secretary 6 „ A ■■ '■■ 7 ■■.'-■■

expresseE l U*b x gi , eaf; ' length •-•ffie^'saine, views he, -enunciated mpie Hpuse,of -Com|n6ns, The " Corinscatibh 'Policy *' as" by the Assembly^s'wflZ to be carried putV ~So "great difficulties "havey been thrown in the way, andi sot many restrictions and provisoes insisted^ on, r^^..^e^Acts jare reiid^red^nearly, useless-^ ] Tlie "(G-eneral fAss€unblyfWill;again ; have f to deakwithjthe question; and 7 iit remains 7t07 be '7seen whether it ;vn^ determinatipn, or 'suffer itself, on a matter of 'sucli* vast^ and so. well' Wderstpod .% the;.Cplonists, "to be dictated to^'/.-by^.the'^Hpme' Gpyern-. 'hieing W .course. y : Tt must! never, beiforgbtten that it was hot* at. the -f equbst of 'the'Cblonists' "that"th~e guidance 7 of "native affairs fell into ; their hands;.?: .Shelf is byMb-Tmeahs the case. On this -point we quote from .a wellrwritten article which appeafed'ih the -.■-■-- .-.<.- i.;:-r r/" i.-,y *;.,;■•(.,«! fefv-.-.t.' 1 ■ •- ■ Argus:— :. - ; :,..";;;- „ v - ,';*.*>,•? '-.■>•"• „; j .'.;-' Through'the neglect of 7ffie7 ImperiiJL Govern? ment; ahcVthe. hhmders of its', officers, ; an- f enormous territory ■'.'was suffered ' „to remain in j the hands-: of its hoininal- 'native/ proprietors, until, through* the : increase of the/Eurppean settlers,; the lands at the disposalbf the state- '-were 'no longer sufHcient-to -meet- the demands"of-'thecorohis,t3. The more urgent, were, these demands, the more extortionate became the TMaori owners, until atlast, from mingled jealousy of the Euro-.-pean, -and ? - a --newly-awakened;; sentiment of "patriotism; the ..Maories formed themselves into . - - a .; • league, , to prevent r jinore lands, being sold. "At this very7time,, the Imperial Government chose, against thewisliesof the colonists, to divest themselves of the. right of controlling native affair.B/ The colonists were told that, -inasmuch 'es they had been fully 'endowed with the privileges of self-government, they must take into "thehbwn hands the responsibility of dealing with the natives. t .. . '""'Now, oh the very first occasion on which) they : ; exercise to any- ivery* great extent the right this responsibility gives -them — to the extent, in short; of dealing Syith the matter in a comprehensive manner, they are met at the outset with the old philo-Maori humbug, of which" we have heard so much. Independent members go in heavily for sentimentalism,, and the hekcl of the Colonial Office gives a feeble assent to the theory of Confiscation while he reduces it in practice almost to a fiction. „.,.■